Post 3 - Cultivation Theory

The cultivation theory explains how bias news stations reflect the general publics assumptions about political identity.

The Cultivation theory reveals that people develop their "realities" based on what is presented to them through media. If a particular subject is receiving substantial attention, such as criminal activity on nightly news, people tend to be hyper-aware of that subject. This can have a negative effect as it could lead to desensitization among populations, so viewers may start to see crime as something "inevitable" in it's prevalence. This could also result in populations that have an hypersensitive fixation with a subject, so viewers think that there chances of getting murdered are disproportionately inflated because of the amount of time homicides get on the news.

The same theory applies to news stations, as perceptions of what it means to be a republican or democrat are clearly outlined and presented through media. This theory is not only applicable to the way political parties side on a particular issues, but also to what is a "moderate" or "normal" stance within the party. If the general public were a refection of Fox news and MSNBC, for example, then the political body would be divided among the two most polarized ends of the political spectrum, when in reality the vast majority of people fall somewhere in between. This makes people more likely to a) align themselves with an issue based on their political allegiance, and b) feel pressured to choose between two, very clearly drawn-out options. This also leads people to believe that the general public is more polemic than in reality.

On Friday September 17, Jon Stewart announced his "Rally to Restore Sanity" in response to the current way the media limits the amount of acceptable representations of current events.

The following is the call to rally that is written in the white section of the above poster. It begin's with a highly relevant quotation from the film that presents a commentary on media entitled Network

"I'm mad as hell, and I'm not going to take it anymore!"

Who among us has not wanted to open their window and shout that at the top of their lungs?

Seriously, who?

Because we're looking for those people. We're looking for the people who think shouting is annoying, counterproductive, and terrible for your throat; who feel that the loudest voices shouldn't be the only ones that get heard; and who believe that the only time it's appropriate to draw a Hitler mustache on someone is when that person is actually Hitler. Or Charlie Chaplin in certain roles.

Are you one of those people? Excellent. Then we'd like you to join us in Washington, DC on October 30 -- a date of no significance whatsoever -- at the Daily Show's "Rally to Restore Sanity." Ours is a rally for the people who've been too busy to go to rallies, who actually have lives and families and jobs (or are looking for jobs) -- not so much the Silent Majority as the Busy Majority. If we had to sum up the political view of our participants in a single sentence... we couldn't. That's sort of the point.

Think of our event as Woodstock, but with the nudity and drugs replaced by respectful disagreement; the Million Man March, only a lot smaller, and a bit less of a sausage fest; or the Gathering of the Juggalos, but instead of throwing our feces at Tila Tequila, we'll be actively *not* throwing our feces at Tila Tequila. Join us in the shadow of the Washington Monument. And bring your indoor voice. Or don't. If you'd rather stay home, go to work, or drive your kids to soccer practice... Actually, please come anyway. Ask the sitter if she can stay a few extra hours, just this once. We'll make it worth your while.