3rd post

The first idea that comes to mind when I think of stereotypes in the media would have to be the caveman commercial. The commercial is meant to be funny, but it does prove a point. People get stereotypes from the media. People take the image that they see on television and apply it to reality. People are guily of creating all kinds of beliefs off of one medium.
Reality is limited because people may be thrown off by media. They may feel that they know all that they need to know about a subject, or a person because they saw it on televison or read about it on the internet. People are limiting themselves and not getting a first hand experience. Television shows often portray minorities as trouble makers or some sort of criminal. Some people may be afraid of African Americans because of what they learned about them on t.v.
By engaging in more media you can further your beliefs in more than one way. You may learn that what you learned from one form of media, may not be the same on a different type. Take television for an example, you may watch Law and Order SVU and think that African Americans are a bunch of criminals, but then you change station and watch the Crosby show and see a family just like yours. Or you may never change the channel and just simply see minorities as criminals and refuse to believe anything different.
It is up to you to interpret media and remain open to different experiences. If we decide to let other people, such as news reporters or even celebrities give us our knowledge on things, we wont ever know first hand what we would think for ourselves.