explanantions of the effects of the media on audiences Flashcards
passive audiences - hypodermic syringe model AO1
Views the media like a syringe that injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience, who are a powerless mass with little choice but to be influenced
media effects models - passive audiences
hypodermic syringe model
media effects models -active audiences
two step flow
cultural effects model
uses and gratifications model
selective filtration model
reception analysis
hypodermic syringe model AO2 - james Bulgar
was abducted from a shopping centre and tortured and murdered by 2 10 year old boys. The mimicked scene from the film Child’s Play
hypodermic syringe model AO3 - neo-marxist perspctive
It fails to question who has power to control the media
They agree that the media acts in much the same way as a hypodermic syringe in order to control the masses but take it a step further and question who holds the power
assumes the audience is gullible and easily manipulated
two step flow model AO1
Katz and Lazarsfield
opinion leaders (those who leaad discussion in their social groups) select and interpret media texts and form their own opinions.
they then selectively pass on these messages which contain their opinions to other social groups
members of the groups are influenced by the messages and may pass opinions on to others
medai audiences arent. mass of isolated individuals but social groups influence
two step flow model AO3 - assumes
suggets people are very vulnerable to influence and amnipulation by opinion leaders. doesnt recognise people may have views ad opinions of their own
two step flow model AO3 - more than 2 steps
probably more than two steps in the media’s influence.
Media content could be selected and interpreted by many different individuals in different groups.
the selective filter model AO1
Klapper
The audience has some choice over whether they are affected by the media
Media content is only able to influence if it’s able to pass through 3 filters:
1. Selective exposure - the audience must choose to watch/ read media
2. Selective perception - once exposed, they still have the option to reject the message
3. Selective retention - the extent to which it will affect is dependent on whether the audience finds it memorable
selective filter model Ao3
model assumes
that individuals always engage
in rational and conscious
selective processes, ignoring
the potential for subconscious
influences and emotional
responses to media content.
uses and gratifications model AO1
the most active audience and the weakest effects of the media
we use the media in any way we want, when we want, for specific purposes
McQuail and Lull suggest a variety of uses and gratifications of the media
1.background wallpaper
2. personal relationships
3. personal identity
uses and gratifications model AO2 - Park study: used the uses and gratifications model in a survey of those who were members of Facebook groups
found the online groups were used to talk and meet with others to achieve a sense of com-
munity and peer support
= personal relationships)
uses and gratifications model AO3 - feminist perspective
The model is idealistic in assuming all media content provides positive functions for society and individuals
Radical feminists - the model ignores how the media is used to spread and maintain patriarchy
the reception analysis model AO1
Social groups interpret media content in different ways
Morley - the subcultural groups that an individual belongs to will affect how they interpret media messages
Media content is polysemic - they are at least 3 ways in which audience members might decode a media message
1. Dominant or hegemonic reading - audience member agrees with the ’code’ of the programme
2. Negotiated reading - audience members broadly accepts the preferred reading but modify it to reflect their own interest
3. Oppositional reading - the audience member rejects the preferred reading
reception analysis ao3
The model may overestimate
the active role of audiences in
interpreting media content,
underestimating the influence
of media power and
production.
cultural effects model
GMG explanation
Tool of oppression by spreading capitalist ideology to encourage the proletariat to believe that social inequality is natural
The media has a ‘drip, drip’ effect - media content gradually spreads capitalist ideology
eventually people accept the ‘preferred’ reading (of the people in charge)
audiences actively interpret content but their interpretations ar elimited by ideological conditioning
cultural effects model - Morley - suggested people might read media texts in one of 3 ways:
- Preferred reading: reading and interpreting a story the way that it was intending to be interpreted as - people lacking direct experience and knowledge of the events covered in the media will accept preferred reading. People with direct experience will reject.
- Negotiated reading: reading and interpreting a story generally in the intended way, but making some amendments
- Oppositional reading: rejecting the story and seeing through the dominant ideology
cultural effects mode AO2
if we see minority ethnic groups nearly always portrayed in the context of trouble and crime over time this will come to form the stereotypes we hold of these groups
cultural effects model Ao3 - positives
GMG
cultural effects model recognises the way audiences respond to medi amessages will be affected by a wide range of factors other than the media message itself, such as their social circumstances, personal experiences
cultural effects model Ao3 - limitations
It assumes that all journalists and media owners have and use the dominant ideology - when some do not (especially in the age of new media)
methodological problems with studying media effects - 5 problems
causality
disentanglement
new media
impossibility
ethics
methodological problems with studying media effects - causality
difficult to establish whether its actually the media or other social factors that cause any effects
methodological problems with studying media effects - disentanglement
impossible to disentangle the effects of the media on audiences of things like violence, stereotypes, or the influence of the DI.
Even people exposed to the same media texts don’t interpret and react in the same way. so theres are other influences on audiences than media
methodological problems with studying media effects - new media
difficult to establish, with the spread of the new media, which particular media cause any alleged effects. e.g could be television, movies etc
