Media Theories

Effect theory -(Hypodermic syringe, Inoculation Theory)

This theory looks at what the media does to us as an audience. It believes that the media put across a message or idea to the audience and we as the the audience are helpless to the message and take it like an inoculation.

• Mass media/mass communications makes people powerless to resist the message 
• Effects theory is taken up mainly to look at the link between violence and young people. Take for instance the case of James Bulger the 2 year old who was tortured and killed by two ten year old boys  it is still in question whether what caused these two boys act of horrific violence but many have hinted that it may have been induced by violence in the media
• There is quite allot of moral panic in the media i.e with outbreaks like swine flu or terrorism this creates  a general sense of fear within the audience, they do this with concern , hostility and consensus

Historical stuff

• Frankfurt School: Marxist German intellectuals react against Nazi's propaganda and US advertising-suggested the power of big corporations and the state to control how we think.
• There was a rise of fear in the 1950's and 60s over the hours in which a child watched TV and how this would affect there future this was caused by a great hype in the media and sought of shows how the media can install an idea of message into the wider audience
• Scientist also believed that the media may have an effect on the behavior of the receptive audience that is enforced through repetition, a test which looks at this was the Bobo doll experiment (1963)  Bandura and Walters showed a bunch of kindergartens  3  different films one non aggressive, one mild aggression and the last aggressive they put them in a playroom with a doll and saw how they reacted most would imitate the actions of the adults in the films suggesting that kids may be very susceptible to the media

Two step flow

This diagram show the process of the effects theory

Problems with the effects theory

• Violence may by the audience of media are often caused social and/or psychological problems and not by the media
• The media can also be a positive influence and encourage the audience to make something of their lives or to just cross that last hurdle, e.g the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics
• Criticism of the media using the effects model are often politically motivated to make a point on the government.
• there is no real grounding or research for the theory of this model