MCommToday

Cultivation theory suggests that long term exposure to television can cause media users to presume that reality reflects the steadfast, contorted and often violent messages the television usually depicts… Cultivation theory was developed by Hungarian-American communication scholar George Gerbner in the 1960s. Cultivation theory posits that media users’ views of reality are affected by long term exposure to media channels, most specially by the television. The theory also suggests that because of the long term exposure to television, media users presume that reality reflects the steadfast, contorted and often violent messages the television usually depicts. Gerbner coined the term “Mean World Syndrome”, which outlines how high TV exposure makes media users consider the world as more treacherous than it really is. The important concepts of the Cultivation theory are the following: . Television as storyteller of modern society : cultivation theory suggests that the TV has become th...

The Symbolic Interaction and Social Construction of Reality theories are foundational theories of mass communication that show the driving forces that link together culture and communication. The study of mass communication has always been a dynamic process. Over the years, various ideas, perspectives and frameworks have been developed and introduced to maximize its potentials and to adapt itself to the evolving global society. The mainstream view is that culture and social interaction via verbal and non-verbal communication are influential factors on how people construct knowledge and reality. The Symbolic Interaction and Social Construction of Reality theories are foundational theories of mass communication that show the driving forces that link together culture and communication. 1. The Symbolic Interaction Perspective The Symbolic Interaction Perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism, is an important framework that came from sociological theory. This is based on the ...

Elihu Katz first introduced the uses and gratification theory when he came up with the idea that individuals make use of media to their advantage… Developed by Elihu Katz, Jay Blumler, Michael Gurevitch, Joseph Brown and Denis McQuail in the 1970s, the uses and gratifications theory marked a perspective shift in the study of mass communication by turning its attention away from media sources and message and how they affect the audience. The uses and gratifications theory emerged as a response to earlier theories that considered media users as passive receivers of media messages. Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratifications theory views, instead, that the audience is not a passive but an active player in their media choices, and that these choices depend largely on media users’ apparent needs, wishes or motives. The audiences are thereby formed based on their similarities of wishes, needs and motives.  Elihu Katz first introduced the uses and gratifications perspective when he...

The Agenda Setting Theory is one of the foundational theories of Mass Communication, it suggests the correlation between the emphasis the media attribute to issues… Knowledge of Media Theories of mass communication is important because they provide notions on how the communication process works and the relationships of and the interplay between its basic components. Media theories also supply models and concepts that help predict or interpret how information or messages may influence a person, society or culture in general. The Agenda-Setting Theory is one of the foundational theories of mass communication . Originally formulated by Drs. Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw in 1968, the agenda-setting theory suggests the correlation between the emphasis that the media attribute to issues and the (eventual) importance that media users may accord to such issues. In essence, the agenda-setting theory describes the powerful influence of the media to influence public perception by highlighting...