ENG 6324 Slide Presentation Week 9

Understanding Media in the
Digital Age, 1/e
Everette E. Dennis
Melvin L. DeFleur

Prepared by Todd
Chambers, Ph.D.
Texas Tech
University
This multi-media product and its content are protected under copyright law. The following are prohibited by law:
Any public performance or display, including transmission of any image over a network;
Any preparation of any derivative work, including the extraction, in whole or in part, of any images;
Any rental, lease or lending of the program

Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

Chapter 14
MEDIA EFFECTS: THE
PROCESSES AND
INFLUENCES OF MASS
COMMUNICATION


Early Views of Media Influences
 de Tocqueville’s dead-level theory: everyone

exposed to same flow of ideas, influenced in
uniform manner
 1900s: everyone believed newspapers had
great power
 Magic Bullet Theory


immediate, uniform, and powerful effects


Media Effects Research Begins
 A National Dilemma

examine media effects scientifically


systematic perspective


 The Nature and

Functions of
Research
 Experiments
 Surveys
 Content Analysis
 Qualitative
 Quantitative

 The Nature and

Functions of
Research






Distinct Research
Goals
basic research
applied research
scholarly research

 Research Moves

Cutting Edge
Forward


 Early Support for the Magic Bullet Theory




The Payne Fund Considers Movies and Kids
1920s and 1930s
significant and widespread effects on children

 The Invasion from Mars




1938, War of the Worlds broadcast
Orson Welles
panic in the streets?

 Inconsistencies in the Magic Bullet




critical ability
amount of education
interpersonal communication


Beyond the Magic Bullet: Selective
and Limited Effects
 The Why We Fight Experiments










WWII
Goals and Conduct of the Experiments
Frank Capra
why we fight; what the enemy had done; who were
the allies; why victory
Implications: Limited Effects!
able to teach some new facts
able to alter a few opinions
little evidence for powerful effects

Beyond the Magic Bullet: Selective
and Limited Effects
 Effects of Media in a

Presidential
Campaign





The People’s Choice
Lazarsfeld, Berelson,
Gaudet
1940 election

 Media as a part of

the web of
influences




activation,
reinforcement,
conversion
The Two-Step Flow



opinion leaders

Audiences Use Media Content to
Obtain Gratifications
 Gratifications Found in Media Content







Herta Herzog, 1940s
radio soap opera listeners
identifying with characters
obtaining emotional release
wishful thinking
obtaining advice


Audiences Use Media Content to
Obtain Gratifications
 Children and Television


Patterns of Viewing



television is most attended to medium
between 3 and 16, spend more time watching tv
than going to school!

 Gratifications Obtained from Watching

Television



Fantasy, diversion, instruction, learning
Basic Finding: Viewing Television Seemed to Pose
Few Dangers

Question to think about
 In your opinion, does media have a

limited or powerful effect on
children? What about adults?


Television and Youth Violence
 The Report to the Surgeon General






late 1960s
Congress funded study National Institute of
Mental Health
televised violence
influence on children


 The Report to the Surgeon General


Network Television’s Violent Content




very frequent and very unrealistic

Social Learning from Models of Behavior





Bandura’s “Bobo Doll” experiment
observational learning
direct imitation
modeling theory: positive reinforcement
increases reproduced activity repeatedly


 Television and Teenage Aggression





specific kinds of youths participate in specific types
of behavior
more likely to watch tv violence
more likely to be aggressive

 Overall: Viewing Violence on Television

MAY Cause Aggression


 The Second Report to the Surgeon General




1982
Increased pace of research
Confirming findings: Viewing of televised violence
by children clearly does cause aggression among
heavy viewers


Long-Term Influences on Society
and Culture
 Accumulation

Theory: The Adding
Up of Minimal
Effects






 Armed

Interventions
 Smoking and Health

Media must focus
repeatedly on issue
Media must be
consistent in coverage
about issue
Media must
corroborate each other
on issue Copyright © 2010 Pearson Education. All rights reserved.

and Culture
 Social Expectations Theory: Learning Group

Requirements


learning how to act as part of the ‘group’ through
media portrayals

 Social organizations:

that pattern of general group norms, specialized
roles, ranking positions, and the set of social
controls used by the group to ensure reasonable
conformity to its requirements.

and Culture
 Implications of Long-Term Theories





over time
new technologies
new audiences
requires new theories, new methods


Chapter 15
ETHICS: ASSESSING
CONTENT AND BEHAVIOR
OF THE MEDIA


Media-Wide Ethics Watch
 Motion Pictures – distorting reality?
 Book Publishers – cancel book contracts






based on plagiarism?
Advertising – exploiting children?
Internet Websites – fabrication of news
items?
Public Relations – representing dishonest
clients?
Television – sensationalizing issues?
Music – sharing mp3 files?

New Technology Challenges
 Social Media
 Second Life
 Virtual Worlds


Dimensions of Ethics for the Media
 Accuracy and Fairness
 The Behavior of Reporters
 Conflict of Interest


checkbook journalism


Distinguishing Ethics and Law
 Moral Codes v. Law




Chicago Sun-Times purchase of a bar to gather info
about payoffs
Richard Jewell case, Atlanta 1996


Growing Concern over Media Ethics
 Ethics





doing what is ‘right’
problem: different people decide what is ‘right’
tabloid television
editorial cartoonists


 Special Privileges, Special Responsibilities



rights of news organizations
responsibilities and duties of news organizations


 Beyond the First Amendment

social conscience of society


profit-making business


 The Long Struggle for Professionalism
 Constant battle over the ‘hoax’


 The Rise of Mixed Media Culture






Never ending news cycle
Sources are gaining power over journalism
There are no more gatekeepers
Argument is overwhelming reporting
The ‘blockbuster’ mentality


Question to think about
 Do you think it is proper to buy a

CD, rip it to your hard drive, and
then make copies for your own
personal use on multiple devices
and computers?


 Ethical Challenges to Mixed Media Culture




content of media
behavior of media organizations
effects on audiences


Media Criticism and Media Ethics
 A Double Standard




institutional
individual
content-related


Media Criticism and Media Ethics
 The Link to Individuals and Content

Janet Cooke and “Little Jimmy”


Washington Post


Alternative Approaches to Ethics
 Situational Ethics
 The Continual Search
 Credibility Studies and Market Research
 Ethics, Technology and the Future


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