CONTENTS
ABSTRACT INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER 1: DOES MEDIA VIOLENCE AFFECT CHILDREN?
THE NEWSON REPORT / ILL EFFECTS AND JAMES BULGER
THE COMPUTER GAME VIOLENCE DEBATE
CHAPTER 2: HOW MEDIA ADVERTISING AFFECTS SOCIETY
CONSUMERISM: A NEW RELIGION
THE PERFECT IMAGE
HAS THE MEDIA MADE BRITAIN‟S RECESSION WORSE?
MEDIA COVERAGE OF MADELEINE MCCANN
CONCLUSION
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abstract This dissertation focuses on looking at the different areas of the media and how it
affects our society. Debate topics I will be looking at are the James Bulger case, effects
of computer game violence on children, the effects of advertising on society,
consumerism, Britain‟s recession and the Madeleine McCann kidnapping. From looking
at a range of different case studies I will be analyzing and discussing the results and
discoveries I have found and hope to draw a conclusion from this.
Introduction Over the last 50 years the media influence has grown exponentially with the advance of
technology, firstly telegraphs, now radio, newspapers, magazines, television and the
most recent to hit our culture, the Internet. We live in a society that depends on
information and communication to keep us moving in the right direction and so we can
do our daily routines like work, entertainment, health care, education, personal
relationships, traveling and anything else that we have to do.
But, the media, in which we love so much, also has much to answer for. It has
been accused countless times for being responsible for problems in our society, such as
„media violence‟, rises in youth crime and „yobbish behaviour‟.
For years there have been on-going debates about if the media is to blame for
the actions of people in today‟s society. The key issue that I will be exploring in this
dissertation and attempt to address is how is today‟s society being affected by the mass
media. I will be looking at such forms of media, ranging from television, film, computer
games, advertising, and newspapers/magazines. I will be looking at violence in the
media, how advertising is affecting and pressuring people into consumerism, fashion
and looking perfect.
As we are always under the influence of the media, I feel that this subject is important
for people to gain a better understanding of how much the media can affect our daily
lives and in some cases dictate our lives. This dissertation might be applied to the issue,
even if in a small way, just to raise issues and discussions about different aspects of the
media. It can address the problem at hand, by providing case studies and opinions on
the subject, from past research. The dissertation may not come to any right or wrong
answer, but it will hopefully give a better insight into some of the issues being discussed
on a daily basis.
My hypothesis is that the media can be an easy part of our culture/society to
blame, as we are consumed in the media day to day, the only natural reaction of
humans is to blame the problem on what we are constantly in contact with.
In the first chapter, I will be looking at media and its effects on children. From
looking at articles and case studies of film and computer game violence and analyzing
them.
In the second chapter, I will be looking at advertising and how its affecting
society. From things such as tabloids, consumerism, celebrity image and the idea of the
„perfect image‟ that people are pressured into looking like.
For the third chapter, I will be going into discussion and analysis. Looking at what
evidence I have discovered and giving my own thoughts and opinions on it.
The final chapter will be a conclusion. I will return to the initial questions, and
summarize the main findings as a series of statements. I will attempt to make a decision
for myself, or the problem may not be resolved.
Mass media can be dated all the way back to the ancient world, mainly in China. The
“Diamond Sutra”, was the first known printed book, which was printed in China in
868AD. Movable clay type was created in 1041 in China, but due to the slow spread of
books/ literacy across China, and its high production costs, especially paper, mass-
media production never really came about until the 1400‟s in Europe. Most of these
prints did not survive, and most prints up around until the 1600‟s, are known to have
been lost or destroyed, although they were produced at quite a high amount.
Johannes Gutenberg invented the first printed book from a printing press with
movable type in 1453. From then on it changed the way the world created printed
material, but was so expensive, it could hardly be seen as „mass media‟.
With technology advancing at a high rate in the 20th Century, it enabled media to
become more widespread, due to inventions such as printing, record pressing and film
duplication. This meant that books, newspapers and movies could be produced at lower
costs for larger amounts of people to buy. Another significant invention was Radio and
Television. Radio was mainly used experimentally in the early 1900‟s, for use in war and
with Morse code, but didn‟t go commercial until the 1920‟s. Television was being used
experimentally from 1925 and went commercial from the 1930‟s. These two new forms
of media, were massive a breakthrough for the media world. Here, huge audiences
could be reached across the world and from this grew advertising and marketing.
Possibly the most significant form of media was the invention of the Internet. This
impacted greatly on things such as, communication, news, marketing, and advertising.
Everything and anything now could be done with ease; people around the world could
connect and communicate with each other. The world was now the audience. Social
networking sites have developed, video sharing sites, computer games have developed
into now being able to go online and play with people around the world. The Internet
has put no boundaries on the media and how it can reach us, we are totally saturated in
it. (Wikipedia 2010a).
From researching books and online articles, I will be analyzing these case
studies/articles. I have chosen this method because I believe it is the best way to get a
better understanding of real life incidents. This method will produce the best results as
they have already been researched into and have more information to discuss.
Possible limitations on my methods of research could be that some of the
research is bias and that the evidence isn‟t creditable. Assumptions could be that
obviously there will be two sides to every argument. Some incidents could be extreme
and very rare, but might be blown out of proportion, and again seem bias. There of
course is hundreds, if not thousands of cases and articles and it would be impossible to
include all of them. The articles I will choose will be based upon their significance in the
media, as there will be greater information and opinions on the subject.
Chapter 1: Does Media Violence Affect Children?
Children are always under the influence in one-way or another, from whatever they see
or hear from the media. But violence is a popular form of entertainment nowadays, and
with an increasing number of television programmes being shown in prime time that
display some form of violence, people are pointing the finger at the media and blaming it
for the cause in violence in today‟s children and young adults. Research has shown
there is a connection in aggressive behaviour in children from playing violent computer
games, which later on can cause behavioural problems. Studies have also shown a
12% increase in aggressive behaviour after watching violent films and television as well.
Although parents and psychologists have said that children can benefit from the
coordination of playing computer games, others disagree. With an increased number in
crime among youths, society is questioning who is to blame for their actions?
Computer game critics claim that watching violent television is less detrimental
due to the children not physically being involved with the violence. Research has also
shown heavy television viewers put in less effort at school, have poorer literacy skills,
play aggressively with other children, have fewer hobbies/ activities, and are more likely
to be overweight.
There are various theories as to the processes of influence that children get as a
result of being exposed to media violence, short term influences may include; Imitating/
Modeling, whereby the child‟s observations of a TV or computer games character could
be imitated in everyday life. This simple imitation/copycatting is regarded as the reason
to violent behaviour among children and young adults. Instigation/ Arousal, those who
are already in a high emotional or psychological state of mind, are more likely to engage
in aggressive behaviour from watching a violent incident on television, than others are.
Sensitization is the opposite of Imitation/Modeling, whereby the viewer reacts so
strongly to the violence, they are less likely to imitate it. Catharsis implies that fantasy
violence reduces the possibility of the viewer having aggressive behaviour. Another
theory of this is watching violent programmes decreases the levels of arousal; the
likelihood being the viewer is less prone to aggressive behaviour.
The long-term influences include; “Disinhibition”, suggesting that people are aggressive
by nature and that they suppress these feelings, but heavy viewing of media violence
makes them feel that aggression is acceptable. Desensitization is the idea that
prolonged exposure to media violence; viewers will gradually accept the violence as
normal. This can become a routine of everyday living.
There has been much on going debate in this area for a long time, with many
controversial books and reports written, both for and against the affects of media on
children. After researching into various different articles based upon my chosen theme,
this chapter will be looking at analyzing those reports written by other authors, and
looking at their strengths and weaknesses, and also looking whether or not they are
important to the question I am trying to answer; does media violence have an affect on
children in today‟s society?
The Newson Report / Ill Effects and James Bulger
Probably one of the most memorable news events in the British media was the death of
James Bulger, a two-year-old child from Kirkby, Merseyside. He was abducted, tortured
and murdered. The perpetrators were two 10-year-old boys, Robert Thompson and Jon
Venables. Bulger was abducted from the New Strand Shopping Centre, while
accompanying his mother.
Police found his mutilated body was found on a railway line. Thompson and Venables
were charged on 20 February 1993 with the abduction and murder.
In 1994, Professor Elizabeth Newson, Professor of Developmental Psychology at
the University of Nottingham, and also a renowned expert on child development issues,
was the author of the report Video Violence and the Protection of Children.
This report alleged a link between media violence and real life violence, and
gained a huge amount of attention from the media, when it claimed the horror film
Child's Play 3 had influenced the two 10-year-old boys' behavior and led to the Murder
of James Bulger in 1993.
As a result of the controversial Newson report, which is a main contender for the
argument of my dissertation question, I have been looking at Martin Barker and Julian
Petley‟s „Ill Effects – The Media Violence Debate‟.
The main issue raised in this book by the authors, is that is it questions the
accuracy of the Newson report and attempts to answer and analyze the real reasons for
media violence, broken down into topics in a series of chapters, written in an essay style
by contributing critics with the same opinions as Barker and Petley.
Ill Effects closely examines Newson‟s report, highlighting its key issues. It points
out that that there was no clear link between the film Child‟s Play 3 and the influence it
had on the two 10 year old boys who committed the crime itself.
„However, it soon became clear that, despite police efforts, there was not a scrap of evidence that the boys had watched the film.‟ (Barker 2001: 13)
Barker and other contributors to the book, point out that Newson's case studies weren‟t
reliable sources, and were more speculative accounts from newspapers rather than
independent first-hand research. One contributor also highlights that the newspapers
were simply attacking the film, mainly because they deal with political issues, which in
almost every case is blown out of proportion or bias in some way or another.
„In the Sun, (26 November 1993) the image was shown consumed by flames and the headline was: „For the Sake of ALL Our Kids…BURN YOUR VIDEO NASTY.‟...‟ (Barker 2001: 49)
He states that the claims made, are mainly those that are represented by the media,
and most of which, cannot be checked for reliability and credibility. Barker criticizes the
media and describes them as ignorant, bias and disguised political campaigns:
„We should have really known. When Elizabeth Newson issued her report, the press, radio and television were lining up to cover it. When we tried to state the opposite case, no one wanted to hear.‟ (Barker 2001: 3)
Moreover, he lists real cases, for example: „An elderly woman commits suicide after watching Schindler‟s List. In a note, she expresses an overwhelming sense of guilt at being a survivor of the Nazi Camps‟. (Barker 2001: 22)
Barker is suggesting that this case for example is no different than other supposed
cases of media causing violence. Barker said that we should not always blindly blame
the media; instead we should be aware of someone's mental state and take other
factors into account before making such claims. For example, in his case he states that
the woman's reaction was induced. Her behaviour could not be blamed by the violence
of the film. There are other social and cultural factors in people‟s acts in which the
media are not the influence. Barker‟s opinion is that there is no such thing called
„violence in the media‟ that either could or could not cause violence, and that we should
rather focus on how other social factors and backgrounds make some people consume
media in specific way.
He also noted the problem with campaigners treating delinquents as normal
people who become influenced by the media. Therefore, he suggests further research
on how these people understand and consume media.
„It treats the delinquents as normal people…We need further research no only into what media preferences delinquents have, but also into how they understand and use them.‟ (Barker 2001: 30)
Ill Effects offers valid arguments against the report of Elizabeth Newson, by providing
real facts and evidence to back his ideas and opinions. He suggests her research was
done improperly and without full evidence. These series of reports are important to the
question I am exploring, as it takes into consideration other factors about individual‟s
backgrounds and environments, and making sure research is done thoroughly. It shows
that every side has two stories.
The Computer Game Violence Debate
Another on –going debate in the same field is computer games and violence. The
computer games industry started off in the 1970‟s, and back then was a small niche
market. As the years went on and modern advancements of technology grew, especially
personal computers, it started to become more popular and widespread across the
world. From the late 1980‟s, companies were developing smaller, cheaper and more
efficient ways to play games, by inventing computer game “consoles” dedicated to just
playing games. These consoles nowadays, such as the Xbox 360 or Playstation 3, offer
ultra realistic graphics and a great form of interactive entertainment, an alternative to
watching television, and as they are affordable, this has driven their success and high
demand from consumers.
It is now one of the largest forms of media and entertainment in the world, and is
increasingly rising with the release of new forms of more powerful and interactive
consoles and games, from massive companies such as the Nintendo, Microsoft and
Sony.
Of course, due to its high demand and popularity, it‟s also brought about much
controversy and mass debate on whether people, mainly children and young adults, are
being affected by violent computer games. Psychologists believe that game players,
particularly children, may become increasingly aggressive and develop a natural
attitude about the use of violence to resolve conflicts. Researchers have also found that
children may become desensitized to violence in the real world around them, less
sensitive to the pain and suffering of others and more willing to tolerate ever-increasing
levels of violence. There are also fears that very young players may begin to believe
that the real world is as mean and dangerous in real life as it appears on the media and
in video games.
Game critics state that games have age rated certificates and that children are the ones
who go looking for violent games. Looking at articles on the Internet, game developers
are defending the games industry, saying they are being „singled out‟.
David Braben, in an interview with BBC News, said „We do tend to be the people who get the blame first at the moment. And that is a tragedy - because this industry is one of the most interesting media.‟ (BBC News. a 2007)
Chief Executive of Blitz Games, Philip Oliver, also added that parents need to be
educated on game certificates and not just ignore them:
„They aren't paying attention to the certificates. That is partly because they don't understand them and have a distorted image of games - that either they are harmless or totally evil.‟ (BBC News. b 2007)
Only on rare, isolated occasions, has there been extreme violence from suspected
computer game players, such as a murder, which then cannot be proven if the game
was to blame for the incident.
„On April 20, 1999, Eric Harris and Dylan Klebold launched an assault on Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, murdering 13 and wounding 23 before turning the guns on themselves. Although nothing is for certain as to why these boys did what they did, we do know that Harris and Klebold both enjoyed playing the bloody, shoot-'em-up video game Doom.‟ (Shin 2003)
From this incident, there still is no proof that the game violence the two boys
experienced had caused these murders.
„More and more children suffer from and are being treated for anger management than ever before. Now, one can't help but to wonder if these violent video games are even playing a slight part in the current statistics. I believe they do.‟ (Shin 2003)
Recent studies have shown that children are increasingly becoming more „multimedia‟
orientated, and now own more media devices. Children are now becoming surrounded
in these multimedia devices, so there is no question that they must be having some kind
of affect on them.
„It found that children‟s bedrooms were increasingly becoming “multi-media centres”, with those aged 12 to 15 having at least six media devices in their rooms, including the internet, MP3 players, digital cameras and mobile phones.‟ (Martin 2008)
From these articles, it shows that some children are being affected by computer games,
although, most of them are isolated incidents and do not happen on a regular basis.
What‟s interesting is that these stories seem to be blown out of proportion ironically by
the media itself.
Chapter 2: How Media Advertising Affects Society
Advertising is a form of communication, which is intended to persuade or inform its
audience, in the attempt to make them take action. Modern advertising developed with
the rise of mass production in the late 19th and 20th Century. In can come in different
forms of media to put across the message. Traditional forms include newspapers,
magazines, television, radio, mail; with modern forms or „new media‟ such as websites
and text messages.
Virtually anything nowadays can be used for advertising, from bus stops,
billboards, posters, flyers, sides of buses and even banners attached to aero planes.
Any space that can hold some form of identifiable brand or logo is part of advertising
media. But the most effective and popular ways of advertising is television, radio, press,
online/internet, billboard and even celebrity advertising.
Commercial television is seen as the most effective form of advertising, hence
why companies are charged so highly for their commercials to be put on air. It is said
that the annual Super Bowl football game in the U.S, is the most prominent advertising
event on television. As of 2009, the cost for a company to have its advert in this event is
around $2.6 million.
(msnbc 2006)
„… At the same time the consumer receives a flood of information through commercial advertising. An average American, it is estimated, sees 150,000 advertisements on television in his or her lifetime. And advertising is increasing worldwide, faster than population or incomes. Global advertising spending, by the most conservative reckoning, is now $435 billion.‟
(United Nations Development, Global Issues 2008)
Radio advertising, is also a popular form, as most people listen to the radio sometime
during the day. Like television, companies can buy „airtime‟ to have their advertisements
hosted. Press advertising involves using a form of printed medium, such as newspaper
or magazines. This form of advertising is very effective and widespread, due to the
amount of people who read them. They can display news and gossip as well as small
sections of the pages purchased from companies for their advertisements to be
displayed.
With the recent boom of the Internet over the past decade, advertising has already
taken over online, they often include web banners, and spam email, but with the recent
increase of popularity of social networking sites such as Facebook, social network
advertising is now on the rise. Celebrity branding is also a form of advertising, using
their status of fame and power to help gain recognition. (Wikipedia 2010b)
All of these forms of advertising are saturating society with brands and logo‟s,
and are contributing to the way society thinks.
Consumerism: A New Religion
„Our enormously productive economy demands that we make consumption our way of life, that we convert the buying and use of goods into rituals, that we seek our spiritual satisfaction and our ego satisfaction in consumption. We need things consumed, burned up, worn out, replaced and discarded at an ever-increasing rate‟ (Lebow, V.)
Ever since mass media became mass media, companies have naturally used these
means of communications to try and reach a large number of people, to let them know
about their products. There is no real problem with this, as sharing ideas and concepts
is how we naturally develop our thoughts and ideas. However, as the years have
progressed, the sophistication and development of advertising methods and techniques
have advanced, enticing and shaping and even creating consumerism and needs where
there has been none before.
Corporate competition around the world has massively increased, and so has the need
to gain consumers from advertising. Companies are pumping millions, even billions of
pounds/dollars into advertising in order to win us over and influence us into buying their
product or service.
„The influence of advertising on magazines reached a point where editors began selecting articles not only on the basis of their expected interest for readers but for their influence on advertisements. Serious articles were not always the best support for ads.‟ (Ben H. Bagdikian, Global Issues 2008)
Consumerism now days could almost be seen as a type of religion. It is defining us as
people, how we should live our lives and what we should look like. A person must
consistently be in a state of mind whereby anxiety forces them to feel the need to keep
up with fashion and trends, buying into the latest products and technology, the need to
be envied by other consumers. The consumerism rates in this country and the world are
extremely alarming. According to an online article by The Guardian, there are more
credit cards than people in the UK, with personals debts that have risen to £3.2bn in
2008.
„Religions are characterized by some vision of a good life, by their rituals and by a particular language. Consumerism seems to be developing all three apace.‟ (Robinson 2008)
Consumerism seems to be a problem in today‟s society, with people spending more and
more on things they don‟t need and can‟t afford to buy anyway. People‟s lifestyles are
being dictated by fashion and trends, and trying to look beautiful.
The Perfect Image
But there are more worrying affects that the effects of consumerism is having on people,
than just outstanding debts. By the use of celebrity advertising, from the front covers of
magazine with air brushed models, the media is portraying an image of perfection, as a
result, society is being pressured into thinking that it must follow this lifestyle and image
in order to be accepted by society. Computer software could be seen to be part of the
blame with the idea of the beautiful image. With the creation of software such as
Photoshop, images can be enhanced with just a few clicks of the mouse. Air brushed
models with perfect skin tones and high lights can even be made to look thinner and
more appealing.
From early on, children are being conditioned to think that their image matters.
From the increased amount of children watching television, children are developing a
superficial way of thinking, from being told to lose weight and to look beautiful. Super
models in magazines are continuing to get thinner, and mainly woman are being
pressured into wanting to look slimmer.
„There are an estimated 60,000 people in Britain with eating disorders. Nine out of ten are female.‟ (BBC News 2000)
Some doctors and mental health experts insist that one of the causes of anorexia is the
fashion industry, thin models, and a desire to be on the catwalk. Others, such as fashion
designers and models, say the main cause of anorexia isn't the fashion industry – it's a
psychological problem that isn't related to the fashion world.
Sufferers constantly believe that they are overweight, starving themselves and not
eating for days. The continual exposure in magazines, on television and in the
newspapers of the notion of losing weight will make you happier from using the
advertised diet plan; society is still buying into this idea. The industry‟s drive to make
more money coupled with popular cultures definition
of an ideal body is producing advertisement after advertisement on trying to convince
us, this is how we should look.
An article online was written about the controversy of an Italian advertising campaign,
which featured photos of an emaciated, anorexic young woman, with the slogan "No
Anorexia”. Italian Health Minister and the European Affairs Minister saw this advert as
an effective way to discourage women to be anorexic. Isabelle Caro, who is the model
featured in the advert, expressed her opinion on the matter:
„I thought this could be a chance to use my suffering to get a message across, and finally put an image on what thinness represents and the danger it leads to – which is death.‟ (Pawlik-Kienlen 2007)
The article states that different people viewed the advert with different opinions in mind;
one being that young girls and woman could feel compelled to compete for thinness. An
important section of the article is its discussion on what causes anorexia, mainly down
to the psychological state of the woman. An important point raised, is the environmental
factors.
„Environmental factors include exposure to thin, gorgeous models – who are often impossibly thin and gorgeous. Through movies, TV, magazine ads and billboards, the media creates impossible standards of perfection, which many young girls and women try to achieve.‟ (Pawlik-Kienlen 2007)
Each article believes that the media is to blame for the superficial attitude of today‟s
society that we are constantly in view of the promotion of beauty and image; you have
to look beautiful in order to be accepted by society.
Has The Media Made Britain‟s Recession Worse?
There is no denying that Britain‟s economy is in a bad state. It roughly started in
June/July in 2008 and has been the worst recession since the 1930‟s, with an estimated
2.5 million people unemployed, and figures are still rising. There have been a number of
debates on whether Britain‟s recession has been made worse due to the media‟s
influence. After looking at news articles, people are suggesting that the news and
tabloids are spreading fear amongst the public, making the issues sound worse than
they are, therefore stopping us from spending. The fact is that people are holding onto
their money, as they are frightened they are going to loose their jobs, but the reality is
that if no one spends money then as a result people will loose their jobs.
„Did you know that the food store Iceland has bought 51 former Woolworths stores and is planning to create 2,500 jobs? Possibly not, because the media coverage that this fantastic piece of news received is completely disproportionate with coverage given to the doom and gloom stories.‟ (Hurst 2009)
According to reports, society as well as the media has been aware of the slow down of
the Economy for several years, public spending rising, inflation rates dropping, the
housing market crashing, but people have continued regardless of the early signs.
„If people took that much notice of headlines they would have sold their homes en masse three or four years ago when so many of us started warning that property prices were heading for a slump.‟ (Conway 2009)
However, the online news article written by the Telegraph, contrasts to the idea of the
media making the recession sound worse, as it claims that they should have said
something earlier.
„But we were guilty of a more fundamental failing – one about which most of the financial press has remained shamefully silent. We should have made more noise about the risks of a crisis before it erupted.‟ (Conway 2009)
From researching into these articles, it seems that the majority of opinions believe that
the media/press are the reason as to why the recession has spiraled out of control. The
idea is that we should carry on as normal, and not let the media scare us into not
spending our money. The media seems to only want to cover bad news, and this gains
more attention than good news.
Media Coverage of Madeleine McCann
In 2007, the biggest story of the year hit the media, with the disappearance of a 3-year-
old girl, Madeleine McCann, whilst on holiday with her parents and siblings in Portugal.
To this day, she still has not been found and there has been much speculation as to
what happened to her. I will be looking at what sort of impact the media has had on this
investigation and the effects on society and why it‟s had so much coverage.
The attention from the media was huge, splashed across tabloids everywhere, all
across Britain, Europe and even in parts of North Africa, but there was lots of criticism
saying that the media attention was excessive and more for entertainment purposes as
oppose to helping the case. Looking at an interesting article, there are different opinions
on whether the media influence has helped the investigation.
From the public interest gained due to the amount of coverage, many online campaigns
have been created, such as “www.findmadeleine.com” in order to help find the child.
The website has received over 100 millions hits, making it the fastest growing website
ever. Millions of pounds in reward money have been put forward and Funds have been
raised to help finance the on-going investigation.
On the other hand, others opinions are that it is damaging to the case. Beatrix
Campbell, a commentator for The Independent newspaper said:
„The bigger the story has become, the less likely it seems that she will ever be found alive and well.‟ (Campbell 2007)
Due to the reward money being offered, Scams were set up with fake websites,
collecting money from the public, the police are being given false tip-offs as to
Madeleine‟s whereabouts, which is disrupting the investigation. There is also the
chance now that the kidnapper has been scared into hiding from the amount of publicity.
One interesting effect that the media is having on people is that the tabloids were
jumping at any opportunity to name possible suspects.
„The lack of developments has led the media to leap on any possible suspects, demonising people who could well be innocent‟ (Temko 2007)
Newspapers such as the Daily Mail and the Daily Star published public apologies and
paid £100,000‟s in compensation. The McCann family asked the media to stop
speculating about their daughter‟s whereabouts.
From the articles written, there are positive and negative opinions on the press
coverage of the McCann Kidnapping. Some believe the amount of media attention
helped to raise money for the investigation, and that more people are aware of the
situation. On the other hand it was seen as a way to pounce on any suspects, even
without concrete evidence. The amount of attention was seen as more entertainment
than actually news reporting.
Conclusion
Overall, from the key issues and articles I have researched into, I have discovered that
the majority of them all believe that the mass media in general does have an influence
on people and society.
One of the key issues and most debated topics concerning the media is how it affects
children. I found some results saying that on average children aged 2-8 years old,
consume at least 5 ½ hours of media per day, which includes at least 2 ½ hours of
television and that children older than aged 8 spend even more time consuming the
media. There has to be some degree of influence from the media.
From researching the James Bulger case, the Elizabeth Newson report was
basically trying to blame the horror movie “Child‟s Play 3” for influencing the two 10 year
old boys to kidnap and murder James Bulger. However, I have discovered, like
everything in life, there are two sides to every story. Martin Barker and Julian Petley‟s
“Ill Effects: The Media/ Violence Debate” speaks out against Newson‟s theory/report
and in my opinion proves it to be wrong, stating that her evidence was not sufficient and
not creditable enough to back up her theories. Overall, there was no proof that the
killer‟s had even watched the movie and that the media was ignorant of opposing
opinions and had leapt onto any excuse for a reason to blame someone. Barker‟s main
theory was that we should look at other external factors, mainly environmental and
mental health, before we completely blame one aspect.
Another debatable topic I have looked at is whether computer game violence
affects people. I have discovered that most incidents that involve violence and a
suspected computer game, which could have had an influence on it, are very rare, and
are seen to be blown out of proportion by the media for again blaming the incident on
anything. The main argument against the influence of violent games are that the parents
simply are not aware or ignoring the age certificates, usually down to just the lack of
understanding computer games. The fact still remains that every game still has the
recommended age certificate on the front, just as DVD‟s do and shouldn‟t be treated
differently just because it‟s a different form of entertainment.
Possibly a topic where society isn‟t as aware, as it should be, is how media
advertising affects and influences us. From my studies, I have discovered that
advertising is one of the most invested forms of communication for a company trying to
sell products or services. There are so many forms of advertising, literally anything
these days is and can be used for advertising, and in some cases, the stranger and
more unique forms, the more attention and successful it can be. As a result of our
society being saturated in advertising from the media, the articles I have researched into
show that we are a society of consumers that we feel the need to buy things we don‟t
need, and as a result of our spending habits, personal debts of the UK are several
billion pounds, with there being more credit cards than people, this figure does not
surprise me.
The more shocking discoveries of my research on consumerism and the effects
of advertising is the image of perfection and beauty in order to be accepted by society.
This is pressuring people, particularly women, to look as beautiful as the celebrities and
models they are surrounded by in their daily lives. Although the figures say that 60,000
people in Britain suffer from eating disorders, it is relatively low compared to the size of
the entire population, and there is no evidence to suggest that all of these cases are
because of the media, as Martin Barker said, it could be down to other personal factors.
As for the speculation of the media making Britain‟s recession worse, the authors of the
articles that have written about this believe that the media focuses their attention on
mainly the bad news about the economy and that minimal coverage is given to the good
news about the economy and that the stories are blown out of proportion, therefore
scaring people into not spending money. However, other opinions on the matter are that
the media didn‟t high light the signs from an early enough stage and that they left it too
late.
From researching the media‟s input on the Madeleine McCann, it showed that
from the early stages they were helping with the case by how widespread it became.
But after a while the tabloids were almost smothering the case, to the point where the
McCann family asked them not to do so, like it was almost entertainment. They were
jumping at any opportunity to name suspects with out proper evidence. As a result this
would have a traumatic effect on the suspects who were innocent, but still being labeled
as the kidnapper.
The limitations with researching into this area are that it is such a highly debated
subject; there are too many articles and opinions to consider and it would be impossible
to take them all into account. As far as I can see from my research, the general opinion
is that there is an influence from the media and has different impacts on different
situations.
From all of these issues I have researched, and from my own experiences, it has
led me to believe that the media definitely has a huge impact on today‟s society and is
probably one of the biggest influences on how we think, but only in certain
circumstances.
Firstly, I think that violence in computer games and films don‟t really affect adults,
and if they do only a small scale, from feeling short-term emotions. I believe that there
has to be a deeper problem, emotionally and mentally, within the person for it to trigger
aggression or violence due to environment they live in or certain family issues. On the
other hand, I feel that it can affect children, due to their fragile minds naturally learning
about the world and their lack of understanding.
I myself am a big fan of computer games and the only types of games I enjoy
playing are shooting games, because with these types of games and fantasy type ones,
they are the only means of escape into a reality that you wouldn‟t be able to in real life
and that they say violence is seen as a form of entertainment, this is the reason I
believe people enjoy it so much. The media seems the just want to blame anything it
can just to sell a story when it comes to cases like these.
Unfortunately, it seems to me that nowadays the tabloids are only interested in
covering bad news, just to sell newspapers, as they prey on people‟s fear and anxieties
to make bad situations worse and the news they do cover has no substance and lack of
evidence. Most media coverage is on politics or politicians; I believe both the media and
politics are big businesses, each feeding off the other.
Overall, I believe that we are living in a “mediacracy”, whereby we are instructed
how to live and how to be the perfect citizens, what we should and should not look like,
from all the advertisements and images of perfection we are littered in, like a form of
brainwashing. We are too saturated in media to even notice its affects on us.
„Go to work, send your kids to school, follow fashion, act normal, walk on the pavements, watch T.V, save for your old age, obey the law. Repeat after me: I am free.‟ (anonymous)
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