Anne SuryaniDani VardiansyahNovita Damayanti

Universitas Multimedia Nusantara2010

1

Paul Lazarsfeld: selective exposure Two-step flow of communication:

1. The direct transmission of information to a small group of people who stay well-informed

2. Those opinion leaders pass on and interpret the messages to others in face-to-face discussion

2

George Gerbner Heavy television users develop an exaggerated belief in a

mean and scary world The violence on television can cultivate a social paranoia that

counters notions of trustworthy people or safe surroundings Television is one of dominant forces in shaping modern society TV’s power comes from the symbolic content of the real-life

drama shown hour after hour, week after week TV is society’s institutional storyteller A society’s stories present “a coherent picture of what exists,

what is important, what is related to what and what is right Communication media & violence: tv, comic books, computer

games

3

Dramatic violence: the overt expression or threat of physical force (with or without a weapon, against self or others) compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt and/or killed or threatened to be so victimized as part of the plot

Examples: verbal abuse, idle threats, pie-in-the-face-slapstick, including cartoon movies.

Cultural indicators project: the systematic tracking of changes in television content and how those changes affect viewers’ perceptions of the world

4

Research findings (US television):Dramas that include violence average 5 traumatic

incidents per viewing hourChildren shows during weekend: 20 cases an hourOld people and children are harmed more

frequently than are young or middle age adultsVictims: minority groups (African Americans,

Hispanics, female, blue-collar workers)Gerbner’s Cultural Indicators project revealed

that people on the margins of American Society are put into a symbolic double jeopardy.

Their existence is understated, but their vulnerability to violence is also overplayed

5

Surveys of viewer behavior and attitudes (Gerbner)

Heavy viewers: TV viewers who report that they watch at least four hours per day; television types

Audience: consumers Control group: the pervasive presence of

television Light viewers: more selective, turning the set off

when a favourite program is over

6

Cultivation differential: the difference in the percentage giving the television answer within comparable groups of light and heavy TV viewers comparison between before and after TV exposure

Four attitudes:1. Chances of involvement with violence2. Fear of walking alone at night3. Perceived activity of police4. General mistrust of people

=> Mean world syndrome: the cynical mindset of general mistrust of others subscribed to by heavy TV viewers

7

Mainstreaming: blurring, blending & bending process by which heavy viewer attitudes develop a common socially conservative outlook through constant exposure to the same image and labels

8

Resonance: the process by which congruence of symbolic violence on television and real-life experiences of violence amplifies the fear of a mean and scary world

The resonance hypothesis is an after-the-fact explanation of why a large group of people who watch lots of television find the world an extra-scary place

9

It’s been over 30 years The social cost of fear:

◦ “fearful people are more dependent, more easily manipulated and controlled, more susceptible to deceptively simple, strong, tough measures and hard-line postures...”

CritiqueMichael Morgan & James Shanahan: conducted a meta analysis of 82 separate cultivation studies

Meta analysis: a statistical procedure that blends the results of multiple empirical and independent research studies exploring the same relationship between two variables (eg. TV viewing & fear of violence)

10

Reference: Griffin, 2009. pp. 346-358

11