Diass 13

• Hypodermic Needle / Magic Bullet Theory


  The media (magic gun) fires the message directly into the audience's head without their own knowledge. The message causes an instant reaction from the audience's mind without any hesitation.
• Hypodermic Needle Theory


  The media (needle) injects the message into the audience's mind and it causes changes in audience behavior and psyche towards the message. Audiences are passive and they can't resist the media message.
• Both Hypodermic Needle and Magic Bullet theories deal with the impact of media messages in the audience's mind and how the audience reacts towards the message without any hesitation.
• Agenda Setting Theory


  The media's ability to transfer salience of issues through their news agenda, leading the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.
• Agenda setting theory was formally developed by Dr. Max McCombs and Dr. Donald Shaw in a study on the 1968 presidential election.
• The 1968 "Chapel Hill study" demonstrated a strong correlation between what residents thought was the most important election issue and what the local and national news media reported was the most important issue.
• Spiral of Silence


  The process where the one view dominated the public scene and others disappeared from public awareness as its adherents became silent, because people fear separation or isolation from those around them and tend to keep their attitudes to themselves when they think they are in the minority.
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory


  The mental clash or tension resulting from the processes of acquiring knowledge or understanding through the senses. It may increase or decrease based on the relevance of the subject, how solid the choices/thoughts are, and the mind's capability to choose, rationalize or explain thoughts.
• The theory suggests that the mind has a tendency to avoid such clashes and tensions through various methods to attain harmony, and the dissonance will be highest on matters regarding self-image.
• Steps to attain cognitive harmony

  1. Altering cognitions: Changing the attitude or behavior

  2. Changing cognitions: Rationalizing behavior by changing differing cognitions

  3. Adding cognitions: Rationalizing behavior by adding new cognition
• Cognitive Dissonance Theory is subjective in nature as we cannot physically observe cognitive dissonance or obtain objective measurements, and every person will have individual differences.
• Standpoint Theory


  Concerns the various levels of people's perceptions, which are influenced by factors like demography, experience, tradition, culture, socio-economic status, geography, job, and gender. The core concept is to understand the perspective of marginalized groups, particularly women.
• The perspectives can be objective and subjective, with people in higher positions often seeing issues one-sidedly while those in average or lower levels see them more practically due to differences in circumstances.
• Marginalized groups like women tend to accept the perceptions of the powerful groups, so their circumstances change their perspective.
• Two-Step Flow Communication Theory

  Developed by Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet, it suggests that media messages are less influential than informal, personal communication on voting behavior. Opinion leaders interpret information and pass it on to less active members of their group.
• In public, political leaders are opinion leaders, but some people are not influenced by them and remain isolated from the population.