Shock and Awe: A stimulus to Inaction? (2015)
Undergraduate: Sylvia Roper
Faculty Advisor: Leslie Frost
Department: Political Science
¿¿¿If it bleeds, it leads¿¿¿ is a leading theme characterizing the recent film, Nightcrawler. Its disturbingly realistic story is that of an individual, Lou Bloom, who decides to sell graphic footage to local television news stations for profit. Simultaneously, Bloom¿¿¿s behavior grows more aggressive and his apathy towards violent or tragic situations increases.
In the increasingly interconnected and informed world, many agree that news media has a wealth of power as they deliver a wealth of information to their viewers. News outlets are concerned with not only providing information but also gaining a larger audience than their competition and increasing ratings. Each outlet has a choice in how it aims to do this but, much of the time, the debate is centered upon utilizing graphic or violent footage. Scholars define media desensitization as ¿¿¿the gradual reduction in responsiveness to an arousal-eliciting stimulus as a function of repeated exposure.¿¿¿ A recent study by Brad Bushman and Craig Anderson pointed out that although there is a positive correlation between prolonged exposure to media violence and heightened aggression, news media is reluctant to report on it. In fact, news outlets either ignore or refute new evidence for the correlation. My research will analyze why television news media still utilizes graphic or violent footage when there have been many studies showing the adverse effects of this footage on their audience.