This is a means to influence the opinions of those reading it...
When news reports focus on individuals and their stories, rather than simply facts or policy, readers experience greater feelings of compassion, said Penn State Distinguished Professor Mary Beth Oliver, co-director of the Media Effects Research Laboratory and a member of the Department of Film-Video and Media Studies. This compassion also extends to feelings about social groups in general, including groups that are often stigmatized.
"Issues such as health care, poverty and discrimination all should elicit compassion," Oliver said. "But presenting these issues as personalized stories more effectively evokes emotions that lead to greater caring, willingness to help and interest in obtaining more information."
"Issues.... should elicit compassion..." - really... so if the reporting institution identifies an issue we should all respond compassionately? What if the institution is biased; incorrect, or just plain manipulatively serving a political or commercial agenda?
Statements like this serve to fuel the idea that the "press is liberal" when in fact - if it were "press" it wouldn't be either liberal or conservative... it would just be a source of information....
Well informed citizens are obviously not the goal of the institution usurping the press in the world... but instead they are part of a social engineering effort to make us "acceptably responsive" to their lead.
"The news is often stereotyped as presenting only bad news and creating harmful attitudes," Oliver said. "But our research tells us that it also holds promise of addressing issues of social change."
Ugh! Your research is telling you what Madison Avenue and Hollywood have known for a century... that mass media is a tool ... one that can be used by those "in the club" towards whatever end they please....
We have no "press" ... there is no "news" we don't ourselves vet in places like AboveTopSecret.com...
I can't fathom the hermetically sealed ivory-tower club members who don't realize - or don't care - that service to a community of consumers is not "making them react a certain way" but instead is "informing them."
phys.org
(visit the link for the full news article)
edit on 31-5-2012 by Maxmars because: (no reason given)
