Olivia's Blog

Blog # 8: Media Around the World

I received a postcard from my grandparents the other day and it was from their home of Stratford-upon-Avon, England. It got me thinking about something I had never focused on before. First that, something as simple as a postcard can be seen as a form of media and second, that around the world, although the norms of our cultures are very different, the media still has a significant and similar role.

A postcard is seen as a greeting in the eyes of most people. I looked at it from a different angle and realized it can be seen as a form of persuasive media. When set, it is not just an indicator that someone is enjoying their time, but it is an image projecting the beauty that the place has to offer—convincing the viewer to possibly travel there. It is a money maker for the city.

The world is full of a variety and unique cultures and society. They have different people, cuisine, dress, music, and norms. One thing we all share, however, is media. Although the medium is different in each society (could be books, television, or Internet), there are some innate similarities in the media. It is their to entertain, persuade, give knowledge, and inform. The media is a crucial aspect of all societies in the world.

I have lived in 4 and traveled to 12 different countries and looking back on each place I have noticed some similarities in the media. When I lived in Finland, I remember the one poster on the train that had a naked women as a form of advertising. It touched the sexual desires of everyone and aimed at the emotional conscious of what women “should” (and want) to be like. Sterotypically, sex sells.

When I was in Spain, there was a protest against Americans. They used the news television, newspaper, and Internet to spread their word. The word, to my misfortune and disgust was : The United States, particularly, George Bush caused September 11th. This is a different, more negative, form of media but it still attracts attention to a purpose.

Media around the world is something that not all of us can be aware of, but is something, if we get the chance we should pay attention to. The media does in a sense define our cultural values.