Robert J. Lewis
Michigan State University
MORALITY AND NEWS MEDIA
MORALITY AND NEWS MEDIA
• Why is the same news story enjoyable for some, and abhorrent for others?• Why do some stories create heated controversy? (e.g., gay marriage)
• Moral intuitions govern perceptions of news as good or bad.
MORAL FOUNDATIONS THEORY
Moral Foundation Hypothesis
1. Harm/care
2. Fairness/reciprocity
3. Ingroup/loyalty
4. Authority/respect
5. Purity/sanctity
(Haidt & Graham, in press, SJR)
(Compassion, Peace)
(Equality, Justice)
(Patriotism, Solidarity)
(Obedience, Duty)
(Chastity, Wholesomeness)
Liberals
Conservatives
NEWS REPORTS AS NARRATIVES
• Altheide describes news as a morality play
• Zillmann describes news as nonfiction theatre
MODEL OF INTUITIVE MORALITY AND EXEMPLARS (MIME)
• A broad model that incorporates MFT with exemplification theory to explain how moral intuition influences reactions to media.
• Media producers create news reports to have a narrative structure.
• Moral values determine reactions to these stories.
• Viewers want to see justice served.
• News-media producers base stories on universal and culturally derived notions of justice.
MORALITY MODERATES REACTIONS TO NEWS
• Political affiliation determines whether outcomes befalling political figures are perceived as just (Zillmann & Knobloch, 2001).
• Individuals’ justice and care orientations affect responses to controversial news stories (Lind, 1996).
TESTING THE MIME
• Two recent studies test the influence of moral intuitions identified in the MIME.
• Lewis et al. (2011) showed that fairness and loyalty intuitions predicted reactions to news of the Lockerbie bomber’s release.
• More recently, loyalty and purity intuitions predicted reactions to news of Osama Bin Laden assassination.
PARTING THOUGHTS …
• As with other media, news audiences act as tireless moral monitors.
• MFT’s moral intuitions are central to this monitoring process.
• The moral intuitions help to determine whether news is perceived as “good news” versus “bad news.”
• Macro-level implications?
• Do the news-media affect moral values, selective exposure, and subsequently media content?
Automatic/ControlledAppraisal
Selective Exposure to liked content
Production of content affirming salient intuitions and exemplars
a
Exposure to media content featuring salient intuitions/exemplars
Intuition/ Exemplar Salience
THE END
•Thank you!