Media violence and its impact on the audience

Abstract

Violence in the media is a phenomenon present since the media first came into existence. Depiction of violence is not a novelty brought about by electronic and new media. Violence has been one of the key characteristics of print media since the dawn of literature; ancient Greek poetry and drama often described murder, suicide and injury; many of Shakespeare's plays exposed violence, torture, revenge and psychological terror; some of the most popular books of the 19th century were sensational novels that included violence.

Due to complex interpretation and definition of this phenomenon and the different perspectives on it, discussions about violence in the media involve experts from the fields of communication and media, psychology, pedagogy, sociology and anthropology. Despite decades of discussions, definitive answers and solutions have not been found yet.