Tuesday, April 27, 2010

Mass communication

EFFECTS OF THE MEDIA ON THE INDIVIDUAL

What is your name?

Ans .. Sandra Cattrall

Age

Ans..25

Favorite Media

Ans...Television

Why that media?

Ans...This is because of the visual effect.

What is your favorite programme on the medium chosen?

Ans..Telenovelas

What inspires you to watch the programme you chose?

Ans..Because it teaches me lessons about love and life in general

What effect does it have on you?

Ans...It makes make very careful l with my love-life

How do you fell when you watch, listen or read?

Ans...I fell excited.

How do you feel when you do not watch, listen or read?

Ans...I fell I have missed something.

What time does the programme commence?

Ans...At 9pm

Are you available all the time to enjoy it?

Ans...Well, I sometimes miss it but most of the times, I get to watch it.

Will you substitute it with anything else?

Ans…It will depend on what I have to sacrifice it for; else, no!

Have you ever wished your programme doesn’t end?

Ans…I always wished so.

FUNCTIONS OF THE MEDIA

ECONOMIC POLITICAL SOCIAL

Employment watchdog Entertain

Advertising link between the government and the people Educate

Income settles conflict Inform

Globalization gatekeeper Creates Awareness

Analyze/Intepretate investigate

Mobilize Agitate for change

Keeping historical records

MEDIA EFFECTS

Media effect examines the social, psychological and behavioral consequences of the media on the audience especially the negative effects of such exposures. There are certain key questions that are asked in media effect and it’s and it’s studies. These are:

Who sent?

What message

To whom

When

In what ways

And to what effect?

The research and studies on media effect began in the period leading to the Second World War. This was in the 1930s when radio was beginning to make an impact in the cultural world. CANTRIL and ALLPERT’s ‘Psychology of Radio’ in 1935 and the ‘Evasion of Mass Media’ by CANTRIL, GAUDET and HERZOG (1940) were the two important studies that marked the beginning of media effect.

It was assumed at the time that all media messages affected the audience the way they were meant to. However, due to selective perception and retention, media messages may not make the correct impacts because different people will read different meanings to the same messages. A classical example of the effect theories is the Harold Lasswell’s Hypodermic Needle theory.

THE MAGIC BULLET / THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY

This was put forward in 1948 by an American political scientist, Harold Lasswell. According to him, the best way to describe an act of communication is to answer the following questions: Who says what, In which channel, To whom and With what effect?

This formula assumes that messages always have effects. This exaggerates the effects of mass communication which does not always bring about the desire effect. On the other hand, this assumption by Lasswell is not surprising since his agenda at the time was political communication and propaganda. Thus, the audiences were considered inactive or passive and so were spoken upon. One criticism of the magic bullet model is that it ignores feedback as an essential part of communication.

Monday, April 5, 2010

WHO IS PERFECT?

i don't know but I think it was Jesus alone who was perfect. as human beings, i think we will attain perfection when we get to heaven.