1. Hypodermicneedle essay
Through my exploration of a popular media company, Vice news, I aim to evaluate whether
the hypodermic needle model is present in their products and what effect it has on their
audience. I will do this by analysing a variety of products, from web articles to
documentaries, and how they regard the theory. I will also research some figureheads in the
company, notably the founder – Shane Smith. I hope to gather an understanding of what
the hypodermic needle model is, the benefits and downfalls to it, and how to recognise it in
a product.
The hypodermic needle model is a theory that suggests information, whether true or false,
can directly influence an audience, no matter their existing knowledge on a topic. The
theory basically means humans will always consider information presented to them as truth,
before questioning their own opinions. “The hypodermic needle theory is a linear
communication theory that suggests media messages are injected directly into the brains of
passive audiences.” The hypodermic needle model was made popular during 1930’s war
propaganda, where countries would portray opposition as say dangerous, or lower than
themselves etc. This meant they could take action against opposing countries with less
repercussions from say the public who may have disagreed with what they were doing
otherwise. “In Nazi Germany in the 1930s and 40s during WW2, films were used to inject
propaganda ideas promoting the Nazi cause to a German audience.” When applied to this
context, the theory can be seen as negative, as it basically means some media uses false
information. Today the theory is more commonly used to reinforce media companies'
opinions as correct, or to make viewpoints more immersive.
Shane smith is the founder of international media company – Vice news. Smiths’ career
began with the early formats of vice, which was originally a punk magazine. Since then, he
has drastically expanded and diversified his company, and it is now the world's leading
youth media company. Vice is majority ran by people in their 20’s, and aims to target a
global youth that have no interest in mainstream media. This means most of their topics are
either controversial or niche. By trying to provide media that mainstream publications don’t,
they often cover drugs and crime, but also with the viewpoints of those doing the crime.
This is a huge appeal for young people, as they don’t want a sugar-coated and biased view
of the world that mainstream media presents. Vice also covers aspects of youth culture that
you don’t find in other publications, like skateboarding, fashion and music. From Vices
media pack, we can see data that reiterates this. It shows that most of the audience are
young adults, with twice as many 18–34-year-olds accessing vice than other media channels.
Vice also has an educated audience, with 44% being university graduates.
Vice news prides themselves in their production of controversial articles. This is one of their
main attributes. They have a tab on the page specifically for drugs, which is very unique for
an established media company. Vices attitude to this type of article is also what breaks them
apart from a lot of other companies. Vice don’t promote drugs, but they always allow for
controversial viewpoints, for example interviews with drug dealers or users, rather than say
police or health experts. An article surrounding drugs that I find interesting from vice was
written in 2021 by Battha Busby and is titled: ‘Revealed: The UK Government Ignored Its
Own Experts Advice To Decriminalise Drugs.’ This article talks about how in 2016, the
2. Hypodermicneedle essay
advisory council for the misuse of drugs explicitly recommended decriminalising drug
possession and use, and how the conservative government ignored it.
“In December of 2016, confidential proposals by the Advisory Council on the Misuse of
Drugs (ACMD) explicitly recommended the decriminalisation of drug use for the first time,
by repealing possession and usage laws. It is understood that those recommendations were
dismissed by the Home Office, despite expert consensus that drug decriminalisation could
reduce drug-related harms.”
This quote illustrates the message of the whole article, and explains how the home office
dismissed advice regarding drug decriminalisation. I feel the modern attitude of vices
reporting is evident here, as they are presenting a totally unbiased view, whereas a more
mainstream company like the BBC might try to side with the home office, as to reinforce the
image of the UK government. Throughout the rest of the article we see this unbiased
viewpoint, with vice continuously stating facts and showing no signs of choosing sides or
pointing fingers. I feel this viewpoint is why vice maintains a young, educated audience.
Young people and especially uni graduate students are probably more inclined to have their
own viewpoints on topics like this, compared to the more traditional idea of simply trusting
the mainstream media.
To further reinforce why vices audience is predominantly young, I’m going to analyse an
article surrounding a niche youth culture. ‘K-Trap Unmasked – The UK Drill Pioneer Talks
Blowing Up On His Own Terms.’ This is the title of a Vice article written in October 2021 by
Tochi Imo which covers the lifestyle and career of Uk drill rapper ‘K-Trap’. Already the whole
topic of this article is controversial, as underground artists are normally either shunned or
ignored by mainstream media. Vice has a tab for music on their website, and most of the
content regards amateur, or alternative artists. This again is a big appeal for young people,
as their less interested in popular chart music, and probably have their own musical
interests.
One of the main topics of this article is the fact that ‘K-trap’ used to be an anonymous artist
and wore a mask. Its commonly understood that masks are worn by rappers as to not relate
them to their often criminal pasts. Vice entirely acknowledges that this is the lifestyle of ‘K-
trap’ and as usual they keep an entirely unbiased viewpoint. Other publications like the BBC
and sky news are littered with articles holding these rappers accountable for a number of uk
society's issues. Often, publications will speak of the graphic and violent lyrics in rappers like
k-traps songs and say these lyrics influence and glorify crime. This Vice article actually
breaks down a few lyrics from K-traps music. “With veracious lyrics (think: bars about
wrapping white; references to chasing opps) and a concealed identity, fans knew ‘K-Trap’
never lived too far from his raps.” This quote from the article states a few of his lyrics and
acknowledges this is the lifestyle of ‘k-trap.’ ‘Wrapping up white’ refers to drug dealing and
‘chasing opps’ refers to gang violence. Vices modern attitude is very present here as even
though these topics are very controversial, not once do they hold ‘k-trap’ accountable or put
3. Hypodermicneedle essay
him down. This is why vice is such a pioneer in the youth sector of media and with counter
mainstream news, they appeal to even the most controversial corners of society.
Its clear that vice is a very modern and forward thinking company, but still we can see
elements of the traditional hypodermic needle model in their articles. Firstly with the article
covering drug decimalisation, we see vice present a controversial viewpoint that the
government is in the wrong. Although vice keep their writing stye somewhat un-biased, its
clear with their use of facts and statistics who their trying to present as wrong. Most
mainstream media companies will side with the government, due to affiliation or a more
traditional audience. An obvious way vice uses the hypodermic needle model in this article
is with the quote “The UK government ignored potentially life-saving advice from its own
drug advisors, VICE can reveal.” The use of ‘potentially life saving’ is a direct dig at the uk
government, they’re clearly stating this advice could have possibly saved lives, yet the gov
ignored it. The message vice hopes the reader takes from this, is that the government made
a mistake with their choice to ignore the advice. The quote presents that the government
knew it could save lives, yet dismissed it. The reason this is an example of the hypodermic
needle model is because the writer didn’t present the governments reasoning for ignoring
the advice. Some publications may have tried to justify the decision, or quote the
governments reasoning. In not doing so, vice injects their opinion, and theirs only.
Another way vice use the hypodermic needle model is with their article on UK drill rapper
‘K-trap’. The article describes the lifestyle and career of ‘k-trap’. Uk drill rappers are often
labelled as criminals and are mostly written about negatively. Vice take a totally different
approach. “Speaking on Zoom, K-Trap is a friendly, personable conversationalist, clearing
the mist of ambiguity and reservedness that many would expect of a once masked up
rapper”. This quote from the article presents the hypodermic needle model by disregarding
his past life. Some people may regard ‘K-trap’ as a bad person for life, and I'm sure most
publications wouldn’t even give him the time of day to show that he wasn’t. Vice are telling
you he’s an intelligent person, and the fact that he used to be a criminal is irrelevant.
