Agency and Control Flashcards
Direct Effect Theory
Technologies such as newspapers, radio and film promote ‘harmful’ or ‘dangerous’ behaviours to individuals and society
Argues that the media has a large and powerful effect over vulnerable audiences, which must be controlled
- Hypodermic Needle
- Bullet Theory
- ‘Monkey See, Monkey Do’
Direct Effect Theory - Case Study
Columbine Shooting
- Shooter had created school on old Doom map
News associated the school shooting with violent videogames such as ‘doom’
Propaganda Theory
After WW1, Media theorists were worried about propaganda, mass communication strategy using media to spread specific beliefs
Laswell believed power of propaganda came from repetition of symbols and messages over time
“only way to fight bad propaganda is with good propaganda”
Propaganda Theory - Case Study
Red Scare
Government after WW2 created anti-communist propaganda to scare/inform audiences
Hypodermic Needle Theory
Suggests media has a direct and powerful influence on the audience, like being injected with a hypodermic needle
“Monkey See, Monkey Do”
The audience are passive and what they see they will act out or believe
Hypodermic Needle Theory - Case Study
Orson Welles - War of the Worlds (1938 Radio Broadcast)
- Dramatized radio play
- Caused fear of aliens
- People tuning in late
- News reports similar to ‘real’ news
Modern Propaganda Theory
Similar to propaganda theory, though it believes that propaganda is communicated largely through companies, through advertising, rather than the government
- McDonalds
- Coca-Cola
- Apple
Corporations pick locations where we aren’t thinking, or are vulnerable
Corporations inundate us with repeated imagery
Relies on our passivity and its ubiquity
Modern Propaganda Theory - Case Study
Rupert Murdoch
- Owns Media conglomerate “NewsCorp”
- Only certain views expressed, due to the people that own companies
Involved in Distribution of film, television, newspapers, magazines, cable networks, and internet platforms.
Modern Communication Theories
New Media
- Non-Linear
- Active
- Developed Agency
Traditional Media
- Linear
- Passive
Two Step and Multistep Flow Models
Some are more influential than others
Opinion Leaders see themselves as influential in determining how audiences respond to mass media
Today we continue to get our opinions from online opinion leaders or social media influencers
Limited Effects Trend
Theories that suggest that the media has a limited effect on an audience, as audiences establish agency
Agenda Setting Functions Theory
Bernard Cohen (1963) stated: “The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think, but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about”
Agenda setting occurs through a process called gatekeeping, as well as the selection, omission and framing of stories
Agenda Setting Functions Theory - Case Study
Case Study: The Kylie Effect
- Defined as 'the increased awareness of breast cancer caused by the publicity surrounding its diagnosis in Kylie Minogue, born 1968, Australian singer and actress' - Kylie Minogue's breast cancer diagnosis led to many women getting tested - 20 fold increase in breast cancer screening - 101% increase in bookings for breast cancer
Reinforcement Theory
Mass media does not have the ability to influence audiences. “Regardless of whether the effect in question be social or individual” he wrote “the media are more likely to reinforce than to change”
Exposure to months of campaign propaganda was found particularly likely to be reinforcing ideologies, rather than effecting conversion
Reinforcement Theory - Case Study
Case Study: Dumb Ways to Die (2012)
- In November 2012, Metro Trains in Melbourne released a public service announcement video titled Dumb Ways to Die. The video attempted to promote rail safety, through satirical depictions of various ‘dumb deaths’ of cartoon characters in an attempt to “engage and audience that doesn’t really want to hear any kind of safety message”,
- Caused 30% less near misses between November 2011 to January 2013, highlighting it’s positive impact
- Enforced ideas that being stupid near trains is bad, therefore causing more people to be aware
Filter Bubble Theory
Algorithms such as Youtube and Instagram filter information given to you based on information based on location, search history, and habits
You are not given information outside of your own views - filtered out
Eco chamber - Information and ideas repeatedly pushed, while others are prohibited
Filter Bubble Theory - Case Study
Case Study: 2016 US Election
- The results of the US Presidential Election in 2016 have been associated with the influence of social media platforms such as Twitter and Facebook, and as a result have called into question the effects of the “filter bubble” phenomenon on user exposure to fake news and echo chambers spurring new interest in the term, with many concerned that the phenomenon may harm democracy and well-being by making the effects of misinformation worse
Active Audience Theory
When individuals consume a media text they are not blindly accepting the message, but are intellectually engaging with it, which gives them some agency and control over it
- One way an audience can be active is through interpretation
Parasocial Relationship Theory
- A one-sided interaction that can occur between media characters and their audiences.
- Horton and Wohl saw para social relationships as a negative effect of the media, taking advantage of vulnerable, lonely audiences
Audiences choose these celebrities in an act of identity-building and willingly entering into a para social relationship
- Horton and Wohl saw para social relationships as a negative effect of the media, taking advantage of vulnerable, lonely audiences
Parasocial Relationship Theory - Case Study
Example: Twitch / Livestream Services
Audiences making donations to popular streamers in return for interaction/notoriety
Globalised Media Usage
Globalised corporations control through their ownership, management and physical and digital distribution of intellectual property
Traditional business model corporations such as News Corp, 21st Century Fox create and distribute media products for audiences
Content is often geolocated
Geolocation based content is an internet definition utilized to specify content that is related to a particular location which can be a country, region, city or even suburb
Change of audience expectations = tension with traditional media distributors