Communication Theory

Research Paper # 67809

Communication > Journalism
Communication > Mass Media

A summary of the uses and gratifications theory and the agenda-setting theory, two of the most popular and widely recognised theories in communication science.

3,236 words () | 12 sources | MLA | 2006 South Africa

Paper Summary:

This paper studies a local publication, the South African edition of "Men's Health" to investigate the reasoning behind mass media public reading and exposure to this print media product. In order to explain the research findings two prominent mass communication theories are used as theoretical frameworks in the study. This is because an international publication that has over twenty-five versions all over the world, such as "Men's Health", is accessible to many different people on many levels of society and so it therefore forms an integral part of the mass media and provides for an ideal case study. The two theories used are the uses and gratifications theory and the agenda-setting theory, two of the most popular and widely recognised theories.

Outline
Introduction
The Publication
Two Communication Theories
Uses and Gratifications Theory
What Gratifications Are Sought And Obtained?
Media's Role in the Gratifications Process
The Three Processes
Expectancy-Value Theory
Dependency Theory
The Agenda-Setting Theory
Definition
Core Assumptions
Theory Framework and Developments
Contingency Factors
Issue Obtrusiveness
Levels of Agenda-Setting
Critique
Uses and Gratifications Theory
Agenda-Setting Theory
Conclusion
Sources Consulted

From the Paper:

"The very first definition of the uses and gratifications theory, put forth by Katz, Blumler and Gurevitch (1974), is still among the best and most accurate, stating that the uses and gratifications theory addresses the social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectations of the mass media or other sources, which lead to differential patterns of media exposure, resulting in need gratifications. This means that the readers of the Men's Health publication are specifically choosing to read the stories in the magazine because they appeal to a certain need that the reader is trying to fulfil. They expose themselves to the media because the contents such as health reports are fulfilling a social or psychological need. "