Exam 3

Gina Y.

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Criticisms of advertising targeting children

Commercials targeting children:
1) Create desires that cannot be fulfilled
2) Create tension when parents say no
3) Teach unrealistic view of the world

Lenore Weitzman, content analysis of children’s books

1972 Lenore Weitzman looked at 18 Caldecott Prize books published between 1965-1970, 261 pictures of males and 23 pictures of females (ratio of 11:1). 90 male animal characters and 1 female animal character. Girls wore frilly dresses and were passive; cooking, sewing, sweeping, feeding babies. Boys wore jeans and were active: marching in parades, playing baseball, hammering, vigorous, boisterous

Gatekeeping

The process by which a relatively small number of people in the media industry control what material eventually reaches the audience

Gatekeepers: those who make decisions about what news is reported (Editors are gatekeepers,Before editors, reporter is a gatekeeper)

Agenda setting

Ability of the news media to transfer issues of importance from their news media agendas to public agendas (not what to think, but what to think ABOUT)
-- wire services function as these

Content Analysis

Parents’ Television Council reports research:

· Content analysis shows that children’s programs contain a higher frequency of violence than adult programs

o 7 incidents of violence per hour on children’s programs

o 11 incidents of violence per hour on ABC Family Channel!

o 5 incidents of violence per hour on primetime TV

Longitudinal study

A correlational research study that involves repeated observations of the same variables over long periods of time — often many decades. It is a type of observational study.

Longitudinal studies track the same people, and therefore the differences observed in those people are less likely to be the result of cultural differences across generations.

Parasocial Relationship

Media relationship in which the viewer has the illusion that his/her friendship with a media personality is real

Social Construction of Reality

Meaning theory is based on this

Example: people that have never been to China are completely dependent on the media to form their mental pictures about China

Albert Bandura’s studies of effects of violent TV or film on children

Bobo doll; "Rocky" character -showed children a violent movie and then encouraged them to play with oversize, inflated dolls; Kids seemed more violent after seeing violence in movies

·Aggressive stimulation: theory that people are inspired to violence by media depictions

·Bandura and other aggressive stimulation scholars have failed to prove their theory to the full satisfaction of other scholars

Lefkowitz’ study of TV and adolescent aggression

Longitudinal study, took place over 10 year period, only did research with boys

o Children who were unpopular at age 8 were unpopular at 18 and watched more TV as they got older

o The more teenagers liked violent programs, the more realistic they though the programs were

o Boys with lower IQ and lower Socioeconomic status were more likely to watch TV violence and be aggressive

Eron & Huesmann—studies of TV viewing and adolescent aggression

Longitudinal study

22-year study of 875 children

Found that frequency of TV viewing at age 8predicted seriousness of crimes committed at age 30 (controlled for baseline aggression, socioeconomic status, and IQ; effects of TV were significant)

1971/1972 Surgeon General Jesse Steinfeld’s Report on effects of TV violence on children

60 studies: found causal relationship (causal relationship is a strong statement to make in research- usually just say there is a correlation) between TV violence and subsequent aggression in real life

Even though the kids know it is something they shouldn’t be doing, they still want to imitate it

Conditions under which violence is most likely to be modeled

· Kids are more likely to imitate violence if the violence is justified

Gerbner, type of programs which contain highest frequency of violent acts

-Content analysis shows that children’s programs contain a higher frequency of violence than adult programs (7incidences of violence/hour on kids programs; 11 incidents/hr on ABC family channel; 5 incidents of violence/hour on primetime TV

Three hypotheses on effects of TV violence
1) Catharsis hypothesis

TV violence provides safe,harmless vicarious outlet for frustration - will make people less violent(Feshbsch and Singer found that boy who watched violent TV shows such as gun smoke acted less aggressive, but this study has never been replicated) this is a junk theory

Three hypotheses on effects of TV violence
2) Aggressive stimulation (modeling)

TV violence increases aggressive behavior in kids, TV violence desensitized adults to pain and suffering in real life

Three hypotheses on effects of TV violence
3) Catalytic hypothesis

TV violence has no effect except to trigger certain unstable individuals into committing violent acts**best predictor of human behavior

Effects of programs such as The Doomsday Flight, Fuzz, Born Innocent,The Deerhunter or Taxi Driver

Doomsday Flight- increase in bomb threats for planes

Fuzz,imitations where people were lit on fire and burned to death

Born Innocent, there was a scene where a girl is raped by other girls in juvie which was aired at 8 pm & this was imitated on Olivia Niemi; her parents sued NBC for negligence but lost.

Effects of programs such as The Doomsday Flight, Fuzz, Born Innocent,The Deerhunter or Taxi Driver (cont)

-For The Deerhunter, 31 cases of imitation of Russian roulette scene

-For Taxi driver, it instigated John Hinckley to shoot Pres. Reagan

-Unstable individuals imitating/copying the violent scenes they see in these movies

The Mean World Syndrome

George Gerbner says that if you watch a lot of violence on TV you are going to be a lot more fearful of the world

a phenomenon where by violence-related content of mass media makes viewers believe that the world is more dangerous than it actually is. Mean world syndrome is one of the main conclusions of cultivation theory.

characters most often portrayed as victims of TV violence

· Minority women most frequently victims on TV,then women in general

· In real life, the most frequent victims areblack men ages 16-24

Conclusions of Brandon Centerwall regarding TV violence, homicides and violence as a public health issue

Epidemiological study(study of epidemics) – looking at TV violence as an epidemic in society Foundthat homicide rate in USA and Canada doubled 10-15 years after TV was introduced1975-83: found that white homicides in South Africa increased 56% after TV wasintroduced in 1975 (didn’t count black Africans because at this time a lot ofthem were being killed by their own government)Controlled for many factors but none made a difference except for TV

Effects on rate of violent crime in real life after major news coverage

1) Increases in suicides just after widely publicized suicide stories (300 more than usual after Marilyn Monroe's suicide)
2) 35% increase in single-car accidents (could be suicides) after extensive newspaper coverage of such accidents
3) Increases in private plan crashes just after heavily publicized murder-suicide stories
4) 4 days after extensive coverage of criminal getting life sentence/death penalty- homicide rate drop signif.

Parents’ Television Council

Identifies “best” and “worst” TV programs

Best: American Idol, Dancing with the stars,extreme makeover home edition

Worst: Las Vegas, Medium, Family Guy and American Dad

Paul Lazarsfeld’s two-step flow theory of communication effects

Media affects individuals through opinion leaders (influence friends, acquaintances)

Shows that whatever effect the media have on the majority of the population is through opinion leaders

Media buyer

Select most effective media in which to place ads or commercials; work for advertising agency; they use cost per mile (CPM) which is the cost of reaching 1000 potential consumers

Account executive

Work for advertising agency; liaison with clients (companies that want to create ads)

Creative director

In charge of copywriting, graphics, and layout; work for advertising agency

Research staff personnel

Work for advertising agency; gather demographic(age/gender/race) & psychographic information (religion/lifestyle data) on target audience in order to help media buyers decide where to place ads &commercials

American Association of Advertising Agencies

Has codes of ethics for advertising agencies

National Advertising Review Board

·Investigates complaints about illegal or unethical advertising, but relies on voluntary cooperation of advertisers- does not have legal power of enforcement of false advertising regulations as Federal Trade Commission does

· (Self-policing)

Definition of subliminal messages

·Subliminal: below the threshold of consciousness; beyond the reach of personal awareness; the subconscious

·Book definition for subliminal message: cannot be consciously perceived

What doadvertisers want you to remember about their products?

The brand name which is intended to setsimilar or identical products apart. Very successful brand names nearly becomelike a generic identifier).

FCC regulations regarding subliminal messages in advertising

Subliminal messages are not legal(illegal) in broadcasting (TV and radio), but they are completely legal inprint advertising.

Original purpose of Federal Trade Commission (FTC) when Congress createdit

1914 to police unfair competition among businesses

Original purpose was not to protect consumers, but to protect the businesses from falseclaims from their competitors.

1938 Wheeler-Lea Act

added onto the FTC act

purpose of the FTC is also to protectcredulous or gullible customers who believe any claim made by advertisers.

Legality of subliminal messages inprint media and broadcast media

It is illegal to havesubliminalmessages in broadcasting and movies but legal in print media and insoundtracksin stores

FCC Actions regarding subliminalmessages

1938- Wheeler-Lea Amendment to FTC Act:unfair & deceptive practices in commerce are unlawful; 1958- NAB Code: Anytechnique or attempt to convey information below the threshold of normalawareness is not permitted.

*In1974,FCC said the use of subliminal techniques is contrary to the public interest.

Legality of Dr. Hal Becker’s subliminal soundtrack for anti-theft use

Dr. Hal Becker’s “black box”usessoundtrack of human voice, 40 decibels under sound level weperceive consciously, under music soundtrack, which is perceived unconsciously;this is legal.

Public reaction to Birth of a Nation

Due to ridicule/negative African American roles, several reactions occurred from general public: 1) 12statesbarred it from exhibition, 2) protests & demonstrations where it was shown in northern states, 3) Full-scale riot when it opened in Boston, 4)Banned from exhibition in Philadelphia until 1931

Fourth Estate

the notion that the press operatesas an unofficial branch of government, monitoring the legislative, judicial,and executive branches for abuses of power.

-Edmund Burke- British Parliament-coined this

Watchdog role of press

Founding fathers wanted press to serveas watchdog in order to keep other branches in check. This concept is that thepress is a skeptical and critical monitor of government.

Herbert Schiller

Started research of culturalimperialism; published Mass Communication and in 1969 &Living in the Number One country in 2000. Sometimes other cultures resent justthe use of the language itself (ex. 90% of websites= in English); TV satellites=cultural death stars. *Schiller warned that US media companies were coming todominate cultural life abroad, particularly in developing nations.

Cultural imperialism

One culture’s dominance overanotherculture. Ex. US corporate greed undermining native cultures indevelopingcountries.

Richard Branson

Branson, anadventurer/entrepreneur=dedicated to reversing cultural imperialism/promotingtranscultural enrichmentthrough comic books about Indian legends, includingHindu themes, distributed toglobal audiences.

legitimization

Print ads (or pornography)which contain barrage of images of violence against women have effect of making such violence appear “legitimate” or acceptable in real life.

Objectification

Women are reduced to various parts of their bodies in many print advertisements; effect= dehumanizing to women (shown in Jean Kilbourne’s documentary: Beyond Killing Us Softly

Jacquie Jordan, Get on TV! Whatis an option on a script or screenplay?

An option is a legally binding but temporary agreement between two parties that allows the option’s purchaser (a studio, production company, or individual) to shop around the option seller’s product (book, script, life’s story). Taking out an option is away of hedging the purchaser’s bet if that party does not wish to buy the property outright.

-Differ in $ and length of time

Roth v. United States: Is obscenity protected by the First Amendment?

In this case, Supreme Court held that obscenity is not protected by 1^st A.; Justice said “I know it when I see it.” (1957)

Miller v. California

Whether or not a work is “obscene”is determined by “contemporary community standards.” (1973) Determined by jury of ones peers. Obscenity is not protected by the First Amendment and thus the sexually explicit obscene material Miller sent in the mail was not protected.

Burstyn v. Wilson

Supreme Court held that movies are protected by First Amendment(reversed 1915 ruling that movies, being entertainment, were merely a business and should not be protected by First Amendment)

Obscenity

Obscenity, as defined in Miller v.California, is material that to an average person, applying contemporary community standards, finds the work, taken as a whole, appeals to the prurient interest.

Indecency

-Legal

a term used by the FCC to encompass a range of words and depictions improper on public airwaves. However,indecency can only be aired between 10 pm and 6 am according to FCC v. Pacifica or station will be fined.

Conclusions of 1986 Meese Commission regarding effects of pornography

Report found causal relationship between violent pornography and violence against women in real life.

Effects of pornography when legalized in Denmark

In 1970, when pornography was legalized,rate of rape increased. Studies looked as if sexual crimes went down but that was because they redefined some homosexual crimes and thus when you only look at rape, it did increase.

Ed Donnerstein’s research on effects of violent pornography

In 1977, at USBC, he conducted experiment where he told students to wait in a room because the research study wasn’t ready yet and to kill time they would watch a movie.

Study showed 1) men give more intense shocks after viewing porn than after cops-n-robbers films, 2) men give stronger shocks to women than to male “learners.”

Percentage of pornographic films that portray rape

About 50% of all X-rated(NC-17) films contain at least one rape scene

Effects on young women of viewing sexual violence on MTV

Young women who are heavy viewers ofMTV are more likely to accept sexual violence as part of normal relationships in real life.

UC San Diego research on college men’s reactions to violent pornography

In 1981, 51% of male students at UC said they would participate in gang rape if guaranteed they wouldn’t be caught.

Lazarsfeld

did research on the two-step flow of information; interviewed people during political campaigns to determine what caused people to vote the way they did(what influence does mass media have on this); found there are two steps inflow of information & influencing how people vote: 1)Info comes from mass media in form of news but goes 2"opinionators" 2) Opinionators relay info to others

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