FAML 430-05 Dian Harper
L10 Nugget List: Ecology of the Mass Media
Nugget List: Media
1. Media affect socialization because they influence values, beliefs, attitudes, and
behavior is the change of scale or pace or pattern that it introduces into human
affairs.”
a. Mass media are shapers of culture in that their form and content affect us in
some way like the products we buy.
b. The mass media are spreaders of culture in that they extend our capacity as
human being to process information and, in so doing, transform us in some
way like our ability to multitask.
c. The mass media are transformers of culture in that new media create new
environments, as well as new ways of looking at existing environments.
(Berns, Roberta M., Child, Family, School, Community Socialization and Support, (Belmont,
CA: Wadsworth/Thompson Learning 2009). © 2009 by Wadsworth/Thompson Learning. Pp
331-332)
2. The way screen media presents information affects an individual’s perception of
reality. Also, perception of a particular thing may vary among individuals due to their
biology and experiences. The forms generally used in children’s programming are
perceptually salient (high action, special visual and auditory effects) as opposed to
less striking ones (dialogue, moderate action). Studies have found that TV, movies,
and other media provide a multitude of images that have the capacity to worry,
frighten, or even traumatize children. Violence is portrayed to glamorize, sanitize and
trivialize aggression. When violence goes unpunished (in media) is justified, or shows
