Blog #3

   The Most Important Sentence

 “Commercial media play a pivotal role in creating cultural definitions about what it
means to be a citizen -indeed, our sense of ourselves as national citizens emerges from (not
in spite of) our engagement with the popular media.”  In the chapter, “We the people of
Nickelodeon: Theorizing power and consumer citizenship, Sarah Banet-Weiser discusses the
impact of the media on kids and how it targets kids as consumers.  Kids are young, 
influential, and their ideas are constantly being formed.  The media has recognized this
opportunity and capitalized on it.  From SpongeBob SquarePants to Nick at Nite, Nickelodeon
entertains and influences kids of all ages while subtly shaping their perceptions of the world
and who they are in the world.  Kid’s ideas and preferences about culture are continually
developing by what they hear and see in their world which is influenced by the media. 
When kids watch Nickelodeon, there is no thought or realization about the subtle influence on
self and cultures that are being presented. They are being entertained and it’s the same for
adults.  They use the internet and social media with a feeling they are connecting to the world
when in fact the world is connecting and influencing them.  The US Department of Education
published an article “Dealing with Media Pressure – Helping Your Child Become a Responsible
Citizen”, that discusses the media’s use of powerful techniques to get whatever message they
want across and the influence this has on a kid’s values and developing character.  Interactive 
networks and service providers have the largest role of influence on our lives and that is where
the media has taken the role to create definitions of culture that create citizens.
                                                                                                                      
 We are all influenced in some way by the media, from politics to purchasing brands, the media
influences us.  Tariq Modood in an article on Open Democracy, says that commonality
is a factor of citizenship.  He says multicultural citizenship leads to national identity, which is
something the media recognized a long time ago so they have been constantly working on their
programming to influence and shape young kid’s perception of what it is to be a good citizen in
the world. The Center for Media Literacy adds the combinations of media and technology is
changing the way kids learn through a complex “language” that has many layered concepts
about the world.  We need to understand that the media is more than entertainment, it is shaping
who we are as citizens.

      Links
 https://www2.ed.gov/parents/academic/help/citizen/partx.html
https://www.opendemocracy.net/faith-europe_islam/multiculturalism_4627.jsp
http://www.medialit.org/reading-room/media-literacy-national-priority-changing-world
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