Psychological pollution by mass media
Name(s):
Media addiction
Media brainwashing
Nature
The development of mass media and public information techniques has increased the amount of information directed at the individual to the point at which he can no longer continue to absorb it. The information which is not absorbed is not harmless because it helps to neutralize the thinking of the individual, leading to indifference through familiarity. The overabundance and sensationalization of information disturbs the psyche, hinders the individual in distinguishing between real and unreal, true and false, and useful and useless. The critical faculty is eroded and the culture is distorted.
Incidence
According to a 1992 USA communications survey, the average American adult spends the largest share of his time exposed to the "media", which is 3,256 hours per year or about 9 hours per day. 1991 calculations show $108.8 billion spent by adult consumers on media related activities, which indicates approximately $353 per person that year. Advertisers spent an additional $80 billion to bring their products to customers' attention.
By 1992, the UK was the only country with an official ban on an elected member of Parliament addressing their audience through the broadcast media.
Narrower
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Strategy(ies)
Type
(D) Detailed problems