The media is a great way to inform the public of whatever is happening locally, nationally, or internationally. It gives the people a certain view of the world from a different perspective, that being the subjects of the stories. While these stories may be truthful, they are not always applicable to the entire world. However, sometimes the more a person watches issues across the world being covered on the news, the more he or she feels threatened in his or her own home; this explanation of how media effects the public is called the cultivation theory.
The cultivation theory can be used to explain why folks who frequently interact with the media feel more endangered to being victimized by things such as crime. People that are affected by cultivation tend to lose sight of what the real world is like and instead use what they view on TV or movies as evidence of their beliefs. Although it may be unintentional, this is another method that allows the media to instill certain perceptions into the minds of it's audience. Sometimes, the viewer's real world experiences only reinforces the things he or she sees happening in the world; this is called mainstreaming. On the other hand, it may be that the viewer's reality only ratifies the views of the media, thus the cultivation effect is increased through what is called resonance.
Just because the streets of South Central Los Angeles may be littered with violence at times, "George" in Cooper, Texas should not have to worry about the dangers of walking to get the mail when he arrives home late. However, George's reality of being on the street late at night is cluttered with paranoia, especially since he just watched "Boyz n tha Hood". That movie's view of violence in the streets along with crime reports George sees on the news combines with his real life situation of being out late; this is mainstreaming. If George happened to actually live in Compton and he accepts the crime he sees in media, his fear of reality would decrease through what is resonance; he assumes that violent crime is the standard for the entire world so he doesn't worry.
Throughout the early 1990s, George may have been feeling the effects of cultivation because of the following media coverage:
"Boyz n da Hood" trailer:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J4sKiGkzKJo&feature=related
Rodney King Riots News Coverage:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vx-8R2juK3A
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