When are some instances when the media is said to have had a positive or negative influence? Lets start with the positives!

Positive Influence Examples

Grim reaper aids campaign 

The 1987 safe sex campaign at the height of the Australian aids epidemic used fear and graphic visuals to scare the population. Safe sex and using protection became increasingly normal due to the fear generated from campaigns such as this and thus, the rate of HIV aids dropped dramatically

Education

There are many examples of the media being able to educate people. Television shows like Sesame Street and Playschool have taught generations of children how to count, read and write... and even larger life lessons as displayed in the clip above.

TAC road safety

the Traffic Accident Commission have been running a campaign of brutal realism on Australian television for the past 20 years to help reduce the road toll. they have been very successful in demonizing drink driving and making other risky behavior socially unacceptable. Since 1989, the Victorian road toll has halved, despite our population doubling.

Negative Influence Examples

1999 Columbine High School Massacre

On April 20th 1999, senior students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher at Columbine High School, Colorado. In the aftermath, violent media such as video games (like Doom) and violent music like that of Marilyn Manson were blamed for influencing the teens. this turned out to be a case of moral panic.

WW2 and Hitler's Nazi Propiganda

In the wake of WW1, Hitler and the Nazi party were able to pull Germany out of a deep recession and were very popular and powerful. With a tight control over German media, the Nazi party began to represent the Jewish population in a very negative light. over time, they were successful in turning Aryan people against the Hebrew religion... with tragic consequences.

Orson Welles' War of the Worlds Radio Broadcast

"The War of the Worlds"was performed on radio on Halloween, Sunday, October 30, 1938. Directed and narrated by actor and future filmmaker Orson Welles, the episode was an adaptation of H. G. Wells' novel The War of the Worlds (1898). It became famous for allegedly causing mass panic, although the reality of the panic is disputed as the program had relatively few listeners