Audience theory 2

 Create a new blogpost called 'Audience theory 2 - blog tasks' and work through the following 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?

No, I think the media allowed people to be more social as it allows them to connect with people who they'd possibly never meet in person before hand. However, the media has consequently stumped users ability to socialise in public as we've become so used to the screen.

No, I don't agree with the idea that the media causes violence, I'd say it more gives ideas rather than causes it to occur. For a person to commit a violent act they would have had to already been mentally unstable to copy it. 

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. It is relevant because now, in the modern era, we rely on social media for everything whether it is for work, information or entertainment and because of this everything important and non important is easily accessible by the media. This impact children because everything revolves around it now therefore they rely on it way more than children did in the older day so they learn their behaviours and other behaviours from in consequently.

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?

The war on drugs, Immigration, The devil's music. The media, specifically opinion leaders,  over exaggerated the link between the behaviours of the people under these topics and the rise of the topic itself, making it look like the worst thing in the world.

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.
 

Public debates and  The paper 

5) Do you think the internet should be regulated? Should the government try and control what we can access online? Only some aspects of the internet such as sites, advertisement and entertainment should be regulated but not all of the internet. If the government tries to control every aspect of the internet we use it will cause more secret uses and more hacks created to do it secretly which  is much more dangerous than openly using the internet.

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.

There is evidence of people having the "mean world syndrome" it is often shown in young adults- adults who spend their time watching crime documentaries and much more. The media exaggerates things naturally in order to get a reaction out of audiences and engagement so because of this it will heavily impact people's beliefs and behaviours and could definitely cause "mean world syndrome". As a society we are becoming more desensitised to online threats as it has become very common. In online entertainment platforms people even go as far and use those examples as humour rather than genuinely being negative.The only reason to be worried about with heavy internet use is the possibility of not being able to conform to societies social constructs in public.

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?')

- Not often, I am not violent.

- Yes, often.

- Yes, sometimes.

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

- Marylin Manson

- Natural born killers

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, often simply referred to as Columbine, was a school shooting and attempted bombing that occurred on April 20, 1999, at Columbine High School in Columbine, Colorado, United States. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered twelve students and one teacher. Ten of the twelve students killed were in the school library, where Harris and Klebold subsequently died by suicide.

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

- Ease access to firearms

- Alienation felt by teenagers

- Hopelessness caused by living area

- Desensitisation to violence

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

- The theory considers the way the media affects attitudes rather

than behaviour. The media is seen as part of our socialisation

process, communicating ‘appropriate’ attitudes and the norms and

values of the culture.

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

-Things get more complicated when you consider this is all

down to perspective. Is it good if a villain kills someone to

protect his family? Is it acceptable to act violently if

someone threatens a state they think is corrupt? Is it alright

to steal from someone who has been violent towards you?

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

- Direct effect - This theory is largely discredited as it makes simplified judgements

about the audience.

- Diffusion theories- Opinion leaders can come in the form of reviewers, presenters on

television or people from groups we admire such as religious leaders,

politicians etc. as well as from our family or social groups.

- Indirect effect theories- 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.

- Pluralist approach- Theory, it is based

on a number of unrealistic assumptions

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 offfensive

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

- The dominant reading

 an acceptance of the intended meaning

- A negotiated reading

a broad acceptance of the intended meaning but with

some personal modification

- An oppositional reading

an understanding of the intended meaning but a rejection

of it in favour of one created by the individual