Although the long-term cultural consequences of this shift cannot yet be assessed, the development is undeniably a novel one. Let's consider this ad's message by asking a few questions: The role of propaganda and persuasion in the mass media is a good place to start when considering various types of media effects. These are strong arguments, but even in Plato’s day they had been rendered moot by the success of the written word. Newspapers and pamphlets that glorified the sacrifices at Lexington and Concord and trumpeted the victories of George Washington’s army greatly aided the American Revolution. The media sends messages that reinforce cultural values. Disagreements over the content of media messages certainly exist. However, American Idol segments regularly appear on YouTube and other websites, where people who may never have seen the show comment on and dissect them. When media consumers hear only the information they want to, the common ground of public discourse that stems from general agreement on certain principles inevitably grows smaller (Kakutani, 2010). Analyze cultural messages that the media send. Analyzing Media Messages is a primer for learning the technique of systematic, quantitative analysis of communication content. Garth S. Jowett and Victoria O’Donnell, Propaganda and Persuasion (Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 2006), 60–61. Called “Bert Is Evil,” the series featured the puppet engaged in a variety of illicit activities. The 1999 Columbine High School shooting led to greater debate and criticism over violent video games. At one point on March 11, 2010, for example, The Washington Post website’s most popular story was “Maintaining a Sex Life (Kakutani, 2010).”. Baron makes the point that all communication revolutions have created upheavals and have changed the standards of literacy and communication. Governments, corporations, nonprofit organizations, and political campaigns rely on both new and old media to create messages and to send them to the general public. Analyze cultural messages that the media send. “Columbine High School,” Times Topics, New York Times, April 17, 2008, http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/columbine_high_school/index.html. In many types of media, sexual content—and its strong emotional message—can be prolific. Other famous stereotypes—such as the Lone Ranger’s Native American sidekick, Tonto, or Mickey Rooney’s Mr. Yunioshi role in Breakfast at Tiffany’s—also reinforced American preconceptions about ethnic predispositions and capabilities. Britannica Concise Encyclopedia, s.v. These analyses entail systematically taking a “slice” of media coverage from a set time-frame, often in the top daily newspapers, magazines and broadcast news outlets. When images of Abraham Lincoln or Susan B. Anthony appear in the media, they resonate with cultural and historical themes greatly separated from mere fame. What kind of roles does the celebrity take in other forms of media, such as television or film? Media Analysis as a Subset of Content Analysis. This dialogue is an important one; after all, mass media have long been used to persuade. “Studying Media Effects on Children and Youth: Improving Methods and Measures, Workshop Summary,” March 2–3, 2006, The National Academies Press, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11706; “Media Influence on Youth,” Crisis Connection, http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/teens/media_influence_on_youth.htm. Media analyses can be used to identify messages, examine how those messages are framed, and see how existing coverage of an issue could be improved. One nuanced look at the Internet’s effect on the way a culture processes and perceives information states that literacy will not simply increase or decrease, but will change qualitatively (Choney, 2010). Neuendorf (2002) describes content analysis as “the primary message-centred methodology” (p. 9) and cites studies such as … “Effects of Violent Video Games,” Los Angeles Times, May 3, 2010, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/health/la-he-closer-20100503. Timpane, Jim. Although many consider celebrity culture superficial and a poor reflection of a country’s values, not all celebrities are simply entertainers. The present-day, pejorative connotation of propaganda stems from the full utilization of mass media by World War I–era governments to motivate the citizenry of many countries to go to war. All media messages are composed for a particular purpose. Explain the ways new media have affected culture. Understanding Media and Culture by University of Minnesota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License, except where otherwise noted. But did violent video games so desensitize the two teenagers to violence that they could contemplate such a plan? People promoting movements as wide-ranging as Christianity, the American Revolution, and the communist revolutions of the 20th century have all used propaganda to disseminate their messages (Jowett & O’Donnell, 2006). Chapter 12 “Advertising and Public Relations”, http://articles.latimes.com/2010/may/03/health/la-he-closer-20100503, http://www.nap.edu/openbook.php?record_id=11706, http://www.crisisconnectioninc.org/teens/media_influence_on_youth.htm, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/03/99/tom_brook/326529.stm, http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/35464896/ns/technology_and_science-tech_and_gadgets/, http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/531862/main.html, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/01/07/technology/07iht-violence.4.9058958.html, http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/21/books/21mash.html, http://topics.nytimes.com/topics/reference/timestopics/organizations/c/columbine_high_school/index.html, http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20100624_New_media_too_speedy_to_outflank.html, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm, Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License. Media messages are not limited to overt statements; they can also use emotions, such as fear, love, happiness, and depression. An individual may read an article on a news website and then forward part of it to a friend. President Barack Obama fired General Stanley McChrystal after a controversial Rolling Stone story in which McChrystal spoke poorly of the Obama administration was leaked on the Internet. As you will learn in Chapter 4 “Newspapers”, the penny press made newspapers accessible to a mass audience and became a force for social cohesion during the 1830s (Jowett & O’Donnell, 2006). Do you think this type of characterization would be acceptable in modern television? Miller, Mark Crispin. Explain the ways new media have affected culture. In his book The Creation of the Media, Paul Starr argues that the United States, as a liberal democracy, has favored employing an independent press as a public guardian, thus putting the media in an inherently political position (Starr, 2004). Video game defenders argue that violent people can be drawn to violent games, and they point to lower overall incidence of youth violence in recent years compared to past decades (Adams, 2010). Find a celebrity magazine, such as. Quantitative research methods within Media Content Analysis point to a far more structured and consequently restricted form of gathering information from clips of media. The same celebrity can represent very different things depending on the form of media and its portrayal of that person. The ready availability of information through search engines may explain how a clearly satirical Onion article on the Harry Potter phenomenon came to be taken as fact. Accusations of hidden messages or agenda-driven content have always been an issue in the media, but as the presence of media grows, the debate concerning media messages increases. Some argue that these messages influence behavior, especially the behavior of young people (Beatty, 2006). Balkanization is an allusion to the political fragmentation of Eastern Europe’s Balkan states following World War I, when the Ottoman Empire disintegrated into a number of ethnic and political fragments. Beatty, Alexandra. Today, information is easier to access, thus more likely to traverse several forms of media. Creation of the Media (New York: Basic Books, 2004), 394–395. Qualitative methods involve a viewing of the clip and then unstructured open … How is this celebrity portrayed in the magazine? Explain the different ways mass media affects culture. Perhaps the standards for literacy will shift to an emphasis on simplicity and directness, for example, rather than on elaborate uses of language. Lamb, Gina. However, these studies do not prove that video games cause violence. Violent, sexual, and compulsive behaviors have been linked to media consumption and thus raise important questions about the effects of media on culture. While this is not the norm for media content, the fact that such a phenomenon is possible illustrates the new directions in which media is headed (Jenkins, 2006). To analyze merely means to break down into sections to comprehend well again as a whole. As a result, more people are exposed to the themes, principles, and culture of American Idol than the number of people who actually watch the show (Jenkins, 2006). We also live in a society that depends on the media as a source of entertainment and information. How do these portrayals associate with specific cultural values? Over the next few hours, the pair killed 12 classmates and one faculty member before committing suicide (Lamb, 2008). For example, after the USS Maine sunk off the coast of Havana, Cuba, some newspapers blamed the Spanish—even though there was no evidence—fueling the public’s desire for war with Spain. Like any type of communication, propaganda is not inherently good or bad. This historical perspective gives a positive interpretation to some otherwise ominous developments in communication and culture. Adams, Jill U. People had learned to trust and use certain kinds of writing—legal texts, public inscriptions, business documents, personal letters, and even literature—and as they did so, they realized that writing, on closer examination, turned out to be neither more nor less reliable or ambiguous than the spoken word, and it was just as real (Baron, 2009). A media analysis essay can be used to identify and present messages, to frame messages, and to improve an issue that already exists. The other sections of the report include the. Fiction appeared in book or magazine form. They're especially helpful to nonprofit organizations and businesses that work with stereotyped groups or issues. Critics of Internet literacy, however, describe the majority of forum and blog posts as subliterate, and argue that the Internet has replaced the printed newspapers and books that actually raised the standards of literacy. For example, consumers read, watched, or viewed a news report in its entirety, typically within the context of a news publication or program. Phone companies report a regular increase in phone traffic following the show, presumably caused by viewers calling in to cast their votes or simply to discuss the program with friends and family. In his book Convergence Culture: Where Old and New Media Collide, Henry Jenkins offers a useful definition of convergence as it applies to new media: “By convergence, I mean the flow of content across multiple media platforms, the cooperation between multiple media industries, and the migratory behavior of media audiences who will go almost anywhere in search of the kinds of entertainment experiences they want (Jenkins, 2006).”. Analyze cultural messages that the media send. Indeed, written text is essential to the Internet: Web content is overwhelmingly text-based, and successful participation in Internet culture through the use of blogs, forums, or a personal website requires a degree of textual literacy that is not necessary for engagement in television, music, or movies. Media content analysis, also referred to as media analysis, is a subset of content analysis. Magazines adopted a similar format later in the 19th century, and print media’s political and social power rose. These obvious examples provide a venue for the transfer of a message through a medium, whether that message is a plea for fire safety or the statement of a political position. This communication and information revolution has created a great deal of anguish about digital literacy and other issues that inevitably accompany such a social change. Doheny, Kathleen “Mass Media May Prompt Kids to Try Sex: Study,” Health Scout, April 3, 2006, http://www.healthscout.com/news/1/531862/main.html. Choney, Suzanne. “Propaganda.”. How to Write Media Analysis Papers. The public expects to receive information quickly, and news outlets respond rapidly to breaking stories. Whether propaganda has a positive or negative effect on society and culture depends on the motivations of those who use it. That person in turn describes it to a coworker without having seen the original context. But what about more abstract political advertisements that simply show the logo of a candidate and a few simple words? 1.2 Intersection of American Media and Culture, 1.5 The Role of Social Values in Communication, 3.3 Books and the Development of U.S. Popular Culture, 4.3 Different Styles and Models of Journalism, 4.4 How Newspapers Control the Public’s Access to Information and Impact American Pop Culture, 4.5 Current Popular Trends in the Newspaper Industry, 5.3 The Role of Magazines in the Development of American Popular Culture, 5.4 Major Publications in the Magazine Industry, 5.5 How Magazines Control the Public’s Access to Information, 5.7 Influence of the Internet on the Magazine Industry, 6.3 The Reciprocal Nature of Music and Culture, 6.4 Current Popular Trends in the Music Industry, 9.2 The Relationship Between Television and Culture, 9.3 Issues and Trends in the Television Industry, Chapter 10: Electronic Games and Entertainment, 10.4 The Impact of Video Games on Culture, 10.6 Blurring the Boundaries Between Video Games, Information, Entertainment, and Communication, Chapter 11: The Internet and Social Media, 11.4 The Effects of the Internet and Globalization on Popular Culture and Interpersonal Communication, Chapter 12: Advertising and Public Relations, 13.3 The Internet’s Effects on Media Economies, 14.4 Ethical Considerations of the Online World, 15.7 Media Influence on Laws and Government, 15.6 Digital Democracy and Its Possible Effects, 16.1 Changes in Media Over the Last Century, 16.3 Modern Media Delivery: Pros and Cons, 16.5 Privacy Laws and the Impact of Digital Surveillance, 16.6 Mass Media, New Technology, and the Public. New digital forms of media have revolutionized the way people access and consume media content. This will be done by combining academic research and industry insights, which will be used to analyse the relative pros and cons of both types of analyses. In his book on technology and communication, A Better Pencil, Dennis Baron discusses this issue: For Plato, only speech, not writing, can produce the kind of back-and-forth—the dialogue—that’s needed to get at the truth…the text, orphaned by its author once it’s on the page, cannot defend itself against misreading…. Tonto from The Lone Ranger reinforced cultural stereotypes about Native Americans. “New Media Too Speedy to Outflank,” Philly.com, June 24, 2010, http://www.philly.com/philly/entertainment/20100624_New_media_too_speedy_to_outflank.html. Baron, Dennis. Singers such as Bob Dylan have represented a sense of freedom and rebellion against mainstream culture. Advertising icons developed during the early 20th century, such as Aunt Jemima and the Cream of Wheat chef, similarly reflected and reinforced a submissive, domestic servant role for African Americans. Propaganda and persuasion have long been a part of the interactions between media and culture. “10 Years Later, the Real Story Behind Columbine,” USA Today, April 13, 2009, http://www.usatoday.com/news/nation/2009-04-13-columbine-myths_N.htm. In 2001, high school student Dino Ignacio created a collage of Sesame Street character Bert with terrorist Osama bin Laden as part of a series for his website. The voyage of this collage from a high school student’s website to an anti-American protest poster in the Middle East to a cable television news network and finally back to the Internet provides a good illustration of the ways in which content migrates across media platforms in the modern era. Media analysis papers examine how media portrays people, products or issues. Throughout the 1990s, basketball player Michael Jordan appeared in television, film, magazines, and advertising campaigns as a model of athleticism and willpower. New media—the Internet and other digital forms of communication—have had a large effect on society. Their targets ranged from the makers of the first-person shooter video game Doom to the Hollywood studios responsible for The Matrix (Brook, 1999). The media can give us information to tell us what a product, service or message is. The Internet has made an incredible amount of new information available to the general public. Explain the ways new media have affected culture. On April 20, 1999, students Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold entered their Denver-area high school, Columbine High School, armed with semiautomatic weapons and explosives. How has new media affected literacy and information consumption? Many modern persuasive techniques stem from the use of media as a propaganda tool. “Is Hollywood to Blame?” BBC News, April 23, 1999, http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/special_report/1999/03/99/tom_brook/326529.stm. Goodman, Peter. 7-Up ad, Half the fun of a football game is having something to eat! Whether violent media actually cause violence remains unknown, but unquestionably these forms of media send an emotional message to which individuals respond. Celebrities can represent cultural values and principles when they are portrayed in the media. As people move away from the in-depth coverage of an issue they can receive in print media to getting more information from social media, they consume increasing amounts of their information in soundbites, shared snippets of news that may be slanted, inaccurate, or completely fake. These values are perhaps most visible in celebrities and the roles that they adopt. A recent study by researchers at the University of North Carolina entitled “Sexy Media Matter: Exposure to Sexual Content in Music, Movies, Television, and Magazines Predicts Black and White Adolescents’ Sexual Behavior” found that young people with heavy exposure to sexually themed media ranging from music to movies are twice as likely to engage in early sexual behavior as young people with light exposure.
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