THE MEDIA OF MASS COMMUNICATION 11 th Edition John Vivian PowerPoint Prepared by Amy M. Carwile Texas A&M University at Texarkana This multimedia product and its contents are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law: -any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network; -preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images; -any rental, lease, or lending of the program.
Chapter 13: Mass Media Effects Thematic Chapter Overview Media Effects Media & Democracy Media & Culture Media Globalization Elitism & Populism Media Economics
Effects Theories Bullet Theory Minimalist Effects Theory Cumulative Effects Theory
Bullet Theory Powerful Effects Theory Walter Lippman pictures in our heads (Public Opinion, 1992) Harold Lasswell W.P. Davidson Third-Person Effect
Minimalist Effects Theory Two-Step Flow Model Opinion Leaders Multistep Flow Status Conferral Agenda-Setting Maxwell McCombs & Don Shaw Not what to think but What to think about Narcoticizing Dysfunction
Cumulative Effects Theory Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann No one can escape the media or the media s messages Spiral of Silence Majority viewpoints are continuously shared Minority viewpoints are stifled
In our cultural folklore, the bullet theory of mass communication effects remains alive and well. Identify an example in your recent experience and assess it. What layers of complexity did Paul Lazarsfeld add to our understanding of the effects of mass communication? Give an example of the spiral of silence and explain how it worked.
Lifestyle Effects Socialization An 18-year-old has spent more time watching TV than any other waking activity Prosocial Living Patterns Intergenerational Eavesdropping
Why is mass communication a growing issue in child development? What examples can you offer of mass communication reflecting lifestyles? How about the opposite lifestyles reflecting mass communication? How has modern media content eroded the innocence of childhood?
Attitude Effects Influencing opinion Role Models Stereotypes Agenda-setting and Status conferral
How frequently does mass communication trigger sudden and drastic changes in public opinion? Although media-perpetuated stereotypes can be false, misleading and damaging, stereotypes are nonetheless essential in mass communication, why? How does mass communication wield power through status conferral on some issues and neglect others?
Cultural Effects Values Historical Transmission Paley Center for Media Vanderbilt Television News Archive Contemporary Transmission Diffusion of Innovations Cultural Imperialism Herbert Schiller Post-Schiller Revisionism Transcultural Enrichment
How does mass communication connect us to the past, as well as help us resolve diverse contemporary values? Can transcultural communication be enriching even if also imperialist? Why or why not?
Behavioral Effects Motivational Messages Sigmund Freud Ernest Dichter Motivational Research Subliminal Messages Jim Vicary Subception
What in the mid-20 th century American experience contributed to the belief that mass communication can trigger radical changes in our behavior? Why does the fraudulent research of Jim Vicary persist as urban legend?
POINT Media give voice to strongly felt and welldefined views at either end of the immigration policy spectrum. COUNTERPOINT Media tend to emphasize crime, crisis or controversy in covering immigration. This mischaracterizes a massive demographic event that has developed over decades and mostly through legal channels.
Media-Depicted Violence Learning About Violence Observational Learning Media Violence as Positive Cathartic Effect Seymour Feshback Prodding Socially Positive Action
Media-Depicted Violence (continued) Media Violence as Negative Aggressive Stimulation Theory Bobo Doll Studies & Albert Bandura Catalytic Theory Other influences Screen-triggered violence increased if aggression is: Realistic and exciting Succeeds in righting a wrong Includes familiar situations or characters
Media-Depicted Violence (continued) Societally Debilitating Effects George Gerbner On TV: 1 in 10 characters per week involved in violence Reality: 1 in 100 people per year involved in violence Media Violence and Youth Tolerance of Violence Desensitizing Theory Violence Studies UCLA Violence Assessment Monitoring Project
Why do courts refuse to excuse violent criminals who blame their behavior on media-depicted violence? What variables contribute to a person s proneness for violence after an experience with media-depicted violence? How can it be argued that media portrayals of deviant behavior discourage real-life deviance? What difficulty to researchers have in measuring violent media content?