Audience theory 2

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?

There is an extent to which social learning theory is applicable, for example in the case of children who are most impressionable and therefore able to develop habits and thoughts from others easier.

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.

Social learning theory is relevant in the digital age because of how many more behaviours from people can be observed by young audiences, for example any behaviour of influencers that children online may try to imitate. 

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: News coverage in the United States during the 1980s accelerated the public support for the war on drugs and misrepresented the issues of drug use a

- The War on Terror: Media coverage after 9/11 created a moral panic around Islam and terrorism in the United States,

- HIV/AIDS: When homosexuality was linked to the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, media coverage exaggerated gay people's part in spreading HIV to the general population,  

4) Read this introduction to an academic paper on techno-panics. What examples are given of techno-panics that create fear in society? If the link is blocked in school, you can access the text here.

The Internet is listed as an example of a techno-panic that creates fear in society.

5) Do you think the internet should be regulated? Should the government try and control what we can access online?

 This is especially true in the case of age restrictions, preventing young people from seeing content that may disturb or upset them. However, giving more control to governments over the Internet could potentially be dangerous and lead to 

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.

 Cultivation theory is also applicable to the proliferation of misinformation on the Internet, as people who consume more information from the Internet are more likely to believe what they see, encouraging audiences to develop biases. Exposure to more violence through the Internet could possibly perpetuate Mean World Syndrome, however, there is an argument for the idea that the Internet does the opposite, making audiences believe that other people's lives are perfect causing them to not appreciate their own

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?')

- I watch films that could be considered violent and do sometimes

- I have seen advertisements on TV/online and wanted to buy the product before (for the violent video games in question). 

- I have seen documentaries before that have inspired me to care 

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 – The murder of Jamie Bulger

• Marilyn Manson – The Columbine High School shootings

• Natural Born Killers – a number of murders committed by couples

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.

The 1999 Columbine massacre was a school shooting and attempted bombing at Columbine High School in Colorado on April 20, 1999, committed by two teenage boys that attended the school. They killed twelve students and one teacher and committed suicide after.

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

• The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership

• The alienation felt by teenagers who felt as though they did not fit in

• The general desensitisation caused by access to a range of violent images: film, TV, the news, the internet

• Or: Listening to Marilyn Manson caused teenagers to open fire in a high school killing students and teachers

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

• Through repetition attitudes, ideas and values may become normalised or naturalised; they are accepted rather than considered

• Through repetition the audience may become desensitised towards negative and/or violent representations

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

Violence for a ‘good’ reason is acceptable and violence for a ‘bad’ reason must be punished.

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

Direct effect theories have an elitist element suggesting a judgement is being made about the mass audience as they are assumed to be easily led and not perceptive or self-aware. 

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?

Love Thy Neighbour appears to many modern viewers as racist and offensive. 

This tells us how the same information can be presented (encoded) in different ways. Media producers can never guarantee that all audience members will interpret (decode) information in the same way and audience members will have different experiences and opinions and, therefore, interpret media texts differently.

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

Preferred reading: an acceptance of the intended meaning

Negotiated reading: a broad acceptance of the intended meaning but with some personal modification

Oppositional reading: an understanding of the intended meaning but a rejection of it in favour of one created by the individual