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How do we talk about media and morality without sounding petty or smug? I think we need to start by getting beyond the typical bifurcation of media matters into structural and cultural issues. On the structural side, we have questions of law, money, technology, stories of big corporations, gadgets and financial schemes. On the cultural side are hot button issues like violation, pornography and protection of children.
The mediapolis is a moral space, a space of hospitality, obligation and judgement.Questioning its present and future drives attention to issues of media literacy, media justice and media regulation. However, the media exposure cannot influence our moral development - either in positive or negative ways. All of our moral behavior is learned and much of what we learn about the world comes from media....
For example fairness for the LGBTQ (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transgender Queer) people may be seen as a question of fundamental moral principle. But, in practice many people report that their attitudes have been changed due to an increase in positive portrayal of LGBTQ characters on television which is perceived by many as an expression of changing social attitudes on the issue. There was a time that we read to our children .However, more and more children today have had this reading time substituted with media,television or a video game. What are the messages that they offer? Our society is full of negative selling images which basically insist that you are inadequate in all spheres and therefore need what they have to offer. Along with this there is the fear with not just the sell information but it also accompanies everyone's agendas today. Since time immemorial we have been hearing, if you vote for so and so, the world will end if you don't get this or that, well as a matter of fact, you'll suffer. Seldom do young people encounter an offer where their honesty is rewarded. Its time to think about it. Accept it or not , we live in a meritocracy that on a 24/7 basis delivers content designed to manipulate the human mind in some way. The agenda behind this content could care less about the concept and more on 'selling' its message. This is what our children and the adults as well are immersed in. The media brings to our attention not just the issues of the moment but while doing so they deliver a large portion of our morality. Whats soon to be acceptable will always appear in our entertainment and other media first. The need for role models and stories portraying the rewarding sides of honesty as well as the other virtues that hold special should be what we seek when we choose what we fill our minds and the minds of our children with.