Legal and ethical issues

LO: To consider the legal, regulatory and ethical issues surrounding media products

Hypodermic needle theory 

• Theorises that audiences are essentially passive and they will readily absorb messaged relayed to them by the media
• This means that, after watching a violent horror film or playing a violent video game, audience members will be negatively influenced
• Presupposes that audiences are passive (unable to reject media messages) rather than active (they make sense of media messages though personal and social contexts)
• Desensitisation by exposure 

Moral Panic and Folk Devils

• Developed in 1972 by Stanley Cohen 
• Encompassed ideas of folk devils (bad influences) in society 
• Moral panic happens when 'a condition, episode, person or group or persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal values and interests'
• His research was based on the mods and rockers in the 1960s but have since been applied to media 

     Stages of moral panic 

1. Something/someone/a group is defined as a threat to social norms or community interests 
2. Threat is depicted in a simple and recognisable symbol/form by the media
3. Portrayal of symbol causes public concern 
4. Authorities and policy makers respond to this 
5. Moral panic over the issue and results in social changes within the community 

Regulatory bodies 

Ofcom (office of communications)

• regulate all broadcast content across UK television channels 
• Ofcom have a statutory duty to represent the interests of citizens and consumers by promoting competition and protecting the public from harmful or offensive media 
• Complaints to Ofcom can result in a show, or segment of a show being taken off air.

Case studies 

• Hungerford masacre (1987)

Michael Robert Ryan shot 16 people before turning the gun on himself. Shooter was said to be obsessed with film 'First Blood' and potentially influenced by it.

• James Bulger 

Torture and killing of two year old James Bulger by two 10 year old boys was said to be influence by horror movie 'Child's Play 3' 

• Combine masacre (1999)

High school shooting was thought to be influenced by POV shooting games such as 'Doom' and '3D Wolfenstein'

• Cinema shooting, Colorado (2012)

Shooting of people in a cinema queue was said to be influenced by 'The Dark Knight Rises'