Assignment 5- Angelica Malkowski

Society today revolves around media more than it ever has before. Teens today are often criticized for being glued to their smartphones. In fact, teens spend an average of 9 hours using media (including listening to music) per day, according to CCN[1]. But the media consumption doesn’t end with teens. As a society, we pay far more attention to news surrounding celebrities (usually referring to an actor, singer, entertainer, or other person involved or related to media) than we do leaders in the field of academia. A perfect example of this is the huge number of people who watch the Emmy awards every year, compared to the small number who pay attention to Nobel Prize winners, which are released a few weeks later. The Emmy’s receive tons of coverage, with celebrities, gossip, and advertisements broadcast to millions of people. Contrastingly, Nobel Prize winners are quietly announced in the news, with no one excitedly watching. This demonstrates a sad truth in society today: leaders in academic fields are almost always not recognized or celebrated. Yes, the job of entertainers (the type of people found at the Emmy’s) are very important to society. They have the power to bring a county together in hard times. They can make people laugh despite a recent tragedy. They can deeply effect a society’s views and opinions on a certain topic. But, not all media is like that. In fact, most media is pointless and asinine. And whether you agree with that or not, you must agree that society has the ability to survive and grow without things like the Emmy’s. However, society cannot survive or grow without the type of people who win Noble Prizes. These people are the ones who push society forward through inventions, scientific breakthroughs, etc. So unless you’d prefer to live without African American civil rights (Martin Luther King, Jr.-Nobel Peace Prize winner, 1964), equality in female education, specifically in science fields (Marie Curie-Nobel Physics Prize, 1903), or still practice apartheid in South Africa (Nelson Mandela- Nobel Peace Prize, 1993), give Nobel Prize winners the recognition they deserve.

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[1] CNN article can be found at http://www.cnn.com/2015/11/03/health/teens-tweens-media-screen-use-report/