Autopsy+Clara,+Erica,+Kristy,+Khaled

__Introduction__ New version: The 1996 Cambridge Dictionary defines media as a “collective term for television, radio, cinema, and press”. Nowadays, however, this definition would be considered incomplete, as it does not include the widest, and most controversial type of media: the Internet.

Since its creation, over two decades ago the worldwide web has allowed its two billion users (according to International Telecommunications Union) to connect to different parts of the world, and that resulted in another rhythm to the flow of information worldwide. Before that, people could seek knowledge in books and newspapers besides other press vehicles, but they represented a still knowledge, in other words, new information requires a newer edition. As opposed to that, the spread of Internet around the globe has provided people the opportunity to interact, and therefore question, refute and express their opinions in such a way that knowledge is currently dynamic, and each day more accessible, as data provided by Nielsen Online, shows the number of internet users nowadays has gown by 6 times compared to that in 10 years.

Old Version: The 1996 Cambridge Dictionary defines media as a “collective term for television, radio, cinema, and press””. Nowadays, however, this definition would be considered incomplete, as it does not include the widest, and most controversial type of media: the Internet. Since its creation, over two decades ago the worldwide web has allowed its users to connect to different parts of the world and that resulted in another rhythm to the flow of information worldwide. Before that, people could seek knowledge in books and newspapers besides other press vehicles, but they represented a still knowledge, that was not subjected to changes. In addition, those information were limited to people that had access to libraries, on that could afford such things, which obviously did not comprise the entire population of a certain place. As opposed to that, the spread of Internet around the globe has provided people the opportunity to interact, and therefore question, refute and express their opinions in such a way that knowledge is currently dynamic, and each day more universal.

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A good example of this new trend is Wikipedia. As we all know, Wikipedia is one of the most used source of online research and is comprised of 2.5 millions of articles **in English, not to mention the other languages**. When this number is compared to the 120,000 definitions found in Encyclopedia Britannica, one can easily conclude that Wikipedia is considerably more resourceful. Such a discrepancy occurs due to the fact that Wikipedia is not made by a limited number of people, **namely intelectuals**, but is rather edited by millions of **individuals** around the world, contributing to the variety of language and, most important, **for the abscence of cost**.

Kristy

“The media’s the most powerful entity on earth. They have the power to make the innocent guilty and to make the guilty innocent. Because they control the minds.” Referring this quote from Malcolm, this clearly suggests the mass media has the power of influencing minds. We can consider the impacts of government advertising campaigns as positive and successful. For example, the Hong Kong government has held some smoking ban campaigns with the help of the mass media and successfully altered the citizens’ concept of smoking.

Erica

Concerning the effect of mass media on literacy, some may argue that it has negative social impacts. As technology and standard of living improves, we try to become more efficient, some times using simplified forms of writing to express ourselves. There had been the introduction of several ‘new languages’, ranging from the ‘language of mars’, as used in blogs and websites in Hong Kong and simplified English. Where we would most observe these forms of evoluted language is the internet, and in this technology oriented century, we are exposed to it everyday. When we’re constantly in touch with it, we tend to integrate it into our daily lives, conversations on MSN may start with ‘wt r u doing’ ‘I m gd’, or may even affect your writing when you unconsciously use these forms of simplified languages. Therefore the literacy skills of people, especially teenagers, will decrease by much, and in general, the public education system cannot reach its full effect. However, when you look at the sentence structure again, there is no particularly big flaw, it’s only the words being expressed in a abbreviated form. And prior the usage of simplified English or even ‘Chinglish’, we still have to have a basic knowledge on the structure and grammar of that language, we simply cannot make something up and expect the others to understand what we are talking about. Perhaps the usage of these languages as adapted from the internet and blogs mat affect out knowledge of a ‘traditional’ language, it basically doesn’t have a strong impact on the basic structure of words and sentences.

Khaled

 * When listening or reading news in mass media, public views on a certain topic may vary depending on the source they knew the topic from. media is controlled by powerful people such as government leaders business owners depending on the country. They sponsor media and have the authorities to tell media what to publish in that country. As everyone knows, media has become un separate part of our lives, yet the question to be asked is Whether media is doing its purpose in effecting people in a beneficial way that would bring knowledge, fun, and amusement to the them. TVs and news papers are considered the most used means of mass media in many countries. Those media means give a good effect to the society. For instance, newspaper help readers in their linguistic skills. Recently, Yemeni local newspaper publishers produce copies of their newspapers in English. Such an action raised the awareness among teenagers of the importance of English language since it's involved in many aspects of life. Another example is TV. Many programs such as educational or entertainment are brought to the public. The advertisements the public receive can be a good information source for them. Moreover, TV might show and aware people of their health and what would affect them. For example, the awareness of drug usage as well as anti-tobacco programs. That caused the spread of anti-drug and tobacco campaigns all over the world. According to the National Youth  //Anti // -  //Drug // Media Campaign, drug users decreased from 9.1 to 6.0 in September 2008. the campaign has a significant positive impact on anti-drug beliefs and intentions ; and youth attitudes and beliefs against drug use and the importance of remaining drug-free have strengthened  . **

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However, many articles found in Wikipedia do not include any source, which implies two things: either the editor wrote a personal perspective about a certain topic, in which case the information is strongly questioned, or the editor is committing plagiarism and therefore is acting in breach of copy rights.

Kristy However, the dissemination of information is not absolutely beneficial to the society, especially when we cannot judge the accuracy and reliability of the news. Taking the same case in Philippines, the news reports in the first few hours of the incident are actually false. The South China Morning Post reported the victims were actually Koreans. This wrong information will lead to delay of emergency plans by the government, and mislead the citizens. This suggests the influence of mass media on the society is never one-sided. Even if we analyse only one incident, there are always both positive and negative impacts, depending on how the audiences perceive and react.

Erica

In contradiction to the above, the weight loss regime has actually brought many social matters to the table. Have you noticed that advertisements nowadays use the term ‘slimming’ instead of ‘losing weight’? Slimming has a more positive ideal of getting fit where the other hold a relatively negative meaning of simply getting rid of some (extra) pounds. When the weight loss plan first started, many ridiculous and totally unreliable diets is the only way of becoming fit and attain a relatively healthier body. And as a result, slimming companies such as Shape Easy 22 and Marie Beauty now promote slimming programs which contain dancing lessons and diet lists to their customers instead of selling pills or medication. People in the society are more aware of their health, as could be pill or medication. People in the society are more aware of their health, as could be seem from the increasing number of vegetarian restaurants and the promotion of the Hong Kong government that one third of you portion of the meal should be vegetables. From a survey done by the YMCA, out of 112 teenagers 70% were discontented with their body shape however 65% of them supported the statement that doing exercises and healthy eating is the way to lose weight. Although their view on body shape is probably affected by the mass media, they understood that by just simply dieting cannot promise a skinny body in the future. This trend has actually promoted a healthier form of losing weight and in addition, creating many job opportunities. Not only slimming companies hired a great number of people but several new occupations had been found too, for example nutritionists, personal trainers (for doing exercises) and dieticians. Indeed we should not neglect the cases of anorexia and low self-esteem but through education and promotion by various organizations, it could be believed that these cases will decrease gradually in the future.

** Worse body paragraph: KHALED. **  When listening or reading news in mass media, public views on a certain topic may vary depending on the source they knew the topic from. Most of the time, media is controlled by powerful people such as government leaders. They sponsor media and have the authorities to tell media what to publish in a country. The main question should be asked is whether news come to us as individuals receiving those news are reliable and completely honest. Whether media is doing its purpose in effecting people. Or whether facts in the news actually happened without manipulation with those facts. Almost none of the media means could give the public a total honest story about any fact. What proves that is the different versions of one story we hear or read about. That makes public wonder who is right or wrong. Causing a misleading of ideas within the news receivers. In contrast, TVs and news papers are considered the most used means of mass media in many countries. Regardless who controls them, those media means give a good effect to the society. For instance, newspaper help readers in their linguistic skills. Recently, Yemeni local newspaper publishers produce copies of their newspapers in English. Hat action raised the awareness among teenagers of the importance of language, especially foreign ones. Additionally, the puzzle section or jokes section in some newspapers bring the reader relaxation and reduce stress. Another example of media men is TV. Many programs such as educational or entertainment are brought to the public. The advertisements the public receive can be a good information source for them. Moreover, TV might show and aware people of their health and what would affect them. For example, the awareness of rug usage as well as anti-tobacco programs. All these programs are very useful to society particularly teenagers

CONCLUSION Old Version In my view, the mass media influence is inevitable. But we as the audience can decide whether the media is bringing positive or negative impacts. If we are smart readers or audiences, and think critically, the mass media can improve out lives. As an American advertising executive says “ All of us who professionally use the mass media are the shapers of the society. We can brutalize the mass media or we can make god use of it and help the society to improve.”