Media Theory

During the past century, many theorists have speculated on the effects of media on individuals. Some assumed that there was a direct effect "magic bullet" that affected anyone who watched media. This meant anything they watched the instantly took in, absorbed, and believed. There was a gradual progression toward a more nuanced and complex understanding of the effects of media. Media is ever changing however, and so to do these thought processes. Even today, the media environment is still a bit of a haze to scientists, partly being because research takes so much time.

History

Hadley Cantril  - studied the impacts of the fictional "War of Worlds" by H.G. Wells, broadcast on radio by Orson Welles, on Oct. 30, 1939. The broadcast terrified many people who were unaware that the broadcast was fake. He discovered many people did not actually believe the broadcasts, and levels of belief differed. His study led to a "limited model" or "minimal effects model".

Paul Lazarfeld  - was a pioneer in critical theory research that was scientific and quantitative. Often called the "father of communication research". Katz and Lazarfield in the late 1940s proposed a model called the "multistep flow". Opinion leaders are influenced by elite media.

Harold Laswell - In 1948, defined the five key questions analyzed by communication research such as who says what, on which channel to whom, with what effect?

Harold Innis - Canadian working in mid 20th century. Start in economics switched to communications to understand how empires evolved. Theory that significant advance in communication empowered every new empire in world history. He said media were either time biased(endured through time, like clay tablets) or "space biased" (easily shared through space).

David Potter - First person to describe the U.S. as a consumer society, said we were urged at all times to buy things we don't need. In 1954 he wrote a book people of plenty which explained this. Warned of dangers of ads because it had no social consciousness

Wilbur Schramm - In late 1950s he and other researchers Jack Lyle and Edwin Parker did first comprehensive study of children and television. Study basically said that advertising to children was ok. Used quantitative info that inspired other researchers to delve deeper into the topic to figure the specifics.

Joseph Klapper - His 1960 study showed that public media could only influence people who don't already hold strong views towards matters.

Social Learning Theory

BoBo doll experiment - Children were placed in a room with toys and an adult who beat up a doll for 10 minutes. When the adult stopped and left the 2 to 3 year old children mimicked the adult and beat up the doll. The same was done but peacefully instead of violently and the children imitated it. The study was repeated but with the violence shown on a tv, and another version shown where the adult dressed silly. The children still repeated the actions.

George Gerbner - In 1975 he and colleagues developed cultivation theory, that is the idea that heavy television viewers begin to develop a worldview that's consistent with what they see on television. One result was the mean world syndrome, where people begin to view the world as more violent and harmful.

Marshall McLuhan - Coined the term "the media is the message" in the 1960s. It caused a lot of attention around him but people called it ridiculous and discredited him. This message has only been explored more today. He was the father of medium theory, and also coined the term technological determinism.

Agenda Setting - Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw (1972), proposed the major effect of news media didn't tell people what to think, but what to think about. Currently, during agenda setting research people focus on what isn't being said.

Spiral of Silence - People who's views are controversial, or they are a member of a minority opinion, tend to not share their views when around people of major views. This makes it so many views aren't spread as much and potentially remain a minority.

Neil Postman - Former journalists who wrote a book in the 1980s that said common people aren't being distracted by the government, but the news. This means we lose attention on matters such as democracy.

Cultural Studies - Perspective that emerged in England by scholars with working class roots who observed that many pieces of past literature were studied, but not the context of current social systems like television. They also proposed research on the inner city, such as texts. Called "cult studs" cared about representations in mass media. Claimed audiences were not passives and developed a more interactive type of "reader response research" called "audience studies".

The Movie, 2010