Media & Society
Dr. Inas A.Hamid
 Early mass communication scholars assumed that the
mass media were so powerful that ideas could be
inserted as if by hypodermic needle into the body. It is
called the “Bullet Theory” or “powerful effects
theory”.
 Walter Lippmann argued that we see the world not as
it really is but as “pictures in our heads”.
 The pictures of things we have not experienced
personally , but they are shaped by the mass media.
 Early powerful effects scholars would agree that
newspapers coverage and campaigns of political
candidates decided elections.
 They also assumed that individuals are passive .
 Doubts arouse in the 1940s about whether the media
were really that powerful, and scholars began shaping
their research questions on the assumption that media
effects are more modest.
 Scholarly enthusiasm for the hypodermic needle model
reduced after two massive studies of voter behavior by
Lazarsfeld.
 He went back to 600 people several times to discover how
they developed their candidate preferences.
 These people mentioned their friends as they have direct
effect on their voting decisions.
 This means media effects are mostly indirect.
From that rethinking emerged the Minimalist Effects
Theory, which includes:
 Two-Step Flow Model. It emphasizes that people are
motivated less by the mass media than by people they
know personally and respect. These people called
opinion leaders.
 So , the model argues that media affects individuals
through opinion leaders.
 Opinion leaders are
Influential friends and
acquaintances.
 In recent years some mass communication scholars
have parted from the minimalist effect theory.
 They emphasized that the media do not have
powerful, immediate effects but argues that effects
over time are profound.
 This means media influence is gradual over time.
 In our culture, the magic bullet theory of mass
communication effects remains alive and well. Identify
an example .