Hypodermic needle-

The hypodermic needle theory is a model of communications suggesting that an

intended message is directly received and wholly accepted by the receiver. Also
known as the magic bullet theory, that violence in media has a negative effect
on the audience as back in the 40s and 50s mass media was perceived to be
highly influential on the behaviour of its audiences. Some of the reasons people
believe this to be true include the sudden appearance of persuasive media in the
form of advertisements and propaganda; Hitlers monopolization of the mass
media to bring together the German public behind the Nazi party during the
World War 2. In addition, the Payne Fund studies, which focused on the impact,
those children have from films, in the 1930s from the fast popularisation of TV
and radio. The hypodermic needle model conjectures that media messages are
injected straight into a passive audience, which is directly influenced by the
message, which then triggers the desired response.
Uses of gratifications theory
Uses and gratification is the concept of people using media to get specific
gratification and the main idea is that the consumers of media arent helpless
victims of all power media and use media to fulfil their needs which serve them
as a motivation for using media. This is going against the hypodermic needle
model, which suggest that consumers arent in control how media influences
them. In 1974, Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz came up with the uses and
gratification model to outline five areas of gratification in media texts for
audiences, which include:
Escape- this is media that helps consumers or audiences escape from reality, like
video games.
Social interaction- this is when people make personal relationships with
characters in media texts, which could become dangerous if people stop
questioning the reality of the texts. As well as creating, a topic for people to talk
about and find a common ground whilst interacting in real life.
Identify- this is when people identify part of themselves in a media text
stemming from characters or even circumstances. For example, trending
hairstyles because of a magazine feature. This can go as far as into peoples
ideologies and beliefs.
Inform and educate- this is when consumers or audiences gain knowledge and
understanding of the world around them through consuming a media text such
as, newspapers or broadcast news. However, nowadays there is the danger of
being misinformed as well as some news channels might be bias towards a
section of the population as they might have similar beliefs and mind-sets to
them thus interpreting situations differently to someone who might not have the
same thought process. A great example being back in 2016 during the American
election campaign of the current President of America, Donald Trump as some
news channels had conflicting reports on his performances whilst giving
speeches, statements or overall behaviour as Fox news supported Trump where
as other news channels such as Young Turks made opposite arguments.
Entertain- this is done to simply entertain the consumers, which means that the
text doesnt need to have other gratifications.
Reception study-
Reception theory is what the readers interpret from a literal text; this can be
referred to as audience reception when analysis communication models.
Reception theory was most influential in the 1970s to early 1980s in Germany
and USA as well as Western Europe. This approach to textual analysis focuses on
2 parts of the audience: negotiation and opposition which means a text, whether
it is a book, film, or another creative medium is interpreted differently based on
their cultural, religious, social experiences leading to the fact that the meaning
of the text is not in the text itself but lies within the text and the reader. Stuart
Hall a cultural theorist and professor of sociology at the Open University
suggested that the audience positioning affects the interpretation of mass media
texts and came up with 3 ways we can read media texts:
Dominant- the reader accepts the text they read and the meaning of the text will
be conveyed the way the author intended to make the code seem natural and
transparent.
Negotiated- the reader mostly accepts the text they read and the meaning of the
text. However slightly modifies the text to reflect their personal positioning,
experiences and interests.
Oppositional- the reader rejects the reader and the meaning conveyed or
interpreted by them because of their social positioning.

Passive or active consumption

An audience is a group of people that consume similar media. It is important to
study your audience because by knowing your audience, you can predict your
audiences behaviour and know whether, they can adapt their own knowledge
and understanding of a text. The way that audience consumes the texts can be
split into two groups, passive and active: An active consumption is when the
audience engages and discusses media messages that come across to them and
sometimes question the media messages because of their own life experiences.
Others may interpret the message in a different way or might question it and by
doing this, the audience wont be as suggestible to tell them what to think. For
example, shows like Question Time like to get politicians and journalists on the
show to discuss worldwide and domestic issues, the audience who ask the
questions are more active due to the deep discussions they have with the panel,
than people sitting at home. However, because of social media people at home
can interact via Tweeter and create debates, so Home viewers become more
active as they can get involved in debates. On the other hand a passive
consumption is when the audience doesnt engage or question the media
message and simply accepts it, this what media outlets want to achieve when
making a film or show as they want to view to except and not question.