L20 - Gerbner's Cultivation Theory

1. Which decade did Bandura carry out the Bobo doll experiment?
1. 1970s
2. What were the findings of the Bobo doll experiment?
1. That most children would imitate an adult's violent behaviour and hit the doll aggressively.
3. Which would be seen to initiate more violent behaviour: television/film or newspapers?
1. Film and TV
4. What might reduce the initial effect of the messages produced in Online News?
1. People online can comment and argue the main issue, therefore the message becomes less powerful, as people will start to question it. (Audience participation)
5. Why is there often not a consistent and strong message across the British newspapers?
1. If all the newspapers highlight one story, then the public are likely to believe that this is what is happening in society. Inconsistent messages lessens the effect on the audience, which happens in most cases as newspapers have different political views and beliefs.

Gerbner's Cultivation Theory

The Hypodermic Needle Model is this idea that a media message gets directly implanted into the audience, full stop. The audience here do not question, they accept the information.

Bandura's theory is similar as he sees the audience as passive in a way.

The Decline of the Hypodermic needle model

• The model was simplistic because it lumps everyone together. Largely used to examine how society were so convinced by Hitler in the 1930s.
• The idea that social issues were caused by the media was attractive to politicians and still is today. It allows them to place blame elsewhere.
• For example, the reasons for Hitler's 'brainwashing' of society were complex and had a lot to do with the treaty imposed on Germany after WW1.
• The model was created in the 1930s when TV and film were just developing. Therefore, the censorship created as a consequence of this simplistic model seemed unfair and producers campaigned to successfully reduce censorship.

Cultivation Analysis

Gerbner was hired by the American Government who were concerned about the level of violence in society.

The theory still sees the audience as passive recipients of the media, but instead focusing on one-off behaviour, such as violence, swearing, etc; the focus was on the cumulative impact of repeated exposure to similar media products containing similar messages and meaning.

Gerbner states that TV has, over time, become not simply a leisure or entertainment platform but a key part of the socialisation of young people into standardised social roles and behaviours.

• Gerbner and Gross worked in the 80s before the arrival of games consoles, the internet, and internet cable TV channels such as HBO and Sky.
• Their work was on the then dominant media platform of TV, but their model is now widely applied to all media products.
• How effective do you think this 1985 model is 40 years later?
• Still applicable, however slightly outdated just like Bandura, as Online News can once again lessen the impact of a powerful message, if someone disagrees or questions it.
• Could prolonged use of internet have same/less/more effect?
• More effect? Young children are more vulnerable to explicit content because everything is so open online, and therefore there is less restriction and censorship than just watching something on television, that is censored. Young people are also easily influenced by what they see adults doing, therefore may act similarly and imitate things that they watch in films or online.
• However, some people may not be influenced by anything online typically, and therefore the amount of time they spend on the internet will not change anything in them.
• The Cultivation theory examines the long-term effects of television - that the more time people spend 'living' in the media world, the more likely they are to believe that the real world is the same as the reality portrayed on television.

TV shapes the way we think...

Cultivation theory unlike Hypodermic Theory - does not predict what we will do after watching violent TV programs. Instead, Gerbner suggests it constructs a connection with the often violent TV we watch - both news and fiction - and the real world we live in.

We are a storytelling species; we make sense of the world through story (TV and other media products). The cultivation theory states that the media heavily influence perceptions of the real.

"the substance of the consciousness cultivated by TV is no so much specific attitudes and opinions as more basic assumptions about the facts of life and standards of judgement on which conclusions are based"

Mean World Syndrome

Gerbner went on to develop these ideas further, suggesting that TV influences its audiences so much that their real world view and perceptions of the world start reflecting what they repeatedly see on TV.

TV contributes to the way people see the social reality of the world they live in and affects audience attitudes and values.

Mean World Syndrome=prolonged and repeated exposure to violent media makes an audience less likely to be shocked by violence. Being desensitised to violence, the audience may be more likely to behave violently.

Audiences overt time become desensitised to violence and explicit sexuality. Mean World Syndrome means that we view the world as harsher and crueller that it really is due to the media we consumer.

Is cultivation theory a more effective model than hypodermic? Why/why not?

The cultivation theory states that the media heavily influence perceptions of real life. I don't necessarily agree with this theory 100%, as I find that perhaps most people do not believe that events that happen in Fast and Furious movies, for example, occur in real life. When Dwayne Johnson jumps out of a building and breaks almost every bone in his body, it does not take him that long to recover, and proceeds to rip his casts off by flexing his muscles. Would that really happen in real life? I don't think so.

The cultivation theory, unlike the hypodermic, does not predict our future actions after watching violent TV programs. Instead, Gerbner suggests it constructs a connection with the TV we watch, and the real world we live in.

In the modern world, however, the hypodermic needle model seems less applicable to audiences, as Online News and technology has allowed us to question, argue and reconsider things that the news and other people say to us. People can comment their views openly, and the evolution of our thinking and our actions in the past have allowed us to kind of recognise what is correct and what isn't, and therefore there is more resistance to this idea of being so passive when receiving a message in media.

The cultivation theory is applicable in some ways, but some people can understand that what people show on TV shows and in films and video games, are artificial and do not resemble how real life works. People may find that some things shock them less, but even reality shows such as Coronation Street do not reflect realistic daily life, as drama like that does not happen everyday in a single person's life.

How the theory is useful for news...

• May apply to a wide range of media products, including newspapers, where content analysis is widely used to study consistency in messages.
• Would most apply to newspaper messages that are delivered strongly and consistently across newspapers, eg. about the wrongness of terrorism.
• For online news, would mostly apply to audiences within a digital bubble who consumer messages from only a narrow range of sources that target their demographic and psychographic (eg. news feeds on Facebook)
• Draws attention to the need to investigate the long-term effects on audiences- violent representations in newspapers and news sites may create the belief that the world is an inherently dangerous place. (Supports regulation argument)
• Supports the argument that newspapers should be regulated to avoid public harm.

How the theory is limited

• The theory was developed to explain the power of television, so may be less applicable to newspapers, where media consumption is rarely as heavy.
• Newspaper messages are likely to be contradicted by messages from politically and socially opposing newspapers.
• The theory may be outdated for online news, eg. online newspaper messages will be challenged by audiences in comments, tweets, or other points, reducing the effect of the original messages.
• Prioritising the effects of the media on the audience may mean that the effects of the audience on the media are underestimated.