Chapter 13 Theories and Effects of Mass Communication The Effects Debate Many people think that media has limited effects Arguments 12 04 2013 1 Media content has limited impact on audiences because its only make believe people know it isn t real o Counter arguments News is not make believe Most film and television dramas are made to seem real to people Much contemporary television is expressly real Advertising is supposed to tell the truth Children think that what they see is real early window Willingly suspend disbelief we willinging accept as real what is put before us 2 Media content has limited impact on audiences because it is only play or just entertainment o Counterarguments News is not play or entertainment Play is very important to the way we develop 3 If media had any effects at all they are not the medias fault media simply hold a mirror to society and reflect the status quo showing us and our world as they already are o Counterarguments media hold a very selective mirror it is a fun house mirror that distorts what it reflects 4 If media had any effect at all it is only to reinforce preexisting values and beliefs Family church school and other socializing agents have much more influence o Counterarguments the traditional socializing agents have lost much of their power to influence reinforcement is not the same as having no effects 5 If media have any effects at all they are only the unimportant things in our lives such as fads and fashions o Counterarguments fads and fashions are not unimportant to us if media influence only the unimportant things in our lives then why are billions of dollars spent on media efforts to sway opinion about social issues Micro Versus Macro Levels Micro level the personal level that media effects Macro level media that changes the cultural climate of the world o Violence on televisions contributes to the cultural climate in which real world violence becomes acceptable the micro level view is that televised violence has little impact because although someone people maybe directly affected most people are not The macro level view is that televised violence has a great impact because it influences the cultural climate Administrative Versus Critical Research Administrative research asks questions about the immediate observable influence of mass communication Paul Lazarsfeld was the father of social science research and possibly the most important mass communication researcher of all time warned against this narrow view o He belived in critical research asking larger questions about what kind of nation we are building what kind of people we are becoming Administrative research concerns itself with direct causes and effects Critical research looks larger possibly more significant cultural questions Transmissional Versus Ritual Perspective Transmissional perspective sees media as senders of information for the purpose of control that is media either have effects on our behavior or they do not Ritual perspective views media not as a means of transmitting messages in space but as central to maintenance of society in time the ritual perspective is important to understand the cultural importance of mass communication Defining Mass Communication Theory Mass communication theories explanations and predictions of social phenomena that attempt to relate mass communication to various aspects of our personal and cultural lives or social systems Cultivation analysis the idea that peoples ideas of themselves their word and their place in it are shaped and maintained primarily through television Attitude change theory the way our attitude changes and perception guides our behavior dime drawing example To understand mass communication theory you should recognize these important ideas o There is no one mass communication theory o Mass communication theories are often borrowed from other fields of science o They are human constructions o They are dynamic Short History of Mass Communication Theory Mass communication theory is open to evolving ideas for 3 reasons 1 2 3 advances in technology or introduction of new media calls for control or regulation democracy and cultural pluralism The Era of Mass Society Theory o mass society theory the idea that the media are corrupting influences that undermine the social order and that the average people are defenseless against it o hypodermic needle theory magic bullet theory media are dangerous drug or killing force that directly and immediately penetrates a persons system o grand theory a theory designed to describe and explain all aspects of a given phenomenon The Emergence of the Limited Effects Perspective o War of the Worlds Orson Welles 1938 docudrama scared thousands and people fled their homes because of it Proof of mass society theory o Limited Effects Theory media influence was limited by individual differences social categories and personal relationships The theory that emerged from this era of the first systematic and scientific study of media effects taken together are now called this o Two Step Flow Theory developed by Lazarfeld Opinion leaders people who initially consume media content on topics of particular interests to them interpret it in light of their own values an beliefs and pas sit on to opinion followers Attitude change theory explains how people attitudes are formed changed and shaped through communication and how those attitudes influence behavior Lazarfelds research on the 1940 presidential election indicated that media influence on peoples voting behaviors was limited by opinion leaders o Attitude Change Theory Dissonance theory argues that when confronted by new or conflicting information people experience a kind of mental discomfort three interrelated slecetive processes 1 selective exposure selective attention process by which people expose themselves to or attend to only those messages consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs selective retention assumes that people remember best and longest those messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs selective perception predicts that people will interpret messages in a manner consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs 2 3 o Reinforcement Theory Joseph Klapper wrote The Effects of Mass Communication in 1960 Klappers theory is based on social science evidence developed prior to 1960 and is often called this o The Uses and Gratification Approach Claimed that media do not do things to people
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