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Media Portrayal (media + portrayal)
Selected AbstractsPortrayal of depression and other mental illnesses in Australian nonfiction mediaJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 3 2005Catherine Francis This study describes Australian media portrayal of mental illnesses, focusing on depression. A random sample of 1,123 items was selected for analysis from a pool of 13,389 nonfictional media items about mental illness collected between March 2000 and February 2001. Depression was portrayed more frequently than other mental illnesses. Items about depression, eating disorders, and substance use disorders most commonly described policies or programs, whereas items about schizophrenia most frequently portrayed individuals or symptoms and treatment. A minority of items about depression presented information about symptoms, causes, treatment, or prognosis. Although such information was generally accurate, a proportion of items conveyed misleading messages. There is therefore scope for increasing the level of accurate information provided about depression in the Australian media. © 2005 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Comm Psychol 33: 283,297, 2005. [source] A11. The influence of the media on eating disordersJOURNAL OF HUMAN NUTRITION & DIETETICS, Issue 5 2000S. 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] Fallen Women and Rescued Girls: Social Stigma and Media Narratives of the Sex Industry in Victoria, B.C., from 1980 to 2005,CANADIAN REVIEW OF SOCIOLOGY/REVUE CANADIENNE DE SOCIOLOGIE, Issue 3 2006HELGA KRISTIN HALLGRIMSDOTTIR Cet article compare les portraits médiatiques de personnes qui travaillent dans l'industrie du sexe avec les représentations de soi de ces travailleurs, représentations qui incluent leurs origines personnelles et leurs expériences vécues au quotidien. Notre objectif est de jauger la distance empirique entre les descriptions médiatiques et la réalité vécue de ces travailleurs puis de comprendre comment les médias contribuent à cons-truire, reproduire et approfondir les stigmates sociaux associés au travail dans l'industrie du sexe. Nous avangons que le fait de distinguer la variabilité historique et spatiale de ces stigmates ainsi que le fait d'expli-quer leurs racines dans les activités de sens et de pratiques des auteurs et autorités médiatiques représentent une avancée cruciale pour la compréhension de leur construction sociale. This paper compares media portrayals of people who work in the sex industry with these workers' self-reports of their personal backgrounds and experiences of what they do for a living. Our aim is to first, gauge the empirical distance between media depictions and workers' lived reality, and second, to understand how the media contributes to constructing, reproducing and deepening the social stigmas associated with working in the sex industry. We argue that pulling apart the historical and spatial variability of these stigmas and explicating their roots in the meaning-making activities of media authors and authorities is a crucial step towards understanding their social construction. [source] ,Came hell and high water': the intersection of Hurricane Katrina, the news media, race and povertyJOURNAL OF COMMUNITY & APPLIED SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY, Issue 6 2007Courte C. W. Voorhees Abstract The mass devastation and suffering left in the wake of Hurricane Katrina in the US Gulf Coast brought the intersection of media and community into sharp focus. The news media played a pivotal role in almost every aspect of the disaster and its aftermath, and was harshly criticized for its depiction of minorities and for sensationalizing a human and environmental disaster. The literature suggests that media often represents minorities in a negative light, ultimately reinforcing existing social inequalities. This paper examines the portrayal of minority groups in the media during and after the storm. Data were coded from news media broadcasts to determine the nature of minority representation. Interviews were conducted with individuals from New Orleans who survived the disaster to understand issues related to media trust, the accuracy of media reports and perception of the media's portrayal of minorities. The results indicate that minorities are disproportionately shown in a passive or ,victim' role and are rarely shown in positions of expertize. Further, storm survivors indicated a misrepresentation of minorities in media coverage of the disaster, as well as reporting low levels of media trust and accuracy. The broader implications of these findings in relation to media reinforcement of social inequities and media responsibility are discussed. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source] The Terror that Failed: Public Opinion in the Aftermath of the Bombing in Oklahoma CityPUBLIC ADMINISTRATION REVIEW, Issue 3 2000Carol W. Lewis Did the bombing of the federal building in Oklahoma City affect the public's perception of terrorism as a political issue and their perceptions of individual risk and personal vulnerability? The author finds that the bombing in Oklahoma City altered neither the public's assessment of personal risk nor its reported behavior. Public opinion on terrorism and crime share three patterns: (1) perceived risk of victimization and the likely consequences affect public apprehension; (2) the voiced sense of personal security bears a direct relationship to the relative familiarity of the setting; and (3) the public shows resistance to the media's portrayal of risk. Opinion data indicate that domestic terrorism is likely to be seen as important in general and in the abstract, but with low personal risk, little impact on individuals' routine behavior, and, consequently, low political salience. In light of terrorism's purpose of inducing fear and the public's generally placid response on a personal level, the author concludes that the bombing failed as an act of domestic terrorism. [source] | ||||||||||