media violence

Consider the various theories about the effects of media violence

• how do you define media violence?

physical contact that intends to harm as well as use of weapons that are intended to harm people

• do you think there is too much, too little or just the right amount?

I think that there is the right amount, because the media could be alot more violent, but it could also be a lot less violent

• how does media violence affect you?

Media violence doesn't affect me, in the ways like i dont copy them or i dont want to hit someone.

• how do you think media violence affects others?

it doesn't affect the majority but it may affects some people in bad ways

Positive effects of violent films

• people can watch them for enjoyment
• you are not forced to watch the films
• cartharsis you may feel like you have let off steam (GTA5)
• Media portrayals of violence can increase awareness of social problems

Cathartic efffect

Cleanses people of violent inclations

socially positve action

people can be taught a leason e.g shows people racism so they won't do it as they know its wrong

Negative effects of violent films

• copying / immitation
• nightmares psychological effect
• moral panic e.g video games corrupting the young

Aggressive stimulatiuon theory

• banduras bobo doll experiment
• critisized for over stating the cause and effect
• conclusions are simplistic
• evidance is anecdotal
• other factors
• aggressive people may gravitate toward violent media 

Catalytic theory/model (Ferguson et al 2008)

media trigger violence only when certain non-media factors are also present (the way people are brought up)

such as violence rewarded

media exposure is heavy

Contributing factors

violence is realistic and exciting

violence rights a wrong

violence includes characters and situations similar to viewer's own experience

violence is too complex to be explained by a single factor

the affects vary from person to person

Desensitizing theory

People become hardened to media

societys tolerance for antisocial behaviour is increasing

direct effect of media on a person

Byron review 2008

Says that the parents should be the one to regulate things like bbfc do but get the parents to be the ones to do the work for their children. so in the hands of individuals not the institutions.



Douglas gentile

Proof that antisocial and dangerous behaviour increase due to playing violent video.



Mark Kermode - critic

The public has responsibility to look after itself and they are giving this up to the regulators



O davey

violence cant be distingusished from film as we can't distinguish violence from life 



Martin Barker

we need to see violence as its part of real life and it helps us understand the world we live in

Childs play 3 and james bulger

Case study for violence in the media and real life.

The boys (Venables and Thompson) took james from a shopping centre and beat james to death and then put his body over a railway line and a train ran over the body so this is a link between the film and the murder case, but we dont even know if the boys had watched the film, and maybe they would have done them violent acts anyway as it was said by the director of the first childs play that the people who copy it are said to be unbalenced to begin with.

what is censorship

Bbfc= british board film certification

Key themes:

• Violence
• graphic representation and realism
• audience affecting the audience
• corrupt the young
• controversy and the press
• sex and nudity
• sexual violence
• religion
• class
• language
• shock

BBfc- major concern of violence

BBFC want to stop children copying violence so they certify films to stop them watching films.

May traumatise people.

Direct effect on the audience- Desensitised the audience, they think its ok (Superheros)

taking pleasure in the pain humiliation

Can talk about the reception theory as people have different ways of taking parts of the film. 

Euroscepticism

Euroscepticism is criticism of the european union as a political organisation. Major criticisms include the idea that it weakens the national state, erodes national identity, and is not properly democratic.

papers such as Daily mail, daily express, the daily telegraph, the sun and times have been vocal in their criticism of the eu. Daily express became the first newspaper to actually call for britain to leave the eu with its headline "Get britain out of europe", they also launched a crusade to remove britain from the uk.

Misrepresentations of eu policies

Home-made jam? Eu bosses want to ban it.

This story was printed in newspapers but was completely untrue 
also articals have been used to persuade its readers that the eu is a bad thing. however, it also misrepresents information and the eu.

A misleading headline from the express on the 11th feburary 2010 said "now we have to bail out the euro"
When really we just had to help bail out greece and not the single currency.

How effective is contemporay media regulation? (for or against pcc)

How effective is contemporay media regulation?



FOR

• voluntery for the news papers to sign up so they are more likely to comply with the rules but could be against
• no legal wrangling, quick so it gets resovled and get an appology in the newspaper..
• place to complain.
• It's free for us, its paid by the industry, not the government and not our taxes
• freedom of press

AGAINST

Max Mosely Nazi orgy

• Invasion of privacy
• not in the public interest
• litigation is expensive- media has money to fight back 
• got filmed with oout knowing 
• publish and be damned 

Christopher Jefferies (joanna yates murder)

• Wasn't wrong to bring his name up
• but they sai he was strange
• they said he was obbsesseed with murrder
• went outside his house and wouldn't leave him alone
• made him move out his house
• ruined his reputation

Levison inquirey

• says that the media needs to be changed
• 7 inquireys in 17 years

voluntery- if they dont like the rules then they can just leave

The appology could only be little on page 17 even though the original stoy made front page so the damage is already done.

the public lacked confidence

lacks power

no legal basis

no fines

Four theories of the press

Fredrick S. Siebert 1963 presenteed the four theories of the press to clarify the link between mass media and the political society.

Authoritarian Theory....

• Direct government control of the mass media
• Like North Korea
• Government may punish anyone who questions the states ideology
• Government is always right
• Foreign media isn't allowed if it makes this country a fool

Libertarian theory

• Idea that the individual should be free to publish what they want
• Attacks on the government policies are fully accepted and even encouraged
• no restrictions on import or export
• media professionals have full autonomy within the media organization

The Soviet theory

closely tied to a specific ideology-the communist

Media organisations in this system are not intended to be privately owned and are to serve the interests of the working class 

Both the soviet and the authoritarian acknowledge the government as superior to the media institutions but the mass media in the soviet model are expected to be self regulatory with regard to the content of their messages 

The soviet theory differs from the authoritarian theory in that the media organisations have a certain responsibility to meet the wishes of their audience


The social responsibility theory 

• The media has certain obligations to society:
  Informativeness 
  Truth
  Accuracy
  Objectivity
  Balance
  
  
  Media as a whole is pluralizes, indicating a reflection of the diversity of society as well as access to various points of view 
  Provide an entrance to different mass media for minority groups 
  Journalist is accountable to his audience as well as to the government