In the 1900s, the Western world underwent massive transformation in regards to media effects research. According to Denis McQuail, media is characterized with three different stages. In the first stage, media had great effects on society. This was mainly in Europe and North America, during 1900 to 1940. The second stage is based on the research of mass communication in the United States, focusing on specific questions about the effects and effectiveness of mass communication. The second stage had ‘no effects’ on and potential influence on audience as the first stage. The last stage continued with new evidence of mass communication. In this phase television and newspapers were especially important. The third stage developed between 1960 and
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During this time, the idea was that mass media has a powerful and direct influence on audiences. Hitler’s monopolization of the mass media during World War II to unify the German public behind the Nazi party is an example of the effect of communication. In 1927, Harold Lasswell, an American political scientist and communication theorist, published called Propaganda Technique in the World War. He wrote about the effect of Allied propaganda during World War I, saying, “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 …show more content…
The two-step flow theory was first introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in The People’s Choice. This book focused on the process of making decision during a Presidential election campaign. This theory asserts that the information that comes from media moves in two distinct stages. First, individual opinion leaders pay close attention to mass media and its messages. Then, opinion leaders share their own interpretation in addition to the actual media content. The personal influence was coined to refer to the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message. The two-step theory has improved our understanding of how the mass media influence of making decisions. This theory helps to predict the influence of media message on the audience. Also, it helped explain why certain media campaigns may have failed to alter audience attitudes. The two-step theory still has credibility today. It is used today to look at the flow of information today on social networks. According to a paper present at the 20th Annual World Wide Web Conference in 2011, researchers discovered that news finds its way to people through a number of prominent and influential opinion leaders, such as celebrities, journalists and bloggers. The research found
During this time, the idea was that mass media has a powerful and direct influence on audiences. Hitler’s monopolization of the mass media during World War II to unify the German public behind the Nazi party is an example of the effect of communication. In 1927, Harold Lasswell, an American political scientist and communication theorist, published called Propaganda Technique in the World War. He wrote about the effect of Allied propaganda during World War I, saying, “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 …show more content…
The two-step flow theory was first introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet in The People’s Choice. This book focused on the process of making decision during a Presidential election campaign. This theory asserts that the information that comes from media moves in two distinct stages. First, individual opinion leaders pay close attention to mass media and its messages. Then, opinion leaders share their own interpretation in addition to the actual media content. The personal influence was coined to refer to the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s ultimate reaction to that message. The two-step theory has improved our understanding of how the mass media influence of making decisions. This theory helps to predict the influence of media message on the audience. Also, it helped explain why certain media campaigns may have failed to alter audience attitudes. The two-step theory still has credibility today. It is used today to look at the flow of information today on social networks. According to a paper present at the 20th Annual World Wide Web Conference in 2011, researchers discovered that news finds its way to people through a number of prominent and influential opinion leaders, such as celebrities, journalists and bloggers. The research found