Audience theory 2 - blog task

 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?
No I believe it is media itself :its what people choose to involve themselves in - there is that personal control to not see that content , however people choose to look at content potentially desensitising at their own will . I believe that it is only dangerous and may cause violence but that's only if the person try to search and find it, not of the fault of media but rather the user itself.

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.
This is relevant as people constantly share views and opinions , even their personal lives with a potential for millions to see  online, people will learn and take from types of content and implement it to their own character .Yes people are learning from it , commonly shown in trends on social media where someone will film themselves replicating something someone did - creating a trend.

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?
"Satanic Panic" (1980s–1990s)
To an extent:No it was not justified , it was without evidence, and just a rumour probably blown into disproportion through media and mouth of word.
Missing children panic (1980s)
To an extent: this concern in society is justified as it is surrounding the fear of children being kidnapped.
Video games and violence (1970s–present)
High extent: this concern was justified to an extent, commonly used as a 'scapegoat' of reasoning,  when in reality most to nearly all have other mental concerns that have a higher reasoning on why.

4) Read this introduction to an academic paper on technopanics. What examples are given of technopanics that create fear in society? 
online 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?
To an extent, content such as violence should be intentionally harder to find, but most content should be allowed on the internet- the removal of it is a removal freedom , i believe government should try and control it as it removes the independence and freedom that people can use to speak what they believe.

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 believe that the internet is creating a fearful population, this is due to the fact of how gullible people can be and how easily they may believe an idea or belief - i believe that youth and those older have become desensitised especially to violence online, the use of online threats has been treated nowadays as if a norm of being in the internet.I feel that heavy usage of the internet can be unsafe - however it can never be institutionalised on society as it is a norm and its key on apart of many daily life- even now a way of living being able to create a job from it.

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?')

1. Do you play violent video games and/or watch violent films? Are you violent in ‘real life’?
yes i do, no im not violent in real life - i am fully understanding of the difference between reality and online.

2. Do you ever see a product advertised on TV or on the internet and decide you want to buy it?
Yes i do occasionally.

3. Have you ever seen a documentary which has drawn your attention to an issue which you now feel strongly about?
Not to my remembrance.

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.
The Columbine High School massacre was a school shooting and attempted bombing that occurred on April 20, 1999, in Columbine, Colorado. Two senior students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered 12 students and one teacher, and injured 23 others, before dying by suicide in the school library. 

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 as though they did not fit in

The hopelessness caused by living in an area where unemployment was high and was economically  disadvantaged

The general desensitisation caused by access to arange of violent images: film, TV, the news, the internet

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

This theory considers the way the media affects attitudes ratherthan behaviour. The media is seen as part of our socialisation process, communicating ‘appropriate’ attitudes and the norms and values of the culture. According to this theory, while any one media text does not have too much effect, repeated exposure to certain ideas and values may make the audience less critical of the ideas presented as they appear ‘normal’.

7) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?
That there is good violence and bad violence.

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

Although cultivation theory goes beyond a simple ‘cause and effect’approach to audience effects, critics see both these direct theories as having an elitist element suggesting a judgement is being made about the mass audience as they are assumed to be easily led and not perceptive or self-aware. The individual nature of the members of the audience is not taken into account.This theory identifies the media as being a negative influence but does not consider forms of ‘high art’ in the same way. Some of Shakespeare's plays are extremely violent but are not seen to be a problem whereas games and television programmes are open to criticism

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?
Some texts from the past seem very strange to us. A very popular sit-com in the 1970s called Love Thy Neighbour appears to many modern viewers, racist and offensive. Times have changed and so have people's attitudes and values. What was acceptable as the topic for comedy some decades ago, no longer is.

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

•the dominant reading

o an acceptance of the intended meaning

• a negotiated reading

o a broad acceptance of the intended meaning but with

some personal modification

• an oppositional reading

o an understanding of the intended meaning but a rejection

of it in favour of one created by the individual