THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE

THEORY

Origin and introduction: Today, we’re talking about the

Hypodermic Needle Theory which was one of the earliest ways of
thinking about how the mass media influences audiences. It was
developed in the 1920s and 1930s after researchers observed
the effect of propaganda during World War I and events like
Orson Welles’ War of the Worlds broadcast. The Hypodermic
Needle Theory is a linear communication theory which suggests
that media messages are injected directly into the brains of a
passive audience. It suggests that we’re all the same and we all
respond to media messages in the same way.
Development: ¿So how did this way of thinking about the mass
media develop? Back in 1927, Harold Lasswell – an American
political scientist and communication theorist – published a book
called Propaganda Technique in the World War. Writing about
the effect of Allied propaganda during World War I, Lasswell
wrote: “From a propaganda point of view it was a matchless
performance, for Wilson brewed the subtle poison, which
industrious men injected into the veins of a staggering people,
until the smashing powers of the Allied armies knocked them
into submission.”
The Payne Fund Studies, which were conducted between 1929-
1932 and looked at the effect movies have on children, also
contributed to this idea that the mass media has a powerful and
direct influence on audiences. Although these studies have been
criticised for their lack of scientific rigor, they were really one of
the first and most comprehensive examinations of how the
media works. Writing about the influence of movies, the project
chairman WW Charters wrote that they have the potential to
profoundly affect the way children behave. Even in the 1930s,
however, researchers were starting to realise that this way of
thinking about media influence was kind of inadequate.
Then, in 1938, Orson Welles and the Mercury Theatre broadcast
a dramatization of HG Wells’ War of the Worlds. The program,
which was presented in the format of a news bulletin, caused
some listeners to believe that Earth was being invaded by
martians. The New York Times claimed that thousands of people
were gripped by mass hysteria. While thousands of people may
have been “panic-stricken”, they were only a small proportion of
the six million people who enjoyed a quiet night around the
radio.
today's thought: This way of thinking about communication
and media influence is no longer really accepted. In the 1930s,
many researchers realized the limitations of this idea and some
dispute whether early media theorists gave the idea any serious
attention at all. Nevertheless, The Hypodermic Needle Theory
continues to influence the way we talk about the media. People
believe that the mass media has a powerful effect. Parents worry
about the influence of television and violent video games. News
outlets run headlines like ‘Is Google making us stupid’ and ‘Grand
Theft Auto led teen to kill’.

Conclusion: On the surface, events like these seem to suggest

that the media can have a powerful influence on audiences.
Nevertheless, The Hypodermic Needle Theory is kind of
inadequate to describe communication and media influence. It
just doesn’t work.
Bibliography: https://lessonbucket.com/media-in-minutes/the-
hypodermic-needle-theory/

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