MEDIA

A2 Ms. Hiba Khan

 Media representation –

Class – poor-middle class-rich

Gender – females and males
Age – childhood youthood and old age
Ethnicity –majority and minorities
Media representation of Class: Upper, middle and working class
Working Class Representations
www.youtube.com/watch?v=0Czk-O2Ok2E (Media representations of social class)
• The Media Ignores Class tensions that Conflict Theorists focus on. Instead, working Class
Aggregations/Representations are generally stereotyped as being less valuable culturally and historically:

• The Working Class is shown as being inarticulate, old-fashioned, uneducated, lazy and incapable

• Working Class Culture is shown as being manufactured, artificial, superficial, disposable, undemanding
and culturally valueless (Ehrenreich)
• Glasgow Group reports that the poor do not occupy positions of power within the media industry and
thus cannot promote more positive representations of the Working Classes

• Representation/Aggregations of the working-class rarely portray the ordinariness of working-class life

• The working class is represented in a narrow range of situations that are:

• Occasionally positive, such as professional sport

• But more usually negative, such as welfare cheats, drug addicts and skinheads, are often the subjects of
moral panics
• Poverty and unemployment are often shown as resulting from personal failings such as dropping
out of school, adopting crime and drugs and bad parenting, as opposed to structural factors such
as a decline in the living wage, inflation, government policies, disbanding of unions, and of
business practices.

• TV shows such as shameless offer a sanitized picture of poverty while shows like the Jeremy Kyle
Show treats poverty as entertainment

• News focuses more on politicians, industrialists and celebrity gossip and almost never on the
problems of the working class.

• Even if working classes are shown, they are generally portrayed in noisy settings and as
unreasonable while business owners are portrayed in quiet, peaceful settings and as reasonable.

• The poor and the destitute are portrayed in stereotypical ways, and as statistics rather than as
human interest stories who live through great hardship and indignity
Middle Class Representations

The Middle Class:

 Is over-represented in TV dramas and situational comedies
 Are generally shown as resourceful; productive and helpful. Their lives are demanding and
meaningful and their jobs have purpose. They make a difference for society and their culture is seen
as being culturally valuable
 Are shown as being cultured: they are associated with music, fashion and art
 Problematic behavior- such as greed as the cause of the GFC 2008, is represented in media as the
action of a few rogue bankers rather than being symbolic of a class (Ehrenreich)

 Newspaper/media outlets such as the Daily Mail exist to cater to the needs of the Middle Class. The
newspapers cater to middle class morality: they sell a narrative that pushes:

 Anxiety about declining moral standards in society

 The greatness of the British identity and heritage
 The othering of alien influences such as the Euro, asylum seekers and refugees as well as terrorism
(Islamist terrorism in particular)
 Because of these narratives such newspapers are very likely to start moral panics
Upper Class Representations

 Media Coverage of the Monarchy:

Nairn (1988) notes how media coverage of the monarchy in the UK:
 Focuses on every trivial detail of the Queen and her family, turning it into an ongoing soap opera, but
with glamour and mystique
 Serves to strengthen national identity. Every royal wedding is a national event
 British history is shown as being the history of the elites/kings and not the history of the working
classes

 Media coverage celebrates hierarchy and wealth

 The monarchy and the upper-classes almost always receive positive press
 Class inequalities are generally ignored

 The Media focuses excessively on the concerns of the rich while ignoring the concerns of the
poor (Newman, 2006). For example:
 Luxury cars, costly holiday spots, fashion accessories that only the rich can afford
 Enormous amount of time and coverage is given to daily business news and the stock market when
only very few British people own stocks and shares
Media Representations of Age: Childhood, Youth & the Elderly
Representations of Childhood

 British children are often depicted in the British media in positive ways. Stereotypes include:
 As victims of horrendous crimes- some critics of the media have suggested that white children who
are victims of crimes get more media attention than adults or children from ethnic minority
backgrounds.
 As cute- this is a common stereotype found in television commercials for baby products such as
pampers.
 As little devils- another common stereotype especially found in drama and comedy, e.g. Bart Simpson.
 As brilliant-perhaps as child prodigies or as heroes for saving the life of an adult.
 As brave little angels- suffering from a long-term terminal disease or disability.
 As accessories- stories about celebrities such as Madonna, Angelina Jolie or the Beckhams may
focus on how their children humanize them.
 As modern- the media may focus on how children ‘these days’ know so much more ‘at their age’ than
previous generations of children.
 As active consumers-television commercials portray children as having a consumer appetite for toys
and games. Some family sociologists note that this has led to the emergence of a new family
pressure, pester power, the power of children to train or manipulate their parents to spend money on
consumer goods that will increase the children’s status in the eyes of their peers.
Age: Youth- Media ownership is middle-aged, middle-class and male. This marginalizes
others, including the young who are looked at through ‘an adult gaze’

 Ownership and control of national and global media is often characterized as middle-aged,
middle-class, and male
I. Young people’s identities are defined by ‘an adult gaze’ and this is the identity that media sells. It
is how media represents the young
II. Contemporary societies, in particular, demonstrate high levels of ambivalence about childhood
and youth:
 On one level, children are represented in terms of their innocent and uncorrupted nature
 On another, they are represented as unruly, lacking self-control and requiring adult discipline and
guidance
Representations of Youth

The Youth as a Social Problem, seen through the Adult Gaze:

 Represented as immoral or anti-authority and consequently constructed as folk devils as part of a

moral panic. The majority of moral panics since 1950s have been manufactured around concerns
about young people’s behavior, such as their membership of specific deviant sub-cultures (e.g.
teddy boys, goth, violent video games, bottle flipping, blue whale, eating Tide pods) or because
their behavior (e.g. drug taking or binge drinking or social media use) has attracted the disapproval
of those in authority.

 Wayne et al. (2008) conducted a content analysis of 2130 news items across all the main
television channels during May 2003. They found that young people were mainly represented as a
violet threat to society. They found that it was very rare for news items to feature a young person’s
perspective or opinion. They note that the media only delivers one dimensional picture of youth,
one that encourages fear and condemnation rather than understanding.
The Social Construction of Youth via Industry that tells youth who they are:

 There is a whole media industry- magazines, internet sites, music download sites stations etc.
that specifically target and attempt to shape the musical tastes of young people

 However, at the same time, the Youth are seen as active creators of their own identities who use
new media (Facebook, Snapchat etc.) to project their identities around the world.
Representations of Elderly

Stereotypical representations of the Elderly show them as being:

 As grumpy-conservative, stubborn and resistant to social change

 As mentally challenged-suffering from declining mental functions
 As dependent and helpless
 As a burden- as an economic burden on society (in terms of the costs of pensions and health care to
the younger generation) and/or as a physical and social burden on younger members of their families
(who have to worry about or care for them).
 As enjoying a second childhood by reliving their adolescence and engaging in activities that they have
always longed for.

Representations of Elderly are affected by Class:

 Elderly people from the upper and middle classes are shown as having meaningful, powerful lives (as
judges, leaders, politicians, executives and experts) and are presented in a positive light (Newman,
2006)
Representations of Elderly are affected by Ethnicity:

• Elderly white men are used in TV programs to impart an aura of authority and gravitas.

• The Global Grey Pound: Media producers are slowly reinventing representations of the elderly
because they are realizing that the elderly have disposable incomes to spend on consumer goods
and can thus be targeted. The institute for Financial Studies (2006) estimated that around 80% of
wealth in the UK is held by those aged 50+

• More elderly people in media now: Also, as the people who own, control and work in media grow
older, their interests are reflected in new and different representations of the elderly

• Changing Representations of Elderly Women: from objects of pity, charity social work to ones that
are fashionable, active and sexual beings
www.youtube.com/watch?v=FWP_N_FoW-I&feature=yout
u.be
(Stuart Hall – Race, gender and class in the media)
Media Representations of Gender
Gender: How media representations have changed

The media represents women in a way that creates physical and emotional stereotypes. These
stereotypes tend to be about how women should look and how they should behave (and how men should
look and how they should behave)

Traditionally, masculinity and femininity have been depicted as being very different in media. More recent
representations of gender have changed in some ways while staying the same in other ways:
How gender representations have changed:

 Representations of sexuality: Traditionally, women’s bodies were hyper sexualized in media and used
to sell anything and anything and everything. Increasingly, we now see men’s bodies also being hyper
sexualized and used to sell goods and services
 Representations of the economic sphere/gender roles. Traditionally, women were shown in a very
narrow range of gender roles such as housekeeping positions or secretarial positions. This has
changed and women are increasingly shown in positions of power in contemporary media
 Critics however, argue that only a very small percentage of women in media are shown in positions of
power or of technical competence. The majority of women in media are still shown in traditional roles
Media: How media representations have remained the same
Gender representations have stayed the same:
Representations of Sexuality and Beauty:
 Today, as before, a greater range of body types is considered acceptable for men while only a very
narrow range of body types is considered acceptable for women. Body types that deviate from this
ideal type are shamed. Media content peddles the idea that female beauty is heterosexual and
largely for the benefit of men. Mulvey (1975) calls this the male gaze. Female lives are viewed
through a masculine lens and controlled by male needs and desires. The male media gaze defines
feminine identities in ways that are attracted to men: Attractive femininity is defined as young (not
old), slim (not plump) and also often Caucasian.

 Ferguson (1983) notes that women’s magazines are critical in pushing such narratives about
femininity. Women’s magazines socialize women into a cult of femininity by focusing on such topics
as beautification: child-rearing, housework and cooking. McRobbie (1981) note’s how women’s
magazines persistently carry stories with pictures of what a perfect women should look like and
articles about how women can fix problems (such as freckles or pimples etc.) The central message is
that girls should focus on thinking about and seducing boys. The male is portrayed as dominant while
the female is passive, adapting to the interests and needs of the male. Women who are unable or
unwilling to meet the requirements of the male gaze, are sanctioned in some way or the other. Grant
et al. (2006) note that women face a double jeopardy of age and gender discrimination
I. Younger women are pressured into conforming to the ideal beauty types that are pushed by media
(for the benefit of the male gaze)

II. Older women must live with a diminished sense of identity which comes with growing old

Representations of the economic sphere/gender roles: Women of agency are shamed. Opinionated
men in the workplace are represented as assertive but opinionated women are represented as bossy.
Men are depicted as dominant and controlling and women are depicted as co-operative and submissive:
women who do not conform to this depiction, are shown as deviant sexually and made fun of

 Macdonald (2003) however notes a category of female (ladettes) that challenges these stereotypes
and breaks down gender barriers by depicting women who behave the same way as men, i.e. In a
dominant, confident manner.
Media Representations of Ethnicities
Media and Ethnicity
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kVAztNx0rHQ&ab_channel=BBCReel
Black representation
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KBRYXZWzgiU&ab_channel=Newsy
Ethnicity: Carrington on the white gaze
How the White Gaze Constructs Black Identity as the Other: Carrington, (2002):
1. The White Gaze generally focuses on how the culture of black people is inferior and the reason for their
deviant and problematic behavior (as opposed to factors such as poverty, class and systemic racism and
discrimination). Gilroy (1990) notes that this demonizing of black culture helps perpetuate a new form of
racism, now that the idea of race, has been discredited by science. So instead of discriminating on the
basis of skin color, this new racism is based on differences in language, religion and family life. This
‘otherness’ is represented by threat to the social order.

 Dominant white culture is seen as being threatened by ethnic ways of life, by black culture, by practices
such as forced or arranged marriages and by Shari’ah law, a legal system based on Islamic religious
principles

 Dominant white culture is seen as being threatened physically by terrorism and criminality. Hall et al.
(1978), for example, note moral panics about “black muggers’ in the 1970’s and more recently, the claim
by the Metropolitan Police (2002) that mugging in London is ‘predominantly a black crime’
Even when black people are shown in a positive light – such as with sports – the underlying narrative
promotes the idea that black athleticism is superior because black people are more animalistic and
closer to nature i.e. less evolved

Conclusion:

Representations also vary from medium to medium: Moreover, it is incorrect to make a generalization
about the changing nature of representations of ethnicity across all types of media. Representations
of ethnicity will vary from medium to medium. For instance, the trend in representations of ethnicity in
superheroes comics (say DC or Marvel) may differ from the trend in prime time TV or on Netflix TV
series.
Media Representation of Ethnicities

VIEW #1: Media’s Representations of Ethnicities have improved and become more diverse and
egalitarian over time

 Simplistic racist and crude representations of black people are gradually disappearing from Western
media as racism increasingly becomes unacceptable in society, thanks to activism. Increasingly,
people of different ethnicities-including women and non-cisgender individuals- are being
represented. It has become now for instance, to see powerful, intelligent women of color running
corporations in media and super heroines of color are also more common now in comic books

VIEW #2: Stuart Hall (1995) argues that overt(outright/obvious) racism has simply been replaced by
inferential racism
 Media may no longer represents biology/nature as being the cause of black-inferiority so now they
focus on black culture; minority ethnicities are represented as the source, rather than victims, of
social problems
 Another subtle manner in which representations of ethnicities in media remain skewed is how
they are under-represented in some roles while being over-represented in others

 Over-representation: Klimkiewicz (1999) notes that in news and in fiction, black people are
shown predominantly as either perpetrators or victims

 They are shown as victims of natural disasters such as floods and famines

 They are shown as perpetrators of man-made disasters such as war and corruption
 Ethnic minorities are mainly viewed through a white gaze. This is why media representations of ethnic
minorities generally show them as recipients of public aid and charity. The white man is consistently
represented as their savior – white saviors complex

 Under-representation: Ethnic minorities are under-represented in areas such as advertising and drama:

 Sweney (2011) reports that ‘Actors from black, Asian or other ethnic minorities appeared in just 5% of
UK TV ads’

 Sreberny (1999) argues that ethnic minorities on TV are one-dimensional characters often negatively
stereotyped

 Morris (2000) illustrates this through the experiences of Roma minorities- criticized for not fitting
stereotype of the ‘true’ Gypsy while simultaneously represented as dirty, thieving, parasitic and living
outside the law
Different Models of Media Effects
Indirect Effects
The Two Step Flow Model
Katz and Lazarsfeld (1965) suggest that personal relationships and conversations with significant others, such
as family members, friends, teachers and work colleagues, result in people modifying or rejecting media
messages.

They argue that social networks are usually dominated by opinion leaders, i.e. people of influence whom others
in the network look up to and listen to.

These people usually have strong ideas about a range of matters.

Moreover, these opinion leaders expose themselves to different types of media and form an opinion on their
content. These interpretations are then passed on to other members of their social circle.

Katz and Lazarsfeld suggest that media messages have to go through two steps or stages.

The opinion leader is exposed to the media content.

Those who respect the opinion leader internalise their interpretation of that content.
Evaluations

•+ The two step flow model recognises that most people watch new media as part of a social network.

Criticisms
•– Of course there is a sense in which the media has a ‘direct effect’ – on the opinion leaders

•– People who may be most at risk of being influenced by the media may be socially isolated individuals
who are not members of any social network and so do not have access to an opinion leader who might
help interpret media content in a healthy way.

There is no guarantee that the opinion leader has not been subjected to an imitative or desensitising
effect, e.g. a leader of a peer group, such as a street gang, might convince other members that violence
is acceptable because he has been exposed to computer games that strongly transmit the message that
violence is an acceptable problem-solving strategy.

KEY POINT -
Consequently, media audiences are not directly influenced by the media. Rather, they choose to adopt a
particular opinion, attitude and way of behaving after negotiation and discussion with an opinion leader.
The audience is, therefore, not passive, but active.
The cultural effects model
The Marxist cultural effects model sees the media as a very powerful ideological influence that is mainly
concerned with transmitting capitalist values and norms. Marxists argue that media content contains
strong ideological messages that reflect the values of those who own, control and produce the media.

They argue that the long-term effect of such media content is that the values of the rich and powerful come to be
unconsciously shared by most people – people come to believe in values such as ‘happiness is about possessions
and money’, ‘being a celebrity is really important’, etc.

Marxists believe that television content, in particular, has been deliberately dumbed down and this has resulted in
a decline in serious programmes such as news, documentaries and drama that might make audiences think
critically about the state of the world. Consequently, there is little serious debate about the organisation of
capitalism and the social inequalities and problems that it generates.

However, in criticism of the cultural effects model, these ‘cause’ and ‘effects’ are very difficult to operationalise and
measure. It also implies that Marxists are the only ones who can see the ‘true’ ideological interpretation of media
content, which suggests that most members of society are ‘cultural dopes’.
The media and the dominant ideology

According to the cultural effects model, the media contains ideological messages that reflect the values of media
owners and professionals who expect audiences to agree with their preferred readings of events.

Points of view which are oppositional media owners and middle class journalists’ world views are generally kept out
of the mainstream media through processes such as agenda setting and gatekeeping.

Ideological control through gradual exposure

Audiences are continually exposed to the dominant ideology and this has a gradual ‘drip-drip’ effect and over time
audiences come to share the views of the rich and powerful. They also come to criticise those who have been
demonised by the ideological framing of the elite: such as immigrants and those on benefits.

The cultural effects model recognises that audiences are active and that they interpret media content in diverse ways,
but they do argue that interpretations are narrow due to long term ideological framing of media content.
Criticisms of the cultural effects model

Methodologically it is difficult to test any theory on long term media effects. It is almost impossible to isolate the
independent effect that long term exposure to media content has over several years.
Limited Effects
The uses and gratifications model
The uses and gratification model states that audiences are
active users of media content and that they use the media to
fulfill four main types of need.
Diversion

People use media to escape from their daily routines.

In some cases media usage may make up for lack of satisfaction in work or personal life.

Personal relationships

The media may compensate for the decline of community and meaningful, intimate relationships
For example soap characters may be seen as companions in the absence of family or friends.

Personal identity

People may use characters to they identify with to help them make decisions in life.
People use Facebook to express identities in ways they can control.

Surveillance

People use the media to obtain information about the world, primarily the news.

Criticisms of the uses and gratifications model of audience effects

•There is a lack of substantive research which supports this theory
•Marxists argue it exaggerates audiences’ capacity to interpret media content, ignoring the power of agenda
setting.
•Postmodernists argue there are an even wider set of uses individuals make of media.
Audience reception
According to this perspective, the media lead people towards particular ideas and ways of
thinking. AS Gerbner et al. (1986) suggested: ‘The continual repetition of patterns (myths,
ideologies, “facts”, relationships, etc.) serve to define the world and legitimize the social order’.
Audience reception theory is an example of this type of model.

It is based on the idea that media messages always have a range of possible meanings and
interpretations. Some of these are intended by the sender (for example, a newspaper owner or
an author) and others are read into the message by the audience. Hall (1980) argued that
media texts, such as advertisements, involve:

 Encoding – the ideas the author wants an audience to grasp

 Decoding – how an audience interprets or decodes the message, depending on factors

such as their social background or the context in which the message is received.
It is not certain that the audience will decode the message that the media producers encoded. A
receiving audience always has some choice about whether to accept, reject or modify a message.
Their receptiveness depends on a range of personal and social factors.

Stuart Hall suggests three main ways a media message is read by an audience: hegemonic codes,
negotiated codes and oppositional codes.

 Hegemonic codes: the audience shares the assumptions and interpretations of the author and
reads the message in the way it is intended.

 Negotiated codes: although an audience broadly shares the author’s views, they modify their
interpretation in the light of their own particular knowledge, beliefs or attitudes.

 Oppositional codes: an audience is antagonistic towards the media source or message and
therefore rejects or attempts to challenge the message.
This basic set of responses is, however, complicated by three further media processes:

1. Agenda setting/gate keeper: the media identify and select the ideas that people are encouraged
to think about. They have the power to put certain issues ‘up for discussion’ while attempting to
close down issues they do not want discussed.

2. Framing/preferred readings: involves presenting ideas to audiences in ways that suggest how
they should be interpreted.

3. Myth making: Gerbner (1994) argued that the media has grown so powerful and pervasive in
global societies that it creates mythical realities for audiences who immerse themselves in media
content. The heavier an individual’s media consumption, from watching TV, reading newspaper,
surfing the web or social networking the more likely they are to be drawn into a fantasy world of
the media’s creation such as believing that crime and violence are more widespread than they
actually are. This now includes people who are taken in by fake news or conspiracy theories.
Direct Effects
The hypodermic syringe model
Consider: what is the impact or effect of media content on
its audience?

To introduce the topic and stimulate discussion, as a case

study, examine the Columbine massacre (or an alternative
event) and the connections made between computer
game violence and the violent actions here.

Case Study: Columbine Massacre

www.youtube.com/watch?v=2yqe6sdAeZk (Columbine
massacre)
www.theguardian.com/uk/2000/apr/24/timradford
(Computer games linked to violence)
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/sci/tech/1295920.stm
(Columbine massacre parents sue computer game
makers)
Note: there are numerous examples of cases where the
Scream horror movies have been linked to violence.

Assess the Direct Effect approach to mass media, with

particular focus upon the hypodermic syringe model.
The hypodermic syringe model believes that the media can have a direct and immediate effect on the audience.

This model sees the audience as a ‘homogeneous mass’ (all the same), as passive and believing what they see
in the media without questioning the content.

It is thus possible for content creators to use their media productions to manipulate vulnerable audiences into
thinking or acting in certain ways.

A variation of hypodermic model is Cumulative effect is long term effect.

The culture industry

This theory of media effects is associated with neo-Marxists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer in
the 1940s, who had managed to escape Nazi Germany and resettled in America.

They noted that there were similarities between the ‘propaganda industry’ in Nazi Germany’ and what
they called the ‘Culture Industry’ in the United States.

Adorno and Max Horkheimer theorised that popular culture in the USA was like a factory producing
standardized content which was used to manipulate a passive mass audience.

They argued that consumption of the ‘dumbed down’ content of popular culture made people passive
and false psychological needs that could only be met and satisfied by the products of capitalism.
The ultimate function of the culture industry was thus to manipulate audiences into becoming good
consumers and keeping capitalism going.
Further evidence that the media can have direct effects on a passive audience

One of the earliest examples is the audience response to Orson Well’s radio adaptation of ‘War of the Worlds‘
in 1938.

War of the Worlds is a fictional story about Alien invaders coming from Mars and killing very large
numbers of people in the process. The original radio adaptation was done in the style of a news
report, and some of the listeners who tuned in after the show had begun (and so missed the
introduction to it) actually believed they were hearing a news report, packed their cars and fled to the
country.

Feminist sociologists such as Susi Orbach and Naomi Wolfe have highlighted how the ‘beauty myth’,
especially the representations of size zero as normal, have encouraged an increase in eating
disorders, especially among young women, as well as an increase in mental health problems.

More recent evidence suggests that the campaigns behind both Trump and Brexit used
sophisticated targeted advertising to nudge voters into voting for Trump and Brexit, suggesting the
media can have a very direct and immediate effect on specific populations (even if such campaigns
didn’t treat the audience as a ‘mass’ and so this is only partial support the Hypodermic Syringe
Model).
Imitation or Copycat Violence

One of the most researched areas of media effects is that surrounding the relationship between media violence and real-
life violence. There is some evidence that media violence can ‘cause’ people to be more violence in real-life.

The Bandura ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment is evidence that media-violence can ‘cause’ children to act more aggressively
when given the opportunity to do so. Bandura showed three groups of children real, film and cartoon examples of a
bobo-doll being beaten with a mallet. A further group of children were shown no violence.

The children were then taken to a room with lots of toys, but then ‘frustrated’ by being told the toys were not for them.
They were then taken to a room with a mallet and a bobo-doll, and the children who had seen the violent examples
(whether real, film, or cartoon) imitated the violence by beating the doll themselves, while the children who had seen
no violence did not beat the doll.
Desensitization

Newson (1994) theorised that the effects of media violence on children were more subtle and gradual. She argued
that continued exposure to violence in films over several years ‘desenstised’ children and teenagers to violence
and that they came to see violence as a norm, and as a possible way of solving problems.

She also argued that television and film violence tended to encourage people to identify with the violent
perpetrators, rather than the victims.

Newson’s research led to increased censorship in the film industry – for example, the British Board of Film was
given the power to apply age certificates and T.V. companies agreed on a 9.00 watershed, before which shows
would not feature significant sexual or violent scenes.
Censorship

Newson’s report led directly to increased censorship of the film industry with the passing of the Video
Recordings (Labelling) Act 1985, which resulted in videos and DVDs being given British Board of Film
Classification (BBFC) age certificates. The BBFC also came under increasing pressure to censor films released to
British cinemas by insisting on the film makers making cuts relating to bad language, scenes of drug use and
violence.

Television too was affected by this climate of censorship. All the television channels agreed on a nine o’clock
watershed, i.e. not to show any programmes that used bad language or contained scenes of a sexual or violent
nature before this time. Television channels often resorted to issuing warnings before films and even edited out
violence themselves or beeped over bad language.
Criticisms of the hypodermic syringe model

Firstly, this model may have been true in the 1940s when the media was relatively new and audiences
less literate, but in today’s new media age, audiences are more likely to criticize what they see rather
than just believing it.

Secondly, the hypodermic syringe model treats audiences a ‘homogenous masses, but today’s audiences
are more diverse than in the past, so this model is less applicable.
counterpoint: the masses were ‘willingly misled’ and thus co-produced a false reality in Nazi Germany in
the 1930s and 40s.

Thirdly, it’s too simplistic a theory to explain social problems – societal violence has many causes, and it’s
all too easy to scapegoat the media.

Fourth, where Bandura’s imitative aggression model is concerned, this was carried out in such an artificial
environment, it tells us little about how violence happens in real life. The experiment suffers from low
ecological validity.
Another criticism - Those children might have been more predisposed to aggressive behavior.
Critique of the hypodermic syringe model

A number of critiques have developed of the imitation-desensitisation model of media effects, e.g. some media
sociologists claim that media violence can actually prevent real-life violence.

•Fesbach and Sanger (1971) found that screen violence can actually provide a safe outlet for people’s aggressive
tendencies. This is known as catharsis. They suggest that watching an exciting film releases aggressive energy into
safe outlets as the viewers immerse themselves in the action.

•Young (1981), argues that seeing the effects of violence and especially the pain and suffering that it causes to the
victim and their families, may make us more aware of its consequences and so less inclined to commit violent
acts. Sensitisation to certain crimes therefore may make people more aware and responsible so that they avoid
getting involved in violence.

The methodological critique of the hypodermic syringe model

Gauntlett (2008) argues that people, especially children, do not behave as naturally under laboratory conditions as
they would in their everyday environment, e.g. children’s media habits are generally influenced and controlled by
parents, especially when they are very young.
The media effects model fails to be precise in how ‘violence’ should be defined. There are different types of media
violence such as in cartoons, images of war and death on news bulletins and sporting violence. It is unclear whether
these different types of violence have the same or different effects upon their audiences or whether different
audiences react differently to different types and levels of violence. The effects model has been criticised because it
tends to be selective in its approach to media violence, i.e. it only really focuses on particular types of fictional
violence.
The effects model also fails to put violence into context, e.g. it views all violence as wrong, however trivial, and
fails to see that audiences interpret it according to narrative context. Research by Morrison suggests that the
context in which screen violence occurs affects its impact on the audience.

Some sociologists believe that children are not as vulnerable as the hypodermic syringe model implies, e.g.
research indicates that most children can distinguish between fictional/cartoon violence and real violence from a
very early age, and generally know that it should not be imitated.

Sociologists are generally very critical of the hypodermic syringe model because it fails to recognise that
audiences have very different social characteristics in terms of age, maturity, social class, education, family
background, parental controls, etc. These characteristics will influence how people respond to and use media
content.

Cumberbatch (2004) looked at over 3500 research studies into the effects of screen violence, encompassing film,
television, video and more recently, computer and video games. He concluded that there is still no conclusive
evidence that violence shown in the media influences or changes people’s behaviour.
The post-modernist model

Strinati (1995) argues that the media today are the most influential shapers of identity and offer a greater range of
consumption choices in terms of identities and lifestyles. Moreover, in the post-modern world, the media transmit
the idea that the consumption of signs and symbols for their own sake is more important than the goods they
represent. In other words, the media encourages the consumption of logos, designer labels and brands, and these
become more important to people’s sense of identity than the physical clothes and goods themselves.

Other post-modernists have noted that, since 2000, the globalisation of communication has become more intensive
and extensive, and this has had great significance for local cultures, in that all consumers of the global media are
both citizens of the world and of their locality. Seeing other global experience allows people to think critically about
their own place in the world.

However, Thompson notes that the interaction between global media and local cultures can also create tensions
and hostilities, e.g. the Chinese authorities have attempted to control and limit the contact that the Chinese people
have with global media, whilst some Islamic commentators have used global media to convince their local
populations of the view that Western culture is decadent and corrupt.
Problems researching media effects
As you have seen, the different models make different assumptions about both media and audiences.
The direct effects models assume strong media and weak audiences, and can be compared to
approaches such as use and gratifications which assume weak media and strong audiences.

Also, the direct effects model assumes immediate, measurable effects whereas cultural effects
approaches assume that effects accumulate over a long period.

In order to research something, there must be a broad agreement about how it can be defined. Without
such agreement, it is impossible, for example, to compare different explanations of media effects
because they may be measuring different things.

Part of the problem is the term ‘the media’, because contemporary forms of media are characterized
more by their diversity than their similarity.

Although we could define the media simply in terms of ‘mass communication’, this hides a range of
differences in how and why the media communicates with an audience.
These differences are important in assessing how we can measure the effects of the media. In this
respect, media diversity relates to two main areas:

1. Different types of media, from newspapers, books and magazines, through television and film to
video games and social networks. Research conducted in one medium may have little or no
application to other forms of media.

2. Old and new forms of media. The point to consider here is whether consumption of old media, such
as a newspaper, is similar to consumption of new media, such as a social network. A significant
research problem, therefore, is the changing nature of the media.

Both a film and a video game can draw the viewer into a world that only exists on screen, but a video
game is interactive- the audience’s actions and choices change how the drama unfolds. This involves
both a significant difference in the nature of the media And makes researching effects more difficult,
because the distinction between producer and consumer-on which most effects theory rests-is
decisively blurred.
So, old and new media do not necessarily effect audiences in similar ways. To put this in context,
when researching crime, it is unlikely we would consider the motives for murder as similar to those for
car theft. The same is true when studying media effects.

The only thing watching a two-hour television drama and spending the same amount of time playing
the online video game World of Warcraft may share is that they are both classified as ‘mass media’.

Another area to note is the meaning of ‘an effect’. Just as there is no general agreement about
whether effects are direct or indirect, strong or weak, long term or short term, there is no agreement
about what is or is not a ‘media effect’.

Is an effect something that produces a clear and immediate behavioral change in an audience, or one
that produces a slow, cumulative change? The problem here is that finding a ‘media effect’ may owe
more to how such effects are studied than to any real change in audience behavior.
There are also problems and debates about the type of research method that is appropriate for
researching media effects.

The direct effects approaches have some support from experiments, but these create artificial situations
(and so may not tell us much about how people behave in real life) and also look for short term and
immediate effects.
Measuring long-term effects is difficult because the effects of other influences cannot be excluded.

Each model has strengths and weaknesses depending on, for example, types of media, types of
audience and the types of effects being looked for and how.

A further methodological problem relates to the different meanings and interpretations of media content.
For example, a researcher may interpret something in a different way to the audience.

This can be a particular problem with new media, if the researcher is less familiar with it than the
subjects of their study.
Rose (2007) argues that a researcher requires a thorough understanding of their subject matter if they are
to identify and understand the symbols, codes and conventions involved. An analysis of the Indian film
industry, for example, would be difficult for a researcher with little or no knowledge of this culture and genre.
Alternatively, Livingstone and Hargrave (2006) argue that in relation to rap music lyrics, ‘different people do
not interpret content in the same way’. For example, there is a difference between the interpretation of ‘fans
of a genre vs. those who only occasionally view’ and this, they argue, makes it ‘risky to draw conclusions
about media effects’.

The context in which media are used is also important. Livingstone and Hargrave also suggest that the
consumption context affects how it is experienced and therefore its possible effect. This relates to:

 Physical consumption- whether this is shared or consumed alone.

 Mental consumption- how different audiences understand the context of the behavior portrayed in
something like a television program, for example the extent to which they identify and empathize with
those portrayed. In addition, it is difficult to know how research carried out in one society, such as India
or the USA, can be applied to different societies that have different:
 Cultures- where there may, for example, be different levels of tolerance to violent and sexually explicit
content
 Media regulations governing what can be shown in media such as television
 Media content
Postmodernists take a different theoretical approach by suggesting that conventional effects theories
look for the wrong things in the wrong places in the wrong ways. In this respect, they question three
major assumptions on which conventional ‘media effects’ theories are based:

 Undifferentiated mass audiences are now rare. audiences are increasingly fragmented by age,
gender and ethnicity, as well as by more individualized categories such as cultural and technological
competence. This makes it impossible to think about how ‘the media’ impact on behavior.

 Media literacy: conventional effects research generally fails to credit audiences with any
understanding of the media they consume, particularly the conventions employed by media
producers. For postmodernists, contemporary media users have far high levels of understanding
and cultural competence than consumers in the past and this ‘active audience’ dimension makes
conventional forms of effects research problematic.

 Producers and consumers: conventional effects research takes for granted the distinction between
Those who produce media and those who consume it. This means that research is designed to
measure how one effects the other.
This presents two main problems:

 With various forms of new media in particular, from websites through blogs to social networks such as
Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, consumers are producers. This makes it increasingly difficult to
maintain the distinction on which conventional media effects research rests.

 Similarly, there is a tendency to assume a separation between ‘the media’ and ‘the audience’, such
that the effect of the former on the latter can be measured (quantified). Staiger (2000), however,
argues that audiences are increasingly perverse spectators- they use media in their own way and for
their own means through activated meanings created by how they interact with media. This creates, in
effect, an uncertainty principle: the meaning of a TV program, for example, is created by how it is
consumed, such that the meaning of a drama or news broadcast changes each time it is viewed by
different individuals. It is, therefore, impossible to quantify a media effect in any meaningful or clear
way because, Staiger argues, any ‘impact is changed each time it is identified’.
Ways that the media contribute to gender socialization
Use examples of adverts, imagery and television characters to demonstrate traditional gendered
stereotypes in representations. Explain the concepts of Hegemonic masculinity and femininity and
encourage the learners to identify these in the examples used. What are the characteristics?

Now watch the Gillette advert in response to the #MeToo campaign

www.youtube.com/watch?v=UYaY2Kb_PKI and discuss:
What does the advert suggest about male socialisation? Consider the concept of toxic
masculinity. How has the media contributed to this? How tis he advert attempting to tackle
what are considered traditional make attributes?
Is it an attack on ‘masculinity’ (and why is this important)?

Now watch www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmQ6GFl3kpI from E! News discussing the backlash the

advert has received and discuss. Summarise the arguments of theoretical perspectives on this
topic. Ensure key concepts such as toxic masculinity, patriarchy and cult of femininity for
example, are addressed.

How is the Gillette advert can be considered sexist to men?

The media are among the main agencies of secondary socialization, and so they play a major role in
socialization into gender roles.

Many folk tales and children’s stories have stereotyped roles or limited roles for women, and these have
played a part in the socialization of both boys and girls for many years. Representation of gender in the
media, and the ways they are changing, have been explained earlier.

This may be especially important in early childhood, when children’s understanding of gender is being
formed.

Exposure to stereotypical images that, for example, emphasize for girls the importance of looking attractive
and for boys the importance of being brave, may lead children into accepting assumptions about what is
normal or expected.

Children may directly imitate what they see in media representations, or their attitudes and behavior may be
shaped by exposures to types of ideas or images over a long period.
Some studies have considered the way that representations might shape how boys and girls construct their
gender identities. For example, Marjorie Ferguson (1983) studied the influence of women’s magazines on
perceptions of femininity.

She suggested that women’s magazines socialize women into a ‘cult of femininity’ by focusing on such
topics as beautification, child-rearing, housework and cooking. They seem to tell their readers what
they should be interested in, and this was a fairly narrow range that excluded, for example, paid work or an
interest in current affairs.

Angela McRobbie (1981) carried out a similar study of magazines aimed at teenage girls. She found that
these magazines rely on a formula of written stories, photo-stories and problem pages. The central
message is that girls should focus on capturing and thinking about boys.

The male is portrayed as dominant while the female is passive, adapting to the interests and needs of the
male. Such magazines had little if anything about, for example, careers or school subjects, or sports and
outdoor activities.

Both writers saw the magazines they studied as negative because they were helping girls and women adapt
to their lesser role in society, and also because they excluded the feminist alternatives.
The media has changed as social attitudes have changed, and a wider range of representations are now
available of both male and females. For example, older cartoon feature films such as those of Walt Disney
often featured female characters who were passive, needing to be rescued by a hero prince. More recent
films on this type often have stronger females who take the initiative, are brave and resourceful, and may
even rescue a helpless male.

Girls, therefore, have more positive role models available to them than used to be the case. However, this
is balanced by the continuation of the more traditional gender roles. In the Harry Potter series of books
and films, for example, the main female character, Hermione Grainger, is intelligent and confident, but the
main character, the only one able to defeat evil, is a boy, Harry Potter himself.

Evaluation
In assessing the effects of the media on gender socialization, it needs to be remembered that the media
are not the only one type of source of information and ideas. Other agencies of socialization include
family, peers and school.
The relationship between the media and popular/low culture

High culture: Art gallery exhibition (fine arts), Opera, Theatre plays, Shakespeare literature.
Low/popular culture: Serials,, Twilight/harry potter books Bollywood movies/songs
The growth of mass media in the 20th century has been said to have given rise to popular
culture. The roots of this perspective are found in the Frankfurt School, which developed
ideas about the role of the media in totalitarian societies (those ruled by a political dictatorship,
such as Germany in the 1930s) based on the concept of a mass society. This is a type of
society in which ‘the masses’ are characterized by:

 Geographic isolation- a lack of daily face-to-face contact

 Social isolation- a lack of participation in larger groups or organizations and the failure to
develop strong community ties

 Limited social interaction- people increasingly see themselves as ‘anonymous individuals’

who are not part of a functioning social group, community or society
In a mass society, a mass culture develops. This is sometimes called ‘popular’ or ‘low’ culture to
distinguish it from the high culture of the social elite.

Mass culture joins together mass society because it provides the ‘things’ in common’, such as
values and beliefs that socially isolated Individuals share.

However, because mass culture is created through the media it can be manipulated to reflect
the interests of a ruling class. This view assumes a difference between high culture, the cultural
products and practices that are considered superior- the art, music and literature preferred by
the well-educated elite and popular culture.

Middle-and upper-class cultural life is represented as a high cultural reflection and opposition of
low culture, being:

• Difficult
• Demanding
• Deep
• Long-lasting
• Culturally valuable
Such representations help to link class associations with culture. Popular culture is represented as:

 Manufactured
 Artificial
 Superficial
 Disposable
 Undemanding and culturally valueless

So for example, ballet and opera are often considered to be part of high culture while pop music and television
soap operas are considered part of popular culture. For Marxists, popular culture is the outcome of attempts by
the ruling elite to find ways to entertain the masses and distract them from the realities of their situation in
society- being exploited.
Popular newspaper, for example, entertain readers with stories about celebrities and scandals rather than
reporting serious news stories. For pluralists, on the other hand, popular culture is simply providing with what
the mass of the population need and want.
Postmodernists take a different view, pointing out that it is increasingly difficult to make a distinction between
high and popular culture. Music from operas is used in television commercials. Universities offer courses in
popular culture or even to study pop celebrities such as Beyoncé and the Kardashians.
Moral panics around class, gender, ethnicity and age groups
www.youtube.com/watch?v=r61ks18Bd7I (Stan Cohen
Mods n’ Rockers – explanation and illustration of how the
media create moral panics)
www.youtube.com/watch?v=-pzeYcDy7vE (Bluewater
Hoodies – moral panic relevant to age and links to social
class also)
In a moral panic, a particular group is often represented by the media as being to blame for the
perceived problem which is leading to the panic. These groups are ‘folk devils’: they are often
represented as standing for everything that is, in the view of the media, going wrong in society. Some
moral panics in the UK have been:

 Class: There are periodic moral panics about welfare claimants who are described as
‘scroungers’. The media claim that they are living comfortable lives at the expense of taxpayers
without needing to work. In fact, most people-receiving welfare in the UK are in paid work.

 Gender: Moral panics about youth groups are often about boys without this being made explicit.
There has, however, been some concern that girls are copying some of behavior of some boys,
with stories about ‘girl gangs’.

 Ethnicity: In London, and to some extent other cities, there have been panics about gangs and
especially knife crime. These are implicitly about Afro-Caribbean youths. There is also
considerable negative reporting of Muslims, often with the suggestion that Muslims are
sympathetic to terrorists.
 Age: Youth subcultures are particularly liable to be made folk devils in a moral panic. This
happened to many groups in the late 20th Century, such as mods and rockers, skinheads and
punks. Their behavior was exaggerated and sensationalized to suggest that they posed a threat to
society’s values. Most, of course, later became ‘normal’ members of society.
Arguments and evidence about the extent to which human
behavior is influenced by the media
www.youtube.com/watch?v=V8A0Ji5Cl9I (10 ways the
manipulate our opinions every day)

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ntx98oiCfPI (media violence

leads to desensitisation)
Conventional analysis of the media’s impact on behavior tends to focus on its negative impact. This
ranges from encouraging violence to creating a passive, manipulated audience. However, it is also
important to understand the positive effects that the media can have.

There are three key ways to view negative media impacts:

1. Across society as a whole, which involves some general economic, political and cultural
negatives.
2. Across social groups- as an example we can look at how the media contribute to moral panics.
3. At the individual level, where we can look at the media as a casual or contributing factor to violent
behavior.

In economic terms, large media corporations divide up global markets and operate as controlling
groups (oligarchies) that:
 Prevent entrance to media markets
 Restrict competition
 Limit consumer choice

Lechner (2001) argues that this creates media homogenization by developing a ‘consumerist culture,
in which standard commodities are promoted by global marketing campaigns to create similar
lifestyles’.
Politically, one impact of new media in particular has been the extension of surveillance and a loss of
personal privacy. Governments and private companies have exploited the capacity for information
gathering provided by new media to extend population surveillance.

Mobile phone and satellite technology, for example, can be used both to track individuals and to
monitor their contacts, while social networking sites collect, store and sell extensive personal
information about users to advertisers.

Culturally, global media encourage a cultural hegemony that colonizes local cultures with the
products and lifestyles of dominant cultures. One example of this is the global domination of the US
film industry or the influence of brands such as Coca-Cola, Nike, mcdonalds, kfc,etc.

On a more individual level, Kraeplin (2007) notes how ‘popular teen magazines link appearance and
consumerism’. Here, globalized media contribute to the development of a consumption culture in
which the buying of goods and services, from mobile phones to social networks funded by advertising,
is an end in itself.
These negative impacts are explained by traditional Marxists in terms of manipulation theories. These
suggest that the media directly influence audience perceptions and beliefs.

In a mass society characterized by social isolation and alienation, the media become a source of mass
culture through the agency of what Adorno and Horkheimer (1944) termed a ‘culture industry’.
Audiences are uniquely receptive to whatever the media transmit because there are few links to
alternative sources of information.

The media reflect other forms of industrial production in capitalist society by creating various elements
of a popular culture, such as film, magazines, comics and newspapers.

These are all consumed uncritically and passively by the masses. Through control of the culture
industry, a ruling elite is able to keep its power.
The impact of the media on behavior
Arguments and evidence about the extent to which violent media
leads to violent behavior
Bandura’s BoBo doll experiment.
www.youtube.com/watch?v=zerCK0lRjp8

The idea that exposure to violent media, from television and internet depictions of real-life violence to
violent films and video games, contributes to or causes violent behavior, especially among vulnerable
groups, is a pervasive one across many cultures.

However, evidence for this is not as definite as some sections of the media suggest.

One of the most common explanations of how the media may lead to violent behavior is limitation. This
explanation stems from social learning studies such as Bandura et al.’s (1961) ‘Bobo doll’ experiment.

Different Groups of children witnessed adults behaving violently. The play of each group was then
observed and it was discovered that those children who had been shown violent behavior subsequently
played violently.

This leads to the idea that immature and vulnerable audiences simply imitate the behavior they see in the
media. This explanation repeats throughout various media from time to time.
Two criminal cases that involved allegations of imitation of media violence were:

 In the USA two students, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold, shot dead 12 of their fellow students at
Columbine school in 1999. Their actions were subsequently explained in some parts of the media
as a subsequence of playing ‘violent video games’, Doom, in particular.

 In the UK, the murder of two-year-old James Bulger in 1993 by two 10-year-old boys was attributed
by some media reporting to a violent horror film called Child’s Play 3 rented by the father of one of
the boys and which it was assumed they had watched. There was no evidence they had actually
seen it.
Research into the influence of the media on violent behavior is full of methodological problems.
Sociological research in this area has usually been conducted through field studies, using
questionnaires, interviews and observations.

Belson’s (1978) study was based upon in-depth interviews with 1565 teenage boys in London. Boys
with high television exposure were compared to those with low exposure. Belson drew the conclusion
that those boys who had seen a lot of television had committed 49% more acts of violence than those
with low exposure.

However, Belson’s work has been criticized for failing to distinguish adequately between high
exposures to television in general and high exposure to violent television programs in particular. Howitt
(1992) also pointed out that Belson’s results actually show that there are three types of viewer: those
with light, moderate and high exposure to television.

Of these, it was actually those with a moderate level of exposure to violent television programs who
were more likely to commit violent acts. It appears, therefore, that Belson’s work can be interpreted in
several different ways. This is a good example of both the methodological difficulties in studying the
influence of the media and the difficulty of making direct links between TV violence and social behavior.
The cultural effects model suggests that if the media show violence as normal or acceptable as a way
of settling disputes, audiences may over time absorb this view of the world.

According to this model, heavy consumers of violent films and television, or those who spend a lot of
time playing violent, immersive, video games, may develop a ‘violent mindset’.

These individuals see the world as a more violent place than it actually is, and this can lead to violent
real-world behavior. Gerbner (1994) argues that powerful and pervasive media in global societies
creates mythical realities for audiences, and heavy media consumers find it difficult to distinguish
media myth from reality.

They are drawn into a world where reality is distorted and violence is constantly presented as a
glamorous solution to individual and social problems. They become desensitized to violence. The more
a person is exposed to media violence, both real and fantasy forms, the more likely they are to accept
real-world violence.

This occurs on an individual level, where the desensitized believe that violence is an appropriate
response to certain situations. It also occurs on a more general cultural level- these people are more
likely to accept violence as ‘a way of life’.
Other approaches reject the idea that there is a relatively simple one-way relationship between the
media and violence (i.e. that media violence makes people more susceptible to real violence).
Huesmann and Miller (1994), for example, argued that there is a more complex, two-way relationship
between the media and the audience.

People whose early socialization has led to some acceptance of violence as a way of dealing with
problems are more likely to exhibit violent behavior in certain situations, such as when they are placed
under great stress or fear.

If this is true, it can be difficult to separate cause and effect in the relationship between the media and
the audience. Discussions by politicians and in the media often suggest that ‘violent people’ consume
violent media and then commit acts of violence because of the ‘thrill’ they get from it.

An alternative interpretation is that for certain audiences, violent behavior is something they are socially
programmed to enjoy, whether it is real or imaginary. However, while the two are connected there is no
way to tell which causes the other: do people play violent video games because they like violence or do
these games make them violent in real life?
It has been suggested that violence in the media may be a relief (cathartic); if someone feels angry and
aggressive, then laying a computer game provides a harmless and non-violent way of releasing those
feelings. People may also be sensitized to violence by the media; representations of violence may lead
people to avoid and reject violence.

This applies particularly to news reporting where seeing the effects of violence may lead people to be
more aware and try to reduce violence. For example, the Parkland, Florida, school shooting on February
2018, which most people only knew of from media coverage, led to demands for greater gun control in the
USA.

All attempts to prove a link between media and violent behavior are limited by the fact that people have
behaved violently throughout history, and before there were mass media. The question then can only be
to what extent the media might have led to a higher level of violence than would otherwise have been the
case.

In fact, and despite recent wars such as that in Syria and terrorist attacks, the long-term trend according
to Pinker (2012) is to a decline in violence. Regardless of individual acts such as the Columbine School
shooting, the age of the mass media has coincided with less, rather than more, violence.
Moral Panics
What is a moral panic?

The term moral panic was popularised by Cohen (1972) in his classic work Folk Devils and Moral Panics. It refers to
media reactions to particular social groups and activities that are defined as threatening social consensus. The
reporting creates anxiety or moral panic amongst the general population which puts pressure on the authorities to
control the problem and discipline the group responsible. However, the media concern is usually out of proportion to
any real threat to society posed by the group or activity.
Both the publicity and social reaction to the panic may create the potential for further crime and deviance in the
future. In other words, the social reaction may lead to the amplification of deviance by provoking more of the same
behaviour.

There have been a number of moral panics in the last 30 years including:

•Ravers and ecstasy use – Redhead notes that a moral panic in regard to acid house raves in the late 1980s led to the
police setting up roadblocks on motorways, turning up at raves in full riot gear and the Criminal Justice Act (1990)
which banned illegal parties.
•Refugees and asylum seekers – in 2003 there was a moral panic focused on the numbers of refugees and asylum
seekers entering Britain and their motives. Elements of the tabloid press, particularly the Daily Mail and The Sun,
focused on the alleged links between asylum seekers and terrorism which created public anxiety.
•Hoodies – Fawbert (2008) examined newspaper reports and found that ‘hoodies’ became a commonly used term,
especially between 2005 and 2007, to describe young people involved in crime.
Why do moral panics occur?
•Furedi argues that moral panics arise when society fails to adapt to dramatic social changes and it is felt that there
is a loss of control, especially over powerless groups such as the young. Furedi therefore argues that moral panics
are about the wider concerns that the older generation have about the nature of society today – people see
themselves (and their families) as at greater risk from a variety of groups. They believe that things are out of control.
They perceive, with the media’s encouragement, that traditional norms and values no longer have much relevance
in their lives. Furedi notes that people feel a very real sense of loss, which makes them extremely susceptible to the
anxieties encouraged by media moral panics.
•Some commentators argue that moral panics are simply a product of news values and the desire of journalists and
editors to sell newspapers – they are a good example of how audiences are manipulated by the media for
commercial purposes. However, after a while, news stories exhaust their cycle of newsworthiness and journalists
abandon interest in them because they believe their audiences have lost interest too. The social problems, however,
do not disappear – they remain dormant until journalists decide at some future date that they can be made
newsworthy again and attract a large audience.
•Marxists, such as Hall, see moral panics as serving an ideological function. His study of the media coverage of
Black muggers in the 1970s (Hall et al., 1978) concluded that it had the effect of labelling all young African-
Caribbeans as criminals and a potential threat to White people. This served the purpose of diverting attention away
from the mismanagement of capitalism by the capitalist class, as well as justifying the introduction and use of more
repressive laws and policing.
•Left Realists argue, however, that moral panics should not be dismissed as a product of ruling class ideology or
news values. Moral panics have a very real basis in reality, i.e. the media often identifies groups who are a real threat
to those living in inner-city areas. Portraying such crime as a fantasy is naïve because it denies the very real harm
that some types of crime have on particular communities or the sense of threat that older people feel.
The impact of the media on crime, including deviance
amplification spiral and moral panics
Wilkins (1964) developed the concept of deviance amplification to show how the development of
crime and deviance involves a positive feedback loop:

 Initial or primary deviance is identified and condemned by the media, which leads to…

 The deviant group becoming socially isolated and resentful. This behavior leads, through a
general media labelling process, to…

 An increased social reaction (including the development of a moral panic) by the media,
politicians and formal control agencies. There is less toleration of the original deviant behavior.
This develops into…

 Secondary deviation, involving an increased level of deviance. As a consequence…

 The reaction from the media, politicians and police increases, leading to new laws (the
criminalization of deviants) or increased police resources to deal with ‘the problem’.
In this way, each group, deviant and control, feeds off the actions of the other to create a ‘spiral of
deviance’. Moral panics created by the media are a crucial component of this.

The idea of a moral panic was developed by Stanley Cohen (1972). In a moral panic, media coverage
creates a society-wide feeling of panic about a particular issue or group. This happens through
sensationalized and exaggerated reporting (conforming to news values), prediction of further trouble
and symbolization, in which particular styles of, for example, appearance or behavior, are linked to the
issue or group.

In Cohen’s case study, the moral panic was focused on two teenage groups who became ‘folk devils’,
standing for everything that was supposedly going wrong in the UK in the 1960s. Later teenage
subcultures, and other groups such as immigrants and welfare claimants, have also been the folk devils
in moral panics. The panic leads to demands on police, politicians and others to act strongly against the
folk devils.

Although the media are central to the development of moral panics, their precise role is explained
differently by different sociological approaches.
Interpretivist approaches see moral panics as arising from public concerns. By representing groups that
threaten social cohesion as ‘deviant’, the media focus public concern and lead to control agencies such
as the police and courts taking action.

According to this perspective, moral panics develop spontaneously out of a general public concern
towards behavior that threatens the moral order. Cohen suggests that moral panics reinforce established
moral values in two ways:

1. By setting moral boundaries for acceptable behavior

2. By creating a sense of social and moral solidarity at a time of change and uncertainty

This approaches sees the media as a channel that amplifies, rather than creates, public concern. Media
audiences are seen as active and critical consumers rather than passive recipients of media
representations.

If an audience chooses to ignore media concerns, a deviancy amplification spiral does not occur.
Neo-Marxist approaches, on the other hand, are interested in how and why moral panics are created
by the powerful and how they contribute to the maintenance of hegemony. Neo-Marxists see moral
panics as political phenomena- the defense of a certain type of moral order defined by a ruling class.
Moral panics are an important way for a ruling class to exercise control, by focusing condemnation on
a particular supposed threat.

While moral panics are in some ways manufactured as media sensationalism, this does not mean that
they are necessarily deliberately created. At various times, capitalist societies offer up opportunities
for moral panics and elites take advantage of these to criticize those who threaten both moral order
and , by extension, ruling –class hegemony.

For Hall et al. opportunities for moral panics occur at times of economic, political and ideological
crises in capitalist society. Their function is to distract public attention from the real causes of such
crises by generating panics around groups and behaviors that create easily identifiable scapegoats or
folk devils.

These groups are relatively powerless and can be represented as a threat, distracting people from a
capitalist crisis. The state then deals firmly with the folk devils, showing that it is powerful and that
dissent will not be tolerated. The real purpose of moral panics is control of the whole population, not
just the folk devils.
Each panic results in greater levels of control, such as the police being given stronger powers, until a situation is reached
where surveillance and control is an integral part of everyday life in a way that is accepted in order to ensure ‘public
safety’- which, for neo-Marxists, means maintenance of hegemony.

Further Reading

Deviance amplification is a process, often performed by the mass media, in which the extent and seriousness of deviant
behavior is exaggerated. The effect is to create a greater awareness and interest in deviance which results in more
deviance being uncovered, giving the impression that the initial exaggeration was actually a true representation.
Leslie T. Wilkins originally reported on the process of deviant amplification in 1964 but it was popularized by Stanely
Cohen's book Folk Devils and Moral Panic, published in 1972.

What Is Deviant Behavior?

Deviant behavior is a broad term because it covers anything that goes against social norms. This could mean anything
from minor crimes like graffiti to more serious crimes like robbery. Adolescent deviant behavior is often a source of
deviance amplification. Local news will sometimes report on a something like a "new teen drinking game," implying it is a
popular trend instead of the actions of one group. This kind of reporting can sometimes start the trends they were reporting
on although each new act will add credence to the initial report.

Deviant Amplification Process

Deviant amplification usually starts when one act that is either illegal or against social morals that wouldn't normally be
worth of media attention becomes newsworthy. The incident is reported on as being part of a pattern.
Once an incident becomes the focus of the media, other similar stories that normally wouldn't make
the news fall under this new media focus and become newsworthy. This begins to create the pattern
that was initially reported on. The reports can also make the action seem cool or socially acceptable,
leading to more people to try it, which reinforces the pattern. It can be hard to prove when deviant
amplification is happening because each new event seems to validate the initial claim.

Sometimes citizens will pressure law enforcement and government to take action against the
perceived deviant threat. This can mean anything from the passage of new laws to harsher
punishments and sentences on existing laws. This pressure from the citizens often requires law
enforcement to put more resources into an issue that it actually warrants. One of the main problems
with deviance amplification is that it makes a problem seem much larger than it is. Which in the
process can help create a problem where there was none. Deviance amplification can be part of a
moral panic but they do not always cause them.

This hyper-focus on minor issues can also cause communities to miss larger issues they need to be
focusing attention and resources on. It can make social issues harder to solve because all of the focus
is going to an event that was artificially created. The deviant amplification process can also cause
certain social groups to be discriminated against if the behavior is tied to that group.
Ways in which the media might have a positive impact on
human behavior

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Cr6uFAfHapo (brief look at some positive as well as negative impacts of

media on teenagers).
Most interest has focused on the negative impacts of media. However, there is also a range of positive
impacts hat should not be ignored. Some of these are related to the uses and gratifications model.

1. Diversions – involves the idea the media are used positively for a range of everyday purposes, such
as relaxation or entertainment.

2. Education – media can be used for educational purposes, both consciously, for something such as
information gathering, and subconsciously, where learning, in its widest sense, is embedded in
entertainment such as video gaming.

3. Community – where different forms of media are embedded in everyday life, experience and
discourse they are a significant basis for social interaction, such as talking about the latest events in a
soap opera, discussing the news or arguing about who should be evicted from reality TV programs.
This shared knowledge helps to create a community of interest in the sense that people feel part of a
social group on the basis of their common interests.

Even in the virtual world of social networks or message boards, where people may not physically know
each other, like-minded people can discuss the things they find important.
4. Identity consolidation – for some, the media are used for identity checking on two levels:

 Individual: where people create or maintain a sense of personal identity through the media they
consume. This can involve things such as lifestyle magazines or creating and maintaining a sense of
self through the consumption of cultural products such as literature and film.

 Social: the media can define particular forms of social identity, from class, through age and gender to
ethnicity, by explaining the meaning of these categories and, in doing so, shaping ideas about individual,
communal and national forms of identity.

5. Empowerment – feminists have argued that new media can be empowering for particular gender and
age groups because it allows greater freedom of personal expression and identity creation. Butler (1990),
for example, argued that, where gender scripts were once limited and restrictive, forcing men and women
into a limited range of identities, they are now many and varied. Thanks to the media, people have much
greater awareness of the different ways they can ‘perform gender’.
This is also true for perception of age-related behavior. Haraway (1991) took these ideas a step further with her concept
of ‘the cyborg’. As people increasingly interact in cyberspace, traditional notions of gender and biology become
redundant. How people are connected in cyberspace is more significant than how they are connected in ‘the real world’
because interaction across computer networks can be without gender (a gendered). Gender, as with class, age and
ethnicity, can be hidden or disguised.

6. Awareness- in a complex world, the media provide news and information that can be used to keep in touch with
what is happening. A significant positive impact, therefore, is the creation of a greater global awareness of:

• Economic trends, such as the development of the countries such as China and India as important production
centers.

• Political developments- events surrounding the 2011 Arab Spring, for example, were extensively reported
through Twitter in the absence of more traditional media.

• Cultural exchanges involving a greater exposure to and understanding of cultural similarities and differences.
The media may also promote political changes by exposing people to new ideas that make them
question traditional ways of thinking and behaving. Increased media choice and diversity brings with it a
willingness to question ‘authority’.

Lyotard argues that a defining feature of postmodernity is its disbelief (incredulity) towards
metanarratives such as religion, science or political philosophies that claim to explain ‘everything about
something’. Such incredulity, he suggests, means that the media are less likely to influence people’s
behavior negatively.

The ability to make quick, easy and direct contact with like-minded individuals through new media
networks also contributes to the general political process through greater participation and activism.

New media also change the nature of political representation: the public cannot only interact directed
with elected politicians, through email and social networks, they can use new media to pressurize
politicians and parties to act in particular ways. New media open up greater opportunities for discussion
and self-expression, giving groups a voice where they may not have had one in the past.

This, in turn, has a significant impact on how we understand the deviance of political leaders or large-
scale transnational corporations. For example, both are under increasing surveillance ‘from below’.
Ways in which people may be affected by media sensationalism and stereotyping

Introduce the topic by watching the RT News video on sensationalism in the media. What tactics do news media
use and why? What role do stereotypes perform?

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hj5cjKXjT7g (RT News – Sensationalism in the media)

Discuss how audiences could possibly react to such news sensationalism.

Media sensationalism and stereotyping: terrorism. Watch the video on terrorist attacks on London. What
sensationalist tactics and stereotypes were used by the media? How can audiences be affected?
www.youtube.com/watch?v=z6w9i45amTw (Al Jazheera TV – London terror attacks)

Now consider and discuss: How does the media sensationalism and stereotyping affect those being focused upon?

Learners are to investigate the concept of labelling and the impact this has in producing a self-fulfilling prophecy.
What are examples of the labels being applied within the reporting on terrorism in London?
Useful websites:
https://hecticteachersalevelsociologysite.wordpress.com/s
cly-4-crime-and-deviance-with-theory-and-methods/theori
es-of-crime-and-deviance/do-you-only-become-a-criminal-
or-deviant-once-someone-calls-you-one-interactionist-theo
ry/
(labelling theory and self-fulfilling prophecy explained)
www.hertsmere.gov.uk/Documents/08-Parks--Leisure/Chil
dren--Young-People/Final-Report---Unbalanced-negative-
media-portrayal-of-youth.pdf
(Negative media portrayal of youth)
Sensationalism means the reporting of news stories in ways that make the audience worried or excited,
rather than reporting accurately. Sensationalized stories often involve bias, distortion and exaggeration.
The stories are often not about issues that affect many of the audience directly, but rather are designed
to provoke feelings such as outrage.

For example, tabloid newspaper often have misleading headlines with lurid images. Media use
sensationalism to attract audiences as part of the pursuit of profit. Sensationalism is one of the factors in
the reporting that makes some news stories into moral panics.

Stereotyping may affect both those stereotyped and audiences receiving the stereotype. Media effects
models suggest that audiences will be influenced by stereotypes and may assume that they are
accurate. For media producers, stereotypes are useful shortcuts because they provide information to
audiences very quickly.
For example, giving a character in a film a particular style of dress or way of talking may quickly
establish their nationality.

But in simplifying in this way, stereotypes can also exaggerate and distort. They can imply that the
groups being stereotyped are in some way inferior or bad- a negative or dehumanizing
representation.

Increasingly, however, some media products set out to challenge or reverse stereotypes, for example
by showing female characters as strong and resourceful. The ways that audiences are effected by
stereotypes may depend on their knowledge of the stereotyped group (which may contradict the
stereotype).

This applies even more so to the stereotyped group, who will be aware that the representation is a
distortion and are likely to reject it.