Page 32 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

2. EXEMPLIFICATION THEORY OF MEDIA INFLUENCE 21

of information of consequence to the public is undoubtedly an essential civic
service rendered by the media. However, the capacity to reach large audi-
ences carries with it the risk of misleading the public in case the dissemi-
nated information proves to be distorted and inaccurate or simply in error.
Conceivably, such misleading can result from featuring inappropriate selec-
tions of cases in efforts to illustrate an issue of interest. Media institutions
committed to providing veridical accounts of phenomena of consequence
thus should take some responsibility for their case aggregations, ensuring
that the reported cases yield correct rather than distorted perceptions of the
phenomena. Of central importance are the news media, whether in print,
broadcast, or computer format, along with newslike educational efforts, also
irrespective of means of delivery. Some media institutions, however, the
entertainment industry in particular, claim poetic license and refuse to
accept any responsibility for distorted perceptions of relevant social phe-
nomena that their dissemination of selected cases is likely to create.
In the news, case reports are characteristically featured to justify state-
ments about issues of which they are a part. Notwithstanding contentions
such as that a handful of “carefully chosen” cases can entirely define issues,
the cases certainly exemplify them. This renders the cases exemplars that
exemplify the exemplified, namely the population of exemplars (i.e., all
exemplars of the kind under consideration). Exemplification is not an all-or-
nothing concept, however. The degree to which a selection of exemplars
reliably exemplifies the exemplified phenomenon is subject to empirical
determination. Some exemplifications may adequately represent the pop-
ulation from which they were drawn. Others may not. Exemplification by
completely arbitrary selection of exemplars, for instance, is notoriously
poor and might be more appropriately labeled misexemplification.
Such common sense has not prevented an obtrusive partiality by the
media for extraordinary and atypical cases in the exemplification of phe-
nomena. It can hardly be considered a revelation that fictional narrative
favors the exceptional over the ordinary. Somewhat surprising should be
that the news media often follow the lead of fiction in aggregating less-than-
typical exemplars, mostly in efforts to enhance the so-called entertainment
value of reports. The news is laden with exemplars, and often enough their
selection seems more inspired by dramatic and ideological slants than by a
commitment to impartial, balanced reporting (Zillmann & Brosius, 2000).
The featured exemplars are almost always arbitrarily selected; their choice
left to the writer’s idiosyncrasies. The resulting exemplar samples are, at
best, somewhat representative of their population and, at worst, entirely
nonrepresentative. The projection of the exemplified issue accordingly varies
from adequate to inadequate. Inadequate exemplification is, of course,
bound to foster misperceptions of the phenomena under consideration.
The exemplification of phenomena is often supplemented by more gen-
eral descriptions. Specifications may include measured and quantified