...of Braveheart The mass media plays a large role in modern society. Indeed, many have argued that people spend more time in “mass-mediated” interaction than in actual human interaction. The mass media, then, would seemingly be an excellent position to initiate social change, positively affect social problems, and help combat social ills that are considered normal patterns of behavior. Yet, the mass media has largely failed in addressing and helping to solve social problems. As seen through its presentation of the three major variables of race, class, and gender, the mass media has actually served to contribute to the social problems it covers, reinforcing them, and creating an inter-related cycle in which these problems continue. TV has become perhaps the primary vehicle that society receives its information and presents its values and expectations. One of the most important roles television plays is its presentation of news and information. What a station chooses to present as newsworthy can play a strong role in how people view their society and the world around them. Often, television news sources have followed a philosophy of “if it bleeds, it leads”, focusing on violence in urban environments. This violence occurs more frequently in black neighborhoods, resulting in what amounts to essentially as a steady, nightly stream of reports on violence in the inner-city by and among African-Americans. In this way, the television media plays a strong role in formulating...
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...Media Inequalities Abstract Today as in the past, mass media plays a very significant role in our lives. Individuals get information about people and places they have never actually met or seen. My research explains the media inequalities shared by minorities and media ownership. It also explains the influence a few companies have over the media industry and how minorities make little progress, whether in front of the camera or in influential positions behind it. In addition, much work has been done to bring forward this issue. With the help of special interest groups and other agencies there is a push to bringing diversity into the mainstream media business. Thesis Analysis of the mainstream media reflects inequalities for minorities and women. Of grave concern is the mass media’s negative approach to educating our society through what we perceive is open knowledge in the media, and poor media oversight. The media is undoubtedly important and there is extensive evidence that it both reflects and shapes society and individuals in both positive and negative ways. The issue of control and ownership of the media, and the extent to which this affects society, remain problematic and predominately white male media ownership. According to the article (Media Stereotyping, 2010) “media stereotypes are inevitable, especially in the advertising, entertainment and news industries, which need as wide an audience as possible to quickly understand information.” The passage...
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...Mass media is distorted mirror of society (Maneri and Wal). It is as if being held prisoner in a funhouse, the distortion of the mirror image slowly becomes reality and it is impossible to remember what life is really like. The news medium is one aspect of mass media that has contributed heavily to this distorted reality. Even though the news is supposed to remain objective, it seems as if racial biases have somehow made their way to the headlines. Can the consistent racial preference in the news enforce prejudice ideology through the public? The goal of this essay is to discuss the reason why behind misrepresentation of minorities in the news medium, and how the misrepresentation affects society. Even with minorities making up roughly one...
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...that is neither natural or necessary; however, due to laziness, upbringing or coincidental experiences (Lester, 1996, p.1), the stereotyping of individuals results in harmful generalisations that ultimately deny an individual's 'unique contribution to humanity' (Lester, 1996, p.1). When the mass media engage in stereotyping, misleading representations concerning members from diverse cultural groups are confirmed. In this essay, a broad range of texts will be used to examine the ways in which the mass media construct and reinforce social stereotypes around gender, ethnicity and age, as well as how the media shape one's imagination though direct images. It cannot be doubted that the media profoundly influence people's attitudes and outlooks. They convey a whole variety of information which individuals would not otherwise acquire. Newspapers, books, television, radio, films, recorded music and popular magazines (Giddens, 1989, p.79) bring individuals into close contact with experiences of which we 'would otherwise have little awareness' (Giddens, 1989, p. 79). There are very few societies, in current times, even among the more traditional cultures, which remain completely untouched by the mass media. Electronic communication is accessible even to those who are completely illiterate, or in isolated areas of the world. According to Juredini and Poole, gender usually refers to the 'behavioural and attitudinal characteristics' as well as roles that are learned and derived from a 'particular...
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...“Traffic” and Michelle Alexander’s “The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness” offer important perspectives on how. Historically, seemingly beneficial laws have excluded African Americans, and increased segregation and economic disparity. Kruse reveals how creating the US interstate highway system, to expand economic growth, disrupted black communities and restricted their access to better jobs, healthcare, and education. Furthermore, Alexander’s...
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...African American Stereotypes in Movies Media Research Methods CO 455 November 20, 2012 African American Stereotypes in Movies Introduction There once was a time when everyone expected the black man to be the first actor to die in every movie that possessed a black man in its cast. However, over time the assumption of the black man being the first to die has changed. Currently in the year 2012, there are progressively more movies in which black men portray leading roles. This change in black men as leading characters in movies is a welcome change. In the past, supporting or backup roles were considered the best role a black man could achieve. In this paper, the researcher will conduct information by means of content analysis. Content analysis is the most commonly used methodology because of its ability to measure human behavior, assuming that the verbal behavior is a form of behavior. This study will examine specific media products and define these products by determining smaller elements that complement these products. This document will address a wide view of concerns regarding the African American culture, and will provide assumptions on how this issue can be addressed in the future. The stereotype of African Americans in movies today, is the topic of this research paper. Why do African Americans face stereotypes in the media? Why do black actors and actresses have difficulty obtaining roles that are not stereotypical...
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...The mass media plays a large role in modern society. Indeed, many have argued that people spend more time in "mass-mediated" interaction than in actual human interaction. The mass media, then, would seemingly be an excellent position to initiate social change, positively affect social problems, and help combat social ills that are considered normal patterns of behavior. Yet, the mass media has largely failed in addressing and helping to solve social problems. As seen through its presentation of the three major variables of race, class, and gender, the mass media has actually served to contribute to the social problems it covers, reinforcing them, and creating an inter-related cycle in which these problems continue. TV has become perhaps the primary vehicle that society receives its information and presents its values and expectations. One of the most important roles television plays is its presentation of news and information. What a station chooses to present as newsworthy can play a strong role in how people view their society and the world around them. Often, television news sources have followed a philosophy of "if it bleeds, it leads", focusing on violence in urban environments. This violence occurs more frequently in black neighborhoods, resulting in what amounts to essentially as a steady, nightly stream of reports on violence in the inner-city by and among African-Americans. In this way, the television media plays a strong role in formulating racial...
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...deal this was to many other Asian Americans. They finally saw themselves in an attractive, desirable light. My sudden revelation comes to show how minorities have been deprived of respectable representation for so long and how normalized it is. For too long, minorities have been stereotypically viewed and placed lesser than whites. Blacks are only athletes and criminals. Hispanics are...
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...Study Guide, Fall 2015 Media/Society, Ch. 6: Social Inequality & Media Representation · Comparing Media Content and the “Real World”: four issues raised by this comparison (pp. 188-189) o First – literature in media and cultural studies reminds us that representation are not reality, even if media readers or audiences may sometimes be tempted to judge them as such. § Representations are the result of process of selection that invariably mean that certain aspects of reality are highlighted and others neglected. § All representations re-present the social world in ways that are both incomplete and narrow. o Second – the media usually do not try to reflect the “real” world. o Creators of media products use entertainment media to comment on the real social world. Readers and audiences develop at least some sense of the social world through their exposure to both entertainment media and news media. · Third – Concerns the troublesome term real. o The concept of a “real” world may seem like a quaint artifact from the past. o Social constructionist perspective. § No representation of reality can ever be totally “true” or “real” because it must inevitably frame an issue and choose to include and exclude certain components of a multifaceted reality. o Fourth- Seems to imply that the media should reflect society. o For many people, media are an escape from the realities of daily life. o Therefore, how “real” media products are is irrelevant...
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...diversity that exists in Peru, the establishment of racial ideologies have influenced the ways in which these minorities are located in society and the levels of discrimination and systematic exclusion that they have suffered through time. This discrimination has affected them at a social level, but also at an institutional level, since they have been systematically marginalized and denied of their basic human rights. Although racial and ethnic discrimination might be manifested in multiple ways, the current research proposal will focus on the Afro-Peruvian population , one of the groups that are most vulnerable to experience racism and discrimination, and that has been invisible both to society and to the Peruvian government for decades. Because of it, the proposal will analyze the ways in which this...
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...“Ethnicity is still too often portrayed by the mass media in ways that reinforce stereotypes” To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? A stereotype is a widely held but fixed and oversimplified image or idea of a particular type of person or thing, these can be gender specific or towards a specific race. Stuart Hall (1978) conducted research and found that between August 1972 and August 1973 there were at least reports of 60 muggings in national newspapers and that there had been a reported increase of 129%. He states that the media was attempting to cause a moral panic to create fear in the public and Black people were the folk devils in which the moral panic was based around. He argues two reasons for the cause of this moral panic: The state and the ruling class were suffering a ‘crisis of hegemony’ and that there was a decline in the dominance of the ruling class due to ‘Black Power’ demonstrations, the oil crisis and strikes and power cuts. The second reason was the ruling classes needed to regain control and making mugging a moral panic achieved this by portraying violent crimes as a threat to society, which lead to the justified use of a police crackdown, muggers were portrayed as black and justified the targeting of black people by police. Hall also explains how the labelling of black people as criminals then leads to a self-fulfilling prophecy as they are stopped and searched more and arrested more, making them appear in official statistics...
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...University of Phoenix Material Leslie Maxwell kennasnana@email.phoenix.edu May 13, 2012 Appendix B Part I Define the following terms: Term Definition Stereotypes Stereotypes are oversimplified beliefs in a particular group of people. Stereotypes are usually based on race, ethnicity, or gender. Someone that is judged by their membership in a group instead of on their own individual differences. Prejudice An opinion of belief learned from environmental factors such as friends, relatives, and mass media. Though there are many theories about prejudices and how they are created and approached, most believe that prejudices are taught from a very young age. Labeling theory The labeling theory is the belief that the view of deviance according to which being labeled as a "deviant" leads a person to engage in deviant behavior. The labeling theory explains why people’s behavior clashes with social norms. A person that is labeled may incorporate the label into his/her self-concept. Part II Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: • Race • Ethnicity • Religion • Gender • Sexual orientation • Age • Disability Category Stereotype 1 Stereotype 2 Stereotype 3 Race All African Americans are good at sports. All Americans are lazy and obese. All Mexicans are illegal aliens. Ethnicity All Arabs or Muslims are terrorists. All Jews are greedy. All Irish...
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...1. Stereotypes, narratives, ideologies and discourses are devices that, in different ways according to different theorists, fortify media power. Critically analyse how these devices work, according to various theorists, and reflect upon which best explains communicative power. The social construction of reality is mediated through the communicative powers of stereotypes, narratives, ideologies and discourses and the media is extremely powerful in communicating messages with these devices. It will be argued that discourses are the most powerful communicating device used by the media in the postindustrial era today. Furthermore as per Croteau & Hoynes (2014, p. 9), the analysis will focus on recognised mass media that is readily available in print, film, radio, television, sound recordings and the Internet. Poststructuralists within sociology examine the structures of society and human agency. Human agency or action is influenced by sociocultural factors such as ideology that shape human identity and act subconsciously over an individual. Ideology is the system of meaning that helps explain, define and make value judgments about the world (Croteau & Hoynes 2014, p. 152). As we live in an interconnected world there are many ideologies as there are social structures in any given society. Related to this is that dominant ideas are hegemonic. Marx created the superstructure, which is the domain of ideas for example religion, legal structures, family, institutions...
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...The media as a whole has many hidden messages or ideas that the entertainment world wants to get across. The media uses subliminal messages through radio, television, and advertisement. “A subliminal message is a signal in the form of a picture or sound that is designed to pass the normal limits of perception,” which means when people receive images or ideas consciously they also receive it subconsciously in their mind (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). There have been many controversial issues concerning the usage of this technique (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). There were rumors stating that Bush has used subliminal messages in some of his campaign speeches in order to deliver hidden messages to the world (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). One example of this would have been when; “A similar accusation was made against a promotional film of the Liberal party of Canada, where after dissecting their ad, one could clearly see a gun being fired at the viewer” (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). The Bush promo is rumored to be filled to the brim with subliminal images of a disturbing nature: fire, explosions, terrified children, mutilation, ghost-like figures and several acts of violence” (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). In the manipulation of many viewers, it was first to be just a tested experiment that could determine the facts of subliminal messages (Subliminal Messages in Movies and Media). A movie theatre in New Jersey did an experiment...
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... | |Stereotypes |unreliable, exaggerated generalizations | | |about all members of a group that do | | |not take individual differences into | | |account | |Prejudice |a negative attitude toward an entire | | |category of people, such as a racial or | | |ethnic minority | |Labeling theory |through negative stereotypes has strong implications for | | |the self-fulfilling prophecy. | Part II Select three of the identity categories below and name or describe at least 3 related stereotypes for each: • Race • Ethnicity • Religion • Gender • Sexual orientation ...
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