The Effects of Media on Society in Robin Soans’ Life after Scandal

This paper examines the perception-changing and controlling effects of the mass media on

society in Robin Soans’ Life after Scandal in the light of the media effects theories. Mass media

has an indispensable place in the life of society since it covers the most widespread and

accessible means of communication including newspaper, radio, television, and the internet as

the primary source of information and entertainment. Therefore, it is almost impossible not to

be exposed to and be somehow affected by the messages delivered through mass media. In this

regard, Life after Scandal is a cumulative work that consists of some of the most notorious

scandals of the last fifty years. Rendering problematic how media has treated these scandals,

the play lends itself to an examination of media effects. The variety of the questions tackled in

the play with regard to the scandals serves the purpose of this study which is to raise awareness

about the use of the manipulative functions of the media and its fabrication of truth in the

modern world. As a verbatim play based on interviews and composed by using the actual words

of interviewees without making any changes in them, the play’s connection with real-life people

and their experiences also provides a basis for a re-evaluation of the relation between theatre

and real life.