Media effects. We’ve heard so much about what the media does to us and how it affects us in a negative fashion but does it? Does it really? Sure, it can be argued that there are many forms of “dangerous” media like violent TV shows and or movies but how much does it really affect us? You might feel rather hot blooded or macho after watching an action movie with all the fight scenes but does it make you want to more prone to violence and if yes, how long does the effect last?
The “Media Effect” Model
So, what is wrong with the “media effects” model? Per David Gauntlett, there are ten things wrong with the effects model but we will not be going through all of them today. For starters, he said that the effects model tackles social problems backwards. What this means they identify that media is the cause of the problem and then try to make connections on to the subjects rather than the other way around.
Criminologists often attempt to explain crime related behaviours by examining social factors such as poverty, unemployment, housing and family background as opposed to mass media. There was even a research whereby they interviewed 78 violent teenagers and found that they had watched less TV and had less access to the technology and had no particular interests in specifically violent programmes as compared to another study with a group of 500 ordinary students.
The model also view children as inadequate and that they would be more susceptible to the ill effects of media. This could be due to the fact that most laboratory studies of children and media presumes that their findings only apply to children but did not run parallel studies with adults to confirm it. It could be that if adults were to respond in the same way as children then the experiments might be undermined. Certain projects have even shown that children as young as seven can talk intelligently and cynically about mass media, proving that they are not as inadequate as we think.
We often question the role of Media and think that they impact us negatively and more so in recent times is seen as the cause of violence. The masses like to blame violent video games for the multiple shooting incidents that has happened over the past few years but there are countless who have been exposed to that said media but did not react in the same way as the perpetrator. So, is that fair to blame it all on the media? Or should be instead be reflecting on ourselves? We often neglect to consider the role that we play in such events. The Media might have certain negative effects but how much does it really affect us and how long does the effect last? We should perhaps be looking at ourselves, in the capacity of parents where we teach our children the right morals and to differentiate right from wrong so that even in the face of “Bad Media” they know what to do. Maybe, just maybe we have all been blaming the Media because it is easier than reflecting on ourselves.
Reference : https://moodle.uowplatform.edu.au/pluginfile.php/888780/mod_resource/content/1/David%20Gauntlett.pdf
Shane 
Great way of redirecting the questions and assumptions placed on media to us the audience instead! I also agree that it takes two hands to clap, as much as the media can portray certain actions and ideas, we as humans with a working mind have the responsibility to take charge of the values we believe in and keep ourselves in check. And yes, perhaps we like to blame the media because it is more comfortable to do so in comparison to reflecting about our own lives. As for children under the age to think responsibly for themselves—below age 7—I believe it should be an adults job to guide and lead a child to grow in the right manner. 🙂
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Media has definitely evolved over time and the amount of violent scenes shown has been increasing over the years. People used to be less tech-savvy and crime rates used to be low before media started advancing and thus everyone blames the media for influencing their behaviors but it takes two hands to clap. The media can show anything but it is up to people to control their exposure, how they react to it and respond at hand. Good pondering and great way of ending the post, I guess it is true that instead of reflecting upon ourselves, our actions, it is easier to place all the blame on media since people do not see the point in changing!
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hellos, interesting post, i agree that whenever there are negative cases like violence or crime, people tend to often assumed first that Media had impact/motivate these people to act out such, and media got criticized badly with alot of negatives. i feel that there are always pros and cons in the use of Media and its up to the people to use it to right or wrong. People that are using the right way will harvest the power of media to gain knowledge and use it for good cause like improving themselves or others, however people that are easily influence especially by violence television show / movies or online game play, tends to get stuck inside the virtual reality whereby they feel they got the power to dominate almost everything, which thus make them unable to get out from the feeling and proceed to act on in this reality. i feel that people have to also consider the circumstances and situations on the people acting out crimes / violence other than just speculating media are at 100% fault
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HEY BROTHER!
I do agree that Media is NOT the main cause of any issue in the world around us even though there is an increase of negative media in the past recent years. I love how you question the way people perceive media, and how they “allow” media to influence them.
Interesting statement that children might not be as inadequate as we thought so, even though children would not be able to differentiate between reality and virtual world to a certain age. I believe parents do hold a huge role in making sure that their children are not into “bad/not positive” media!
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