Impact of Sexual & Violent Content on Emotions & Policy: Media, Arousal & Regulation, Study notes of Communication

Download Impact of Sexual & Violent Content on Emotions & Policy: Media, Arousal & Regulation and more Study notes Communication in PDF only on Docsity! COMM 200 Exam Review Introduction - Sexual or Violent Media Content o Seek it out to relax/unwind o Hope to gain excitement from it o Almost always watch it simply because I have nothing else to do - Emotions o 3 Dimensions that make up our emotional state  Valence  How Positive or Negative we feel  Arousal  How excited or calm we feel  Dominance  How in or out of control we feel o Arousal  Positive or Negative  Fear, anger, curiosity, love, etc  Intensifies behavior in most circumstances  Increases emotional and behavioral experiences  Ways to measure  Self Report  Heart Rate  Blood Pressure  Skin Temperature  Skin Conductance o Measures the activation of the eccrine sweat glands in palms of the hands/soles of the feet o 0.5 Microvolts of electricity are passed through the palm o The more aroused someone is, the more sweat they will produce, and it will take the electricity slower from one sensor to the next o Media, Arousal and Relaxation  Media use is a major leisure time  Used as diversion and as relief for daily stress  Daily Stress = Source of arousal  Intervention Potential  Capacity of media to involve person and disrupt their stress  Media must have potential to absorb the audience member  Semantic Activity o How alike the media content is to the audience member’s mood o Content that’s arousing and portrays similar content and emotions will not reduce audience stress  Stressed individuals watching violent and absorbing content o Arousal level not reduced o Aggression remains heightened  Stressed individuals watching non-violent, yet absorbing content o Soothes audience member o Controls aggression o Media, Arousal and Relaxation  In particular, pleasant content (regardless of how absorbing), can reduce arousal levels  Viewers likely to choose content that will diminish heightened feelings of arousal o Media, Arousal and Excitement  Exposure to media can be arousing  Those least aroused will respond more intensely to emotional content  Violent and Sexual Content  These individuals seek out content to achieve same pleasurable, emotional results o Habituation  Decrease response after constant viewing over a period of time  Frequent exposure to arousing content can diminish emotional reactions arousal over time  Used to explain increasing levels of sex and violent in today’s media content Legislating the Media - Concerns over effects o To protect those who can’t protect themselves - Policy created can: o Educate about media’s effects o Inform consumers about the content of the media - Hard to determine if there is a need o Also hard to determine what type of policy is necessary - Steps in Policy Making o Agenda Setting  Issue must be brought to attention of officials who can make changes o Policy Deliberation  Proposals must be talked about and debated upon o Policy Enactment  “This is the plan we are going to go with” o Policy Implementation o E10+ - Everyone 10+  Come out in 2005 o T – Teen  Content for those 13+ o M – Mature  Content only for those 17+ o AO – Adults Only  ONLY those 18+  Strip Fighter 2, Bonetown o RP – Rating Pending Legislating Movies - Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) rates a film’s thematic and content suitability for certain audiences in the US o Created in 1968  In response to religiously-motivated complaints about the content of American films  Especially violence and language in films - Original Film Ratings o Rated G:  General Audiences  All ages admitted o Rated M:  Suggested for Mature Audiences  Parental discretion advised o Rated R:  Restricted  People under 17 not admitted without parent/guardian o Rated X:  People under 18 not admitted - Evolution of Film Ratings o January 1970  Rated M became Rated GP:  All ages admitted/Parental Guidance Suggested o January 1971  Added Rated GP*:  Contains material not generally suitable for pre-teenagers o February 1972  Rated GP and Rated GP* replaced by Rated PG:  Parental Guidance Suggested  Some material may not be suitable for children o MPAA needed a middle ground between PG and R due to complaints about:  Poltergeist (1982)  Gremlins (1984)  Indiana Jones and the Temple of Doom (1984) o July 1984  MPAA institutes Rated PG-13  Parents strongly cautioned, some material may be inappropriate for children under 13 o MPAA was treating mainstream movies like porn by giving them X ratings  Many movie theatres would not show movies with an X rating o September 1990  MPAA introduced Rated NC-17  No children U17 admitted  1996  Changed to No One 17 and Under Admitted - Content Considerations o Language o Drug Reference o Illegal Drug Use o Cigarette Smoking o Strong Sexual Content o Nudity o Violence o Legitimate Historical/Educational Value Types of Efforts to Control Media Effects - Big reason why ratings are even there in the first place - To let people know what content they will be exposed to o Media can have effects on people  Especially little kids and adolescents - Types of Control o Industry Self-Regulation  Industry themselves takes the initiative to make the public aware  E.g. MPAA, Music Industry, Recording Industry o Advocacy Groups  Groups that take steps to protect other members of the audience  “Concerned citizens”  Separate from industry and government o Educational Programs  Schools that put programs into place to educate children about the media  Aims to make them more media-literate o Fiction v non-fiction  Makes them aware of advertising methods and content o Individual Efforts  We/A Parent/Guardian/etc can choose what children under their care will be exposed to o Government “By Raised Eyebrow”  Doesn’t specifically intercede  Rather “keeps a watchful eye on them”  Bit of a warning o Government Regulation  When the gov’t actively steps in and creates regulation  What can/can’t be played, what time, etc The First Amendment of the US Constitution - “Congress shall make no law abridging the freedom of speech of an individual or of the press” o Basis of a lot of controversy and struggle, since our Founding Fathers o Still comes into play today with content of the Mass Media - Only specifically prohibits Congress from making laws that violate these freedoms o Now applied to all branches - Language is often open to interpretation o Everyone tries to interpret and re-interpret  Who it protects, who it doesn’t, etc o Abridge : Subject of controversy  What is exact meaning of abridge?  Specifically what types of speech are prohibited  Print, Spoken, Internet, Non-verbal?  Who is a member of the Press?  Blogger, Performer?  These ideas have been discussed and fought over  Who exactly is protected under the First Amendment? - Why the Framers Protected Free Expression o Not only important, but FIRST in the Constitution o British gov’t engaged actively in censorship  Didn’t want anyone to publicly express dissatisfaction with the rulers, laws, etc  Main reason for the 1st Amendment  Didn’t want government intrusion/control of each person’s ideas/expressions o Key Concept: STATE ACTION  Any action taken by govt’s, esp. intrusion on one’s rights by a government agency  They will often cite “the well-being of others” when they try to step in o Intervene to protect the individual/those around o Responsible for issue/renewal of broadcast licenses  8 year terms  Must be in good standing to get renewal o Enforcement Powers:  Issue Fines  Revoke Licenses - Regulation of Violent Content o Much less government regulation (within the last year or so)  More interested in a lot of sex rather than a lot of violence (traditionally) o Mostly “by raised eyebrow” o Violence on TV  V-Chip Requirement  “Voluntary” Ratings System  TV-Y, TV-MA, etc - Regulation of Sexual Content o Indecency  Anything “depicting sexual and excretory activities in an offensive manner, as measured by contemporary community standards for the broadcast medium”  They will decide what is decent and what is indecent  Nowadays, community standards have changed so something that was fineable 10 years ago could be completely fine now o FCC v. Pacifica (1978)  On an FM Radio station, they aired someone’s standup that had a lot of curing and offensive language in it  A dad called the FCC and complained that his son had heard these words  FCC sent Pacifica a letter saying knock it off  Pacifica then tried to fight it, but the courts sided with the FCC  FCC said they were protecting children from hearing those inappropriate words o All indecent content must be channeled and may not be played from 6am to 10pm  Companies try to be really careful during normal viewing hours so they don’t get fined  Like when nationals comes to visit KDR o Janet Jackson Superbowl Indecency  Big surge in Enforcement after her wardrobe malfunction  CBS was originally fined $550k  The FCC’s surge really started to piss people off, who then turned to the internet to make fun of the FCC  Internet is not regulated by the FCC, so they wanted to stick it to the man o Profanity Enforcement  Heavy FCC fines/regulations loomed over the networks (especially of live content) that could have come across the occasional swear word  E.g. Joe Flacco - Obscenity, Pornography, and Indecency o Expressions (words, images, actions) that offend the prevalent sexual morality o Legal distinction between obscenity, pornography, and indecency  Obscenity receives NO First Amendment Protection o What is Obscene?  Three Part Test (from Miller v. California 1973)  An average person, applying contemporary community standards finds that the work, taken as a whole appeals to the prurient interest  The work depicts in a patently offensive way, sexual content that is specifically defined by state law  The work in question lacks serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific values  Luke Records v. Navarro  In 1990, Nick Navarro was a Sheriff in Cali o Luke Records’ album was rules obscene  Distribution of the CD was deemed illegal  One shop keeper was arrested for selling the album to an Undercover Cop o Luke Records appealed again, this time with the help of a Harvard Professor  Respected Prof said the album had “serious artistic and historical roots within the Black Culture” o Decision was overturned  The album was deemed NOT OBSCENE o Special Circumstances  Variable Obscenity Statutes  Definition of obscenity can vary depending on who it is  Can’t do away with all adult products just to keep kids away  Child Pornography  Children portrayed in sexual situations  New York v. Ferber (1982) o Ferber, an adult-bookstore owner was arrested after selling a book depicting children U16 in sexual situations o Charged with promoting both obscene and indecent sexual performances o Originally aquitted of obscene, but guilty of indecent o NY Appellate Court reversed the decision citing the broadness of the obscenity regulations, and asked the US Supreme Court to weigh in o NY Supreme Court reversed all previous decisions and convicted Ferber on both obscene and indecent o Findings:  Child Pornography may be banned without first being deemed obscene for 5 reasons:  Government hold strong interest in preventing the sexual exploitation of children  Depictions of minors engaged in sex is directly related to sexual abuse of children and serve a constant reminder  Selling goods provides financial motivation to continue to make child porn  It has negligible artistic value  Child Pornography is also outside the rights of the First Amendment  State interest in protecting children allows laws prohibiting distribution of images of sexual performances by minors even where content does not meet tests of obscenity. - Internet Regulation o Difficult to regulate  No boundries – truly international  Jurisdictional Issues  No central location for messages to go through  Encryption methods  Anonymity - Internet Regulation of Sexual Content o Congress passed laws in in 1996 & 1998 in an attempt to limit children’s access to online sexual content  Neither law was ever enforced  Reasoning: o Too much content would have been kept away from results o Other measures would be more effective o Children’s Internet Protection Act (CIPA)  Requires filtering software on computers in public schools and libraries  If not, they lose Federal Funding o Upheld by the US Supreme Court  Arguments both for and against filtering software o Sexual information gets attention  Can’t help but pay attention to it  It’s emotional in nature  Makes individuals feel very positive  As humans we like to pay attention to something that makes us feel good and arouses us  Many competing messages  Need to stand out and be remembered o Stand out by featuring sexual content (more remember-able to the audience)  Sex has the ability to attract and maintain audience’s attention  Increase ratings and circulation o Generates greater revenue o The use of sex can and does appeal to audience interest  Almost everyone has an interest to some degree  It generates the big bucks  Could cause someone to become attracted to a certain publication  Certain people enjoy it and therefore seek it out  Like the responses it evokes, and therefore seek them out  People desire exposure to sexual information because of its hedonistic value  Uses & Gratifications (why we use certain media/media content) o Looks at why we seek out certain media o What result we hope to gain from that experience  Ultimate goal is Pleasure o Gratification we hope to gain  Consumers react to outcomes in ads and they would like it to happen in real life o Wishing they could get that guy/girl o Want the experience you see in the ads o Try to live vicariously  Sex in Advertising creates an Emotional Response  Increased levels of arousal  Arousal leads to favorability o Transfers to our opinion about the product o Could lead to sales  Goal of virtually all advertising: revenue o 8% of Prime-Time network commercials featured sexual content  10 – 20% of models themselves were sexualized o Women dressed sexually in 40% of magazine ads  Men only 18% o Contact b/t models in ads has become more sexualized over time Sex in Advertising – More or Less Explicit - More Explicit o Habituation Effect  Humans have reduced responses to something the more they are exposed to it  If you see the sex over and over it becomes no big deal over time - Less Explicit o Some argue  Pressure from outside organizations is going to force sex in advertising away for something else  Reaction to media-watch organizations - Sexism v Sexy o In the content titillating or offensive/demeaning?  Big issue with Music Videos o Two main issues to determine:  What consequences does it have for the viewers?  Will they be effected, will they learn inappropriate info about sex?  How will the use of such imagery impact the sale of the product being advertised?  Could there be negative backlash to a company? o About 1/3 or 33% of Americans find sexual content offensive  No matter how explicit, offensive, or degrading  Not interpreted in the same way by everyone o Sexy or sexist differs from person to person o General/Possible Guidelines  Should not imply coercion or violence  Should appear to want to be in that situation  If not appearing that way, needs to be redesigned/rethought  Women should not been seen as inferior  No subservient roles  Characterized as independent and strong  No exploitation/stereotypes  Everyone should contribute a lot into society  Forces the advertisers to think if this is appropriate for their audience  If they are offended, what are the consequences/is it worth it? o Sexist v Sexy is completely personal opinion, and is not a clear cut black or white answer