2) Is the media ‘free and open’ in the US?
3) Describe how media representations attach positive or negative (moral) meanings to particular acts/behaviors/events.
4) Consider the clips viewed in class relating to gang violence and drunk driving, and think about how media processes create moral meanings around deviance and crime. Remember, drunk driving only recently came to be viewed as morally reprehensible... As you consider those clips (as well as the images below), reflect on the following concepts....
• Moral Panic
• Generating ‘fear’
• Amplification of threat
• Justifying response
• Consequences of moral crusade
Reference and define each concept as you consider how moral meanings are attached to drunk driving or gang violence.
13 comments:
The people in power are the ones that define what is viewed as deviant. They control how society works and more importantly how law enforcement works. If the people in power don't view drunk driving as deviant and illegal then the police are not going to enforce and punish that behavior therefore causing more people to participate in that act. The media is not 'free and open' in that tv programs are cancelled and censored on the basis that they have offensive behaviors or language or even that they don't attract a large enough audience to continue to be aired. Moral panic and generating fear work hand in hand in that working in conjunction with drunk driving if it is recurrent in society then they try to generate media commercials or even movies and advertisements that show horrible outcomes of drunk driving in order to prevent people from doing it. Amplication of a threat also goes hand in hand with consequences of a moral crusade in that if they raise the penalty for drunk driving they are threatening you with a penalty and showing you what the consequences of your actions are. This relates to the rational theory we learned about in class in the hope that the consequences will outweigh the rewards and stop the bahvior from occuring. Im not very clear on what justifying a response would be except maybe that in moral panic, generating fear, and invoking a threat will cause a response by society and deviant behaviors will change hopefully decreasing and not increasing. All of these concepts attack a persons morals in that they are being questioned and you are being reminded that something like drunk driving is immoral and a deviant behavior.
I feel the media is quite free in the U.S., the censorship is not like it use to be and they have so many paparazzi going after anyone that is in political power or a celebrity that we pretty much know what time of day someone uses the bathroom. TV in the last few years has also started allowing alot more sex, nudity, and swearing than there was 15 years ago. Most people look into the media and believe every word they hear, but unfortunately the whole story is not always told.They do a good job in helping people understand the problems with drunk driving, HIV, drug abuse etc. though. There are now alot of commercials that deal with all of these topics and more. As far as power and the def. of deviance, I have to agree pretty much with the previous comment. The people in power do seem to define for the most part what is or isnt a deviant act. So, for the Bush lovers, if he says it is ok to drink and drive after 5 beers, well it must be ok. Or the fact he has more than one DUI is ok because he and the media cover that up with some possible positive he has done, but Clinton was horrible for smoking pot? As far as the clips in class, I was ill that day, But I know that when there are commercials, posters, etc. on DD, or gang violence, it tries to put a message in people that does start a panic and a fear. They feel worried about driving, or worried about a DD, they worry about the boy with the Bandana on his head and the tatt on his arm, even though he could be a straight A student etc. People are not always what they seem in both a postive and a negative sense.But we cant live life in constant fear of everything and everyone and sometimes it feels like the media and other areas of government are making us that way.
Power has everything to do with the definition of deviance. Deviance is a socially constructed concept, and it is constructed by those who are powerful and have public influence, otherwise known as moral entrepreneurs. These moral entrepreneurs are the ones who distinguish what is deviant by creating a moral panic around the act. Using their influence, especially in regards to the media, they begin to attach a negative moral meaning to a previously accepted or unnoticed act. The media plays a huge role in this, considering its immense influence over the public. The problem with this, is that the media is not as 'free and open' as the public would think. All major news programs are owned by fewer than 6 huge conglomerates. How can these programs not be biased? The information shown to the public is not always accurate, and moreover, not everything that is going on is shown. The are very few individuals choosing what events, acts, or behaviors to focus on, so they are able to leave out and add what they like. Involving deviance, the media helps certain moral entrepreneurs gain support by showing ads, shows, or movies that coincide with the entrepreneurs belief. For example, when looking at gang violence in the U.S., there has been little increase in activity, however especially recently, the media has helped to create a moral panic over this issue. Moral panics usually consist of increased public concern over an issue that is supposedly out of control, even though in reality there is no change in acticity. The media begins to air programs related specifically to this. In the clip viewed during class, news anchors were discussing how gangs are beginning to recruit young members through the internet, and that soon enough, all children will be in danger of being sucked in by these massive, widespread gangs. Programs like this begin to generate fear over gangs and increase awareness, concern, and support for those moral entrepreneurs fighting agaisnt this terrible outbreak. The public begins to think that gang violence is everywhere, in any town, in any home. The threat of gangs is amplified, and panic heightens. Next, people begin to expect a response to the problem. Now that a negative moral meaning is attached to the act or behavior, then in turn, the public expects a law or regulation. Thus, the consequence for the moral crusade. Laws are created, and people are punished for this newly definted, deviant act.
Power is very important when looking at the definitions of deviance. It is those with power that define what is deviant and what is morally ok. Those in power have a lot of say in how are society is run and what is socially acceptable. Looking at our society the media has a lot of power, not only with money but influence of our citizens. While the government controls a lot of the media there is still a lot of negative views created by the media and the shows they air. In many shows the highschool and college life is interpreted as a time of rebellion and parties, which creates a false view for younger ages and the need to participate once they reach that age. While if the media decided to be more positive they could greatly reduce the number of smokers and teen drinking. Ads can be very influential and few are aired in way of prevention. A lot of the power of the united states goes to those with money, which is often the celebrities and media. It seems that they often do not choose to be positive role models and even if they do, the tabloids focus on the negative ones, who create a more interesting story in their minds.
The media can generate a lot of fear with ads to prevent morally wrong things if they wanted and with their power and influence they would likely have a large influence. Looking at drunk driving, if people knew how severe a punishment there was they would likely not drive drunk. We had a speaker come last year i believe who was drunk driving with his friends and 3 of them died. He was then tried and found guilty due to serve at least 10 years in jail. So the consequences have a large say in how people act. And it should be more widely known, but it is up to those in power and the media to get the word out there. They have so much influence and people listen to those in power so they should take a much larger role in prevention. If they could create moral panic, which would result in a major concern surrounding the issue there could be a lot more prevention.
Obviously those with power have a great deal of influence in our society. It is these prominent individuals who have their opinions made public by tabloids and news stations. It even seems that adopting foreign babies is a bigger issue than Darfur at times. Public officials make laws and decide what is illegal. This automatically dictates immorality to many people. The media often waits for a newsworthy (and controversial) story to arise before they give a damn about the subject.
Although the media can be annoying and wrong at times we should be happy that the government doesn't participate in widespread propaganda. Of course there are exceptions to this, but the media's control style of contemporary times compared to European war times throughout history is very different. One of the bigger problems the public has with the media now is that FOX News has a right-leaning bias. This is a minor issue in comparison.
The media does have the power to elicit fear from the public by emphasizing how bad an act is. Whether this is an appropriate fear or not is another story. Individuals in any country should question what they hear and come to their own conclusions. Acting like a bunch of sheep creates no answers and only gives more power to the media.
Power becomes very important when determining what and who are viewed as deviant. Although there are laws, powerful people have an overwhelmingly positive/negative impact on deviance. The media is very powerful as well. Society looks up to the media, and are highly influenced by the media as well. The media is not as 'free and open' as the public would think or like to think. Media representations attach both positive and negative connotations to particular acts/ behaviors/events. It seems as though more and more television has become more violent and promiscuous. The News stations have done quite the job in promoting fear to society. Some of us wouldn't worry about such topics as the Bird Flu if we weren't told it could cause a serious epidemic. You notice now, that there no longer is a Bird Flu hype and less and less people worry about this issue.
Absolute power is corrupt. Nonetheless, it is kind of cool. The more power one has, the more leeway that person has the rules of society. Take a mobster for example. The higher you go up in mafia ranking the more you see the trend of that person being the bender of laws. Also, with power comes responsibility. With power houses never ruled alone. They always possessed henchmen that did the dirty work for them. The powerful are to prestigious to get their hands dirty. This creates a little dilemma too for law enforcement. Since these powers never really commit the act of the crime, rather tell their henchmen to do it, they can not get arrested because obviously they didn’t do it. If the henchman leaks as to whom their boss is, it is all hearsay information. So being powerful means to be exceptionally deviant. You control the power of crime around you and peoples lives to do your deviance.
With the constitutional right of freedom of speech and freedom of the press the US media is basically running unopposed as to what it broadcasts. This creates obvious problems for censorship. What is deemed inappropriate to some may be different to others. Unfortunately in today’s deteriorating society the media is becoming more liberal than ever exercising freedom of speech to the fullest extent. Shows supporting drugs, rape, guns, gangs are all rotting the minds of the youth all because this is what america wants. America dosnt want its youth to be corrupted. America is just selling the shows that are appealing to young children so the major networks can stay afloat. Whats so appealing about these shows is that they represent deviance and no kid these days wants to learn about goodie goodie two shoes, they want to live life on the edge and have fun! so these shows just reach out to the youth and corrupt them in ways that will lead the national resolve of the nation into a fiery pit.
Scare tactics is the widest use of propaganda a certain group can use to get their message across. These demonstration groups go out into the world with a message supporting or fighting an injustice or tragedy that needs to be fixed. They look to the same corporate america that instills the negative images and shows that are shown on tv and asks them to promote their message of righteousness. These hypocritical networks take on the add. These adds use scare tactics to get their message across. they are designed so that when people see them, that they will instantly be hit close to home with the message and be left saying, "gosh i dont want that to happen". The adds take a problem and they amplify it into a mega problem that must be dealt with and involves every american in order for their message to work and get across. These adds engrave into the viewers a sense of desperation, the feeling that if you dont listen to this message then you are a person without morals and you need to get out their and be a leader of their crusade. Drunk driving is bad, buts its even worse when you incorporate death/harm of innocent. Gangs are bad but there worse when you incorporate children. case and point.
Power has a strong affect on deviance. Those that are in power determine what is deviance. If those that are in power find something wrong with society they can launch a campaign against the problem. They have the people to follow them and the ability to create an uproar. Their place in society gives them the ability to define deviance.
The media isn't free and open. As we discussed in class a majority of the media is owned by very few people. Just a few small groups decide what we are privileged to. They determine what is being aired on television, the news, in the paper, etc. For example, a large company like General Electric owns media sources like Time magazine and NBC, among others. They have done a lot of bad things over the years, but this isn't released in the media because they control what is shown on their channels. TV definitely plays a role in providing moral meanings to certain behaviors. News programs promote the ending of gang violence and gun violence. These are terrible events, but typically they don't affect the majority fo the population. Yet, they don't discuss topics that affect the majority of society. Examples of this are all of the white collar crimes that are committed. We discussed in class that these actions cost our society much more then the smaller crimes that are committed. These white collar crimes aren't discussed because they either aren't prosecuted or the crimes are committed by those in power. Possibly the crime may even be committed by the company that owns the broadcasting station. Moral panic has been created in the last 20 years or more over drunk driving. I know when my parents were younger the drinking age was 18 and people would drive around with a beer between their legs. There were less cars on the road, but it was still dangerous. It wasn't viewed as a problem like it is now. With the MADD movement drunk driving has come to the forefront as a major traffic violation and a major offense. Fear was generated by this movement by creating vivid media campaigns they showed real life individuals impacted by a drunk driver. This made the effects of drunk driving real to people, and scared them into thinking that it could happen to anyone. The media also threatened that if you drink and drive you are going to get into an accident and injure someone. This made people realize the consequences of their actions. This moral crusade has made drunk driving a taboo action. People get very upset if they hear about someone drinking and driving. Yet, if you hear about someone speeding, the audience isn't surprised. Although the action of speeding occurs more frequently and is just as dangerous.
I believe that most, if not all, deviant acts are defined by people in power who set up regulations and rules for what actions and behaviors should/should not be acceptable for our society.
In some ways, I do feel that the media is "free and open" because advertisements and other media often do whatever they can to get their point, or message, across to the public. There are restrictions about what can and can not be put on the television, but that doesn't mean advertisers completely throw out the idea they want to get out to the public- more than likely, they use subliminal messages and other ways to get their message out to the public.
The media places stereotypes and misconceptions into the heads of all those who see it. If we see an add against gang violence, we take note of what the gang members look like (nationality, clothing, etc.) even though this person is not what every gang member looks like.
The media plays an important role in determining how our culture views deviant acts and offensive behaviors.
As far a defining deviance goes, power has everything to do with it. Nothing is deemed deviant unless the people in power believe it is.
I also believe that the media is to a certain point, 'free and open.' If you look back to several generations previous to ours, shows on tv were more viewer appropriate. While the media does censor certain language and acts, for the most part "deviant" behavior is allowed to be viewed.
Moral panic: They tend to show commercials or shows that have horrible outcomes to try to generate moral discomfort amoung individuals.
Generating fear: Again, by showing horrifying commercials the media can generate complete discomfort amoung indivduals making a mark and making them think before they act.
Amplifying threat: If people see horrible outcomes they'll tend to think before acting.
Justifying response:IF the things the media shows are bad enough they'll get the positive response as people do the "right" thing.
Deviance is ultimately defined by the ones who are in power. With power comes respect in most cases. This respect enables the person in power to gain followers. These followers ultimately worship the powerful one. These people get to decide what is deviant and not. If someone comes to power who has different views, the definition of deviance will change. Drunk driving may not be deviant at all anymore.
The media is not "free and open" to some extent it is because people can call in to shows, or write into the newspapers, but ultimately the people in power get to control what is aired. In the newspapers, the public comment section is only a quarter of a page and is hidden among the rest of the important news. The people of the media have the power to distort any story that they want to. They could put a positive or a negative spin on any story such as drunk driving or gang violence. The media is controlled by 5 major corporations remember, how much can they control? everything!
Power can affect definitions of deviance in many ways. People in power often have the upper hand when it comes to committing crime. People in power seem to "make the rules" They dont have to abide by the same laws as the lower people on the totem pole.
The media is not free and open in the US. The media reports what they want us to know and keeps some information hidden from the general public.
Media representations (mostly commercials) can attach positive/negative meanings to acts/behaviors which can have an effect on peoples lives. There are many powerful clips about smoking, drunk driving, using drugs, etc. The media can instill moral panic as a way of getting the public to act in a certain manner. They can generate fear to decrease crime rates. They have a bigger hold over the general public than we realize in everyday life.
Power has everything to do with deviance because those in power are the ones who decide what is and isn't deviant, however those rules do not apply to them. They get to pick and choose what they are allowed to do and always have some kind of justification for any deviant behaviors they may portray. We are supposed to have freedom of speech but the media doesn't tell us the half of what's going on. The media tells us things to scare us so that we depend on them and to keep us on edge, to make us suspicious of everything. The media tells us so many things are bad; smoking weed, however if it for medical purposes then you get a pass. Sex is always positive to the media, because unfortunately it works. I watch tv and i don't even know what the commercials are for anymore, what they are selling and what is shown have nothing to do with each other.
Post a Comment