WEEK4 • Media Smarts Quiz • 9/29/10 FIXT
Name: Dr. Ted
1. Explain the following mass communication concepts/theories and how they help explain how mass media work in society. Provide a specific example to illustrate your understanding of each. (Revisit the synopsis of these theories on the blog.)
Example: The Red Sox won/lost yesterday; my father, who is a Dodgers fan, didn’t notice and couldn’t care less. This illustrates xxxx* theory and how? (explain). (2 pts ea. = 10 pts)
(*Selective Perception)
• Selective perception
Dr. Ted sez: A three-part concept describing how individual’s differing backgrounds (culture, gender, race, socio-economic status) help form her/his way of seeing the world. These perceptions are selective to individuals, based on differing exposure to the world—including media messages and concepts; and these selective perceptions of the world tend both to “color” how we view the world and people and events, and also to affect what kinds of things we pay attention to—selective retention of certain messages, concepts, ideas, etc., that correspond to how we see and understand the world.
• Gate-keeping
Dr. Ted sez: This theory helps explain what information gets into the mass media and what doesn’t, based on decisions by media producers about what passes through the “gate” into the media. Gatekeeping operates at many levels, from the decisions reporters (or writers or photographers) make about what stories to cover, to what sources to talk to, to what questions to ask and quotes to use; to the decisions editors make about what stories to run, at what length and where in the newspaper product (page 1 or P14B).
• Agenda-setting
Dr. Ted sez: The mass media can help set the agenda for discussion of events in the public sphere—what items are part of the public consciousness and what are not. Note the important distinction that the mass media cannot tell us what or how to think, but they can be stunningly effective in telling us what to think about, what’s important.
• Framing
Dr. Ted sez: The way the message creator—whether an advertising executive or TV producer or blogger—decides to tell her/his story will frame the information in particular ways, including or playing up some information and playing down other material. Framing is not only what images or information appears in the physical story “frame” (whether text or image), but also how the information is portrayed—people, ideas, events. NOTE: These theories are interrelated, and deal variously with the sender of a message (reporter, blogger, storyteller, advertising executive) as well as with the receiver of the message—readers/viewers/consumers—and with the content of the message itself. In the context of framing, for example, gatekeeping obviously has a role to play in the selection of what goes into the frame, and so does the reporter/writer’s own perceptions of the world—what’s important and what’s not. But those theories address the sender of the message, while framing examines the message itself and, by implication, what version of the “truth” reaches the message consumer. Ex: An Iraqi insurgent may be a terrorist to U.S. eyes, but to Iraqis he may be a hero and patriot. How do we frame such people, and who is more accurate (see selective perception, above)?
• Cultivation
Dr. Ted sez: Cultivation is the most complex of these theories, which get progressively more sophisticated. It refers to the way a constant diet of consistent media messages, repeated and received over time, may tend to change the way individuals see the world, changing perceptions of people/events/ideas. How can the media “cultivate” new ideas? It takes many repetitions over time to change individual perceptions about, for example, Black people or women or Arabs. As an illustration, we talk about “mean world syndrome,” which describes how people who consume a lot of mass media (especially news) that includes stories about violence (war, accidents, crime, etc.) tend to start seeing the world as a more dangerous and scary place than people who consume less. McLuhan’s fish is an analogy.
Understanding the Interrelationships
Dr. Ted sez: Note that theories don’t DO anything, so it is incorrect to say that, “the media use agenda-setting,” or that, “the media give us selective perception.” That’s wrong. These theories may serve to describe observed phenomena, but they don’t DO anything.
Example: How come Joe thinks Jon Stewart is funny and rejects Sean Hannity, while Judy loves Glenn Beck and thinks Stephen Colbert is a buffoon? Why does Judy love the autumn, Chevrolets and cats, while Joe likes winter, Hondas and tiny dogs? How are bigots created? These aren’t things that have been actively done to people, but the result of the cumulative impact of their different life experiences, some they’re aware of and some they aren’t—including exposure to mass media messages—over years.
All of these mass comm theories link with one another in various different and subtle ways: The media gatekeeper (whether blogger or short story writer or photographer) decides to include some topics and details and excludes others, based on what s/he thinks is important (selective perception). A possible result of that message reaching the audience is that certain topics (and how they are framed) may become more or less important on the public agenda—what we as a society discuss as important (off-show oil drilling) and what we don’t (child trafficking in Canada). That’s agenda-setting. How a story is told (framing) is based on gatekeeping (what goes into it), which is affected by the individual perceptions of the storytellers (selective perception). Agenda-setting is also affected by what the audience pays attention to, which is affected by a number of factors, including what media you consume (Fox vs. PBS) and how you interpret those messages—selective perception. Over time, if you see, consume and adopt certain kinds of messages (i.e., Democrats are irresponsible socialistic spendthrifts), your original perceptions may start to change, and you’ll see the world in a different way. Cultivation is a theory that describes these possible effects and outcomes on receivers of messages. It has nothing to do with the senders/creators of messages, except insofar that gatekeeping can influence what messages get to us, and framing can influence how that information is portrayed.
These processes also can be cyclical, right? because what information we see (gatekeeping) and consume may rise to the top of the public agenda, and, depending on how it is and framed how we then individually perceive it (selective perception), may tend to cultivate changes in our perceptions of the world (cultivation). Tricky, hunh?
2. The reading from FAIR describes elements of media bias. One of these is reliance on official sources. Why is this “biased”? Don’t official sources like political leaders have the best information?
Dr. Ted sez: Official sources tend to be white men, according research by FAIR and others. Why? Because white men tend to how most of the power positions in society (remember the Media Myths quiz?). They also are representatives of organizations (like the White House), which have particular interests in framing the news in ways that promote their interests and objectives. These individuals also have their own selective perceptions, or biases, and if these kins of sources predominate in the public conversation, other perspectives are naturally excluded. It’s not only the Bush Administration, of course, but that White House was so disciplined that three or six different administration officials might appear on three or six or nine different TV shows each weekend, and use exactly the same words—sound bites and talking points—which echoed over and over in the public media psyche, becoming “truth.”
3. What mass communication theory(ies) might help explain how limiting sources to officials might result in bias?
Dr. Ted sez: These sources are gatekeeping the conversation, aren’t they? letting only certain messages through into the public domain. They also are trying to set the agenda of public debate, And they are trying to frame the debate in certain ways….but we don’t know whether they are successful until the public (and the pundits) actually adopt their perspectives.
4. Explain “truthiness.”
Dr. Ted sez: “Truthiness” refers to the phenomenon of stating as fact what we want to be true, not necessarily what objective facts show to be true. (Ex: Is Barack Obama a foreign-born Muslim?) 5. All presidential administrations seek to control the public debate, steering journalists in directions they want covered. The Bush Administration was known for its discipline in spreading “talking points” that support administration positions—from Bush people on morning talk shows to Fox commentators repeating (sometimes word-for-word) the administration talking points. What mass communication theory might best explain and evaluate how that worked in society, and why?
Dr. Ted sez: As in No. 2 above, this is gatekeeping—constant exposure to the same talking points from a range of sources. Controlling the debate=setting the public agenda by excluding other distracting topics. They are framing also content in certain ways that benefit their political position.
6. On the evening news last night, there were stories about Topic A, B & R. I don’t remember A&R, but B was really important! What mass communication theory explains this phenomenon?
a. Gate-keeping
b. Cultivation
-->c. Selective perception
d. Agenda-setting
e. Framing
Why? explain: Dr. Ted sez: Because of my own perceptions of the world, I tend to pay more attention to topics of interest (relevance) to me, and ignore others.
7. Explain “mean-world syndrome.”
Dr. Ted sez: Research finds that a heavy consumption of news can make people see the world as a meaner and more dangerous place than people who spend less time with mass media. Heavy coverage of a series of brutal car-hijackings in Miami/Dade County in the 1980s resulted in European tourists (who had been some of the victims) and others cancelling trips to Florida, even though the actual crime rate was going down—heavy coverage of these crimes made Miami seem more dangerous than it was. (Note that this also relates to truthiness…)
8. Advertisers (and political campaigns) spend a lot of time and money getting messages in front of us. What mass communication theory might help explain why these are or are not effective?
Dr. Ted sez: Selective perception—are these issues/products important to me?
9. Revisit this WORD, which talks about how we know about historical “truth.” History, it is said, is written by the winners. If this is true, what mass communication theories does this illustrate? How?
Dr. Ted sez: Gatekeeping? Framing? We report events and frame them in ways that are positive to our interests…
10. General knowledge: Google Jon Stewart’s March to Restore Sanity and Stephen Colbert’s March to Keep Fear Alive.
19 points possible
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