Media Influences and Its Elements - Essay Example

Media Influences The term 'media' is defined by the Oxford Dictionary as 'mass communications, especially newspapers and broadcasting, regarded collectively.' More specifically, the media is made up f the mass circulation press, the cinema, radio, television and recently, the Internet. The media constantly exposes us, as the audience, to an enormous quantity f ideas about elements f everyday life. Among other things, we are exposed to ideas about politics, culture, and economics, both voluntarily and involuntarily, and we are challenged to make sense f what exactly they mean to us as individuals, and members f society. It is through previously established theoretical traditions and research methodologies developed in countries all over the world that enable us to form knowledge and opinion about different elements within the media. The theoretical conventions include those f the American 'Empiricism', European Critical Theory, Western 'Marxism', British Cultural Studies, Political Economy, and French Structuralism and Semiology. Investigating these methodologies, along with exposure to media itself, can assist us in understanding the relationship between the text, the producer, and the audience, and therefore make sense f the political, economic and cultural meaning f everyday life. Studying the media is a concept that has only been existent for a short amount f time and is controversial due to the media's rapid expansion and The worth f media studies itself includes the preparation for media practice, as well as the preparation for skilled reception by the audience, which we are all a part of. For this reason, media studies in society is a vital skill which will continue to be relevant well into the future. Media studies allows us to examine elements f the media and its affect on audiences, whilst investigating the influences that make up the media that we are familiar with. Cunningham and Turner describe briefly the way in which media shapes our way f thinking and allows us to further our ideas and opinions on particular issues. "We learn about world politics from our newspapers, radio news broadcasts and TV; while we may be aware that the views we receive are necessarily brief and partial, they play an important part in our conception f the world." (The Media and Communications in Australia, 2002) It is difficult to determine exactly how he media affects its audience, as the results are different between individuals. For example, drug use in a movie may deter someone from wanting to use drugs, whilst tempting another to try them. This shows how vital it is to study the media and the particular ways in which it affects its audience. It is essential that we continue to try and make sense f exactly how the media influences our society in order to prevent negative effects. When doing this, we should look into theoretical traditions f media is history such as the American 'empirical traditions and Western 'Marxism' J.B Thompson states his ideas about the important role media plays in self-formation, "individuals are able to gain access to new forms f knowledge which are no longer transmitted face-to-face."Individuals' horizons f understanding are broadened... shaped increasingly by the expanding networks f mediated communication." (The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory f the Media, 1995). This proves the importance f media in everyday life in our society. We are assisting in shaping our own ideas and opinions through the media, in much the same way that we are influenced by people around us. When speaking f such influences, we must examine further the specific elements f everyday life and the way in which theoretical traditions have influenced how we think f the media to this day. Politics are all around us. Political issues can exist in the workplace and at home, as well as in our local, state and federal governments. The general public relies on the media to communicate political messages that could possibly effect how society is run. Unfortunately, the concept f politics controls a lot f what see in the media, and often it is difficult to determine what political content may have been manipulated in order to influence the audience's views. Political economy "one f the strongest and longest traditions in media studies." (Cunningham and Turner, The Media & Communications in Australia 2002) The economic meaning f everyday life relates to the production, development, and management f material wealth, as f a country, household, or business enterprise (The Oxford Dictionary). The Frankfurt/Marxist School has contributed understandings f economic meanings, as too has the Political Economy. In terms f the economic realities which limit and organize other considerations Cultural studies is an American tradition that is heavily influenced by British Cultural studies and helps us to understand what role culture plays in our society. The Oxford Dictionary defines the word culture as 'intellectual and artistic achievement or expression' and usually refers to a particular civilization or group. In conclusion, it is important to highlight that media studies is necessary in today's society in order to make sense f how the media affects us in different ways. We are encouraged to investigate how the media affects our every day life, for example in terms f politics, culture, and economics; and begin to make sense f why we react to the media in the way that we do. These three concepts are interrelated and cover the basis of Media Studies provides us with theories and concepts that assist in understanding the role f media in society and its affects on ourselves, as the audience, in terms f everyday matters relating to politics, economy and culture. Looks at different traditions in American, British and media. The British media is characterized by the class system f Britian which results in newspapers that speak to the different classes f British society. There is little analysis in this system, much like the American tradition which is described as 'empirical'. In practice, this method f journalism is not so much an analysis, but a description f events. In contrast, European media takes a more analytical stance and embraces what is known as 'Marxist' analysis, which looks at issues such as how wealth is distributed in society. Methodology Research in Quebec (Mishara, 1999; Normand & Mishara, 1992) indicates that half f the children age 5-7 reported seeing at least one suicide on television, and all f the older children could report on at least one such incident and usually several deaths by suicide in television programs. These studies found that conversations with older children and television depictions f suicide (as well as on occasion suicides in the cinema) were the primary sources f information on suicide for children f all ages. The exception to this is among the small number f children who had experienced a death by suicide in their own family. If television and cinema suicides are the primary source f information on suicide for children, how is suicide portrayed in these media-and what do children learn about suicide from them Most f the television suicides young children see are by the "bad guy" in a cartoon, who usually kills himself at the end f the episode when it is clear that he has lost the battle with the hero. In addition, cartoon and live characters often threaten to kill themselves when they are jilted by a boyfriend/girlfriend or when they are in a difficult situation. For example, one cartoon character threatened to shoot himself in the head if he were not given his favorite food. When his friend finally succumbed to this blackmail, he pulled the trigger f the pistol aimed at his head anyway. Then, a flag came down with the word "bang" written on it. He laughed and ran off. A recent phenomenon is the inclusion f the term "suicide bomber" in common usage. Young children throughout the world hear about "suicide bombings" and increasingly ask adults to explain why these events occur. We know little about how children's understandings f "suicide bombings" may influence their overall conceptions f suicide, and whether or not they associate these events with suicidal behaviors by youths and adults in their own community. What are the messages television and cinema depictions f suicide communicate to young children Children learn that suicide is something you do or threaten when you are angry or frustrated because you do not get something you want very much. Although nice people on television threaten to kill themselves, it is often the bad guys who actually do it in shows made for children. There is never any ambivalence, and rarely is the suicide victim or the person who threatens suicide depressed. The primary emotions associated with screen depictions f suicide are anger, frustration, and sometimes revenge. There has been no specific research on the effects on young children f fictitious depictions f suicide on television. However, there has been much research on the association between media violence and aggressiveness. Bushman and Anderson (2001)presented a detailed meta-analysis f scientific studies relating violence in the media to aggressive behavior. They concluded that there is a consistent positive correlation between media violence and aggression in both experimental and nonexperimental studies based on 202 independent samples from published articles, with a total sample size f 43,306 participants. The size f the correlation between media violence and aggression is greater that the association between condom use and sexually transmitted HIV, passive smoking and lung cancer at work, and the relationship between exposure to lead and IQ scores in children. Laboratory experiments have shown that viewing as little as 15 minutes f a relatively mild violent program can result in increased aggressive behavior in at least one-fourth f children who viewed the program (Bushman, 1995). If viewing violence on television can have such a widespread and immediate effect, what effect may be induced by viewing the particular form f violence inherent in a character committing suicide on the screen Research on violence and aggression indicates that children do not have to identify with the perpetrators f violence in order to experience an increase in their aggressive behavior afterward-but it helps. Research by Mishara (1999) found that few children report attempting suicide, and the general attitude toward suicide in children is quite negative at all age levels. Children consider suicide to be something one should not do, and few children express the opinion that people have a right to kill themselves. Discussion There is no evidence that exposure to suicides in the media results in an increased likelihood f suicide attempts or completed suicides by children prior to adolescence. However, a community survey f 1528 parents in Quebec found that 4% f children have threatened to kill themselves at some time (Bellerose et al., 1995). The children must have learned to threaten suicide from somewhere. Given that their exposure to suicide in the media is their primary source f information about the topic, it seems logical to assume that children probably learned how to threaten to kill themselves from television programs. One may feel that, since children rarely commit and attempt suicide and they rarely threaten to kill themselves, media effects are f lesser importance than with other content, such as violence in general. However, the understanding f suicide that children develop at an early age probably remains with them throughout their lives. It is possible that the understanding that children develop from the media can be expressed in actions in adolescence or in adulthood. What can we do about possible media influences on conceptions f suicide We live in a world where there is increasing emphasis on the acquisition f life skills at an early age and the development f appropriate attitudes toward adult problem behaviors. It is common at an early age to begin education to prevent smoking, drug abuse, and alcoholism. School-based primary prevention programs start long before children begin to engage in the problem behaviors-before children begin to smoke or start using drugs or alcohol. The rationale behind these programs is that it is important to engage in primary prevention before problems actually develop because once children engage in these problem behaviors it is much more difficult to intervene. This is particularly true in the previously "taboo" area f sex education, where it is generally understood that providing accurate information about the topic in school is preferable to allowing children to develop their own understanding f sexuality based upon media clichs, hearsay, and occasional discussions with parents. This article proposes that suicide may be considered a similar taboo topic, and that education about suicide at an early age may have significant beneficial effects. Are we willing to continue to allow children to learn about suicide mainly from what they see on television or what they understand from parental discussions they overhear and what other children say Parents are much less likely to talk with their children about suicide than about sexuality, and suicide is rarely discussed in primary schools. Perhaps we should consider trying to influence media depictions f suicide by educating producers f media material for young audiences. An alternative would be to try to counterbalance media depictions f suicide by providing accurate educational material either in the classroom or at home. Since children are exposed to media suicides at a very young age, usually by age 7-8, educational activities concerning suicide should begin in the first years f schooling in order to help children better understand the suicidal behavior they experience in the media as well as suicide events in their community. Works Cited Bellerose, C, Lavalle, C, Chnard, L, & Levasseur, MEt la sant, a va, en 1992-1993 Rapport de l'Enqute sociale et de sant 1992-1993 vol 1. 'Report f the 1992-1993 social and health survey, Vol.1' Montral: Gouvernement du Qubec, Ministre de la Sant et des Services Sociaux (1995). Bushman, BJ, & Anderson, CAMedia violence and the American public.. American Psychologist. (2001). 6-7 pp. 477-489. Bushman, BJModerating role f trait aggressiveness in the effects f violent media on aggression.. Journal f Personality and Social Psychology (1995). 69, 950-960. Cunningham and Turner, The Media and Communications in Australia, 2002, Allen & Unwin Mishara, BL Childhood conceptions f death and suicide: Empirical investigations and implications for suicide prevention. In D DeLeo, ASchmidtke, RFWDiekstra (Eds.), Suicide prevention: A holistic approach (pp. 111-120). Dordrecht: Kluwer Academic Publishers. (1998). Mishara, BLConceptions f death and suicide in children aged 6 to 12 and their implications for suicide prevention.. Suicide and Life-Threatening Behavior (1999). 9, 105-118. Normand, C, & Mishara, BLThe development f the concept f suicide in children.. Omega, Journal f Death and Dying (1992). 25, 183-203. Thompson, J.B. "Self and Experience in a Mediated World", The Media and Modernity: A Social Theory f the Media, Stanford University Press, Stanford, 1995, pp.209-219 Read More