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Media Effects
A Narrative Perspective
James Shanahan
polity
Copyright page
Copyright © James Shanahan 2021
The right of James Shanahan to be identified as Author of this Work has been asserted in accordance with the UK Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
First published in 2021 by Polity Press
Polity Press
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All rights reserved. Except for the quotation of short passages for the purpose of criticism and review, no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording or otherwise, without the prior permission of the publisher.
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3576-7
ISBN-13: 978-1-5095-3577-4 (pb)
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library.
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Shanahan, James, 1960- author.
Title: Media effects : a narrative perspective / James Shanahan.
Description: Medford : Polity, 2020. | Includes bibliographical references and index. | Summary: “A nuanced and authoritative take on how media use affects society”-- Provided by publisher.
Identifiers: LCCN 2020006730 (print) | LCCN 2020006731 (ebook) | ISBN 9781509535767 (hardback) | ISBN 9781509535774 (paperback) | ISBN 9781509535781 (epub)
Subjects: LCSH: Mass media--Influence. | Mass media--Social aspects. | Mass media--Psychological aspects.
Classification: LCC P94 .S525 2020 (print) | LCC P94 (ebook) | DDC 302.23--dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006730
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2020006731
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Printed and bound in the UK by CPI Group (UK) Ltd, Croydon
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Figures and Tables
Figures
1 Appearance of the terms “mass communication” and “media effects” in books in English (as a % of total)
2 Number of studies appearing in Web of Science focused on “narrative persuasion,” by year
3 Number of communication studies appearing in Web of Science focused on “framing,” by year
4 Percentage of light, medium, and heavy viewers saying we are not spending enough on crime
5 Survey responses to the question “It’s better for the man to work and the woman to stay home” (% strongly disagreeing)
6 Percentage of female and male characters in network TV series, 1967–2015
7 Percentage of female TV characters, compared to responses on survey item, “It’s better for the man to work and the woman to stay home” (% strongly disagreeing)
8 Representation of whites and blacks in US network TV shows
9 Percentage of black characters on network TV, and % saying that we are not spending enough as a nation to improve conditions for black citizens
10 Example of mainstreaming; percentage of people that think crime is a “personal problem,” by TV viewership and income
Tables
1 Aspects of message system analysis
2 LGBT characters in national television, as a percentage of all characters
Preface
This book is not really a textbook. There are several fine textbooks or handbooks that deal with media effects that any student should have. I use them regularly in my own work and have contributed to some of them throughout the years. While this book attempts to provide a broad view of the field, it is also an attempt to resolve some of my own dissatisfactions with it. Chief among these has been the fact that people doing different kinds of work that bear on questions of media effect don’t seem to talk to each other. The separation of scholars into “schools” that value their own approach seems to go against the grain of the fact that none of these schools has produced work – taken on its own – outstanding enough to warrant its being called a “paradigm” for media effects research. Given this, one would think there is ample room for scholars of different methodological stripes to work with each other. Our schools of thought, as well as our actual schools, should do more to encourage this cross-fertilization.
A second issue is frustration with the fact that media effects often seems to ignore its most salient aspect, its content. The evolution of communication study
