Cluster Analysis of Public Service Announcements on Sexual Assault

Contents

English Abstract and Key Words···································I

Chinese Abstract and Key Words···································II

Description of PSAs·············································1

“It’s On Us” ···············································1

“Who Will You Help” ·······································2

Methodology···················································4

        Cluster Analysis··············································4

        Literature Review············································5

Identification of Key Terms········································6

“It’s On Us” ················································6

“Who Will You Help” ········································7

Clusters around Key Elements······································7

        “It’s On Us” ················································7

        “Who Will You Help” ········································8

Interpretations of Clusters·········································9

“It’s On Us” ················································9

“Who Will You Help” ········································10

Comparison and Analysis of Effect··································12

Conclusion·····················································14

Bibliography····················································13

Acknowledgements··············································18

Abstract

The problem of sexual assault has gained more and more attention in recent years. Previous studies explore campaigns that help survivors seek support after attack and discursive effort that toughen up how people deal with assailants. One crucial group, however, has been always left out of the discussion: bystanders. Both American government and Ontario government have launched campaigns to stop sexual assault. Both have released Public Service Announcements（PSA） that appeal to people who can take responsibility to stop sexual assault. This paper applies cluster analysis to analyze how these two PSAs persuade the audience to stand up and take responsibility. Both PSAs are well-organized and clearly convey the theme that bystanders should take responsibility to stop sexual assault, but their persuasive effects are different. Since they adopt different ways of persuasion, this essay also compare which way may be more effective in terms of a sexual assault PSA.

Key Words: sexual assault, bystander, cluster analysis, Public Service Announcement

摘要

近年来性侵问题越来越受到广泛关注，许多反性侵运动都得到发起。以前的研究有探讨致力于帮助支持受害者的运动，也有探讨促进惩治性侵者的话语力量，但是一直以来有一个很重要的群体总是游离于人们的视线之外——性侵事件的旁观者。美国政府和加拿大安大略省政府先后发起了反性侵运动，其主旨都是为了阻止性侵的发生。两个政府运动也先后发布了针对旁观者的反性侵公益广告。本文采取聚类分析的修辞分析手法，来解读它们是如何向视众传达主旨并劝说视众挺身而出阻止性侵发生的。根据分析结果，本文的主要论点是两则公益广告都很好地传达了视众身为旁观者时应当挺身而出阻止性侵发生的主旨，但劝说手段有所差异。这两则广告运用了不同的劝说手法，因此本文还对其手法进行简要分析，对比得出哪种手法可能更适用于反性侵的公益广告。

关键词：反性侵,旁观者,聚类分析,公益广告

Cluster Analysis of Public Service Announcements on Sexual Assault

The problem of sexual assault has existed in human society for a long time. However, the attached taboo prevented public discussion of the issue for so long that the problem hardly received any attention in public agenda. Therefore, little contribution was made to fighting against it and changing the situation. However, it now becomes a more public topic. Both non-government organizations and governments are making effort to stop it from happening. One of the actions they have taken is to release Public Service Announcements, with the intention to raise people’s awareness and to serve as a guide for solving the problem. Public Service Announcement (PSA) is an advertisement “disseminated by media without charge” (“Public service announcement” Wikipedia). It circulates via modern technological media. In this paper, I conduct a cluster analysis of two PSAs, one released by White House in 2014 and entitled It’s On Us, the other released by the Ontario government in 2015 and entitled Who Will You Help. By analyzing these two PSAs, this paper unpacks the inner workings of visual communication, revealing how they are persuasive respectively and how they are different from each other in terms of persuasion strategies.

1. Description of PSAs

1. “It’s On Us”

“It’s On Us” was released by “It’s On Us” campaign, which was launched by the American government against sexual assault on college campuses. The campaign urges the public stand up against sexual assault and step away from the sidelines to be an active part of the solution. Since campaign was launched on September 19, 2014, more than 275,000 individuals have taken the It’s On Us pledge. The It’s On Us team have also joined forces with over 90 official partners, which include corporations, non-profit organizations, and college athletic conferences. In addition, 483 schools in 48 states have hosted 1,100 It’s On Us events in total. (“It’s On Us Campaign Organizing Tools Spring 2016” It’s On Us)