[4] Media and stereotypes

Summary
1. [1] Media channels [2] Framing [3] Media and war reporting [4] Television and stereotypes [5] Advertising and stereotypes [6] Social media and stereotypes [7] Videogames and stereotypes [8] Hollywood and stereotypes
Type of Media
1. - News media (TV, newspapers/news websites) - TV programmes - Advertising - Social media - Gaming - (Hollywood) films
Mirror Theory vs. MOuld Theory
1. [A] Mirror theory
  1. Stereotypes in popular culture (TV, magazines, fiction, films, advertising etc.) *reflect* values held by society
2. [B] Mould theory
  1. Our concept of society is *moulded by* media representations of society
3. it's probably a mix of both
Media and Stereotypes
1. Because the use of media *exposes audiences to a consistent set of information* and perspectives on which to base *definitions of different groups*, media images and texts become a part of the ongoing process of defining, validating, and creating *shared group norms and stereotypes*
  1. audience just assume that this things are true
2. Viewing stereotypical media representations of race/ethnicity appears to encourage *race-based social comparisons* among White viewers, which *advantages their group* and *serves identity needs*
3. Exposure to mainstream media stereotypes can lead to *lower self-esteem* and negative *self-concepts* for the stereotyped groups
  1. However, exposure to positive, counter stereotypes in the media prompts more favorable race-based judgments
Framing
1. Individuals interpret new stories or events in light of previous experience
  1. One of the ways texts communicate meaning is by signalling to audiences the kind of experience that should be used to interpret a new story, event
    1. Framing is the process through which a text established these associations ion the mind of the reader
2. Framing is the angle or perspective from which a story is told
3. Framing theory suggests that how something is presented to the audience (called “the frame”) influences the choices people make about how to process that information
Common Frames in the Media
1. (1.) Health frame
  1. [drugs as health issue; focus on drug users and health issues; interviews with healts experts]
2. (2.) Economic frame
3. (3.) Fairness/equality frame
4. (4.) Law and Order frame
  1. [criminals, drug pushers, danger to public; interviews with police]
5. (5.) Cultural identity frame
  1. [focus on ethnic membership]
6. (6.) Quality of life frame
  1. [drugs as social problem; focus on class, dysfunctional society; interviews with social workers]
7. (7.) Morality frame
  1. [legal vs illegal; focus on drugs that are legal (tobacco and alcohol)]
Sources of Stereotyping in News
1. journalists often have little time to review their work, which raises the risk that they might fall back on and reinforce widely circulating stereotypes
2. black people and other cultural minority don't work in this sector
Consequences of Stereotyping in News
1. Stereotype threat theory: *negative stereotypes* and *devaluing content* in the media *impair* the cognitive and educational achievement of members of the negatively portrayed groups
Media and Stereotypes in War Reporting
1. help people to categorise
  1. (what is the story + who are the players/ good guys and bad guys)
2. succeed in reducing dissent
  1. (if the enemy behaves this way, perhaps they deserve...)
3. help justify military action
  1. (this is the only way to solve this problem)
4. connection with the Lecture 1
Polarisation in WR
1. division between good=Us and bad=Them
2. war journalism is engaged in a sort of identity politics
Influence of early WR
1. Unfiltered report about health conditions in war led to downfall of government and reform of hospital system
Constraints on Journalism in WR
1. (a.) Cultural stereotypes/frame
  1. faster and easier to go with stereotypes
2. (b.) Demands of newsroom
  1. political and time pressure
3. (c.) Reliance on official sources
  1. journalist were incorporated in the army, so the military could choose what the j. would write
4. (d.) Military and government demands
  1. (censorship and patriotism)
Language in WR
1. ‘pre emptive strike’ (allies) vs a ‘sneak attack’ (enemies)
2. If you can’t change the facts, change the language: - Invasions or attacks given heroic names (Operation Desert Storm / Operation Iron Justice /...) - Use of euphemisms by the military (civilian deaths are “collateral damage")
Stereotypes as Obstacle to Peace
1. nationalist conflicts are particularly dangerous because they leave a legacy of poisoned politics in which whole ethnic groups start being stereotyped
2. people can change their minds dramatically when given a chance to hear multifaceted and unbiased information
Influence of TV
1. U.S. adults watch 5h of TV per day
  1. strong influence
2. television has a history of underrepresenting, marginalizing, and caricaturing non-White characters
Different Stereotypes in TV
1. Different ethnic groups are associated with different stereotypes on TV
  1. [Latino -> sexualized] [Asian americans -> model minority; unsociability]
Conscious use of Stereotypes
1. Market segmentation: the practice of lumping individuals into groups based on their geography, demography, behaviour or culture
2. Country origin effect: how people tend to view products produced in countries other than their own and how preconceived notions about these countries affect perceptions of the product in question
  1. [Germany -> reliability]
Changes in recent years
1. Degree of stereotyping has decreased over the years
2. Advertisers beginning to pay attention to LGBTQ+ consumers and greater diversity of family groups
Social media Growth leads to need for new Research
1. Stereotyping in the choice of who should see what ads
  1. [STEM not for women]
2. Individuals in the Media may cause users to change their opinions
Stereotypes in Social media
1. Echo chambers: people are only exposed to point of view of other like-minded people
2. Polarisation: who thinks like me is in the in-group; any other person is in the out-group
Developing field
1. video games pose extra questions for researchers interested in questions of representational bias
  1. the traditional distinctions that have been drawn between the real and virtual are problematic in this space
2. super-strong stereotypes
Long tradition of Stereotyping
1. Early days: non White characters played by actors makeup
2. Black characters: infantilised buffoons to sassy servants
3. Asian characters: yellow peril, convenience store owners, action movies
4. ...
Representation of native Americans
1. referred to as ‘savages’, ‘lurking in the widerness’, ‘scalping pioneers’, participated in ‘massacres'
2. spoke the "Hollywood Injun English"
  1. different intonation, longer pauses, lack of verb tenses, absence of contractions, omission of grammatical words and substitution
Ethnic stereotypes
1. "magical negro"
2. cultural appropriation
  1. [Ghost in the shell]