Психология /12. Социальная психология

Master of Jour Lozhkina A.I.
Innovative University of Eurasia, Kazakhstan

Asociality in the journalistic picture of reality

In the analysis of the press the term “social” is often used by researchers in the various definitions: social thinking, social status, social functions, social, social roles, social effects, etc. “Considering sociality to be for the press we have to admit the existence of its antipode – the twin, “shadow”, counterweighing category”, S.G.Korkonosenko remarks. Dropping out from society’s everyday life journalism deserves to be called “asocial”.

The complexity of the problem consists in the fact that the word “anti-social”, regardless of journalism, has not had an accurate description in the dictionaries and reference books. The only contain the concept “anti-social”, which narrows the boundaries of the research. If the prefix “anti” means open opposition or hostility, the ‘a’ indicates a relatively soft rejection and complete lack of any quality. As in the case with the “anti”, there is also always a violation of public requirements, but the range of forms of its manifestation is much wider, roomier and has more hues.

Without reference to journalism the definition “asocial” appeared in the first half of the XX century in the form of a term which identifies disadvantaged members of the lower levels of the population: the homeless, vagrants, beggars, prostitutes, drug addicts, homosexuals and alcoholics. In some countries people receiving social security benefits, disabled people and Gypsies were labeled as to be asocial elements.

For further analysis we define “asociaity” as a behavior which doesn’t conform to the laws and norms of people’s behavior in the society and runs counter to public morals.

A kind of an indicator of asociality is “deviant behavior” of mass media. The derivation from the norms of journalistic behavior - its asocilaity – displays / manifests itself in contradiction of moral and law standards, effective activity standards and auditoria’s expectations. One for the reasons of this contradiction one can consider a neglect of objective reality, characteristic of journalists, who, apart from the complex social context, as if turning away from society, constructing another, different from the real, the reality of information, showing their defiance to society, their interchange of it, and at times even their mystery of it.

It is also significant that the researchers have even spoken about press’s asociality meaning “the underdevelopment of its social content which is expressed with varying intensity – from a harmless neglect of some duties to severe confrontation with social surroundings … In other words, the press doesn’t assign primary importance to public service (including increment of knowledge), but the service of primitive consumer’s instincts of individuals. It may look like a reaction to auditoria’s requests, but in fact we observe asocial activity strategy”[2].

Thus, based on the foregoing, we consider the asocilaity as:

· purposeful concentration of individual elements of journalistic system on formation of individual’s world-view and value orientation against common norms and traditions;

· dropping out / loss of social sphere (and it forms mass media asocilaity) due to reduced attention to social medium, common people and audience’s feedback reduction;

· reduced demands for mass media services, especially print ones, and that pushes it through the boundaries of social reality

The notion “asociality of journalist” means underdevelopment of journalist’s public awareness and it predetermines the nature of the journalist’s activity.

The asociality has another form of existence - as a concentration of the media on the life experience, values, interests quasi-elite journalistic enterprise. It has even some philosophical foundation, called "post-structuralism" (or "dekonstruktsionalizm"). According to this theory, dependence on the sign-language form of communication comes on the change of dependence on social phenomena from social institutions and industrial- economic relations in the modern world. Consequently, there is no need of subordination of the media to interests of the audience, and journalism change into instrument of destabilization of the social reality, of any political or historical truth.

Anti-social behavior in the media is promoted (explicitly or implicitly) actively in peculiarities on TV. Ideology of disintegration thrives: promiscuity and pedophilia, the cult of violence and drugs, deviant social behavior, forming of outrageous fashion and sexual immorality, the cult of cruelty and non-traditional forms of the family. Connection of hidden propaganda of anti-social behavior on local TV with advertising business and the interests of big corporations is well revealed in series of articles by Minkin, titled "If Degradation Cannot be Stopped – the Civilization will Come to an End". [3]

A number of scientific reports demonstrates clearly the process of commercialization and advertising of widespread broadcast on radio and television, changed the substantive direction of transmission. So, GV Lazutina emphisizes: Inertia of destructive discourse of social development marked a change of orientation in the practice of the media. The abolition of censorship and state monopolies has led to an avalanche buildup process ethical degradation of the professional community. New types and forms of broadcasting formed: interactive, game telecast, «reality show», talk shows. Thus there was a clear reduction criterion of product quality in terms of content ... [4, p. 43].

Tamara Naumenko, Ph.D., senior researcher at the Department of Sociology Department of Sociology communication systems MSU, notes questions of morality and ethics in the modern world view created by journalists: "The escalation in the programs of images of aggression, physical violence to resolve interpersonal conflict directly affects the formation of the value orientations of young people attitudes and motives. There are "teams" teenagers - "analog" popular television series that are well learned patterns of criminal behavior "[5, p. 27].

L.G Svitich, the researcher, sees the new sigh of modern Russian TV – the main and, perhaps, the most powerful pat of journalism – the appearance of new sociable complex. The foreign analogues of “Behind the Glass”, “The Weakest Link” and “Fear Factor” programs have brought the spirit of rivalry, survivability at any rate that is what didn’t previously coordinate well with the Russian mentality. New copies such as “Okna” (The Windows), “Bolshoy Kush” (Snatch), " Devichyi Slezy " (Maiden's Tears) “Dom-2” (Hose-2), “Pust govoryat” (Let Them Talk) are base on fake (called “set” on TV jargon). Fake stories immerse the audience in the thickness of nightmare of philistine physiology, and the characters resemble “the cabinet of curiosities of massive monstrosities”.

Professor V.D. Mansurova, Dean of Journalism Department of the Altai State University, describes the current situation in her article “Information Counteraction of Corruption: the Devaluation of Critical Resource of Mass Media”: The critical strategy of mass media searched and analyzed the dialectical contradiction. Then the critical strategy has been replaced by simulacra of negatively marked and non-commented facts and situations. Critical intentions, previously typical in analytical journalism, entered logical and axiological space and it inevitably leads to definiteness of public performance of social and asocial. Moreover, nihilism and conformity have generated such a notion as cynicism. Showing reluctance to learn social in determining its characteristics and reproducing it as a legimate “riot of signs” (J.Baudrillard), but in the image of “a-social”, cynicism has marked a dangerous trend of journalism degeneration and turning it into a cheap conveyor of information artifacts. From “Who is guilty?” questions it is time to search for the answer to “What to do?” questioning” [7].

Thus, P. Sloterdijk concludes the theory of cynicism. In his book, “A Critique of Cynical Reason”, the scientist marks out a mode of cynical behavior as the dominant in modern ideology. “The previous objects of criticism of false consciousness – lie, delusion, ideology – are not enough, now we need the addition of a fourth structure – cynicism”. As a special form of “false consciousness”, cynicism has become a symbol of modernity. Cynicism destroys personality, alienates man from his essence. “We have someone quasi-formal inside us – Sloterdijk wrires – and this someone is the carrier of our social identifications. This someone ensures some advantage over another’s to one’s own: where I am already there always have been others and they turn me into a machine through socialization of my life” [8, p. 157].

According to the researcher a modern man understanding the mechanisms of ideological machine and knowing the criticism of ideology, at the same time doesn’t want to criticize the ideology himself and transform public institutions.

Jurgen Habermans, one of the leaders of European Sociology, emphasizes that today the sphere of universalization norms’ application gives way to the principle of relevance or conformity. Communication structures of the public are at the mercy of mass media.

Under the mass media influence the communication structures focus on passive, entertaining absorption of information that everyday consciousness has become fragmented irreversibly. So the socially us3eful educational mission is performed minimally. It seems to be a “humanistic” reaction to audience’s requests, but in fact we observe asocial strategy of activity. Ironically enough but at the same time it is an anti-journalistic strategy which has the bacillus of deprofessionalism of mass media [1, 228].

The modern media society is divided according to the level of professionalism and different understanding of value orientations. Some journalists see their duty in the formation and review of topical issues and search of truth. Others see their duty in the production of substitute products, downloading information from the Internet. Some journalists train and educate their audience, while others corrupt and humiliate it. Market needs make some journalists earn money in spite of their moral principles. But there are journalists who are still under the influence of professional moral values. The gap between these two levels of journalists is becoming deeper.

Having not understood the psychohistory’s state of the society one whips up information pressure which leads to massive hoax ideas and spread of defective emotions and shameful acts. There are professional propagandists who deliberately work on “the decline of economy and “decay” in ideology.

It is a great temptation to fish out and give publicity to the facts which terrify sensitive hearts. As a result our press, guided by good intentions, stirs the ignorant people on one hand and on the other hand it provides a distorted picture of processes actually occurring in society. All this increases overall society’s stress and doesn’t contribute to consolidation of forces and capabilities to solve problems.

Thus one and the same psychohistory’s state was considered differently in the USA and the CIS and it had powerful effects in both countries. But one effect was pro-social and another – asocial. The difference shows that the level of mental health of society’s elite means a lot and the propaganda has to adapt to it.

First, the vast majority of the publications has information purposes and doesn’t have educational focus which our society lacks in general. Even the reports, articles and essays of big genre generally lack the educational focus. Most often the publications, especially in general political editions, have frightening and deterrent function. The experience shows that this way of talking to people, especially to young ones, is less efficient or is not efficient at all. One must be absolutely ignorant of psychology, especially children’s one, and be so naïve to think that frightening can stop somebody. It can stop some people but often the perception of horror by fragile soul leads to the opposite effect. Here is the typical line of arguments: “Those, who are written about, may have had such accidents, but I am a totally different person and I can cope with it. I should test my abilities”. They test and it leads to tragic consequences.

Secondly, the attempts of the press to create the atmosphere of intolerance, public scorn and common condemnation often result in consequences which we don’t expect. Public attention, sometimes ruthless aggravates the consequences. There is no society in which intolerance and violence is, or will be panacea for the spread of asocial phenomena.

Of course it would be unfair to attribute these reproaches to any and all mass media. One happens to meet deep and serious materials on the pages of various publications. Exactly so – it happens. An extract from Zhenishbek Nazarliev’s report at “Bishkek Initiative” international journalistic conference: “I can give you an example from my own experience. When “Izvestia”, a Moscow newspaper, offered me to prepare a series of articles about the experience of struggle against drug trafficking and drug treatment in the USA, Colombia, Bolivia, China, Thailand and other countries which I visited, the articles provoked numerous responses of people of all levels of education and social status” [10].

The world of social … Understanding of its nature and structure helps to avoid the traps of “razobshestvlenjya” (asocilality), which drags our perestroika’s privatization of everything.

Literature:

1. Foundations of Journalism: A Textbook for Universities / S. Korkonosenko. - Moscow: Aspect Press, 2001. - 287.

2. Korkonosenko SG asocial media and overcome it / / Journal ¬ stick in the transition. Moscow, 1997. B, 1. P.16-17

3. Minkin, Moskovsky Komsomolets / / April 21-25, 2008.

4. Lazutina GV The creative activity of the journalist: Textbook. allowance. - M.: Word, 2005. - 404 p.

5. Naumenko T. The social awareness and journalism / / Credo. - 2004. - № 3. - S. 23-29

6. LG Svitich The phenomenon of journalism. - Moscow: Logos, 2006. - 268 p.
7. Mansurov VD The information against corruption: devaluation critical resource MEDIA / Article

8. Sloterdijk P. Critique of Cynical Reason. - Moscow: Avanta, 2005. - 305 p.

9. Habermas J. Democracy. Mind. Morality: Moscow lectures and interviews. Moscow, 1995, pp. 25

10. Nazaraliev Jenishbek. Actual problems of drug abuse in the current journalism. Report of the International Conference of Journalists "Bishkek Initiative" / / Journalist, № 6, 2001.