Defining Mass Communication TheoryMass communication

theories are frameworks that explain and predict how mass

communication affects various aspects of personal and cultural
life or social systems. These theories help understand the
relationship between media and societal phenomena.Diversity
of Theories: There is no single mass communication theory.
Different theories explore broad concepts, such as how we
interpret cultural symbols (symbolic interaction), or specific
phenomena, like how media influence individuals during crises
(dependency theory). Theories can also be middle-range,
focusing on particular aspects of mass communication.
Interdisciplinary Borrowing: Many mass communication
theories draw from other social sciences. For example, attitude
change theory, which explains how our attitudes shape
behavior, originates from psychology. Mass communication
theorists adapt these concepts to address media’s influence on
significant issues, such as politics, ethnicity, and gender
roles.Human Construction: Theories are created by people and
reflect human biases influenced by societal context, roles, and
various other factors. Different researchers, like those in the
broadcasting industry and academia, may develop varying
theories about media effects, such as how violence is learned
from television.Dynamic Nature: Mass communication theories
are not static; they evolve as society changes. As new
To understand mass communication theory, you should recognize these
important ideas:
1. As we’ve just seen, there is no one mass communication theory. There is a
theory, for example, that describes something as grand as how we give
meaning to cultural symbols and how these symbols influence our behavior
(symbolic interaction), and there is a theory that explains something as
individual as how media influence people in times of change or crisis
(dependency theory). Mass communication theorists have produced a
number of middle-range theories that explain or predict specific, limited
aspects of the mass communication process (Merton, 1967).
2. Mass communication theories are often borrowed from other fields of social
science. Attitude change theory (the dime question), for example, comes
from psychology. Mass communication theorists adapt these borrowed
theories to questions and issues incommunication. People’s behavior with
regard to issues more important than the size of a dime—democracy,
ethnicity, government, and gender roles, for example—is influenced by the
attitudes and perceptions presented by our mass media.
3. Mass communication theories are human constructions. People create them,
and therefore their creation is influenced by human biases—the times in
which we live, the position we occupy in the mass communication process,
and a host of other factors. Broadcast industry researchers, for example,
have developed somewhat different theories to explain how violence is
learned from television than have university researchers
4. Because theories are human constructions and the environments in which
they are created constantly change, mass communication theories are
dynamic; they undergo frequent recasting, acceptance, and rejection. For
example, theories that were developed before television and computer
Summary of A Short History of Mass Communication TheoryThe
history of mass communication theory reflects its dynamic
nature, evolving through various stages of development. As
hypotheses are proposed, tested, and either validated or
rejected, a consensus forms that shapes the discipline's central
ideas. However, challenges to these ideas lead to new
questions and answers, creating an ongoing evolution.Mass
communication theory is particularly responsive to change due
to:
Technological Advances: New media, like radio and movies,
require a rethinking of theories rooted in print-based
communication.Regulatory Needs: The introduction of new
technologies often prompts calls for regulation, necessitating
objective, science-based justifications, especially in democratic
contexts.Cultural Values: Societies focused on democracy and
pluralism continually assess how new media can support these
goals.This evolution has produced four major eras in mass
communication theory:Mass Society Theory EraLimited Effects
Perspective EraCultural Theory EraMeaning-Making Perspective
EraThe first two represent early stages, while the latter two
align more closely with contemporary thought
The Era of Mass Society Theory 535As we’ve seen, several
important mass media appeared or flourished during the
second half of the 19th century and the first decades of the
20th century. Mass circulation newspapers and magazines,
movies, talkies, and radio all came to prominence at this time.
This was also a time of profound change in the nature of U.S.
society. Industrialization and urbanization spread, African
Americans and poor southern whites streamed northward, and
immigrants landed on both coasts in search of opportunity and
dignity. People in traditional seats of power—the clergy,
politicians, and educators—feared a disruption in the status
quo. The country’s peaceful rural nature was beginning to slip
further into history. In its place was a cauldron of new and
different people with new and different habits, all crammed
into rapidly expanding cities. Crime grew, as did social and
political unrest. Many cultural, political, educational, and
religious leaders thought the United States was becoming too
pluralistic. They charged that the mass media catered to the
low tastes and limited reading and language abilities of these
newcomers by featuring simple and sensationalistic content.
Media, they proclaimed, needed to be controlled to protect
traditional values.
The fundamental assumption of this thinking is sometimes
expressed in the hypodermic needle theory or the magic bullet
theory. The symbolism of both is apparent —media are a
dangerous drug or a killing force against which “average”
people are defenseless.Mass society theory is an example of a
grand theory, one designed to describe and explain all aspects
of a given phenomenon. But clearly not all average people
were mindlessly influenced by the evil mass media. People
made consumption choices.interpreted media content, often in
personally important ways. Media did have effects, often good
ones. No single theory could encompass the wide variety of
media effects claimed by mass society theorists, and the
theory eventually collapsed under its own weight.
Summary of the text in the image:The text explains various theories related to
the influence of media on people. These theories include:
1. Limited Effects Theory: Media’s influence is restricted by individual
differences, social categories, and personal relationships.
2. Two-Step Flow Theory: Media’s influence is mediated by opinion leaders, who
interpret content and pass it to the audience.
3. Attitude Change Theory: Focuses on how communication forms, shapes, and
changes attitudes, which in turn influence behavior.
4. Dissonance Theory: People experience discomfort when exposed to new
information that contradicts their beliefs, leading them to seek ways to
reduce this discomfort.
5. Reinforcement Theory: Media reinforces existing social values, especially
influenced by factors like school, family, and religion.
6. Uses and Gratifications Approach: Audience members actively use media
according to their needs, rather than being passively affected.
7. Agenda Setting Theory: Media doesn’t tell us what to think, but what to think
about, shaping public discourse.
8. Dependency Theory: Media’s power is derived from the audience’s reliance on
it for information and content.
9. Cultural Theory: Media and audience interact to create negotiated meanings,
influencing cultural norms.
10. Critical Cultural Theory: Media supports the status quo, benefiting the elite
while marginalizing ordinary people.
11. The Frankfurt School: Promotes serious art as a means of social improvement,
but argues media pacifies the masses.
12. British Cultural Theory: Elites control culture, limiting the expression of
smaller, bounded cultures. 13. News Production Research: Studies how
economic and political influences shape news production, leading to
personalized and fragmented coverage.