Media Systems and Communication Technology
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Chapter 2
Mass Communication Effects: How Society & Media Interact
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Media Coverage of the Rise of #MeToo
In 2017, the issue of sexual harassment and abuse moved from margin to center of media reports
Accusations against movie mogul Harvey Weinstein brought story to forefront
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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What Had Kept Women’s Stories of Sexual Abuse from Being Published?
Women were embarrassed and worried they might have been at fault
They still wanted to work where they worked
They were worried they might be blacklisted
They were afraid they wouldn’t be believed
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Rise of Mass Society
Pre 1800s: people in the U.S. lived in rural communities with people of similar ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds
1800s: Industrial Revolution: people move into cities, live and work with people of diverse backgrounds
Media began to replace church, family, and community in shaping public opinion
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Direct Effects Model
Fears: direct effects of WWI and WWII propaganda (via media) would be strong
Direct effects presumes media messages are a stimulus that leads to consistent, predictable attitudinal or behavioral effects
Indirect effects recognizes that people have different backgrounds, needs, values and thus respond differently
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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People’s Choice Study and the Limited Effects Model
Lazarsfeld study of voter decision making in 1940 presidential election
Opinion leaders (friends and neighbors) more influential than media or campaign
Media content and campaign had indirect effect; interpersonal influence was stronger
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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People’s Choice Findings
Voters with strong opinions are unlikely to change them
Voters who pay most attention to campaign are those with strongest views
Most persuadable voters are not informed, not paying attention to campaign, and not influenced by media coverage
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Critical Cultural Model
People suffer from exploitation and division of labor
People are treated as “things” to be used rather than individuals with value
Ideas and events must be analyzed within historical context
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Critical Cultural Model
Society is dominated by culture industry (mass media) that turns ideas into commodities and sells them to maximize profits
Facts cannot be separated from values attached to them and the circumstances from which these facts emerge (context is everything)
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Types of Media Effects
Message effects
Medium effects
Ownership effects
Active audience effects
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Message Effects
How are people affected by the content of messages?
Cognitive effects Short-term learning of information
Attitudinal effects Changing people’s attitudes about a person, product, institution, or idea
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Message Effects
Behavioral effects
Inducing people to adopt new behaviors or change existing ones. Much harder than changing attitudes
Psychological effects
Inspiring strong feelings or arousal in audience members. People often seek feelings such as fear, joy, revulsion, happiness, or amusement
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Medium Effects
How does the medium used change the nature of the message and the receiver’s response to the message?
What are the social effects of each medium?
“The medium is the message” – Marshall McLuhan
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Media Transformation: From Paper to Electronic Documents
Leaking the Pentagon Papers to the press required boxes of documents
Edward Snowden’s leak of NSA documents required a flash drive
We are undergoing a shift from paper to electronic documents
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Media Transformation: Harold Innis
Media have a bias of lasting a long time or being easy to distribute
Presence of electronic documents makes leaking them vastly easier
Innis inspired McLuhan’s “Medium is the message”
The more portable a medium is, the more social it becomes
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Ownership Effects
How does ownership affect the media?
Do we get different messages from different owners?
How important are the six largest media companies?
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Active Audience Effects
Audience members seek out and respond to media for a variety of reasons
People can be segmented by geographics, demographics, or psychographics
Audience members are selective consumers rather than naïve victims of the media
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Theories of Media and Society
Functional analysis
Agenda setting
Uses and gratifications
Social learning
Spiral of silence
Media logic
Cultivation analysis
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Functional Analysis
Surveillance of the environment
Status conferral
Correlation of different elements of society
Transmission of culture from one generation to the next
Entertainment
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Agenda Setting
The media don’t tell the public what to think, but rather what to think about
Media sets the terms of public discourse
But can media determine what people will care about?
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Uses and Gratifications
Audience members are active consumers with wants and needs
Media compete with other sources of gratifications
Audience members decide deliberately which choices they will make
Judgments on the media should be made based on audience’s perspective
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Uses and Gratifications
Possible gratifications:
To be amused
To experience the beautiful
To have shared experiences with others
To find models to imitate
To believe in romantic love
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Social Learning
Albert Bandura: we are able to learn by observing others and the consequences they face
Steps of social learning:
We extract key information from situations we observe
We integrate these observations to create rules about how the world operates
We put these rules into practice to regulate our own behavior and predict the behavior of others
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Symbolic Interactionism
The process by which individuals produce meaning through interaction based on socially agreed-upon symbols
“If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” – W.I. Thomas
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Spiral of Silence
People want to see themselves as part of a majority
They will remain silent if they perceive themselves as being in a minority
This tends to make minority opinions appear less prevalent than they are
But some people like having contrary opinions; others speak out because they care
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Spiral of Silence and Social Media
Pew Foundation study of people’s willingness to discuss Snowden case on social media found:
People are less willing to discuss the case on social media than in person
People are more likely to share opinions when they think the audience agrees with them
People who won’t share opinion face-to-face are even less likely to do so on social media
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Cultivation Analysis
Watching significant amounts of television alters the way an individual views the nature of the surrounding world
Can cultivate a response known as the Mean World Syndrome
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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Mean World Syndrome
Heavy television viewers are more likely to:
Overestimate chance of experiencing violence
Believe their neighborhood is unsafe
Say fear of crime is a serious personal problem
Assume the crime rate is rising
Hanson, Mass Communication: Living in a Media World, 7e
SAGE Publishing, 2019
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