I previously theorised that the general public is not aware of the true effects that the media has on their lives and everyday behaviour. Despite this assumption, I have no evidence to prove my theory. As a result, I have investigated this concept further in the hope that my theories are correct.
The main aim of this article is to prove that the Mass Media greatly influences human behaviour, in addition to the fact that it has a lot more control over us than we realise. It also presents findings that have strong implications towards imitation and suggestion having an immense impact on social behaviour. Classical sociologists paid a significant amount of attention to this concept of imitation and suggestion but this theory has been practically ignored in this modern age. Phillips produced this journal to prove that these concepts, in actual fact, lie greatly within modern society. The key issues addressed are what effects the media has on societies and individuals within them, after a fatal accident has been greatly publicized. It looks into depth at the effect the media truly has and how the more publication a story gets the greater the detrimental outcome.
In order to prove these theories, the main evidence used was based on the increase of suicides after a suicide story had been publicized and the effect of suggestion on drivers in motor vehicle fatalities. In a previous paper, Phillips had shown that the national level of suicides increases considerably for a brief period of time after a suicide story is published in a newspaper. An example that he uses to support this is the fact that after Marilyn Monroe’s death, the U.S suicide rate temporarily but dramatically rose by a staggering 12%. However, not only does it prove this theory but it has also shown that the increase only occurs after the publication, the more publicity a story is given the greater the national level of suicides and furthermore, that this increase in suicides primarily occurs in the surrounding region of where the story has been publicized.
Analysis of motor vehicle fatalities proved to show that accidents on the road can have a suicidal component to them which therefore links them with the same published suicide stories. The data examined consisted of tables of daily motor vehicle accidents that are published by the state of California. If a front-page suicide story in a California newspaper stimulates a rise in motor vehicle fatalities, then a link between the mass media and human influence can be formed.
After much investigation into these tables the first analysis was proven and a second analysis was carried out to find the daily fluctuation on motor vehicle fatalities for two week periods before, during and after publicized suicides. There was also a positive correlation, therefore showing that it is evident that motor vehicle fatalities do not increase before the publicized suicide but do rise somewhat abruptly immediately after. Additionally, shown once again, is that the more publicity given to a suicide story, the greater the increase in the rise of motor fatalities from then on. Moreover, a trend within all of this that amplified all of this evidence, was that people reading these stories related themselves to the victims within them and it was revealed that stories about young males committing suicide tended to be followed by young males committing suicide, stories about older people committing suicide tended to be followed by single-vehicle crashes involving older drivers, and so on.
In this journal, Phillips has shown a vast number of positive connections between the influences of the mass media on humans but he also strongly proved that the process of imitation and suggestion greatly affects society. This implies that the mass media plays a much larger role in society and has a superior impact on individuals more than we realise. However, if for instance, none of these stories were publicized would that mean that no-one would commit suicide or crash their car on purpose? The way the author of this journal views it, is that no matter what, the media in some form have a huge impact on humans, occasionally more than we realise and the publication of such fatalities brings the contemplation of suicide and gives those with suicidal tendencies a hint of acceptance to commit it.
The second source used to prove my theory was a book called 'Media, Communication, Culture A Global Approach' by James Lull. It describes and proves that the mass media has a highly influential role within society. It also stresses that the media shapes almost every action and decision made by individuals on a daily basis. Lull, cleverly places a strong piece of factual information within in each section of this book to prove these concepts and theories. The articles used are all true-life evidence where the mass media, human communication and culture are concerned. Generally speaking, he uses huge historical events from all over the world, to show how the mass media has had an effect on them. From this it was established that the media has control over the way in which messages are conveyed and as a result the public therefore, can only believe what they see or read. Two of the case studies he presents are based on two of the most recognisable brands of our modern age, McDonald’s and Microsoft. Without the media these corporate giants would not have become household names around the globe. Immediately, this book demonstrates the media’s influence over the human race.
It is openly admitted and proven that the media are a powerful unit with huge impacts on our cultures and societies. The author outlines key concepts that aren’t always openly recognised by society. Without realising, everyone has their views and perceptions of the world altered in some manner by the media and not only that, by reading this book we are quickly and honestly shown that the media affects everything from what we wear to what programs we watch on television. Despite the media’s audience trying not to conform to these subliminal inclinations towards specific fashions and trends, it’s undoubtedly a fact that the media overpower and embed several elements and values into large proportions of our society.
Lull also reminds us that technology and the media vastly advances as the year’s progress and the effect of cultural impact changes. As a result media influence is in some ways, greater than ever before. These historical changes to technology are used to emphasise this argument because they illustrate the detrimental effects they have on societies throughout the world. Moreover, it is realised that the media and hype-related news are a huge part of the modern age and in some ways have become very much accepted as this. This author illustrates that this is not how the media should be treated and that there is a lot more linking the media to present forms of communication and our culture than we may realise. One such topic of discussion is the way in which different cultures are perceived within society.
The mass media has been widely targeted with complaints throughout the years for being highly stereotypical, especially when it comes to the African-American race. Even with this bombardment of objection it still continues to pursue the stereotype route to chase corporate profits by keeping ‘characters and stories predictable’. The media also tends to have a knack for singling out images that many people, especially adolescents find attractive or that they can relate to without much thought. The media don’t want you to have to think intensely about an article or advertisement; they want it to catch your eye, be easily understood and create an in depth thought process within the audience’s mind.
One of the most common types of mass media research is quantitative analyses of ‘audience behaviour’. However, not much of this type of research has been carried out by Lull because of the enormous number of statistically based studies over the past 50 years, which proved to unearth few significant insights into this discipline. There is simply no way of measuring the impact a particular piece of media has on a human or what impact it has on their consciousness and behaviour. Using evidence from other researcher’s of this field has concluded that ‘on a whole the mass media do more to reinforce human behaviour rather than change it’ (Joseph Klapper). On the other hand, in saying this there can be uncertainties of the media effect theory as stated in a sentence by Wilbur Schramm, ‘the media influence some people, some of the time, about some things’.
Before examining my chosen book and journal, I had previously theorised that advertising and the mass media can greatly influence human beings and help form trends within cultures and societies. Through this in depth study it became apparent that both of my sources supported this theory. However, the book ‘Media, Communication, Culture; A Global Approach’ in some ways simply stated ideas that were already thought about the media, where as the journal ‘Suicide, Motor Vehicle Fatalities and the Mass Media: Evidence toward a Theory of Suggestion’ further advanced my perception of the media and to a great extent showed that it plays a highly influential role not only on society but indeed on the individual lives of each and every person within it.
The book ‘Media, Communication, Culture; A Global Approach’ shows a clear and positive connection between the media and their influence over individuals; from telling them what trends to follow, what clothes to wear and what they should be watching on their television set. Previous information obtained from Malcolm Gladwell’s ‘The Tipping Point’ brought to my attention a race of people that had never witnessed a suicide for decades; however, as a result of an adolescent male killing himself within this community, the media headlines transformed this culture. The fatality was published on front pages of newspapers throughout the local area and soon other young males began to carry out the act of suicide and imitate the way the boy in the story committed suicide. This alone shows that a single article publicized in a newspaper can have a detrimental effect on culture and society. The first suicide article in this society got the word out about suicide and those reading it soon began associating themselves with the story. In turn, this made every reader think about this awful act and gave those with suicidal tendencies someone to relate to and in a subliminal manner, a sense of allowance to follow in this person’s footsteps. This is only one form of how the media influence the human race, advance their audience’s thoughts and imbed perceptions into their minds. Undoubtedly, this increase in fatalities after the publication is by no means coincidence.
Further studies carried out by the journal ‘Suicide, Motor Vehicle Fatalities and the Mass Media: Evidence toward a Theory of Suggestion’ advances what ‘The Tipping Point’ and my chosen book had previously stated. It showed that by publishing fatalities in newspapers, the percentage of similar fatalities rose immensely due to the topics resonance within popular culture at the time. All three of these sources support each other comprehensively and provide strong evidence that the media does indeed have a very superior power over humans and culture.
Another strong social trend that is greatly influenced by the media world and advertising is ‘Smoking’. Although there are no direct references to smoking in either of my sources, the book declares that the media often portrays images which adolescents find attractive and intriguing without any concern for their wellbeing. This huge influence on extremely impressionable teenagers is an easy target for the mass media. Daniel Cortese’s journal ‘Tobacco Industry Lifestyle Magazines Targeted to Young Adults’ investigates the media’s influence on teenagers and the glorifying of this extremely unhealthy trend. These sources support each other as they both understand and express the concept that images portrayed within the media are absorbed by their viewers and eventually imitated. Subsequently, social trends are able to start and as a result of this, cultures are soon moulded and transformed by the media. Once again this is an incredibly similar scenario to the suicide trends I referred to earlier. Therefore, the media undoubtedly shapes the world we live in today, with or without considering the consequences.
To advance my knowledge in this topic, considering exactly how the media works and its power within society would be vital. Two books that may be of value to furthering my theories are: ‘Media/Society: Industries, Images and Audiences’ by David Croteau and William Hoynes and ‘Media and Power’ by James Curran. Furthermore, by investigating deeper into the roles of advertising, imagery and the use of stereotypes I may be able to prove exactly how the media influences individuals. In addition to this, I could organise focus groups to determine exactly how people understand the extent to which the media controls them. This focus group could also be used to find out how current media and advertisements affect them on a day to day basis. All of this could conclude an even stronger collaboration of evidence towards my initial assumptions.
Bibliography
Cortese, Daniel K, Ph.D., Lewis, Jane, Dr.P.H., and Ling, Pamela M, M.D., M.P.H., 2009, Tobacco Industry Lifestyle Magazines Targeted to Young Adults, Elsevier
Gladwell, Malcolm, 2002, The Tipping Point: How Little Things Can Make A Big Difference, Abacus
Lull, James, 1995, Media, Communication, Culture A Global Approach, Polity Press in Association with Blackwell Publishers Ltd.
Phillips, David P, 1979, Suicide, Motor Vehicle Fatalities and the Mass Media: Evidence toward a Theory of Suggestion, The University of Chicago Press
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