Researching Media AudiencesLecture 3: Publics and Media Effects Research

Sullivan (2013) see audiences in 4 ways:1.Objects2.Institutional constructions3.Active users of media4.Producers/subcultures

Background to Effects Research

• If we see an audience as an object, then that object has no real power (Sullivan, 2013)

• Mass audiences are faceless anonymous collections of millions of people (end 19C)

• Use of statistics to understand populations used by government and business (early 20C)

• New forms of mass media (radio, film) supports notions of mass audiences

• All media research looks for effects!

Hypodermic needle theory

• Brett Lamb http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qt5MjBlvGcY

• Beauty and advertising http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JAW4LIFYFng

• The pron effect http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R8ptP3qFIxA

• 12 yr old Vajazzling http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/girls-having-bikini-waxes-vajazzling-1787328

4 Epochs of Effects Research(McQuail, 1984)

1. 1900-30 Media is all-powerful (hypodermic needle)

2. 1930-59 Opposition to all-powerful media model

(the ‘no-effect’ model, limited effects)3. 1960-79 Powerful media revisited (long-term

effects, media ownership, agenda setting)

4. 1980’s+ Negotiated Media Meaning model5. 2005+ Social media models change everything

Alternate system: four models of effect (Perse, 2001)

• Direct effects – short tem, testable• Conditional effects – based upon beliefs of the

audience• Cumulative effects – saturation & repetition

leads to build up• Cognitive-transactional effects – occurs due to

individual responses to the priming effect of media

The problem with media violence• Road Runner

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=odNLJNXnAb0• If we see a lot of violence on TV then some of us will copy

that violence in real life?• Children are usually the focus of these studies- early studies

counted the acts of violence in kids’ shows• Problem here is cause and effect – no evidence that cartoons

lead to long term kiddie criminals• Contradicted by the evidence:

TV violence is increasingCrime statistics are decreasing

Reality of violence in society

• Most domestic violence are men -> women• Stranger rape much less common than acquaintances• Murder is not the most common crime• Black people more likely to be victims• Older people more likely to be victims• Domestic violence accounted for 25% of all violent crime, and

33% of all murders in USA• These stats - not the portrayal of violence on TV and movies• http://youtu.be/DHRwo48twyE Book of Eli

Famous Media Case Studieshttp://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Columbine_High_School_massacre

• Columbine shooting was blamed on violent video games.

Media recants its theories and mythshttp://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm

• James Bulger murder blamed on violent video material, eg Childs Play.

http://www.youtube.com/v=Vx1uUnr2aCM (response to causal links to video)

The evidence re media violence:

• Clear lack of evidence but supporters of the ‘negative effect’ thesis often make very firm statements about causality

• The only evidence is correlational links – X occurs at the same time as Y, therefore X caused Y, or Y caused X

• However… there is a lot of correlation:• http://www.thepci.org/articles/The%20Role%20of%20Media%20Violence%20in%20Violent%20Behavior.pdf

Media accuracy and bias• Journalists often reproduce bias surrounding various

issues, forgetting to check sources• Attitudes to beauty, obesity, alcohol, drugs,

education, politics, boat people… are created and maintained by media

• Agenda-setting role leads to mass audience paranoia in some cases – HRT reports http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/181726.php

• Media is subject to PR messages from big business http://www.universaldrugstore.com/news/tamiflu/is-tamiflu-better-than-relenza/

Affect and Effect

• Nightingale & Ross argue that many people easily say that media violence is harmful

• Investigations of viewer responses• Studies often focus on content, not on audience

perceptions • Strong statements about causality are therefore

speculative• All that can be said is that the media can cause

effects in certain contexts

What about advertising?

• If the media did not cause consumers to go out and buy stuff, why is billions of dollars spent on advertising?

• Is behaving in a violent manner so different to buying clothes or food?

• Why do governments spend millions on health campaigns through the media?

Successful PR advertisingEdward Bernays 1929 “torches of freedom”from 12% of market to 18% (1935), 33% (1965)

No.1Successful online media campaign

Barack Obama in 2007 was a one-term senator who nobody knewHe used social media of YouTube (20mill hits) and Facebook (2.5mill fans)Used photos, social mediafriendly website, calls-to-action

Media effects on sexuality

• http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1070813/

• http://www.lifesitenews.com/news/archive//ldn/2005/jul/05070604

• Issue largely ignored by researchers: http://pediatrics.aappublications.org/content/116/Supplement_1/303.full

How do we resist media effects?

• Realise that the media are not there to help us• Understand that status, profit, and power are the bases of all

democratic societies• What we see is not always reality, but a reflection of what

already exists in other media copy• Try to not mimic American culture in all its forms• Try to educate ourselves by seeing through the hype, the

sensationalism, the falsehoods posing as facts• Try to adopt an individual view on difficult issues, not just

parrot the media position