How media has affected our view on the world

 

  The Mean World Syndrome 

    Mean world syndrome, coined by Dr. George Gerbner in the 70s, is the effect of media over time skewing a bias where the individual starts to perceive the world as being more dangerous than it is. One might ask how this could happen where the media can implement a bias to have the world seem more dangerous than it is. Over time, the answer is straightforward, and the media has covered more graphic and disturbing topics and ideas. They do this because the shocking content appeals to the human emotional appeals, and the media has started to exploit this. The media has a twisted view where they perceive the world as a place of horror and violence, giving the viewer a "black-mirror" view. The constant showing of war, murders, and robberies makes us believe that these events are the norm. Society has become numb to these violent themes, which play into the Mean World Syndrome. If you live in the U.S., school shootings or public shootings, in general, have been more common than ever. This constant coverage of these events has led us to have less emotional distress about events. For example, over 34% of the news in Ukraine is about crimes, and it goes to show that the media knows what appeals to human emotions; despite the downsides of what is being shown, humans can't resist these themes. Due to algorithms on social media platforms, seeing more shocking content after viewing similar topics is more common than ever. Information also can be cherry-picked in the media, making statics on shocking content seem higher or scarier than they actually are. Don't forget that not all media news is bad news. Again, these media outlets and showing shocking content on purpose. Remember to fact-check the sources you are getting information from; fake news is a bigger problem in media than ever, and it is everywhere.