COMM 1000 M11 Effects of Mass Media

1st theory of how media impacts people and the truth about it

hypodermic needle model- was WRONG, they realized not everyone was that brainwashable

hypodermic needle model

media injects people with a message- affects us based in our dose

Hitler/Nazis media & its significance

-media was vehicle to send the message- scary, powerful, dominant and Godly

-1st truly influential piece of multimedia, propaganda

what did Dr. Wertham say

comic books out of context could be more damaging than

younger people get hooked on something,

manufactured crises around media

Klapper’s theory- limited effects perspective

“everyone relax”- most impacts of media consumption are small to negligible

ex. comic books are not necessarily brainwashing kids

selective exposure

confirmation bias is real

selective exposure

algorithms, why people choose their content and curate it

the uses and gratifications approach definition

what media people choose, how, and why

ex. apps, games, shows, clips

needs gratified by media, according to the uses & gratifications theory

1. cognitive- information, understanding

2. affective- aesthetic and emotional

3. integrative- strengthen confidence, credibility (ex self help book)

4. social integrative- strengthen relationships

5. tension-release

copycat phenomenon

-media violence can “give people bad ideas"

-sex and violence

ex. man burning his wife on a bed after watching movie on a similar murder

sexual content in the media

-depersonalization of women and their role in comparison to men

-more consumption —> desensatization, normalization, etc

-relates to how Ted Bundy said he committed all the crimes because he was exposed to so much porn

social learning theory

-we learn by watching others (kids/YAs)

-internalize good vs bad behavior depending on praise/punishment

-a lot of good stories contain things that we really shouldn’t do

ex. you see someone get laughed at, you internalize it as bad and something to avoid

excitation transfer theory

• arousal form any source can intensify the next emotional experience

• period of time after excitation where we think we’re over it BUT we’re bad judges at when we think we’ve cooled off

—> still at greater risk of blowing up from another stimulus/trigger/etc

ex. students after the national championships, destroying the campus

media may not tell us WHAT to think BUT…

media may tell us WHAT TO THINK ABOUT

agenda-setting theory

• media sets the agenda for public opinion THROUGH COVERAGE CHOICES

tropes

• reoccuring themes in media that we can apply to the real world

• cultivation theory

2 ideas behind cultivation theory

1. mainstreaming- television makes us all think about things the same way

2. resonance- television affects us more when the story is close to our lived experience

audience activity

• are we active or passive (blank, moldable slate)?

• does audience have agency?

• stephen argues that we are neither, it’s a continuim