Media

Media Reaction

Michael Lawrence

University of Phoenix Online

April 18, 2011

Mrs. Jennifer Moyer-Taylor

Media Reaction

The mass media are impersonal communications directed to a vast audience. According to Macionis (2009), he indicated that the term “media” comes from the Latin meaning “middle”, suggesting that the function of media is to connect to the people. In the United States today, mass media have an enormous effect on our attitudes and behaviors. For this reason, mass media are an important component of the socialization process in our society. Mass media are so influential in our lives today that we look to the media for providing the source of almost everything we know about politics. The history of immigrants is a centuries old struggle against oppression and discrimination. The media have played a key role in perpetuating the effects of this historical oppression and in contributing this particular group status as a lower-class citizen. Mass media have played and will continue to play a crucial role in the way society perceives immigrants. As a result of the overwhelming media focus on terrorism, crime, gang-violence, wars and other forms of anti-social behavior among immigrants, the media have fostered a distorted and pernicious public perception of immigrants in the United States. My paper will explore a media piece focusing on current political issues surrounding immigrants in the United States.

Since the country has both technical and political meanings, different groups will have differing histories of globalization. What is missing from the dialog is the history of the border. Mexico obtained independence from Spain in 1821 (Schaefer 2011). During that time, boundary lands along the current Mexican-US border were part of Mexico. Immigration seemed to be the main focus of topics in United States politics for several years now. The United States is home to an estimated 10 to 13 million undocumented workers...