10. Theories of mass communication

• The historical development of mass communication theories
• TMK and media

Mass communications are considered as communication of individuals within a large city, country, and even the world as a whole, regardless of social roles and position in society.

In the analysis of the media, television takes the most prominent place, since criticism not only acknowledges its merits, but also criticizes it in every way for the formation and transmission of undesirable types of communicative behavior. In various scientific studies, a number of negative aspects of all modern media have been noted and certain theories (concepts) of the place and role of mass communication in the life of society have been proposed.

Mass communication theories

Theory of magic bullet and subcutaneous injections. Those who control the media control society, because the media has a direct, immediate and powerful impact on those who pay attention to their content.

The theory of accumulation: the power and effectiveness of media exposure to people is directly proportional to the frequency of informational “injections”.

Theory of selective exposure: the audience can not be represented as an obedient mass, uncritically perceiving any information. Everyone has their own tastes, preferences and interests.

The theory, called "the spiral of silence / silence", continued the discussion of the two-stage nature of the flow of information. In a pluralistic society, the flow of mass communications is mediated by the activity of opinion leaders, who act as information converters and transmitters. In addition, opinion leaders close to the source of information have their own circle of opinion leaders close to the masses. The scheme can be multistage.

The theory of diffusion (diffusion) of innovation. Innovation is distributed in society through communication channels for a certain time. This process may be planned or spontaneous.

Theory of cultivation. Mass media are considered as means, cultivating attitudes and values ​​that already exist in culture. This theory was criticized for the lack of a qualitative analysis of the audience of viewers and listeners who have their own opinions on many issues.

The theory of information barriers is related to the processes of selecting news, their correction, interpretation and even distortion at will of the addressee (sender).

Theory of the found benefit and satisfaction. Viewers do not passively perceive media reports. Members of the audience actively select messages according to their goals and needs.

Dependency theory Shows the complex system of interaction between the media, their audience and society as a whole. It is associated with the formation of a person’s beliefs through the strengthening of the system of information influence.

Test questions to the section:

• Identify the main stages of the formation and development of communication theory
• Explain which solutions to the problem of the relationship between ethics and rhetoric were outlined by ancient philosophy.
• Tell us what problems of communication were posed in the philosophy of the nineteenth century.
• What are the main philosophical directions of the twentieth century, in which the problems of communication were solved?
• Describe the main specific scientific approaches to the study of communication.
• Explain the scientific contribution of the leading representatives of the linguistic approach to the study of communication.
• Identify the key problems of mass communication theories.