The document discusses several theories related to media effects: 1) The hypodermic needle theory suggests that media can directly influence people's behaviors as seen with video games encouraging dangerous driving, films inspiring real-world violence, and video game addiction leading to criminal acts. 2) Two-step flow theory proposes that opinion leaders like media outlets influence the masses through spreading and amplifying certain views on social issues. 3) Uses and gratifications theory examines how people use media like Facebook to fulfill needs such as diversion, social connection, self-identity, and surveillance of others. 4) Encoding/decoding model looks at how media producers aim to encode intended meanings (preferred reading) but audiences can negotiate or oppose those readings

1. Audience Theory
Hypodermic needle:
People being directly influenced by Media Texts.
Here are some examples, from history as well as in more recent
times, where this theory could be applied.
-Need For Speed Video game- Encourages speeding and
dangerous driving. We can see this effect in young drivers
where all childhood experiences involving cars have been in
these types of video games.
-Batman Films – Famous shooting at the Dark Knight Rises Premiere. A young man
killed many people at a Batman Premiere, some would say that this was somewhat
inspired by the films violent theme as killing, shooting, stabbing is a predominant
feature of the films.
-Counterstrike (Online Shooter) - Story reads below:
A 15 year old boy stabbed his mother due to a severe addiction to
the video game “Counterstrike”. Being severely addicted to the
internet can have its consequences and it was those consequences
that his mother wanted to stop by refusing to pay the bills for his
internet. To paraphrase the article, it was these bills that she’d end
up paying for…WITH HER LIFE!
Ionut stabbed his adoptive mother a total of 17 times (which is
usually indicative of some considerable instability) before heading out into town to a
local internet cafe, where he proceeded to play the popular online shooter Counter-
Strike for four hours.
-Hitlers Regime – Let’s not forget how propaganda affected
the German Nation, Hitler employed Joseph Goebbels as
head of propaganda in order to somewhat brain-wash
nearly an entire nation into killing and hating Jews.This lead
up to around 10,000,000 deaths after the war was finished.
As we can see there can be very dire consequences when
propaganda or an addiction to violent media texts takes over.

2. Two-step Flow Theory:
Opinion leaders in modern society:
Some of the major opinion leaders of today are Newspapers, Politicians and Televisions
Stations. They are always throwing their opinions and interpretations on particular
matters in any way they see fit to the masses;virtually controlling the masses thoughts
and opinions.
All of us can be opinion leaders in today’s world due to the advances in modern
technology such as Social Networking, Video Blogs, internet Forums etc…
An example of this working is how a celebrity with a strong opinion may express it via
social media such as Twitter, and thousands of others can re-iterate that same opinion
via their personal accounts; which can in turn be re-posted by their followers and so on.
Uses and Gratifications – My media Experiences:
Media Experience example – Facebook:
Diversion - It is always available, laptops, mobile phones, television (smart tv’s)
which makes it easily accessible 24/7.
Diversion in the form of entertainment and basic emotions, eg horror films divert
us from the world by entertaining us, also by changing the way we think at night
if we are scared by a “monster” we have seen on a scary movie that night.
Personal Relationships- With relationship statuses, tagging in photos, Instant
Messaging and posting on each other’s walls the way in which two people can
interact is expanded, therefore gratifying the user into allowing their social
relationships to be more intense in the way of communicating 24/7.
Personal Identity- You can have your own personal page, information, profile
pictures and thoughts all in one.
Games like The Sims allow the user to create their own brand new change in
personal identity and lifestyle choices.
Surveillance- You can see other peoples personal pages, videos, pictures,
relationships, thoughts etc
Reality TV shows and documentaries also follow this.

3. Encoding and Decoding Media Texts – My experiences - Movies:
Preferred reading:Django Unchained/Pulp Fiction by Quentin Tarantino. I have read
into some of his methods, one of these methods is that he will use many vinyl versions
of songs in his movies rather than re-mastered versions. He does this so that the
audience will have the same/similar experience that he feels when he listens to the
music that he will put in his movies. I feel this is a good method of encoding particular
feelings/energy/flow of a song into the movies soundtrack.
Negotiated reading: The Hunger Games – I felt the concept of the film was very good,
yet the way in which it was made with the limits of it being an “Age 12” really ruined the
movie. It made things such as the camerawork just awful; they tried to cram too much
information from the books into the movie leaving questions unanswered. This is a good
example where I think that the producers could not quite encode their messages into
the movie well enough for the audience to decode in a preferred way. I say this because
the movie just lacked emotion and detail; the feelings were there however they were
not very strong.
Oppositional reading: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy- Too little action in the way of
literally no dialogue, music or anything interesting being shown on-screen at many
points in the film. Perhaps I am not the producers’ target audience however I felt
literally no connection to the movie. I thought that there was next to no emotion
brought through possibly due myself not being able to decode some complicated
encoding that was implicated throughout the movie.