The Hypodermic Needle Theory and The Mass Media
This is an excerpt from the paper...
The Hypodermic Needle Theory, also known as the Magic Bullet Theory, was the first major theory concerning the effect of the mass media on society. Originating in the 1920s, the theory was based on the premise of an all-powerful media with uniform and direct effects on the viewer or audience. The Hypodermic Needle Theory is therefore an effects theory that contends viewers are passive, and directly affected by what they view; people accept the message they see without considering its merits. In that way media content is shot at the audience like a magic bullet, directly penetrating the viewerÆ mind. Wallace (2000) states early thinking about the mass media held that when media audience members were separate from one another, they were vulnerable targets easily influenced by mass media messages. Magic Bullet Theorists believed the media could shape public opinion and persuade the masses toward any desired point of view. In this way messages strike all members of the audience equally causing a uniform thinking among them. Harold Lasswell was the prominent theorist of the Hypodermic Needle Theory. Lasswell (1927) theorized that the new mass media could directly influence and sway public opinion. The fact is, he wrote, that ôpropaganda is one of the most powerful instrumentalities in the modern worldö capable of welding ô millions of human beings into one amalgamated mass of hate and will and hopeö (p. 221). LasswellÆs work was based on a stimulus-response model rooted in
. . .
Some common words found in the essay are:
Hypodermic Needle, Needle Theory, Theory Lasswell, Bullet Theory, Rancer Womack, York City, County Ohio, Choice Studyö, Mercury Theatre, Bullet Theorists, hypodermic needle, needle theory, hypodermic needle theory, mass media, magic bullet, wallace 2000, bullet theory, magic bullet theory, rancer womack, infante rancer womack, infante rancer, public opinion, 1940 election,
Approximate Word count = 1029
Approximate Pages = 4 (250 words per page)
|
Customer Service
to Over
32,000 Professionally Written Papers!!!
