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Shannon Malloy
Professor Ogbara
English 1A
13 December 2015

Media and the Degradation Of Thought

Media comes in many different forms in our modern society such as social media, news
programs and magazines. The media is a great example of the degradation of critical thinking.
Critical thinking is being able to think outside of the box, to be able to form opinions and
knowledge of things on our own by questioning what is taught to society. Media today however
blocks critical thinking through these various outlets. With the rise of social media in recent
years, it has become a fixture in the lives of people of all ages. Social media is a place where
people are supposed to share what they think but due to the saturation of content, it becomes
more of place where people are told how to think about the ideology of social issues. News
programs are another form of media that indoctrinate society to how and what they should think
about. There are many news programs that make accusations and dont allow for an open
discussion with the viewing audience. And of course there are magazines, which is one of the
oldest forms of influential media that portray unreal images, and biased viewpoints. Although
the media has been known as being a vital source of information, it is difficult for an individual
to think critically based upon the information they find on social media, the news, and in
magazines.
Social media is one of the most common forms of consumable media in our modern
society this is where most people currently receive most of their information. It seems as though
almost everyone who has a smart phone or computer is linked with a common online presence on
sites like Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat, Periscope and many more sites. It is through

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these virtual platforms that people are empowered with a voice that can be broadcasts to
potentially millions of strangers. This sort of capability gives people the courage to voice what
they think. For instance social media viral posts shape sentiments of the masses and can
instruct people on what to think and on how to feel based upon the biases of the post. This can be
detrimental to critical thinking in many ways. The most recent example of this is Nurses Unite.
Nurses Unite was created when Miss Colorado Kelley Johnson competed for Miss America and
she performed a monologue that was inspired by a patient from when she was nurse. Kelley
Johnson dressed up in her scrubs and stethoscope to perform this monologue, on the TV show
The View Joy Behar mocked this nurse for wearing a doctors stethoscope. The comments that
Joy made caused uproar among nurses. As a result, viral posts from nurses and other sources
started backlash against Joy and The View. Instead of people questioning what Joy said and why,
people just watched the clips that other people posted and then they reposted those clips. Most
people browse Facebook or Twitter and see these posts and just consume this information instead
of digging deeper and asking why this happened. Bell hooks states that Criitical thinking is an
interactive process, one that demands participation on the part of teacher and students alike.
(bell hooks 2) This way of thinking being an interactive process means that the viewer should
take the time to question what is being said and the person who is educating on this particular
subject should encourage questioning what they are teaching. For example a person posted an
article that headline reads, The view mocks Miss Colorados monologue, Joy Behar questions
Doctors Stethoscope and a video clip to accompany the headline. The person posting (the
educator) this article and video write a comment in response to this and then the viewer (student)
then sees this comment and watch the video then they automatically agree with the person
posting and then takes this knowledge as it is handed to them. Another example is if someone

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posts a political article on social media and claims this as what they think then anyone who
follows them are going to read that piece and most likely take it at face value. This is happening
a lot right now with the presidential debates that are currently on going, there are many people
who are posting things on Donald Trump and his many outlandish comments and no one
questions why he saying these things or why only the bad things about him are being stated.
Most people havent watched the debates or interviews in regards to Donald Trump most people
just repeat what they see in social media. This type of saturation and free flow of ideas and
opinion also breeds an emotional component that is unique to social media. In recent years the
concept of cyber bullying has played a larger role in our society, due to the fact that more school
age kids are using social media to communicate, and in turn, make fun of students who they
dont particularly care for. Gerald Graff alludes to this phenomenon in his paper Hidden
Intellectualism. Graff statement that the tendency to see argument as a form of violence rather
than an alternative to violence helps explain why the studious avoidance of open conflict is such
a prominent feature of the American high school and often the college and university.(Graff) is
in exact parallel to how conflicts such as cyber bullying have cropped up in our 21st century
landscape. And if a person agrees with what was said in the article than they are most likely
going to post the article themselves and then anyone who follows them will see this post. At
some point the post will be circulated and whoever initially set that post in motion (possibly the
author or publisher of that article) their way of thinking will be ingrained in everyone who read
that post.
News programs are infamous for telling the public how to think. News Programs make
accusations and dont allow for discussion with the audience. News programs always have
scripted discussions with pre-determined talking points and with pre-determined guests and hosts

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(i.e. CNN, Fox News segments on specific topics). CNN and Fox News both have news
programs with carefully selected hosts based on the program and the topic of discussion they will
have designed a discussion panel with pre-determined talking points. These programs will make
a point to find guests who will easily side with the networks viewpoints and if they have an
opposing opinionated guest then they will ensure that their views are the winning views in the
discussion.
Magazines are one of the oldest forms of media. They tell a wide variety of society how
to think. A fashion magazine can tell a person how they are supposed to look by telling them
what clothes to wear, what makeup will make you look best, and how to accessorize. A home
decorating magazine will tell a person how they are decorate their home, which colors to paint
their walls and which brand of furniture is the best to own. And health magazine will tell a
person what exercises they need to be doing and which foods and vitamins they should be
consuming. These are just a few examples of magazines that influence a persons thinking.
Although magazines can paint a very black and white view on society, it is important to
understand how individuals are able to interpret the presumptive and sometimes slanted
messages that magazines portray. Graff, who was a reader of sports magazines, ultimately
learned to benefit from the challenges and arguments that the sports writers presented about the
respective sports, and even deeper social issues of the day. Graff looked beyond just the basic
message that was being conveyed, and understood the larger picture, that differing opinions and
arguments are all around us. These differing opinions shape us all, for better or for worse.
According to Bacon, these magazines feed into the Idols Of The Tribe by promoting
distortions, and having their application be directed toward the entire human race.

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Media in all forms conclusively shapes our society. This is obvious by the way the
sentiment and national narrative changes at what seems to be lightning speed. With the way we
society consumes its healthy doses of social media, news outlets, and magazines, it becomes
obvious how critical thinking can be formed and even manipulated by these three entities.