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?

Its a yes and no answer, it really depends on the person and who and what they decide to see as a form of influence. 

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.

Id say its incredibly relevant in the digital age. A prime example of how young people are learning behaviours is through tiktok and their dance trends. A young person could see a dance on the app, think its cool because they see other people thinking its cool, and then begin replicating the dance in real life.

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?

One example is Dungeons and Dragons. This was a panic where news networks told the public that the board game Dungeons and Dragons was promoting satanism and suicide. Another example is "The Devils Music" panic which lasted from 1920 to 1980 about how new music was spiritually and morally corrupting children. The last example is the current Violence and video games trend, where video games are are blamed for a childs behaviour or simply blamed because of the contents of a game with no real proof that it has influenced anyone. None of these panics have ever been socially justified, just disregarded for either how irrelevant they may appear compared to other stories or simply for how ridiculous the panic may seem. As a result of these panics, nothing has changed at all Dungeons and Dragons is still going strong after recently having a film adaptation New music is still being created everyday, and video games are still blamed for the action of every single child.

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

"Intense public, political, and academic responses to the emergence or use of media or technologies."

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

I think that again it depends on a persons history whether they should be monitored by the government, like a punishment.

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.

In this day and age with new and digital media, the internet is drastically creating a fearful population. The main reason for this is due to how the media can portray certain stories and decide what to actually show to the public, an obvious example being war, with war being a main topic and war being the only thing people see, of course theyre going to start fearing as its the only thing they can see when they put the news on or while scrolling through Instagram or X. Due to this constant exposure when its really unnecessary, more people are becoming desensitised to the real life problems, creating a lack of awareness where it is needed.

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?')
Yes i play many violent video games and watch many violent movies and no im not really violent in real life. There has been the rare occasion where ive seen something advertised and wanted it, e.g. Mcdonalds. And no ive never watched a documentary that has drawn my attention to a certain issue that i already wasnt unopinionated on.
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

romantically linked couples. in one case, the director was sued

for inciting violence although the court case was later dismissed

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 an infamous school shooting which took place at the Columbine highschool in Colorado USA. The perpetrators, twelfth-grade students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, murdered twelve students and one teacher. 
5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?

o The ease of access to firearms and the social

acceptance of gun ownership

o The alienation felt by teenagers who felt as though

they did not fit in

o The hopelessness caused by living in an area where

unemployment was high and was economically

disadvantaged

o The general desensitisation caused by access to a

range of violent images: film, TV, the news, the

internet

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.

 Violence for a ‘bad’ reason must be punished.

Good’ Violence Examples:

Protecting a family member

Stopping a criminal

Killing someone who wants to

hurt a weaker person

Bad’ Violence Examples:

For financial gain or fun

Threatening weaker people

Threatening the state/

government

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

Critics see these direct theories as having 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. The individual nature of the members of the audience is not taken into account.

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?

Appears to many modern viewers, racist and offensive. Times have changed and so have people’s attitudes and values. What was acceptable as the topic for comedy some decades ago, no longer is. Due to the new day and age we live in where culturally humans have changed drastically, This show has been completely disregarded due to how truly inappropriate it is, which shows how audiences have learnt over the years about what is and what isnt suitable.

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

The Sun and The Guardian may report the same ‘facts’ very

differently.