cmn 140 issue 4 (media violence)

1. too much violence in the media 2. focus on amount instead of context 3. media violence harms other people

What are the "public's" 3 faulty perceptions of the issue?

1.Violence is Necessary to Storytelling 2. Blame Others, Not Producers

What are the "producers" 2 faulty beliefs about the issue?

1. violence is everywhere, even in children stories 2. it intensifies conflict and action 3. Certain audiences like stories with violence, others don't 4. Violence indecreases enjoyment for most 5.Selective exposure: some people seek out violent messages 6. 60% of mainstream programs vs. 13% of YouTube videos

What is "violence is necessary to storytelling"?

1. Public under-perceives degree of violence because perceptions limited 2. Narrow perspective on harm of exposure 3. Becoming more media literate means thinking more broadly about effects 4. Need to push for less sanitization instead of more

conclusion

1. ironies -Violence that upsets people the most is the violence they need to be exposed to more -While people are complaining about too much violence, they are missing 99% of it 2. Being media literate requires broader sensitivity to media violence 3. Develop a definition of violence

what are the implications for individuals for media literacy?

1. Media portrayals of violence are a contributing agent to harm 2. Should have economic obligation to allocate some resources gained through sale of violent messages to cleaning up the "byproducts"

what are the implications for producer for media literacy?

1. High profile acts of violence: many people blame media 2. Media producers try to shift blame 3. Not one source: blame must be shared

what is "blame others, not producers"?

1. Assumption that harm is keyed to frequency of the portrayals 2. Frequency is secondary to primary factor of context - The way violence is portrayed gives it meaning - Meaning is influential in effects 3. Sanitization: desensitization 4. Glamorization: attraction to violence; lowered inhibitions 5. Trivialization: belief that risk of being punished is slight 6. If violence presented in different context, repetitive exposure could be positive

what is "focus on amount instead of context"?

1. Most people believe violence in the media has an effect, but not on them 2. Third person effect: difference in perception between one's self and others 3. Most people thinking about imitation of physical violence -kid copying what they see 4. Need to consider other types of aggression (e.g., verbal) and other types of effects (e.g., psychological and emotional) 5. Most prevalent effect: cultivation

what is "media violence harms other people"?

1. has most criticism and portrayals in media 2. public underestimates amount 3. Public has narrow conception of what constitutes violence 4. Judgment of violence related more to degree of graphicness than number of acts 5. Producers sanitize violence to avoid offending audience/interrupting flow 6. Humor appears to remove threat of violence

what is "too much violence in the media"?

1. People complaining ever since storytellers used the media 2. Criticism increases and decreases in cycles 3. Currently quiet, but could heat up quickly again 4. The public and producers of media messages hold many faulty beliefs about media violence.

what is the deal with media violence?