RTF 305: 3rd Blog Cultivation Theory

      Throughout our society, violence is bursting through television screens in such an exaggerated form that viewers have a magnified view of the actual amount present in our world, which is an example of cultivation theory.
      Cultivation theory states that "mass media exposure cultivates a view of the world that is consistent with mediated "reality," or in other words, the media of today convey a certain message or idea over and over and over until finally people start to take it as fact, as the truth, and as reality. A prime example of this is violence in the media. As shown in the video below, many acts of violence committed in our country are so prevalent in the news that TV viewers begin to believe that all these acts of heartless violence are consistent everyday occurrences, and they start to accept them as "normal." The fact is crime rates have been steadily dropping over the past decade, but many television viewers believe the exact opposite because of the vast amount of cruel acts portrayed on news shows. This leads people think that they are vulnerable and in danger of being attacked by a violent criminal like they see on news shows such as Nancy Grace or Dateline's "To Catch a Predator." Leaving people in a state of fear is the ultimate goal of the media, which will keep viewers coming back for more.