Yes I occasionally play violent video games e.g Call of Duty and watch violent films e.g Scarface . No I am not ''violent in real life. Yes I do see products online and on TV and sometimes buy them. Yes I have seen a documentary which draws attention to a certain issue and now I feel strongly about it e.g the issue of deforestation and how it affects the lives of animals.
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?
Childs 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.
4) What was the 1999 Columbine massacre? You may need to research this online in addition to the information on the factsheet.
Occurred on April 20, 1999 - two teenagers went on a shooting spree at Columbine High School in Colorado, killing 13 people and wounding more than 20 others before turning their guns on themselves and committing suicide
5) What are the reasons listed on the factsheet to possibly explain the Columbine High School massacre?
- The ease of access to firearms and the social acceptance of gun ownership
- The alienation felt by teenagers who felt as though they did not fit in
- The hopelessness caused by living in an area where unemployment was high and was economically disadvantaged
- The general desensitisation caused by access to a range of violent images: film, TV, the news, the internet
It suggests that media affects attitudes rather than behaviour. If an audience is repeatedly ''exposed'' to certain ideas and values it may make the ideas presented seem like valid information. They appear normal or natural. The audience becomes desensitised towards negative or violent representations.
7) How does this front page of the Daily Mail (from this week - Wednesday 16 November) link to Cultivation theory?
It makes the audience believe that the headline is typical or ''normal'' as there have been several stories o children being exposed to too much Tv.
8) What does the factsheet suggest about action films and the values and ideologies that are reinforced with regards to violence?
Violence is only acceptable if its for a good reason. However if someone uses violence for a bad reason they should be punished.
9) What criticisms of direct effect theories are suggested in the factsheet?
They assume that the audience is not perceptive or self aware.
10) 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 some content that may be racist or offensive to modern day viewers. It links to the reception theory as it suggests that no text has one single meaning, and that the audience create meaning based on individual factors such as age, race, religious beliefs etc
11) What examples are provided for Hall's theory of preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings?
The sun and Guardian may report the same facts but differently
Media producers can never know how audiences interpret information
Audiences may have different experiences and opinions and can interpret texts differently.12) Which audience theory do you think is most convincing? Why?
I think that the most important audience theory is the Hall theory as it suggests that different people can interpret the same text differently based on individual factors e.g their age, gender, religion etc. However I also think that Gerbners theory is also relevant in today's society as we are desensitised to certain content in a media text e.g the use of violence. Also since there are several sources of media available we can easily assume that some information is true based on the frequency of that information on different texts. We somehow use stereotypes to assume that information is valid.
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