1.) Read Case Study 11: The New (Media) Culture Wars 2.) After reviewing the case study discuss the following questions in an essay Your essay should be an integrated response, not just a list of answers. 1. Compare how the mainstream media framed the budget cuts with how the Facebook stories that Evelyn read framed the budget cuts. How would agenda setting explain why Evelyn was so engrossed with the Facebook stories? 2. Based on the description of Evelyn, how might her attitudes have been cultivated by the Facebook stories? Make sure to use mainstreaming and resonance in your answer. 3. Do any of the mass media theories provide "better" explanations that the others? Why do you believe this to be the case? What situations might surface that would make a different theory or combination of theories better at explaining the situation? CASE STUDY 11: THE NEW (MEDIA) CULTURE WARS Evelyn and Doug were active in their retirement. They both spent a lot of time working for their community theater group, organizing fund- miters, building sets, and selling tickets. As full in their life was, they missed their six grand- children, who lived several states away. Their world changed when they joined Facebook; now they could see pictures of Ella's junior prom and Eyle's first efforts at t-ball. They could "like" a funny post from Andy and express sympathy when Allison came down with a stomach virus. Although both Evelyn and Doug used the social media site, Evelyn, in particular, was a very stive user. In fact, if anything, she might have been an "over liker." Whenever she saw a post that mentioned one of her favorite merchants or products, she liked it. Whenever she saw a post from a relative or former coworker, regardless of what it was about, she liked it. And whenever she saw anything about one of her favorite plays or actors or songs, she liked that, too. In fact, the more she "liked," the more she liked Facebook. Her news feed was filled with posts that were really interesting to her, and her social network expanded to include people she had never actually met but who shared a lot of common interests. Despite her expanding net- work, however, Evelyn remained nervous about fully using the site. She knew how to comment on posts and accept friend requests, of course, (Continued) (Continued) but she was still nervous about using the mes- senger function, or how to share a story, and she had absolutely no idea how to post a photograph or video, On the few occasions she had done. any of these things, she had one of her grand- kids sitting next to her showing her how to do it. Despite her best efforts to pay attention, the whole thing was just too nerve wracking for her, so she just chose not to do any of those things. One day, one of her new Facebook friends, Rose, posted a story about the proposed federal budget, which was described as eliminating all funding to the arts. Rose was horrified by this possibility, and Evelyn quickly posted a com- ment supporting Rose's assessment. After that first story, it seemed like every day her friends were posting new stories about the budget cuts to the arts. Each story provided more details about the cuts, providing draco- nian estimates of the impact it would have on all aspects of the arts. Not only would the cuts elim- inate the National Endowment for the Arts, but the cuts also affected art education at all levels. The stories suggested that even kindergartners would no longer have finger paints or paste, and that nonprofit groups associated with the arts. would lose their nonprofit status. Evelyn was outraged! What was even more shocking was that the mainstream media was not reporting on any of it. "Typical," Evelyn thought. "If it isn't sports, weather, or people kill- ing people, why would they bother covering it?" One day, one of her friends posted informa- tion about an online petition. To join the peti- tion, subscribers were directed to a web link; once they clicked on the link, they were asked to provide their name, address, phone number, and e-mail address. Evelyn completed it and hit "send," grateful that she could add her voice against the senseless cuts. Soon afterward, she noticed that her com- puter was not working very well. It was processing very slowly, and she was no longer able to con nect to some of her favorite sites. In fact, she was having trouble connecting to Facebook! Her world became much smaller for time. She was stuck with her in-person friends because she could no longer follow and respond to her online friends. She was stuck reading the daily newspaper and watching the nightly new which of course focused only on the positives of the proposed federal budget. It was 2 months before she saw Andy, her oldest grandchild Andy started teasing her about taking a 'social media break." "Grandma, I'm kinda offended that you aren't writing 'LOL' on my very witty posts" Andy said. "What, have you moved onto Instagram or Snapchat? Or is there a new social media plat. form for the geriatric set?" "I'm sure you have been as funny as usual, Andy, but I think my computer is too old. Stop smirking, I said my computer, not mel For some reason, it's running really slowly, and I can't connect to a lot of my favorite sites," Evelyn explained. "Sounds like you have some malware, Grandma. Do you remember clicking on some thing right before the computer started having problems?" Evelyn thought about it. She knev that she had been actively reading stories about arts funding, but she wasn't sure what might have been a problem. "Not really, Andy. I've been doing a lot of reading about that fool-for-a-president's budget cuts to the arts, but everything I was reading was sent to me by a friend, so I doubt that there could have been anything wrong there,"Evelyn replied "Whoa! I thought you liked our president What made you change your mind?" Andy asked "He's going to eliminate all funding to the arts! No more art classes in schooll And our community theater group will lose our status!" Evelyn fumed. nooprost "Wait, what? Where did you hear that?" "There are all of these news organizations that post stories on Facebook! You would think these things would be covered in the paper or on TV, but they are. completely ignoring how devas- tating these cuts are!" she exclaimed. "Um, Grandma, I think maybe you have been reading a lot of fake news," Andy replied. "The president couldn't cut funding for art classes in schools even if he wanted-school districts determine what gets funded and what doesn't. And I don't think he can change the tax code that easily. After I get rid of the malware, I think we need to have a little lesson in media literacy." Questions for Consideration 1. Compare how the mainstream media framed the budget cuts with how the Facebook stories that Evelyn read framed the budget cuts. How would agenda setting explain why Evelyn was so engrossed with the Facebook stories? 2. Based on the description of Evelyn, how might her attitudes have been cultivated by the Facebook stories? Make sure to use mainstreaming and resonance in your answer. 3. Apply social cognitive theory to the case. How would it explain Evelyn's limited abilities with Facebook? How would it explain her decision to support the online petition? 4. What might be the dominant, negotiated, and oppositional code readings to the budget cuts to the arts? Which does Evelyn take, and why do you believe this to be the case? 5. What ethical issues emerge from this case? Which, if any, of the mass media theories provide insight into resolving these ethical challenges? 6. Do any of the mass media theories provide a better explanation than the others? Why do you believe this to be the case? What additional factors might have been included to make a different theory or combination of theories better at explaining the situation?