World Reality VS Television Reality

In 1976, a professor of communication, George Gerbner founded a theory known as the "cultivation theory". According to his theory, an exposure to television over time 'cultivates' the viewer's perception of reality.  For example, if a person watches too much horror movies, there is a chance that the person will develop a kind of fear, that will haunt them over a long period of time. 

The video shows a good dramatization on how the Mean World Syndrome affects an individual. 

Now let's compare the real world and television. The real world might not be as sweet as what the television portrays, but it is not that bitter and sour either. On television, a lot of cheesy, unreal romantic programmes aired regularly. On television you'll see tragic murders, shootings and other sorts of violence and whatnot. But in reality, we don't face this regularly. But a person whose affected by the Mean World Syndrome will think otherwise. In some cases, people lock themselves up in their homes and did not go out for a long period of time. Cases such as that is definitely unhealthy and is not even necessary to exist.

In a nutshell, the media does cultivate the viewer's perception of reality. However, at the end of the day, the viewing power is still ours. We have every right to choose what we want to see, hear, and believe. We don't need to spend every night watching violent shows on television, instead we can watch educational channels in which little or no violence are ever involved.