3. media effect theories Flashcards
Hypodermic Needle Theory
(1920s and 1930s)
the first developed theories it’s where media has great power towards its audience, Its when media message like a needle that injects itself into the audience without any negotiated or interference meaning the audience simply absorbs the message.
Cultivation Theory
by George Gerbner (1960)
proposes that media gradually affects participants over time. In these cases, the media reinforces existing beliefs already held by the audience. the more you consume media, the more it impacts you and this usually doesn’t happen overnight it happens gradually.
Two-Step Flow Theory
(1940’s)
information is diffused amongst opinion leaders before it reaches the audience. Nowadays, people are seeking someone they trust rather than facts, which leads them into having a skewed perspective
Agenda setting and framing theory
(McCombs and Shaw 1972)
it does not tell us what to think but what to think about, it is divided into two criteria the length and position of the story in media.
in 1988 this theory started to include framing its where the media is convincing the audience to follow a certain thought they want their audience to come to a point so they present certain ideas and facts so the audience will come to their desired point, their goal is to make the audience come to that point naturally, when in fact they’ve been manipulated by how the story was presented. news reports might focus on one aspect of an issue or report about it in a specific way.
Uses and gratifications theory
(1940s-1970s)
It’s where media has little to no power over the audience. instead audience are highly active in their media usage, seeking out media that will fulfill their certain needs. media serves a purpose and audiences have certain needs so they turn to media to gratify their needs. People might turn to media for four main needs surveillance, personal identity, personal relationships, and diversion
Reception theory created
by Stuart hall (1973)
it’s where the theory proposes that media text is encoded by the creator (via film, music, article, game, etc) then decoded by the audience but this isn’t as easy because such things as culture, income will all have an effect on the result the audience can decode the media in one of these three ways:
- dominant ( the audience fully accepts the intended meaning by maybe sharing the same ideological and culture positions)
- negotiated (the massage conveyed is somewhat accepted the and somewhat rejected where the audience needs to adapt them to fit there believes )
- oppositional (the audience fully reject the massage even if they get the idea).
critical approaches are
- the frankfurt school
2. political economy
