Learning:

1. To understand traditional theories of how the media effects the audience, media effects theories.
2. Explain the effect of various media effects theories on a ‘passive’ audience.

Media Concepts:

Audience, Representation, Industry, Language

The Big Debate:

That the media has an effect on an audience is without doubt.

There are various competing theories, which try to explain the effect media has on audiences, these are called, ‘Effects Theories.’

From propaganda to couch potatoes and from the two-step flow model to cultivation theory, how are our identity and ideology shaped and how are we persuaded by the media we consume?

Key vocabulary:

Media effects, propaganda and persuasion, influence(r), desire, advertising, ideology, passive audiences, hypodermic syringe (copy cat behaviour), cultivation, mean world theory.

Media Theorists:

Bandura (discredited in Media Studies), Two Step Flow (Lazarsfeld) & Gerbner

Exam Question:

“‛The media control how we understand and connect with the world.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?”

“‘Digital technology has had a significant impact on the representation of public and private lives.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?”

‘Evaluate the significance of contemporary technologies which have changed our relationship with the media.’ (audiences, public and private / ownership / globalisation / convergence)

Quote

“Advertising exists to create desire.”

So, does advertising work on you or are you too savvy and immune to its influence?

Propaganda and persuasion

There is a widely held assumption that the media and advertising in particular (including propaganda) has an influence on the audience, so much so that they act based on an advert. Whether that is to buy a particular brand or radically change their behaviour, in the propaganda examples above, join the army and fight in the trenches during World War 1 or contribute the the war effort at home.

Media Studies & Audience Effects

Media Studies asks a simple question, which has proven remarkably hard to answer conclusively:

To what degree can we say that media has an effect on the audiences’ behaviours, attitudes, values and beliefs about the world?

If it does effect behaviours and ideologies, how?

There are two broad schools of thought when thinking about media effects on audience.

Passive audience and active audience.

1 Passive Audience

The Hypodermic Syringe Model & Copy Cat Behaviour (use with caution – old theories which has been rejected)

Bandura, The Bobo Doll Experiment and Copycat Behaviours – Really old discredited experiment.

Essentially this study suggests that…monkey see, monkey do…

This idea is reinforced regularly, ironically by newspapers, who suggests that violent and anti social behaviour is copied by a thoughtless, easily manipulated audience. What the audience sees in the media they simply copy in terms of their behaviour and ideologies. A famous experiment by Bandura called the Bobo Doll experiment suggested that children will copy the behaviour of adults they watch playing a toy doll roughly and aggressively. Bandura suggested that this copy cat behaviour can be applied to audiences consuming the media just as easily.

A Counter argument…

“‘Ok,’ you may say. I’ve seen hundreds, if not thousands, of acts of violence in the media and I’ve never done anything violent. In fact society is in many ways less violent than it has ever been!”

A useful development of the hypodermic syringe model is…

The Two Step Flow Model

An adaptation of the hypodermic syringe model, which suggests that, ‘…most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders (influencers), who in turn are influenced by the mass media.’ Wikipedia

These opinion leaders might be…

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Journalists, pundits, influencers, sports stars, singers, film stars, shock jocks…

This is Alex Jones an American shock jock, who has a large, loyal and varied following around the world.

Although, an American judge recently, “ordered right-wing conspiracy theorist Alex Jones to pay an additional $473 million in punitive damages over “lies” he told about the 2012 Sandy Hook Elementary School shooting.” Oliver Darcy and Sonia Moghe, CNN

A lot of people look up to this man and consider him to be a victim of a deep state conspiracy who are out to suppress the truth about the corruption at the heart of the establishment.

That’s the two step flow model right there!

Cultivation Theory

Gerbner would suggest that our perceptions of what the world is like have been distorted by what we constantly see in the media over time.

The media influence on Bert

Consider the following hypothetical example:

Learning:

1. To understand theories of how the media effects the audience, media effects theories.
2. Explain the effect of various media effects theories on an ‘active’ audience.

Media Concepts:

Audience, Representation, Industry, Language

The Big Debate:

That the media has an effect on an audience is without doubt.

There are completing theories, which try to explain how this this effect might work.

The audience are more engaged, thinking and active agents in the media they consume. Audience ideologies shape consumption of media texts and audiences use media to shape and express their identity.

Key vocabulary:

Active audience, reception theory, (preferred, negotiated & oppositional readings), ideology, identity, participation and engagement.

Media Theorists:

Hall, Gauntlett, Blumler & Katz,

Exam Questions:

“‘Digital technology has had a significant impact on the representation of public and private lives.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement?”

“The media control how we understand and connect with the world.’ To what extent do you agree with this statement? “(audiences, changing modes of reception, convergence, representation, media language, technology, ownership) [30]

‘Evaluate the significance of contemporary technologies which have changed our relationship with the media.’ (audiences, public and private / ownership / globalisation / convergence)

Effects

Media can impact on us in several different ways, where there is no doubt, is that it is impactful!

Initial Discussion:

• What are the core assumptions of the ‘passive audience’ effects theories?
• Are these assumptions patronising to the audience?

An alternative set of assumptions is that the audience are more cognizant and discerning. Furthermore, we need to consider a whole range of factors working on the individual which might shape their response to media texts.

The active vs passive audience

“An active audience engages, interprets and responds to a media text in different ways and is capable of challenging the ideas encoded in it. A passive audience is more likely to accept the messages encoded in a media text without challenge and are therefore more likely to be directly affected by the messages.” BBC Bitesize

Theories of The Active Audience

Uses and Gratification

Blumler and Katz, suggest that audiences are more active in seeking out function and pleasure from media texts and that we should think about what they are seeking from any given text and how they use the media in other aspects of their lives:

• Social Relationships
• Personal Identity
• Entertainment
• Information

Reception Theory

Stuart Hall, suggests that the relationship between the messages and connotation embedded in a media text and the ideology of the audience are essential in understanding the ways in which an audience respond to a text.

Remember ideology is defined as the values, attitudes and beliefs that any given person holds to be true.

Hall suggests that a audience reading can be described as:

• Preferred (where ideologies meet)
• Negotiated (where some elements of ideology meet)
• Oppositional (where there is no overlapping ideology)

Identity Theory

David Gauntlett argued our heavy exposure to the media could, “hardly fail to affect our own way of conducting ourselves and our expectations of other people’s behaviour.”

So, in many ways Gauntlett is suggesting that the effect of Media is even more profound than changing our behaviour or attitudes. That the media in many ways has a huge impact on our out sense of who we are and how we operate in the world (our identity).

He, like Jenkins, suggests that audiences now have the digital tools to, ‘express and connect and create in ways we didn’t have before and which can help people shape creative identities.’ Moreover, that, ‘social media is part of conversation which can help us, ‘think about ourselves and how we are in the world…that’s what identity is‘

“… identity is this thing you construct for yourself but at the same time there’s all of these ‘representations’ [sic] coming at you. There’s all the stuff that you can create and make and share as well. So identity has opportunities to be very creative and connecting.”