Mean World Syndrome Essay

Does the media influence us? George Gerbner of the University of Pennsylvania states, that television has become the main source for storytelling in society. It is responsible for, shaping, or cultivating, viewers perceptions of social reality. The "Mean World Syndrome", is a term coined by Gerbner (1986), which developed through his innovative research project, "the Cultivation theory". The Mean world Syndrome, is a phenomenon whereby, violent-related content of mass media makes viewers believe that, the world is more dangerous than it actually is. This therefore, makes the human population believe that the world is only filled of mean people, who cannot be trusted and who are likely to harm us. It is a process that is gradual yet, cumulative.
The presentation of current affairs has become quite ruthless.
Trinidad and Tobago Newsday's, front page on December 16th, 2013, reads "Three sisters report abuse by relative to police: STEPDAD ON RAPE CHARGES". A man from Central Trinidad was charged by the police with raping his three stepdaughters. The charges alleged that he was a labourer, who lived with his common law wife and her three daughters, whom raped the girls aged 12, 14 and 18, on numerous occasions spanning a two- year period.(Ali, 2013) Most of Trinidad and Tobago's new stories and headlines are violent and crime related. You can't really turn yourself away because, you are biologically programmed to pay attention to any potential threats. Therefore, individuals who consume a lot of these media stories, create a sense of anxiety, fear and anger that is out of proportion with reality. This insecurity , often leads to a greater desire for protection, from the perceived danger. In the case of the above news story, a mother may prohibit their child/children from associating with any male friends or family members or, have them under strong
supervision.
There are three types of television viewers, light, medium and heavy viewers. However, the mean world syndrome phenomenon focuses on, heavy viewers. People who watch a lot of television are likely to be more influenced by the ways in which the world is framed by television programs, unlike those who watch less. Especially regarding topics of which the viewer has little first-hand experience. Light viewers however, such as the Amish community who tend to ignore television, see the world as a comfortable, safe environment, where little or no violence occur. They find television to be senseless, and do not wish to corrupt their, morals with graphic images that are shown. In this instance, they are ignorant to, the wider worlds news and the current affairs that are circulated. These individuals live simple and happy.

In addition, not only is the content/topics of current affairs a delimmmea, but how it is presented.
News tend to exaggerate stories in order to, gain more ratings or simply make news more interesting to grap your attention. An example of this, is a freelancer at the Reuters International News Agency, was fired a couple of years ago because, he altered pictures of Israeli air strikes in Lebanon to make the damage appear worse. An additional example, is following the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico that took place in 2010. The British news magazine The Economist drew criticism when it altered a picture by the Reuters News Agency. President Obama on a Louisiana-inspection trip with two local officials in actuality, was looking down, with an expression of concentration on his face listening to one of the country's officials. However, the picture was altered to make the president's facial expression seem pensive. The headline read "Obama vs BP", "The Drama Beyond the Spill". The magazine defended its photo and noted they often altered pictures on the cover, either as an "obvious joke" or to bring out the central character. It is simply unethical to edit photos in order to mislead audiences, there are strict policies against users modifying, removing, or altering photographs without permission.(Ramsey, Smith, Whitaker,
2008)