Cultivation Analysis

Dr. George Gerbner, Dean & Professor of The Annenberg School for Communication from 1964 – 1989 at the University of Pennsylvania. He is founder of the Cultural Environment Movement: 1) support media education, 2) work for democratic media reform, 3) place cultural issues on the sociopolitical agenda, and 4) develop ways of participation in local, national and international cultural policy-making.

Most communication theory came out of Psych. Theory and measuring “change”. For example, the magic bullet theory/hypodermic needle theory measured the immediately violent reactions after watching violent programming, propagandists measured immediate attitudinal change after watching war propaganda, etc. For example: Cultivation analysis would study the images of violence that tell a story about victims and violent people.

Gerbner’s Cultivation Analysis posits the following:

1. Human beings learn how to be members of our culture and are socialized through our stories. They used to be told orally. Stories stay with us for a long time and teach us how think of the world: a. Tell us how things work b. Tell us how things are/came to be c. Tell us what our choices are and what we ought to do about them 2. Most/much of what we know, or think we know, we have never personally experienced; we learn about it through stories. 3. Television is THE number one storyteller in our culture – Americans spend 1/3 of their free time with television 4. Stories on television are told by a relatively small group of conglomerates with stuff to sell us 5. Cultivation analysis looks at the values that are continuously shaped, over time. There is no end or beginning. Who do you see repeatedly? Who DON’T you see? Who can get away with what against whom? 6. Gerbner discerned between HEAVY viewers (four or more – usually up to seven/day) and LIGHT viewers (up to two hours/day) of television a. Light viewers i. perception of life + reality of televison = is not the same ii. choose shows iii. get information from many other sources (radio, internet, newspaper, cultural events, plays, music) b. Heavy viewers i. reality of television + perception of reality = the same ii. are not selective about shows iii. think racism no longer exists/think it’s over iv. support segregation v. much less likely to vote for a female president vi. more likely to view world as more dangerous (mean world syndrome) 1. more fearful a. support law and order and more police b. more distrustful of others’ motives c. overestimate the number of people in law enforcement d. DON’T KNOW WHAT OUR MILITARY DEFENSE BUDGET IS 2. support capital punishment, 3 strikes, building of prisons 3. easy to exploit: WAR on drugs, WAR on crime, WAR on terrorism c. Casting & fate – (Who do you see? What stories are being told? Who don’t you see? Who can get away with what to whom?): i. Women are 1/3 or less of characters on tv except soap operas 1. older women usually play evil characters 2. black women play the most evil/wicked characters 3. women lose roles after the age of 35 esp. romantic leads 4. women are bodies, sexuality ii. “Poor”/low-income represent 13% of US population; they are 1.3% of prime time – usually connected with crime, drugs and violence iii. 17 white female victims per 1 white male victim of violence iv. 22 minority female victims per 1 white male victim v. Villians are disproportionately male, lower-class, young and latino, foreign or black vi. Affect the ways we view each other and interact with each other

So What?

1. Even if we do not watch that much television, everyone else we interact with DOES. And they are the judge or jury in a lawsuit against you or when they hear about a crime that has been done to you and react in accordance with what TV has told them about that crime.

2. Cultivation analysis looks at the values that are continuously shaped, over time. There is no end or beginning. Who do you see repeatedly? Who DON’T you see? Who can get away with what against whom?

a. Over half of prime-time programs contain violence or the threat of violence b. Television’s stories shape our occupational choices. c. TV stories told by conglomerates/advertisers: subway violence is a real threat when in fact you are more likely to be injured in a car crash; the car commercials make automobiles seem as safe as sitting at home. d. Shapes how we interact with each other: racially, opposite sex, gays, etc. e. Shapes our sense of opportunities, potential and the range of activities in which we are likely to be seen as appropriate f. TV drama/fiction show successful African Americans – News show black violence and crime: erase problems caused by racism – poverty and racism the fault of black people i. Bowling for Columbine: Scary black male – Culture of Fear based on Cultivation Analysis g. TV provides segregated images – heavy viewers support segregation h. Asians, Latinos, Native Americans are missing… does this equate to less political power? Less commercial buying power? i. Violence is normalized. It’s a way to solve problems and EVERYONE does it so it’s okay. Even the heroes participate in violence. j. People are afraid of strangers, of people in their communities. (Gated suburbs). k. Lose our ability to empathize with victims because there are no consequences. We stop being outraged by violence. We stop resisting and protesting. Statistics of violence against women is now 1 in 3. But it’s now normalized. 3. Fox News/University of Maryland study (3,000) of those who only got news from one source were asked the following questions a. Do you believe that the US has already found the weapons of mass destruction in Iraq b. Do you believe that Saddam Hussein was somehow responsible for 9-11 attacks? c. Do you believe that the rest of the world backed the US against Iraq? i. 60% answered yes to at least 1 question ii. 80% of Fox viewers answered yes to 1 or more questions

EXAMPLE: TV stories are told by conglomerates: subway violence is presented as extremely dangerous when in fact you are more likely to be injured in a car crash; the car commercials make automobiles seem extremely safe.

Rebecca A. Walter