Well...

Geesh. How bout an easier question? I mean, there isn't anyone who actually knows whether the media mirrors society or shapes it. And if there's someone who says that they do know, they're lying. (or they are Oprah.) To me, I think its a little of both. Don't kill me Lamags, I know that that's a wussy answer, but really. I think that the media must mirror society to be effective on the one hand, but on the other hand, they try to push new products and encourage us to do new things, therefore shaping society. Who am I to say which they do more of or which came first? This is just one of those times where I wish I had my gurl Oprah's number.
Credit card debt is a little extreme. I do think that the TV programs airing encourage Americans to do what we do best - consume, but no, I don't think that it necessarily is directly related to credit card debt, save for a few individual cases. There's no question that TV and commercials especially are designed to make us want things, buy them, talk about them. So in that frame of mind, yes, watching TV does run up bills, does influence the spending of money. However, I think that credit card debt is just as fairly blamed on TV as drunk driving is on owning a car. BOOM.