Ernst- Moritz- Arndt- University, Greifswald

The role of the media in the United States
and the media’s influence on aggression, violence,
crime and the individual or: Blame it on the media?

by

Adriana Zühlke

Table of contents

1.0 Introduction

2.0 Historical development of the media and status quo

2.1 Critical assessment of the media’s functions

3.0 Television’s influence on violence and crime: common views

3.1.1 Statistics and research: status of television and its potential influence on the individual
3.1.2 Theses on the effects of media violence
3.1.3 Evaluation of personal determinants: biological, cultural, social and developmental influences

4.0 Conclusion: the correlation between theory and reality

5.0 Perspectives: a call for action and the responsibility of state and society

6.0 Illustrations

7.0 References

8.0 Bibliography

1.0 Introduction

Today the media is often seen as the “fourth estate” of the American system, which already marks its special position in society. This term-paper will show both how that position historically developed and which role the media plays currently. In order to underline the specific conditions and political and social circumstances that existed in the colonies and later in the United States, e.g. the British Kingdom’s influence and its predominance, the media’s gradual development will be traced back carefully. Furthermore, it shall be given an answer to the question if and in what respect the media influenced and influences social and personal life. This will be analyzed with regard to the media’s functions and its reputation as being responsible for high violence and crime rates in the USA. Moreover, an insight into common views and prejudices of the media will be given and compared to reality. To answer the question if the media is really responsible for crimes, violence and aggression, its status in our lives must be examined. That means it will be considered of what importance the media can be for the individual and which positive and negative consequences might arise from the media’s existence and significance. Moreover, it shall be shown that media violence has certain potential effects on the individual and is able to affect everybody.

On the one hand, this term-paper will point out that the media’s impact on political, social and personal life is underestimated, respectively often not even acknowledged. On the other hand, it shall be presented that the media serves also as scapegoat and can not be blamed for everything, in particular it can not be held responsible for crime, violence and aggression all alone. To prove that, an individual’s personal determinants will be analyzed in order to underline the various aspects that must come together to create violence and aggression. Finally, actions of state and society with the purpose of reducing violence on TV are portrayed and further suggestions are made on that topic. Within the analysis, special attention is turned to television as the medium of the 21st century. Due to its characteristics (stimulating the recipient audio-visually, having the greatest potential of manipulation and fascination, being seen as the most important, most credible and easiest accessible source of information and depicting violence and aggression most effectively) it is the medium which the examination must base on.

2.0 Historical development of the media and status quo

The desire for information and freedom of speech and press is deep- rooted in American history since the British rulers imposed strict control over unwanted ideas and information which arose in the colonies. On the one hand, that control was successful, thus Publick Occurences, Both Forreign and Domestick, which is regarded as the oldest newspaper*, was prohibited after the first circulation because “it reported that English armed forces had allied themselves with ‘miserable savages’1 ”. On the other hand, the geographical distance to the British supreme power made control difficult in most cases and affected journalistic emancipation. One of the most important milestones during the development of a free press in America was “John Peter Zenger’s trial for seditious libel for publishing criticisms of New York’s governor in his newspaper, the New York Weekly Journal2. The trial in the year 1735 was based on English common law, which intended punishment for “criticism that fostered an ill opinion of the government”3. John Peter Zenger was found not guilty because the jury agreed with his lawyer, who argued that the editor had only published the truth. Although the law was not changed after that trial, editors in the whole country were “emboldened to criticize officials more freely”4. As a result, more and more newspapers were published and the press gained a status of being the ‘people’s voice’, an important source of information and a means to protest. The latter function played an important role in the quarrel about the Stamp Act in 1765 when newspapers were printed with skull and crossbones instead of the prescribed stamp on the front page. Finally, the Stamp Act was repealed due to the people’s boycott of British goods and their protest. The fight between the colonists and the British colonial power was observed carefully by the press and culminated in the War of Independence. This war was not only a struggle for democracy and independence but also for basic (civil) rights like freedom of speech and press, which were adopted in the Bill of Rights in 1791 and are still effective. Especially the First Amendment is decisive for the further development of the media:

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* Published 1690 in Boston