Unit 4 - Media Media Influence

Key Terms Media forms – Film is a form of media, print is another. The study guide requires us to look at a variety of forms of media. Media text – any product related to media, e.g. a film, a television programme, a book, a magazine, a newspaper, an advertisement, etc. Communication theories – There is no single correct theory of media influence; they are all attempts to explain the perceived power of the media. We refer to perceived power as the theories vary from one extreme to the other.

Media for the masses The first television broadcast took place in 1939 & brought with it a new range of fears concerning media influence. Television created new markets, advertising products and an instant visual means of getting information across to a mass audience. People began to worry about advertising and it’s potential to influence

Early Studies Psychologists have used various methods to investigate the effects of the media, including laboratory experiments and studies of children in their everyday lives One of the most famous laboratory experiment was by psychologist Albert Bandura, and was carried out in the 1960’s. It is known as the “ Bobo doll” experiment.

Bobo doll experiment The Bobo doll experiment was conducted by Albert Bandura in 1961. He was trying to prove that aggressive behaviour was learned through observing and imitating others. In this experiment three groups of children saw a film which showed an adult attacking an inflatable doll with a stick. When the children had seen the film, they were given the same doll. Bandura observed their behaviour and concluded that the children imitated the aggressive behaviour.

Bobo doll cont’ Bandura’s methodology was less than perfect. What problems can you see in it? The sole purpose of a Bobo doll is to bounce back up when knocked over; to act as a target. Therefore, the children in the experiment were likely to hit the target Bobo doll for fun because this is what it is designed for. Sample group was small and all from the same socio – economic background. The experiment is important because it sparked many more studies about the effects that viewing violence had on children.

Evaluating & Analysing Some questions to ask yourself when analysing studies associated with issues of media studies. Under what kinds of conditions were the tests held? Was the testing realistic? Was the room or environment perhaps influential in relation to the results, eg; could participants have been uncomfortable or affected by their surrounds? Are the participants a balanced representation of a cross section of that particular population? Eg; consider age, background, socio-economics, etc

Evaluating cont’ Were there any pay-offs or rewards for participants? If so, could this have affected the results? Was the study held under controlled conditions (empirically based) or are the results based on anecdotal references? Are there any coincidences in the findings? Or have statistical ‘averages’ been referred to? Eg; sometimes in a newspaper you will read blanket statements concerning research on particular topics…… ‘on average most children under ten eat too much junk food.’ Who conducted the study and where? How valid was it?

Theories and Models These terms are used interchangeably but for the record: A theory is a set of systematically related generalisations suggesting new observations for empirical testing A model is a theoretical and simplified representation of the real world. It is often useful to help illustrate a theory.

Theories of media influence Although there are numerous theories which attempt to explain the impact of the media we will only examine 5. Bullet/Hypodermic theory Uses & Gratification theory Reinforcement theory Agenda setting function theory Postmodernist theory

Bullet/Hypodermic theory It was developed in the 1920s & 30s after researchers observed the effect of propaganda during World War I and incidents such as Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast. Rose to popularity in the 1940’s and 50’s when the Payne Fund Studies Group and the Frankfurt School of Germany presented concerns about the power of the media. It became the dominant way of thinking about media influence during these decades.

Bullet/Hypodermic theory The Hypodermic Needle theory is a linear communication theory which suggests that a media message is injected, or shot directly into the brain of a passive, homogenous audience. This theory assumes that no matter what audiences are presented with, by the media, individuals should understand & be affected by it in the same way. The model suggests information travels in a linear fashion and that texts are ‘closed’.

Bullet/Hypodermic theory

Nazis & Propaganda Frankfurt school who were a group of mainly Jewish intellectuals very concerned at watching Hitler come to power. Joseph Goebbels was Hitler’s minister for propaganda and in 1933 when the Nazi’s came to power and he played a crucial role in taking over all the radio stations as well as all the newspapers and magazines. They saw the media as a crucial part of their rise to power. The people could not resist the influence of Hitler’s message through radio, how else could 38 million people become so supportive of him in such a short time. The bullet theory could be used to explain how Hitler could convert a nation to follow him.

War of the Worlds One of the most famous examples of the most supposed efficacy of the bullet theory is H.G. Wells’ broadcast of War of the Worlds. In this radio play Welles chose to broadcast the play in the style of a news broadcast where Martians were invading the earth. United States experienced mass hysteria--most pronounced on the east coast in New York and New Jersey--in response to a radio broadcast. Although the % of actual hysterical people is disputed the reaction prompted many studies into the influence of the media.

War of the worlds

Bullet/Hypodermic theory FLAWS & WEAKNESSES Far too simplistic Not possible for everyone to receive & understand a message in the same way as others, because various things interfere in the process. Ignores interpretation which is a crucial part of the communication process. The theory was never tested empirically but rather based on anecdotal viewpoints. If this theory was correct then we would have 100% acceptance of any media message transmitted to an audience. This has never been true.

Uses & Gratification theory Origin in USA in the 1940s and Paul Lazarfeld’s work. Then refined by Elihu Katz in 1959 and Bulmer in the 70s Shifted attention away from the message makers to the message receivers. Uses and Gratification theorists believe that the media has no power at all over people’s attitudes & beliefs. The central focus for their thinking was that audiences used the media to satisfy their needs. The audience has the power, not the media. Assumes that audiences are active Texts are open (to interpretation) and being read in different ways

Uses & Gratification theory They believe; That the media doesn’t affect society at all because people make use of the media, rather the media making use of them. Audiences consume the media type they want – tune into TV & radio stations; read newspapers & magazines. They consume the media because they like what they are getting. If they don’t like it they will not consume it. Therefore they have the power over the media. Audiences use the media and are gratified by the media for their own purposes, eg; audiences watch soap operas to gratify some level of emotional and entertainment needs.

Uses & Gratification theory When you come home from a hard day and you want to veg out you choose a particular radio or television station to suit your needs, comedy, music, the newspaper or whatever. The ratings measure what you want and respond to your needs according to what you want. If there is nothing on that you want to consume you are likely to do something else. The media industry to this day are uses and gratification theorists as ratings have a direct effects on what is aired. If a media product isn’t consumed it will go out of circulation.

Uses & Gratification theory FLAWS & WEAKNESSES Too neat & prescriptive Although it states that the audience has the power it does not specify what influence the media does have. Although it acknowledges that audiences are not a single ‘mass’ in relation to the text, it fails to recognize that individuals often interact in groups away from the text

Reinforcement theory Developed by a traditional sociologist called Joseph Klapper in the 1960s in the USA. Klapper basically agreed with the Uses & Gratification theorists with one significant modification. He argued that if a person believes something, it is usually because of the influence of their family, peer group, religion, school, job, or social class, etc. Therefore the media can only reinforce that belief that we already have positively or negatively.

Reinforcement theory Klapper’s point was Where do we get our values and opinions from? We get them from our family, we get them from our peer group, from our education process, from our religious institutions, from our work and from our social class. They are the traditional socialising agencies and this is where Klapper was coming from as a traditional sociologist. He said the media doesn’t actually activate change, it simply reinforces it.

Reinforcement theory Klapper asked a question which Uses & Gratification theorists had not considered. What occurs when the media starts talking about something which has never been talked about before? Something that your socialising agents (parents, peer group, school, etc) had never heard of or talked about. He believed that when the media introduces something new that it has the potential to shape & influence opinion by reporting and presenting particular issues in a particular way. Because there were no other socialising influences forming our opinions, because something was new and unheard of, then the media has the power to form and influence how we respond to these new and particular issues.

Reinforcement theory On these rare occasions when the media can influence the public, it is only for a for a short period of time, until other traditional sources of influence in society become aware of the issue. Once the traditional socialising agencies become aware of the new issue they will once again become the dominant influence that shapes public opinion and the media’s temporary power will dissipate. Klapper sees all text as open and the individuals as active.

Reinforcement theory FLAWS Puts all the onus on the individual rather than the media. Claims that the media is too weak.

Agenda Setting Function theory Developed 1972 by Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in their study of the role of the media in the 1968 presidential campaign. This theory came out of a swing back to considering that the media was important. That the media had to be understood at a deeper level. Agenda Setting Function Theory in a nut shell says the media can’t tell you what to think (bullet theory), but it can tell you what to think about. The media can set the agenda about what is discussed. They are able to do this by the process of selection and omission. This is sometimes called ‘gatekeeping’.

Agenda Setting Function theory Gate-keeping is the idea that on one hand the media allows certain things to be discussed & on the other hand not discussed (or shut out). The media has the ability to give one side of the story far more prominence, so for example in wartime the media frame the arguments for our side of the conflict clearly and profoundly while downplaying or omitting entirely the opposing point of view. By doing this the media can not only tell us what we should be thinking about but can also give us a preferred reading on the given issue. Try to tell us which parts of an issue are important and which are not.

Agenda Setting Function theory The most famous example of agenda setting was work done by the Glasgow media group in the 1970’s The Glasgow media group was interested in how the news was prioritised as it came into the newsroom. What would a news bulletin set as its agenda. They researched what lead news bulletins, what came second in a report and so on. They showed that the news does have priorities and does indicate with these priorities what importance events are given. You can then set the agenda of what is important, what is significant.

Agenda Setting Function theory STRENGTHS May explain why many people prioritise the same issues as important If people are exposed to the same media, they may feel the same issues are important. WEAKNESSESS An audience may pay only casual and intermittent attention to public affairs and remain ignorant of the details. For people who have made up their minds, the effect is weakened.

Post modernism Developed during the 1980s by The French School (Derrida, Baudrillard, Lyotard) Postmodernism opposes the idea that society & culture can be understood by using one or two big theories to explain everything. Has the view that every individual member of society has their own way of reading a media product. The media has little power, if any. Texts are always open

Post modernism No such thing as a preferred or dominant reading. Suggests any media product or event is interpreted and understood differently by individuals with different values & different ways of looking & reacting to the world. Open text theory means that everything is relative. Our meanings are always changing. The meanings will create change. There is no truth. Truth depends on who you are and at what time and what place you exist in.

Post modernism Watch a film that you know you watched 5, 10,15, 20 years ago. The film is the same, shot for shot but your interpretation of it, is that the same? Watch that same film in 2015, 2020, again clearly the text remains the same in terms of the content, what about your interpretation, Is that the same? After all those years you’re not the same person, now you, an individual have a different interpretation of that film. Because you, not the text has changed, the meaning has changed because of you.

Post modernism Postmodernists don’t like to group responses together, they believe that people are unique in relation to everybody else, and change over time. Nothing in terms of media influence is certain because all that can be noted is that this is an individuals response right now It is important to note that with postmodernism there is no such thing as an authority on a particular issue & that everybody’s opinion is equally valid.

Summary These theories are simply ideas or understandings– there is no ‘right’ or ‘wrong’ theory. Clearly there are overlaps occurring between the theories. How you see the media and the effects on audience absolutely depends on how you conceive the processes of communication. Whether you think of the media as all powerful shaping the way we think about the world or whether you think our social climate and our social context determines what we take from the media.