In recent years media organizations such as MTV and RTÉ have expanded the boundaries of the content of shows which they broadcast. Shows such as Game of Thrones, which portrays violent and sexual content in great detail, have become a normal occurrence. This trend has resulted in the surfacing of the well debated question of how exposure to certain media outputs can affect the behaviour of viewers either positively or negatively. This leads to further worries that if the audience as a whole can be affected by media images, then how does exposure to sexual and violent media texts affect the behaviour of the younger, more impressionable, audience? The common belief that younger people are more susceptible to media content is an inescapable conclusion, …show more content…
MTV describes 16 and Pregnant as an “hour-long documentary series focusing on the controversial subject of teen pregnancy. Each episode follows a 5-7 month period in the life of a teenager as she navigates the bumpy terrain of adolescence, growing pains, rebellion, and coming of age; all while dealing with being pregnant.” (MTV, 2015). This essay will investigate the audience’s reception to 16 and pregnant and Teen Mom along with researching whether the shows have influenced or discouraged teenage pregnancy or in fact promoted the use of various birth control options. It will also look at whether it ultimately worked as an educational tool for its young audience. Can the broadcasting of shows such as these, where the young audience is exposed to the media images of pregnant teenagers, have a positive effect on how teenagers view teen’ pregnancy and contraception? If shows like this can in fact influence behaviours in a positive way, then it would have a productive effect on how we as an audience see the impact that the media can …show more content…
Google Trends provides the frequency with which different terms or phrases are searched on Google. The index, which the frequency is measured in ranges from 1 to 100, 100 is set in the period where the popularity of the term is at its highest. Data which dates back to 2004 is available in many countries but for this essay America was the main focus as this is where the show is set. Google Trends was used with Twitter in order to gather information on potential rises in web searches and tweets, these were counted as pieces of qualitative data. Firstly, research began by finding out how frequently key episode words, such as the episode title that week or names of people who were in the show, occurred in a tweet or web search after an episode. Then terms relating to contraception and birth control were examined to see if there was a spike in searches during or after the episode being aired, both of these examinations were checked from before the show started through to the present. Using Google Trends and Twitter also allowed a view into the popularity of searches or tweets in different geographic regions, due to Googles use of IP addresses. Researching geographic variation allowed further data to be collected to see if there
To begin with, the narrator provides research and graphs to show how people feel as they watch different shows. Furthermore, she gets into other research about television, except this time about interests, for instance, inspiration state and moral ambiguity state, comfort, social commentary, and irrelevance, and fantasy and imagination.
How much of television is comprised of real life? By examining one show within its context, one can find the answer. Reality is reflected in the themes; rhetorical strategies; and audience, importance, and popularity. By examining the situational comedy series: Drake and Josh, a popular teen show from 2004, it is possible to see how reality shapes television. Drake and Josh is centered around two brothers in San Diego, California: Drake and Josh. Drake is portrayed as the suave, charming, bad boy in a band. He gets all the girls, leaving Josh in the dust. Josh is a nerdy brainiac, who has an unhealthy infatuation with Oprah Winfrey. They also have a meteorologist father and a kooky mother. Plus, a younger sister who painfully pranks them in
The MTV series 16 And Pregnant and its follow up series titled Teen Mom is a documentary like series that first aired in 2009 on June 11 and since then has had many seasons and sequels to follow it. Each episode in the series focuses on several young girls for 5-7 moths while they have to deal with the struggle of teenage pregnancy and “life after labor”. The initial idea or the show was to promote teen pregnancy prevention but, with many of the girls behaving scandalously and recklessly during the series, the show has become one of the most controversial on MTV.
Imagine juggling the stress of graduating high school and the stress of embracing parenthood at the same time. “In 2009, six pregnant teens allowed MTV to film their pregnancies in the hopes that youngsters watching the resultant show--16 and Pregnant-- would learn from their mistakes and wait to start families” (Dockterman 1). This is the reality for many teens today. According to the March of Dimes, about three in ten teenage girls become pregnant before the age of twenty. (Slocum 1). MTV hosts many different tv shows like Teen Mom and 16 and Pregnant. In broadcasting the lifestyles of young teenage mothers, these shows also allow others to see the struggles that the young teen mothers face preparing for and caring for a baby. While many
Clark, C, Ghosh, A, Green, E, Shariff,N. (n.d) Media Portrayal of Young People – impact and influences. [Internet], UK, Young Researcher Network. Available from: [Accessed 2nd January 2012]
For example, Aubrey, Behm-Morawitz and Kim state, “Girls who watched "16 and Pregnant,"… reported a lower perception of their own risk for pregnancy and a greater perception that the benefits of teen pregnancy outweigh the risks” (qtd. in Lori Harwood). In other words, due to the fanciful perception this program transmits,
Smith, Aaron and Joanna Brenner. “Twitter Use 2012.” PewResearch Internet Project. 1-3. Web. 15 Mar. 2014.
...trop, K., Brown, J., & Ortiz, R. (2010). “Science Says #45: Evaluating the Impact of MTV’s 16 and Pregnant on Teens' Attitudes about Teen Pregnancy”. https://thenationalcampaign.org/resource/science-says-45 (accessed March 25 2014)
The media has changed significantly over the past decades. Technology has modified our abilities to expand our communication network, and it allows companies to spread their commercials over many different continents. Research done by Roberts (1993) shows that adolescent and children are often very influenced by media that involves sexual or violent conduct. This research is based on media involving children and adolescents, however this does not eliminate the effect media has on adults (Singer & Singer, 2001, p. 269).
A media panic, or often referred to as a moral panic, is a term that describes how the media is formulating issues amongst our society. Over time, our culture has shifted and caused many conclusions regarding media panics and the relationship between youth and the media culture. Based upon previous knowledge and course readings, I have drawn a very disturbing conclusion; this being that no matter what age, children are willing or non-willingly now under surveillance to determine what kind of role media is playing in their lives. With what I have gathered from the readings and class lectures, most authors strongly believe that different forms of media directly influence children's thinking or perception. What authors and researchers continue to imply is that there is a direct correlation to what youth today see in different forms of media and their behaviours.
Young people especially the teenagers are sensitive and receptive to learning new things. The media provides more than they can handle. Access to different programs, shows, and movies affect the manner that the teenagers behave. Today, it is unfortunate to say that the media is becoming more sexual and violent than the older days, resulting in similar behaviors among the teens (Craig, & Baucum, 2001). By watching programs intended for the adults, teenagers are drifting even further. They start behaving like adults without the prerequisites of becoming one. This means that they have contents that do not match with their ages. And then terrible things begin – increased college dropouts, teenage pregnancies, and increased cases of suicides. Some teenagers who had bright future ahead of them will
11 Ellen Seiter and Mary Jeanne Wilson, “Soap Opera Survival Tactics”, in Thinking Outside the Box: A Contemporary Television Genre Reader (Lexington: The University Press of Kentucky, 2005), 138.
It is interesting to notice that two popular medias come together to make an impact in a cause. Although, initially when these shows were aired, many believed they are only going to contribute to the problem. However, as the shows progressed, the curiosity among the teens increased to learn the outcome of the teen’s life in the stories. The teens started communicating with their friends through the social media on what they have seen in these shows. As the show progressed, it did not only show the reality of the social and economic hardships faced by teen moms after giving birth to a child at a very young age but also educated teens by making them realize the hardship that lie ahead of a pregnancy. The critical part of realization comes from the discussions with their social media friends and the discouragement they receive which helps in educating the teens of pregnancy. This is evident from a spike in the Twitter and Facebook activities among teen population following the day of the shows.
In this “Digital Age” that we currently live in, it becomes very easy for an individual to become infatuated with the amount of social media outlets available on the internet. Platforms like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and Snapchat all revolve around the idea of showcasing one’s personal life for the sake of receiving positive feedback or attention by peers and strangers from the outside world. An episode of the Netflix sci-fi anthology series, “Black Mirror,” decides to tackle this topic in a surreal yet imaginative way. The episode in particular, “Nosedive,” investigates a hypothetical future or alternate universe where social media profiles and star ratings have become the norm. The plot revolves around a young lady named Lacie, who
Since the television was invented in 1924, news and current affairs programs have surly become one of our main media sources. With this in mind, reporters and stations alike are able to manipulate their audiences through a variety of techniques, to make them believe a representation of reality as opposed to the true fact. This is evident in the current affairs story “Video Game Violence” and the standard news story “Music Video Ban”. These similar stories both originated from Channel Nine and represent violence in society’s youth today, stating children are at risk if exposed to such material. Through a selection of techniques, the audience is lured into supporting the told story and agreeing with the general attitudes promoted.