Notes and quotes document October half term

1.      Does the media inspire copycat killers-http://www.motherjones.com/politics/2015/10/media-inspires-mass-shooters-copycats 

• ·         The article looks at a story that came about in 2015 which saw a former TV reporter gun down innocent people and it was captured all on camera. The controversy here is that the media outlet that published this story in the newspaper had come across some images of what had happened and published the gruesome pictures, this caused outrage among the victims’ families
• ·         “But what the Daily News editors didn't realize was that this sensational approach can possibly do more than perturb or offend. Such images provide the notoriety mass killers crave and can even be a jolt of inspiration for the next shooter”-  Suggests that the media and the way news stories represent the killers instead of the victims almost glorifies them and provides inspiration for new killers.
• ·         The savvy of these individuals to capitalize on visual exposure should not be underestimated.

 

1.  The mass killing 'contagion effect' - http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-34385059

• · This article from the BBC is a report from an Oregon town sheriff about a mass shooting which took place.
• · It's true that rampage shooters show a pattern of being "obsessed with the previous murders and obsessed with the tally," sociology professor Zeynep Tufekci told BBC World Have Your Say on Friday.
• · Research shows that, in fact, mass shooters may be more likely to act when there has recently been a high-profile mass killing, a model more attune to viral infection than pure copycat. – Shows how the media could be to blame by reporting the story it also acts as a way to some as ‘promoting a killing
• · Towers heard about three other school shootings that same week and wondered if her work with models of contagion - "how people are infected with ideas" - would apply – Can be linked with the media theory about audiences, The Hypodermic needle model which suggests audiences can be injected with views and values about what they see on TV/ in the media.

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3.      More information to what the media effects theory is about- http://www.sociology.org.uk/AS_Media_effects.pdf

• ·         This article gives more information about media audiences and the effect It has on them. It gives more insight into how influential media texts are at empowering audiences. It looks at theories like the hypodermic needle model and other media theories.
• ·         At its most basic, this theory suggests the media transmit ‘messages’(ideas, information, beliefs and so forth) that are then picked up and acted upon by the audience (receivers).

1.  Here is another example of people "following the media" in a copycat killing, this time it is based on the show Dexter and the person involved claims he felt just like the "psychopath serial killer"-http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-1312182/Teenager-inspired-TV-Dexter-murder-brother.html

• · Here is an example of someone actually saying that they have copied someone they’ve seen on TV because they felt them and the character were the same. This killing was supposedly inspired by hit American TV show Dexter, a gruesome, crime/thriller about a socio-path serial killer. 

• · ‘Dexter made me do it’ – These are the words from a psychotic killer who killed his younger brother because he felt like his TV show idol Dexter, he says it as he is almost forced to commit murder when the show says nothing like it.

•  Hall won a Golden Globe for his portrayal but the show was criticised in the U.S. for its violent theme by the Parents Television Council

5.      This article aims to give a balanced argument into who is to blame, the media or people?-https://drmarkgriffiths.wordpress.com/2016/07/25/imitate-modern-why-do-people-commit-copycat-killings/

• ·         This article looks at why people commit copycat killings; it gives examples of films that are accused of inspiring these people and looks for a link between them. It looks at the psychology behind it and it looks at the sort of people that actually commit the crimes and leaves the question open about whether the media is to blame or not.
• ·         But is the media to blame for copycat murders? Well, partly – but not totally. – This raises the main argument that is the media to blame for peoples actions?
• ·          most people convicted of copycat murders admit to being motivated by something they had seen on the news or in a film -  The keyword Is motivation, they are not forced into anything but instead choose to take what they see on TV as real life and acceptable, this tends to happen in a case where the people are younger than the specified age restrictions.
• ·         they already had a criminal record (often violent crime) and/or were mentally ill before they began killing ­-  This does partially prove that the acts committed by people who claim to be motivated by the TV shows/ movies aren’t always your ordinary everyday person and that there is almost always a catch.
• ·          Copycat killers are more likely to suffer from personality (and other mental health) disorders, come from socially dysfunctional and alienating family backgrounds, be emotionally vulnerable, be trusting of the media, and – as noted above – a previous criminal history (as well as self-identifying with criminals they have watched or seen in fact and/or fiction). ­-  This somewhat backs up that the media content does not influence the general audience in a vindictive way and that a small proportion of people take  it In the wrong way. People look at the media in different ways, just because some psychotic people view and act on the media in negative ways it doesn’t mean, for example news channels can influence the general audience and create moral panics.

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6.      How Breaking Bad has shaped the meth industry-http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/uknews/crime/11206140/Breaking-Bad-blamed-for-shocking-rise-in-crystal-meth-usage.html

• ·         Although the show does not go out to glamorise the drug, its very inclusion promotes interest in that substance.
• ·         The fact this character who we grow to love is taking crystal meth instantly makes people curious
• ·         We live in a hedonistic generation where people are seeking pleasure from various sources, and increasingly these are be found in the most illicit forms -  Hedonistic= engaged in the pursuit of pleasure; sensually self-indulgent
• ·         Showing the horrendous impact of crystal meth can have a boomerang effect and cause curiosity among some viewers who might think 'that must be good – Another way the media can influence audiences is through glamorising certain things in such a way that it makes the audience curious and want to actually go out and do it.
• ·         The fact millions of people have watched the show and been entertained by it almost instantly glamorises its subject matter, whether deliberate or not. -  The fact that so many people have had access to it means it may have reached groups of viewers whom the show wasn’t targeted at, the type of genre may be new to them and they may see it as something intriguing

7.      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bobo_doll_experiment - Bobo doll experiment

8.      http://www.simplypsychology.org/bobo-doll.html - Bobo doll experiment and what it discovered

• ·         The Bobo doll was an experiment devised back in the 60/70’s to see how young children reacted to violence
• ·         Children learn social behaviour such as aggression through the process of observation learning – through watching the behaviour of another person, this study has important implications for the effects of media violence on children
• ·         Cumberbatch (1990) found that children who had not played with a Bobo Doll before were five time as likely to imitate the aggressive behaviour than those who were familiar with it; he claims that the novelty value of the doll makes it more likely that children will Imitate the behaviour – This says that what your exposed to effects how you deal with the situation, the kids exposed to the violence on the Bobo doll may only feel aggression towards that and may not wish to re-create this on other people, whilst the kids who weren’t exposed to the Bobo doll violence can’t see the novelty behind it.

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9.      http://www.internetjournalofcriminology.com/marsh_melville_moral_panics_and_the_british_media_march_2011.pdf - how moral panics are constructed

• ·         This article about Moral Panics look at how the media can help create them and at the same time make it exaggerated enough that riots and outbreaks can occur
• ·         The term moral panic has been widley adopted both by the mass media and in everyday usage to refer to the exaggerated social reaction caused by the activities of particular groups and/or individual
• ·         Such activities are invariably seen (at the time) as major social concerns and the media led reaction magnifies and widens the ‘panic’ surrounding them
• ·         Moral panics ‘translate fantasy into reality’ – Actual real life moral panics that have occurred because of vast media coverage include people in hoodies are dangerous and the paedophilia problem in the UK
• ·         Essentially a moral panic refers to an exaggerated reaction, from the media, the police or wider public, to the activities of particular social groups. These activities may well be relitivley trivial but have been reported in a somewhat sensationalised from the media; such reporting and publicity has then led to an increase in general anxiety and concern about those activities

10.  http://www.libertarian.co.uk/lapubs/lapam/lapam024.pdf - Censorship won’t reduce crime ( from a feminist perspective).

11.  http://shannonscorner.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/12/Mass-Shootings-Copycats-and-Media-Fame.-Research-Paper-on-Journalism-Ethical-Role.pdf - Copycat killings in the media

12.  http://www.truthaboutnursing.org/faq/media_affects_thinking.html - more about the media effects theory

13.  https://fyiliving.com/mental-health/crime-dramas-influence-societies-view-of-crime - Do crime shows influence audiences to commit or fear crime

• ·         This article looks at both sides of the argument, the argument being does the media have a direct impact on the audiences behaviour, whether this be the news or in this case a crime drama, for example the Bill and Breaking Bad
• ·         They depend upon media to gather information and then form opinions about crime.
• ·         was found that fear of crime seemed to increase when people watched crime-related programs on television
• ·         The details of violence and dramatization of a crime story may be responsible for the increased fear
• ·         Watching a culprit being caught by the law and sentenced might reduce the fear. 

14.  http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/news/north-east-news/should-tv-crime-dramas-better-8894935 -Should TV crime dramas better reflect reality? We speak to retired officers in the North East

• ·         Crime dramas are just that, dramas – Looking at the context of the article we can say that dramas are different from reality of course but because reality is so mediated and controlled (Jean Baudrillard simulation) how do we as an audience know what reality is when watching the news, crime dramas.

1.      https://infodocks.files.wordpress.com/2015/01/stanley_cohen_folk_devils_and_moral_panics.pdf - This text is from the original theorist of moral panics; Stanley Cohen.

• ·         One, the Jamie Bulger story, was utterly unique, yet triggered off an immediate and ferocious moral panic;- Look at why this happened and the coverage it had on the news and if it was an inspired attack
• ·         But during moral panics and media frenzies the atypical case is compressed into general categories of crime control (such as ‘juvenile violence’)
• ·         The crude model of ‘media effects’ has hardly been modifi ed: exposure to violence on this or that medium causes, stimulates or triggers off violent behaviour

Media magazine

1. 1.      This is a link to media magazine number 49, it looks at aspects of Breaking Bad-https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0i5diL3vrEiSGxRNHIyZmM4Ums  - Pg24 MM49

• ·         The article mainly looks at how key media concepts and the relationships between media texts, producers and audiences will take you a long way in media studies.
• ·         Heroes are central to conventional narrative and the focus of a story – In this article from media magazine we can start to apply more media theory as we can link Propps character theory here an infer what audiences see in the characters and how this differs In TV crime dramas like Breaking Bad
• ·         Audiences tend to sympathise with the hero – In this case of Breaking Bad which is my main case study we sympathise with a character who isn’t our ‘hero’ as such but more of a false hero and deffinitley a villain but we are made to sympathise for this character even though as an audience we can see a line between right and wrong and binary oppositions in the show are prominent, for example the DEA (government body vs The war on drugs (Good vs Bad) however we are not forced to choose a side of what we believe is right
• ·         ‘everyman hero’

1.    This is a link to the media magazine number 42, the title is “who decides what’s a media issue’? https://drive.google.com/drive/folders/0B0i5diL3vrEiSGxRNHIyZmM4Ums -MM42

• ·         The article looks at how some events, ideas or behaviours come to be regarded as social issues, or indeed as social problems? Professor David Buckingham raises some big questions about the ways public debates about social problems are constructed.
• ·         ‘issues’ aren’t just out there in the world they are not natural events, like the weather – Issues are not just there they must first be created and this is where the media comes in, although they may not be the ones who start the issue they are certainly involved with spreading; no matter what intentions they had on the issue its up to the audience decided how to take it in and react to it

1. 3.      Media Magazine 31 page 25 “Understanding Fantasy”

• ·         This article in the media magazine unpick definitions and theories about fantasy from an examiners perspective

1. 4.      Media Magazine 33 Pg 52-  Creativity and Genre in TV Crime Drama

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1. 5.      Media Magazine 31  - Dexter

• ·         This article in media magazine looks at the serial killer Dexter being a 21^st century hero for a 21^st century audience
• ·         Heroes traditionally embody fulfilment as they strive to reach goals that are often shared by the audience (to save the day, to get the girl etc) and are all in some way fantasy figures- We see the opposite occur with Dexter and in Breaking Bad as the hero in this case is not the clearly distinguished ‘good’ characters but we are left to sympathise with the one who has a moral excuse for his criminal actions, but at the end of the day the audience is still made to see them as a hero (Propp’s character theory).
• ·         Heroes tell us a lot about the culture that created them- Could lead us to suggest that people aren’t seeing how the media can create a difference between right and wrong and what is accepted in reality, can be linked to Baudrillard’s theory of simulation.
• ·         In modern media drama texts (TV crime drama) it is often difficult to identify who the heroes and villains. What used to be thought of as “simple binary opposites”, the idea of Good vs Evil and Right vs Wrong has been complicated in many television and film narratives.-  Here we can link it to the theory on ideology from Levi Strauss who talked about there being binary opposites, for example good vs bad and that the audience is always made to choose one side from being influenced by the media and the way it is shot etc.…
• ·         Heroes for example takes good characters , turns them bad and then brings them back to the side of ‘good’- This can be linked to Todorov’s narrative theory of equilibrium, because the character itself goes through phases of good and bad going from equilibrium to disequilibrium.
• ·         Serial killers have often been received as twisted heroes by audiences, perhaps best exemplified by Hannibal Lecter in the silence of the Lambs, a psychotic monster who became a hero of sorts when he helped the FBI catch a killer- Relatively new term of ‘twisted heroes’ whom the audience can’t help but sympathise or relate with.
• ·         Dexters apparent normality and the fact that he is so average is simply a reflection of the audience itself
• ·         In a world where one man’s terrorist is another person’s freedom fighter- This notorious religious quote is used here to show that people have different perspectives and these vary and differ depending on what views and values that person has been taught; either though the media or family.