COMM 1302 LECTURE 20ª
•Media has more effect when something is normal / rutine / Media have more effect when
traditional or “normal” times are not present / war, depression, hurricanes, etc.
Opinion leader, groups
Media looks at people by categories
Cable TV has broken people into categories: sports, weather channel, music…
These choses weren’t possible a few years ago, before categorization.
•In a “balanced ecosistent situation where people prefer the “status quo” media effects act as
“reinforcers“ no particular reason or desire exists to change
Reinforcement Approach: J.T. Klapper
- Persuasive attempts in mass media tend to reinforce existing attitudes. (donate blood,
study…)
- Change can occur but is usually accompanied by conflict, stress, or high persuasibility.
( some people are more persuasible than others, more influenced by media, for example:
sales… / they believe everything media tells them) Distress is when to developments are in
conflict, same thing with media, masses of people instead of one people dealing with
stress… when this happens we are more persuaded.
•Mass effects are influenced by media, message and situation. – some channels we
believe more than others, we like other reporters more than others, we consider some
types more reliable…
•Uses and Gratifications Approach: Palmgreen, Wenner & Rosengreen
1. The focus of the theory is on the consumer
2. Assumptions
•Viewers are active: we use the media to satisfy our needs; media produces what the
people want to see, hear; weather it’s sports, entertainment,
•Viewers correlate media use the individual needs
•Media competes with other sources for satisfaction
•Media can only gratify some needs
We use the media to satisfy our needs. Competes with other sources to satisfy us. The media
can’t touch, can’t feed us, hug… the media only gratifies some needs.
