Two-Step Flow of Communication Theory

Extract

[...] The term of propaganda is polysemic. In a broad sense, it refers to all the means and actions implemented to spread an opinion, but the notion covers uses and meanings that have continued to evolve throughout history. Before the 18th in the 18th century, the term of propaganda was not perceived in a negative way, it was associated with religion and the ideas disseminated through this propaganda were considered positive and edifying. It was in the 20th century, with media censorship during World War II and the rise of totalitarianism, that we associate the arrival of political extremists to power with propaganda. [...]

[...] But he fled to the USA to escape Nazi repression in 1933. In his book The people's Choice (1944), he established his famous theory Two step flow of communication (theory of two-step flow of communication) which postulates that the influence of the media would be exercised indirectly through opinion leaders and personal influence. He deepened this theory in a second book in 1955, Personal Influence where he passed the torch of media research to his student Elihu Katz. This work is composed of two parts. [...]

[...] - To whom: audience analysis, sociodemographic composition (age, sex, social class) of the audiences. - With what effects: analysis of effects. We are looking to understand to what extent the media impact the opinions and attitudes of individuals. This model is nonetheless reductive because it does not allow for the transcription of the complexity of the communication process since if we have several receivers, we can also have several senders. It is mainly the question of efficiency that interests Lasswell, which pushes him to evacuate the political, social, and cultural dimensions proper to human communication. [...]

[...] The Theory of Indirect Effects Introduction The theory of direct effects is rather negative and pessimistic in the media. But it wasn't always the case in intellectual circles. By the 17the In the 17th century, during the revolution, newspapers were considered in a positive way. They were in affinity with the democratic ideals of the time. Newspapers were therefore democratic because they allowed access to information for all. They were perceived as safe information organs, which allowed for reasonable and enlightened reflection on a subject. [...]

[...] It is inspired by a question that already existed in ancient times: the Quintilian Hexameter. - Who: concerns the sender of the message. We are interested in the means he will use to frame the message. We carry out a control or regulation analysis. Ex: journalists filter and select information before publishing it. They also choose an angle to treat their subject. Framing involves putting the information into a narrative. - What: concerns the message itself. We are in a content analysis that can be qualitative or quantitative. [...]