POLYTECHNIC UNIVERSITY OF

MEDIA EFFECTS
THE PHILIPPINES

BY NACION, OLORVIDA, AND

VELASQUEZ

SUBMITTED ON OCTOBER 19, 2018

 MEDIA
EFFE C TS
 DEFINING MEDIA
EFFE C T
The processes and products of media influence that act directly on targets
(individuals and macro units of society and institutions) as well as indirectly on
targets through other units. These effects can be intentional or nonintentional
on the part of both the media senders as well as the target receivers. They can
be manifested or hidden from natural observation. They are constant and
ongoing. And they are shaped not just by the media influence but within a
constellation of other factors that act in concert with the media influence.
 TYPE OF EFFECTS ON
INDIVIDUALS
COGNITIVE MEDIA PHYSIOLOGICAL
EFFECT EFFECT
ATTITUDES AFFECT
BELIEFS BEHAVIORS
 MEDIA-INFLUEN C ED
FUN C TIONS
A C QUIRING TRIGGERING

ALTERING REINFOR C ING

MEDIA EFFE C TS
THEORIES
C HALLENGES TO THE
DIRE C T EFFE C TS
THEORY
The results of the People’s
Choice Study challenged this
model. Conducted in 1940, the
study attempted to gauge the
effects of political campaigns on
voter choice.
AGENDA-SETTING
THEORY
The agenda-setting theory of media
stated that mass media determine the
issues that concern the public rather
than the public’s views. Under this theory,
the issues that receive the most attention
from media become the issues that the
public discusses, debates, and demands
action on. This means that the media is
determining what issues and stories the
public thinks about.
 USES AND
GRATIFI C ATIONS
THEORY
It study the ways the public
consumes media. This theory states
that consumers use the media to
satisfy specific needs or desires. A
typical uses and gratifications study
explores the motives for media
consumption and the consequences
associated with use of that media.
SYMBOLI C
INTERA C TIONISM
This means the way you act toward
someone or something is based on the
meaning you have for a person or thing. To
effectively communicate, people use
symbols with shared cultural meanings.
This theory helps media researchers better
understand the field because of the
important role the media plays in creating
and propagating shared symbols. Because
of the media’s power, it can construct
symbols on its own.
 SPIRAL OF SILEN C E
It states that those who hold a minority
opinion silence themselves to prevent
social isolation, explains the role of mass
media in the formation and
maintenance of dominant opinions. As
minority opinions are silenced, the
illusion of consensus grows, and so does
social pressure to adopt the dominant
positiona.
MEDIA LOGI C
The media logic theory states that
common media formats and styles serve
as a means of perceiving the world.
Today, the deep rooting of media in the
cultural consciousness means that
media consumers need engage for only a
few moments with a particular television
program to understand that it is a news
show, a comedy, or a reality show. The
pervasiveness of these formats means
that our culture uses the style and
content of these shows as ways to
interpret reality.
 C ULTIVATION MEDIA DEPENDEN C Y
ANALYSIS THEORY
The cultivation analysis theory states that Audiences depend on media
heavy exposure to media causes information to meet needs and
individuals to develop an illusory reach goals.
perception of reality based on the most
repetitive and consistent medium. 
MASS MEDIA
AND ITS
MESSAGES
 PROPAGANDA AND
PERSUASION
Encyclopedia Britannica defines
propaganda simply as the
“manipulation of information to
influence public opinion. This
definition works well for this
discussion because the study and use
of propaganda an enormous
influence on the role of persuasion in
modern mass media  questions about the effects
MEDIA AND BEHAVIOR
These media messages
influence behavior,
especially the behavior of
young people. Violent,
sexual, and compulsive
behaviors have been linked
to media consumption and
thus raise important
of media on culture.
 C ULTURAL MESSAGES AND THE
MEDIA
The media sends messages that reinforce
cultural values. These values are perhaps most
visible in celebrities and the roles that they
adopt. Whether actual or fictional, celebrities
and their assumed roles send a number of
different messages about cultural values. They
can promote courageous truth telling, hide
and prolong social problems, or provide a
concrete example of an abstract cultural
value.
 C ONTENT
ANALYSIS
AR C HIVAL FO C US
RESEAR C H GROUPS

SURVEYS EXPERIMENTS
SO C IAL ROLE RHETORI C AL
ANALYSIS ANALYSIS
DEPTH PARTI C IPANT
INTERVIEWS OBSERVATION
MEDIA STUDIES
CONTROVERSIES
 PROBLEMS WITH
METHODOLOGY AND
MEDIA THEORY
Although the use of advanced
methodologies can resolve many of
the questions raised about various
theories, the fact remains that the
use of these theories in public
debate generally follows a broader
understanding.
A C TIVE VERSUS
PASSIVE AUDIEN C E
A passive audience, in the most
extreme statement of this position,
passively accepts the messages
that media send it. An active
audience, on the other hand, is
fully aware of media messages and
makes informed decisions about
how to process and interact with
media.

ARGUMENTS AGAINST
AGENDA-SETTING THEORY
An agenda-setting study could
connect the prevalence of a topic
in the media with later changes in
public policy and may conclude
that the media set this agenda.
However, policy makers and
lobbyists often conduct public
relations efforts to encourage the
creation of certain policies.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
USES AND
GRATIFI C ATIONS
THEORY
The general presuppositions of the
uses and gratifications theory have
drawn criticism. By assuming that
media fulfill a functional purpose
in an individual’s life, the uses and
gratifications theory implicitly
justifies and reaffirms the place of
media in the public sphere

ARGUMENTS AGAINST SPIRAL
OF SILENCE THEORY
Although many regard the spiral of
silence theory as useful when
applying its broadest principles, it
is weak when dealing with
specifics. For example, the
phenomenon of the spiral of
silence is most visible in individuals
who are fearful of social isolation.
ARGUMENTS AGAINST
C ULTIVATION AND
ANALYSIS THEORY
Critics have faulted cultivation
analysis theory for relying too
heavily on a broad definition of
violence.
MEDIA BIAS
A good example of the ways that
media can bolster political opinion
is through coverage, which leads to
the debate over media bias
 POLITI C S AND MEDIA
STUDIES
Media theories and studies afford a
variety of perspectives. When
proponents of a particular view
employ those theories and studies,
however, they are often
oversimplified and can result in
contradictory claims.
MEDIA DE C EN C Y
Decency standards in media have
long been an issue, and they
continue to change in ways that
are not necessarily predictable. As
media studies have progressed,
they have increasingly appeared in
the debates over decency
standards. Although media studies
cannot prove a word or image is
indecent, they can help discern the
impact of that word or image and,
thus, greatly influence the debate.