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Electronic and Printed Media in American Pop Culture Radio, television, music, motion pictures, magazines, newspapers, etc, all are very influential in American popular culture. All of these types of media play a similar role, which is to decide the standard for American pop culture at that moment in time. All which focus on 3 major trends: style, health, and taste (interest). They all have their own way that they impact the way we think and impact our opinions, thus shaping what American popular culture will be.
For example, let us take electronic media, electronic media being the radio, music, and television/motion pictures. They all influence the 3 major trends: health, style, and your interest. Health, it is single handedly one of the most important trends in popular culture. Turn on the television and you are guaranteed to see a minimum of 3-4 weight loss commercials, and the same counts for radio. It is filled with advertising commercials of gyms, workout regiments, and muscle building supplements. TV/motion pictures and music are the most important in this portraying this message of health.
You hear and see about musicians and actors/actresses losing weight or whatever is necessary to portray a perfect image. By no means am I arguing that it is not important to be healthy and to be in shape, but a growing trend in American pop culture is that it is less than accepted to be a larger size. There is much pressure for people to be thin, and because it is the more accepted trend people are willing to go through anything to reach that perfect pop culture image to make their selves feel happier and more accepted.
Style, a major trend that is very similar to health is also very important in shaping popular culture. It is what you see that you must have. How many times have the American people seen sunglasses, clothes, even hair styles on celebrities or people they view of being of importance, and have gone out to purchase exactly what they have? But it does not always stop there. Style can also portray an attitude because when people view celebrities or others they find interesting or important act a way that is very acceptable or less than acceptable they seek out to become that.
I would believe that it is a safe assumption to make when I say style is pop culture. As I said before, it is what you see that you must have. It is all about an image and TV/motion picture, and music is all about conveying an image. Industries rely on selling an image, it is how they profit, and in return a trend is started, thus making it a part of pop culture. Taste is a major trend that American popular culture has complete control over. Popular culture controls your taste or your interest because whatever is created, you will gravitate towards it.
To be more specific, think about cars, clothing, or music. Most people can not go build their own cars, create their own clothes, or create their own music. Everything is run and created by an industry, an industry that is heavily influenced by pop culture. It decides what you will watch, what you listen to and what you will not watch and listen to. It sometimes leaves me with the feeling that nothing is really original anymore. What you will be interested in is pre-examined, pre-approved, and pre-decided for you. This trend alone, in my opinion, has the greatest impact on American popular culture.
The printed media, just as electronic media tries to accomplish the same goals. They focus on and influence the major trends discussed earlier. Whether it be magazines, MySpace, twitter, or the newspapers every source of printed media has an influence. But, to make an assessment that printed media has had more of an impact than electronic media, or vice versa, I think is false. Both printed and electronic media are equally as influencing. They both report and focus heavily on the same trends that influence the American people and shape popular culture.
They both rely on each other, one way being they report one another. Printed media will always be intrigued by the news of electronic media, and electronic always interested in printed media. What I can conclude is that popular culture is and forever will be changing because the trends that determine them will always alternate. However, this will never change the fact that both the electronic and the printed media will be there to put forth their aid in influencing the new trends of American culture.