TV & Video

Studies
Assignment
2 Task 2
Jude McGrotty
Hypodermic Needle

• The Hypodermic Needle Theory explains that mass media companies have a
direct, immediate and powerful effect on its audience.
• The theory explains that people believe everything the media tells them.
• In the 1940s and 1950s the media was seen to influence behavior change of
the population heavily.
• The fast rise of television and radio contributed to the effect of the mass media
on the population.
• An example of when the media had much control over the people was Hitler’s
control of the mass media during WWII to brainwash the public into backing the
Nazi Party
Two-Step Flow

• The Two-Step Flow Theory explains that the mass media didn’t
have the control that was once thought, it was that an opinion
leader would read the information then share their thoughts to
the people they influence, in which people would base their
thoughts, opinions and decisions on what the leader had said.
• An example of this would be politics particularly presidential
elections, where the candidates would share their views and
their followers would back them
Uses and Gratifications

• The Uses and Gratifications Theory explains that the focus is

not on what the media does to the people but on what the
people do to the media. It highlights the reasons why people
use the media.
• People use the media for their own need and to satisfy
themselves and they get satisfied when their needs are met.
• The theory proposed 4 main reason to why people choose to
use the texts created by the media:
Surveillance: The idea that people feel better when they have an idea of what is
going on around them, by watching or reading the news a person finds out
about what goes on in the world and makes them feel more secure about their
own lives.

Personal Identity: The idea that being a subject of the media lets us reaffirm who
we are and where we are in our life and within society. Characters in shows
usually come in many different forms so a person can find a character to relate
to and look up to while also finding a character to dislike.

Personal Relationships: The idea that people use things like television as a form
of companionship. Many TV shows can be quite intimate and people may watch
a lot of a show making the person feel quite close to the characters. People also
can build relationships of TV shows as it is a common conversation starter in
which people can build their relationship on.

Diversion: The idea that people use media for leisure to give them an escape
from their routine or problems. These activities include TV, music, video games,
reading books and reading articles. Gratification from using the media comes in
lots of different feelings and emotions dependent on what the user wanted.
Preferred Readings

• Preferred Reading is an audience reception theory

explaining that by using codes and conventions, a
producer can create a text and choose what the
audience take from it, by influencing what they do
believe and don’t believe and what they agree on and
what they don’t agree on.
Passive/Active

• The difference between Passive Reading and Active

Reading is that when a person is reading passively, they
are looking to learn about what the writer's opinion on
the subject is and not looking to form their own and is
not looing to respond to the opinion, while when a
person is actively reading, they are looking to form their
own opinion on the subject of the text and may respond
with their own view of the matter.