MTV

MTV began as Music Television but has turned into something much different. MTV is a cable television show that targets a teenage audience but serves as a grand commercial media source. According to the article from http://www.media-studies.ca/articles/pr.htm, MTV has fallen victim to the tactics of public relations by "routinely mapping out pre-arranged occurrences that are projected to look and sound like impromptu truths." MTV performs "market research" by interviewing teenagers on the current trends and fads they follow. However the teenagers are viewed as a customer. MTV doesn't have to give teenagers exactly what they want, instead they listen to the young so they know how to feed them information.
MTV started out persuading the music tastes of teenagers through the music videos and guest appearances of pop-stars, but I think that some of MTV's featured shows has gone to far. Shows like Spring Break portraying the half dressed girls and belligerent boys that depict the essence of "cool" for the younger generations. And although the footage may be entertaining is MTV benefiting the greater good of society by advertising that type of behavior? I believe that advertisers and PR firms need to be more cautious when targeting a younger audience. Teenage audiences are one of the most vulnerable demographics. The way certain advertisements on MTV are framed may affect the way the message is perceived by the audience. For instance, this commercial for "safe sex" was sponsored and aired on MTV:



The commerical is to persuade the teenage audience to use condoms when having sex, but the ad itself says much more. To teenagers this advertisement may speak more about the common one-night stand in college than about having safe sex. The way advertisements are created can have a large impact on the audience, and therefore, stations like MTV need to take more social responsibility for what is aired.