Mass Media - Mass Media and its Audience Flashcards
Briefly explain the Hypodermic Syringe Model.
States that the media injects its message into the mind of the audiences.
The message is so powerful that it directly influences the individual and they are powerless to resist or reject the message.
All individuals in the audience are affected in the same way.
Explain how Orson Welles ‘War of the World’ give evidence for the hypodermic syringe model.
The broadcast included fictional news bulletins reporting a Martian invasion.
Some people believed it and panicked while other’s did not. This stated that the media had direct power over people because they believed what they heard.
What are criticisms of the hypodermic syringe model?
- It is too simplistic to explain how adults viewed media content, but can be used to explain how children see it.
- It treats people as passive and easily lead. Not all audience members acted in the same way.
Explain Bandura, Ross and Ross’s study into the audience’s response to media.
They played a film of a man hitting a BoBo doll to children. They then left the children in a room with the same BoBo doll. Those who had seen the violent video hit the doll while other’s who hadn’t seen the film did not.
Explain the two-step flow model.
- Developed in the 1950s
1. The media message reaches the audience.
2. Their understanding of the message is shaped by social interactions with other audience members.
What is a ‘Opinion Leaders’ in the two-step flow model?
A person in a community whose reaction directly influences others. They openly express their reaction and opinions, and are other’s follow their lead.
Who coined the term ‘opinion leaders’?
Katz and Lazersfeild
What did Katz and Lazerfeild find in their study on media influence?
They found that in the media’s influence on American voters that most people followed the opinion leader’s views on who they should vote for, but the opinion leaders themselves often get their ideas straight from mass media messages.
What did Hobson in 1990 find to evaluate the two-step flow model?
They found that in their study of an office environment, they found more than one key individual that influenced what others watched on TV and their reactions to shows. These opinions were passed on to other colleagues causing a social norm of what to watch to spread through the whole office. This shows that it is not just two steps, it can be more.
What is the Cultural Effects Theory?
- The idea that social context affects the effects of the media
- People interpret the media in the context of their culture.
Define culture
The small, subcultural groups an individual belongs to and also the wider, general culture of society.
Outline Cantril’s 1940 cultural context study into the response to the War of the Worlds.
- The response was caused by the cultural context in which it was heard (would not have had the same effect today as in 1940s)
- There was insecurity in America because of the financial crisis and wars in Europe so radio shows where frequently interrupted and people expected bad news.
- People believed the story because they were in expectation of bad news.
What did Hall in 1980 say about me said messages affecting people?
The media has dominant ideological messages ‘encoded’ into it, and people from different background can decode/interpret the message in different ways - with varying levels of agreement and opposition to ideology expressing itself.
How have images of women in the media created stereotypical images?
Because these images, over a long period of time, have reinforced the dominant view that it is okay to objectify women as sex objects.
What did McLuhan say about the effects of media messages?
New media technology had a greater effect on society than media continent.
