Overview Originated in the USA in 1920s The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by shooting or injecting them with appropriate ID: 595494
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Slide1
Hypodermic Needle/Bullet TheorySlide2
Overview
Originated in the USA in
1920s
The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate
messages
designed to trigger a desired response.Slide3
Ideas Behind the Theory
The view is expressed that the media is a dangerous means of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the
message.
People are seen as passive and as having a lot of media material ‘shot’ at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information
.Slide4
Assumptions
There are a number of assumption in order for this theory to work:
Humans react uniformly to stimuli
.
The public is powerless to escape the media’s influence
.
Messages are strategically created to achieve desired responses.Slide5
Example
War of the Worlds (
1938) -
T
he
now-infamous radio dramatization of the science fiction novel
War of the Worlds
by HG Wells was performed like a contemporary news broadcast, a technique used to heighten realism and dramatic effect.
However, as audiences listened to the stimulation of a news broadcast, as it occurred every forty minutes, some people concluded that it was in fact a real account of an invasion from Mars, heading to the roads, hiding in homes and loading their weapons in an attempt to defend themselves against the supposed, imminent attack.Slide6
Pros and Cons
It can affect a large group of people at one time. This can negatively effect people such as shown during the 1930s and 1940s in Nazi Germany.
The theory is a little too broad, as humans do not react uniformly to stimuli.
The theory assumes that the public is a totally passive audience and cannot escape the influence. This is an outdated theory. Slide7
Key Things to Remember
Originated in the 1920s
Audience = Passive
Outdated
Requires audience to react uniformly