Media theories

There are 7 media related theories but i would only be mentiong 4 in this entry. The first one that i will like to talk about is the powerful effects theory also known as the magic bullet. This theory states that the mass media is very influential and that the audience are passive. This means that they get taken in by what they see. The problem with this theory is that sometimes people confuse fiction with reality. Like the james bulger case where 2 teenage boys left a 2 year old toddler on the railways after watching a violent movie that night before. Similarily the link below shows a case of a 9 year old boy who tried to rob a bank . His lawyer said that he behaved in this manner because he was influenced by the crimes programs that he had watched on television.

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?sec=health&res=9E04E0DA1439F931A35750C0A967948260

The second theory that i would like to evaluate is the limited effects theory. This is when audiences are able to resist media message and they only sought out media messages according to their needs. This theory does not have any drawbacks. I think it is what most adults feel about the media. The do not take in everything they see or hear, they are selective. This is however not true of many teenagers who try to imitate their favourite stars, so many young girls in singpore have become aneroxic and bulimic because they want to be thin like the girls they see on television. They don’t care about the negative effects of having an eating disorder, all they care about is getting the results. Therefore we cannot evaluate which theory people adopt unless we know their age group. Then only can we look into how much they might get influenced.

The third theory is agenda setting functions. This is when the media uses tatics like primming to repeat their messages over and over again. It is when they give importance to certain issues. Whether this influence has any real effect or not depends on the individual. If there is a limited effect, we say that it is an obstructive issue. This theory is rules by almost all of the media companies around the world. This is the way in which these companies make their revenue. People pay them money to get a certain amount of air time each day. Producers would want this because they would hope that since their advertisements are shown so often that people would feel like purchasing their product. It is like the controversial smoking advertisemet, theu were airing it in the day as well but when they realised that children were getting affected by it , they strated showing it only at night. Their agenda changed according to the situation.

The last one that I would like to mention is the media determinism theory. I feel that this theory makes alot of sense. For example before I talk to someone, i would need to know who it is i am toking to and from there i set my tone. Like if it is my friend i will talk informaly but if it is my teacher, i would be more serious. Similarily when you would like to publish and advertisement for female teenager, you would put that advertisement in seventeen because most teenagers read that. Also if the media wants to talk about an important issue, like how Mass selamat is on the loose, they would not only pick the right timing to inform the public but rather they would have to pay more attention to their tone. They should have a serious tone without sounding worried.

All in all after anaylizing 4 theories, i feel that we cannot just look at the theories but we should look at the individuals and how they are affected by the theories in order to see which theory the media companies employ.