Media Analysis and Journalistic Applications Flashcards
Microscopic (personal) and macroscopic (societal) analyses of how we depend on the media to shape our beliefs, attitudes, shared meanings and social organizations. This theory postulates that in a dependent relationship the satisfaction of one party’s needs is contingent on the resources of the other. It also finds that dependency on the media increases during times of change.
Media Systems Dependency Theory (MSDT)
Holds that the mass media determine what we think and worry about. It’s not that various media tell us what to think, it’s that they tell us what to think about by giving more exposure to some topics than others. In order for this cause-and-effect relationship to work, a lag between media priorities and public priorities must be observed.
Agenda-Setting Theory
Suggests that repeated intense exposure to deviant definitions of reality can lead to the perception that that the deviant reality is “normal.” This works particularly well in situations involving the social world – and leads to the perception of the world as a hostile and frightening place. It also suggests that TV viewers do not actually choose specific programs to watch.
Cultivation Theory
Says that we all have different uses for the media and make specific choices about what to watch (exactly the opposite of Cultivation Theory). In other words, that we are not just watching mindlessly – that we expect to get something out of what we’re watching: information, a sense of personal identity, social interaction or entertainment.
Uses and Gratifications Theory
An extension of the Uses and Gratifications theory, which states that we decode media messages in terms of our own personal situation (upbringing, education, health, status, profession, mood, gender, where we live, etc.).
Reception Analysis Theory
Says that we choose media messages consistent with our pre-existing views and values.
Consistency Theory
Says that we tend to hear what we want and expect to hear.
Selective Participation
Says that, subconsciously, we retain some events and messages and not others.
Selective Retention
Regards the media as a “syringe” that Theory strongly injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into an audience which, as a powerless mass, has little choice but to be accept them.
Hypodermic Syringe
Postulates that we are likely to discuss our media experiences with others and that if we respect them (and consider them opinion leaders) we may abandon our own opinions and switch to theirs.
Two-Step Flow Theory
Holds that arousal or excitement caused by the media can be readily transferred to other situations (including non-media situations); that similar emotions or stimuli need not be involved.
Excitation Transfer Theory
Connects the areas of social psychology, mass media and interpersonal communications. Holds that we all have the ability to judge the
climate of public opinion and that we are likely to withhold our views if we think that they differ from those of the majority. (This theory is the work of Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann, founder of Germany’s Allensbach Institute.)
Spiral of Silence Theory
Makes us believe we are personally involved in something when actually we have just heard or read about it.
Narcoticizing Dysfunction
Gives us a false sense of participating in public dialogue (see Narcoticizing Dysfunction).
Parasocial Interaction
Suggests that media violence is one of the factors that encourages violence in real life. This is a highly controversial theory – what do you think?
Catalytic Theory
