There are some who would say that the media reflects the values of society. I believe however, that the media in fact tend to create values in a society. The values created may be far different from the values that our society would choose to embrace. I offer two examples that serve well to illustrate that the media can in fact shape the very moral fibers in our society.

The first medium that comes to mind is music. Through music we can proclaim our love, communicate feelings, and express new attitudes. Music is widely available to almost everyone in our society. To see how music has changed the values of our society, one needs only to look to the urban sprawl. Rap and gangster styles of music reach millions of city teens and young adults. It’s message is quite simple- violence, drugs, and sex . Young people are constantly bombarded with the message that if you want something all you have to do is to take it. The values of human life, respect for elders and children have been lost. We have gangs and random killings in the streets of most cities in our country. Are these my values? They are most certainly not. This music does not reflect the values of this society. This music is the very core of this degradation of our values. How many tricked out gang cars to you see that don’t have the annoying bass rumble of Rap music vibrating out of them? This music is part of the persona of a whole generation of people. It is just as much a part of their ego as the guns, drugs, and abuse of women. Another medium that is shaping the values of our society is advertising.

Advertising is everywhere, on T.V., billboards, radio, even at the ballpark. Through advertising some vendors can create "values". To illuminate my point I will use tobacco companies as an example. Joe Camel has convinced millions of young people that it is cool to smoke. The Marlboro man has done the same. The audience is always the same. These ads are targeting young people. They have created the "value" among children that it is ok for kids to smoke. Again the values of society have been changed by a powerful media. I’m sure there are not too many parents out there who would want their children to start smoking. Another advertising media that will surely change the values of ours society is the Internet.

The internet is really just the world’s largest commercial launched under the veil of access of useful information. It will be interesting to see just how this new network that has brought the world together will affect our values. These are just examples but I think they are effective at making my point. I think they serve to illustrate that the media can in fact change our values. As for me, I’ll be out back smoking a Don Lino, on a beautiful trout stream while sipping a cold beer, waiting for the trout to rise and hoping a couple of those girls from the Coors commercial show up.