sept 25 (start of mid2) TBC

Media’s Impact

• Consumes a lot, strong socialization agent

• Media influences our thoughts, emotions, and behaviour i.e. ads

Daily Time Spent w/ Selected Media Among Adults in Canada as of 3rd Quarter

• On average, 6 hours on media

• Internet is biggest then TV

Media Impact: Crime Perception

• Media perceives crime which can over-exaggerate

• Violent crime rate has gone up but murder rate has gone down

• Assault 1: Threatening to assault (most charges but wasn’t reported as much)

Media Impact: Society

• Media is responsible for discrepancy b/w dropping rates of crime and perception that crime is out of control

• differential reporting: street crime » corporate crime, violent crimes » property crimes, violent crimes by strangers » known attackers

• dramatization of crime:

  • language: “hookers” “drug addicts”

  • focuses on atypical cases

  • brief and horrific headlines: “Ontario Teen Convicted of Animal Cruelty after Barbecuing Dog”

• incompleteness of report:

  • fails to highlight Indigenous and racialized Canadians at higher rate

  • public is unaware of procedures and sentences which makes them less sympathetic to offender and believe sentence is lenient

• Echo-chamber effect

  • media knows your interest and will feed same thing which makes you think everyone thinks like you

• Citizens having preference for drama

  • crime books and shows

Approaches to Study of Media and Society

• Framing

• Power

Media Framing TBC

• Media selects what gets published

• Framing happens to:

  • individuals: i.e. Princess Diana framed as charitable

  • health issues: i.e. protestors for trans health framed as violent

  • social issues: socioeconomic issues i.e. how homeless are framed

  • social groups: minorities, women, racialized

Moral Panic

• exaggerated concern over a particular phenomenon characterized by:

  • heightened concern

  • hostility toward offending group

  • a certain level of consensus that there is a real threat

  • disproportionality

  • volatility

• media is a tool in creating/sustaining moral panics

Salem Witch Trials

• heightened concern: potential evil in society

• hostility toward offending group: potential of group to bring evil into community

• a certain level of consensus that there is a real threat: entire community believed in threat

• disproportionality: framed as having MANY evil women

• volatility: potential for it to get worse and overtake community

Folk Devils and Moral Panic

• Stanley Cohen

• Folk devils/scapegoat: those who get blamed from society’s projection of guilt and ambivalence i.e. gays during AIDS crisis

• The Mods and The Rockers: media created moral panic about male youth

  • increased concern: youth was out of control

  • manufactured hostility towards offending group: media is responsible for presenting them as violent gangs

  • increased consensus over the threat: all newspaper framed the story the same

  • disproportionately: saying they lost thousands of dollars due to property damage when it was only a couple dollars

  • volatility: reputation of gangs; says there’s a threat that marginalized youth