Part 1: What I need to Know

At the age of 15, my father fled the war-torn country of Lebanon. He came to The United States in hope of an education and opportunity. At the time, Lebanon was in the midst of a great  civil war. My father never failed to tell me his story about his experiences in Lebanon during the war, and his story of coming of American and struggling to make a life for himself.

My mother grew up in a working class family with from Toledo Ohio. She grew up in a one-bedroom house with her mother, father and four other sisters. It was not until she graduated high school when she left home.

In 1992 in Atlanta Georgia, their worlds collided (It’s crazy how life works right?), well long story short, they got married then I came along. My parents had very different views and ideologies, so my ideologies became a mix of their ideals.

I’ve grown up listening to my father discuss current issues both here, and back in Lebanon. Growing up in the South with a mother from Ohio and a father from Lebanon gave me quite a different ideology than the majority. Having spent most of my life watching all kinds of news broadcast such as ones with a left and right bias. I wanted to find out how strong of an influence does the media have on it’s viewers.

Part 2: What I know or assume
Very recently I discovered that Hall county and The City of Gainesville is a lot more polarized and diverse than I thought, and it’s surprising that was not the case 20 or 30 years ago. Most opinions on issues that young adults have today, root from the beliefs of their parents, or in some cases it is the complete opposite views of their parents.

Part 3: My Search

I started my search like any other person usually would, by going to the internet. I looked at case studies, class lectures, videos, and articles in the past that would potentially help my research. Not only did I look in the realm of journalism, I branched out to the field of psychology to see if there's a way of human thinking involved. I interviewed Matt Phillips, he teaches government at West Hall High school, and was formerly a speech writer. His interview is here

Part 4: My Findings

In the end, I have found out that the idea of the media influencing public opinion is argued whether they actually play a role in influencing. Once again, it is what you make of it and that ultimately comes down to your ideologies. My research found that many people tend to keep their opinion they started with. When a viewer of one belief hears an opposite belief or idea, the viewer tends to support their original view stronger than before.