new question: does media influence society? If so, is it for the better or for the worse?
             Many people believe that the common television is a major building block of our present society. It may be hard to believe, but the very TV in your living room is one of the many influences that built and is building our society as we speak. Since its introduction in 1945, bringing about the dawn of the "Information Age," television has been laying on thick layers of influences on the average individual through its many commercials, sitcoms, and movies. In almost no time at all, the past nights spent with family, gathered around the radio, listening to the next installment of a favorite series, quickly became accompanied by visions. Thus television-with its gifts of paralysis and a new creature, the notorious "couch potato." The blue-gray cathode glow illuminates the mind, shacking the imagination and leaving it wondering the possibilities. "It's brain candy-it's not nutritious, but it keeps you satisfied" (Ward Interview).
             It is this stirring of the imagination that may influence people, especially among younger viewers. Four national health associations have linked violence in media (TV, music, video games, movies, etc.) to increased aggression in children (Associated Press 1). The United States government, the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American Psychological Association, and the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry have recently come together to form a committee to determine if there are any effects of television and movies on children and what should be done about
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