Audience theory 2: blog tasks

 Theory questions and your opinion

1) Social learning theory has been criticised for simplifying the causes of violence in society. Do you think the media is responsible for anti-social behaviour and violence?

Since the media is such a broad aspect of society and is not a tangible thing it is hard to pinpoint the blame of the rise in violence and anti-social behaviour in society. It also makes it seem as if audiences who are seeing this violence is passive and takes anything they see literally for what it is, as if they have no critical thinking skills. Although social media has a part to play as well as media news outlets that highlight the violence within our communities. Making everyone think they should be hyper aware of the violence and anti-social behaviour going on within our society. 

2) How is social learning theory relevant in the digital age? Are young people now learning behaviour from social media and the internet? Give examples.

 I believe the theory does apply to the new digital age, even more so now due to the plethora of information we get due to the internet. We are now susceptible to others opinions of things and how others have acted in certain situations; and some bring those reactions to life. For example with the riots that were afoot during this summer , as there was misinformation spread about the Southport stabbing - where Islamophobic and racist rhetoric was circulated on the internet. Others already had these ideologies in their heads but used the death of these children as an excuse to blame and target immigrants and muslims.

3) Research three examples of moral panic from the last 50 years. To what extent was the media responsible for these moral panics? Was the concern in society justified? How have things changed as a result of these moral panics? List of moral panics 18th century onwards

 Immigrant child grooming panic - "Grooming gangs" formed by South Asian immigrants in Europe. Caused by the anti- Muslim sentiment in the UK. The media tends to focus on the most outrageous stories as those are the ones that get the most views. So they've been focusing on these cases and constructed a narrative in which South Asian men pose a unique sexual threat to young white girls. Despite the lack of evidence that the abuse perpetrated by South Asian men is separate from violence against women. As a result there has been a surge in anti-immigrant rhetoric as well as emerging hate groups in Northern England.

However I don't believe the panic is justified as the media has fueled the hatred in racists hearts by giving them substantial evidence to base their prejudice off of. So as a result of these moral panics have insisted riots and held a light to the anti-immigrant rhetoric in the UK. 

School violence - The phenomenon is mostly widespread in the United States due to their high number of school related shootings. There has been increased media coverage of such incidences which has sent American civilians into panic when sending their children into the American school system. And has resulted in teachers being just as scared as students to enter school. I think the concern in society is completely justified however and it has fundamentally has the American school system forever. 

Aids panic - The aids panic of the 80s  caused global hysteria. It had a plethora of media coverage and got attention from everyone around the world. Then grew the idea that homosexuals were "dirty" and people needed to distance themselves from them. Since many were religious at the time, the stigma around homosexuality grew even more into a shameful subject. Within the gay community it was known that if you were infected with HIV you were going to die, inevitably and many didn't tell their friends until they were knocking on deaths door. The men when died of this disease often didn't have family to come and pick up their bodies and were often put into mass graves- to stop the spread of infection- as they didn't know what caused it at the time. This also affected women who had slept with men, who often slept with other men. Causing shame among women as well. I understand the panic amongst society however they were ignorant towards the subject and didn't know the science behind the disease, the only correlation that they could think of was that gay men most commonly carried it. As a result of this moral panic there is a lingering stigma around sex culture in the LGBTQ scene, where it is viewed as  immoral. 

4) Read this introduction to an academic paper on technopanics. What examples are given of technopanics that create fear in society? If the link is blocked in school, you can access the text here.

Some examples of technopanics are child safety, digital privacy, and cybersecurity.

5) Do you think the internet should be regulated? Should the government try and control what we can access online?

I believe the internet should be regulated to some extent  and most social media sites regulate what we watch and what content is allowed on the site. I don't believe we need to do anything to a further extent as it would soon cross the line into an impeachment of freedom of speech. 

6) Apply Gerbner's cultivation theory to new and digital media. Is the internet creating a fearful population? Are we becoming desensitised to online threats, trolling and abuse? Is heavy internet use something we should be worried about in society? Write a paragraph discussing these ideas.

I do believe the internet is creating  fearful population, as the media is only filled with negativity and I believe we are becoming desensitised to online abuse. As we see stories of teenagers committing suicide in response to online abuse. It is something we hear and see of too often to the point it is making people who are extremely hyperaware or indifferent to those situations. We use the internet for almost everything in todays society, for communicating and education. There is no need to be worried about heavy internet use, however we should be aware of what we use it for.

The effects debate: Media Factsheet

Complete the following tasks using Media Factsheet 030 - The Effects Debate available on the Media Shared drive. You'll find it in our Media Factsheet archive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets. You can also access it via your school Google login here.

Read Media Factsheet 030 - Media and Audiences -The Effects Debate and answer the following questions:

1) Complete the questions in the first activity box (beginning with 'Do you play violent games? Are you violent in real life?')

 I do not play violent video games and I am not violent in real life. 

 I sometimes see a product on Tv and think I want to buy it.

 Yes I have seen a documentary that is centred around something I am interested in and has made be want to       watch it. 

2) What are the four categories for different effects theories?

    • Direct Effect Theories

    • Diffusion Theories

    • Indirect Effect Theories

    • The Pluralist Approach

3) What are the examples provided for the hypodermic needle theory - where media texts have been blamed for certain events? 

Child’s Play – The murder of Jamie Bulger

• Marilyn Manson – The Columbine High School shootings

• Natural Born Killers – a number of murders committed by

romantically linked couples. in one case, the director was sued

for inciting violence although the court case was later dismissed

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.

  A handful of teenagers felt out of place in school amongst their peers. It was a pre-meditated aggression where the highschoolers set up multiple bombs in cars and planned to shoot and stab any survivors. They killed twelve students and twenty-one additional people were injured due to the shots. 

5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?

- the ease of access to gun and the social normality of ownership

- the alienation felt buy teenagers from their peers

- hopelessness caused buy living in an area of high unemployment and economic disadvantage 

- the general desensitisation caused by a range of violent images; film, Tv , the news and overall internet. 

6) How does the factsheet describe Gerbner's Cultivation theory?

  Considers the way media affects attitudes rather than behaviour. Any one media does not have a a significant effect, if over exposed to a certain medium , certain ideas and values may appear to be normalised due to the constant presence of it. Making the audience less critical of the present ideology. 

7) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?

  Violence is supported in action films to justify how the hero reaches their goal. The only difference between the hero and the villain is that we agree with the heros motives.

8) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?

Some say the theory is quite black and white with a simple " cause and effect" and having an elitist element.  

9) Why might the 1970s sitcom Love Thy Neighbour be considered so controversial today? What does this tell us about Reception theory and how audiences create meanings?

 Audiences create meanings for themselves through gender, religion ect. Modern viewers found it racist offensive as times have changed and so have peoples attitudes and values. 

10) What examples are provided for Hall's theory of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings?

o The Sun and The Guardian may report the same ‘facts’ very

differently - oppositional 

o Media producers can never guarantee that all audience

members will interpret (decode) information in the same way - preferred

o Audience members will have different experiences and

opinions and, therefore, interpret media texts differently - negotiated