Topic 4 - The mass media & audiences

Hypodermic Syringe Model
1. The mass media through news, TV programmes, films, news papers, video games etc are able to 'inject' whatever content, ideas, images etc into the audience.
2. The 'syringe' is full of the media content & 'injects' this directly into the audience.
3. The audience are unthinking, passive receivers of these images & messages. They are unable to resit the messages that are 'injected'into them.
4. The audience are killed with the dominant ideology, sexist & racist images, scenes of violence etc & they immediately go out and act out what they have seen. They are violent, racist, sexist & sometimes killers.
5. Criticisms
  1. Catharisis - Can provide a safe outlet for people's aggressive tendencies. FESBACH & SANGER - teenage boys were just as violent & non violet TV. The groups that watched only violent TV showed less aggressive behaviour. Conclusion - by immersing themselves into the violent films their aggressive energy was released in a safe way.
  2. Sensitisation: JOCK YOUNG argues that seeing the effects of violence can makes people more aware of the consequences & less likely to commit them. He suggests that violent scenes can be so graphic & so shocking that they put people off violence.
  3. Methodology - GAUNTLETT criticises the methodology of studies like BANDURA's. Conducted in a laboratory which is artificial & therefore children are unlikely to behave 'normally'. Violence is not defined - is it real or fiction/cartoon violence - it fails to acknowledge that the context of the violence can affect it has on the audience.
  4. Children as sophisticated media users: people are not as vulnerable as the HSM suggests. We are able to distinguish between real violence & 'cartoon' violence from a very earl age. We are also aware that the violence watched should not be imitated. Demonstrated in a study by BUCKINGHAM. Another study by WOOD showed horror movies was rite of passage & not a corrupting influence on their behaviour.
  5. Audiences are not homogenous: they have different social characteristics in terms of age, maturity, class, education, family back ground etc. These differences will influence how people respond & use media content. They are, therefore, not the passive receivers of information that the HSM assumes.
  6. Scapegoating the media: the HSM uses the media as a scapegoat for everything wrong in society. But there are other factors that could be causing the violence & antisocial behaviour e.g peer group, drugs, childhood trauma & mental illness.
Active Audience Approaches
1. Sees the media as far less influential. They believe that people have considerable choice in the wa they use and interpret the media. There are 3 main versions of this view.
2. The two step flow model
3. The uses and gratifications model
  1. Personal relationships and companionship, through identification with communities like those in Coronation Street or East Enders are main conversation starters in many communities.
  2. The audience use the media for different reasons.
  3. Leisure, entertainment and relaxation, as an escape from daily routine
  4. Personal identity: the use of media for their own identity, e.g latest clothing fashions.
  5. Information such as news.
  6. Back ground whilst doing other things.
4. The cultural effects model
  1. Associated with neb-marxism. Does not view the audience as 'simply passive'. People interpret the media they 'consume' but producers of media 'expect' the audience to respond to it in a particular way. Or as neo marxists call it 'preferred or dominant reading'
  2. Rolling class ideology constantly 'bombards' the public through the media. Because they have power they can 'filter' their ideology into society via the media. The public (proletariat) will eventually believe the ruling class ideology to be natural & true. This is called 'cultural hegemony' Thus the proletariat will consent to bourgeoise ideology without realising it.
    1. Examples: Many OAP's believe the media messages about 'dole scroungers' so much they are too embarrassed to claim the benefits they are entitled to (fear of being stigmatised as scroungers). The more material possessions you own, the happier you will be. TO feel attractive/confident, women must imitate the body shape of supermodels. Most asylum seekers are really 'welfare scroungers'
  3. The more an ideology is 'dripped' into society by th media, the more people accept it & accept it as true (george orwell)
5. The selective filter model
  1. 1- selective exposure: a message must first be chosen to be viewed, read or listened to. These choices depend on peoples interests, education commitments etc.
  2. 2- Selective perception: the messages have to be accepted. The audience may choose to take notice of one message but reject another. E.G. a heavy smoker may choose to ignore a TV programme which focuses on the link between smoking and lung cancer.
  3. 3- selective retention - Messages have to stick. People have a tendency to remember only things they broadly agree with. POSTMAN argues that we now live in a 'three minute culture' i.e the attention span of the average member of society is only 3 mins long.

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Topic 4 - The mass media & audiences

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