Effects of Media Violence

1) Our topic is about the effects of media violence, but more specifically about the effects of terrorism in news media. Through careful research, the way in which news media affects perceptions and expectations about the amount of violence, specifically the amount of terrorist attacks, there is in the world will be discussed. One of the effects of the news media is that people believe that there is more violence in the world than there actually is. Because one main type of violence shown on the news is terrorist attacks, heavy viewers of television will largely overestimate the chance of a terrorist attack actually occurring. In reality, terrorist crimes make up a small portion of all the total crimes committed in society. The reason that people believe these crimes occur at much higher proportions than they actually do is because they are shown more frequently on the news, due to their interesting and dramatic nature. According to the Cultivation Theory, those who watch more television are more likely to perceive the world according to the ways it is represented on TV. Therefore, people are naturally prone to believe that violent crimes, the kind depicted in the news, occur at very frequent rates. Also, the Mean World Syndrome examines how media violence affects heavy viewers, resulting in a heightened state of insecurity, exaggerated perceptions of risk and danger, and a fear-driven tendency for hard-line political solutions to social problems. Overall, our project will examine how peoples' expectations and perceptions of violence are affected by viewing terrorism and violence on the news.

2) Is it okay if our topic is still about the general effects of media violence, but we choose to focus mainly on terrorism?

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4) http://www.lsa.umich.edu/comm/