At present, the media greatly affects people’s lives. What impact does this have on society? Is it a negative or positive development?

In the twenty-

first

century,

media

seems ever present in the lives of people all around the world.

This

essay will look into its impact and

also

discuss whether it is positive or negative. The role of the

media

is huge and it will probably continue to grow. Throughout the world, people’s opinions and beliefs are shaped by the

media

. Whether it is a newspaper, a TV channel, a website, or a social

media

app, these organizations have the power to make us vote for a political party, alter our views on particular social issues, or take an interest in some area of life.

In other words

, the power that they wield is immense. In the United States, the

media

appears to have recently divided the population into rival political factions, with devastating consequences for society as a whole. The above example makes it seem as though the

media

is purely negative, but

this

is not true. When unscrupulous individuals use it to manipulate large numbers of people into doing something,

then

of course it is problematic, but

that is

not always how

media

works. There have been honest, upstanding

media

outlets throughout history whose commitment to spreading the truth has helped solve great problems. Take,

for example

, the Washington Post’s expose of Richard Nixon’s crimes during the Watergate scandal. It is clear,

then

, that the

media

’s power is neither positive nor negative;

instead

, it is what people let it be. In conclusion, the

media

has a very large degree of control over people’s lives and

this

seems to be growing. It affects many parts of society, and in some ,ways

this

is rather negative, whilst in others it is positive.