Page 249 - Battleground The Media Volume 1 and 2

| Med a and the Cr s s of Values

in subservient and demeaning roles in Hollywood films, for example, or the
depiction of foreigners as dangerous in television series, or the presentation of
impossible standards of beauty in advertising, all serve to reinforce the hege-
mony of certain social groups and to marginalize and disempower others.

sPECiaL moDELs oF mEDia inFLuEnCE
Whatever theory is followed, much research is still being conducted to de-
termine whether the consumption of media messages serve as: (a) a stimulus to
certain behavior and a reinforcement of values and attitudes (the predominance
of white males as financial or political power figures in the news); (b) the mod-
eling of behavior (the 1950s television family life on Father Knows Best or the
glamour of drug consumption by the Beatles and other popular musicians of the
1960s); (c) a catharsis of socially unacceptable behavior (pornographic material
or violent video games as cathartic release, political satire as an escape valve for
the discontent citizenry); or (d) desensitization, whereby previously objection-
able attitudes or behavior no longer shock or offend as, for example, society be-
comes accustomed to more permissive sexual mores, more levels of aggression
or frankness in language and behavior, or various alternative lifestyles that move
into the mainstream.
Definite conclusions are hard to reach. George Gerbner’s Mean World Index,
for example, has demonstrated a strong correlation between the heavy viewing
of television and the formation of a view of the world as dangerous. But even
this study could not establish a cause-and-effect relationship between media and
social behavior. Despite many controlled laboratory experiments and years of
qualitative research, opinions still vary on the effect of the mass media on con-
sumer opinion and behavior and whether they tend to merely reflect or actively
mold social values.
Whatever theory holds sway, there always remain several constant questions
about bias in the presentation of news stories or portrayals in entertainment; the
appeal to sensationalism or shock value to promote television ratings, sell news-
papers, or pack the movie theaters; the agenda-setting that decides what merits
front-page coverage or more television or radio time; the bottom-line quest for
revenue from subscriptions or advertising income; and other matters, which all
affect the content of the media.

govErnmEnT CEnsorshiP anD rEguLaTion

Does the government have a right—and even a responsibility—to regulate
the activity of the mass media in order to safeguard society against any harm?
The role of the mass media in the United States is largely shaped by the First
Amendment, which states that “Congress shall make no law . . . abridging the
freedom of speech or of the press.” Over the more than 200 years since the U.S.
Constitution was written, various legal rulings, including Supreme Court opin-
ions, have extended the protection of the freedom of the press to advertising,
film, entertainment content in magazines and newspapers, and to television and