Journalism and Mass Communication · Communication theory. The idea in plain words, the rules to remember, the mistake to avoid and a worked example, written and checked by Mega Lecture.
Test this topic freeAll Journalism and Mass Communication topics
These theories answer one question: how strong is the effect of the media on people? The earliest view, the hypodermic needle or magic bullet theory, saw the audience as passive and the effect as direct, immediate and the same for everyone.
Research then showed limited effects. Lazarsfeld found that personal contact mattered more than the media, and uses and gratifications treated the audience as active choosers.
Later theories found effects that are indirect and long-term. Agenda-setting says the media decide which issues seem important. Cultivation says years of heavy television viewing shape a person's picture of the world. The spiral of silence and gatekeeping explain how some views and some news items never reach the public.
Agenda-setting is often confused with the hypodermic needle. Agenda-setting does not claim that the media change opinions; it claims only that they decide which issues people rank as important.
Answer: Uses and gratifications.
Type what you are stuck on. The helper finds the explanation, worked examples and the notes to read, free and instant.
← Communication process and modelsNormative theories of the press →Take a Journalism and Mass Communication test