Audience theory 2: blog tasks

 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?

Media can be responsible for violence in the soicety as it can influence others to take part in unusual activity and that can lead them to commit crimes which can harm their own life but can also harm other peoples lives.

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.

Young people can learn behaviour online through socuial media and the internet nad some ofg the exmaples can include online trolling where others lives can be impacted due ot the activites of 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?

Moral panics include the video nasties were blamed for encouaring violence and the actual harm was limited ansd another example could be the satanics panic in the 1980 and 1990 and that was spreading the fear of ritual abuse and caused widepsread concern and the last example could include the Columbmbine massacre in 1999 where there was access to guns and that was another example which cyuased a widepread concern worldwide.

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.

The examples of technopanics that are give here incvlude stuff like video  games,social medi ai and mobile phones.

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

The internet should have some regulation to prevent harm, such as illegal content or cyberbullying. However, limiting the internet could lead to limiting the freedom of speech and finding a a balance between those two factors is vital.

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.

Gerbner's cultivation theory explains that repeated exposure to media content can shape the way that people think about the world. Constant exposure to online video games can cause them to become tolerant of the abuse and increase the fear of threats and heavy internet and social media effects a lot of the community, and yes, i think the internet is something we should be worried about in the society as it is very damaging to society and can seriously impact other people's lives

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?')

1) I do play violent video games, but I am not violent in real life

2)Yes, sometimes I do see a product, and i sometimes i might even purchase it

3)No i have not seen a documentary that has drawn me in.

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

Direct effect theories

Diffusion theories

Indirect effect theories

Pluarist approach

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

The hypodermic needle theory is when media is injected into the audiuence and has a direct effect on the audiences and can inject a ceertian type of behaviour and exapmle of this is marylin munsons music where it was linked to several muders and how it had an huge impac on the columbine school shooting.

4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.
The columbine massacre was when there was a school shoooting in 1999 in US and alot of people were affected.
5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?

Some of the reasons that the factsheet had listed was the easy access to firemarms,social economic stress and violent media

6) How does the factsheet describe Gerbner's Cultivation theory?
Gerbners cultivation theory explains that media affects attitudes rather than behaviour and repeated exposure can normalise ideas or values.
7) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?
The factsheet explains that the good violnce films is when you are trying to protect someone and do it for a good cause and repitition of these messgaes can make seem that violence is and can be normalised among the world
8) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?

It is criticised for oversimplyfing audience behaviour.They assume all audionces act the same way

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?

It includes racist stereotypes which links to reception theory where audiences create their own meanings and so modern viewrs reject the offensive content

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

According to Hall, audiences can interpret media in three ways: a preferred reading occurs when viewers accept the intended meaning, a negotiated reading happens when they partly accept and partly resist the meaning, and an oppositional reading is when viewers understand the intended meaning but reject it completely in favour of their own interpretation.