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Popular Culture and Print Media Print media is classified as anything that is in print and is also used to inform the public. The most prominent forms of print media are newspapers, books, magazines, direct mail, and yellow pages. Outdoor advertising like billboards and transit posters are different types of print media but are very effective in conveying the advertisement across. What one sees and reads has a big influence on what he or she says, how one says it, and his or her action.
The influence print media has on people and communities have contributed to the change in popular American culture today. Print media is placed to catch everyone attention, it is everywhere one may look. People will find some form of print media strategically placed to catch onlooker’s attention. More than a communicative feature, print media has influenced American culture and consumerism over the years. Print media sets the trend on what is fashionable and what is out of fashion. More important, it serves as a significant factor to inspire and impede consumerism.
By influencing one’s consciousness and perception, print media has formed society into what has become “American Culture” of today. The influence print media has can make one desire the thing he or she use to dislike, believe in principles he or she used to have an aversion to, and continually consume items in excess. Print media has been extending the knowledge of the news or chronicles across the nation by keeping the public up- to- date on information pertaining to one’s life, services, products, and the environment.
Several trends that have propagated by the print media are food, fashion, and weigh loss programs. People are focused more on these trends today than ever before. Print media has made it more accessible for people to obtain whatever information he or she needs to keep up with these particular trends. Because of the down economy, more people are cooking at home instead of dinning out. People prefer to cook meals that are quick and easy to prepare and are healthier for the family. A few of the popular trend includes; organic or soy dairy product, ethic foods, one dish meal, vegetables, and ruits. This food trend has caused the prices of the items in the grocery stores to increase. In turn, the increase has sparked the owners of the grocery stores to enhance the distribution of sales advertisement. They are more sales advertisements printed and mailed to the consumer’s home nowadays than ever before. People can plan what they want to buy, before they leave their home, according to what is on sale. These advertisements sent through the mail also allow people to budget accordingly or even cut out sale coupons that will make their shopping more cost efficient.
Magazines and tabloids are a few sources that primarily focus on fashion. Usually, they employ a fashions staff that includes a team of fashion writers who are used often to highlight the different fashion trends. In addition to, magazines and tabloids, one can find an entire section dedicated to fashion in newspaper like the Sunday Times Style Magazine. This particular magazine is committed entirely to the most up- to- date fashion. These fashions set the trends that young and older people like and are willing to wear.
These papers often use celebrities to advertise certain product such as clothes by a specific designer or brand contributes to the fashion culture of today. Weight loss programs have also propagated he print media market. This is solely because many people are trying to be healthy and fit. They currently have whole magazines dedicated to weight loss. These are Body and Soul Magazine and Shape Magazine and they provide people with information about diets, fitness, healthy eating, and recipes from home. They also provide expert advice on how to live healthier from doctors or fitness gurus.
The advertisements in these magazines show people who are skinny and healthy and this makes people reading these magazines want to be like them. Today print media has become one of the most successful industries. The different types of print media give the people an excessive amount of options to choose from. Whether it is from a newspaper or magazine, every source has a particular benefit. Print media is driven by the need for advertisers to reach the audience they are targeting and in places were people are looking for information.