Media Influence

Question 1

What are the three academic approaches to Media Influence?

Answer 1

The effects tradition, cultural studies and political economy.

Question 2

What is the Effects Tradition?

Answer 2

The effects tradition is an approach to the study of media influence which focuses o. The effect that media texts have on audiences. This way of thinking about he media developed in the early days of the mass media and has become the dominant way of thinking about communication.

Question 3

What are the weaknesses of the Effects Tradition academic approach?

Answer 3

Th real weakness of the effects tradition is its narrow focus on media effects. The Effects Tradition tackles the problem backwards, starting with the assumption that the media has an effect on audiences, then attempting to prove it. Experimental studies conducted to prove media effects usually occur in an artificial, laboratory setting which takes media consumption out of the real world.

Question 4

What is the Cultural Studies academic approach?

Answer 4

Rather than focusing simply on the effect of the media, the cultural studies approach sees the act of communication and the issue of of media influence within the context of society and culture. It acknowledges that the media are part of society, aiming to look at the whole picture be examining media consumption in everyday lives.

Question 5

Strengths of the Cultural Studies academic approach?

Answer 5

By conducting qualitative research, researchers ask people how they use the media. They do not make the assumption that the media influences the audience, instead researchers ask people to talk about their experiences with the media in an attempt to gain greater insight into the process of communication. This way of researching allows for them to deal with ideas to complex for traditional, quantum italics surveys.

Question 6

What are the weaknesses of the Cultural Studies academic approach?

Answer 6

Cultural studies is criticised for ignoring the importance of capitalism and economic power structure in the mass media.

Question 7

What is the Political Economy academic approach?

Answer 7

The Political economy approach concerns itself with who owns the media. It suggests that the mass media is part of a capitalist system which incorporates advertisers, corporations and governments.

Question 8

What are the weaknesses of the Political Economy academic approach?

Answer 8

The political ebony academic approach doesn’t focus on the culture in which media production and consumption occurs, only on who owns the media and who it benefits.

Question 9

Give an overview of the Hypodermic Needle Theory and when it was created.

Answer 9

The Hypodermic needle theory suggest that audiences are passive consumers and that the media has a direct and powerful influence over their audience. Without any interference or negotiated meaning. Created in the 1920s.

Question 10

What are the weaknesses of the Hypodermic Needle Theory?

Answer 10

This theory assumes that all audience members are passive and that they will all receive the same message, disregarding their own personal view or opinions. This theory is disregarded as an outdated way of thinking about media influence.

Question 11

Evidence to support the Hypodermic Needle Theory?

Answer 11

Orson Welles, War of the Worlds broadcast in 1938. This media text was presented in the form of a new bulletin and so led some audience members to truly believe that what was being described in the play was actually occurring. Hiding in bomb shelters and running from populated areas. This strengthened the belief that the media has a direct and powerful effect on audiences.

Question 12

Give an overview of the Two-step flow theory and the date it was created.

Answer 12

The two-step flow theory is a diffusion model of influence. It suggests that audience are more likely to me influenced by “opinion leaders”, people who are more connected to the media than their peers and pass on media messages. It suggests that audiences are active throughout society. Created in the 1940s.

Question 13

Weaknesses of the two-step flow theory.

Answer 13

One weakness of the two-step flow theory is that there may be more than two-steps in the flow of communication.

Question 14

Evidence to support the two-step flow theory.

Answer 14

Lazarsfeld’s own book “The People’s Choice”, which examined the presidential election in the 1940’s. Found that people were more likely to be influenced by opinion leaders than campaign advertising.

Question 15

Give a date, who created it and an overview of the Uses and Gratification theory.

Answer 15

Created in 1974 by Jay Blumler. The Uses and Gratification theory suggests that people use the media to gratify a range of needs. Audiences are active and only use the media to fulfil a particular need.

Question 16

What are the weaknesses of the Uses and Gratification Theory?

Answer 16

The Uses and Gratification theory tends to ignore the potential negative impact the media may have on its audience. It also assumes that people deliberately choose what they consume, however audiences often consume media mindlessly and without a direct purpose.

Question 17

Evidence to support the Uses and Gratification Theory.

Answer 17

“Hanging out, messing around and geeking out.” Took a quantitative approach to finding out how and why young people use social networking sites. Many admitted to using them too fulfil a social need or requirement.

Question 18

Give the date, creator and an overview of the Reinforcement Theory.

Answer 18

The Reinforcement Theory was created on the 1960s by Joseph Klapper. The theory suggests that the media has very little influence over people and can only reinforce pre-existing attitudes and beliefs that have been developed by more powerful social institutions like families. It suggests that audiences are active and it considers the whole situation.

Question 19

What are weaknesses of the Reinforcement Theory?

Answer 19

The one main weakness of the reinforcement theory is suggesting that people’s socialising agents are culturally grouped. This is not always the case and people can be subject to many varied and wide opinions.

Question 20

Give the date, creator and an overview of the Agenda Setting Function theory.

Answer 20

1972, Donald Shaw. The Agenda setting function theory suggests that the media cannot tell the audience what to think, but it can influence the audience into thinking about something. The media can through a series of techniques focus public discussion on a particular issue. It suggests that audiences are active, but they draw information from issues that are particularly salient at the time.

Question 21

What are the weaknesses of the Agenda Setting Function Theory?

Answer 21

Weaknesses of the Agenda Setting Function theory Re that it does not conclusively determine the extent to which the audience may or may not be influenced by the media. Also it ignores the different ways that audiences use the media and the attention for an issue that the audience may have. An attempt to set and agenda may be lost or misinterpreted to those who are not interested or are simply not familiar with the issue.

Question 22

Give the date, creator and an overview of the Cultivation Theory.

Answer 22

The cultivation theory was created in the 1979s by George Gerbner, and suggests that the media, particularly television because it was a visual platform, contributes to the audiences perception of social reality. The media dominates our view of reality, cultivating attitudes that were once acquired elsewhere. This theory doesn’t deny that audiences can be active, however they are susceptible to the gravitational pull of mainstream media.

Question 23

What are the weaknesses of the Cultivation Theory?

Answer 23

The cultivation theory is criticised for not acknowledging the active role that audience members play in choosing media they wish to consume. It focuses on the physical harm and does not include verbal or emotional abuse. The main problem however lies in defining violence, which is especially difficult to measure or classify, as what one person finds violent another may find amusing or silly.

Question 24

Give the creator of Semiotics, the year and an overview of them.

Answer 24

1970s by Ferdinand de Saussure. Semiotics suggests that media texts are ‘encoded’ by the sender, and then ‘decoded’ by the receiver. It believes that audiences are active, constructing meaning from text by reading signs within them. Meanings within a media form can vary as signs can have both shared and individual connotations.

Question 25

Give the date, creator and an overview of Cultural Studies and Reception Theories Encoding/Decoding.

Answer 25

1973, Stuart Hall. Stuart Halls Encoding/Decoding Theory suggests that audiences through a process of negotiations derive their own meaning through media texts. Meanings can be dominant, oppositional or emerging. The audiences are active in decoding messages and can even accept or reject specific parts of a text based on their personal beliefs or attitudes.

Question 26

What are the weaknesses of Cultural Studies Encoding/decoding?

Answer 26

The weaknesses of encoding/decoding theory is that it’s not supported by empirical evidence and the theory itself doesn’t make advances in determining significant media influence as its focus is to narrow. It also assumes that audiences are always engaged in their media consumption and does not allow for disinterest or accidental audience.

Question 27

What is meant by Laboratory Studies?

Answer 27

A laboratory study is conducted in a “controlled” environment. The test is carried out under supervised condition and may be observed by the person conducting the experiment. The subjects are representatives of a random sample of people, an are usually selected according to the nature of the experiment.

Question 28

What are the weaknesses of Laboratory Studies?

Answer 28

Laboratory testing is not regarded as an accurate method for interpreting the influence of media on audiences. This is because it’s regarded as artificial and not a true reflection of the ways in which media is experiences and received by audiences.

Question 29

What is meant by Longitudinal Studies?

Answer 29

Longitudinal studies are studies that are conducted over w long period of time. They are usually not conducted in an artificial environment and therefore reflect a more realistic approach the determining the extent of influence.

Question 30

What is the weaknesses of longitudinal studies?

Answer 30

One of the weaknesses of longitudinal studies is that the entire civilised world has experienced the media in some way, so the long term effects of media influence can be hard to observe.

Question 31

What is meant by Quantitative Research?

Answer 31

Quantitative research is a techniques that focuses on the statistical data collated via surveys, polls and questionnaires. People are asked questions and are given a limited number of response options, this allows for researchers to categorise and count opinions.

Question 32

What are the weaknesses of Quantitative Research?

Answer 32

The main weakness of Quantitative research is that it doesn’t allow for complicated answers. Because of the quantitative research can often be misleading, presenting an inaccurate representation of the entire media audience.

Question 33

What is meant by Qualitative and Ethnographic Research?

Answer 33

Qualitative research refers to using qualitative strategies to collect data, such as in-depth interviews and asking detailed questions to receive detailed responses. It allows for interpretation of the subjects response and takes into account factors like age, ethnicity and culture. The researcher also uses first hand experience to see into the audiences world.

Question 34

What are the weaknesses of Qualitative Research?

Answer 34

The main weakness of qualitative research is that researchers can become too close to the audience or the topic, which can then limit their ability to present unbiased research.

Question 35

Give an example of a positive effect the media has had.

Answer 35

An Australian media campaign devised to instigate social change conducted by the Transport Accident Commission in 1989, has been aimed to reduce road deaths. The advertisements conducted are generally confronting, depicting the graphic reality of road accidents, and the confronting aftermath. Since their release to the population, the campaign has assisted in halving the road toll.

Question 36

Discuss the media’s negative effect on the community.

Answer 36

There is no conclusive evidence to show that the media has negative effects of any kind. The media is generally blamed by governments and used as a scapegoat so they do not need to address the real issues. The Catharis theory suggests that watching violent media may even help people by purging any strong emotions they have. Some would argue that the media cultivates a society that is desensitised to violence, or can cause copy-cat behaviour.

Question 37

Who regulates media in Australia?

Answer 37

The Australian media is self-regulated and is governed by the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA). By allowing the media to be self regulated, the government is allowing for Australian Society to have access to a range of media.

Question 38

What are the arguments for regulation in Australia?

Answer 38

• The Protection of the vulnerable.
• To prevent content that encourages racial, sexual and religious discrimination.
• To prevent media owners from setting agendas through their content.

Question 39

Arguments against regulation in Australia.

Answer 39

• Self-regulation only provides advisory information and cannot prevent harmful content being shown to susceptible audiences.
• Relying on the government to regulate media means parent can be inactive when it comes to monitoring how their children use and consume media. Parents could be ignorant to the impact of the media.
• Australia is a democratic country that prides itself on diverse media, regulation threatens this, limiting exposure to new and progressive content.
• Regulation threatens to create a ‘nanny state’ where the media is so controlled there is no opportunity for varied content.

Question 40

Who controls Classification in Australia?

Answer 40

Classification in Australia has been overseen by the Classification Board since 1970. All media content must be allocated a classification before it can be released to the public.

Question 41

How is media censored in Australia?

Answer 41

The Classification Board cannot directly change any content submitted for classification, however they can effectively censor the media by refusing it classification, making it illegal to hire, sell or exhibit in Australia.