Do we need the media?

Maslows hierarchy of needs

Uses and Gratifications theory

What
are need
the theories
behind
Do we
the media?
how an audience uses the
media?
Maslows Hierarchy of
Needs

Self Actualisation

Esteem Needs
Social Needs
Safety Needs
Physiological Needs
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Maslows Hierarchy of Needs

Physiological needs:
Food, shelter, sexual satisfaction i.e. those needs needed
for basic survival.
Safety needs:
The need to feel safe within your environment. Also refers
to emotional and physical safety.
Social Needs:
The need for love, friendship and belonging

Do we need the media?

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs
Esteem needs:
The need for self-respect, status and recognition
from others.
Self-actualisation:
The point of reaching ones full potential. Are you
capable of excelling yourself?

Do we need the media?

Application of Maslow within the media
Maslows level

What the media could do

Physiological

????

Safety

Emotional safety, provides identity

Social

Belonging

Esteem

Status, recognition from others

Self actualisation

prosumers, creativity, information

gathering.

Do we need the media?

Hinge: MASLOW
Maslows hierarchy of needs allows us to
A)Understand how an audience consume
media
B) Understand why an audience consume
media
C) Understand when an audience consume
media

Do we need the media?

The Uses &

Gratifications
Model

Do we need the media?

Blumler & McQuail (1968) see media audiences as
ACTIVE.
They suggest that people use the media to meet
particular needs that they have.
These needs could be Biological, Psychological or
Social
They argue that It is not what do the media do to
people? but what do people do with the
media?

Do we need the media?

Do we need our phones?
Why?
Task: come up with as many reasons as
possible which explain why we need our
phones.
Ext: Can you categorise them?

Do we need the media?

Research has shown that media taken in
for entertainment purposes (i.e., movies,
songs, television, etc.) have a wide range
of uses and emotional gratifications.
Can you name 10 separate uses?
What is the uses and gratifications theory?

 What might be the problems with the uses

and gratifications theory?
Try to remember what criticisms of other
theories we have encountered

Do we need the media?

Audiences are seen as asocial. The emphasis
is on personality and individual psychology
rather than culture and the social context
Needs are seen as pre-existent and the role
of the media in creating needs is ignored e.g.
advertising
This approach concentrates on small pieces
of text and fails to consider that media
messages are not a one off they are repeated
and reinforced

Do we need the media?

Post modern society traditional
sources of identity have declined
(Class, gender, age)
Individuals are free to construct their
own identities by mixing and matching
images drawn fro a variety of sources
We are what we consume
The media are very influential in this
process

Do we need the media?

Watch the following advert
How does the advert appeal to a young
audience?