They argue that people use the media for their own purposes see uses and gratifications. Jul 01, 2014 the book entitled mcquails mass communication theory is an apt account of media, society and culture. Sonia livingstone media audiences, interpreters and users. Odonnell g, 1994 after looking at the theories of mass media effects, to actually determine the mass media influence upon their audience is no easy task. In essence, framing theory suggests that how something is presented to the audience called the frame influences the choices people make about how to process that information. Grounding theories of mass communication introduction to. Mass media means technology that is intended to reach a mass audience.
He describes and explains the main types of audience, alternative theories about the audience, and the main traditions and fields of audience research. The concept was first addressed during the progressive era of the 1920s, as a response to new opportunities for elites to reach large audiences via the mass media of the time. Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies with a specific focus on rhetoric, some, such as walter ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation the text is addressing. Audience theories suggest that representations are open to different interpretations and that their meanings are not fixed. My last words of thanks are to my wife, rosemary, for making. A classroom companion mcquails mass communication theory is a very comprehensive book. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. There is the audience of newspaper, television, radio, theatre, film and nonbroadcast media. Reception theory this theory extended on the concept of active audiences and how they interpreted. As evans 1990 notes, recent audience work in media studies can be. Media audience and its various categories mass communication media audience audience is the important part of communication process. Katz stresses two mediating factors which stand between the media and their audience.
For this reason i have dedicated the book to them all, borrowing an idea from hanno hardt. Audiences are seen as mindless, ignorant, undiscriminating, defenceless, naive, and so as manipulated or exploited by the mass media. Media dependency theory, a systematic approach to the study of the effects of mass media on audiences and of the interactions between media, audiences, and social systems. However, there is no single marxist school of thought, and the jargon often seems impenetrable to the uninitiated. The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern.
Sociologists refer to this as a mediated culture where media reflects and creates the culture. In accordance with this theory, the mass media plays a crucial role in shaping and reflecting public opinion. During second world wars media plays a vital role in both united states and germany to made influence in the peoples mind. Under this theory, the issues that receive the most attention from media become the issues that the public discusses, debates, and demands action on. Today, the mass audience concept underlies most work in media marketing and audience segmentation. This preface was written during a visit from young grandchildren who are already forming the future audience for mass media.
However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended. However, several scholars led by lazersfeld countered this theory as having a wrong impression of media effect on the audience. Audience of the above media re heterogeneously scattered. Information provided by mass media can affect a variety of outcomes ranging from results of the voting, to public policies, to ethnic violence, to teenage pregnancies. Science and human behavior implementation of the scientific method is difficult for those studying the. Mass media refers to the technologies used as channels for a small group of people to communicate with a larger number of people. These notes are intended to provide a guide to some key concepts. In the second part of the essay will be illustrate how those two approaches contribute to our understanding of media audiences. Various communication researchers have developed different theories while exploring the relationship between mass media and media audience. The media experience is an important part of globalization and civil society. The media is seen as a syringe which injects ideas attitudes and beliefs into the audience who are seen as passive sponge like junkies who are powerless. It could be argued that modern theories of the mass media effect, such as the twostep flow theory or the uses and gratification theory show that people are more likely. The dependency theory is expanded from the theory of uses and gratification.
Harris then and now critical theories of mass media isbn. Proponents of active audience theory claim that scholars cannot assume that the meaning of a text is fixed in advance of its reception because meaning is the product of a negotiation between the audience and the text in a particular context of reception. Theories of media effects explore the intended or unintended effects of what the media does. Audience theory with egs and quotes audience mass media. Typology of mass media audience introduction to masscomm. A fourth route depended on a broader dismantling of. The most common use of frames is in terms of the frame the news or media place on the. Indeed, the three forms of traditional mass media today.
Theories have claimed strong effects, meaning that media messages. In uses and gratifications theory blumler and katz. However, in the first dominant paradigm in the field of communication research, a more developed theory of audience emerged. There are many examples of this model in the theory and. Different theories used in mass communication mass. The hypodermic needle theory of mass communication suggests that a sender constructs a message with a particular meaning that is injected into individuals within a mass audience. Polysemic the characteristic of media texts as fundamentally ambiguous and legitimately interpretable in different ways.
Pdf central to media studies is the audience concept. When an organization source employs a technology as a medium to communicate with a large audience, mass communication is said to have occurred. Theories of mass media the magic bullet theory or the hypodermic needle theory posits that the mass media have a direct, immediate and powerful effect just like a bullet on the watchers of tv, and it has a puissant impact in behavioral changes on viewers. According to this theory, there is an internal link between media, audience and large social system. Relate to common experiences between the source and destination. There is a considerable body of theory that views culture as dependent on the economic and power structure of a society.
Ever since the media first made mass communication possible, a dominant strand of popular and academic thinking about audiences, the very idea of the audience even, has been pejorative. Design and deliver message so that it gets the attention of intended audience. In mid 1930s media scholars found the first theory on media effects and the media behaviors. Audience theory in media studies by camelia galea on prezi. Also, it ignores the obvious fact that not everyone in an audience behaves in the same way. The empirical support for each element in the theory, as well as for the integrated model as a whole, is discussed in an appendix. First, this entry touches on the history of media effects. The supposed and the real role of mass media in modern democracy. So it seems we neednt worrythe passively consum ing audience is a thing of the past. It was introduced in outline by the american communications researchers sandra ballrokeach and melvin defleur in 1976. Taylor is senior lecturer in communications theory, university of leeds, uk. The uses and gratifications theory has beendebated as to its accuracy and relevance in evaluating an audience sutilization ofmass media.
It is a seminal book for scholars and a classic in its genre. The frankfurt school adorno and horkheimer a group of marxist intellectuals developed a critique of the mass media after expressing horror at the success of nazi germany propaganda. Others, such as ruth mitchell and mary taylor, have said writers and speakers actually can target. Contemporary perspectives within both academic disciplines and the media. Audience theory and research traditions 22 chapter 16. Marxist theorists tend to emphasize the role of the mass media in the reproduction. Audience theory free download as powerpoint presentation. In their words, the swinging pendulum of audience theory is underpinned. In mass society theory in the early days of the mass media, and in the rhetoric of both right and leftwing cultural critics, the pejorative representation of mass media audiences as a vast, undifferentiated collectivity see manipulative model. The agendasetting role of the mass media in the shaping of public opinion maxwell mccombs university of texas at austin the power of the news media to set a nations agenda, to focus public attention on a few key public issues, is an immense and welldocumented influence. Reception theory as developed by stuart hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. Use of mass media campaigns to change health behaviour. Media dependency theory is one of the theories, first of its kind which regards audience as an active part in communication process. By consuming content that is most relevant to us each day, we can ignore the billions of additional data points that are calling for our attention.
Media effects include theories that explain how the mass media influence the attitudes and perceptions of audience members. Audience theories types of audience theories hypodermic needle effect the hypodermic needle theory is related to passive audience specialy mass media from 1950s1960s and has a direct, immediate and powerful effect, the information and message is purely injected through. Second, it gives an overview of the main theories in this area. The gatekeeper decides what information should move past them through the. Communication models and theories overcoming barriers to effective communication. Reception studies audience centered theory that focuses on how various types of audience members make sense of specific forms of content sometimes referred to as reception analysis. Media audiences, interpreters and users lse research online. Over the past few decades, media campaigns have been used in an attempt to affect various health behaviours in mass populations.
In audience analysis, author denis mcquail provides a coherent and succinct account of the concept media audience in terms of its history and its place in presentday media theory and research. Preferred or dominant reading in reception studies the producerintended meaning of a. Mass media and its influence on behaviour ruben enikolopov and maria petrova mass media is the important source of information at the macro level in most of the countries. It was introduced in outline by the american communications researchers sandra ballrokeach and melvin defleur in 1976 dependency theory conceives of dependency as a relationship in which the fulfillment of one partys. It is the primary means of communication used to reach the vast majority of the general public. This theory was put forward by professor stuart hall in the television discourse encodingdecoding in 1974, with later research by david morley and charlotte brunsden. The theory refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on audience behavior,dave, 2009 and the reason why people sometime does not influence by media. A systematic approach to the study of the effects of mass media on audiences and of the interactions between media, audiences, and social systems. Furthermore, he notes audiences are both a product of social context and a response to a particular media provision p. There are three theories of audience that we can apply to help us come to a better understanding about the relationship between texts and audience. Most audience theory focuses on two questions how powerful are the media in influencing the ideas and behaviour of the audience. Three main sociological perspectives on the role of media exist. It was introduced in outline by the american communications researchers sandra ball. While opinions vary as to the extent and type of influence the mass media wields, all sides agree that mass media is a permanent part of modern culture.
The gatekeeping theory of mass communication is a method which allows us to keep our sanity. Furthermore, he notes audiences are both a product of social context and a response to a particular media. Pdf on aug 1, 2003, sonia livingstone and others published the. Offer a way to meet personality needs appropriate to the group situation the receiver is in at the time. They argued the media had considerable power over the behaviour and beliefs of the audience. Media theory has always been committed to the integrated analysis of production. The theory suggests that social and daily experiences can affect the way an audience reads a media text and reacts to it. However, mass refers not only to the size of the audience that mass media. The magic bullet theory also called the hypodermic needle theory suggests that mass communication is like a gun firing bullets of information at a passive audience. This theory stems from a fear of the mass media, and gives the media much more power than it can ever have in a democracy. Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including tv, billboards, and magazines, to name a few. Critical theories of mass media is a key text for students of cultural studies, communications and media studies, and sociology. I think priming theory is an offshoot of other communication theories such like catharsis, agendasetting, and other related theories. If we consider mass media as an aspect of society base or structure, then the option of materialism is presented.
It could be argued that modern theories of the mass media effect, such as the twostep flow theory or the uses and gratification theory. Such campaigns have most notably been aimed at tobacco use and heartdisease prevention, but have also addressed alcohol and illicit drug use, cancer screening and prevention, sexrelated behaviours, child survival, and many other healthrelated issues. Preferred or dominant reading in reception studies the. In media studies, media psychology, communication theory, and sociology, media influence and media effects are topics relating to mass media and media cultures effects on individual or an audience s thoughts, attitudes, and behavior. Can be manipulated by the mediamakers to think or do differently. The analysis refers to relevant theories to mass media relationship with the audience, and use data. The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by shooting. Feb 07, 2011 the uses and gratifications model here, power lies with the audience not the producers this theory emphasises what audiences do with media texts how and why they use them far from being duped by the media, the audience is free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they see fit. This theory asks who owns and controls the media and what messages are inscribed into media texts.
Relationships between media and audiences lse research online. Perceptions of media and media eff ects the third person eff ect, trust in media, and hostile media perceptions. This framework focuses on how message appeals are packaged in terms of gainframe promotion of positive behavior versus lossframe prevention of negative behavior, especially for audiences likely to display reactance. The effects model or the hypodermic model the uses and gratifications model reception theory. Theory and principles of public communication campaigns. Dec 10, 2018 mass media refers to the technologies used as channels for a small group of people to communicate with a larger number of people. For mills, mass society replaced the pluralism of multiple publics.
By media audience we mean the recipients of mass media messages. Communication was seen as a magic bullet that transferred ideas or feelings or knowledge or motivations almost automatically from one mind to another schramm 8. Academics viewed the mass media in a negative way in terms of its effect on a mass audience. In contrast to the extreme views of the direct effects model, the agendasetting theory of media stated that mass media determine the issues that concern the public rather than the publics views. Frames are abstractions that work to organize or structure message meaning. Whether it is written, televised, or spoken, mass media reaches a large audience.
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