Media effects: Advances in theory and research

Gerbner, G., Gross, L., Morgan, M., Signorielli, N., & Shanahan, J. (2002). Growing up with television: Cultivation process. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (Eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research (2nd ed., pp. 43-68). Lawrence Erlbaum Associates. Retrieved December 9, 2007, from Google Scholar database: http://scholar.google.com


the media doesn't necessarily tell people what to think, but it does tell them what to think about (bernard cohen, 1963)

chapter on growing up with television: cultivation process

television is the ultimate storyteller. it is "the primary common source of socialization and everyday information."

both elites and common people share the same shows. as the tv shows and other media on television continue to repeat the same ideas, facts, myths, etc. over time, they begin to "define the world" and "legitimize a particular social order."

because commercial television must sell ads to stay in business, it must appeal to a wide audience made up of different types of people. because so many people do watch tv, it creates a "shared conception of reality" among people who, without television, might believe differently.