A Journal Article Analysis of Desensitization in News Reports
Desensitization:
A Journal Article Analysis of Desensitization in News Reports In this article, Scharrer (2008) looks at whether people become desensitized to violence from their everyday interactions and exposure to entertainment television, local newspapers, and local television news. Specifically this study looks at violence in news content and people’s view of the violence in the news content along with their levels of empathy. This problem is worth studying because desensitization can sometimes help the learning of violence and make some violence not appear as bad, and if people become desensitized from their everyday interactions with the media it has the potential to shape the lives of many and for crime to become more severe because we are not as affected by lesser crime.
The theory of desensitization was used within this article. I believe with what the author was aiming to study desensitization was an excellent choice to utilize. This is because “desensitization has been defined as a short term, immediate drop in concern or sympathy about violence,” (Scharrer, 2008, p. 292). While desensitization has a short-term effect it also has a long-term effect of lesser concern that can be caused by repeated exposure to violence in the media. If you see something in the media repeatedly, especially violence, this can lead to you overlooking and not being as concerned about violence. As we see violence in the media nearly everyday, we can begin to overlook it or grow less concerned with it. The author looks at a topic that has had previous research done on it, and has also completed adequate research on the topic. Scharrer examines violence in news content, her theory, and multiple things that may provide support for her theory. It really helped that she looked at crime themes in previous research. The method had a clear foundation. The study did need to have a more diverse population of respondents. With 82% of the respondents being white, it is not an accurate representation of the population, so the results cannot be generalized. Although there was not enough diversity in race, I was very pleased that the diversity in gender was very close with 47% of respondents being men and 53% women. Another area that the study lacks is that the surveys are self-reported and when people self-report they may sometimes answer according to what they think you want them to say or what they think may be the correct answer. This can throw off results. I believe that interviews would be an interesting approach rather than surveys because there is a chance for more accuracy and understanding of the way people see violence. One thing that I really enjoyed in the method was that the author survey people in three different states. While to be ultimately generalizable you would need to look at more than three states, I believe that it was a good approach to look at the multiple states from the start. The article was presented in a way that I can understand and it also helps me understand the study and the theory that the author was studying. In some parts of the result section I do find it difficult to understand, but the discussion sections helps clear things up. It also helped that the article has so many graphs so that I could have a visual to help me understand. Due to the results section, I believe that the study may have furthered research and has a lot of potential, but I have suggestions for better research. With the weaknesses of the method I believe there should be more research done. I think there should be a study done on each of the specific areas of the media. I also believe that there should be less of a racial gap within the research conducted. Overall there should be more research completes.
Reference
Scharrer, E. (2008). Media exposure and sensitivity to violence in news reports: Evidence of desensitization. Journalism & Mass Communication Quarterly, (85) 2, 291- 310. Retrieved from: Communication & Mass Media Complete
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