Research Summary: Number Three

Method of Research: Secondary
Type of Source: Academic/Criticism
Title and Author of Source: MediaMagazine. Galit Ferguson.
Location of Source: The English and Media Centre, 18 Compton Terrace, London, N1 2UN
Main Points Raised:

Hypodermic Syringe Theory.
What does the theory suggest? Just like the syringe used to inject a drug into a body, the media 'injects' messages directly into the minds of the viewers etc and they can be as addictive as heroin...
Strengths of this approach? This approach draws attention to the power that media producers have, and to the importance of the forms of media to which audiences have access.
Weaknesses of this approach? The 'injected' audience is seen as passive and powerless. This model is mostly used when the effects of media on women or children are the subject of research. The way people use media remains unaccounted for.

Cultivation Theory.
What does the theory suggest? As audiences watch more and more film and television, they gradually develop certain views about the world, some of which are 'false'.
Strengths of this approach? This approach draws attention to the fact that audiences gain a lot of their knowledge about the world from the media. It also recognises the important role the media have in our lives.
Weaknesses of this approach? This approach can encourage views such as 'Crimewatch feeds perceptions that Britain's crime rate is growing' while not actually measuring this idea against the actual views of audience members. In other words, it's hard to prove accurately.

Desensitisation.
What does the theory suggest? If we are exposed to too much violence, or too much blatant sexuality, we will become less sensitive to real life violence and sexual behaviour.
Strengths of this approach? This theory draws attention to the volume of violence and representations of sex in the media. It raises questions about the amounts of these representations we should be witnessing.
Weaknesses of this approach? How can this theory be proved? It is difficult to separate the effects of the media from the effects of housing, class position, mood, educations, wealth/poverty, gender, sexuality, cultural background, ethnicity, and so on.

Copycat theory.
What does the theory suggest? This approach suggests that people will imitate what they see in the media - e.g. if young people watch Natural Born Killers, they will go out on a killing spree. This is not so much a 'theory' as an assumption perpetuated by the Press!
Strengths of this approach? The power of this approach is that it feeds off (and mirrors) the types of concerns that parents have about their kids' media use. It might encourage parents to stop their children from playing violent computer games, for example.
Weaknesses of this approach? Firstly: different people see different levels of 'risk' in different media! So one person's threat is another person's light evening entertainment ... Secondly: while short term effects might be measurable, it is hard to measure long term effects of this kind. This is often the basis for moral panics - e.g. rap music leads to gun violence.

Strengths: Concise. Simple to understand.
Weaknesses: Perhaps has not gone into enough detail on each theory.

Dig it bitch.