Theories- The Final Question

Theories- The Final Question

This question requires a lot of theory all surrounding the media effects model (what are the effects media has on audiences)

• Active/Passive audiences
• Hypodermic Needle Theory
• Cohen (Moral Panics)
• Mulvey (Male Gaze)
• Anderson (Media violence and Youth)

• Guantlett (Media effects is outdated)- counter argument
• Uses and Gratifications- counter argument

Media effects model

• The model (sometimes referred to as theory) concerns how media can affect society/individuals and vice versa.
• There are very negative implications of this model, but you we will also learn some counter arguments. 

• The media effects model suggests that audiences are passive and easily influenced by the media they consume. 

The Hungerford Massacre 

• In 1987, Michael Robert Ryan fatally shot 16 people in Hungerford, England, before turning the gun on himself. 
• He used a handgun and 2 semi-automatic rifles.
• Press reports stated he was obsessed with the film 'First Blood', and may have been influenced by it.
• In response Stallone, actor in the film, said, 'I carry the can for every lunatic in the world who goes crazy with a gun'. 
• Audiences can be passive when they see something they do not think for themselves.
• Some people are passive and behave in negative ways. 
• The media has a negative effect on them, they see violent films and so behave violently. 

other notable examples

• The torture and killing of 2 year old Jamie Bulger by two ten year old boys, said to have been influenced by the horror film 'Child's Play 3'. 
• The Columbine Massacre in 1999- a high school shooting influenced by POV shooter games such as 'Doom' and '3D Wolfenstein'. 
• The 2012 shooting of people in a cinema que in Aurora, Colorado, by a gunman influenced by 'The Dark Knight Rises'. 
• Call of duty: allegedly trained/addicted to Call of Duty
• Breivik claimed to have used as a training tool for the massacre he perpetrated 
  'Norways alleged mass killer testified on Thursday that he played video games as a way to train for shooting spree that killed 77 people. In particular, Breivik said at his trial that he played 'Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2' as a means of shooting practice'. according to CNN report in 2011. 
• Call of duty spark gun-crazed loner's killing spree. Adam Lanza spent hours with game, just like Breivik. Known as the Sandy hook massacre.

These examples suggest that video games are making us as passive consumers of the media more violent.

Are video games really making us more violent?

Arguments that suggest video games lead to violence- media has a negative effect on passive consumers

• Audiences are passive and unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality- this leads to violence of society. 
• Exposure to violence increases the risk of violent behaviour. for example, Jamie Bulger, Michael Ryan, Columbine Massacre. 

Counter arguments

• People play to escape from their everyday life- different from their reality, so not connected to this reality. 
• Individuals can distinguish between fantasy/adventure and reality. 
• Psychologists argue that if people have a space to enact this violence which is not real, playing the video game, then prevents them from behaving like this in reality. 
• Violent thoughts are different from behaviour. Violence VS Aggression. 
• Little scientific evidence to support theory. Countries and societies that play more video games have less violence. 
• Access to guns in the US may be the main factor of high rates of violence, rather than video games. 

Hypodermic needle theory/Media effects theory 

• Passive audience
• Negative influence: violence
• Theorises that audiences are essentially passive and will readily absorb messages relayed to them by the media.
• This means that, after watching a violent horror film, or playing a violent POV shooter, audience members will be negatively influenced.
• This presupposes that audiences are passive (unable to reject media messages) rather than active (they make sense of media messages through personal and social contexts). 

Texas Chainsaw Massacre

• Example of a film that was banned due to the effect it may have on society 
• Banned
• BBFC- Mary Whitehouse
• The remake is not banned 
• This could be due to audiences now being more desensortised 
• Psycho: Many audiences were traumatised by Psycho when it first came out. Main actress Janet Leigh was terrified of showering of showering after the film was wrapped. 

Moral panic

• Stanley Cohen developed this theory.
• This encompassed ideas of folk devils in society.
• Moral panic happens when a condition, episode, person or group of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests. 
• His research based on mods and rockers in the 1960s, but has since been applied to the media.
• Panic created in society, our morality is being removed. 

The stages of moral panic

• Someone, something or a group are defined as a threat to social norms or community interests 
• The threat is then depicted in a simple and recognisable symbol/form by the media.
• The portrayal of this symbol rouses public concern.
• There is a response from authorities and policy makers.
• The moral panic over the issue results in social changes within the community.
• When individuals fail to conform to societies norms and values, the media tend to shift the blame onto external constraints, or folk devils. For example, an individual may carry out a school shooting, and the media would shift the blame from him to video games that promote violence, such as Call of Duty.

Consequences of moral panic

• Jamie Bulger case in the UK focused public attention on screen violence
• Mary Whitehouse spearheads a campaign against screen violence; she gains wide support. 
• BBFC stars to censor or ban films 
• Fewer people are able to consume violent films

Desensitisation 

This theory suggests that audiences reactions are weaker towards their exposure to extreme violence, sex and death.

This decrease in fear and sensitivity links to the extreme rise of societal violence and behaviours.

People are therefore more likely to engage in such acitivities. 

Mulvey and the Male Gaze

• Feminist perspective on Media effects
• Gaze- how an audience views people that have been presented
• How men look at women, how women look at themselves, how women look at other women.
• Mulvey believes that audiences have to view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male and that the camera is always of that viewpoint. Cameras linger on female curves and the female body.
• Women are relegated to the status of an object and are heavily sexualised for a male's sexual gratification. 

How does this relate to the media effects model:

Me too movement- women came forward and promoted

Anderson- Media violence and youth

Anderson's study says exposure to Media violence increases the likelihood of aggressive violent behavior in young people.

The study was based on research carried out on the media effects violence in film, TV, music and video games.

It says 2 of the main ways aggressive or violent behavior is seen in young people:

Desensitisation 

Imitation (of violent behaviour)

The study suggests that the degree to which media affects aggression and violence in young people can depend on other factors such as their social environment (e.g parental supervision).

No one is immune to the effects of media violence.

Against Media Effects - Guantlett

The effects model tackles social problems 'backwards'

• There is a mistake of looking ad individuals, rather than society, in relation to the mass media- just because a group of individuals are violent, there is not a need to generalise that ALL youths are violent.

The effects model treats children as inadequate (it undermines their capabilities)

• Research has been conducted which seeks to establish what children can do and understand from mass media.
• Outcomes have highlighted that children can talk intelligently and negatively about the mass media. 
• The study included children as young as 7.

The effects model assumes superiority to the masses

• People think that media is influential on others and that it could never influence themselves.
• Further, it is wrong to believe that uneducated, lower class individuals are more heavily affected by media content. 

The effects model is selective in its criticisms of media descriptions of violence

• The acts of violence which appear on a daily basis on the news and in serious factual programmes are seen as somehow exempt.
• Instead, media descriptions of violence, which the media effects model typically condemns are limited to fictional productions. 

Uses and gratifications

• Blumler and Katz
• You could use this theory 

Discuss the positive and negative media effects a product you have studied might have on its audience (20)

I will be discussing the positive and negative media effects video games, specifically Call of Duty, may have on it’s audience. 

Some forms of media, such as video games, are likely to have a negative impact on it's audience, as they often reinforce and promote violence. Evidence of this can be shown through 'Call of Duty' allegedly training people, through their addiction of the game, who want to commit gun-related crimes. An example of this is Breivik, the perpetrator of the 'Norway Massacre'. He claimed, at his trial, that he played 'Call of Duty: Modern Welfare 2' as a means of shooting practice, for his shooting spree that killed 77 people. This emphasizes the idea that audiences are passive consumers and are therefore unable to distinguish between fantasy and reality, and so the exposure to such violence increases the risk of violent behavior within society. This can be applied to the Hypodermic Needle theory, as this suggests how audiences are passive and easily influenced by the media, video games, they consume, and how this can reproduce negative implications, in this case, violence. 

Mulvey’s male gaze theory can explain how the media reinforces negative effects the media, video games, has on their audience. The male gaze is the idea that audiences view characters from the perspective of a heterosexual male and that the camera is always of this viewpoint. An example of this is in Call of Duty, the main characters are usually men and the victims are often women. As well as this, as Call of Duty is a POV game, it is usually at the POV of a male character. These women are likely to be wearing promiscuous clothing and the camera work often lingers on female curves and their bodies. This suggests that women are relegated to the status of an object and are heavily sexualised for a males sexual gratification. It also reinforces the idea that women are inferior to men. This is linked to Anderson’s theory of Media Youth and Violence as this could influence younger audiences, in particular, in a negative way as they are easily affected by the media as they are more passive. The exposure to this violence increases the likelihood of aggressive behaviour in young people. 

However, Gauntlet argues that the media effects model tackles social  problems backwards. This is the view that there is a mistake of looking at individuals, rather than society, in relation to the mass media. For example, it can depend on other factors, such as the laws in place within a country. For example, guns are legal within the USA. As a result, guns are tolerated and easily accessible, and this can explain why the USA has the highest rate of gun-related crime, rather than the media. As well as this, if individuals grow up in a society that promotes gun rights, and experience such, they are going to consider it as a norm, and perhaps be influenced to carry out such acts. This suggests that although some individuals are violent, there is not a need to generalise all youths are violent and are equally passive when exposed to media.  

Lastly, one could argue that video games have positive effects on their audience as people play video games to escape from their everyday life, or reality. For example, one may be experiencing a tough time at school interacting with people and making friends, and to escape from this play 'Call of Duty', as it has many interactive features. Evidence of this can be shown through the forum section on the website, in which one can interact with those that share the same interests with them, as well as forming teams in which one can play and interact with new people. As technology is now more advanced, one can play online which means they can talk to these other players, from all over the world, live. This suggests that one is able to recognize the difference from their reality and so do not connect such forms of media to this reality, and instead use it as a means of entertainment, which evidently has a positive effect on audiences. This can be applied to Blumler and Katz Uses and Gratifications theory, as it shows how people use the media as a source of entertainment, and escapism, as they are being diverted from their problems within reality. This shows how video games can reinforce positive effects on it's audience. 

In conclusion, video games, particularly Call of Duty, reinforce both positive and negative effects on the audiences that consume such products. This suggests that the exposure and promotion to such violence included within the game is likely to influence audiences to carry out similar violent acts, whilst also demonstrating how the media can reinforce positive effects such as acting as a source of entertainment for users. This also considers how it is not the media the produces such negative implications, but the society we are in. 

• P.E.E.T
• Point
• Example- from product you are talking about
• Explain- justify point
• Theory
• 16-18 marks: 4 
• 20 marks 4-5 
• Conclusion is needed
• Debate question- demonstrate both sides of argument - don't need to be balanced.