Preface | p. xiii |
Introduction to Mass Communication Theory | p. 1 |
Introduction | p. 2 |
Three Questions About Media | p. 7 |
Defining and Redefining Mass Communication | p. 10 |
Five Eras of Media Theory | p. 11 |
The Era of Mass Society and Mass Culture | p. 12 |
Emergence of a Scientific Perspective on Mass Communication | p. 14 |
The Limited Effects Paradigm Emerges | p. 15 |
Cultural Criticism: A Challenge to the Limited Effects Paradigm | p. 16 |
Emergence of a Moderate Effects Perspective | p. 18 |
Ongoing Debate over Issues | p. 20 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 21 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 22 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 23 |
Mass Communication Theory | p. 24 |
Overview | p. 25 |
Science and Human Behavior | p. 25 |
Schizophrenic Social Science | p. 30 |
Defining Theory | p. 31 |
Mass Communication and Theory | p. 34 |
Summary | p. 35 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 35 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 36 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 37 |
Era of Mass Society and Mass Culture | p. 38 |
The Rise of Media Industries and Mass Society Theory | p. 40 |
Overview | p. 41 |
The Beginnings | p. 42 |
The Rise of Yellow Journalism | p. 43 |
Cycles of Mass Media Development and Decline | p. 44 |
Mass Society Critics and the Great Debate over Media | p. 47 |
Mass Society Theory Assumptions | p. 48 |
Rise of the Great Debate over Media | p. 56 |
Early Examples of Mass Society Theory | p. 57 |
Gemeinschaft and Gesellschaft | p. 58 |
Mechanical and Organic Solidarity | p. 59 |
Mass Society Theory in Contemporary Times | p. 60 |
Summary | p. 63 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 64 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 66 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 67 |
The Rise of Media Theory in the Age of Propaganda | p. 68 |
Overview | p. 70 |
The Origin of Propaganda | p. 71 |
Propaganda Comes to the United States | p. 74 |
Behaviorism | p. 76 |
Freudianism | p. 76 |
Magic Bullet Theory | p. 77 |
Lasswell's Propaganda Theory | p. 78 |
Lippmann's Theory of Public Opinion Formation | p. 80 |
Reaction Against Early Propaganda Theory | p. 81 |
Modern Propaganda Theory | p. 82 |
Libertarianism Reborn | p. 86 |
Summary | p. 86 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 87 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 88 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 90 |
Normative Theories of Mass Communication | p. 91 |
Overview | p. 93 |
The Origin of Normative Theories of Media | p. 95 |
The Origin of Libertarian Thought | p. 96 |
The Marketplace of Ideas: A New Form of Radical Libertarianism | p. 99 |
Government Regulation of Media--The Federal Radio Commission | p. 102 |
Professionalization of Journalism | p. 105 |
Limitations of Professionalization | p. 106 |
Social Responsibility Theory of the Press: A Postwar Compromise | p. 108 |
The Cold War Tests Social Responsibility Theory | p. 110 |
Using Social Responsibility Theory to Guide Professional Practice | p. 111 |
Is There Still a Role for Social Responsibility Theory? | p. 113 |
Civic Journalism | p. 116 |
Other Normative Theories | p. 117 |
Summary | p. 119 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 120 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 122 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 122 |
The Rise and Fall of Limited Effects | p. 124 |
Limited Effects Theory Emerges | p. 126 |
Overview | p. 127 |
Paradigm Shifts | p. 129 |
The Paradigm Shift in Mass Communication Theory | p. 130 |
The Two-Step Flow of Information and Influence | p. 133 |
Limitations in the Lazarsfeld Model | p. 136 |
Limited Effects Theory | p. 138 |
Attitude Change Theories | p. 139 |
Carl Hovland and the Experimental Section | p. 140 |
The Communication Research Program | p. 142 |
Emergence of the Media Effects Focus | p. 144 |
The Selective Processes | p. 145 |
The Hovland-Lazarsfeld Legacy | p. 149 |
Limitations of the Experimental Persuasion Research | p. 150 |
Summary | p. 153 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 154 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 154 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 155 |
Middle-Range Theory and the Consolidation of the Limited Effects Paradigm | p. 156 |
Overview | p. 159 |
Building a Paradigm | p. 160 |
Robert Merton: Master Paradigm Maker | p. 161 |
The Functional Analysis Approach | p. 163 |
Information Flow Theory | p. 166 |
Information Diffusion Theory | p. 168 |
Klapper's Phenomenistic Theory | p. 171 |
An Apology for Mass Entertainment | p. 172 |
Elite Pluralism | p. 175 |
C. Wright Mills and The Power Elite | p. 177 |
Assumptions of the Limited Effects Paradigm | p. 178 |
Drawbacks of the Limited Effects Paradigm | p. 179 |
Contributions of the Limited Effects Paradigm | p. 180 |
Summary | p. 181 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 182 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 183 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 184 |
Challenging the Dominant Paradigm: Children, Systems, and Effects | p. 185 |
Overview | p. 185 |
Focus on Children and Violence | p. 186 |
Television Violence Theories | p. 190 |
Catharsis | p. 190 |
Social Learning | p. 192 |
Social Cognition from Mass Media | p. 193 |
Aggressive Cues | p. 196 |
The Context of Mediated Violence | p. 197 |
Active Theory of Television Viewing | p. 198 |
The Developmental Perspective | p. 199 |
Media and Children's Socialization | p. 200 |
Systems Theories of Communication Processes | p. 202 |
The Rise of Systems Theories | p. 203 |
Mathematical Theory of Communication | p. 204 |
Modeling Systems | p. 205 |
A Simple Systems Model | p. 206 |
Applying Systems Models to Human Communication | p. 206 |
Adoption of Systems Models by Mass Communication Theorists | p. 207 |
Closed versus Open Systems | p. 209 |
The Utility of Systems Models | p. 210 |
Estimating Causality | p. 211 |
A Focus on Structure and Function | p. 212 |
Summary | p. 214 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 215 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 216 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 217 |
Contemporary Mass Communication Theory--Searching for Consensus and Confronting Challenges | p. 218 |
Emergence of Critical and Cultural Theories of Mass Communication | p. 220 |
Overview | p. 221 |
Changing Times | p. 222 |
The Cultural Turn in Media Research | p. 223 |
Macroscopic versus Microscopic Theories | p. 224 |
Critical Theory | p. 224 |
Comparing Cultural Theories with Those Based on Empirical Research | p. 226 |
Rise of Cultural Theories in Europe | p. 227 |
Marxist Theory | p. 228 |
Neomarxism | p. 229 |
Textual Analysis and Literary Criticism | p. 230 |
The Frankfurt School | p. 230 |
Development of Neomarxist Theory in Britain | p. 231 |
Political Economy Theory | p. 234 |
The Debate Between Cultural Studies and Political Economy Theorists | p. 236 |
Cultural Studies: Transmissional versus Ritual Perspectives | p. 236 |
Symbolic Interaction | p. 238 |
Social Construction of Reality | p. 244 |
Research on Popular Culture in the United States | p. 247 |
Summary | p. 249 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 250 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 251 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 252 |
Media and Audiences: Theories About the Role of Media in Everyday Life | p. 253 |
Overview | p. 255 |
Audience Theories: From Source-Dominated to Active Audience Perspectives | p. 256 |
Limitations of Early Audience-Centered Research | p. 257 |
Confusion of Media Functions and Media Uses | p. 259 |
Revival of the Uses and Gratifications Approach | p. 261 |
The Active Audience Revisited | p. 264 |
Uses and Gratifications and Effects | p. 267 |
Development of Reception Studies: Decoding and Sensemaking | p. 269 |
Feminist Reception Studies | p. 272 |
Framing and Frame Analysis | p. 273 |
Information Processing Theory | p. 279 |
An Information Processing Model | p. 282 |
Processing Television News | p. 283 |
Some Final Words to Clear the Mist | p. 284 |
Summary | p. 287 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 288 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 289 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 289 |
Theories of Media, Culture, and Society | p. 291 |
Overview | p. 293 |
Marshall McLuhan: The Medium Is the Message and Massage | p. 294 |
Harold Innis: The Bias of Communication | p. 298 |
McLuhan: Understanding Media | p. 299 |
Social Marketing Theory | p. 302 |
The Knowledge Gap | p. 308 |
Agenda-Setting | p. 311 |
The Spiral of Silence | p. 315 |
Media System Dependency Theory | p. 320 |
Cultivation Analysis | p. 322 |
The Controversy | p. 325 |
The Products of Cultivation Analysis | p. 327 |
The Mean World Index | p. 328 |
A Final Note on Cultivation | p. 329 |
Media as Culture Industries: The Commodification of Culture | p. 331 |
Advertising: The Ultimate Cultural Commodity | p. 334 |
News Production Research | p. 335 |
Media Intrusion Theory | p. 338 |
Summary | p. 342 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 343 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 344 |
Significant People and Their writing | p. 345 |
Trends in Mass Communication Theory: Seeking Consensus, Facing Challenges | p. 346 |
Overview | p. 347 |
Communication Science | p. 348 |
Two Views of Communication Science | p. 349 |
An Example of Communication Science | p. 352 |
Social Semiotics Theory | p. 354 |
The Communications Revolution | p. 358 |
The End of Mass Communication | p. 361 |
Globalization and Media | p. 362 |
Globalization Problems | p. 363 |
Role of Media in Globalization | p. 364 |
Postmodern Criticism of Modernity | p. 366 |
Avoiding the Dreams of Modernity | p. 368 |
Challenges from Cognitive Psychology and Biological Science | p. 370 |
The Media Literacy Movement | p. 374 |
Two Views of Media Literacy | p. 376 |
Summary | p. 377 |
Exploring Mass Communication Theory | p. 378 |
Critical Thinking Questions | p. 380 |
Significant People and Their Writing | p. 381 |
References | p. 383 |
Index | p. 401 |
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