Paper Summary:

This study uses content analysis to examine adolescent television drama program behavior as compared to actual adolescent behavioral statistics from the National Center for Health Statistics. Issues of sexual behavior, alcohol usage and drug usage were analyzed. This work contributes to cultivation theory; the culmination of similar messages on fictional adolescent television drama programs re-enforces impressions that are not based on reality.

From the Paper:

"Media can be described in many ways and forms. It is the dissemination of news, events, and information as well as a portrayal of America. It contains movies, sitcoms, dramas, comedies, news, and world events that all shape our reality of what the world is. Television more specifically is so popular because its function is to be a mirrored image of what America is, its beliefs, and ideas. Because it performs this function, it is considered entertainment. This industry is a multi-billion dollar industry that centers around two words: money and people. It does not necessarily have to be accurate for people to believe it. People will believe what they find to be interesting whether it is true or not, based upon no actual proof. This is why the media can get away with straying from the truth, because people do not care whether what they absorb is true. Truth is a very powerful concept that most people take too lightly. Most people will not admit that what they watch on television, hear on the radio, or read in the newspaper affects them. However, it has been proven through the cultivation theory that this effect is present, it does occur, and it subsequently affects the way a country perceives itself. This is how the media ultimately controls the power of thought."

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