COMS 351 - P2P 14 - The information in these documents correspond to chapters in the textbook titled PDF

Preview

Summary

The information in these documents correspond to chapters in the textbook titled "A First Look at Communication" written by E. Griffin, A.M. Ledbetter, G.G. Sparks, and published
by McGraw-Hill Education in 2015....

Description

COMS 351 P2P 14 - Chapter 29 Student’s Name: Ayca Olgun Section Number: 02 1.

Explain the focus of cultivation theory. ●

Cultivation theory focuses on how the type of media content people consume change their perception of the world around them. According to this theory, people who view lots of violent content on television are more likely to develop a negative world-view in which they believe the world is a dark, scary and untrustworthy place. The believers of cultivation theory defend that the power of this theory depends on the concept that the stories shown on television make the viewers think what they see is an unfiltered view of reality.

2.

Define and explain what is the institutional process analysis and how it relates to cultivation

theory. ●

Institutional process analysis occurs when a scholar decides to investigate why a media company puts out a certain message by conducting detailed interviews with the producers, accountants, and executives of said company. The analysis relates to cultivation theory due to its aim to uncover the reason for certain messages to be distributed in the media, such as why Hollywood produces so much violent content.

3.

Define and explain what is the message systems analysis and how it relates to cultivation

theory. ●

Message system analysis is the process of cracking the code of the message distributed in the media by systematically and thoroughly studying it. Gerbner, the founder of this

theory, determined the best way to study messages would be to analyze how much of the message is displayed on the screen, and how it is portrayed. The way this analysis relates to the cultivation theory is through its ability to uncover why people who are heavy viewers of television are fearful of the outside world. Through his content analyses, Gerbner found out that the messages distributed on the television understates the viewers’ existence while emphasizing their vulnerability to violence, which ignites and perpetuates a victim mindset that is based on fear of violence. 4.

Define and explain what is the cultivation analysis and how it relates to cultivation theory. ●

Within cultivation theory, cultivation analysis is used to reveal how the messages that are uncovered during the message system analysis affect the viewers differently depending on the length of time they spend watching television. Also within this theory, cultivation is defined as the level of contribution media messages specifically displayed on television make towards the viewer’s social reality. Following this logic, this third leg of cultivation theory claims that people who spend most of their time or a good deal of time before television presumably view the world through lenses that are sent out repeatedly on the channels and programs they watch. This analysis relates to the theory of cultivation, because it explains why people, who decide to immerse themselves more into the world of television created by media companies that make the most profit by airing violent content, learn to be afraid of the world due to the potential violence they might encounter.

5.

Explain the difference between mainstreaming and resonance. ● Gerbner aimed to explain the processes media companies use to create content that carries the message they wish to distribute through the concepts of mainstreaming and resonance. In Gerbner’s mind, mainstreaming is described as media companies’ process

of essentially diluting the range of information provided on their channels and programs to attract the highest possible number of viewers to then make a worthy profit. As an example, the producers of an episode of a science show aired on a channel that does not solely broadcast documentaries, might decide to focus on the basics and importance of sleep rather than the neuroscience behind sleep. This is because the basics of sleep is a much more digestible topic for a more diverse audience than the neuroscience of sleep is. ● In Gerbner’s understanding, resonance is the action that heavy viewers of television involuntarily take that causes them to identify with the world they see depicted in the media. According to the proposition of resonance within cultivation theory, if some viewers of television believe that what they see on the TV is highly similar to their own lives, they become more likely to watch TV to see what is or might be going on in the TV world (now their own world), which puts them in this unbreakable cycle of watching television and believing the messages depicted on it are real. 6.

Explain what the reality looks like for heavy viewers and light viewers of TV. ●

As mentioned before, heavy viewers of television look at the reality through the lenses that are provided by the repeating messages they receive from the TV channels and programs they watch. This means, heavy TV watchers may think that their social world is much like the one depicted on TV. According to the findings supplied by Gerbner’s research through cultivation theory, heavy TV viewers, those who watch TV for over 4 hours a day, are more likely to fear encountering a violent crime than light TV viewers, those who attend to TV less than 2 hours a day. Moreover, heavy viewers of television estimate criminal activity in their area to be 10 times more than it actually is, think the police force that they believe to make up 5% of society is much more active in fighting

crime than they truly are, and harbor a mistrust towards fellow human beings compared to light viewers of television. 7.

Define and explain mean world syndrome. ● Mean world syndrome is a psychological phenomenon heavy viewers of television experience if they let themselves get immersed into the television world and blur the lines between their own reality and what is displayed on the screen. The syndrome presents itself as a negative filter over the intentions of people in the world, causing the person who is experiencing this phenomenon to be suspicious of others’ motives, and constantly stay on high alert when interacting with others due to expecting the worst from them....