Lecture 03

(24 September 2019)

Media Power

DR. LEE KUOK TIUNG

[email protected]
 Outline
Media Power

1.Hypodermic needle model (theory) or magic

bullet theory
2.Cultivation theory

3.Theory of Moral Panic

 “Magic Bullet” theory/
Hypodermic needle model
 Originate from Harold Lasswell’s 1927 book
‘Propaganda Technique in the World War.
 1930’s & 1940’s

 Effect of mass media

 Passive audience

 media's message is a bullet fired from the

"media gun" into the viewer's "head".
 intended message is directly received and
wholly accepted by the receiver.
Continues…..
 Nazi propaganda
 Why?
 Limited communication tools
 Limited research – further research apparently indicates
that media has selective influences on audience.
 Opposed by Paul Lazarsfeld & Herta Herzog; Hadley
Cantril – media content determined by situational &
attitudinal attributes of listeners
 Today’s context – impossible
 Continues…..

 interpersonal outlets proved more influential than the media

 1940s, Lazarsfeld disproved the "magic bullet" theory & "hypodermic
needle model theory" through elections studies in "The People's
Choice" Source: Katz & Lazarsfeld (1955)
 Continues…..

 interpersonal outlets proved more influential than the media;

 majority of the public remained unfazed by propaganda surrounding Franklin D. Roosevelt’s 1940 election
campaign;
 public select which messages affect and don't affect them.

Source: Katz & Lazarsfeld (1955) Two-Step Flow Model

Continues…..
 Reasons suggested for the greater effectiveness of personal
influence over media influence include the following:
i. The content and development of a conversation are less predictable than
mass media messages. Consequently, the receiver cannot be as selective in
advance as (s)he is able to be when choosing which media messages to
attend to.
ii. In a face-to-face conversation, the critical distance between the partners is
less than in mass communication.
iii. By direct questioning of the partner in the conversation, the assumptions
underlying the conversation can be rapidly and accurately established,
which is not so with mass communication.
iv. In face-to-face interaction the communicator can rapidly adjust to the
receiver's personality. (S)he has direct feedback as to the success of the
communication, can correct misunderstandings and counter challenges.
 Cultivation theory
 Theorists: George Gerbner
 Date:1976

 Primary Article:
Gerbner, G. & Gross, L. (1976). Living
with television: The violence profile.
Journal of Communication 26-76.
 Continues…..
 Gerbner - television become society’s
storyteller.
 Heavy viewer - ≥4 hours a day; & light
viewers < 4 hours a day.
 Heavy viewers are exposed to more violence
(see a vast quantity of dramatic violence) and
therefore are effected (which cultivates an
exaggerated belief in a )by the Mean World
Syndrome (mean & scary world), an idea that
the world is worse then it actually is.
 the overuse of television is creating a
homogeneous and fearful populace.
Chapter Twenty-Seven: Cultivation Theory (George Gerbner)
 “Television has become society’s storyteller. Heavy television viewers see a
vast quantity of dramatic violence, which cultivates an exaggerated belief in a
mean and scary world. Mainstreaming and resonance are two of the processes
that create a homogeneous and fearful populace” (Griffin, p. A-17)
 Heavy viewing of television creates (cultivates) an exaggerated belief in a ‘mean and
scary world’
 An Index of Violence
 Defined violence as overt expression of physical force (with or without a weapon
against self or others) compelling action against one’s will on pain of being hurt
and/or killed or threatened to be so victimized as part of the plot.
 An objective measure for evaluating television violence
 Equal Violence, Unequal Risk
 Portrayal of violence varies little from year to year
 Over half of prime-time programs contain violence or threat of violence
 Two-thirds of major characters are caught up in violence (heroes and villains alike)
 Television places marginalized people in symbolic double jeopardy by
simultaneously under representing and over victimizing them
 Establishing a Viewer Profile
 Survey research used to measure viewer attitudes
 Light viewers (2 hrs or less per day) choose particular shows to watch; heavy
viewers (four or more hours per day) aren’t selective.
 Minds Plowed by Television grow Fearful Thoughts
 “Cultivation differential” compares attitudes of light and heavy viewers
 Focused on four attitudes:
1. Chances of involvement with violence
2. Fear of walking alone at night
3. Perceived activity of police
4. General mistrust of people
 Mainstreaming
 Process by which heavy viewers develop commonality of outlook through
constant exposure to the same images and labels
 Television blurs economic and political distinctions
 New Populism (aligned with policies of former President Reagan)
 Resonance
 Repeated symbolic portrayals of violence cause viewers to recall real-life
experience with violence
 Critique: Is the cultivation differential real, large, crucial?
 Theory and method are controversial – definitions questioned
 Meta-analysis of cultivation studies examining link between hours watched
and tendency to give ‘television answers’ -- statistically significant
correlation but weak connection
 Issue is of critical importance – fear of violence is a paralyzing emotion
 Individual Interpretations and Critique:
1. The cultivation theory is a scientific
theory.
2. Epistimologically speaking, Gerbner
believes in one truth. The theory does not
believe television viewers have a choice in
whether they are effected by media violence
or not (maksud ‘media berkuasa’).
3. While the theory does contain some holes
(ada kelemahan) it adequately opens the
discussion dealing with effects of the media
upon viewers.
 Continues….
4.Gerber’s idea of the effects heavy television viewing
is intriguing. There is definitely support to show
that those who watch great amounts of television do
experience the ‘mean world syndrome’, the definition
of ‘heavy’ needs to be reexamined.
5.Gerbner defines heavy television viewing as watching
four or more hours a day.
6.The idea of setting a numerical value to try to
equate heavy influence to a mass populace is
suspect.
7.Lastly, Gerbner allows some of his own values to
enter into the theory by deciding what to consider
violence and by assigning a numerical value to heavy
television viewing.
 Continues….
 Ideas and Implications:
The effects of Gerbner’s mean world
syndrome can easily be seen in nursing
homes. Many occupants of nursing homes
watch many hours of television per day
without leaving their rooms to actually
see what the real world is like. Having
only the media to guide their
interpretation of the ‘real world’,
nursing home residents believe that the
world is a corrupt and violent place.
 Theory of Moral Panic
 enforcing moral panic through news reporting.
 -ve: spreading fear.
 +ve: arousing social concern over an issue.
 Media social responsibility – obligation to disseminate moral
indignation
 reality (social media) - sensationalism & muckraking.
 Challenge to generate concern, anxiety, or panic - making a
fantastic connection between real and fictional violence

 moral panic occurs when "a condition, episode, person or group

of persons emerges to become defined as a threat to societal
values and interests".(Stanley Cohen, 1972)
 Continues…..
 Examples:
1. Illegal immigrants in Sabah
2. Pedophiles
3. Terrorism
4. Squatters
5. Project IC
6. Phantom voter
7. Dengue / malaria
8. ‘bread & butter’ issues – livelihood
(living cost), ….
 Continues…..
 a moral panic occurs when "...[a] condition, episode,
person or group of persons emerges to become defined as
a threat to societal values and interests“ (Cohen, 1972)

 5 stages in the construction of a moral panic (Cohen):

1. Something or someone is defined as a threat to values or interests
2. This threat is depicted in an easily recognisable form by the media
3. There is a rapid build-up of public concern
4. There is a response from authorities or opinion makers
5. The panic recedes or results in social changes
 Continues…..
 mass media are the primary source of the public's
knowledge about deviance and social problems.

 the media appear in any or all three roles in moral

panic dramas:
a) Setting the agenda – selecting deviant or socially problematic events
deemed as newsworthy, then using finer filters to select which events
are candidates for moral panic.
b) Transmitting the images – transmitting the claims by using the rhetoric
of moral panics.
c) Breaking the silence and making the claim.
 Continues…..
 moral panic consists of the following characteristics (Goode & Ben-Yehuda):
1. Concern – There must be the belief that the behaviour of the group or
activity deemed deviant is likely to have a negative effect on society.
2. Hostility – Hostility toward the group in question increases, and they become
"folk devils". A clear division forms between “them” and “us”.
3. Consensus – Though concern does not have to be nationwide, there must
be widespread acceptance that the group in question poses a very real
threat to society. It is important at this stage that the "moral entrepreneurs"
are vocal and the "folk devils" appear weak and disorganized.
4. Disproportionality – The action taken is disproportionate to the actual threat
posed by the accused group.
5. Volatility – Moral panics are highly volatile and tend to disappear as quickly
as they appeared because public interest wanes or news reports change to
another narrative.
Diffusion of Innovations Theory
Diffusion of innovation model

Diffusion of innovation model.

Source: Rogers (1995)
*** Modern communication models always seem more complex's.
 Tutorial
 Refer to your syllabus
 What is “meme”