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Media Literacy Review
Center for Advanced Technology in Education - College of Education - University of Oregon - Eugene
Media and Violence

'A look at..The new TV ratings', Washington Post Jan 5 1997. A group of 7-14 year old Americans talk about their understanding of the age-based television rating system on US television.

Amis, Martin (1996), 'Violence as an art form', The Weekend Australian Nov 30-Dec 1. Reprinted from Screen Violence, a collection by Karl French.Astrongly-argued, intelligent defence of representations of violence in film.

Barber, Lynden (1999), `Teen screen' The Weekend Australian May 29-30. One of the rash of articles about screen violence which appeared in the wake of the Littleton shootings.

Barratt, Jim (1997), 'Video rights and wrongs: teenagers' attitudes to video classification in Britain', The English & Media Magazine 36, Summer. Argues for alternatives to increased censorship, based for on the perceptions of users than institutions.

Billen, Andrew (1996), 'We have no faith in the law. Could it be because our police are watching the box not wisely, but too well?', New Statesman Oct 25. Morality in 1990s TV police drama.

Bogart, Leo (1998), 'Should the V-chip fall where it may?', Television Quarterly 3. Arguing for a techno-fix for perceived problems.

Boyle, Ian (1996), 'The sounds of violence', arena magazine Oct-Nov. A long-serving television sound technician gives his views on violence in the movies.

Bragg, Sara (1997), 'Teaching TV violence critical approaches', The English & Media Magazine 36, Summer. A critique of one British approach to teaching a contentious subject. ,p. Browne, David (1997), 'Must bleed TV', Entertainment Weekly Jan 24. The last refuge of action-adventure TV, on US cable and syndication.

Buckingham, David & Julian Sefton-Green (1997), 'From regulation to education? Sex, violence and censorship', The English & Media Magazine 36, Summer. The problems of using media education as a cure-all for perceived problems.,p. Cerone, Daniel H (1995), 'TV Networks' handling of violence praised by study', Los Angeles Times. Sept. 20. A report on the year-long study by the UCLA Center for Communication Policy on television representations ov violence in the USA. The networks are described as "generally responsible" buyt children's programmning is strongly criticised.

Chiricos. Ted, S. Eschholz & M. Gertz (1997), 'Crime, news and fear of crime: towards an identification of audience effects', Social Problems 44:3, August. Extensive research of Florida citizens suggests that fear of crime generated by TV news coverage is only significant for white females between the ages of 30 and 54.

Cockburn, Alexander (1996), 'When US politicians get fired up about screen violence, it has to be election year', New Statesman & Society May 17. The title says it all!

Cornwell, Tim (1999), `We couldn't have prevented this rampage…', TES April 30. A British perspective on Littleton. Such reports tended to be more reasoned and less blame-seeking than American reports.

Dargis, Manohla (1997). 'Sleeping with guns', Sight and Sound May. Film-maker Wim Wenders talks violence on the screen and his new film The End of Violence.

Dessart, George (1997), 'Reflections on the V-Chip', Television Quarterly 28:3. A commentary on regulation in the USA, by a former VP of CBS. In July, another network (NBC) announced that it was boycotting any further extension of TV content ratings.

Dietz, Tracy L. (1998), 'An examination of violence and gender role portrayals in video games: implications for gender socialization and aggressive behavior', Sex Roles 38:5/6. Rather predictable findings, that conclude that male characters and agressive characters dominate video games.

Dutka, Elaine (1995), 'Debate on violence in films intensifies', Los Angeles Times Nov 29. The focus this time is the Columbia Pictures Money Train which has attracted little criticism in New Zealand.

Dworkin, Andrea (1996), 'Slicing the baby in half', The Times Higher, Nov 1 A n extended review of a new collection Screen Violence, edited by Karl French. Even though Dworkin's own views intrude more than they should, it does not sound like a good book.

Farhi, Paul (1996), 'Is TV pulling its punches?', The Washington Post Oct 16. Reports on the 1996 UCLA study of representations of violence on American network TV which concludes that network TV programmes are becoming less violent.

Felson, Richard B. (1996), 'Mass media effectson violent behavior', Annual Review of Sociology 22. Yet another review of the literature on the effect of exposure to media violence,arguing that it 'probably does have a small effect on violent behavior for some viewers, possibly because the media direct viewer's attention to novel forms of violent behavior that they would not otherwise consider.'

Groebel, Jo (1998), 'The UNESCO Global Study on Media Violence' A joint project of UNESCO, the World Organization of the Scout Movement, and Utrecht University. These kind of reports keep coming, saying pretty much the same things again, but nothing much happens in the area of policy and media education.

Harvey, Sylvia (1998), 'Doing it my way--broadcasting regulation in capitalist cultures: the case of 'fairness' and 'impartiality'', Media, Culture & Society 20. Addresses the fundamental question 'Why regulate broadcasting?'.

Herd, Juliet (1996), 'Crash: art or erotic trash?', The Weekend Australian Nov 30-Dec 1. Controversy in Britain over the new David Cronenberg film Crash.

Hepburn, Mary A. (1997), 'TV violence: a medium's effects under scrutiny', Social Education 61:5, September. A fairly predictable review of North American effects research. The Classroom Focus insert 'Media literacy and violence' is better.

Holley, Joe (1996), 'Should the coverage fit the crime?', CJR May/June. How a Texas TV station is attempting to avoid or downplay sensational and excessive reporting of crime and public violence.

Kurtz, Howard (1997), 'Violence on TV: a lot of it is on the Network News', Washington Post Aug 12. Content analysis that while the actual homicide rate in the USA is falling, stories on crime are increasing on TV news (by over 700% in the period 1993-1996).

Levin, Diane E. & N. Carlsson-Paige (1996), 'Disempowering the Power Rangers'', The Education Digest May. Teacher opinions about the contentious Rangers. Isn't it a pity though that children are seldom asked for their opinion?

Meade, Amanda (1998), 'No sex please', The Australian June 24. Political pressure behind the demise of the Australian programme Sex/Life.

Miller, David & Greg Philo (1996), 'Against orthodoxy: the media DO influence us', Sight and Sound Dec. Really tilting at straw men as there is no 'orthodoxy' that argues that the media has No influence. The argument is more about the degree or importance of such influence.

Miller, George (1999), `Life is not necessarily beautiful', The Australian June 2. An Australian film-maker (Mad Max, Babe) gives his opinion on screen violence.

Murray, Matthew (1997), 'Technological thresholds: the V-Chip, the family and media regulation', Convergence3:1, Spring. A fuller examination of media regulation which argues that solutions such as the V-Chip just 'privilege certain viewers' values over others'.

Patel, Kam (1995), 'Crime, lives and videotape', The Times Higher Oct 27. Film-makers David Puttnam and Michael Winner provide opposing views on the influence of violence in the movies.

Potter, W. James (1997), 'The problem of indexing risk of viewing television aggression', Critical Studies in Mass Communication 14, Sept. Argues that a ratings system for television violence 'is not just a simple solution; it is simple-minded'.

'Real violence and TV', Washington Post March 3 1997. One example of rampant stupidity in the 'television violence' debate, when a US congressman aired his views on 'the violence..and nudity' after a TV screening of Schindler's List..

Sander, Igo (1997), 'How violent is TV violence? An empirical investigation of factors influencing viewers' perceptions of TV violence', European Journal of Communication 12(1). An imaginative and persausive examination of how viewers perceive this thing called 'TV violence'. It shifts the focus away from research definitions, to those who watch the programmes. Recommended reading (even if it is very long!

Shales, Tom (1997), 'TV ratings: G is for give them a chance', Washington Post March 9. Shales argues that attacks on the new TV ratings system are premature.

Shoesmith, Brian (1998), 'No sex! No violence! No news! Satellite and cable television in China', Media Asia 25:1. Interrogates the Australian documentary No Sex! No Violence! No News!

Soothill, Keith (1998), 'Crime and the media: a vicious circle?', AQ March-April. Reviews the literature and arguments over the connections between violent content in the media, and violence in society.

Stewart, Cameron (1999), `Satan or scapegoat?', The Weekend Australian April 24-25. Investigates the charges against Marilyn Manson and other `causes' of teen violence. I wonder if anyone will remember MM in a year's time?

Stossel, Scott (1997), 'The man who counts the killings', Atlantic Monthly May. A profile of George Gerbner and his Cultural Indicastors project; the dominant research paradigm which is being interrogated in the article above.

Turnbull, Sue (1997). 'On looking in the wrong places: Port Arthur and the media violence debate', AQ 69:1. The title of this article is self-explanatory, as a challenge to predictable responses to the 1996 mass killings in Tasmania. The saddest image in this piece is the image of killer Martin Bryant regularly flying around the world, in order to have someone to talk to in the next seat.

'The V-Chip: Where do we go from here? The reality of television ratings in the United States'. Children Now . One of a series of briefings hosted by Children Now's Children and the Media program. Lobbyists and industry representatives discuss the rights and wrongs of the V-Chip, as a technological fix for a perceived problem. (On this subject, who were the Labour Party listening to when they decided to include the V-Chip in their1996 Broadcasting Policy statement?)

Wood, Julian (1996), 'Screen violence still a maze', small screen 109,Oct. A report on a 1996 conference on the media, organised by the British Board of Film Censors.


        

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