Media Influence on Health Communication

Mass Media and Health Promotion

• Media is a crucial ally in public health situations
• It provides accurate information and promotes correct health behaviors
• Before media can effectively promote health, it needs to understand diseases, related policies, practices, and recommended behaviors

Role of Media in Health Promotion

• Local and international media play a vital link between health workers and the general public
• Health authorities provide crucial health information to the media
• Media relays this information to the public through various accessible channels (e.g., radio, television)
• Government developed training programs for local media to report complex diseases effectively

Mass Media: Expanding Reach & Health Promotion

• Mass media helps health workers reach wider audiences, especially in rural areas where face-to-face communication is limited
• Mass media is a powerful tool for disseminating health information to rural residents
• Radio and television are effective methods for persuading audiences to adopt new health behaviors
• Media helps remind audiences of essential health information

Mass Media: Expanding Reach & Health Promotion

• Media can inform the public about new diseases, immunization campaigns, and seasonal health variations
• Media can advise on health skills like mixing oral rehydration solution, taking medicine, and promoting community acceptance of health workers

Influence of Mass Media

• Media psychology, communication theory, and sociology study the influence exerted by mass media on audience thought, attitudes, and behavior
• Media messages can reinforce existing beliefs, or lead to a change in audience beliefs
• Researchers examine audiences after media exposure to measure any changes in cognitive, emotional, or behavioral effects

Influence of Mass Media

• Media messages impact audiences based on many factors, including audience demographics and psychological characteristics
• Media effects vary in terms of positivity, negativeness, abruptness, graduality, short-term, and long-lasting nature

Powerful Media Effects Phase

• From the early 20th century to the 1930s, media (radio, film) was believed to have an irresistible power to influence beliefs, cognitions, and audience behavior
• Audiences were assumed to be passive and homogeneous in their response to media messages
• This perception was based on assumptions about human nature, rather than empirical evidence

Powerful Media Effects Phase

• Technological advancements in mass media increased their potential worldwide reach
• The speed of information dissemination during this era surprised audiences
• Propaganda techniques used during wartime also supported the notion of powerful media effects

Powerful Media Effects Phase

• Hypodermic needle theory (magic bullet theory) assumes audiences as passive recipients of media messages, unable to resist the message

Limited Media Effects Phase

• The importance of empirical research in understanding the complex nature of media effects was recognized
• Payne Fund studies investigated media effects on young people
• Studies of planned persuasion in film and other media also contributed to the understanding of media effects

Limited Media Effects Phase

• Researchers uncovered many intervening factors that influence media effects on individuals (e.g., demographics, social factors)
• Isolating media effect became difficult due to these factors
• Media effect is dependent on many factors (audience characteristics, situations, conditions)

Limited Media Effects Phase

• Berelson (1959) concluded that media effects depend on various factors (communication type, individual, and conditions)

Limited Media Effects Phase

• Two-step flow of communication theory suggests media effects are indirect. Opinion leaders influence individuals
• Klapper's selective exposure theory states that audiences are not passive recipients; they choose content aligned with their existing beliefs

Rediscovered Powerful Media Effects Phase

• The rise of television in the 1950s/1960s highlighted the powerful effects of media on social lives
• The focus on short-term effects in earlier studies was insufficient
• The need for studying long-term media effects became apparent

Rediscovered Powerful Media Effects Phase

• This period of research emphasized the impacts of mass media on collective cultural patterns, social reality, ideology, and institutional behavior

Rediscovered Powerful Media Effects Phase

• Audiences are still, to some degree, in control of message selection
• Media, however, influences the way messages are received and interpreted, leading to longer-term consequences

Rediscovered Powerful Media Effects Phase

• Agenda-setting theory: media's ability to shape the salience of topics in the public's perception
• Framing theory: media's ability to manipulate audience interpretation via angles, facts, and coverage

Negotiated Media Effects Phase

• In the late 1970s, researchers focused on the role of media in shaping social realities
• Audiences are active in how they perceive and interpret media messages; they are not passive recipients
• Individuals actively interact with media, impacting their perceptions of social reality

Negotiated Media Effects Phase

• Qualitative and ethnographic research methods were used in addition to quantitative research methods
• Research on minority and fringe social movements was explored in the context of media effect

Negotiated Media Effects Phase

• Van Zoonen's research (1992) examined the media’s contribution to the women’s movement in the Netherlands

New Media Environment Phase

• Research on the impact of computers and computer-mediated communication (CMC) on individual and group behavior emerged in the 1970s.
• Studies focused on interpersonal interactions and group behaviors in the newly emerging digital environment.
• The differences in interpersonal relationships and the effects in various contexts were explored

New Media Environment Phase

• The wide adoption of the internet from the 1990s expanded the scope of CMC studies
• Theories such as social information processing were used to understand the effects of communication in online interactions
• Media effects on online behaviors were studied, compared with face-to-face interactions

New Media Environment Phase

• Studies on CMC have greatly progressed due to the rise of user-generated content and social media
• A need for new media theories is highlighted, which can account for the dynamism of the emerging trends

Typology

• Media effects studies categorize effects on individuals (micro-level) or the aggregate (macro-level)
• Micro-level theories use individual media users as the basis for observations and conclusions
• Macro-level theories focus on large groups, institutions, systems, or ideologies. Representative theories include knowledge gap, risk communication, and public sphere theory

Typology

• Micro-level studies involve various ways individuals respond to media (cognitive, affective, physiological, behavioral responses)
• Micro-level examples include priming theory, social learning theory, and theories on media violence

Typology

• Macro-level studies involve broader social patterns or effects such as agenda-setting, framing, and spiral of silence
• Macro-level analysis includes how media influences social realities, cultural patterns, and individual perceptions

Key Media Effects Theories

• Third-person effect: individuals believe they're less susceptible to media effects than others
• Priming effect: activation of related thoughts and ideas due to media exposure – influencing behaviors and attitudes
• Social learning theory: learning through observation of others, especially in media-presented contexts

Key Media Effects Theories

• Media violence: research of its effects on individuals, particularly children and adolescents

Key Media Effects Theories

• Cultivation theory: media exposure shapes audience perceptions of reality (especially with regard to violence and social issues)
• Agenda-setting theory: explains how media can influence what is perceived as important

Key Media Effects Theories

• Framing theory: how news outlets shape information to influence public perception
• Spiral of silence: fear of isolation leads people to self-censor opinions, especially if media does not reflect those opinions

Features of Current Media

• Media selectivity: audiences selectively choose media messages, limiting the impact of certain messages
• Media content properties and media modality (how information is presented) drive media effects
• Media effects are indirect: intervening variables mediate the relationship between media exposure and effects

Features of Current Media

• Media effects are conditional: factors like individual differences and social contexts influence media effects
• Transactional model of media effects views media effects as reciprocally influenced by the characteristics of the media users and the environment