Media Flashcards
Relevant theories
Packard (1957) Hypodermic Syringe Model
Evidence to support that Media only has a direct negative effect:
The media injects messages into the audience directly. The audience is passive. The media is active (intentional). Packard referred only to advertising but the model has been extended to include all media forms.
Dworkin (1981)
Evidence to support that Media only has a direct negative effect:
Radical feminist Dworkin argued that viewing pornography directly resulted in men commiting violence against women.
Anderson et. al. (2003) that argues media only has a direct negative effect:
support
conducted research into the direct effect of music as he studies violent song lyrics on attitudes and emotions of 500 college students who were asked to listen to violent and non-violent lyrics. They found that ones that listened to violent song lyrics had a higher increase in aggression.
Williams et al (1981) - TV in British Columbia a.k.a ‘Notel, Unitel and Multitel Study
Evidence to support that Media only has a direct negative effect:
Conducted a natural experiment and measured children’s behaviour before and after television had been introduced to the town. Also compared the children’s behaviour with that in other towns that did have TV.
Conclusions: Notel showed increased levels of aggression and sex-stereotyped views because of the introduction of TV.
Step two of two step process model
Those who respect the opinion leader internalise their interpretation of that content.
Packard’s (1957) AO3
Hypodermic Syringe Model is a very simple explanation of media effects. It’s simplicity is appealing because it offers an explanation for copy-cat and desensitised violence. However, because it is so simple it treats the audience as homogenous and fails to acknowledge audience differences.
Direct negative effect can have positive outcomes:
Low ecological validity of lab studies (vs. high ecological validity of field studies)
Extraneous variables
Evidence to undermine direct effect theory: Gaunlett (1995)
Gauntlett (1995) - Cruises direct effect theories for blaming television for problems such as crime while ignoring other possible causes, such as social inequality.
Indirect effects Media
The media affects you but you do not have to consume it yourself. You cannot affect it but your personal circumstances affect how it affects you.
Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955) The two-step flow model
Indirect
Personal relationships and conversations with significant others, such as family members, friends, teachers and work colleagues, result in people modifying or rejecting media messages they hear from others.
Direct theories
the media affects you directly as a result of you consuming it. You cannot affect it.
opinion leaders
people of influence whom others in the network look up to and listen to. These people usually have strong ideas about a range of matters.
Active Audience theories
the media affects you (directly and indirectly) and you affect it or its message. There is a dialogue or relationship between you and the media you consume.
Indirect Theories
Step one of two step process model
The opinion leader is exposed to the media content.
Antonio Gramsci - Indirect
Concept of hegemony (ideological leadership of society – control over our norms/values etc.)
Hegemony maintained in two ways:
Coercion (force, through formal agents of social control)
Consent (cultural hegemony – using ideas to persuade subordinate classes that this is legitimate)
Contemporary evidence
Media has a negative direct effect
GTA - Makes people violent
Slenderman - Makes kids violent
James bulger
Active audiences
Klapper (1960)
Active
Suggests that for a media message to have any effect, it must pass through 3 filters.
1st = selective exposure
2nd = Selective preception
3rd = selection retention
Wood (1993)
Active
illustrated how teenagers may use horror films to gratify their need for excitement.
Blumler and McQuail (1968) and Lull (1995) - Gratifications Model
What does the model describe?
Active audiences
What the media does to people as it is seen as a part of a broader trend among media researchers towards what people do with it.
Blumler and McQuail (1968) and Lull (1995) - Gratifications Model
Active audiences
Introduced the gratifications model which suggested that people use the media in order to satisfy particular social needs that they have.
Zilmann (cited in McQuail 1987)
Active
has shown the influence of mood on media choice; for example boredom might encourage exciting content and stress might encourage relaxing content.
Who are you using for Active audiences
Wood
Klapper
Zilmann (cited in Mquail 1987)
Blummer, Mquail and Lull
Who are you using for direct?
Williams et al (1981)
Anderson et al (2003)
Dworkin (1981)
What are you using for indirect?
Katz and Lazarsfeld (1955) two-step flow model
Lazarsfeld and Berelson and Gaudet (1948) - Cultural effects mode
Holbert & Stephenson (2003)
Antonio Gramsci
Saw that certain institutions such as the media as a site of struggle for hearts and minds and argued that the media has to be continously alert to the need to keep the audience on the side of capitalism.
Used the term ‘hegemony’ to discuss the way which capitalist ideas were presented as ‘common sense; and see as ‘natural’ in order to maintain control
