Topic 6: The Effects Of Media On Audiences Flashcards
What is the hypodermic syringe model?
The media acts like a syringe in which it injects messages, attitudes and beliefs into its audience. The audience are passive and powerless, therefore unwillingly accept these messages.
What did Bandura et al say?
He carried an experiment on young children which involved exposing them to films on a doll being attacked with a mallet. They concluded that the basis of this was that violent media content leads to copycat violence.
What did Catharsis say?
Media can provide a safe outlet for peoples aggressive
tendencies.
What did Fesbach and Sanger say?
They concluded that by immersing yourself into a violent film aggressive energy is released in a safe way.
What is sensitisation? (Young)
Young argues that seeing the effects of violence can make people more aware of the consequences & less likely to commit them.
He suggests that violent scenes can be so graphic & so shocking that they put people off violence.
What are criticisms of the HSM model?
Too deterministic.
The HSM uses the media as a scapegoat for everything wrong in society. But there are other factors that could be causing the violence & antisocial behaviour e.g. Peer group, drugs, childhood trauma & mental illness.
What is the two -step flow model?
Katz and Lazarsfeld found media audiences are not directly affected by the media. Instead, audiences adopt a certain opinion after discussion with a group leader - therefore, the group leader is exposed to the content, and those who respect the leader internalise the interpretation of content.
What is the uses and gratifications model? Include the 4 ways individual use media.
Blumer & McQuail suggest people use the media actively to fulfil their own personal needs, which is dependent on class, age, gender, etc. The ways individuals use the media includes:
Diversion, personal identity, personal relationships and surveillance
What is the cultural effects model?
A Marxist model of thought by GMG that believes the media transmits capitalist norms and values through a slow drip drip effect over a long period of time. Media content contains ideological messages that reflect those who own the media (white middle class, men). Most people end up accepting the preferred way of reading.
What is the selective filter model?
An interpretivist approach by Klapper who suggests there are 3 filters people apply when interpreting the media:
Selective exposure - people choose what they want to expose themselves to in the media.
Selective perception - people may choose to accept or reject a media message depending on whether or not it fits in with their own views.
Selective retention - people will forget material that is not in line with their views and interests, and only remember media messages that reflect their interests.
