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Digital Media and Coverage of Sea-level Rise
Digital Media and Coverage of Sea-level Rise
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Digital Media and Coverage of Sea-level Rise
Research points to predictably disastrous happenings due to the rise in sea level that tends to be more rapid than expected, just like in climate change research and documentaries, digital media at large associates the impacts of climate change to the gradual increase in the atmospheric greenhouse gases. The issue of rising sea level has attracted international policymakers and international research communities, who have sowed concern regarding reports covered by mass media. There is a need for emphasis on calling for action in digital media. Information should be passed through the media, and a call for action should be made.
Several studies show the gravity of the issue at hand, and today digital media does the same through films, documentaries, short videos, movies, among other possible media platforms. It is thus necessary to look into the research studies and the media platforms to assess the extent of effect before coming up with new media content to address the issue of a rise in the sea level. The assessed studies are a study on the effectiveness of cli-fi to address climate change, a survey of how Netherlands has transitioned to flood risk management, and a study of the film and TV portrayals of climatic change and their impacts. Through the analysis and assessment of these studies, it is expected that the eventual finding will point the digital media in a better position to represent climate change, sea-level rise, and its impacts better.
The study seeks to assess how the media has covered the rising sea levels and the impact of the increasing sea level on the coastal inhabitants. The study will use both primary and secondary research methods to ensure more extensive coverage. The data will be collected through interviews and questionnaires. Moreover, secondary data will be searched using published newspapers and research studies that have assessed rising sea levels’ media coverage. The collected data will be analyzed using the descriptive analysis to evaluate the correlation between the information available on the impact of rising sea levels on coastal inhabitants with time.
Annotated Bibliography
The Effectiveness of Cli-Fi to Address Climate Change
Svoboda, M. (2016). Cli‐fi on the screen (s): patterns in the representations of climate changein fictional films. Wiley Interdisciplinary Reviews: Climate Change, 7(1), 43-64.
The study covers cli-fi on screens (fictional works about climate change). According to the study, a lot of focus has been put on the extreme impacts of climatic change, such as the possibility of the earth slipping into a new ice age. The study provides an overview of a total of 60 films to bring out the representation of climate change in films. The research points out to poor representations that only cover extreme cases. According to the study, the filmmakers hold a higher position in creating awareness than the scientific consensus, thus demonstrating a challenge faced by climate change communicators. Cli-fi films and shows depict a pattern which does not marry with what the scientists communicate. It may be fictional, but the extent of influence it has affects the audience’s notion of the magnitude of the issues of climate change.
Perhaps opting for the changes experienced a day in day out as a result of climate change and human activities are better positioned to call the audience to action to prevent the extremes. Instead, the films only present the extremes, thus a reluctance to believe that the present state is far from there. According to the study, the focus should be put beyond The day after Tomorrow, which has received attention and is well structured and informative. The study recommends that more effort is made to change the patterns of representations of climate change in fictional films.
This research article is relevant because it addresses the shortcomings of films that portray climatic change and their effects. From understanding the shortcomings, it is possible to come up with recommendations for better production in the film industry to ensure relevance to the climate changes that result in a rise in sea level.
How Netherlands Has Transitioned to Flood Risk Management
Van Der Meulen, G. (2018). New Netherlands: Towards Transitional Flood Risk Management Anticipating Extreme Future Sea-Level Rise Scenarios.
The research article focuses on the Netherlands and its transition to flood risk management. The primary focus is on flood defense and sea-level rise as represented in visual arts. The geographical location of Netherlands and makes it a key area in the study of the effects of the rise in sea level and how to deal with such scenarios. Using the Netherlands as a case, the article envisions and communicates and unites in addressing the complexity of dealing with climate change and sea-level rise. In understanding the article, pointers on exhibitions and representations of flooding and perceptions are made for all forms of visual arts. It gives importance to the link between the mechanistic engineering view of the world and the conceptual aesthetic view. The study is an eye-opener to possible patterns in the representation of climatic changes and their impacts, such as the rise in sea level, as well as their possible solutions.
This study is relevant because it was aimed at documenting a change in sea level as a result of climatic change and how the issue has been addressed in Netherlands. The study thus gives pointers in what is expected of media content aimed at addressing climatic change and the rise in sea level.
Film and TV Portrayal of Climatic Change and Their Impacts
Dudo, A., Copple, J., & Atkinson, L. (2017). Entertainment Film and TV Portrayals of Climate Change and Their Societal Impacts. In Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Climate Science.
According to Dudo, Copple, and Atinson (2017), there is an abundance in social science research focused on climate change and its impacts. Still, there is little in understanding, feeling, and behaving relative to the issue of climate change. The study capitalizes on the media due to the fact that the media represents a primary platform through which people get information on social issues. The study sees the need for the media depictions to serve more than landscape; it should represent climate change and its implications. The study points to the media as a source of entertainment, thus a powerful tool in creating awareness and ensuring people know what it feels like, what should be done, and the right preventive measure relative to climate change.
The study’s overview narrows down to the fact that the few media works that capitalize on climate change are centered primarily on a “small subset of high-profile climate change.” In examining the content of such films, they are rhetorically presented, thus negatively affecting the audience. The study strives to ensure a more diverse menu of entertainment media that captures long term effects relative to climate change and its impacts.
This study is relevant because the recommendations and overview analysis of the study are pointers to the required content to communicate climatic changes. It gives guidance on where the films should focus thus of relevance to the study in question.
Letter to the Editor, The story of the killing of Emmett Till
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Letter to the Editor, The story of the killing of Emmett Till
The story of the killing of Emmett Till is quite shocking, more so when heard first hand from J.W Milam, who actually confesses to the crime. To think that the crime actually went unpunished is testament to the racial situation at the time. Not only is the crime for which Till was murdered atrocious, but the manner with which society did nothing for close to 5 hours prior to his murder, is also appalling. According to Milam, there was no way that a Negro could be considered his equal. Bobo’s crime judging by Milam’s confessions, was thinking that they could ever be equal, more so even thinking that they could have relationships with the same type of women (white women). It seems as the saga progressed, it ceased to be about what Bobo Till had done the previous day to carolyn, and become more about what his actions signified. To Milam, Till’s actions symbolized the feelings of entitlement that were brewing amongst the African Americans, leading to a situation where instead of knowing their place, they were pushing for equal voting rights an end to open segregation which would allow for sharing of amenities as well as an end to discrimination of multiracial relationships. To Milam and probably to a huge majority of whites this was poison that was unfathomable. The final decision to murder Emett Till was arrived at by Milam due to the fact that during the few exchanges they had, Till made it clear that he did not know his place, and in order to make an example out of him, they decided they would murder him, not because of his wolf calls to Carolyn, or the fact that he sexually harassed Carolyn, but because he signified all that Milam felt was and could be wrong with African Americans.
On the other hand, the strained nature of the relationship between African Americans and whites, as well as the effects of the Civil Rights Movement, had instilled a sense of entitlement and courage amongst African Americans at the time. The fact that despite repeated abuse and beating from Milam and Roy Bryant, he felt in order to prove a point he had to stand firm in his belief that he and Milam were equal, proves the strong conviction with which African Americans held their beliefs. Even when faced with the last opportunity to beg for his life Emmett Till opted to remain defiant. It could also be argued that the lack of fear shown by Elizabeth Wright and Emmett Till showed that the efforts of the Civil Rights Movement at the time, were bearing fruit.
Sadly, the reasons provided by the courts for not convicting the two brothers, as well as the lack of action by other whites to help close the case and bring to murderers to justice, show exactly how deep the racial divide was at the time, to the extent that condoning murder is considered the lesser evil when compared with siding with Negroes. On the other hand, it could also be argued that their inaction showed that they agreed with the actions of Milam and Roy Bryant, a suggestion that might not seem far fetched, considering that it is plausible to argue that the mindset of other whites at the time might not have been so different to that of J.W Milam.
Work Cited
Huie, William. “The Shocking Story of Approved Killing in Mississippi”. Web.
Cultivation Theory
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Cultivation Theory
Question 1: Explain in detail what is Cultivation Theory? Describe the three prongs- Institutional process analysis, message system analysis and cultivation analysis.
The cultivation theory suggests that the repeated exposure to televisions over a long time have the ability to cultivate the viewers’ perceptions of reality, as the TV is considered a medium of socialization of most people into standardized roles and behaviors. According to the theory, the television influences its viewers to change their perception to what they have seen in the TV, and thus the TV is considered to independently contribute to what is perceived by the people as the social reality and therefore will have an effect on the attitudes and values of its viewers.
The three prongs include:
Institutional process analysis – Examines the production, management, and distribution of media messages.
Message system analysis – Involves the investigation of images in the media content such as the portrayal of minorities, gender roles as well as how certain occupations are depicted.
Cultivation analysis – A research designed to investigate and support the idea that the perceptions and behaviors of the people who spend more time with the media especially the television tend to internalize and reflect what they have seen on the TV.
Question 2: Discuss major findings of cultivation analysis
Significant findings, according to the Gerbner, include:
Cultivational differential which is the difference in the percentage providing the TV answer when comparable groups of light and heavy TV viewers. An example is that people think that there are more police in the population because there are many cops in the TV shows.
Meta-analysis – Blends the results of multiple empirical and independent research studies exploring the same relationship between two variables.
According to Gerbner, surveys were the best methods for cultivation analysis. According to the survey findings:
There was a positive correlation between TV viewing and fear of criminal victimization,
Perceived activity of the police, that is, Grabner’s TV type assumes that police draw their guns almost every day, which is not true and
The general mistrust of people that is most people are just looking out for themselves.
Question 3: Why do you think the cultivation theory has received so much criticism? Which critic of the theory do you find most troubling and why?
I think that the reason why the cultivation theory has received so much criticism is that it is full of bias as it depends on surveys to draw its conclusion without scientific experiments and thus interpretive. The critic theory that I find most troubling is the relationship between TV viewing and the fear of crime. There is no evidence that the fear of crime results from TV viewing as it is like associating a running nose and a sore throat as they are not caused by the same thing.