Media effects on audiences
The results of research have been the creation of several media effects models
including: the hypodermic syringe model, the two-step flow model, the cultural effects
model and the uses and gratifications model.
However, reasons why it is difficult to research media effects on audiences:
o It is difficult to establish whether it is the media which creates negative effects
such as violence.
o It is difficult to distinguish the different influences on someone, the media is
only one small aspect of someone's life which create stereotypes, prejudice
and preferences.
o It is difficult to know which forms of media have the greatest effects, especially
with the growth of new media.
o It is practically impossible to establish what people's beliefs, values,
behaviours, preferences, etc would be without media. The GMG are
particularly focused on the role of the media in spreading the cultural
hegemony of the dominant class.
o As almost everyone has been exposed to media at some point in their life it is
almost impossible to make a comparison between those people who have
been exposed to media and those who have not been.
The hypodermic syringe model:
o An analogy is drawn between media texts and drug being inserted by a
hypodermic syringe.
The medium (TV, newspapers, films, etc) = The syringe
The media content = The injected drug
o The model assumes a passive audience who absorbs and accepts what they
read, hear and see as the media were hypnotic power. The message could be
dominant ideology, sexist and racist viewpoints, acts of aggression and so
forth, which the audience accept and act upon.
o This model suggests someone might see and act out due to violence on
television. Radical feminists have blamed the media and pornography for
encouraging men to abuse women.
o Copycat crimes can be said to arise from the media exposure of crimes,
especially with the growth of violent video games.
o Passive audience = passive audience models assume people are not free
agents, but that they are influenced easily by what they see and hear.
Banduras Bobo doll experiment:
o Some children were shown a video of adults acting aggressively towards a
bobo doll. The children who had seen the video were more likely to act in
some violent way towards this bobo doll than those who had not. Therefore,
Banduras concluded that children copy what they see from media.
Jamie Bulger murder:
, o In 1993, two boys aged 10, kidnaped a 2-year-old, Jamie Bulger, from a
shopping centre, they walked him 2.5 miles whilst torturing him in awful ways
until they killed him. (The boys were the youngest to be convicted for such a
crime and were trailed like adults)
o At the time of the murder, it was alleged that the perpetuators were influenced
by seeing the movies Childs Play 3. This suggested that media influences
were implicit in the crime which generated a moral panic over the media
triggers that lead to children murdering other children.
Evaluation of the hypodermic syringe model:
o This model is now considered old fashioned and inadequate, even though it
remains popular in law.
o It assumes that the media have enormous power and influence beyond
people's socialisation and experience. It suggests that the media is scapegoat
for everything wrong in society.
o After future research, it was dismissed as reason behind Jamie Bulgers
murder, it was proven that the children knew the violence that they had
watched was not to be repeated.
o The audience are effectively thought to be unthinking robots who are passive,
gullible and easily led, however most people who use media are active and
critical of the content that they consume.
o The model assumes that people are homogenous (people react the same way
to media content)
The two-step flow model:
o Known as “normative” as it considers a “normal” way of behaving. It is based
on the work of Katz and Lazzarfeld (1995) on the idea that group response is
more normal than an individual response.
Step one = The media text reaches a member of the audience
Step two = The audience member interprets the text considering their
social interactions with other. Most importantly with those who are respected and
seen as the opinion leader.
o Opinion leaders are important in this model. They can be any respected
person of a social group. They form their opinion of media content and share
their views with others.
o The audience is therefore exposed to an alternative media message, which
they may pass this message to others, and the original message may become
different due to the different interpretations.
Evaluation of the two-step flow model:
o This model is also limited in its explanation. There are likely more than two
steps in this process as shown by the way advertisers select opinion leaders
before transmitting their message. In this regard, it could be argued this is
another passive audience model, as it assumes people take the opinions of
the leaders.
