Communication:

Theories and Models UNIT 21 THEORIES OF MASS

COMMUNICATION

Structure
21.0 Introduction
21.1 Learning Outcomes
21.2 Why Study Theories?
21.3 Classification of Theories
21.4 Sociological Theories
21.4.1 Cultivation Theory
21.4.2 Agenda Setting Theory
21.4.3 Uses and Gratification Theory
21.4.4 Dependency Theory
21.5 Psychological Theories
21.5.1 Attitudinal Change Theory
21.5.2 Reinforcement Theory
21.5.3 Persuasion and Attitude
21.5.4 Social Learning Theory
21.6 Critical and Cultural Theories
21.6.1 Marxist Theories
21.6.2 Critical Theories
21.6.3 Cultural Studies
21.6.4 Political Economy Theory
21.7 Media - Society Theories
21.7.1 Technology Determinism
21.7.2 Media and the Public Sphere
21.7.3 Audience Theories
21.7.4 Feminist Media Theories
21.8 Let Us Sum Up
21.9 Keywords
21.10 References and Further Readings
21.11 Check Your Progress: Possible Answers

21.0 INTRODUCTION
By studying the previous two Units, you have been able to understand the
various levels of communication. This Unit will take you through an
interesting journey of mass communication theories which will help you
draw a relationship between media and society.

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21.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES
After studying this Unit, you should be able to:
• describe different theories of mass communication;
• discuss their implications in different social contexts;
• analyse on the basis of these theories the media society equation; and
• apply these theories to understand media messages in personal and
cultural context.

21.2 WHY STUDY THEORIES

You usually begin the day in the morning with a cup of “the best and most
refreshing green tea in the world” or a glass of milk which is the “only pure
brand that makes your bones strong”. The morning newspaper has so many
colourful segments shouting for attention and as it is time for breakfast, the
“best bread in town” makes your morning complete, rearing you to go. Then
as you travel to your college or work place, the larger than life hoardings look
at you trying to impress why the product/service they are highlighting should
be your preferred choice over others. The FM radio plugged in your ears tells
you about the grand sale on garments, holidays, restaurants and shopping for
festivals. In between it also informs you on news, both national and local
mostly sensational or commercial. Then as you approach the workplace or
college, you try to put things in order by recapitulating the tasks set for the
day. These are only the first few morning hours and you are already
bombarded with seamless media messages the subtle effects of which are not
simple for the human mind to gauge.

So how do you know what to do? Whether to believe such media messages or
refrain from it? And if you decide to believe, how much should you believe?
The choice again is to be or not to be. Media messages play games with the
human mind, challenge our intellect, try to influence our behaviour in favour
of or against something or someone and even tell us what choices to make.
And they do all this within the realm of our personal, cultural and social
systems.

21.3 CLASSIFICATION OF THEORIES

Mass communication theories are classified in various ways. This is because
theories or the way social processes are explained keep changing or
advancing depending on technological, political and social factors. Most
mass media theorists classify theories based on eras of development of mass
media. And rightly so, because the way the media operated in society and the
importance they held from time to time changed with the change in
technology. So while theories are generally classified as those of the era of
mass society, the era of scientific perspective, the era of limited effects and
the era of cultural theory, to facilitate greater understanding, we classify them
as sociological, psychological, critical and cultural theories and media society
theories.

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21.4 SOCIOLOGICAL THEORIES
Sociological theories explain the role of media with regard to social
relationships and in economic and political contexts.

21.4.1 Cultivation Theory

George Gerbner’s cultivation theory tries to draw an equation between
symbolic structures, audience views and behaviour. The theory was
advocated when television was new and much research was being done on it.
Cultivation analysis explains that television constructs a new reality for the
audiences which may have no bearing on the real world. TV propagates a
new reality which is its own creation and is well accepted socially and
culturally by the audiences, especially heavy viewers. The theory was based
on five assumptions:

1) TV requires no additional resources like reading skills, money or

mobility. So TV content can be consumed by people of all age groups at
any time of their choice.
2) TV at that time was the first medium to have shared public messages
audio- visually leading to the creation of a pseudo culture and
mainstreaming a TV created understanding of society.
3) Such pseudo reality does not create attitudinal change, rather creates
basic frames of reference which help audiences make decisions and
judgements in life generally.

4) The TV created reality through its content aimed at stabilising the socio-
cultural patterns. This is to maintain the power relationships in a society. So
TV content is not directed to creating any revolution or major change in
the existing socio-cultural set up, it only reinforces the already existing
powerrelationships.

5) The observable and measurable changes propelled by this TV-created

perception of reality are relatively small due to a number of intervening
variables. At times, the social reality constructed as a result of TV viewing
may bring about alternate changes like a person may start spending less
time on TV.

The active audience theory challenges the long term cumulative effects
of cultivation theory. In the contemporary world where the audiences use
multiple media to satisfy their information, entertainment and various
other needs, one cannot assume that exposure to any one medium can
have a major effect on the audiences’ perception of reality. Nevertheless,
the subtle effects of the theory cannot be negated.

21.4.2 Agenda Setting Theory

The idea of agenda setting was first discussed in terms of election campaigns
in 1972 by Max Mc Combs and Donald Shaw. According to this theory, the
news media tell the public what the important issues of the day are. For
example, the news that appears first and in prime time is perceived to be
more important by the audience. The media do not tell the audience what to
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think but they do tell what to think about. So while the media may make a
diplomatic meeting between several countries look important, they cannot
have a say on whether the audience thinks it will do any good to the country’s
economy. The effects of agenda setting have also been established by
research. The agenda setting effects are the maximum in first stories as they
have the maximum audience attention and are uninterrupted and without
distractions. So the placement of stories is important. Also, there is
consistency in importance given to issues across different media. But
powerful videos and images can reduce such effects on the audiences’ mind
as they can emotionally or otherwise divert and absorb attention to the issue
of presentation.

The importance given to an issue by the media may not be close to the real-
world issues. So what is important in the media is not what is really
important but what is made important by forces and people in power. These
shapes the social and political realities for common people. Also related to
agenda setting is the Priming effect of media which is generally used for
news management. This is used more in terms of diverting attention from
important issues in the public sphere like a big military adventure or foreign
affairs’ initiative.

21.4.3 Uses and Gratification Theory

This is a limited effects theory which suggests that media are not supreme
and audiences are not passive. The effects of media are limited to what the
audiences allow them to be. So it is not what the media do to the audiences
but what audiences do with the media and why do they use media. There are
various needs that audiences look at satisfying like information,
entertainment, companionship and escape. While people are becoming more
techno-friendly and real time socialisation has taken a back seat, the
importance of media has increased in people’s lives. One may wish to know
the diplomatic efforts that a country is making with the neighbouring country
to bring back a fighter pilot who by mistake landed in the enemy territory –
the need to be informed and updated. One may want to watch the latest film
that one’s peer group has been talking about – the need to be entertained and
the need for social identity. After a stressful day at work, one may want to
forget about it and watch a web series after dinner – the need for escape.

The above examples indicate that the needs of the audience have a bearing on
the socio – cultural context. The expectation from the media is based on this
context and type of media used. The content explains media influences,
media choices and media behaviors while the type of media used will differ
in content and presentation.

21.4.4 Dependency Theory

Propounded by Melvin De Fleur and Sandra Ball-Rokeach in 1975, this
theory has left behind the limited effects theory. According to this theory the
power of a mass medium is decided by how much the audiences are
dependent on that medium. There were several assertions that the theory was
made of:
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Communication: 1) The power or influence of mass media is composed of the relationship of
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the social system of which the media are a part, the media’s role in that
system and the audience relationship to that media.
2) Whether the media is able to exercise influence to alter the beliefs and
behaviour of the audiences is decided by the degree of dependence of
audiences on that media.
3) In modern society, the dependence on media is at multiple levels like, to
understand the outside world, to find meaning and take meaningful
actions in a given social set up and to find fantasy and escape.
4) The degree of dependence on mass media increases with (i) greater
number of functions that we put a media system to serve (ii) when there
is greater change and conflict in a society as the audience depends more
on media to make opinions or take decisions.

Let us understand this with an example. Whenever we hear of a major train

accident or a cyclone or a terrorist attack or to look up at election results, we
immediately use media to access the latest information, to analyse the
available information to make an opinion and to act on it. Our decisions and
actions depend on media use and this dependency increases with the increase
in use of media.

Check Your Progress 1

Note: 1) Use the spaces given below for your answers.
2) Check your answer with those given at the end of the Unit.
1) What are the effects of agenda setting in the media?
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2) What factors contribute to the degree of dependence on media?
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21.5 PSYCHOLOGICAL THEORIES

The work done on psychological aspects of communication was probably the
most important in the times of post-World War I. The bearings of the human
mind and the way media affect it, how communication influences the
decisions and actions that an individual makes and various nuances related to
them were studied under this. Some of the psychological theories covered
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under it include attitudinal change theories, individual difference theory,
persuasion and attitude and social learning theory.

21.5.1 Attitudinal Change Theory

Before you understand the processes of selectivity, it is important to
understand the related concept of dissonance. The dissonance theory argued
that when an individual confronts new information, one faces a mental
discomfort. This could be due to change in the comfort zone of an individual
which may involve action, decision making or may be purely situational.

Carl Hovland and his team of researchers tested the effectiveness of this
theory in 1949. The theory of attitudinal change suggested that in order to
overcome dissonance, the human mind on a conscious or subconscious level
makes use of three selective processes. These selective processes which are a
result of personal choices of the audiences are explained below:

1) Selective exposure: This process explains that when an individual is

confronted with a situation leading to dissonance, in order to reduce it,
one exposes oneself or gives attention to only that information which is
consistent with one’s attitudes and beliefs. One’s pre-existing
experiences, perception of reality, preferences, interests, values and
beliefs lead to formation of one’s attitude. These are the decisive factors
for selection of information one chooses to expose himself to.
For example, if you are asked to attend a session in a seminar or a talk or
lecture, you choose the subject depending on your area of interest. So
you are selective about what you expose yourself to.
2) Selective perception: After one has chosen what to expose one’s mind
to, all of the exposed information is not perceived meaningfully. The
interpretation of messages will take place selectively on the basis of
message consistency with one’s pre-existing attitudes and beliefs.
For example, in the talk or lecture that you attended, a number of points
were made. But you did not think of each of them. You gave a further
thought to a few select ideas. This is called selective perception.
3) Selective retention: Of all that is perceived, the human mind is selective
about what it retains for long and the messages retained depend on how
consistent they are with one’s pre-existing attitudes and beliefs.
For example, a few days after the talk or lecture, only a few ideas remain
with you. The rest of the content you do not remember. This is called
selective retention.

21.5.2 Reinforcement Theory

Joseph Klapper in his book ‘The Effects of Mass Communication’ (1960)
explained the reinforcement theory with selective processes as the basis,
focusing on limited effects of media. TV had not yet become a mass medium
then. According to this theory, mass media are not capable of bringing any
change by them, it depends on what Klapper called a nexus of mediating
factors and influences like social and religious factors which primarily affect
the audiences and media play a supportive role. Whenever media have had
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operational or when the mediating factors themselves have been impelling
towards change. This theory stressed that there are minimal situations where
media can have direct effects on the audience and whether media act as a
contributory agent of bringing about change or are directly responsible for it
would depend on communication situation or on different aspects of media
and communication.

For example, when as a result of a certain political ideology, there are

communal riots at a place, the media are expected to report with ethical
restraint and without creating sensationalism, but the media cannot be
expected to calm the situation or take any fruitful action in such a situation.
Another example can be when a certain economic decision is taken the
politics of the country tries to gain mileage by playing on economic
sentiments while gaining political mileage out of it. But the media alone
cannot change the way audiences respond to it or force a rational mindset. It
only reports the predominant perceptions of the influential class of society,
polity and religion which affect the audiences to varying degrees.

21.5.3 Persuasion and Attitude

You must be aware by now that mass media serves three primary purposes -
information, education and entertainment. There is a fourth purpose of the
communication through mass media, which is persuasion. Persuasion is the
process of influencing the perspective and thus outlook and finally the
decision of the audiences. While it uses information, its purpose moves
beyond just informing. It attempts at an active decision making and
implementation. Five primary factors that play a key role in designing a
message for the purpose of persuasion are:

1) Belief: It is a set of ideas pertaining to what one may think to be true or

false. Beliefs are easier to change than attitudes. When one is confronted
with situations that are juxtaposed to the reality one believes in, then one
is more likely to amend one’s belief. While some people believe that one
political party has the benefit of a minority at heart, other groups may
believe the opposite, and there will be few more that will realise the
agenda behind it.
2) Value: Value is the merit, worth or usefulness of something which is
held personally by someone. It is what a person deems important. For
someone, saving money on education might be important, while others
feel that one should spend maximum on it.
3) Motive: It refers to the aims or self-interests of a person in a situation.
For example, while buying a gift, the customer’s decision may change
based on who one is gifting it to.
4) Attitude: Attitude is the mindset which is most difficult to change as it
is formed as a result of constant reinforcement of a certain kind of
behavior. For example, some may have a positive attitude towards a
political party or technology or ever changing fashion trends, while some
may feel negatively about one or more of these. At all times, an attitude
is backed by a strong reason for holding it.
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5) Behaviour: It is the action taken by people. It can be observed and is
affected by all the above factors. While it is affected by the media, it
could be out of sync as well, due to other factors like peer pressure,
climate and budget among others. Advertising works on this theory.
While the beliefs, values and motives are difficult to change, advertising
aims to introduce conditions and later establish beliefs and values as the
new norm.

For example, ‘Daag acche hain’, is a very literal example where the
perception of soiled clothes is being changed. The advertisers are
encouraging mothers to encourage their kids to play, thus redefining the
process of cleaning. The phrase becomes catchy and is aimed at changing the
behavior of the audience resulting in increasing the sales of the product.

21.5.4 Theory of Social Learning

Albert Bandura in 1986 gave the social learning theory also called the
observational learning theory. According to this theory, much learning takes
place in terms of an individual’s social behavior and development from what
one observes and experiences in the environment. Much of this learnt
behavior was earlier picked from television alone. Bandura gave a sequence
for such learning to take place: attention, retention, production and
motivation.

One pays attention to media messages that are of interest to an individual.

One tries to retain it by modeling or copying it which may be through (i)
imitation or (ii) identification. Imitated behavior is when a behavior observed
in the environment (including media) is copied exactly in personal life. For
example, one tries to imitate the styles and way of speaking of one’s
favourite actor. Or when crime occurs based on the storyline of a tele-serial
or movie is also an example of imitated behavior. Identified behavior is more
symbolic or generalised and though not exactly copied, yet presents a
response that is related to what is observed in media. For example, men
sporting a particular hairstyle or stubble and traditional moustaches are an
identified behavior.

The social learning theory later led to the emergence of social cognition
theory.

Check Your Progress 2

Note: 1) Use the spaces given below for your answers.
2) Check your answer with those given at the end of the Unit.
1) What are the three factors in attitudinal change theory?
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21.6 CRITICAL AND CULTURAL THEORIES

Critical and cultural theories look at the process of culture production
‘critically’. These theories analyse the social structures and practices that
shape them. Culture in terms of media terminology refers to various products
of media, which could include a photograph, language, a film or an article.

21.6.1 Marxist Theories

Marxism is a broad ideology which in essence is economic. Some of you
with a commerce or arts background might be aware of it. In a nutshell it
states that those who hold the means of production produce according to their
needs and are known as bourgeoisie. The proletariat consists of the workers
who toil to create the products and are still deprived of using them to their
full potential. Translating to the media scenario, the media messages are seen
as the products and media channels as means of production. The elite who
own the media channels are the current day bourgeoisie and the audiences are
the proletariat. Media and their messages constitute a part of the common
culture, and their production is the process of culture production.

The theory works in two stages: first is media ownership. People who own
the media channels will use media to serve their vested interests, consciously
or subconsciously. The popular is not always what the masses want, but
rather what the media elites think the masses want. You may have heard that
in the context of the current television news scenario in India, it is often
debated and discussed that a channel is owned by a big business group or a
minister or a political party and as a result it gives a particular angle to the
news stories to popularise their ideology. Second is the audience
interpretation. It is further dependent on modes of access and reach for the
audience segment. Studying this helps in understanding who comprehends
what and why.

Another view came from Stuart Hall, famous for his theory of encoding and
decoding. He argued that the media channels appear to reflect reality while
they are actually constructing it. Besides the mass media not only function in
the interests of the owners of production means, but they are also ‘a field of
ideological struggle’. Hall further explained the readings in three types:

• Dominant reading: by the ones whose social context favours the

preferred reading

• Negotiated reading: by the ones who modulate the reading according to

their social set up
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• Oppositional reading: by the ones whose social positions are in
opposition with the reading

21.6.2 Critical Theories

The Marxist theories gave rise to what was later accepted to be the Frankfurt
school of ‘Critical Theory’. Most important philosophers associated with the
Frankfurt school were Theodor Adorno, Herbert Marcuse and Max
Horkheimer. Later philosophers like Antonio Gramsci and Jurgen Habermas
were also associated with the critical theories.

Critical theories aim to critique and change the society rather than just
understand or explore it, as is the case with the traditional theories. For this,
critical theories are applied to many subjects of social sciences and
humanities. Post 1960s, after the establishment of communication studies as a
separate discipline, language, text and symbolism have been perceived as the
foundation stone for studying humanities. So much so that Habermas
described the critical social theories as a study of the field of communication.

The theories aim at analysing texts from the perspective of what is intended
and by whom, what are the implications of representations or rather
misrepresentations and how they in turn justify the ideology propagated
through the texts. To put it simply:
• The text is studied of intended meaning
• The meaning is further explored for representation of a contextual reality
• The contextual reality is then put vis-a-vis against the ideology the text
generators aim to propagate.

The critical theories surmise that mass media define the way we perceive the
world and are a ‘culture industry’. Antonio Gramsci used the term hegemony
to describe the dominance of one social class over another which manifested
through the media messages. This shaped the world view of the less
dominant class and normalised what the media messages contained.

21.6.3 Cultural Studies

Media production is also the process of culture production. From the
Complan Boy to Cibaca Geetmala to Gajini haircuts to Instagram icons, each
of these is a byproduct of the media messages and is a part of the process of
culture production for the masses.

Richard Hoggart used the term ‘Cultural Studies’ for the first time in 1964 in
the UK. As the name implies, cultural studies are the branch dealing with the
study of the media texts in the light of the cultural context it is arising from. The
scholars of cultural studies strive to understand the culture and its forms,
origins and context. Embracing various methodological approaches and
philosophies, cultural studies use hermeneutics, postmodernism, sociology,
economics and even anthropology to study culture and its production. Culture
under this branch of study is not understood as a fixed entity but as a
dynamic one.

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emerging social phenomena such as gender, class, ethnicity, race and national
identity. Thus, many approaches including the feminist theories, critical race
theory, structuralism and literary theories lie under its gamut. The aim of
cultural studies is to understand culture and its making and acceptance through
the lens of power. The objective becomes not only to analyse the culture, the
process of its formulation, but how it is positioned in the society as well. It
strives to continuously evaluate the social practices and direct towards a
political action.

Culture studies also view consumption of culture as an active process.

Scholars have opined that consumers also challenge the meanings of media
texts. The major contribution to this area comes from Stuart Hall and John
Fiske. Meaning of text is also extremely flexible and dynamic. From TV
programmes to film scores to hairstyles to webpage layouts, according to
Roland Barthes, an acclaimed French semiotician, every text can be dissected
and read.

21.6.4 Political Economy Theory

The political economy theory is said to be suggested by Harold Innis in his
book ‘Empire and Communications’. The book is further said to have
inspired Marshall McLuhan to formulate his theories. The theory is a popular
branch in communication studies which discusses the power relations that
make the process of communication through mass media possible. Further,
the political economy theory also studies the social relationships within the
mass media systems, the producers, the distributors and the consumers. It
also focuses on the role of the state and the involvement of technological
developments.

The focus areas of the theory are:

1) Media ownership: In today’s concentrated media ownership, lack of

diversity in contents has become an issue of concern. Large media
conglomerates tilt the quality of content and thus raise the issues of
inclusion in media participation.

2) Peripheral processes: From advertising to social media services to

events, these processes also affect the content to some extent. When
producers are the advertisers as well, their influence on content becomes
obvious.

3) Government policies: Lastly, the state policies on production,

distribution and consumption of content also affect the operation of the
industry at large.

This theory finds greater applicability in few segments of media when

compared with others. For instance, in journalism, a concentrated ownership
would induce bias in reporting. A lot of advertorials and PR material makes
up for what is supposed to be news. With an understanding of the economics
behind the media ownership patterns, one can trace this bias and make a
negotiated reading of the text.
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21.7 MEDIA – SOCIETY THEORIES
21.7.1 Technological Determinism
The theory undermines the growth of culture or ownership patterns on
content creation, but focuses on the availability and use of technology in a
given society. This practically means that with mass production comes mass
access and consumption. Without the invention of the printing press, there
would be no mass consumption of books and neither would the literacy level
of the society increase.

The theory can be further divided:

• Hard determinism: This branch believes that technology is independent

from social concerns. Humans align themselves in accordance with
technology and we do not hold much choice in the manner how and why.
A social system whose structure allows a technology to grow will imbibe
its features and thus become more advanced than a structure which does
not.
• Soft determinism: This branch believes in greater flexibility. It opines
that technology could be the guiding force in human evolution, but it is
not the only factor. Also, cultures and traditions will vary how the
technology is adapted and applied in a society.

21.7.2 Media and Public Sphere

The concept of public sphere was formulated sometime in the eighteenth
century. It is basically a space where people come together to discuss social
problems without any hierarchy. The discussion leads to suggesting a
political action. The discussion comprises all perspectives from various
sections of society. Jurgen Habermas theorised this space in 1991 as a space
where public meets private.

He pointed out few features of this space:

1) Open to all citizens
2) All citizens act on their own behalf and do not represent political or
business interests.
3) No hierarchy in the citizens
4) Discussion on social issues
5) Formation of public opinion
6) Citizen involvement in policy making at governmental level

Habermas considers state power as public power as it is established through

the agency of elections. He presses on the need of public spheres to mediate
between the state and the society as it gives a platform for discussion and
opinion formation for the public. Many physical spaces in the past have
served as the public spheres, for instance, Britain’s coffee houses, and
France’s salons.

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have emerged considering the web as a public sphere. The Internet allows
anyone and everyone to voice their opinion on social media platforms. As of
now, when there are online influencers to shape the consumer opinion for
various brands, the discussions happening online are certainly helping a lot of
citizens in the opinion formation. Today the web is also emerging as the
primary information gathering medium and at times these opinions and
discussion boards also spread misinformation among the masses.

21.7.3 Audience Theories

In the process of creating and disseminating media messages, discussing the
role of the audience is imperative. Who is the audience, how are they
engaging with the media messages, what messages are being preferred over
others? The term, ‘audience theory,’ refers to any theory which explores the
relationship between the audience and the media text. It includes:

a) Hypodermic needle model: Where the text is received without

negotiation and accepted by the receiver. Just like a needle penetrates the
skin and no resistance can be offered, so do media messages affect the
audience. This was the first theory that tried to explain the effect of
media messages on the audience.

b) Two step flow: This theory talks about the opinion leaders, who usually
are people with high media literacy, who filter and diffuse the media
content to the masses. In this case, the power does not solely lie with the
media, but also with the opinion leaders in the society up to some extent.

c) Reception theory: This theory emphasizes the process of understanding

of texts. Underlining the heterogeneous cultural background of the
people constituting the audience, this theory propounds that the meaning
derived of a text will differ for all individuals.
d) Active audience theory: A study by Zimmerman and Bauer revealed
that an audience also plays an active role in the production of media
messages. In times of social media and user generated content on sites
like YouTube, this theory does not need any further examples.

21.7.4 Feminist Media Theories

Feminist theories are an umbrella term for a group of theories that explore the
definition and representation of gender or concepts related to gender. The
theorists of this branch argue that almost all aspects of life can be deciphered
in relation to gender. They also opine that gender defines the division of
power and responsibilities in the society. The feminist theorists not only work
to document the inequality, but also to suggest and shift the balance to
equilibrium.

Feminism has not remained as a mere bunch of theories but has manifested
itself as a social movement in recent times. While largely unorganised, three
different versions have emerged prominently:

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1) Liberal feminism: It has been the foundation of the movement,
propagating that women have been deprived of equal rights and have
been oppressed as a group in the public sphere.
2) Radical feminism: It believes that giving equal social rights won’t help
until we change our social structures. Rights are mere extensions to
regularise what the society believes to be just. Without changing the
social fabric, many women will not even be able to avail the rights.
3) Marxist feminism: The theorists belonging to this branch believe that the
means of production have always lied with men, thus depriving women,
social equity.
Feminist theorists largely study the following:
1) Representation of gender in media texts: While portrayal of women has
been a subject of constant debate, at times men also suffer from the rigid
rules of patriarchy. This stems from the discussion that gender is not
merely polar, but fluid. One could be a male, and yet not confirm to the
societal regulations for the male gender completely.
2) Production of media texts: How many filmmakers are female? How do
their stories differ from the stories told by the male film makers? When
the means of production lie in the hands of the other, how does the
product change?
3) Reading of the text: What are the different ways of consumption of
media texts based on the consumer’s gender? Why does a man like
watching action movies more than a woman?

21.8 LET US SUM UP

In this Unit we learnt about what is implied by different theories of mass
communication, their classification in terms of sociological, psychological,
critical and cultural and media-society theories and how each of them
explains different aspects of media effects in the socio-cultural context. The
sociological theories section discussed the varying degrees of effects media
has on the audience and the relationship that an individual builds with the
media. The psychological theories section discussed how people engage with
media on a mental level, sometimes consciously and sometimes sub-
consciously. The critical and cultural theories section discussed the
intervention of Marxism in media theories and how culture is influenced by
it. The last section of the Unit explored the media society equation with
technological intervention and expanding of the public sphere.

21.9 KEYWORDS
Public sphere : A place where people can participate in any discussion
without being restricted by social class

Persuasion : Communication aimed to change behavior

Bourgeoisie : People of social class who hold the means of production

Proletariat : Workers who toil to create the products

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Communication:
Theories and Models
21.10 REFERENCES AND FURTHER READINGS
• Baran, S. J., McDonald, E., and Engberg, J. (2004). Introduction to Mass
Communication: Media Literacy and Culture. New York, McGraw-Hill.
• Mc Quail, Denis. (1987). Mass Communication Theory: An
Introduction, Delhi, Sage Publications Inc

21.11 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS: POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
1) The agenda setting effects are the maximum in first stories as they have
the maximum audience attention and are uninterrupted and without
distractions. So the placement of stories is important. Also, there is
consistency in importance given to issues across different media. But
powerful videos and images can reduce such effects on the audiences’
mind as they can emotionally or otherwise divert and absorb attention to
the issue of presentation.
2) The degree of dependence on mass media increases with (i) greater
number of functions that we make a media system to serve (ii) when there
is greater change and conflict in a society as the audience depends more
on media tomake opinions or take decisions.
Check Your Progress – 2
1) Selective exposure, selective perception and selective retention
2) Five elements of persuasion are:
a) Belief
b) Value
c) Motive
d) Attitude
e) Behaviour

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