...professors of communication-Fred S. Siebert, Theodore Peterson and Wilbur Schramm-brought out their Four Theories of the Press which went a long way in establishing a typology in the minds of journalism educators and students. Siebert, Peterson and Schramm discuss journalism philosophy presenting four theories (or concepts): 1. the authoritarian theory, 2. the libertarian theory, 3. the communist theory and 4 the social responsibility theory. Very briefly, here are the main characterstics of each of these theories. Authoritarian: The state, as the highest expression of institutionalized structure, supersedes the individual and makes it possible for the individual to acquire and develop a stable and harmonious life Mass communication, then, supports the state and the government in power so that total society may advance and the state may be viable and attain its objectives. The State (the elite that runs the state) directs the citizenry, which is not considered competent and interested enough to make critical political decisions. One man or an elite group is placed in a leadership role. As the group or person controls society generally it (or he or she) also controls the mass media since they are recognized as vital instruments of social control. The mass media, under authoritarianism, are educators and propagandists by which the power elite exercise social control. Generally the media are privately owned, although the leader or his elite group may own units in the total communication...
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...speech, song and tone of voice and there are non-verbal means such as body language, sign language, touch, eye contact and writing. Good Communication = Good Business * Helps an organisation to thrive * Cost effective | Poor Communications = Bad Business * Can cost market share & jobs * Can damage reputation & image | GENERAL THEORIES OF COMMUNICATION One Step Flow Theory This theory stated that mass communication media channels, communicate directly to the mass audience without the message being filtered by opinion leaders. The best known model of this theory is the hypodermic needle model. Dating from the 1920s, this theory was the first attempt to explain how mass audiences might react to mass media. It suggests that the information from a text passes into the mass consciousness of the audience unmediated. This theory suggests that our behaviour and thinking might be easily changed by media makers. It assumes that the audience is passive. Two Step Flow Theory The Hypodermic Model quickly proved too clumsy for media researchers seeking to explain the relationship between audience and text more precisely. As mass media became an essential part of life in societies around the world, a more sophisticated explanation was sought. Paul Lazerfield et al suggested that the information from a text does not flow directly into the minds of its audience unmediated but is...
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...Abstract: Mass Communication is often use in today’s modern society to establish the superior communication and the simplest way for everyone to get information. We will uncover that Mass Media also has a theory and we will find out more definition of it from the other developers who will give us more idea. For today, we are definitely living in communication and in an information-filled society, where in every day in our lives we uses it. As I check my notes in Speech and Oral Communication, I have read that Mass Communication is a communication that uses mass media like radio, television, ads, prints and films, and as I research even via internet is part of mass media. Through reading, I found out that the technology has the biggest share in mass media. According to Arthur Asa Berger (1995) “mass communication involves the use of print or electronic media, such as newspapers, magazines, film, radio, or television, to communicate to large numbers of people who are located in various places- often scattered all over the country or world” (pg. 9). Mass Communication is a process in which a person or a group of people and organization sends their message to the large group of people or massively spread out the information through the use of technologies in mass media. It thinks about the effects of mass media’s information to the receiver’s emotion, opinion, behavior and attitude. Mass media also has a theory. According to George Gerbner and Marshall McLuhan (1976), Cultivation...
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...Study on the Media Equation Theory John Nolan Pelosi University of Kentucky A Mediated World: A Study on the Media Equation Theory We’ve all done it. Whether it is aggressively screaming at the sports team you are watching on television, or frantically warning the victim of a horror movie not to open the door, everybody responds to mediated communication systems. However, the majority of mass media viewers are unaware of just how often they are actively responding. Although there has been a relatively small amount of research done linking interpersonal and mass communication researchers, are constantly aiming to bridge the gap between the sub disciplines of communication. Throughout this research I will be exploring the Media Equation Theory through the mediums of televisions and computers. I will explain what the media equation is, and describe the impact of the two communication mediums. With previous research in mind, I will be discussing how humans have become obsessed with media, and provide historical context as to why. A mass majority of this research focuses on the link between psychology and communication regarding to the positive correlation between the two. More specifically, psychological politeness reports between ‘human to human’ interactions are compared to research reports between ‘human to media’ interactions to prove that life is media, and media is life. Theoretical Background The Media Equation is a general communication theory developed by...
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...Effectiveness of Digital Journalism to Mass Communication Students from Five Selected Universities In Metro Manila A Research Proposal Presented to the School of Education-Liberal Arts-Music-Social Work Centro Escolar University In Partial Fulfilment Of the Requirement for the subject Undergraduate Research I By Joshua Austria Jaren Resontoc Ma. Anne Margarett Tumale Effectiveness of Digital Journalism to Mass Communication Students from Five Selected Universities in Metro Manila CHAPTER 1 The Problem and its Background Introduction Digital journalism is the recently established form of media. It is the contemporary form of journalism in which the news content is distributed using the internet. The content is presented in the form of text, videos and audio. The news content is available throughout the internet in the official websites of news and public affairs companies. It can be viewed by using any digital platforms such as laptops and smart phones. The world of media today is dominated by both television and internet or digital media. People nowadays are into convenience, especially now that technology is abruptly rising. People want a faster way to acquire information, that is why digital media or digital journalism is rising among the other forms. Digital technology is revolutionizing the field of news industry by creating a contemporary form of news distribution. It makes the distribution of news faster and easier than television, radio and...
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...hypodermic syringe model of the relationship between the mass media and the audience. (18 marks) There are a variety of sociological theories and evidence that suggests that the hypodermic syringe model has a relationship between the mass media and the audience however there also some flaws to these ideas. The hypodermic syringe model assumes ideas/ideologies transmitted in mass media products are automatically ‘injected’ into the minds of the audience for example a newspaper telling its readers who to vote for. The audience is seen as passive recipients. The hypodermic syringe model shows that we are a passive homogenous audience. The hypodermic Syringe Model (HSM) is an early theory model, which believes that there is a direct correlation between the violence and anti-social behavior portrayed in different media types (e.g. Television, computer games and films). Sociologists found that the most venerable audience to the HSM is children and teenagers. This is because they are still in the early stages of socialization so are therefore very impressionable. A prime example to support this theory is the case of Jamie Bugler. Jamie was a 2 year old boy that was abducted and murdered by two 10 year old boys. The boys had apparently watched 'Childs Play 3' before they murdered the toddler, and as the murder was very similar to the death in the film newspapers such as 'The Sun' created a debate to whether such violence in the media should be accepted. However, when the case was carried...
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...Mass Media: A platform to give strength to the weak or a loaded gun in the hands of humanity? “The media’s the most powerful entity on earth…because they control the minds of the masses” (Malcom X, 2012). Media has responsibilities and these responsibilities need to be clarified and upheld by society. Unfortunately, media today does not abide by moral standards, which in turn sends mixed messages to our society. Often times these messages are demoralizing, desensitizing, and false. Young people and adults alike are trying to navigate through their lives and through the world with a broken compass. The role media plays in issues such as self-worth, bullying, and suicide need to be addressed and revised. I will discuss media and its role and responsibility through the perspective of both a classical and contemporary ethical theory. The classical theory that will be discussed is virtue ethics, which is the study of the virtuous character of a person (Mosser, 2010, p.1.7). The contemporary theory that will be discussed is emotivism, which is basing one’s moral decisions on one’s feelings and emotions (Mosser, 2010, p.1.8). Concluding, I will discuss which theory is closer to my own personal view and why I chose that particular theory. While freedom of speech and personal connection are very important, age appropriate moral standards should be upheld in the media because media plays a significant role in suicide, bullying, and self-worth. According to Mosser (2010)...
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...Learning from Mass Media Campaigns for HIV/AIDS Prevention Reviews of mass media campaigns have a special interest for me. They demonstrate what can be done, and as importantly, what cannot be done, by relying on a 1P approach. I have talked about the 5% Solution before, and noted another review of mass media campaigns for changing health behaviors. This post focuses on the findings from a review of recent campaigns to prevent HIV/AIDS. What is interesting in this report are the comparisons it draws to reviews of earlier campaigns in this area as well as the current state of the art and science. The authors used seven principles to guide their analysis: (1) conducting formative research on and about the target audience; (2) using theory as a conceptual foundation; (3) segmenting one’s audience into meaningful subgroups; (4) using a message design approach that is targeted to the audience segment(s); (5) utilizing effective channels widely viewed by and persuasive with the target audience; (6) conducting process evaluation and ensuring high message exposure; and (7) using a sensitive outcome evaluation design that reduces threats to internal validity and allows causal inferences about campaign impact to be made. The question they explore is: to what extent have recent HIV/AIDS campaigns in the literature adhered to these principles? Noar et al (2009) began with a search of peer-reviewed articles appearing from late 1998 through October 2007. Mass media had to be a central or...
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...Running Head: Mass Media in Elections Mass Media’s Affect on Voting Trends Arthur Gibford California State University California In today’s world, the news media reaches and affects every person in the United States. The question now is does mass media such as newspapers, television, and the internet affect the voting trends of the voters? The ownership of the media (Djankov, Nenova, McLiesh, & Shleifer, 2003), targeting specific demographics (Clinton & Lapinski, 2004), the implications of the internet (DiMaggio, Hargittai, Neuman, & Robinson, 2003) and how candidates use media (Aarts & Semetko, 2003) are all important aspects in determining whether a potential bias exists (Eveland & Shah, 2003) on the part of the news media. It is hypothesized that when the mass media displays certain biases leaning towards one party over the other, the populace tends to vote in the direction of the media. The following five scholarly literature reviews will attempt to demonstrate and support the hypothesis. According to Eveland and Shah (Eveland & Shah, 2003, p. 101)there is “a large percentage of the public (that) believes that the news media are biased, and the majority of these individuals consider the direction of bias to be against their own viewpoint”. This drives the question this paper attempts to answer. This article looks at media’s credibility and integrity in the eyes of individual people. The author’s give several hypothesis to provide multiple...
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...Uses and Gratifications: Development and Basic Tenets Research into the reasons why individuals use mass media dates back more than 50 years. Early forms of gratifications research attempted to understand why people used certain media content. In the process, it explored the functions of the media and the role of the audiences' needs and expectations (e.g., Herzog, 1940; Lazarsfeld & Stanton, 1941; Lazarsfeld & Stanton, 1949). These early studies preceded any formal conceptualization of the uses and gratifications paradigm later proposed by Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch (1974) and Rosengren (1974). Instead of asking what effects the media have on individuals and collective audience behavior, the questions were, what are people seeking and what do they believe they are deriving from mass media? According to Katz (1959), "it is the program that asks the question, not 'What do the media do to people?,' but 'What do people do with the media?'" (p. 2). In more familiar terms, "Ask not what the media can do to people, but what the people can do with media." The uses and gratifications paradigm provides one way of conceptualizing the relationship between the producer of messages (sender) and the audience (receiver). It presents a departure from the powerful (direct) effects models of communication research that dominated the field of communication between 1930-1960 and to some extent still dominates the field today. Volumes three and four of the Journal of Communication...
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...primarily from Hall’s reservations regarding the theories of communication underpinning mass communications research. It worked on the assumption that the ‘media offered an unproblematic, benign reflection of society’ (Proctor, 58). Mass communications research became prevalent after the Second World War and was funded by commercial bodies with a desire to know how audiences could be influenced more effectively through advertising. According to the mass communications model, the sender (mass media) generates a message with fixed meaning, which is then communicated directly and transparently to the recipient (audience). Hall’s paper challenged all three components of the mass communications model ; arguing that – (i) the message is never transparent to the audience (ii) meaning is not simply fixed or determined by the sender; and (iii) the audience is not a passive recipient of the meaning. Hall’s encoding/decoding theory focuses on the different ways audiences generate (rather than discover) meaning. Hall’s theory re-addressed the themes of the Uses and Gratifications theory : examining audience power over the media, rather then the media’s effects on the audience (Katz: 1959). Such theoretical study later concluded that audiences use the media to fulfil their own needs and gratifications (Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M.: 1974). Hall's model focuses on groups rather then the individual, which is more useful when looking at mass communications dominance due to broad issues...
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...audience Media uses are closely bound up with our social life. The way that people obtain information is changing every day in every aspect of our daily life, along with the developments of new technologies. Some researches tend to show us that the audience has become more active in a range of ways since the emergence of social media. Social media generally applied to web-based services that facilitate many forms of social interactions or networking. The design principles behind these websites enable users to create and develop online relationship with others. We are communicating with potentially large and invisible audiences by using social network sites or blogs (Zappavigna, 2012, p. 2). People has drawn attention to the fact that social media is changing the way of how we use media in daily life. All these indicate that audience research is no longer in the old-school. This article will provide a theoretical framework of how media is used, and the challenges that the emergence of social media has posed on audience theory. Audiences play critical roles in any types of mediated communication. We all participate in the mass media, and most people have a sense of audience in every aspect of it. Back to the decades ago, some audience theories such as linear communication theory is about the direct relationship between the mass media and audience. It instils the ideas to the passive audience directly. Moreover, the two-step flow theory of mass communication. The mass media inspires...
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...HOST COMMUNICATION COMPETENCE AND MASS MEDIA USE AMONG A SAMPLE OF CHINESE ESL STUDENTS by JUN QIAN A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in conformity with the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy Queen’s University Kingston, Ontario, Canada August, 2009 Copyright © Jun Qian, 2009 ii ABSTRACT This qualitative study investigated Chinese ESL students’ use of host mass media and how such use enabled them to acquire host communication competence and acculturation from their perspective. It was grounded on Kim’s theory of communication and cross-cultural adaptation and the uses and gratifications theory, and employed a phenomenography approach. Nine participants at a university in Ontario were involved in this study. Data obtained from media use logs, think-aloud protocols, and follow-up interviews provided a fairly far-reaching and detailed description of the participants’ uses, reasoning, and effects of using host mass media. The analysis of data illustrated that these students used a variety of media as sources of information, language acquisition, culture learning, entertainment, and communication. Findings suggest that host mass media were the major influence on these students’ acquisition of host communication competence, perceptions of and acculturation to Canada. Their reliance on mass communication went into the later years of their acculturation process, and complemented their language and culture learning, which was somewhat...
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...MASS MEDIA EFFECTS In partial fulfillment of the requirements of Theories of Communication (LAC 701) A paper prepared by Group Four John Fasisi (91817) Kalim Gazal (136615) Moyofade Ipadeola (95580) Nwachukwu Egbunike (147181) Oluwaseun Oti (168137) Seyi Bodunde (168139) Victor Eze (167521) And submitted to: Professor F. A. Adesanoye Department of Communication and Language Arts Faculty of Arts University of Ibadan November 27, 2012 ABSTRACT This literature-driven study examined mass media effects. The work peered into the history of the ‘powerful media’. An in-depth review of relevant theories of mass media effects was analyzed. Findings pointed towards both positive and negative impacts of mass media. However, there was no empirical evidence to substantiate a direct cause and effect relationship of mass media messages with the actions of the consumer of the information. Consequently we can only assert that the mass media impacts on society but does not necessarily have an effect since other factors also influence people other than information consumed from the media. As such, this study asserts that the mass media influences public opinion but does not necessarily cause it. Key words: powerful media, mass media effects, theories of mass media effects, impact of media messages INTRODUCTION The mass media involve organisations that are responsible for the dissemination of information to a large number of people. Basically, the mass media...
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...AGENDA SETTING THEORY the creation of what the public thinks is important History and Orientation Agenda setting describes a very powerful influence of the media – the ability to tell us what issues are important. As far back as 1922, the newspaper columnist Walter Lippman was concerned that the media had the power to present images to the public. McCombs and Shaw investigated presidential campaigns in 1968, 1972 and 1976. In the research done in 1968 they focused on two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of the media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign. Core Assumptions and Statements Core: Agenda-setting is the creation of public awareness and concern of salient issues by the news media. Two basis assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues. One of the most critical aspects in the concept of an agenda-setting role of mass communication is the time frame for this phenomenon. In addition, different media have different agenda-setting...
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