G324: Notes on Cultural Effects Model and How it Applies to a Music Video

The Cultural Effects Theories are what the media do to people, the media is very powerful and the audience is passive. There are  2 main theories in Cultural Effects, the first one is The Hypodermic Needle Theory and the second is The Agenda Setting Theory. The Hypodermic Needle Theory was a theory introduced as soon as radio and televisions were introduced and was mainly used to put ideas into mass medias heads through radio and television means originally. The Agenda Setting Theory was a theory introduced and it is the creation of public awareness and concern of important issues by the news media.

Hypodermic Needle Theory (Also known as the Magic Bullet Theory) (1920s - 1940s)

 

 

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" is a cultural effects theory, this theory implied that mass media had a direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audiences. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change.  This theory originated in USA during 1920s and 1930s and it was popular in the 1940s. The media is highly influential and audiences are seen as ‘sponges that absorb the media without interference. There were several factors that contributed to this "strong effects" theory of communication, including:

• the fast rise and popularisation of radio and television
• the emergence of persuasion companies, such as advertising and propaganda
• the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s which focused on the impact of motion pictures on children
• Hitler's monopolisation of the mass media during World War 2 to unify the German public behind the Nazi party

 

This animation shows that the information in the needle (the media) is getting put into the audiences head (mass media).

There are two names for this theory "The Bullet Theory" and "The Hypodermic Needle Theory" both of which are the same theory in concept they just have different names and slightly different explanations. The Hypodermic Theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a response. The image that is used to express this theory (a needle) suggests a powerful and direct flow of information from the sender to the receiver. The bullet theory however graphically suggests that the message is a bullet, fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head".

With similarly emotive imagery The Hypodermic Needle model suggests that media messages are injected straight into a passive audience which is immediately influenced by the message. There is no escape from the effect of the message in these models. The population is seen as a sitting duck. People are seen as passive and are seen as having a lot media material "shot" at them or "injected" into them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.

 

 

Example:

The classic example of the application of the Hypodermic Needle Theory was illustrated on October 30, 1938 when Orson Welles broadcasted their radio edition of H.G. Wells' "War of the Worlds." On the eve of Halloween, radio programming was interrupted with a "news bulletin" for the first time. What the audience heard was that Martians had begun an invasion of Earth in New Jersey.

It became known as the "Panic Broadcast" and it changed broadcast history. Approximately 12 million people in the United States heard the broadcast and about one million of those actually believed that a serious alien invasion was underway. A wave of mass hysteria disrupted households, interrupted religious services, caused traffic jams and clogged communication systems. People fled their city homes to seek shelter in more rural areas, raided grocery stores and began to ration food. The nation was in a state of chaos, and this broadcast was the cause of it.

Media theorists have classified the "War of the Worlds" broadcast as the best example of The Hypodermic Needle Theory. This is exactly how the theory worked, by "shooting" or "injecting" the message directly into the "bloodstream" or the "heads" of the public, attempting to create a uniform thinking. The effects of the broadcast suggested that the media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, leading theorists to believe this was one of the primary ways media authors shaped audience perception.
 

Agenda Setting Theory (1970s)

The "Agenda Setting Theory" is a cultural effects theory, it is the creation of public awareness and concern of important issues by the news media. Agenda setting describes a very powerful influence of the media, the ability to tell us what issues are important. McCombs and Shaw investigated presidential campaigns in 1968, 1972 and 1976. In the research done in 1968 they focused on two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of the media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign.

The media cannot tell us what to think but it can tell us what to think about. This theory is defined as the process whereby the mass media determine what we think and talk about. In other words, the media can ‘set agendas’ or terms of reference of any discussion be it social, political or economical.

Two basis assumptions underlie most research on agenda-setting: (1) the press and the media do not reflect reality; they filter and shape it; (2) media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues. One of the most critical aspects in the concept of an agenda-setting role of mass communication is the time frame for this phenomenon. In addition, different media have different agenda-setting potential. Agenda-setting theory seems quite appropriate to help us understand the pervasive role of the media (for example on political communication systems)."
 

Example:

McCombs and Shaw focused on the two elements: awareness and information. Investigating the agenda-setting function of the mass media in the 1968 presidential campaign, they attempted to assess the relationship between what voters in one community said were important issues and the actual content of media messages used during the campaign. McCombs and Shaw concluded that the mass media exerted a significant influence on what voters considered to be the major issues of the campaign.

This picture is an example of the Agenda-setting Theory

How these theories apply to a Music Video:

The "Hypodermic Needle Theory" applies to a Music Video because I think that there are certain bits in the music video where they are trying to put things into the audiences head. This is mainly the swear words and nudity in the music videos, a fair few of music videos now have either swearing or nudity to a certain extent in their music videos and it is putting ideas/words into children's heads when they watch the music videos. They are seeming to become marketing devices in a way trying to promote products like "Beats by Dr Dre" in their music videos, these are often seen in the background and are put on show on purpose to promote them.

The Agenda-setting Theory applies to a Music Video because music videos are also used as a device to portray stories, this only happens in a few music videos but these stories may or may not be true but it puts the audiences mind in a different perception and tries to make them remember something that they don't really want to remember, it makes the ideas seem like they are more important that others.