Media Studies 112 Midterm

Epistemology

how knowledge is created

onotology

what is knowable

Axiology

what role values play in research

four core theoretical frameworks

postpositivist,

hermeneutic,

normative,

critical

postpositivism

Scientific method; Systematic observation of natural phenomena

Ontology ~ world exists apart from our perception; It is possible to explain the world; predict and control

Epistemology ~ Knowledge can be achieved by systematically studying reality and looking for patterns and regularities

Axiology ~ Objective search for knowledge

Hermeneutic (interpretive theory)

Systematic interpretation of Culture; includes actions, texts, personal interactions and behavior

Ontology ~ There is no "real" measurable social reality.

Epistemology ~ Knowledge is local and specific to the knower and the known

Axiology ~ embrace the influence of researcher values

critical theory

Assessment of qualitative and quantitative information from under the assumption that some aspects of the social world are flawed and in need of transformation

Ontology ~ Reality is constantly being shaped and reshaped by the dialectic (the ongoing struggle or debate) between the two.

Epistemology ~ Knowledge happens when it serves to free people and communities from the influence of those more powerful than themselves

Axiology ~ Seeks emancipation and change in a dominant social order

four eras of mass media theory

mass society,

limited effects,

cultural perspectives,

meaning making perspective

normative theory

Identification of ideal standard and judgement of media system based in such norm

Ontology ~ Reality and knowledge of reality are situational

Epistemology ~ Knowledge is developed based on comparison of norm and reality.

Axiology ~ Current social values of society define the ideal

Mass society theory

Perspective on Western, industrial society that attributes an influential but often negative role to media

passive audience

Developed as a response to industrialization's increase of technology and mass communication's control over physical environments, expansion of human productivity, thus creating new forms of wealth (new elites (capitalists) vs old elites)

--In response to propaganda used in ww1

limited effects era

active audience

Late 30s and 40s, researchers like Lazarsfeld called for empirical evidence for media's effect in response to propaganda used in ww2

--By the 1950s, using post-positivist methods to conclude media reinforces existing social trends and strengthening the status quo rather than threaten it (Limited Effects Theory)

--Lazarsfeld argued over reliance on administrative research was short-sighted→ critical research: asking what culture results from media use

--Limited Effects theorists argued the public was protected from media's effects by trusted leaders

cultural perspective

a view that focuses on the influence of culture on thought, feeling, and behavior

-Mass society notions were still popular in Europe because of ww2 propaganda, and saw America empirical research as reductionist

--European neo-marxists maintained the belief that media enables dominant social elites to create and maintain their power

-British cultural studies: empirically studied media promoting a hegemonic worldview and dominant culture

--Cultural Criticism: collection of perspectives concerned with the conflict of interest in society and the ways communications perpetuates domination of one group over another

meaning-making perspective

idea that active audience members use media content to create meaning, and meaningful experiences, for themselves

--Notions to see how mass communication influences individual and plays an important role in the social world arise in the 60s

----Includes the framing theory and media literacy movement

-Belief about active audiences that use media to create meaningful experiences popularized

-Idea of semiotic democracy: individuals freedom, to make their own meaning from media content

-Researchers began studying media effects in levels of analysis, microscopic and macroscopic research

Assumptions of mass society theory

1. media are powerful forces in society that subvert traditional norms

2. Media influence "average people" and their views Of social world

3. Results in social problems (like decline Of long-term dating and marriage?)

4. Media replace traditional social institutions that sustained the health of the community

---What is a social institution?

---Like not talking at the dinner table

5. social chaos will then lead to totalitarianism to replace social institutions lost

Lead to deterioration of family

6. Mass media replace high culture with low culture

Frankfurt School

Refers to a collection of scholars known for developing critical theory and popularizing the dialectical method of learning by interrogating society's contradictions

Adorno studied at the Frankfurt school and was heavily influenced by European Marxism

High culture vs. Low culture

True or False: Adorno's criticism of Jazz was based on his experience of music in Germany during World War II. [False]

Marxism: struggle plays a central role in understanding society's allegedly inevitable development from bourgeois oppression under capitalism to a socialist and ultimately classless society

Three important terms that were special to them

Dialectic: ways of thinking the world; tension between subject and object → rises and becomes self-consciousness → becomes inter-subjectivity

Antagonism: exists in society due to competing socio-economic interests and desires between people of different classes.

False consciousness: a system that dictates what individuals to do, and robs what individuals/agents can do

**adorno - readings

A social critique of radio music. The Kenyon Review, 7(2), 208-217.

On popular music, New York: Institute of Social Research, 1941, IX, 17-48.

mass society theorist

saw the structure as putting you down

-Dialectic: ways of thinking the world; tension between subject and object → rises and becomes self-consciousness → becomes inter-subjectivity

-Antagonism: exists in society due to competing socio-economic interests and desires between people of different classes.

-False consciousness: a system that dictates what individuals to do, and robs what individuals/agents can do

deductive reasoning - general to specific

theory -> hypothesis -> observation/data -> verification

Accepted societal truths

--We live in a society of commodities

--In our commodity society there exists a general trend toward a heavy concentration of capital → decrease of free market in favor of monopolized mass production of standardized goods

--More difficulties in society = stronger general tendency to maintain the existing conditions of power and property relations against the threats which the difficulties create

--Societal forces of production are highly developed and the relations of production repress those productive forces, therefore, it is full of antagonisms

commodity fetishism - commodification of cultural/music

Music is now ethereal and sublime

A means to an end - a fetish

Oligopoly production of culture in radio - is a huge technological progression in society, but limits music itself and music listening

Two types of listeners:

"Rhythmically obedient" - love the standardization and conformity of music

"Emotional" - have a romantic, stylized relationship with music

Adorno ultimately believes people will break from the monotony, just as those who liked the music of the past now do not, and those now shall eventually reject the popular music.

standardization (of music) - everything is created similarly

--means of standardization - radio, media

----Production is highly centralized, but individualistic in social ode of production

----rythms, chorus, patterns

----Division of labor among musicians - pretend to be industrial but adapts industrial methods for promotion

effects of standardization - the way audience reacted to the music was also similar across songs with the same patterns

---Suppressed public

Popular music simultaneously meet two demands

1) for stimuli that provoke the listener's attention

2) for the materials to fall within the category of what muscle oriented listeners would call 'natural music' - simple language of music

unity of individuality begins to crack

deductive reasoning

theory, hypothesis, observation/data, verification/confirmation

commodity fetishism

commodification of cultural/music

Moral panic

when there is a new advancement in technology, there is always resistance from the consumers of media who tend to think that previous technologies are morally better

Nancy Jo Sales (Technological Determinism in Media Studies) - readings

"Tinder and the Dawn of the 'Dating Apocalypse.'" Vanity Fair, September 2015

Nancy Jo Sales - point out a downfall in dating culture and morality

Men just use it for sex. Very heteronromative

Nostalgia fallacy - rosy retrospection

People judge the past disportiatonaly more postivey than they judge the present

Amanda Hess - readings

"The Women! They Are Using Gadgets and Having Sex!", Slate, August 2015

responds in saying that women are using gadgets - make fun of moral panic when new technology comes along

1. Early media theory defined by moral panics and technological determinism

Hess blames this on our "lousy cultural memory".

Yellow journalism

• Penny Press and Yellow Journalism (1800s)

"low culture" ~ art/media of the less well-educated (the masses): gossip magazines, reality tv, popular music, yellow journalism, "lowbrow" fiction

Easy target for elite criticism

Critics viewed this style as "low culture" because of the association of the traditional newspaper style (no images, text heavy) with an elitist, "high culture".

the late 1800s, yellow journalism raised fears that the "masses" could be led to war by an irresponsible press. The view of the public was bleak.

used by the major newspapers owned by tycoons Hearst and Pulitzer in which prints used splashy headlines and images to grab attention and appeal to the masses.

hypodermic needle model

aligns with the "Mass Society" Communication Theory

- linear model of communication - intended message is received and fully accepted by the receiver

The Hypodermic Needle suggests that media is a 'needle' that directly injects its messages into a passive audience's brain.

Therefore, media has a powerful, negative effect on society and individuals. "Humans have no agency".

Contrast with third person effect (davison) or two step-flow (katz)

Limited effects theorists

Paul Lazarsfeld,

Elihu Katz,

John Robinson,

Paul Tichenor

limited effects

Theory that influence by mass media is limited/media rarely influence individuals directly (aka "indirect effects theory")

Two-Step flow of media influence

Media → opinion leaders → followers

by adulthood, people have strong group-based convictions that prevent persuasion

media effects are modest and isolated

Lazarsfeld's Research (1940s studies)

Lazarsfeld's survey research argued that research should focus on political campaigns because they are naturally occurring quasi-experiments in which many different types of media influence could occur

he asked "to what extent are changes in voter decisions affected by media?"

Limited-Effects main generalizations

1. Media rarely influence individuals directly Also known as "indirect-effects theory"

2. Two Step Flow of media influence

3. By adulthood, people have strong group-based convictions that prevent persuasion

4. Media effects are modest and isolated

Let's look at some 1940s studies

1950s Limited Effects Theories

Selectivity Theory ~ People resist persuasion by:

--A) Selective Exposure or Attention

--B) Selective Perception or Interpretation (razor)

--C) Selective Retention or Recall

Individual Differences Theory -

a focus on personality attributes/factors making individuals more or less convinced by certain messages

Social Categories Theory

-a focus on groups or classes of people whose responses to messages are somewhat uniform

Klapper's Reinforcement Theory

• Media have a direct influence only when special circumstances break down the normal barriers to influence

• Media normally reinforce the status quo: provide people with information to fit their existing attitudes

• Legitimate existing political leaders and social institutions

Limited effects dominance?

• Mass society theory was rejected as highly speculative

• Limited effects notions were consistent with what some elites wanted to believe about media

microscopice

• They served the needs of powerful special interests:

1. advertisers

2. Government

carl hovland

Media effects on attitude change,

pioneered experimental research on media effects

studied effectiveness of propoganda films

Battle of Britain Research

--

• No change in attitudes toward the war effort

• No "halo effect" = no changes in attitudes t researchers as logically linked to other attitudes

• No "magic keys" to persuasion

Soldiers watched film about how the British were holding off German attacks

**Lazarsfeld - readings

"Mass Communication, Popular Taste, and Organized Social Action"

limited effects theorist

• 70% of voters had decided how they would vote in May 1940 and they didn't change their mind (early deciders)

• 22% of voters were undecided in May but their ultimate decisions could be predicted by party preference, religion and where they lived (crystallizers)

8% floating voters

--Less educated

--Apathetic

--Less likely to use media for politcal messages

--More likely to be iinfluenced by other peopel

Conclusion: personal influence and social context matter more than media exposure

The People's choice

Inductive reasoning - specific to general

--Observation/data -> pattern -> hypothesis -> theory

critiqued hypodermic needle

Pioneered survey research on media effects

Speculative approach to implciaitons of media

--1. Media rarely influence individuals directly

--2.Two Step Flow of media influence

--3. By adulthood, people have strong group-based convictions that prevent persuasion

Difficult to dislodge your from beliefs

-4. Media effects are modest and isolated

Question: Was information/influence shopping/fashion decisions were flow horizontal or vertical?

--Decatur Research led to development of the Two- Step Flow Hypothesis which states that:

• Information and influence flows from media to opinion leaders (gate-keepers) and then from leaders to followers

• Most influence is between leaders and followers at the same level in society = horizontal flow

three social functions of mass media

-status conferral - Increased status due to exposure to media attention (robinson)

---Infromation conveyed to broad audience - beyond those who just absorb the information

-norm enforcement - anything that is not the norm is usually met with resistance, norms are enforced

--Publicity closes the gap between 'private attitudes' and 'public morality.'

--function of public exposure is institutionalized in the mass media of communication

--[M]ass media clearly serve to reaffirm social norms by exposing deviations from these norms to public view.

-narcotization - media viewers having information about different events but not doing anything about it

---after he has gotten through his dinner and after he has listened to his favored radio programs and after he has read his second newspaper of the day, it is really time for bed.

-----

In this sense, mass communications may be included among the' most respectable and efficient of social narcotics

●three reasons for limited effects of mass media propaganda

-message monopoly failure

a single message cannot have a monopoly because there is always a competing message

--monopolization of the mass media occurs in the absence of counterpropaganda.

-canalization

--Advertising is typically directed toward the canalizing of preexisting behavior patterns or attitudes

--Once the gross pattern of behavior or the generic attitude has been established, it can be canalized in one direction or another.

--Behaviour of buying toothbrush already established, but brand preference can change

--Contrast with mass propaganda trying to change racial attitudes - not effective

-supplementation - a direct relationship between the source and the consumer of mass media

--media played an ancillary (supportive) role, supplementing the use of organized violence, organized distribution of rewards for conformity, and organized centers of local indoctrination

--Machinery of mass persuasion includes face-to-face contact in local organizations as an adjunct to the mass media

--Factors: Local discussion reinforces the content of mass propaganda; Central media lessens task of local organizer; Appearance of a nation-wide network symbolizes legitimacy and significance

Havens & Lotz - readings

understanding Media industries

The Media Industry operates under four levels of influence:

texts (the content of the media outlet itself),

mandates (the organization's foremost goals and reasons for operating),

conditions (regulate the behavior of the entire media sector), and

practices (day-to-day tasks of individuals who work within the industry)

All Media Matter in the Public Sphere

--Public Sphere: refers to the unique space for public debate that mass media can provide in modern societies

--Cultures, mandates, conditions, and industry practices all work to restrict agency, but the drive for popularity and the conflicting and competing interests of a wide range of decision makers involved in creating an individual media text provide opportunities for agency and self-expression

**Elihu Katz - readings

"Two-Step Flow of Communication"

Two-Step Flow of communication -

source -> opinion leaders -> consumers of media

Opinion leaders can be anyone from one's social group and family

Decatur Research led to development Of the Two-Step Flow hypothesis which states that:

• Information and influence flows from media to opinion leaders (gate-keepers) and then from leaders to followers

word of mouth - so important

--If these opinion leaders are more exposed to the media than the people they influence, then the ideas flow from the media to opinion leaders and then to the general population.

--The study found that opinion leaders are very similar to the people they influence and typically belong to the same groups of family, friends, and co-workers but have a heavier interest in the topic he/she is influential in.

--This study focuses on the importance of interpersonal relationships and their influence over values and beliefs.

Four Types of Theory

Post-positivist → closest to the scientific method, often uses quantitative and empirical observation; goals are usually to predict/control/explain

Hermeneutic (interpretive) → the study of meaning and how we make it; we can interpret actions and texts through close reading

Critical theory → begins with the assumption that the world is (inherently) flawed, and the goal of research is reform; needs to begin with an understanding of the social world; it is inherently political → addresses inequality and oppression in society, ex: study of aggression of race in advertising

Normative theory → media texts are evaluated next to ideal "normative" standards, Creates/theorizes ideal against which media performance can be measured, addresses functions of media according to ideal social values (often political)

Social Context and Interpretive Effects Expansions of LET theorists

W. Phillips Davison, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, Leonard Berkowitz, George Gerbner, Albert Bandura, Robert Entman

Robinson - readings

"Mass Communication and Information Diffusion" (social context models)

factors in speed of information diffusion

Diffusion - how media flows from one place to another

• people already informed (edu) use media to become more informed.

1. correlations with education level

2. correlations with medium used

i.e. print media use predicted better info levels than broadcast

3. correlations with amount of media use

varies among group characteristics

-the best educated segments of our population who are both well informed and who keep themselves better informed by more serious usage of the mass media for informational content.

-Print consumers are more informed than TV/radio consumers

-People already informed (edu) use media to become more so

-Interpersonal discussion of media content is better predictor of gaining information

**George Gerbner

Cultivation theory - media cultivates (creates) a world view of heavy media users, over time creates a distorted reality of the world

• Over time, media create a distorted reality (note effects are not immediate)

--Media, therefore, influence public views of policy, producing "syndromes":

----Mean World Syndrome ~ people can't be trusted

----Scary World Syndrome ~ crime is widespread

-Consequences for voting public?

--More social order is needed

--Criminals should be punished more severely

--More police needed

-Pros and Cons of Cultivation Theory

• Narrowly focused on heavy TV users

• Ignores heavy use of specific types of media content or of new media

• Argues that TV influence can be subtle and the result of long-term exposure to TV

• Assumes that TV provides a consistent but distorted representation of the social world

speculated that democracy is endangered by media violence

**Paul Tichenor - readings

"Mass Media Flow and Differential Growth in Knowledge" (social context models)

the knowledge gap - the higher educated are more likely to seek out information than the lower educated - ensures knowledge gap always exists

-When "the people" do gain info, it is unevenly distributed (differential growth in knowledge)

Why is knowledge collected by some and not others?

1) communication skills

Persons with more formal education would be expected to have the higher reading and comprehension abilities necessary to acquire public affairs or science knowledge.

2) stored information

Existing knowledge resulting from prior exposure to the topic through mass media or from formal education itself

3) social contacts

Social environment reinforced contact

Education generally indicates a broader sphere of everyday activity, a greater number of reference groups, and more interpersonal contacts, which increase the likelihood of discussing public affairs topics with others

4) selective exposure, acceptance, and retention

Why there is a knowledge diffusion difference

voluntary exposure is often more closely related to education than to any other set of variables.

5) medium used: print vs tv

Those who are highly educated - use print

Print media are geared to the interests and tastes of this higher-status segment

. Traditionally, print media is geared towards a higher educated segment of society which creates a gap between educated and uneducated. --The mass media seems to have a function similar to other social institutions that of reinforcing or increasing existing inequalities.

**Leonard Berkowitz - readings

Film violence and subsequent aggression tendencies

(interpretive effects models)

posited the frustration-aggression hypothesis: a relationship between frustration in achieving a goal (no matter how small) and the show of aggression

opposed Symbolic catharsis

-when the fantasy aggression appear socially justified viewers may be more likely to believe it is permissible to attack the 'villains' in their own lives, during the time immediately following the movie

-The angered college students viewing the justified fantasy aggression generally expressed strong hostility toward the insulting test administrator than did the similarly treated subjects shown the less justified aggression scene. (220)

-If an angered person cannot attack his frustration as he wants to do because of his inhibitions, he is thwarted still more and his aggressive inclinations theoretically are increased. (222)

-If movie violence was justified, subjects more willing to express hostility directly (disinhibited)

---If justified - more likely to exhibit violence directly

---If movie violence unjustified, subject "displace" hostility (inhibition still in place)

--media effect ~ "disinhibition" occurred when media violence was justified by narrative

-Catharsis purging NOT found

--Found that residual hostility was there

The displaced hostility - should be toward person who insulted them

---Those who did not witness justified violence - not feel right being violent toward another human

Would direct anger to the room

-violence in media has little socially beneficial effects.

**Albert Bandura

interpretive effects

but how do we isolate media effects?

synnergize with gerbner

Social cognitive theory - media teachers aggressive styles of behavior - people learn by observing their environment

--media teach aggressive styles of behavior

• shapes viewers' images of reality

• desensitizes children to human cruelty

• weakens aggression restrains (confirmation of "disinhibition" findings)

The Cultural turn

James Carey

Davison - readings

"The Third-Person Effect in Communication" (social context models)

The third-person effect - hypothesis predicts that people will tend to overestimate the influence that mass communications have on the attitudes and behavior of others.

--individuals who are members of an audience that is exposed to a persuasive communication (whether or not this communication is intended to be persuasive) will expect the communication to have a greater effect on others than on themselves.

-We then respond to that perception of effects to how people believe media is influencing others

-Media effect, therefore, is indirect and based in (the perception of) larger social world (opposite of mass society hypodermic needle effect on brain)

-In context of limited effects & social context

Social-Cognitive

Albert Bandura and his Bobo Doll Study

1. Media teaches aggressive styles of behavior

2. Weakens aggression restrains

3. Desensitizes children to human cruelty

4. Shapes viewers images of reality

People gain knowledge partly by observing others within the context of social interactions, experiences, and outside media influences

Extension of Bandura's Social Learning Theory (when people observe a model, they remember the sequence of events and use this info to guide their behavior - this can prompt viewer to engage in behavior they already learned)

**Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann - readings

"The Spiral of Silence: A Theory of Public Opinion" (social context models)

spiral of silence - people who belong to a minority (belief in an idea) tend to stay quiet than the ones in the majority

--leads those on one side of an issue to express their opinions with more and more volume and confidence, while those on the other side of the issue tend to fall silent

---election changed by as much as 15 percentage points during the months prior to election day, while at the same time voting intentions remained fairly stable

Two-Step Flow

Mass media travels from opinion leaders to their followers

Opinion leaders can be anyone from one's social group and family

Opinion Leaders tend to be more connected to mass media

Now, with the rise of social media, followers can directly interact with the mass media or with the content that the mass media would have presented to them

Therefore, mass media is no longer a primary source

Opinion leaders/followers may no longer blindly accept what the mass media tells them

Personal contacts are more effective than mass media in influencing an individual because you trust those people

Information Diffusion

Theorist: Robinson, "Mass Communication and Information Diffusion"

Heavier users of print media are more informed than light users/non-users

Also depends on other factors (ie: education, salary, type of job, ethnicity, etc.)

Print consumers are more informed than TV/radio consumers

Best educated/affluent people keep themselves the most informed, tend to engage more with the media

Contributes to increasing knowledge gap

People already informed (edu) use media to become more so

Interpersonal discussion of media content is better predictor of gaining information

Implication: online comment threads

People pay attention to what they find useful

**Robert Entman - readings

"Framing—Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm" (interpretive effects models)

social context theorist

frames are what shape how we see our everyday life.

--We have a set of expectations that help shape our life and media helps shape those set up expectations.

argues that framing

1) helps in helps in the discussion about audience autonomy by identifying and explaining dominant meaning in debates and the audience dependence in decoding media texts,

2) He maintains that framing helps in discussing journalistic objectivity by decoding how journalists may follow the rules for objective reporting, but also convey a dominant framing of news that can prevent the audience from making a balances assessment; 3) Entman suggests that framing helps to understand why the content of media outlets does not consider equally positive and negative aspects of an issue

4) Entman considers that framing theory is essential to understand how political elites influence public opinion, and, in consequence, normative democratic theory.

Framing often times leads us to impose arbitrary meanings on events but we will experience these events as real

--We have to focus and filter because our senses take in too much

--People resist information that is inconsistent with existing frames

• People use old frames until they are strongly contradicted by experience

Frames can shift - but need a lot of counter evidence

Horse Race Frame ~ Poll results, on-the-street interviews

--Talks about campaigns as who is the front runner

--Who's in the lead?

Strategic Frame ~ What tactics are candidates using and how successful are they?

--What they do to gain attention

--Tactics and how they are used

Personality Frame ~ What are candidates like as a person?

--Talk of legacy

--Looking at personality of the contendant

--I.e. wanting to have a beer with bill clinton

Issues Frame ~ Where do the candidates stand on key issues?

--Implies audience has pre-existing knowledge

Knowledge Gap

Higher socioeconomic status segments tend to acquire mass media information at a faster rate than lower socioeconomic status population segments so that the gap in knowledge between the two tends to increase rather than decrease.

In other words, unequal distribution of information through society and the correlating access to knowledge pertaining to socioeconomic status.

When "the people" do gain info, it is unevenly distributed (differential growth in knowledge)

Growth of knowledge found to be relatively greater status group

Method: newspaper strikes provided population deprived of news; knowledge gap should diminish

Theorist: Robinson: claims that well educated people tend to engage w/ media (also affluent), mass media tends to reinforce existing attitudes/behaviors/ideas, flow is unclear, two-step flow unfounded, print media engagement leads to more info retention, b/c less distractions/active engagement

Tichnor: knowledge gap is widening, mass media widening gap, affluent = more educated, less affluent = less educated

Theories of impact of violence on media

symbolic catharsis

"instigational" role

Social Cognitive Theory

Cultivation Theory

Third Person Effect

Theorist: Davison

predicts that people tend to perceive that mass media messages have a greater effect on others than on themselves, based on personal biases.

We then respond to that perception of effects to how people believe media is influencing others

Media effect, therefore, is indirect and based in (the perception of) larger social world (opposite of mass society hypodermic needle effect on brain)

In context of limited effects & social context

Spiral of Silence

Theorist: Noelle-Neumann

When you have an unpopular opinion, you tend to keep that to yourself; they aren't shared out of fear of social isolation

(I.e. you are a Democrat and you are in a room filled with Republicans)

This undermines healthy public debate

As people perceive popularity of idea (issue, candidate, etc.) diminishing, their willingness to express the idea also diminishes

Idea "spiraling out of usage"

Pressure to conform

This theory applies to 2016 election (he showed a video in class) → polling was off pre-election because people weren't comfortable discussing who they're voting for

Possible outcome: increased attention to Nazis in news, which tends to highlight extreme circumstances, creates the impression Nazism is more popular among the American public than it actually is → so not popular ideas become more popular

A step further: Seen in modern information bubbles → Comments sections of partisan news sites (NY Times & Breitbart) provide an interesting case study of "confirming" media

instigational role

if the violence is justified then consumers tend to think violence is right, if the violence on screen is not justified, then consumers tend to be unaffected by it

Found The angered college students viewing the justified fantasy aggression generally expressed strong hostility toward the insulting test administrator than did the similarly treated subjects shown the less justified aggression scene. (220)

--Want justice for the insults they were given

--Justified violence plays an "instigational role" in aggression

Media Violence

Total US sales of video games hardware and software increased 204% from 1994 to 2014

Violent crimes decreased 37% and murders by juveniles acting alone fell 76%

4 out of 5 US households w/ a male child own a video game system

60% middle school boys, 40% of girls who played M-rated game hit or beat up someone compared to 39% and 14% respectfully

Media researchers' opinion on effects of violence in video games? No certainty!

Symbolic Catharsis Hypothesis (1960s): deliberately angered male college students showed less aggression after watching a boxing match

Hypothesis: seeing violence "purges" aggressive impulses

Berkowitz, et al falsify this hypothesis through lab studies of human subjects: residual aggression remained after viewing boxing (Berkowitz 220)

Social cognitive theory: teaches aggressive styles of behavior, weakens aggression restraints, desensitizes children to human cruelty, shapes viewers' images of reality

McCombs and Shaw (1972) - readings

"The Agenda-Setting Function of Mass Media" (interpretive effects models)

Agenda-setting function - Argues that media doesn't tell people what to think, it tells people what to think ABOUT

"In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality"

--Method:

---The researchers compared news content with surveys of what people felt were important issues

--Findings:

---High correlation between news coverage and surveys

---Media exerted a considerable influence on votes views of what the major issues were

We know Obama's middle name but not what his policy was on the use of drones in the War on Terror

We remember the drama; pointless information

Agenda Setting

McCombs and Shaw Reading

Argues that media doesn't tell people what to think, it tells people what to think ABOUT

Quotes from reading:

"In choosing and displaying news, editors, newsroom staff, and broadcasters play an important part in shaping political reality"

Method:

The researchers compared news content with surveys of what people felt were important issues

In other words, very selective/ picky

Matched what Chapel Hill voters said were key issues of the campaign with actual content of the mass media used by them during the campaign

Addresses how news presents information instead of (like info diffusion) whether or not the public retained information from news

Findings:

High correlation between news coverage and surveys

Media exerted a considerable influence on votes views of what the major issues were

Critical application of Agenda Setting

Examples of Agenda Setting at work:

We know Obama's middle name but not what his policy was on the use of drones in the War on Terror

We know the name of the porn actor who claims to have slept with Pres. Trump but not his policy on steel tariffs

We remember the drama; pointless information

This is agenda setting at work.

While previous studies (information diffusion) measured if the public retained info from news, Agenda Setting addresses how news presents info. We can see this through both how we view the past two presidents we have had (we know their lives but not their policies)

Framing

Theorist: Entman

In essence, frames are what shape how we see our everyday life. We have a set of expectations that help shape our life and media helps shape those set up expectations.

An example: "You should review the midterm it's going to be brutal" vs. "You only need to look up the main ideas you'll be fine"; depending on how he frames how he speaks about the midterm, we will go into it with a different state of mind (or frame)

Framing often times leads us to impose arbitrary meanings on events but we will experience these events as real

We have to focus and filter because our senses take in too much

Different types of framing:

Horse race framing (who's in the lead),

strategic framing (tactics and how they are used),

personality framing (looking at the personality of the contendant), ie. Wanting to have a beer with Bill Clinton

issues framing (Where do candidates stand on key issues)

Assumptions of framing:

We make quick assumptions because of routine frames we already have imbedded in us

These frames help us interpret day to day life

If the frame is out of our realm of what we are comfortable with, we will resist using it

We use the same, strong frames until they are contradicted by a new strong frame

The basis of framing theory is that the media focuses attention on certain events and then places them within a field of meaning

We resist experiencing anything that is inconsistent with routinely used frames

Gottlieb

"Protest News Framing Cycle: How the New York Times Covered Occupy Wall Street" (interpretive effects models)

"Protest News Framing Cycle: How the New York Times Covered Occupy Wall Street" (interpretive effects models)

-Gottlieb developed a theoretical model of the protest news framing cycle based on journalistic practices, media framing, and social movements.

-The goal of this model is to explain how journalists adopted and employed different news frames during different phases of the protest.

-The model proposes the occurrence of cyclical changes in news framing of protests (Occupy Wall Street)

His findings suggest that confrontational tactics, in this case protester arrests, can help amplify the issues, but that journalists tend to focus on the conflict instead of the protest issues-- as conflict between protesters and police heightens, substantive coverage of the protest issues declines.

Stage 1: pre-problem stage,

--both public and news attention to the underlying issues behind the protest and collective action itself are latent or completely absent so no dominant news frame will emerge

Stage 2: alarmed discovery stage,

--public and news attention to the underlying issues behind the protest increases rapidly and engages in disruptive actions. Journalists will employ conflict frames in stories about the contentious actions of protestors

Stage 3: significant progress stage,

--public and news attention peak due to increased tension between protest and state, mass participation in collective action produces journalistic focus on the issues, ideas, and grievances of protestors, conflict frames are likely to dominate coverage due to antagonistic exchanges between the protest and state

Stage 4: decline of public interest,

--public and news attention fade out, conflict's persistence or resolution is likely to be the dominant news frame

Conclusion: 1. Protestors can make their issues more salient in the news by escalating conflict and getting arrested, but journalists tend to focus more on the conflict instead of the protest issues.

Cultivation

Theorist: George Gerbner

Examines the long-term effects of television

The primary proposition of cultivation theory states that the more time people spend 'living' in the television world, the more likely they are to believe social reality aligns with reality portrayed on television.

Gullible?

George Gerbner began the 'Cultural Indicators' research project in the mid-1960s, to study whether and how watching television may influence viewers' ideas of what the everyday world is like.

Mean world syndrome stems from this

Scary world syndrome

Reinforcement

Klapper's theory

o Media has a direct influence only when special circumstances break down the normal barriers to influence

Process of shaping behavior by controlling the consequences of the behavior. In reinforcement theory a combination of rewards and/or punishments is used to reinforce desired behavior or extinguish unwanted behavior

o Media normally reinforce the status quo: provide people with information to fit their existing attitudes

o Legitimate existing political leaders and social institutions

**James Carey- readings

a cultural approach to communication

cultural perspective - focuses on influence of culture on though, feeling, and behavior

communication is a symbolic process whereby reality is produced, maintained, repaired, and transformed

Transmission view - communication is a process whereby messages are transmitted and distributed in space for the control of distance and people (3)

--defined by terms such as "imparting," "sending," "transmitting," or "giving information to others." (2)

• economic context: market information in 1700s

--Transmission model can be seen in the use of market information in an economy

• political context: communicating with citizens

--control of populations

transmission research model focuses on if news accurately represents reality (lies, omissions, etc.)

ritual view - directed not toward the extension of messages in space but toward the maintenance of society in time; not the act of imparting information but the representation of shared beliefs.

--highest manifestation of communication not in the transmission of intelligent information but in the construction and maintenance of an ordered, meaningful cultural world that can serve as a control and container for human action.

Newspaper - Focuses on the role of presnetation and involvemnt in structuring the reader's life and time

--• sharing. participation. association. fellowship. common faith

--• "the sacred ceremony" drawing people together in community

mass culture

The idea that most media products or commodities in general are similar to those that came before them, despite being marketed/described as altogether new and innovative.

Adorno used improvisational embellishment as an example to argue for false-embellishment.

Pseudo-individualisation also argues that audiences are given what they want, when they aren't really? / "individual choice is an 'illusion'"

Pseudo = Fake

Came about from increasing urbanization and industrialization

Characterized by overinflated fears of media's influence on average people and overly optimistic views of their ability to bring about social good

oligopoly

--media market characterized by low competition and a few large companies

--many media industries already highly concentrated and dominated by a very small number of firms.

horizontal flow

--Horizontal communication is the transmission of information between people, divisions, departments or units within the same level of organizational hierarchy.

--Most influence is between leaders and followers at the same level in society

functional displacement and social responsibility

A cycle: a new media technology invented → challenges old media and disrupt the established norms → the new media being criticized by old media and elites → marketplace and government regulation shapes the development of this new media industry → new norms are established for the industry, practices/uses are routinized → new media being integrated into previously established industries (e.g. acquisition by large oligopolies) → another new media technology invented → [repeats the cycle]

Norms of production and norms of audience behavior

vertical flow

vertical flow is the communication/a flow of information between the organization's hierarchy at the different level in society. For example, within the Two-Step flow of media influence.

News event/issue → Mass Media → Opinion Leaders → Followers

humanists vs. social scientists

humanists tend to use qualitative or interpretive research and social scientists tend to use a positivist/post positivist approach of relying on quantitative research and empirical data;

manipulation

A type of social influence that aims to change the behavior or perception of others through abusive, deceptive, or underhanded tactics

Ex. Milgram Experiment

canalization

Lazarsfeld and Merton reading

One of the three conditions for propaganda to prove effective (Monopolization, Canalization, Supplementation)

Mass Media canalize pre-existing behavior patterns/attitudes rather than aim to change basic values

Seldom seek to instill new attitudes/behavior patterns

Traditionalist

empiricism

a theory that states that knowledge comes only or primarily from sensory experience. It is one of several views of epistemology, the study of human knowledge, along with rationalism and skepticism

passive audience

It was thought that this did not require the active use of the brain. The audience accepts and believes all messages in any media text that they receive. This is the passive audience model.

Hypodermic Needle Model

status conferral

Lazarsfeld and Merton reading

One of the social functions of mass media

Endorsing function: legitimizes/elevates/amplifies status by giving a platform to issues

Penny Press (1830s)

Cheap, tabloid-style newspaper mass produced in the U.S. starting in 1830.

Newspaper originally created for the elite, but invention of Penny Press made it available to the masses

Appeals to less educated and less wealthy (non-elites)

Worth 1 cent

Yellow Journalism (1890s)

The late 1800s were characterized by the increased popularity of mass newspapers and magazines, and significant aspect of this change was the advent of yellow journalism. Yellow journalism refers to the journalism style used by the major newspapers owned by tycoons Hearst and Pulitzer in which prints used splashy headlines and images to grab attention and appeal to the masses. Some of the earliest forms of propaganda fell under the umbrella of yellow journalism.

Critics viewed this style as "low culture" because of the association of the traditional newspaper style (no images, text heavy) with an elitist, "high culture".

Some reporters and journalists believed that once an article/story was published like this, then the work of the writer would become discredited for future stories and reports.

Yellow journalism also worked to foster media effects concerns with instances such as the coverage of Evangelina Cisneros during the War in Cuba and the myth of Hearst and "Remington Telegram".

Urbanization

occurred during the 1890s- 1930s; new social order

Lead to the fears of Mass Society

Fears about what society would become/how we would interact with each other

Social fragmentation as urban populations swell

New forms of media (popular magazines, newspapers)

Industrial press also appealed to/reached lower classes (less educated, less wealthy)

Totalitarianism

Totalitarianism is a political concept that defines a mode of government, which prohibits opposition parties, restricts individual opposition to the state and its claims, and exercises an extremely high degree of control over public and private life.

The state intervenes/controls all aspects of daily lives of citizens

Referenced in terms of Limited Effects theory (scientific perspective)

By 1930 the power of media to fuel societal disruption and totalitarianism was widely feared

Propaganda function of media (ex: WWII)

axiology

The proper role of values in research and theory building.

Post-positivist: reliance on the scientific method that defines post-positivism's axiology— the objectivity inherent in the application of the scientific method keeps researchers' and theorists' values out of the search for knowledge (as much as is possible)

Hermeneutic: the axiology of hermeneutic theory embraces, rather than limits, the influence of researcher and theorist values

ontology

The nature of reality, what is knowable.

Post-positivist: accepts that the world, even the social world, exists apart from our perceptions of it; human behavior is sufficiently predictable to be studied systematically

Hermeneutic: The ontology of hermeneutic theory says that there is no truly "real," measurable social reality. Instead, "people construct an image of reality based on their own preferences and prejudices and their interactions with others,

epistemology

The theory of knowledge, especially with regard to its methods, validity, and scope.

Epistemology is the investigation of what distinguishes justified belief from opinion.

In terms of media theory, the epistemology of a method is the new information that can be produced from studies. It is how knowledge is created under a given method.

active audience

Having to do with mass society era of communication theory which stresses that media have tremendous effects on viewers. Whereas the hypodermic needle theory suggests that the audience viewing media are passive subjects, taking in information directly in without interpreting or unpacking its messages. Active audience is in response to this thinking and more in line with limited effects theories stating that audiences are in fact actively involved with media in making sense of the message within their personal and social contexts.

selective attention or perception

In regards to the knowledge gap, people tend to pay attention to what they find useful, which is studies which only look at scientific/foreign affairs knowledge can be limited; what different communities take to be important are varied

selective exposure

individuals' tendency to favor information which reinforces their pre-existing views while avoiding contradictory information

people tend to select specific aspects of exposed information which they incorporate into their mindset. These selections are made based on their perspectives, beliefs, attitudes and decisions

selective interpretation

People's perspective changes though their experience. In class, Professor Davis gave us an example of dating a British girl, and that experience changes perception of British film.

information diffusion

Robinson, "Mass Communication and Information Diffusion"

Heavier users of print media are more informed than light users/non-users

Also depends on other factors (ie: education, salary, type of job, ethnicity, etc.)

Print consumers are more informed than TV/radio consumers

Best educated/affluent people keep themselves the most informed

Tend to engage more with the media

Contributes to increasing knowledge gap

catharsis

--The first recorded mention of catharsis occurred more than one thousand years ago, in the work Poetics by Aristotle.

--By watching the characters in the play experience tragic events, the negative feelings of the viewer were presumably purged and cleansed

--This emotional cleansing was believed to be beneficial to both the individual and society.

- release of pent-up emotion from viewing media that contained that emotional

desensitization

the theory of desensitization is most easily applied to violent media. Constant repetition of violence in the media makes people jaded towards violence. The reaction to violence becomes less prominent because audiences are use to seeing blood, explosions, etc.

disinhibition

how media allows us to inhibit our actions/behavior (indicates that media does have strong effects)

imitation

We imitate the act of violence i.e. hitting the doll after viewing doll abuse

justified violence

Sometimes people justify the violence that they see in media, and their lack of a negative response to it by reasoning that the object of the violence is a "bad guy" (Berkowitz pg 219)

media tells us not what to think, but what to think about

the media tell us not what to think but what to think about (TV): In the McCombs and Shaw reading, they talked about how researchers compared news content with surveys of what people felt were important, and they found that there was a high correlation between news coverage and surveys. Therefore, media exerted a considerable influence on voters' views of what were major issues

*Agenda-Setting

opinion leaders

Led to the development of the two-step flow hypothesis which states that:

Information and influence flows from media to opinion leaders (gate-keepers) and then from leaders to followers

Most influence is between leaders and followers at the same level in society = horizontal flow

Opinion leaders are more likely to use media and to have more social contacts

Opinion leaders are found at all levels of the community, not limited to corporate leaders and business tycoons

Examples of opinion leaders:

bosses/co-workers

Professors

Social media influencers

Religious leaders

Politicians

Family members!! (most influential)

Personal Influence

Was information/influence flow horizontal or vertical?

Decatur studies: Decatur, IL

survey of housewives to see how shopping/fashion decisions were made (Katz and Lazarsfeld)

led to development of the two-step flow hypothesis which states that:

information and influence flows from media to opinion leaders (gatekeepers) and then from leaders to followers

most influence is between leaders and followers at the same level in society = horizontal flow

opinion leaders are more likely to use media and to have more social contacts

opinion leaders are found at all levels of the community

social context models

Spiral of Silence

Noelle Newman

Tendency for people to stay silent with their opinions bc majority is in opposition of those views

Fear of isolation

EX. conservatives often refraining from expressing their views (silence) in a liberal college

3rd Person

Davidson

Two Key elements:

Assumes that media affects other people more than it affects ourselves

We respond to the perception of those effects

Media bias — people see media as biased against their own opinion so the third party would be poorly informed

Info Diffusion Knowledge Gap

Tichenor

Significant knowledge gaps exists b/c of uneven distribution of information. It is easier for affluent people and certain classes to gain access to information b/c they have the resources.

The Knowledge gap widens through: communication skills, stored information, relevant social contacts, selective exposure/retention of info, and nature of mass media system that delivers info

the lessons of the mighty morphin power rangers

Teamwork!

Violence solves conflict/struggles

Exemplifies how violence in media can have potential social effects through the inherent lessons portrayed

Violence seen as a helpful method to solving problems + defeating "evil"