Media Messages (media + message)

Distribution by Scientific Domains


Selected Abstracts


Entertainment-education and social change: an analysis of parasocial interaction, social learning, collective efficacy, and paradoxical communication

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 4 2000
MJ Papa
Most past studies of entertainment-education programs have not provided an adequate theoretical explanation of the process through which community members enact system-level changes as a result of exposure to entertainment-education media message. Here we study the effects of an entertainment-education radio soap opera by means of an observational case study in one Indian village. We investigate the paradoxes, contradictions, and audience members' struggles in the process of media-stimulated change, a process involving parasocial interaction, peer communication, and collective efficacy. [source]


The Third-Person effect in perceptions of the influence of television violence

JOURNAL OF COMMUNICATION, Issue 2 2001
C Hoffner
This study examines the third-person effect (the belief that others are more affected by media messages than oneself) for two different effects of televised violence, mean world perceptions and aggression, using attribution theory as an explanatory framework. In telephone interviews with a random sample of 253 community residents, third-person effects, as predicted, were observed for both aggression and mean world perceptions, but were larger for the more socially undesirable influence on aggression and for more distant others (in the U.S. rather than the local community). In addition, those who compared themselves favorably with others perceived a larger third-person effect for aggression. The study also explores the role of other factors in the third-person effect, including demographics and liking for and exposure to televised violence. [source]


A11. The influence of the media on eating disorders

JOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 5 2000
S. Almond
Background The cause of eating disorders is multifactorial. One of these is sociocultural factors which include family, peers and the media. It has been suggested that constant media pressures can lead to body dissatisfaction, which may result in distorted eating patterns. Aims To review the role of the media in relation to eating disorders Results There has been a shift in the media portrayal of the 'ideal' body size for women, from the voluptuous curved figure of Marilyn Monroe in the 1950s to a thinner 'waif-like' look of Kate Moss in the 1980s. In the mass media shape and weight define perfection. Women perceive themselves as being bigger than they actually are. Their figure deviates from the ideal thus resulting in self body dissatisfaction. 'All I see is these pretty models, I wish I could look like one of them.' ( Wertheim et al. 1997 ) The 'ideal' body image is far from the physiologic norm. Supermodels are born with a specific body type and what the public doesn't understand is that they cannot diet to achieve it. 'Women don't set out to be anorexic, they begin by thinking they're too fat because everywhere they go the media is telling them that they are right' ( Barrett, 1997) Products are often advertised displaying the ideal body shape in the hope that it will enhance the product and create body dissatisfaction. Purchasing the product is perceived as a positive step towards reaching the 'perfect' body image. Concern surrounds the appearance of such advertisements in magazines aimed at adolescent girls, as at this age they are particularly vulnerable to the influences of the media. Stice and Shaw (1994) stated that exposure to the thin 'idea' may have a negative effect on emotions leading to body dissatisfaction. Such emotions include depression, stress, guilt, shame, insecurity, unhappiness, and lower self-confidence. A study by Schotte et al. (1990) indicated that negative emotions can disrupt eating behaviour. Dieters watching a frightening film increased their food intake, whereas nondieters did not. Conclusion The media are not solely responsible for eating disorders but they do contribute by promoting the 'ideal' physique. There is some resistance to media messages, as the majority of people do not develop distorted eating patterns. [source]


Salient Environmental and Perceptual Correlates of Current and Established Smoking for 2 Representative Cohorts of Indiana Adolescents

JOURNAL OF SCHOOL HEALTH, Issue 3 2009
Dong-Chul Seo PhD
ABSTRACT PURPOSE:, A secondary analysis of 2000 and 2004 Indiana Youth Tobacco Survey (IYTS) data was conducted to investigate salient environmental and perceptual correlates of adolescents' current and established smoking while controlling for demographic variables such as gender, grade, and race/ethnicity and to compare the pattern of significant correlates between the years. METHODS:, The IYTS was an anonymous school-based survey regarding tobacco use; familiarity with pro- and anti-tobacco media messages; exposure to environmental tobacco smoke (ETS); minors' access to tobacco products; and general knowledge, attitudes, and beliefs about tobacco. In 2000, a representative sample of 1416 public high school students in grades 9-12 and 1516 public middle school students in grades 6-8 (71.44% and 72.53% response rates, respectively) were surveyed. In 2004, 3433 public high school students and 1990 public middle school students (63.04% and 65.44 % response rates, respectively) were surveyed. RESULTS:, Significant predictors of adolescents' current and established smoking habits included exposure to ETS either in homes or in cars, exposure to pro-tobacco messages, perceived benefit of smoking, and perceived peer acceptance of smoking. The influence of exposure to pro-tobacco messages greatly outweighed exposure to any anti-tobacco messages. CONCLUSIONS:, The findings of this study warrant that more efforts and resources be placed on preventing youth from being exposed to ETS, and to control pro-tobacco marketing and improve the tobacco counter-marketing messages. The perceived benefits of smoking found here indicate that smoking for relaxation and weight control may be major influencing factors on adolescent smoking. [source]


The making and muting of an indigenous media activist: Imagination and ideology in Charles Round Low Cloud's "Indian News"

AMERICAN ETHNOLOGIST, Issue 3 2010
GRANT ARNDT
ABSTRACT In this article, I examine an example of American Indian activism through the once-dominant mass medium of the newspaper. I focus on Ho-Chunk author Charles Round Low Cloud and his development of an "Indian News" column into a vehicle for activism against everyday forms of racial oppression in the 1930s and on the ways others involved in publishing his column used the medium to subvert his message. The analysis shows how nonindigenous actors can mute activist messages through practices designed to celebrate indigenous voices. I argue that both indigenous media activism and reactions against such activism rely on the "mediated imagination": the mediation of the use and reception of media messages by cultural ideologies and by individual creativity. Recognition of the mediated imagination, therefore, complements efforts to understand how language and other semiotic ideologies shape interpretations of social reality. It also facilitates analysis of the potentials and limitations of indigenous activism that uses existing media technologies. [source]


Learning and Opinion Change, Not Priming: Reconsidering the Priming Hypothesis

AMERICAN JOURNAL OF POLITICAL SCIENCE, Issue 4 2009
Gabriel S. Lenz
According to numerous studies, campaign and news media messages can alter the importance individuals place on an issue when evaluating politicians, an effect called priming. Research on priming revived scholarly interest in campaign and media effects and implied, according to some, that campaigns and the media can manipulate voters. There are, however, alternative explanations for these priming findings, alternatives that previous studies have not fully considered. In this article, I reanalyze four cases of alleged priming, using panel data to test priming effects against these alternatives. Across these four cases, I find little evidence of priming effects. Instead, campaign and media attention to an issue creates the appearance of priming through a two-part process: Exposing individuals to campaign and media messages on an issue (1) informs some of them about the parties' or candidates' positions on that issue. Once informed, (2) these individuals often adopt their preferred party's or candidate's position as their own. [source]


Challenges, lessons learned and results following the implementation of a human papilloma virus school vaccination program in South Australia

AUSTRALIAN AND NEW ZEALAND JOURNAL OF PUBLIC HEALTH, Issue 4 2009
Maureen Watson
Abstract Objective: To describe the process and challenges in the roll out of a large cervical cancer vaccination program to protect against human papilloma virus (HPV) infection. Methods: This article describes the process of planning and implementing a HPV vaccination program using the existing state-wide framework that supports vaccine delivery to all 219 high schools in South Australia. The decision was made to offer three doses of HPV vaccine to 50,191 female students in Years 8-12 during the 2007 school year. Results: By November 2007, despite many challenges, the school vaccination program had delivered 107,541 doses of HPV vaccine. Coverage of dose 1 was highest in Years 8 (83%) and 10 (70%), but was reduced for doses 2 and 3 in all year levels, with dose 3 coverage ranging from 55% (Year 11) to 77% (Year 8). Conclusions: The introduction of a large school-based vaccination program at short notice posed new challenges for the co-ordination and implementation. Not all schools supported the introduction of HPV vaccine, resulting in reduced access for some students. Negative media messages provided a strong platform for individuals who opposed vaccination. These factors may have contributed to the less-than-expected uptake of HPV vaccine. Implications: Historically, there has been high uptake of other vaccines given to adolescents. However, the introduction of HPV vaccine may have adversely affected the uptake of Hepatitis B vaccine, given concurrently in the school program. Further studies are needed to determine if this is likely to have a negative effect on the public perception of the value of vaccine programs in general. [source]