Writing a Booklet on Media Psychology

I am currently working on a booklet for college about Media Psychology. This is a new and interesting area that we will be teaching our second years next year.

There are some old chestnuts like whether violence in the media makes us more aggressive. But now we look at computer games and the internet and not just films & TV. But still the evidence is not as conclusive as you might think. There is also evidence for media like computer games actually being good for us.

The booklet also covers how media persuades us and influences our attitudes and a section that looks at why we are so interested in celebrities and how much we worship them.

If we get to publish the booklet somewhere as a PDF I’ll add the link.

Swine Flu Hype

The recent deaths by Swine Flu are of course tragic. Let us not forget to pray for the families affected. The World Health Organisation is still saying that we cannot be complacent. But there doesn’t seem to be the sustained spread of this flu throughout the world as we feared. And the cost of preparing to combat this pandemic, in a time of economic recession, is still not fully appreciated.

If you’ve been following stories you may have found yourself being drawn into a media distortion that has spread panic across the world. The media focus on this disease is way out of proportion to the actual threat. When you begin to look at the statistics you find that the risk of fatalities is comparable with ordinary flu but you may have got the impression it was closer to the risk of say the Black Death in medieval Europe.

Also the risk of death through many other diseases in the Third World is much greater. But when a highly contagious disease threatens Westerners, even in the midst of the worst recession for 80 years, we pour our resources into protecting ourselves. I wonder how this compares with aid we are sending to countries to combat disease and poor living conditions there. Why not see what the Church Times has to say on this?

And by the way, you don't need to get a mask!