Gina Y.
Gatekeepers: those who make decisions about what news is reported (Editors are gatekeepers,Before editors, reporter is a gatekeeper)
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
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.
Media relationship in which the viewer has the illusion that his/her friendship with a media personality is real
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
·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
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
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)
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
-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
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.
-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
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.
· Minority women most frequently victims on TV,then women in general
· In real life, the most frequent victims areblack men ages 16-24
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
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
Work for advertising agency; liaison with clients (companies that want to create ads)
In charge of copywriting, graphics, and layout; work for advertising agency
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
Has codes of ethics for advertising agencies
·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.
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.
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
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.
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 1st 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.
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.
Report found causal relationship between violent pornography and violence against women in real life.
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
