Theories in Communication & Media Studies (Lec-03)

   Theories in Communication & Media Studies (Lec-03) Hypodermic Needle Theory As radio, movies and advertisements gained vast popularit...

  

Theories in Communication & Media Studies (Lec-03)

Hypodermic Needle Theory

As radio, movies and advertisements gained vast popularity between the 1930s and 1950s, the media’s effects on people’s behavior seemed all too apparent and, in some cases, extremely frightening.

Newspaper and magazine ads spurred on American consumerism, drawing even thrifty people into glittering department stores. President Franklin D.

Roosevelt’s radio speeches, known as the “fireside chats, inspired millions of citizens to support his New Deal policies in the wake of the Great Depression. Adolf Hitler used the media to spread Nazi propaganda in Germany, creating a unified force bent on conquering Europe. To the common observer, people truly seemed powerless to resist the messages that came from the media.

History: In mid-1930’s media scholars found the first theory on Media Effects and the Media Behaviors. During second world wars media plays a vital role in both United States and Germany to made influence in the people’s mind. The Germany Hitler’s Nazi used film industry for Propaganda and they produced lots of movies about their achievements which made a great impact in Germans mind. Later the United States also used its own Hollywood and produced films like “Its Happened one night, “It’s a wonderful life” and Mr. Smith goes to Washington” to portrait Germany as Evil force which also made impact in Americans Mind.

Several factors contributed to this ‘strong effect’ theory of communication, including

1. The fast rise and popularization of radio and television
2.  The emergence of the persuasion industries, such as advertising and propaganda
3. Focus on the impact of motion picture and
4.  Hitler’s monopolization of the mass media during World War 2 to unify the German

public behind the Nazi party.

Theory: The Hypodermic needle theory is a linear communication theory that suggests that media messages are injected directly into the brains of passive audiences. This theory was developed in the 1920s and 1930s.

In this theory the media is seen as powerful and able to ‘inject’ ideas into an audience who are seen as weak and passive and could be influenced by a message.

The hypodermic needle model is also called the magic bullet. The model suggests that the media injects messages and content into the “veins” of media audiences. The audience is said to be passive and unable to resist the “drug” that is injected by the media. There is no escape from the effect of the message. People are seen as passive and are seen as a sitting duck.

People are seen as having a lot media material ‘shot’ at them. People end up thinking what they are told because there is no other source of information.

Media messages fill audiences with dominant ideology, sexism, racism and scenes or content which is violent. These messages are acted on immediately by the audience immediately.

Assumptions:

Hypodermic Needle Theory promotes a few basic assumptions:

1.  Humans are believed to act uniformly to their stimuli and instincts.
2.  Media injects or inserts messages into the people’s brain as propaganda and manipulation like
   that by a bullet or syringe.
3.  Messages have their own intention and are sent to get desired outcomes.
4. The effect of messages is supposed to be encompassing, strong, immediate and dangerous.
5.  Messages are supposed to create public opinion and change behavior of the audiences.
6.  Mass of people is made to think in a similar way by the media.
7.  The audience is always thought to be vulnerable and passive.

Example:

1930, Newly formed mercury theater and Orson Wells join together and created a fake news bulletin about alien’s invasion in American city called Grover’s Mill, New jersey. They broadcast this news bulletin in between the radio program called “The War of the Worlds”. The “Panic Broadcast” was reached merely 12 million American people and one million were seriously believed. Due to this broadcast the whole country was in chaos. Similarly, in Second World War, the German leaders used movie industry to show their power in
the world and unify the people for war in 1940s. Later, U.S. also used their own movie industry to create negative image of the Germans and portray them as evil. They justified their actions to their own people with the help of media. News is often bias and exaggerating too.

The gender role concept has also been injected in every person’s mind. According to it, all women must be thin, tall, fair, romantic and things like that. The brain takes information from advertisements and changes our opinions in a subconscious level without us realizing it. Media has been changing the self-image of every person.

Criticisms of Hypodermic Needle Theory

1. The message flow is always from sender to receiver or top to bottom.
2.  The audiences are passive and susceptible and are easily influenced by the message which might not be true every time. But the reactions of people differ. Some people can be passive whereas some people might not believe in media.
3. The theory has been proved to fail by many studies like “The People’s Choice” research for voting pattern and political behavior during the time of Franklin D. Roosevelt. The study showed that the pattern was affected by media in minimum amount but was more affected by interpersonal communication. Studies show that media has selective influence on mass.
4.  The theory is not taken as empirical (verifiable by observation or experience rather than theory or pure logic).
5. There are many media options with the growth of media outlets today. The theory is not
   applicable in today’s world

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