Theories of media effects Flashcards
What is the Hypodermic Syringe Model?
(1900-1930s) Suggests that the audience passively accepts the message “injected” into them by mass media.
(Uncritical reception)
What were some outcomes due to War of the Worlds (1938)
- Claims of panic and suicide
- “frightened” , “disturbed”, “excited” , PANICKED
- Newspapers attack on new medium of radio
Contemporary examples of media effects?
- Brexit bus
- Russian bots & ads on social media influencing people to vote in certain ways (USA elec, Brexit)
- Violent films
- Video games
Who designed the Two-step flow model?
Katz & Lazarsfield (1955)
What does the Two-step flow suggest?
Proposes that interpersonal interaction has a far stronger effect on shaping public opinion than mass media outlets.
(impact of opinion leaders)
What is “agenda setting”? Key theorists?
McCombs & Shaw (1968)
- Media don’t tell us what to think, but what to think about.
What did Blumler et al (1969-) suggest about uses and gratifications within media?
People seek out the media that fulfil their needs:
- Info & education
- Entertainment
- Personal identity
- Escapism
Who proposed SLT? What did Social Learning Theory suggest?
- Bandura et al (1961)
Human beings learn through imitation.
What is Copycat crime? Example?
- A criminal act that is modelled or inspired by a previous crime.
- Murder of James Bulger (1993) (claims that the kids were copying Childs Play 3)
What did Stuart Halls’ (1973) theory of Encoding/Decoding suggest?
proposed that audience members can play an active role in decoding messages as they rely on their own social context, and might be capable of changing messages themselves through collective action.
(media encode - audience decode in number of ways)
What are the 3 types of decoding in Halls’ theory E/D?
- Dominant/Hegemonic = decoded exactly as encoded (uncritical reception)
- Negotiated = accepts preferred reading but with caveats
- Oppositional = Rejects the preferred reading
