Description

Adolescents are eager consumers of mass media entertainment and are particularly susceptible to various forms of media influence, such as modeling, desensitization, and contagion. These once controversial phenomena are now widely accepted along with the recognition that th media are a major socializer of youth

During the economic boom of the post-World War II era, marketers and advertisers identified adolescents as a major audience, which led to the emergence of a pervasive youth culture. Enormous changes ensued in the media's portrayal of adolescents and the behaviors they emulate. These changes were spurred by increased availability and consumption of television, which joined radio, film, and magazines as major influence on youth. Later, the rapid growth of the video game industry and the internet contributed to the encompassing presence of the media. Today, opportunities for youthful expression about to the point where adolescents can easily create and disseminate content with little control by traditional media gatekeepers.

In The Changing Portrayals of Adolescents in the Media since 1950 , leading scholars analyze the emergence of youth culture in music and powerful trends in gender and ethnic-racial representation, sexuality, substance use, violence, and suicide portrayed in the media. This book illuminates the evolution of teen portrayal, the potential consequences of these changes, and the ways policy-makers and parents can respond.

Features

• - Discusses what the scholarly community knows and needs to know in order to inform policy
• - Leading scholars of media influence examine the increasing presence of youth in the media, beginning with the post-World War II era, when the youth market became a demographic of major interest to advertisers
• - Analyzes trends and patterns in portrayals of behavior that might produce normalization, modeling, and contagion as socializing influences on youth

Product Details

480 pages; 5 halftones, 25 lines; 6 1/8 X 9 1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-534295-6ISBN10: 0-19-534295-X