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?

I don't think that the media is responsible for anti-social and violent behaviour but it could contribute towards it. There may be many different explanations for anti-social and violent behaviour (e.g. environmental factors etc.) that could have a much larger influence on anti-social and violent behaviour than the media. However, if violent acts are shown in the media, that behaviour may get normalised and result in more people acting that way because people tend to learn though observing, imitating and modelling (social learning theory) 

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.

The Social Learning Theory gets more and more relevant in the digital age because a majority of young people have access to technology and media that depict acts of violence so they are exposed to violent acts from a young age which allows them to observe and copy the behaviour they see. This perhaps makes the Social Learning Theory more relevant now than it used to be before all of the violent games and media we have nowadays compared to the limited media before 

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?

HIV/AIDS: In the 1980s, HIV was linked to homosexuality and the media started saying that gay people were spreading HIV around the world but the moral panic died down in the 1990s when HIV was blamed on the behaviour of youth instead of gay people 

War on terror: After the 9/11 terrorist attacks, Muslims were portrayed in the media as Islamic extremists and they were therefore faced with significantly more discrimination but the panic ensued and the "threat" of Muslims is still extremely exaggerated 

Columbine Massacre: The Columbine High School Massacre was a mass shooting and the moral panic developed after people believed that goth music was the reason for it to happen. The fear painted goth culture as having a dangerous influence on the youth but the moral panic then resided when the blame was placed on the gun culture in the US instead of goth culture 

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.

Online child safety, digital privacy and cyber-security 

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

I think that the internet should be regulated until people reach a certain age- this is because many children have access to the internet now without restrictions so they are exposed to many things and a lot of things are normalised that perhaps shouldn't be (e.g. drug use, abuse, etc.) and they grow up thinking that this behaviour is acceptable (due to the social learning theory and the hypodermic needle model) and then start acting that way. However, if the internet is regulated for children, they can be protected from this media. But I believe that when people reach a certain age (maybe around 18) and they have already developed a knowledge for what is right and wrong, the internet should no longer be regulated for them and they have access to everything they want 

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 strongly believe that Gerbner's cultivation theory can be applied to new and digital media- this could be because of society's increasing dependency on media. It is very possible that the internet is creating a fearful population and I believe this is more true now because of all of the information about COVID-19 being spread around. At the beginning of the pandemic, we didn't know much about the virus so a lot of people were spreading around false information which definitely increased the fear that we had. However, on different apps (e.g. Twitter, TikTok, etc.) there is a lot more interaction between people and when you are exposed to that many people, I think you start learning to not take what people say on the internet too seriously. So I think it depends on which side of the media you are on that determines the level of Mean World Syndrome you have. Heavy internet use can be concerning when people start depending on the media to the point where they cannot live without it because they may have trouble interacting with people in real life due to their dependency on the media for social interaction 

The effects debate: Media Factsheet

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 play video games with some violence (not too extreme) but I wouldn't consider myself a violent person in real life

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

Direct Effect Theories: the media has a direct effect on ideas, attitudes and behaviours of the audience 

Diffusion Theories: the media may have some influence on ideas, attitudes and behaviours of the audience but the personalised way that audiences access texts have a more significant influence 

Indirect Effect Theories: the media may affect people but there is an emphasis on the fact that our environment plays a part in it as well 

The Pluralistic Approach: media institutions are free to present any point of view they wish to and audiences equally able to freely choose 

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 mass shooting 

-Natural Born Killers: the number of murders that were committed by romantically linked couples 

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

It was a High School shooting (and failed bombing) that occurred in the United States by 12th graders Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold and it resulted in the murder of 12 students and one teacher. Many people said that this behaviour was influenced by Marilyn Manson's violent music 

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

• The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership 
• The alienation felt by teenagers who felt like they did not fit in 
• The hopelessness that was caused by living in a economically disadvantaged area with high unemployment
• The general desensitisation caused by the easy access to a range of violent media (films, TV, news, internet, etc.) 

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

As a theory that considers the way that the media has a higher influence on attitudes rather than behaviour. Repetition of negative or violent representations may cause desensitisation within an audience because they have become normalised and accepted 

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

Action films tend to fail to decipher the difference between right and wrong because it is acceptable for the hero to kill the villain but unacceptable for the villain to harm the hero- this failure to establish right and wrong is the factsheet's main criticism 

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

It simplifies the judgement of the audience and assumes that they lack the capacity to challenge anything they are told. Another criticism is that this simplistic view is what encourages the use of the hypodermic needle model as a scapegoat for a specific action or event 

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?

It may be seen as controversial today because people's attitudes and values have changed since it aired so what may have been acceptable then may be considered racist and offensive nowadays. This suggests that time differences also cause a clash in oppositional and preferred readings as well as differences in people 

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

The Sun and The Guardian report the same stories but they are written so differently that one can present a preferred reading and the other can present an oppositional reading