J201Intro to mass communicationMedia researchMedia effects•no single topic (though often linked by medium)•no single method (though often determined by discipline)•no single theory (and often contradictory interpretations of same data)Mass communication research is not all the sameWhat topics do mass comm researchers study?•the content of media messages(and their meaning)•the effects of media messages on audiences (and what mediates these effects, if any)•the audiences for media messages (and their agency in receiving those messages)•the institutions producing media messages (and their place in the structure of society)What methods do mass comm researchers use?•subjective vs. objective•qualitative vs. quantitative•descriptive vs. normative•contemporary vs. historical•local vs. cross-culturalWhat theories do mass comm researchers use?•internalist vs. externalist•conflict vs. consensus•critical vs. administrative•meta-narrative vs. grounded theoryTopic: effects of media messages on audiences•zero-effects theories•mass society theories•limited effects theories•agenda-setting theories•hegemonic effects theories•technological determinist theoriesSix main types of “media 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”“zero effects” theoriesa famous “mass society” examplea famous “mass society” example1938 Halloween Eve•“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”“mass society” theoriestwo “limited effects” examples•1940s-1960s: first “communciations” researchers•intervening variables (mediation)•individual differences (who you are)•social differences (who you know)“limited effects” theories•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)“limited effects” theories (continued)•not what to think, but what to think about •especially relevant to political elections•staged media events (or “pseudo events”)“agenda setting” theoriesa “hegemonic theory” exampleGerbner 1982•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•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)“hegemonic” theories
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