Sample TPM (Talking Points Memo)

Here is a sample TPM:

Sample TPM

Putting It All Together: Rules/Norms

To get a clear picture of the role of media in the lives of young people, it is necessary to examine their overall media exposure as well as their home media environments.

When looking at the amount of time children and teens spend with media, it is important to make the distinction between media exposure and media use. Media exposure refers to the total amount of time spent with each medium while media use measures the amount of time devoted to media overall. The latter takes into account children and teenagers’ ability to multi-task and consume more than one medium at a time. For example, a teenager who spends an hour flipping through a magazine while watching TV would have two hours of total media exposure, but would only one hour of media use. A study conducted by Roberts and colleagues indicates that among eight to 18-year-olds, in one day overall media exposure totals eight hours and 33 minutes, and media use equals six hours and 21 minutes. These figures suggest that young people “will spend more time with media than with any other activity besides sleeping” (28).

Since it is clear that young people spend a great deal of time consuming media, it is critical to explore environment where they are exposed to the most media: the home. Exploring the media environment of the home means looking at the prevalence of media (the number of television sets, computers, etc.) and the attitude surrounding the use of media. For households containing a person aged eight to 18, 99 percent of homes have a television and the average number of television sets for these households is 3.5. With such access to TV (as well as other media), the study suggests that the most accurate term to describe today’s youth is “media saturated.” This kind of “media saturation” continues into the bedroom where 68 percent of eight to 18-year-olds have a TV and 49 percent have a video game system. The presence of media in the bedroom indicates that these kids will have a higher level of overall media exposure.

Differences in the importance of media in the home along with parental rules governing the use of media creates six distinct groups to classify youth media consumption: media lite, VidKid, interactor, restrictred, indifferent, and enthusiast. Each of these categories take into account access, interest in media, and amount of time spent with media, as well as the general attitude toward media in the home. While the differences between these groups indicate differences in media consumption amongst young people, an analysis of overall media exposure indicates that on the whole, consuming media makes up a large portion of a young person’s free time and maintains a position of centrality in many home environments.

When spelled out on the page, the eight hours and 33 minutes that young people spend with media in one day and the fact that 68 percent have televisions in their bedrooms is initially shocking. However, when looking at my own media consumption, these numbers make more sense. In my four-person apartment there are four TVs, four computers all equipped to play DVDs, three DVD players, and two video game systems. And I am sure that we are closer to the norm than the minority. This coupled with the idea that young people are more wired and connected to media than ever before, makes these numbers seem less surprising.

Furthermore, the speculation that these numbers “may represent a ceiling in the amount of time young people can or will devote to using media,” is, in my opinion, inaccurate. For one, the Kaiser study published in 2009 indicates that youth media exposure has increased. Furthermore, the concept of media multi-tasking and increased portability of media indicates that simultaneous media use and overall media exposure can continue to increase. While actual media use probably cannot increase much (as there are only 24 hours in a day), there is still room for overall media exposure to grow. As media continues to take on a central position in the home, it is only fitting that youth media exposure will remain high.

-Do you have a TV in your bedroom at home? If so, at what age did you get one? How do you think this impacted your media consumption? Why did you want your own TV?

-Of the six media classifications (media lite, VidKid, interactor, restrictred, indifferent, and enthusiast), how would you classify yourself? What factors do you think contributed to this?

-How effective do you think parental rules governing media consumption are for kids?

-Which measurement (media exposure vs. media use) do you think says more about media centrality and youth media usage? What do you think each of these measurements demonstrates?