The conversation we had in class today reminds me of the riddle- what came first, the chicken or the egg? Trying to decide if media influences us or if we influence media is the same situation. Many things that go into the media reflect current social and political issues, which just gets directed back to us through the mass media. A good example of this is when women gained the right to vote and started working in traditionally male heavy work places. The media then started showing movies and TV shows that showed women in the workforce rather than women as housewives. In this case, the media was influenced by the social and political issues and in turn was just confirming our beliefs of how the world should be. On the other hand, media also influences our (the audience) way of thinking. The gatekeepers control what goes into the mass media for the world to see. An example of this is that clear channel is a media conglomerate which owns many forms of media like TV and radio. They have one of the largest influences in what is projected to the audience through their mediums because they own a large amount of media channels. In this case, media influences us more than we influence media. This argument can go either way, which is why it is very hard to determine whether we influence media first or the media influences us first.