This document summarizes several media theories: - The hypodermic needle/magic bullet theory suggests media can directly influence audiences' thoughts and opinions. - Cultivation theory argues heavy media exposure shapes viewers' beliefs about social reality. - The two-step flow model proposes media's influence flows through influential figures to shape opinions. - Uses and gratifications theory views audiences as active in choosing media that meets needs like entertainment or identity. - Reception theory argues audiences decode media texts in dominant, oppositional, or negotiated ways. - Moral panic theory describes how media can exaggerate issues to create hysteria and blame certain groups.

1. Hypodermic needle / Magic bullet
Outline of the theory:
The idea that the mass media injects
thoughts, values and beliefs into the
audience. This influences them and
may change their opinions.
Strengths of theory:
• Use of numbers can be effective
and reliable way of seeing
correlations.
• The study is based on large
audience and over a long period of
time.
Weakness of theory:
• It classes everyone as one and does
not take individuality into account.
• Too simple, thoughts and feelings
are not always observable.
Cultivation / cultural effects model
Outline of the theory:
The more time people spend living in
the television world, the more likely
they are to believe social reality aligns
with reality portrayed on television.
Strengths of theory:
• Experiments provide evidence that
TV effects people over time.
• Young people copy TV and there is
evidence for this. ( Drip, drip, drip.)
Weakness of theory:
• Far too simplistic as it does not
take a persons culture or
background.
• Too many types of media in 2017
so it may be outdated.
Two step flow model
Outline of the theory:
The theory that the mass media can
be passed through highly influential
figures within the media, whether it
be political or social. This influences
opinions on certain things very easily.
Strengths of theory:
• Events can be manipulated by
people to sound a certain intended
way. Terror attacks can be twisted
and blamed on certain people to
get a certain opinion across.
Weakness of theory:
• People can make their own
decisions, they may just have the
same opinions.
• Uses survey methods that under
estimate media impact.
• It is in direct contrast to cultivation
theory.

2. Uses and gratifications model
Outline of the theory:
This looks at the audience as an active audience.
This is how the audience reacts to the mass
media and that they chose the type of media
they watch for different reasons. These reasons
consist of being educated, informed, entertained,
personal identity, integration and social
interaction and escapism
Strengths of theory:
• Other theories link in to support this one.
• There was an experiment where people
would watch a certain media text for a
certain purpose and they came out acting
similar to the media text whereas other
people did not.
Weakness of theory:
• A lot of the research is dated since it was
done before the social media boom.
• Media can be manipulated to have a different
effect on people than the reason they came
for and subliminally affect them.
Reception theory
Outline of the theory:
Media texts are encoded by the producers and
then decoded by the viewers. This theory
suggests that the audience of the media decode
the text in one of the three ways: negotiated,
dominant and oppositional. Dominant is when
the audience agrees with the media texts and has
the intended effect. Oppositional is when the
audience reject the media text and has the wrong
effect. And negotiated is when the audience
accept but the media text does not have the full
intended effect. Some people may question it.
Strengths of theory:
• Certain media texts such as adverts use male
gaze to put across a product, however the
audience may reject the product because it
exploits women and this would be
oppositional. This happens frequently.
Weakness of theory:
• You could be more than one the reasons or
none or even a completely different standing
ground.
Moral Panics
Outline of the theory:
This is when a condition, episode, person or
group people emerges to become defined as a
threat to societal values and interests. The media
will overreact to an event and portray in a
extreme way to make it clear to the audience
which has an impact on certain groups in society.
The media creates hysteria across the nation in
people and they do this for social order and to
put the blame on people.
Strengths of theory:
• We can observe this happening on a day to
day basis in modern Britain. For example
when a bomb goes off in Britain it is labelled
immediately as a terror attack and if the
attacker is of ethnic/ religious background
they are all labelled as terrorists.
Weakness of theory:
• People catch on and start to realise that the
media is exaggerating so they judge the event
for themselves by doing their own research.
• The term "panic" itself has connotations of
irrationality and a lack of control. The groups
in society can detach themselves from how
similar groups are being portrayed and then
demonstrate that they are not the same.