The Hypodermic Needle Theory is a model of communications and referred to as the magic bullet.

It suggests that media messages are injected into audiences who are subsequently influences by
the message. Theorists support that it works due to a number of different factors which
demonstrate that it works; the increase of popularised media (radio, television, film etc.), industry
persuasion (Advertising and manipulation of public opinion), even Hitlers Nazi Party (the
monopolisation of the mass media in WWII Germany). It is said that there is a diagram which
shows how the needle works. The mass media will influence a large group of people by injecting
them with messages designed to trigger a response which was desired by the mass media. There
is a two step flow which explains how it works; Source, message, mass media, opinion, leaders,
public. It was developed in the early 20th century, around the 1920s and 1930s after researchers
observed the effects of propaganda. While researchers realised in the 1930s that this was not
actually a very credible theory, people today still argue that elements of the theory still stand out
today. Some people argue that the hypodermic needle is actually a credible theory due to incidents
which have cited as an example of the hypothermic needle. The 1938 broadcast of Orson Wells
The War of the Worlds radio drama. The piece was broadcasted to the American audience who
instead of realising that the piece was fictional believed that the broadcast was actually fact. This
was because the broadcasters of the piece were telling the story as if it was actual fact, not telling
it as fiction. This subsequently lead to widespread panic across America as people believed that
they were actually faced with the end of the world. This is a prime example of how the hypodermic
needle does work. The mass media subjected the audience to an idea that the world was going to
end as they believe that the audience all think the same and would believe it, and so it did.
However it is argued that this is simply a one off case, as the developer of the theory Paul
Lazarsfeld went on to prove his own theory wrong. He did a study by gathering research during the
Franklin D. Roosevelt election in 1940. The purpose of the research was to determine voting
patterns and the relationship between media and politics. It was soon discovered that the vast
majority of the public were not effected or influence by the propaganda of Roosevelts campaign. It
was actually discovered that interpersonal outlets were influencing the voters more than the media.
The conclusion that Lazarsfeld came to that the effects of media were not powerful to the point
where they were completely persuading passive audiences. Nonetheless the hypodermic needle
still can be seen, somewhat, in modern day times. In June 2003 Devin Thompson was arrested on
charges of homicide. It was believed that he shot two police officers and a dispatcher after he was
arrested on suspicion of driving a stolen car. There was a subsequent lawsuit on retail companies
Gamestop and Wal-Mart due to them selling Thompson games from the Grand Theft Auto
franchise when he was under 17, despite the games requiring to be 17 or older to purchase. One
of the games principle gameplay elements are police kills, grand theft auto, and other forms of
violence. The game was blamed for influencing Thompson to kill the victims. This was where it was
argued that hypodermic needle is still in place; Thompson played many hours of the game, which
subsequently influence him to kill.

The

uses and gratifications theory is a more human approach to looking at

media use and focuses on the audience as a consumer rather than
focusing on the message by asking what do people actually do with the
media?, and not just what does the media do to people?. An
explanation of theory states that the gratification theory suggests
that media users play an active role in choosing and using the
media. Users take an active party in the communication process
and
are goal oriented in their media use. The theorist say that a media user
seeks out a media source that best fulfils the needs of the user. Uses
and gratification assume that the use has alternate choices that satisfy
their need. The theory originated from Elihu Katz, with his college
Jay Blumer, when in 1974 when he came up with the idea that people
use the media for their own benefit. They believed that there just as many reasons for people using
the media, as there are media users. Their values are seen as they believed that consumers can
choose the influence that the media will have on them, on top of the idea that users choose media
alternatives as a means to and end. There are 5 basic assumptions of the theory which are all
stated in the book Mass Communication Research; the first states the audience is conceived as
active. This basically says the audiences have a set goal and are motivated by this, and the way
they achieve this goal is through a media source. The second assumption says that in the mass
communication process much initiative in linking need gratification and media choice lies with the
audience member. This is essentially saying that, unlike the Hypodermic Needle theory, that the
audience use the media to their advantage. The audience member decided what is going to be
viewed and that the audience will not influence them. I think that this is an accurate statement and
this can still be seen in modern times; nowadays we see that there will be a particular trend in the
various forms of media, particularly with films. The popular films at the moment are the superhero
genre and these products are what are generating a large proportion of income for major studios in
Hollywood. However, as seen with the zombie genre, people will eventually grow tired of this
superhero genre and will stop paying money to watch the films in the cinema. As people will stop
watching it the media companies will not make the films anymore proving the uses of gratification
theory correct. Furthermore it can also been seen with personal music selection. We choose
music not only because it fits a particular mood but also in an attempt to show empowerment; there
are many different types of music and we choose them to fulfil a particular need. Nonetheless
though there are criticisms that can be found with the theory; the biggest criticism that is found is
that it is based upon the concept that the audience is completely active as most people turn to
using the media as a result of habit. Other people also argue that the larger public doesn't effect
the individual decisions that are made regarding the media. Ronald Rice said in his book The New
Media states that Larger social purposes and effects have to do with why an individual, for the
most part, reads a newspaper.

The Reception theory is a theory that states that there

are 3
ways to read a text; a preferred rating is the reading
which
the media producers want the audience to receive. A
negotiated reading is one where the audience
understands the meaning of the media
producers intent for their product, however it
the text will subsequently change to suit its
own position. An oppositional reading is one
where the audience do not accept the
preferred reading of the media text and interpret
it
in
a
completely different way. The theory originated from cultural
theorist
Stuart Hall, having it developed it for media. Hall proposed a
new
model
for mass communication through the media which highlighted the importance of active
interpretation. It moved away from the view of the media having the power to directly cause a
certain behaviour in an individual, while it also held onto the role of the media as an agenda-setting
function. The reception theory highly differs from the hypodermic needle theory as it suggests that
the audiences are not passives it focuses on the audience having a negotiation and opposition
aspect. It means that a media text is not simply passively accepted by an audience, but that the
consumer interprets the meanings of the text based on their own opinions. The first way in which a
text will be read is, as mentioned before, the preferred reading. According to David Phillips, the
preferred reading means that the reader fully shares the texts codes and accepts and reproduces
the preferred reading. The reading may have an intention that was not consciously made by the
author, but the code of the text will still seem natural and transparent. He also went onto say that
a negotiated reading is when the reader partly shares the texts code and mostly accepts the
preferred reading, however it sometimes resists and modifies in a way which reflects their own
position, experiences and internets. Finally he went onto say that oppositional reading is when the
reader has a social situation that places them in a directly oppositional relation to the texts code, so
they understand the preferred reading but does not share the texts code. Furthermore the
audiences can be split into two models of consumption, one being called active and the other being
called passive. Active consumption is when the audience will engage the media text that comes
across to them, and will sometimes question the messages from their own individual experiences.
A passive consumption is when the audience does not engage or interact with the media message,
but just accepts it for what it is. This is what a media company will want to achieve when they make
a text as they want audiences to view and not question. To get an audience to be in this state the
story has to be believable and does not have to be realistic.