Key Theory 16 - George Gerbner - Cultivation Theory

Key Theory 16 - George Gerbner - Cultivation Theory

 Cultivations Theory: "The idea that prolonged and heavy exposure to [TV]... cultivates" , as in grows or develops in audiences "a view of the world consistent with the dominant or majority view expounded by television."

Outline of Cultivation Theory:
Television (and by extension other tools of mass media distributions) present a mainstream view of culture, ignoring everything else. In doing so, television (etc) distorts reality. Heavy television users are therefore likely to accept this edited and distorted view of reality.

Issues with the Cultivation Theory:
Not everyone watches excessive amounts of television.
While this theory may have been useful in the 1970s, with only three channels, the ridiculous amount of ways that we have of accessing media now challenges the idea that any ideology can be mainstream. The theory is less relevant now.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Part One Music Videos: Riptide- Montage editing, hard jump cuts, contrasting shots with juxtopositioning Mise-en-scene Horror iconography, lighting - references horror genre - subversive Binary oppositions - Levi Strauss.
Read more

How does the front cover of the set edition of Woman reflect the socio-historical context in which it was made?

Image
How does the front cover of the set edition of Woman reflect the socio-historical context in which it was made? On the one hand I would say that the front cover of Woman magazine reflects the socio-historical context in which it was made because of the fact that the main image of the woman that is used on the front cover is a woman that would appeal to the target audience at the time the magazine was published. This is because most women at the time this magazine was issued would, stereotypically, have been housewives and very domesticated. They would have often taken care of activities such as: washing, cleaning, cooking and they were also seen as very maternal and, therefore, loving and caring for their children. The main image of Woman magazine appeals to this demographic because of the fact that she represents the ideal woman at this time. This is because of the fact that she is wearing practical clothes so that she can clean and cook easily and she is also wearing make
Read more
Image
The contents page of the "Womans" magazine creates many assumptions about the target audience for the magazine. This is because  Betty Friedan (American feminist) said that advertisements portrayed women in a particular way: "Women are shown solely as: men's wife, mother, love object, dishwasher, cleaner and never as a person". How does the magazine's contents page reflect: Codes and conventions of the sub-genre of magazine? Social and cultural context of the magazine? The target audience? The contents page of the "Woman's" magazine creates many assumptions about the target audience for the magazine. This is because the contents page displays all of the articles that will be featured throughout the magazine. Most of the headings are very stereotypical of women at this time because they are things such as: beauty, cookery, fashion, home and knitting. This means that the magazine assumes that women would naturally enjoy and w
Read more