Media Theories

The Hypodermic Needle Theory

The Hypodermic Needle theory is a way that a passive audience is
believed to receive media and propaganda. The term needle comes
directly from the way that it is believed that the suggested message is
directly injected into the audiences minds, whilst they believe what it is
they are being told. This theory is related to passive audiences, as they
are the ones who are most likely to take in exactly what they are seeing. It
has been known for some people to copy something they have seen, most
commonly a murder - this is known as a copycat killing.
It originally came around in the 1920s and 30s as a form of propaganda to
brainwash the population during WWII, as used by Hitler to gain support
from the German public as . A variety of things have contributed to the
theory such as; a fast rise in the population of radio and TV, an increase of
advertising companies and persuasion industries and also Hitlers rise in
the Germany.
There are a variety of pros and cons of this theory. On advantage is that
results can be measured very accurately and therefore be generalised to
create precise statistics, also by asking a large quantity of people and
getting more varied responses, meaning more results that are reliable. A
disadvantage of this theory is that it can influence large audiences and
give them a false perception on a variety of aspects in the media. One
example of this can be found in womens magazine articles, saying that
they should all be a certain weight, and because they see it in a form
media, they believe it.
This theory is an example of how a passive audience would react, or not
react. The passive audience doesnt specifically engage with the media,
but simply just accept it and let it slip into their minds. A passive audience
wouldnt necessarily know that this is happening to them, for example
when Hitler brainwashed the nation, he started off with school kids by
slyly incorporating racist ideas into their textbooks.
The Uses and Gratification Theory
The uses and gratification theory is slightly different to the hypodermic
needle as this gives the audience the chance to make their own opinions
on the media they have just seen and also to understand it all. First
created by Blumler and Katz in the 1940s, and still used to today, this
theory gives audiences certain reasons as to how they consume
something and what they do with it. Basically meaning the audience uses
the media to meet specifics needs to fill certain gratifications. This theory
is based around an active audience who are believed to take the media
and integrate it into their own lives, whilst also choosing what they want
to do with the media.

The basic model for the Uses and Gratifications theory is based up four
aspects;
To identify this is when you are able to recognise the product or person
in front of you. Such as role models that you believe, reflect similar values
to yours, or aspiration to be like someone else.
Educate simply just to learn new information and to gain knowledge and
understanding.
Entertain using the media to give you some form of enjoyment, and a
form of escapism, as it enables us to forget about the real world for a
short period.
Social interaction choosing to consume certain media in order to be part
of a global conversation between other people, and to debate.
This theory can also be seen in personal music selection. When listening
to music, we choose what we listen too to fit a certain mood and what we
may be doing. For example, you would listen to different music when at
the gym when in comparison to revising.
It can be heavily applied to the internet, which over the last decade as
played a huge part in social understanding. Thanks to Google, we can
search for almost anything online, giving us the chance to get closer to
those who we see as our role models, listen to all kind of music thanks to
YouTube, and watch films and read the news. Factual websites such as
Wikipedia gives us the chance to learn about anything meaning our
education has improved a vast amount. In terms of socialising, social
websites such as Facebook, Twitter and a variety of blogs means, we can
connect with loads of people all around the world, learning about whom
they are and what they do. The internet also gives us the chance to
escape, simply by finding a website, which can take our minds of the
stresses that may occur on a daily basis.
Reception Study
Discovered in the 1960s by Robert Jauss and developed by Stuart Hall,
the reception study was a theory that suggests that audiences will figure
out the meaning of the message that the producers or creator is trying to
say, the audience either reject what is being said or simply not
understand. Split into three ways of readings, the dominant reading is
when the audience correctly understands what is being said and largely
agrees with it, for example watching a political show and accepting what
is being said. The negotiated reading is when the audience partially
accepts what is being said, but sometimes resists it and may also modify
it in a way that reflects their own beliefs and thoughts. Finally the
oppositional reading is when the audience is in complete opposition to
what is being said. They often understand what is going on but refuse to
accept it. What the audience do with the media they are receiving all

depends on who they are and what social class they could be in, as
certain classes have different beliefs.