cultivation theory:george gerbner

concept 1: media products shape attitudes and perception of the world at large

• storytelling performs an enculturation role helping to shape our attitudes and social values

• mass media has replaced other institutions, mst notably religion ad education, as principle constructor of symbolic story telling

• television has had a homogenising effect on society- we all watch or engage in the same symbolic stores as a result of mass media

• television schedules are saturated with violent content that cultivates a widespread fear in society- “mean world syndrome”

• media can produce resonanace or mainstreaming effects on audiences

• television was “thefirst centralised cultural influence to permeate both the initial final years of life”

concept 2: media consumption leads audiences to accept established power structures and mainstream ideologies

• mass media narratives create symbolic representations of power that affect our real-world view

• mass media products over-exaggerate the power and scope of real-world authorities

• mass media products marginalise alternative viewpointd as a result of middle-of-the-road reportage

• representations of violence define who is powerful in the real world

• therefore, it also defines who is powerless

• narrative convention are used to maintain a clear sense of authority- “happy endings” encode the idea that the law and “good people” will always win

• mean world syndromes leads to audience relying on authorities for protections- may be passive or afraid when experiencing crime

• media narratives often justify violence against particular groups

enculturation

process of learning social norms or behaviours through watching others or by engaging with culture. The media contributes to the enculturation of individuals by making them adopt specific attitudes or outlooks

homogenised cultural effects

television has a homogeneous cultural effect in that its reach and lack of content diversity makes us think the same things or adopt the same attitudes

mainstreaming

gerbner suggests that some groups are less likely to be affected by television. Although the attitudes of these groups are affected to a lesser extent by the media, they are still prone to some attitudanal shift as a result of consumption. television can, therefore, cultivate problematic attitudes and beliefs within mainstream society where they had not existed before.

mean-world syndrome

an outlook that considers the world to be far more violent or selfish than it really is

middle-of-the-road reportage

use of balanced reporting to foster large scale audiences and boost advertsing revenue. middle-of-the-road reportage positions new or radical ideas as dangerous, subtly enforicng existing power structures

resonance

process of amplifying an idea, attiude or belief alreadty held by audiences through mediaa consumption

stigmatisation

process of demonising groups, individuals or ideas through media representations

symbolic power

those who have power in media narratives (gender, class, ethinicity) are legitimised as real-world power sources