media effects theories

• according to media effect theories, we consume media uncritically, and we often aren't aware of how the media impacts and shapes our behaviours and views of the world
• Bandura bobo doll experiment:

  • one group allowed to watch cartoons that depicted violence, other with no violence
  • the children who watched violence later imitated it on bobo dolls
  • he concluded media acted like a hypodermic syringe
  • criticisms- conducted on young children, who are not fully psychologically developed. may react differently to an adult. carried out short term observation but claimed long term effects
• Reception theory Hall

  • The focus is not what the media does to audiences, but what audiences do to the media, Text are not universally read – people interpret things differently. All media has political aspect 3 ways that audiences do this: • Dominant/preferred reading: audience read text in intended way• Negotiated reading: compromise, audience won’t agree or disagree, appreciate point that is being made but also draw their own conclusions• Oppositional reading: audience rejects producer’s preferred reading and creates own reading 
• Strain theory  

  • media plays significant role in creating strain by influencing perception of socially approved goals and means to achieve 
  • media often portrays idealized images of success, wealth, & status which may be difficult/impossible for many individuals to attain. 
  • This can lead to feelings of inadequacy & frustration among those unable to achieve these
  • media can contribute to strain by promoting culture of instant gratification & consumerism. Advertisements & media content often emphasize pursuit of material possessions & immediate pleasures 
• • Ofcom 2017- 22% of 3-4yos had their own tablet or smart phone, 96% watched TV for around 15 hours a week and 53% went online for nearly 8 hours a week  
  • British TV viewers watched almost 4 hours a day in 2014, which increased to over 8.5 hours when texting, talking, typing, gaming or listening on other media devices (Miller 2014) 
• • Hypodermic syringe model- immediate and often dramatic effect from watching TV. 
  • Critique of hypodermic syringe model- ignoring the fact people are individuals who have a degree of choice and free will  
• Katz and Lazarsfeld 1955- two step flow model. The role of social relationships in how people respond to media. Opinions are formed in a social context with certain individuals being especially influential in shaping the views of others, opinion leaders.  
• The average American child finishes elementary school he or she will have seen 8000 murders and 100,000 acts of violence on TV 
• The War of the Worlds broadcast on 30th October 1938. Delivered a fake and dramatic story about an alien invasion, and many people thought it was real, panic broke out 
• Liebert and Baron 1972- 136 children aged 5-9. Half watched a violent TV clip and half a sports sequence. Then taken to a room with buttons marked help and hurt. They got told there was a child in another room playing a game and they could either hurt or help the child. The experiment shows the children who watched the violent film were significantly more likely to hurt another child than those who watched the sports film. Criticised for being too artificial to apply to real life 
• Eysenck and Nias 1978 TV violence can directly cause violence among juveniles 
• Murder of Jamie Bulger 1993. 2 11yos murdered child based on the movie Child’s Play 3 
• Jewkes 2004- the classifying of videos and films in terms of their suitability for viewing further illustrates the assumption that media are a major influence on human behaviour  
• Murder of Gino Castillo inspired by Scream.  
• Cultural effects theory- media does have important effects on its audience, these effects are not immediate or dramatic as those suggested by other theories. The influence of the media is also seen as depending on the social situation of the audience and it is assumed different groups will interpret the media differently 
• Critique of the media effects models- Gauntlett 2007, no direct effects of the media on behaviour have been found because there are simply none to be found. And media effects research has adopted the wrong approach to studying the mass media. Rather than examining the social problem, the media approaches focus on the people who engage with it, focusing on individuals rather than society.  
• marxist:

  • stress the power of media to control people in society. owned by the most powerful, push their views upon the rest
  • promoting false class consciousness