Chapter Fifteen - PowerPoint Presentation

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Chapter Fifteen

Theories of Media and SocietySlide2

Agenda Setting Function

Authors: McCombs & Shaw: 1967 Presidential election

Main (original) idea: Media influence what we think about—not

what we think!Not persuasion—but importance of issuesSlide3

Agenda Setting Theory:

The Core Proposition

Agenda setting is the “process whereby the news media lead the public in assigning importance to various public issues” by giving more space and time to an issue.Slide4

Agenda Setting Theory

(1970’s)

Types of agendas:Media agenda (topics covered by media)

Public agenda (topics public believes to be important)Policy agenda (issues that decision makers believe are important)

Agenda Setting Theory in the comm. discipline has concentrated on the relationship between the media agenda and the public agendaSlide5

Figure 15.1

Public Agenda

Policy

Agenda

Media Agenda

Gatekeepers, influential media, spectacular news events

Personal exper. & comm. among elites and other individuals

Real world indicators of the importance of an agenda issue or eventSlide6

Agenda Setting Theory

The researchers first conducted a

content analysis of newspaper and television coverage of the campaignThe researchers then interviewed undecided voters about what issues were important (time-lag study)

These two agendas (media and public) were virtually identical, with media focus preceding public focusSlide7

Example ASF study:

time-lag studySlide8

Agenda Setting Theory:

Establishing Causality

The correlation found between the media agenda and the public agenda could be interpreted two waysDoes the media agenda cause the public agenda, or vice versa?Further research suggests that the major causal direction is from media to public (though there is some “mutual” influence)Slide9

Agenda Setting Theory:

Theoretical Developments

Contingency factors

Audience need for orientation

high interest in issue and high uncertainty

Also education level and political interest

Issue Obtrusiveness

more

obtrusive

if audience has experience with issue and less obtrusive (unobtrusive) if

not

media

effects greater for unobtrusive issuesSlide10

Agenda Setting Theory:

Theoretical Developments

Contingency factors

How do types of Media influence public agenda?

newspaper vs. television

Broadcast quicker influence; print longer lasting

But very complex issueSlide11

Agenda Setting Theory:

Theoretical Developments

Second-Level Agenda SettingFirst-level

agenda setting--the issues (objects) in the media Second-level agenda setting

tells audience what to think about these issuesFraming--process through which media emphasize some aspects of reality and downplay others creating interpretive schema (e.g., by subtopics, placement, tone, narrative form, details, etc.)Slide12

Agenda Setting Theory:

Theoretical Developments

Psychological mechanismPrimingeffects of previous context on retrieval and interpretation of subsequent information

particularly when it is ambiguousSlide13

Spiral of Silence Theory

Spiral of Silence Theory (SOS) was developed by Noelle-Neumann as an “all-encompassing” theory of public opinion (began with her affiliation to Nazi party in the

1930s and 1940s—Americans’ view of Germans)SOS relates several levels of analysis: psychological processes, interpersonal communication, and mass mediaSlide14

Spiral of Silence Theory:

Key Concepts (Tenants Tenets of Theory)

People have a fear

of isolationIndividuals also assess the nature of public opinion through a

quasi-statistical sense which is influenced (biased) by media’s constant presence. When individuals believe public opinion is against them, they will thus be unwilling to speak out

The Train TestSlide15

Media

Friends, Family

Fear of Isolation

Silence regarding “public opinion”

View of Public AttitudeSlide16

Spiral of Silence

4 aspects of media:

Ubiquity (pervasiveness)

Consonance (coherence)Cumulative

AccessibleSlide17

Spiral of Silence Theory:

The Spiral Process

As these three factors work together, public opinion will spiral down and reflect dominant perceptions

The spiral of silence will be mitigated by several factors:The spiral only applies to moral issues“Hard core”

advocates will always speakThe educated and affluent

will more often speak

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Spiral of Silence Theory:

Evidence and Extensions

Evidence for SOS has been relatively weak; thus extensions have been proposedFirst, some suggest that the spiral of silence will work only with regard to valued reference groups

Second, some have looked at other factors that will predict an individual’s willingness to “speak out”—e.g., self-efficacyHas been critiqued for assumptions that media are liberal and people are powerlessSlide20

Media & World View

Cultivation Theory (or Analysis)

Author: George Gerbner:Background: National Commission on the Causes & Prevention of Violence (1967)

Scientific Advisory Committee on Television and Social Behavior (1972)Cultural Indicators Project/Cultural Environment MovementMain Point: Media creates (cultivates) in audience a way of seeing the world

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Cultivation Theory

(Gerbner—advent of television)

CT concentrates on one medium: TelevisionCT considers the ways in which television influences our socially constructed views of reality

(not just topics or issues)What about video games?Slide22

Cultivation Theory

Assumptions about the Nature of ViewingWe do not watch particular shows or genres of shows, but we

view by the clockTV becomes like a “member of the family,” like a “religion” (heavy v. light viewers, the ‘TV type’)

Do you agree with Gerbner et al.’s claim from 1986 that although television has changed since the 1950’s, these assumptions still hold? Slide23

Cultivation Theory:

The Cultivation Effect

Given these assumptions about television and viewing: Cultivation describes the long-term and cumulative impact of television on our views of reality—the nature of the world and people within that world.Slide24

Cultivation Theory:

Methods for Testing

Content Analysis: The “television world” is assessed through content analysis (e.g., ethnic groups, crimes, etc.)Cultural Indicators: Viewers’ perceptions of the world are assessed through survey

In comparing light viewers with heavy viewers, researchers find that heavy viewers’ perceptions of reality are most in line with the “television world” viewSlide25

Cultivation Theory

Key Terms:Violence: Any actual or threat of physical harm

Violence Index: Analysis of week of violence“Ice-age analogy” (cumulative effect)

Mean World Syndrome: Belief that the world is a “mean and scary place”Slide26

Cultivation Theory

Violence in the mediaPrime time crime 10x that in real world (1982)

8K murders, 100K acts of violence by end of elementary school13K deaths by end of High School2/3 characters involved in violence1 Day: (1997)

Assaults: 389 serious, 73 simple362 uses of guns273 punchesSlide27

TV Viewing (Hs/Day)

Light: < 2 hours/day

Heavy: >4 hours/day

Stereotypes (racial & gender)

Mainstreaming

Views of …..

Mean World SyndromeSlide28

“The repetitive pattern of television’s mass-produced messages and images forms the mainstream of the common symbolic environment that cultivates the most widely shared conceptions of reality”Slide29

Cultivation Theory:

Critiques and Extensions

Major critique: The cultivation effect is generally found to be very small (esp. after controlling for demographic variables)Response to critique: First, any effect on views of reality is important. Second, other factors can be added to enhance predictive value of theory:

Mainstreaming (homogenization of views for heavy viewers)Resonance (more effect for viewers who have had related experiences)Slide30

Cultivation Theory:

Critiques and Extensions (cont.)

Cultivation Theory has also been criticized with regard to assumptions about television and viewingThese critiques are especially relevant in view of changing technology

Cable and satellite offerings might mitigate assumption of coherenceVideo-recording technology might mitigate assumption of viewing by the clockSlide31

Cultivation Theory:

Critiques and Extensions (cont.)

Extension has been proposed to distinguish between first-order and second-order cultivation effects

First-order effect: Statistical descriptions of the world

Second-order effect: General nature of the worldExtension has been proposed to evaluate nature of cultivation

relationship

??Why are there no theories of cultivation based on music???Slide32

Final Paper

(1) Summarize the theory (history, key components, fundamental assumptions or propositions, etc. )

—Is it primarily interpretive, critical, post-pos.?(2) Critique the worth of the theory according to Miller’s criteria (accuracy, consistency, scope, parsimonious, heuristic)

(3) Identify and integrate a minimum of five to eight research studies motivated by the theorySome studies will test the theory and some will simply apply it Slide33

Final Paper

(4) Analyze current state of the theory based on the research applications (Has the theory been appropriately/sufficiently tested? has it been applied to the appropriate contexts?, etc.)

You will refer primarily to the articles you reviewed in the paper; however, you should also mention applications or tests that may have been beyond the parameters you set for your summary section.(5) propose what should be done with the theory in the future (e.g., what direction should future research take? What elements need to be added to the theory? etc.).