History of Media Effects Research

Perceived Social Ills ‘Caused’ by Media 1920s: Movies 1930s: Radio 1940s: Radio and Newspapers 1950s: Comic Books s: TV 1990 to the present: Internet and Smart Phones

Payne Fund Studies ( ) Thirteen studies Funded by a private foundation To study the effects of film on children – Film content – Audience composition – Effects on children

Herbert Blumer’s Effects Studies Acquisition of information Attitude change Stimulation of emotion Harm to health Erosion of moral standards

“War of the Worlds” Broadcast (1938) Powerful effects Magic Bullet Theory – “once a message reaches an audience, it will exert a powerful, relatively uniform effect on everyone who processes it”

“The People’s Choice” (1940) Limited effects Political communication vs. IPP – IPP (Index of Political Predisposition) SES White vs. blue collar job Self-identification as business class vs. working class Religion Age

Results Rejection of the ‘magic bullet’ Effects – Activation (14%) – Reinforcement (50%) – Conversion (8%)

Frederick Wertham, “Seduction of the Innocent” (1954) Content analyses of comic books – Every imaginable crime represented in detail – ‘How to’ – Reflected crime in the news – Ratio of crime:arrest (76:1)

Wertham... Clinical case studies – Normalized violence – Stereotyping (women, minorities [Batman and Robin] – Literacy

Current Issues “Julie and Julia” PSA (Texting and Driving) Cartoons depicting Mohammad Koran burning