[MissMisa]

I can't even begin to tell you how many essays I have wrote about this! I've done speeches on it and everything!

In any case, I really don't think the media has as much effect as people like to make out. Although I do think it influences what we think of people, for example, celebrities, I'm sure that not everyone just takes it in as the whole truth. I think on the whole we do look at things more skeptically and don't just take things in.

There is a theory to describe the influence of the media, called the 'Hypodermic Needle.' This is the theory that people see the media, take it all in without a conscious thought, and are influenced by it. Personally, I think while this may be the case for very few people, it's not the general feeling.

Another theory which I'm incline to agree with more is the 'Two-Step Flow' theory, which is were the main source of the information comes from the media and is filtered down through 'opinion leaders' - people who do heavily influence the way people think. It's a sort of mediation through the opinion leaders which makes it less heavily media influenced.