Post on 11-Apr-2015
description
J201Intro to mass communication
Mass society
“mass communication”processespurposes
“mass media”producerstechnologiesproducts
“mass society”effectsaudiencescultures
let’s start with a crucial example of media effects ...
• zero-effects theories
• mass society theories
• limited effects theories
• agenda-setting theories
• uses and gratifications theories
• hegemonic effects theories
• cultural construction theories
Seven types of media effects theories
• “People know that media content isn’t real”
• “Media only reflect what is already in society”
• “Other social institutions like family, school, church, and workplace have more influence than media”
• “Media have effects, but only over trends, fads, and other trivialities”
zero effects theories
a famous mass society example
a famous mass society example
1938 Halloween Eve
• “hypodermic needle” or “magic bullet”
• early 20th century: mass urban industrial society
• new media: radio, film, and magazines
• 1930s Payne Fund studies of motion pictures
• 1940s Nazi propaganda “persuasion studies”
mass society theories
a limited effects example
Albert Bandura experiments 1961-1965
• 1940s-1960s: first “communciations” researchers
• intervening variables (mediation)
• laboratory conditions (controls)
• individual differences (who you are)
• social differences (who you know)
limited effects theories
• selectivity in attention, retention, perception (attitude formation theory)
• not the whole audience, but a particular subset(audience fragmentation or segmentation)
• not “conversion” but “reinforcement” (reinforcement theory)
• not “effects” but “modeling”(social cognitive theory)
limited effects theories (continued)
audience fragmentation / segmentation for limited effects research
• demographics (who you are)
• geographics (where you are)
• psychographics (what you believe)
an agenda-setting example
• not what to think, but what to think about
• especially relevant to political elections
• staged media events (or “pseudo events”)
agenda setting theories
Linné and von Feilitzen 1972
a uses and gratifications example
uses and gratifications theories
• audience members have needs, interests, and goals
• audience members choose media to satisfy those needs, interests, and goals
• media must compete with other ways people have to satisfy their needs, interests, and goals
• method: ask people why they use the media(information, identity, integration, entertainment)
• do people have “freedom of choice”?
• what about aggregate-level effects and meanings?
• supports the status quo?
Gerbner 1982
a hegemonic effects example
• hegemony = power of dominant group accepted as both natural and legitimate by those who are dominated
• focus not on individual messages content but on ideological effect of lots of messages over time
• focus not on change but on thwarting of change
• “narcotizing dysfunction”
hegemonic effects theories
• media help to socialize us to the status quo (socialization theory)
• media power grows as society grows more complex(dependency theory)
• media use contributes to gap between rich and poor(knowledge-gap theory)
• people self-censor unpopular opinions (spiral of silence)
• the more media people consume, the more they take on the values portrayed in the media (cultivation analysis)
hegemonic effects theories (continued)
cultural construction theories
• audiences are not passive viewers making choices, but active creators of meaning
• audiences create, sustain, and alter shared worldviews using the media
• media are not only wrapped up in pleasure and gratification, but power and conflict
• do audiences only choose media which supports their worldview?
so which of these theories applies to video games?