COMMUNICATION THEORIES

AGENDA SETTING, CULTIVATION THEORY, MEDIA FUNCTIONS, SPIRAL

OF SILENCE, SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM, USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS…
THEORY

• Theories try to explain certain phenomena. In the case of communication

theories, they describe communication and its phenomena.
• During this course, we will review some communication theories.
AGENDA SETTING

• The media tell you what to think about.

• We could say that media help audiences prioritize issues and
indicate their importance.
• Researchers found strong evidence that audiences learn how
much importance to attach to an issue from amount and
position of news media coverage.

• Space and time devoted to certain content or stories determine what is

important. A news story published on the front page of a newspaper is
perceived to be more important than one published on some other page.

• Media shape and filter reality.

• Gatekeepers. Who decides what should be printed or
broadcasted?
AGENDA SETTING

• Agenda setting relies on a cognitive

process called accessibility.
• The more a specific issue is covered by
the media, the more accesible it will be
on people’s minds.
• What are the most important issues?
Those determined by the media
(coverage). They are the most accesible. "Newspaper rack" by NS Newsflash is licensed under CC BY 2.0
AGENDA SETTING

• Additionally, there is a second-level

agenda setting:
• What is the most important aspect about
the issue that is receiving a large amount
of coverage?
• Attributes (positive, negative, neutral…)
• How to think about… Framing
"Magazines" by theseanster93 is licensed under CC BY-SA 2.0
 • “The primary concern is that those in power
thus call attention to issues that suit their
agendas and distract attention from those
that undermine them.” (Chandler &
AGENDA Munday, 2020)
SETTING • This theory was developed by Maxwell
McCombs and Donald Shaw.
AGENDA SETTING
IN-CLASS DISCUSSION

• How does this apply to “new” media and the way we access the news?
• We talked about mass communication, interpersonal communication, but is
there something else?
CULTIVATI
ON THEORY
• In simple terms, this theory suggests that
heavy television viewers (+4 hours)
develop certain attitudes towards the
world. These attitudes are based on what
is represented onscreen. “Viewers come
to believe the television version of reality
the more they watch it” (Chandler &
Munday, 2020, p. 320)

• However, do the media reflect reality?

Perceptions and views may not be
accurate

• Television, therefore, shapes the viewers’

ideas of what the world is like. (Chandler,
D., 1995).
CULTIVATION THEORY

• So, television has long-term effects

and, furthermore, is capable of
shaping values, norms and beliefs.
Television cultivates perceptions,
values.
• News AND entertainment are equally
important in shaping people’s views
of the world.
 • This theory was developed by George Gerbner.
• He mainly discussed and studied the effects of
violent content shown on television.
• Mean World Syndrome: people who watch a lot of
violent content on television tend to believe that the
CULTIVATIO world is more violent and dangerous than it really is.
N THEORY (No one can be trusted and crimes are more prevalent
than they really are). Fear, anxiety.

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ylhqasb1chI
• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iJ8iE8bvLVg
MEDIA
FUNCTIONS
THEORY
• Media functions: “Key social
roles of the mass media, a
particular medium of
communication, or specific
kinds of media content.”

• Key functions: surveillance,

correlation (consensus),
socialization (cultural
transmission) and
entertainment.
 • Surveillance: information, news
• Correlation: presentation of facts and how
specific issues affect us and society. Evaluation
of issues. Framing. Interpretation. This affects
MEDIA how society reacts to something
FUNCTIONS • Cultural transmission (Socialization): rules of
THEORY behavior, values, norms
• Entertainment: relaxation
• This theory was mainly developed by Harold
Lasswell.
SPIRAL OF
SILENCE
THEORY
• The Emperor’s New Clothes:
https://www.youtube.com/watc
h?v=R6GUIn0xcKM

• This theory suggests that

societies isolate people who do
not share the opinions of the
majority. So, the theory
assumes that humans are afraid
of isolation and that we are
constantly checking the
environment.
SPIRAL OF SILENCE THEORY

• People who hold unpopular opinions will remain silent in

order to avoid isolation or rejection. In this sense, people are
vocal about their opinions when they coincide with the
views of the majority.
• Furthermore, the media will give more coverage to what the
majority thinks, so it will reinforce the need, among those
who hold unpopular opinions, to remain silent.
• As a consequence, public opinion reports reflect what the
majority thinks or believes.
• Public, in this context, means that actions or ideas are seen
by all or heard by all. And the idea of public opinion is a
form of social control.
SPIRAL OF • This theory was developed by German
SILENCE communication researcher Elisabeth
THEORY Noelle-Neumann in the 1960s and 1970s.
SYMBOLIC
INTERACTIONISM
• How is society created and maintained? Through
communication.

• “In social psychology and sociology, the study of the

dynamic negotiation of meanings and constitution of
social realities by social actors through their use and
interpretation of signs in processes of social
interaction within specific situational contexts.”
(Chandler & Munday, 2020, p. 918)

• People give certain meanings to objects, behaviors and

situations. People act according to those meanings,
which are not dictated by objective truth, but by social
interaction.
SYMBOLIC INTERACTIONISM

• We assign those meanings through

interactions with others. Those
meanings, therefore, are socially
and culturally created.
• However, those meanings are not
always clear (or shared by all)
and/or may be subjective.
 • Colors:
• Wedding dresses
• Mourning / funerals
• Red (danger, good luck)
• Words:
• Tortilla (in Mexico, Spain)
SYMBOLIC • Football (in UK, US)
• Torta (in Mexico, Spain)
INTERACTIONI • Chips (in UK, US)
SM • Objects:
• Driving a Bugatti or a Ferrari
• Wearing a uniform or a specific type of clothing (military, religious)
• Jewels or accessories (wearing a diamond ring, a cross..)
• This theory was mainly developed by George Herbert Mead
and Herbert Blumer.
USES AND
GRATIFICATIO
NS THEORY
• This theory does not focus on
the effects of media on people,
but on the reasons for using
media.

• What do media do to people? /

What do people do with media?

• Audiences have social and

psychological needs.

• According to this theory, media

gratify people’s needs.
USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY

• This theory implies that the audience is active, not passive, and
makes choices, “based on previous experience with the media.
There is also an assumption that media use is only one way
amongst others of satisfying needs which are experienced in
everyday life.” (McQuail & Windahl, 1993, p. 134)
• Some needs fulfilled by the media:
• Informational
• Emotional
• Escapism
• Social interaction
• Social status
• Etcetera
USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY

• Which media will satisfy those needs?

• Media use offers rewards which can be
expected (…) by members of the audience,
on the basis of past experience with the
media.” (McQuail & Windahl, 1993, p.
136)
• There is a difference between gratifications
sought and gratifications obtained.
 • Some examples:
• Informational needs: reading the newspaper
• Emotional: watching a soap opera
• Escapism: reading The Lord of the Rings (or
USES AND other books)

GRATIFICATIO • Social interaction: social media

• Social status: having a social media account and
NS THEORY being perceived as “cool”

• Uses and gratifications was developed by

many theorists: Blumler, McQuail, Katz,
and others.
REFERENCES

• Chandler, D. (1995, September 18 ). Cultivation Theory. Visual Memory.

http://visual-memory.co.uk/daniel/Documents/short/cultiv.html
• Chandler, D. & Munday, R. (2020). A Dictionary of Media and
Communication. Oxford University Press.
• McQuail, D. & Windahl, S. (1993). Communication Models for the Study of
Mass Communications (2nd ed.). Routledge.