Has new media desensitized consumers to graphic images and news?
Media desensitized consumers
Because younger news consumers are exposed to graphic images online and through other new media, concerns journalists have about presenting highly graphic images of war to readers/viewers may be unfounded, finds a new University of Arizona study.
At a time when journalists are still trying to closely monitor the amount and type of graphic images seen on traditional media such as television and film, young audiences or the "YouTube" generation in particular, might receive graphic visual images in a far different way. If this is the case, there might be serious implications for the media. In a study published in the recent issue of Visual Communication Quarterly, UA associate professor Shahira Fahmy examined whether the level of "graphicness" depicted in photos of conflict influenced viewers' perceptions.
Fahmy and Christopher McKinley, a doctoral graduate from the UA department of communication and an assistant professor in the department of communication studies at Montclair University, conducted an experiment to examine whether the manipulation of the graphicness of visual images of war impacted policy beliefs, attitudes and moods of individuals.
They found no significant differences in higher compared to lower levels of graphicness in perceived severity of war or stronger policy perceptions. There also were no differences in mood across graphicness conditions. This lack of differences indicates that many of the concerns journalists have about presenting highly graphic images of war to readers/viewers may be unfounded.
"The dilemma that photo-editors face of whether a graphic photo would be too shocking to view gathered around the breakfast table might no longer hold true in the current media environment," Fahmy said."In recent years, the number of people who began to rely on the Web as a regular and main information source has rapidly increased. Numerous individuals have become heavily subjected to online news, such as YouTube, online forums and international online news that show graphic photos and videos of war and conflict, rendering them less sensitive and perhaps even desensitized to such types of visuals," she said.
In the Post-9/11 era and the U.S. involvement in wars in the Middle East, it is possible that individuals have a need to see more graphic visuals to communicate to them the ugliness of war and help them understand the nature and consequences of these conflicts. "Perhaps it is time that the media should not visually downplay the events of war and start running graphic visuals depicting conflicts as a terrible alternative to peaceful negotiations," Fahmy said.
"While journalistic concerns about the so-called traditional ‘Breakfast Test' might no longer be appropriate in the current new media environment, there are still unique ethical codes applied by different media organizations that restrict the level of graphicness in images shown to the public," she said."In other words, while this study found viewers can handle more shocking images, ethical guidelines of different media might ultimately prevent graphic content from being shown to the public. In my opinion, journalists should start amending these ethical codes to allow for more graphic content that is already made available to the public through different media platforms."
DESENSITIZATION AND MEDIA EFFECTS
Desensitization is a psychological process that has often been involved in explaining viewers' emotional reactions to media violence. Research on emotional reactions to violent messages has been concerned with the possibility that continued exposure to violence in the mass media will result in desensitization, that is, that exposure to media violence will undermine feelings of concern, empathy, or sympathy that viewers might have toward victims of actual violence.
To understand the effects of repeated exposure to violence, researchers have suggested that viewers become comfortable with violence that is initially anxiety provoking, much as they would if they were undergoing exposure therapy. According to Gordon Paul and D. A. Bernstein (1973), exposure therapy is widely regarded as the most effective clinical therapy for training individuals to engage in behaviors that were previously inhibited by anxiety responses. Originally, researchers emphasized a therapeutic counterconditioning technique known as "systematic desensitization," in which the patient was gradually and systematically exposed to a graded series of anxiety provoking objects or situations. Many researchers, including Edna B. Foa and Michael J. Kozak (1986), have demonstrated that simply exposing a patient to frightening stimuli, regardless of whether it is presented in graduated form, will significantly diminish the anxiety or negative affect that the stimulus once evoked. This logic may be applied to the effects of repeated exposure to media violence.
Most of the early work on desensitization to media violence, such as that conducted by Victor B. Cline and his colleagues (1973) and Margaret H. Thomas and her colleagues (1977), involved exposure to rather mild forms of television violence for relatively short periods of time. These studies indicated that viewers who watched large amounts of media violence showed less physiological reactivity to violent film clips, compared to viewers who watched only small amounts, and that general physiological arousal decreased as viewers watched more violent media. Children as well as adults are susceptible to this effect.
More recently, Daniel Linz, Edward Donner-stein, and Steven Penrod (1984, 1988) measured the reactions of adult men to films that portrayed violence against women, often in a sexual context. The viewings took place over a period of several days, and comparisons of first-day reactions and last-day reactions to the films showed that, with repeated exposure, initial levels of self-reported anxiety decreased substantially. Furthermore, the research participants' perceptions of the films also changed from the first day to the last day. Material that was previously judged to be violent and degrading to women was considered to be significantly less so by the end of the exposure period. Participants also indicated that they were less depressed and enjoyed the material more with repeated exposure.
These effects generalized to responses to a victim of sexual assault in a mock trial presented to the men at a later time. Men who had been exposed to the sexually violent films, compared to a no-exposure group, rated the victim as being less severely injured. The men who had been exposed to the violent film, again compared to men in a no-exposure control group, were also less sympathetic to the rape victim portrayed in the trial and less able to empathize with rape victims in general. These effects did not emerge following exposure to a single film. Longer film exposure was necessary for it to affect the violence-viewing participants' general empathetic response. Linz and his colleagues (1984, 1988) suggested that the viewers were becoming comfortable with anxiety-provoking situations much as they would if they were undergoing desensitization therapy. Carol Krafka and her associates (1997) observed these same effects for women who viewed sexual violence. Linz and his colleagues (1989) also showed that a reduction in physiological responsiveness accompanies repeated exposure to sexualized violence and that viewing violent films results in less sympathy for victims of domestic violence as well as rape victims.
Most recently, Charles R. Mullin and Linz (1995) demonstrated that viewers who show a desensitization toward victims of violence in non-media contexts following exposure to media violence may recover sensitivity rather quickly provided they are not exposed to additional violent depictions. An experiment was conducted to examine the effects of repeated exposure to sexually violent films on emotional desensitization and callousness toward domestic abuse victims. Results indicated that emotional responses, self-reported physiological arousal, and ratings of the extent to which the films were sexually violent all diminished with repeated film exposure. Three days following exposure to the final film, participants in the experiment expressed significantly less sympathy for domestic violence victims and rated their injuries as being less severe than did a no-exposure control group. Five days after the final film exposure, the participants' level of sensitivity to the victims of domestic violence rebounded to the baseline levels that were established by the no-exposure comparison group.
In conclusion, exposure to violence in the mass media may result in a desensitization effect in which viewers experience diminished feelings of concern, empathy, or sympathy toward victims of actual violence. Research has shown that viewers who watch large amounts of media violence show less physiological reactivity to violence in other contexts. Men and women who are exposed to sexual violence in the media also show less sympathy toward rape victims portrayed in other contexts and are generally less able to empathize with rape victims. However, resensitization to victims after desensitization may occur given a sufficient rest period.
The theory of desensitization is most easily applied to violent media. Constant repetitions of violence in the media makes people jaded towards violence. The reaction becomes less prominent because as consumers of media we are used to seeing explosions, blood and guts and mayhem on a regular basis. Desensitization is usually measured by both psychological and attitudinal reactions.
Desensitization is good example of classic conditioning. The first time a person views a violent act in the media they may react strongly, like they would if the violence was occurring in real life. Consuming a heavy diet of violent media makes people less provoked and shocked by blood, guts and gore.
One of the reasons desensitization can be dangerous is because it is so closely related to the pleasure of watching television or movies. The act of watching TV is an unlearned pleasurable behavior. When you combine that pleasure with violent images and content then the person beings to associate the pleasure of watching television with the consumption of violent media. Images that might have initiated a negative response before, now give the viewer a sense of calm because of its link to relaxation.
The fact that the majority of violence people will see is through the media means that people observe violent acts without any fear of being harmed themselves. This also weakens the response people have to violence.
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