Analysis of Mass Medias Effect on Formation Youths Mindset in the Media Landscape

Abstract

The article describes the impact of the Mass Media on the formation of the worldview of the young. This impact may be positive or negative. On the one hand, the media educate young people and enhance their participation in public life. On the other hand, they may mislead or promote false values, and manipulate the young generation’s consciousness. What helps people not to get involved into the tried-and-true crowd manipulation scheme in the media landscape is critical thinking, whose lack results in inability to choose the right guidelines in the flow of false information provided by various Media. The authors emphasize the role of the state, which, regarding the needs of the society, should enculturate the young generation, as well as exercise tight control over communication in the global web and publications in the Internet Media and social networks. One of the directions of the state’s policy is expanding the geography of information and communication technologies, and the other is ensuring information security of the young in general and adolescents in particular. To provide this, the state develops organizational and legal mechanisms aimed at protecting children from harmful information in the web, and requirements for the content, its expert evidence and government control. The article demonstrates the results of a study carried out by the authors to assess the current youth Media and their influence on criminality. The key criterion for selecting participants of the focus group was young age, since the young are the most active and the least protected players in the media landscape. The sampling was made by random choice in order to ensure equal opportunities for participation in the study.