masstheory

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory Explanations and predictions of social phenomena that attempt to relate mass communication to various aspects of our personal and cultural lives of social systems

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory Cultivation Analysis – the idea that people’s ideas of themselves, their world, and their place in it are shaped and maintained primarily through television.

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory Social Construction of Reality – people learn to behave in their social world through interaction with it. People in a given society or culture communicate, using signs and symbols, to construct a common reality that allows them to act meaningfully and efficiently in different settings

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory Attitude change theory – our perceptions guide our behavior despite what the ‘real’ reality of the situation may be.

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory There are a variety of theories that deal with the concepts of mass communication. There is no ONE theory of mass communication. (Baran page 419)

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory Mass Communication Theories are generally borrowed from other social science fields. Mass communication theories are human constructions. Mass communication theories are dynamic

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory Paradigm – a theory or a way of thinking about something that guides attitudes and behavior. Paradigm Shift – a fundamental or even radical shift in the way we think or believe something

Paradigm Shifts in Mass Communication Theories: 

Paradigm Shifts in Mass Communication Theories Advances in technology or the introduction of new media Calls for control or regulation of the communication technologies Desire to foster and protect democracy and cultural pluralism

Era of Mass Society Theory: 

Era of Mass Society Theory Mass Society Theory – the idea that the media are corruption influences that undermine the social order and that average people are defenseless against the media influence. Bullet theory

Era of Scientific Perspective: 

Era of Scientific Perspective Halloween Eve – 1938 Docudrama – “War of the Worlds” Social scientists studied the W-O-W happening and and using sophisticated surveys, polling and other methods said scientific studies are better than guessing. Paul Lazarsfeld (1941)

Era of Limited Effects Theory: 

Era of Limited Effects Theory Media influence is affected by individual differences that include educational levels, religious affiliations, political affiliations, personal relationships, etc. Two-step flow theory – Opinion leaders get media and translate for followers Timeframe – during and after World War II or 1945 to 1968.

Era of Limited Effects Theory: 

Era of Limited Effects Theory Attitude Change Theory Related ideas of dissonance and selective processes Dissonance Theory – when confronted by new or conflicting information people experience a kind of mental discomfort, a dissonance. As a result, we reduce this dissonance through selective processes

Attitude Change Theory: 

Attitude Change Theory Selective Processes Selective exposure (attention) – the produce by which people expose themselves to messages that are only consistent with their existing attitudes and beliefs. Selective Retention – assumes that people remember best and longest those messages that are consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs Selective Perception – predicts that people will interpret messages in a manner consistent with their preexisting attitudes and beliefs.

Mass Communication Theory: 

Mass Communication Theory THE EFFECTS OF MASS COMMUNICATION – Joseph Klapper, 1960 Arguably the most influential book ever published on the impact of mass communication 1960 was the year when television is acknowledged to have become a mass medium

Uses and Gratifications Approach: 

Uses and Gratifications Approach Media do not do things to people; people do things with media. So, influence of media is limited to what people allow it to be. DOES THIS THEORY TAKE THE MEDIA OFF THE HOOK? Does it say that media only give the people what they want so don’t blame media?

Uses and Gratifications Approach: 

Uses and Gratifications Approach People interact with media They choose content The make meaning They act on that meaning