Class 9 - Media Theories

Media Effects

Changes that occur in individuals as a result of exposure to media

• behavioral, attitudinal, cognitive, emotional, physiological

Features of Media Effects Theories

1. Selective exposure - individuals tendency to seek out information that reinforces their beliefs while avoiding info that contradicts their beliefs

2. Selective perception - if individuals are confronted with material that contradicts their beliefs, they do not perceive it, or make it fit there existing opinions

3. Selective retention - tendency of people to retain only part of the info to which they are exposed; usually they retain the info that supports their own attitudes or beliefs

Media properties

• Modality: how an audience received media messages (text, auditory, visual,)

• Content: what’s in the media an audience member consumes (violence, humor, fear appeals)

• Structure: how media messages are put together (special effects, pace, order of components)

Diffusion of Innovation Theory

Examines how an innovation spreads through a social system 

• an innovation can be a new idea, behavior, or product

• Predicts that innovations spread in a largely predictable way 

• Individuals discover innovations through communication channels like media, social media, and interpersonal sources

5 types of Adopters

Innovators

Early Adopters

Early Majority

Late Majority

Laggards

Innovators

• Adventurous, willing to take risks, generally resource-rich, connected to the innovators

• First to adopt new ideas or technologies

• Enjoy being the first

Early adopters

• Leaders, comfortable with change, keen observers. More judicious than innovators, but enjoy being perceived as trendsetters. Connected to innovators.

• Influence others, opinion leaders

• Their endorsement helps innovations gain credibility

Early majority

Need compelling evidence that an innovation works before they adopt it. Less interested in trendsetting. Have contact with early adopters and are typically opinion followers

Late majority

Skeptical of change, will only adopt an innovation when it has been adopted by the majority; often wait until cost of innovation decreases. May be especially susceptible to peer pressure

Laggards

Conservative and bound by tradition; limited access to communication channels. Not interested in change and may not adopt the innovation

Cultivation Theory

Predicts that heavy media users are likely to believe that world represented in media is very similar to the real world

• this happens over a long time. viewers are cultivated

• heavy viewers internalize the worldview & over time, their beliefs about reality reflect the version present on screen

• heavy media users tend to believe violence is much more common and enforce gender and racial stereotypes because they’re often presented and reinforced in media

Disinhibitory effect 

desensitization, particularly to violence

Mean World Syndrome

world seen as harsh, violent, and scary

Agenda-setting Theory

Media doesn’t tell people what to think, but they do tell people what to think about

• Predicts that the more an issue is covered by media, the more important people think it is

• media priorities become public priorities

• because people can’t focus on everything, the media acts as a filter of reality

• public opinion formation: what enters the public agenda often gets the stage for political debate, policymaking, and social action

Decentralization of agenda setting

no single source (like traditional news media) fully controls what issues become important anymore

• today, social media platforms allow anyone to elevate an issue

• digital media environments create competing agendas, making the process more fragmented

Intermediate agenda setting 

• traditional media still influence what’s seen online 

• social media trends can pressure traditional outlets to cover topics 

• so now the process it often flowing both ways 

Algorithmic Agenda Setting

• Platforms prioritize content via algorithms 

• Trending lists, “For You” pages, and recommendation systems act as new gatekeepers, shaping what users think about 

• Different from traditional media because personalization means that each user gets a different agenda

Obtrusive issues

things people directly experience in their daily lives. people form opinions on their own because of that, so media has less influence

Unobtrusive issues

things people don’t directly experience. people rely on media to learn about these, so media has more influence