Have we been brainwashed by the Media?

I thought that this topic was very relevant, I am learning about the Media, however does this mean that I am being brainwashed?

Last week, for Sociology, myself and a friend gave questionnaires to thirty sixth formers on "What is most important in your life?" A few questions were about what they did in the evening and what they do at the weekend. It was surprising to see how many of the thirty people we asked admitted to spending most of their time on the internet and social networking on Facebook, Myspace and MSN. I myself spend a lot of time on these websites and I have recently realised how much I spend on them having done the Media Diary. As well as the internet, many teenagers read magazines and newspapers, listen to many different types of music and watch their favourite TV programmes and find out what happens on Eastenders this week! A lot of the sixth formers we questionned also said that they spend a lot of their time and money listening to and buying music, and watching TV a lot of the time.

Although I have just written about teenagers spending a lot of their time with the media, a lot of older people use the media. Elderly people use the internet to order their food or clothes. A lot of people believe it is much more straightforward to use and it is much less hassle.

Along with shopping online, millions of people use Google, to just check something that has just popped into their head that they are not sure about. Youths in school use Google Images for their homework or projects, there are so many pictures and it is so simple to find a picture of what you want, when you want.

Advertising is a major part in the media and practically dominates the media. Every other page in a magazine is an advert for a different shop. There are billboards along the motorways and in towns advertising TV programmes and certain products. On the TV itself, inbetween shows there are approx. 4 minutes of adverts, which is annoying, but gets people interested in the programmes. These people are already watching the TV, and by advertising more TV programmes, the public will be interested in them and will remember to turn the TV on, once again and watch "that programme that was advertised the other day on TV."
Even on the radio there is advertising, just by sound, by little advertisement, maybe listeners will be encouraged to go onto the website of the product that was being advertised on the radio, making the Media being used once again.

The media is used a lot, throughout the country every minute of the day. It is an open question of "Have we been brainwashed by the Media?" One way or another, the media is used by basically every person, every day! I think that we are slowly being brainwashed by the Media in the way that we can't stop using it every day!