Is the Medium the Message?: An Experimental Test with Morbid News

Abstract

This study exrimined whether medium is an important factor in arousal of cririosity about morbid events. A total of 132 rrndergraduote students mad or viewed six reports: one good news story, one neutral story and four morbid stories. One group read print versions only, while a second group saw photographic imriges depicting these events nnd a third group viewed televised versions of these events. Subjects rated stories on u IOO-point thermometer rating scale measuring attraction-rrversion. Television news reports, somewhat contrury to expectations, did not evoke more curiosity about morbid events thrin did print or still photo accoiints. Television mny be getting (I bad rap, the authors suggest.

The primes of our times?

“…In fact, however, the limited evidence suggests that people react in complex ways to news images, even widely disseminated and discussed 'icons of outrage' (e.g. Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Bennett et al, 1992;Perlmutter, 1998). The reality, we suggest, is that individuals of course can be persuaded by images, but that one's pre-existing values, cognitions and feelings often play a major role in how images are attended to, interpreted and acted upon.…”

“…Further, the few audience studies are suggestive that public reaction to news photographs, for example, is much more complex and more diffuse than common wisdom (Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Bennett et al, 1992;Perlmutter, 1998). It is our contention, therefore, that an integral part of understanding the impact of news -on ordinary citizens and policy-makers alike -must include an examination of how people process media messages.…”

Comparing the Effects of Vivid Writing and Photographs on Moral Judgment in Public Relations

“…More likely, images interact with words and our preexisting understandings of the world, that is, our schemas (G. A. Bailey & Lichty, 1972; Bennett, Swenson, & Wilkinson, 1992; Domke et al, 2002).…”

(In)visible evidence: pictorially enhanced disbelief in the Apollo moon landings

“…Journalism may be the 'first draft of history' , but the transcripts of the initial reporters on the scene of a news event often are forgotten with the passage of time, while the images can become part of the eternal historical consciousness. Famous historical events -the explosion of the Hindenburg, the raising of the US flag at Iwo Jima, the shootings at Kent State, the Tet Offensive in the Vietnam War, the Tiananmen protests and crackdown in China, and the fall of Saddam Hussein's statue -often produce photojournalistic icons that are much commented on popularly, are shown many times, and are increasingly studied (Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Bennett et al, 1992;Dauber, 2001;Domke et al, 2002;Edwards, 2004;Edwards and Winkler, 1997;Goldberg, 1991;Hariman and Lucaites, 2004;Monk, 1989;Perlmutter, 1997aPerlmutter, , 1997bPerlmutter, , 1998Perlmutter and Wagner, 2004). The 'big picture' is worthy of special attention because of its ascribed power; volumes of popular and some academic discourse, ranging from that of presidents to journalists, claim that famous pictures can influence the events that they show (see review in Perlmutter, 1998).…”

“…When subjected to scrutiny, however, the assumed powerful effects of particular 'big pictures' often either evaporate or grow more complex (e.g. Bailey and Lichty, 1972;Bennett et al, 1992;Bossen, 1985;Perlmutter and Wagner, 2004; see review in Perlmutter, 1998). As the late visual anthropologist Sol Worth put it, 'Pictures can't say ain't .…”