Early Theories of Mass Communication — 1. Magic Bullet
The Magic Bullet Theory or the Hypodermic Needle theory
The Magic Bullet Theory suggested that mass communication is a linear process where a media message is sent from the source to the audience, and the unmediated appropriately designed media message has a direct, immediate, uniform effect on the audiences. The theory “assumes that the media message is a bullet fired from the ‘media gun’ into the viewer’s head” (Berger, 1995, as cited in Rössler, 2017, p. 1309) similar to the needle used to inject a message into audiences’ brains. It stressed that the audiences would accept the media message entirely without criticizing or considering whether it is true or not. With the strategically designed message to trigger the sender’s desired response, it is believed that audiences would be similarly influenced and respond the same way. That is the audiences are seen as passive and homogenous and the media is powerful (Defleur, 2017).
One of the classic examples of the Magic Bullet theory is the infamous radio broadcast on the day before Halloween in 1938 by Columbia Broadcasting System radio (CBS) radio network, New York. Like breaking news in today’s mass media, the regular program was interrupted by what was believed as the urgent news report about the aliens from Mars were attacking and invading the earth. The broadcast, which was later called War of the Worlds, was indeed a fake story. However, it caused the mass majority of people to have panic attacks. Newspapers distributed the next day were mostly with the major headlines regarding the story e.g. “Radio Play Terrifies Nation” by The Boston Daily Globe, “Fake Radio ‘War’ Stirs Terror Through U.S.” by Daily News, and “Radio Fake Scares Nation” by Herald Examiner. Some newspapers reported people hid in their basement or drove far away from home to escape the nonexistent invasion (October 2018: Orson Welles’s “War of the Worlds” Radio Broadcast | Origins: Current Events in Historical Perspective, n.d.) The War of the World illustrates the proposition of the Magic Bullet Theory of the powerful and uniform effect of mass media.
Critiques
The Magic Bullet Theory’s concept may have been seen as valid at the time it was created. Newspapers and radio were dominant mass media in those early years. Particularly, due to the tensions during wartime, people tend to rely primarily on what they have heard, read, or viewed in mass media, thereby strongly influenced by the media message. However, it has been disapproved by many concerning its assumption of which is based merely on the logic of human nature without empirical research knowledge. Additionally, this theory disregarded individualities by assuming that audiences are homogenous and have a similar response to a media message. In contrast, it is argued that neither all individuals are passive nor respond to the same situation in the same ways. Lazarfeld Katz (1948)’s empirical research suggested that people processed the media message received differently. Likewise, Rubin (1994) agreed that audiences are active and able to assess information and make their own judgment. As mentioned, seeing audiences as passive and vulnerable, this theory failed to take into account the ability of humans to think, make judgments or questions. Therefore, the Magic bullet theory or hypodermic needle theory can be seen as obsolete particularly in the recent media climate. However, studies concerning media violence seemingly draw on the idea of Magic Bullet theory to investigate the direct effect of media on its audience. It is agreed that media can, with easy access and direct exposure, have a powerful effect on certain groups of passive, vulnerable, gullible audiences such as children which are being discussed comprehensively in other theories such as Social Learning Theories.
panitcha 6 @ gmail.com / Aug 2020
