AUDIENCE - GERBNER (ESSAY 2)

Evaluating the Usefulness of Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory in Understanding Audience Use of Online Newspapers (e.g., The Guardian and MailOnline)

Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory offers a structured way to explore how prolonged exposure to media shapes audience perceptions of reality. Though developed in the era of television, it can still illuminate how digital readers engage with online newspapers such as The Guardian and MailOnline. However, the theory’s usefulness is limited by its assumptions about passive, uniform audiences—assumptions that are increasingly outdated in a fragmented, interactive media environment.

Mainstreaming can be seen in the readerships of The Guardian and MailOnline. The Guardian consistently presents a liberal worldview, emphasising progressive politics, environmental urgency, and social justice EXAMPLE 1? Over time, frequent readers may begin to adopt this perspective as common sense. In contrast, MailOnline foregrounds stories involving immigration, crime, and traditional values, framing issues through a conservative or populist lens EXAMPLE 2? Mainstreaming helps explain how each publication cultivates distinct ideological audiences. However, because online news consumers often choose content that aligns with their views, this effect may occur within ideological silos, not across society. Still, the idea of mainstreaming remains helpful in understanding how online newspapers such as The Guardian and MailOnline shape cohesive audience worldviews.

Gerbner’s mean world syndrome is also relevant. This refers to the tendency of frequent media consumers to see the world as more dangerous than it is. MailOnline, with its frequent coverage of violent crime, immigration-related fear stories, and social disorder, can reinforce a bleak worldview. Its dramatic headlines may lead readers to believe the UK is in crisis EXAMPLE 3? The Guardian, while less sensationalist, delivers a steady stream of global emergencies: climate catastrophe, political instability, and social inequality EXAMPLE 4? Though stylistically different, both papers may contribute to a sense of ongoing crisis. Therefore, mean world syndrome remains useful for examining how readers of online newspapers like The Guardian and MailOnline might develop distorted or anxious perceptions of reality.

Nonetheless, the theory struggles with modern news dynamics. Cultivation Theory assumes a passive audience receiving uniform messages, yet digital readers interact with, comment on, and often challenge news content. A MailOnline reader may simultaneously follow left-leaning journalists on X (formerly Twitter), while a Guardian subscriber might regularly read opposing commentary in The Times. Furthermore, algorithms increasingly personalise content, reducing shared exposure. The result is not a universally cultivated worldview, but one shaped by choice, interactivity, and platform design. These conditions weaken the theory’s explanatory power when applied to the complex and personalised use of online newspapers such as The Guardian and MailOnline.

While Gerbner’s Cultivation Theory offers a useful starting point for understanding how readers of The Guardian and MailOnline might be influenced by consistent news narratives, it does not fully account for selective exposure, interactivity, and the algorithmic curation that define online news today. Nevertheless, its core insights remain relevant for considering the broader psychological effects of sustained engagement with online newspapers such as The Guardian and MailOnline.