... Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Men, muscles, and machismo: The relationship... more ... Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Men, muscles, and machismo: The relationship between television violence exposure and aggression and hostility in the presence ofhypermasculinity. Scharrer, Erica. Media Psychology, Vol 3(2), May 2001, 159-188. ...
... Scharrer was a student of Comstock's at Syra... more ... Scharrer was a student of Comstock's at Syracuse and is now an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She, too, has published a substantial number of journal articles and chapters on the social effects of media. ...
Television is a particularly important medium for politicians. Paid campaign announcements and ne... more Television is a particularly important medium for politicians. Paid campaign announcements and news coverage permit a candidate to electronically address a large audience that is heterogeneous demographically and ideologically. Television has characteristics that make it highly serviceable as a vehicle for political persuasion. It presents candidates multi-dimensionally—the person as well as the figure—and its depictions can readily arouse emotions. Image management of political candidates can conservatively be said to be a multimillion dollar industry, and politicians essentially are political brands marketed as if they were legal or medical services. Political advertising is a direct form of image management, whereas positive news coverage is an indirect route. Image or identity is particularly important when party loyalty is low and the race is close. Image making is a necessary strategy for the candidates to control the way they are perceived rather than being at the mercy of their opponents. The conventions of television news production—such as lighting, editing, and shot selection—can create either a favorable or an unfavorable image of the same set of events. There are also demand characteristics by which a medium depicts events to take advantage of the features that give it an advantage over competitors. These are analogous to the characteristics of the experiments that elicit behavior external to the treatment under study; media differentially covers political events even though the news personnel are all trying to cover the same story.
This chapter discusses the factors that influence the makeup of newscasts into the norms that gov... more This chapter discusses the factors that influence the makeup of newscasts into the norms that govern gatekeeping, decision making, and the application of the gatekeeping norms in national and local news operations. The principal feature of gatekeeping is norms and values that specify newsworthiness. Routines help gatekeepers proceed in an orderly manner. These conventions are to newsroom operation what gears are to an old-fashioned watch. The two principal perspectives in explaining exposure to the news have been the seeking of particular gratifications that derive from the internal motives of viewers and structural factors in which regularities of viewing predict the size of the audience. Gratifications represent the preferences of individual viewers. Structural factors represent the options for their expression. The most prominent motive behind choosing to view the news is that of surveillance with an emphasis on events.
This chapter discusses two contrasting views of information—civic knowledge and public understand... more This chapter discusses two contrasting views of information—civic knowledge and public understanding. The civic knowledge record is dismal on all counts—knowledge, media, and in particular, television. Public understanding gives a very different impression. This is the measurement of what the public thinks and believes about the events of the day and the people who figure in them. The emphasis is on the response to the news rather than on acquisition of facts. This perspective is consistent with the conclusion of analysis of the evidence on what voters learn from the mass media by Weaver (1996) that awareness and concern about issues and people are typically what is acquired from attending to the news. The chapter also highlights the construction of the importance imputed to issues, people, and events and its role in shaping opinions about them.
This chapter examines effects of media on scholastic performance and the developing intellect amo... more This chapter examines effects of media on scholastic performance and the developing intellect among the children and teenagers. Media can shape children's imaginative play and daydreams. Ideas and impressions derived from television are often incorporated into play or the mental musings of young persons. Mixed evidence also has emerged for television's influence on language acquisition in early childhood. Educational television plays a facilitative role in the learning of words and their meanings, and can be effectively designed to do so. Overall, television and other media contribute substantially to the cognitive and social development of children. There are four explanations for how and why television might impact academic performance. Three stem from the assumption of a negative role of television, whereas the fourth envisions a positive role. The chapter presents a case for a negative association between television use and performance in school or on academic-related exams and tasks.
There are primarily three parties that influence the role of media in the lives of young people i... more There are primarily three parties that influence the role of media in the lives of young people in addition to the choices that young consumers themselves make. These are the federal regulatory apparatus, the media industries, and parents. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Congress have important but in practice quite limited roles in regard to television and no role at all for other media. Those in the business of making and disseminating media products are primarily motivated by economic interests, although in many cases a large role is played by creative concerns. The major responsibility in regard to media and young persons inevitably falls to parents and other caregivers. They determine the opportunities for very early use of television and the age at which other media become readily accessible, the household environment that figures so importantly in the use of all media, and the media stockpiling in bedrooms that makes isolated media use so frequent for so many young people.
... Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Men, muscles, and machismo: The relationship... more ... Citation. Database: PsycINFO. [Journal Article]. Men, muscles, and machismo: The relationship between television violence exposure and aggression and hostility in the presence ofhypermasculinity. Scharrer, Erica. Media Psychology, Vol 3(2), May 2001, 159-188. ...
... Scharrer was a student of Comstock's at Syra... more ... Scharrer was a student of Comstock's at Syracuse and is now an associate professor at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. She, too, has published a substantial number of journal articles and chapters on the social effects of media. ...
Television is a particularly important medium for politicians. Paid campaign announcements and ne... more Television is a particularly important medium for politicians. Paid campaign announcements and news coverage permit a candidate to electronically address a large audience that is heterogeneous demographically and ideologically. Television has characteristics that make it highly serviceable as a vehicle for political persuasion. It presents candidates multi-dimensionally—the person as well as the figure—and its depictions can readily arouse emotions. Image management of political candidates can conservatively be said to be a multimillion dollar industry, and politicians essentially are political brands marketed as if they were legal or medical services. Political advertising is a direct form of image management, whereas positive news coverage is an indirect route. Image or identity is particularly important when party loyalty is low and the race is close. Image making is a necessary strategy for the candidates to control the way they are perceived rather than being at the mercy of their opponents. The conventions of television news production—such as lighting, editing, and shot selection—can create either a favorable or an unfavorable image of the same set of events. There are also demand characteristics by which a medium depicts events to take advantage of the features that give it an advantage over competitors. These are analogous to the characteristics of the experiments that elicit behavior external to the treatment under study; media differentially covers political events even though the news personnel are all trying to cover the same story.
This chapter discusses the factors that influence the makeup of newscasts into the norms that gov... more This chapter discusses the factors that influence the makeup of newscasts into the norms that govern gatekeeping, decision making, and the application of the gatekeeping norms in national and local news operations. The principal feature of gatekeeping is norms and values that specify newsworthiness. Routines help gatekeepers proceed in an orderly manner. These conventions are to newsroom operation what gears are to an old-fashioned watch. The two principal perspectives in explaining exposure to the news have been the seeking of particular gratifications that derive from the internal motives of viewers and structural factors in which regularities of viewing predict the size of the audience. Gratifications represent the preferences of individual viewers. Structural factors represent the options for their expression. The most prominent motive behind choosing to view the news is that of surveillance with an emphasis on events.
This chapter discusses two contrasting views of information—civic knowledge and public understand... more This chapter discusses two contrasting views of information—civic knowledge and public understanding. The civic knowledge record is dismal on all counts—knowledge, media, and in particular, television. Public understanding gives a very different impression. This is the measurement of what the public thinks and believes about the events of the day and the people who figure in them. The emphasis is on the response to the news rather than on acquisition of facts. This perspective is consistent with the conclusion of analysis of the evidence on what voters learn from the mass media by Weaver (1996) that awareness and concern about issues and people are typically what is acquired from attending to the news. The chapter also highlights the construction of the importance imputed to issues, people, and events and its role in shaping opinions about them.
This chapter examines effects of media on scholastic performance and the developing intellect amo... more This chapter examines effects of media on scholastic performance and the developing intellect among the children and teenagers. Media can shape children's imaginative play and daydreams. Ideas and impressions derived from television are often incorporated into play or the mental musings of young persons. Mixed evidence also has emerged for television's influence on language acquisition in early childhood. Educational television plays a facilitative role in the learning of words and their meanings, and can be effectively designed to do so. Overall, television and other media contribute substantially to the cognitive and social development of children. There are four explanations for how and why television might impact academic performance. Three stem from the assumption of a negative role of television, whereas the fourth envisions a positive role. The chapter presents a case for a negative association between television use and performance in school or on academic-related exams and tasks.
There are primarily three parties that influence the role of media in the lives of young people i... more There are primarily three parties that influence the role of media in the lives of young people in addition to the choices that young consumers themselves make. These are the federal regulatory apparatus, the media industries, and parents. The Federal Communications Commission (FCC), Federal Trade Commission (FTC), and the Congress have important but in practice quite limited roles in regard to television and no role at all for other media. Those in the business of making and disseminating media products are primarily motivated by economic interests, although in many cases a large role is played by creative concerns. The major responsibility in regard to media and young persons inevitably falls to parents and other caregivers. They determine the opportunities for very early use of television and the age at which other media become readily accessible, the household environment that figures so importantly in the use of all media, and the media stockpiling in bedrooms that makes isolated media use so frequent for so many young people.
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