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Media's Influence on Political Socialization

This section will begin with explaining political socialization as one of the four functions of media and why media is considered the most influential factor of political socialization (according to Graber). To prove this point, I will explain media's impacy on the socialization of children; the amount of media consumed by children, what type of media it is, and how it has been proven that young people who consume more media show a greater understanding of basic American values and norms (Graber). After covering childhood socialization, I'll move to adult socialization; I will explain how the media's agenda can influence public opinion, but on an individual level tends to only reinforce or support existing beliefs. I'll end by describing patterns in socialization. Race, gender, age, income level, education, religion, and region may effect media consumption and its effect on socialization. However, overall information media and interpretation are similar throughout the country, which establishes "a structure of knowledge and basic values".