J201 Intro to mass communication Mass society media effects mass communication processes purposes mass media producers technologies products mass society effects audiences cultures Researching effects of media messages on audiences a crucial example of media effects Five types of media effects theories zero effects theories mass society theories limited effects theories agenda setting theories hegemonic effects theories zero effects theories People know that media content isn t real Media only reflect what is already in society Other social institutions like family school church and workplace have more influence than media Media have effects but only over trends fads and other trivialities a famous mass society example a famous mass society example 1938 Halloween Eve mass society theories hypodermic needle or magic bullet early 20th century mass urban industrial society new media radio film and magazines 1930s Payne Fund studies of motion pictures 1940s Nazi propaganda persuasion studies two limited effects examples limited effects theories 1940s 1960s first communciations researchers intervening variables mediation individual differences who you are social differences who you know limited effects theories continued selectivity in attention retention perception attitude formation theory not the whole audience but a particular subset audience fragmentation not conversion but reinforcement reinforcement theory not effects but modeling social cognitive theory agenda setting theories not what to think but what to think about especially relevant to political elections staged media events or pseudo events a hegemonic theory example Gerbner 1982 hegemonic theories hegemony power of dominant group accepted as both natural and legitimate by those who are dominated focus not on individual messages content but on ideological effect of lots of messages over time focus not on change but on thwarting of change narcotizing dysfunction hegemonic theories continued media help to socialize us to the status quo socialization theory media power grows as society grows more complex dependency theory media use contributes to gap between rich and poor knowledge gap theory people self censor unpopular opinions spiral of silence the more media people consume the more they take on the values portrayed in the media cultivation analysis so which of these theories applies to video games
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