Audience Theory 2 - blog tasks

Audience Theory 2

Theory questions

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?

Media has a lot of influence and responsibility for different violent acts. Media gives a lot of information on different activities of violence, anti-social behaviour and more, it gives the audience an incentive and motivation (depending on the topic) to react these violent events. They use media to tell others and make events like protests, cancel culture... so I would say media has a heavy impact on violent events and anti-social behaviour.,

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 happens every day without us even knowing. It shapes our lives in a big way and guides us to what we want to be. An example is like a watching a video of a person playing video games and then doing it yourself does add some sort of influence to the young people.

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?

Covid-19:

Ever since the covid outbreak the media has been talking about it non-stop. The media treated as if it as the end of the world but in truth it's not to take it that serious. They manipulate the topic to make the audience scared and start a world wide panic.

Trump:

Another example of media manipulation is trump in general. Trump by the media was viewed as a racist , unqualified leader. If you put on CNN right now 90% is going to be trump. The media made him look really bad and when he was elected president, all of the protests which started due to that i feel like media has a lot of responsibility.

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.

Cybersecurity, Child safety, Digital Privacy...

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

No, Regulating the internet will upset a lot of people because some people use the internet to let out important issues around the world or use the internet as their work. Regulating the internet will cause a lot of problems since there are so many users and regulating will be an impossible job to do.

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.

I agree with this theory. Digital media like tv-shows, films etc.. if watched in a early stage of life could really impact on the way we talk, our personality, what kind of interest. This includes with the internet. I believe that the internet does inject information into our minds that can cause long term effects. But when watching violence and gore in the internet, if watched during early stages of life it could really send trauma and have a very bad long lasting effect.

Media fact sheet - The Effects Debate

1) Complete the questions in the first activity box (beginning with 'Do you play violent games? Are you violent in real life?')

2) What are the four categories for different effects theories?

• Direct Effects Theories
• Diffusion Theories
• Indirect Effects Theories 
• The Pluralist Approach

3) What are the examples provided for the hypodermic needle theory - where media texts have been blamed for certain events? 

• Marilyn Manson was blamed at for the 1999 Columbine High school shooting.
• The movie child's play was influenced by the murder of Jamie Bulger

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

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

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

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

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

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?

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