Direct Effects

The direct effects model of mass media denotes a set of theories about the influence of the media on audiences and society. The model basically asserts that the mass media have an immediate and powerful impact upon people, or to put it in another way, that media messages directly affect the receivers/audiences. The direct effects model proposes to define the relation between media and society by positing a causal connection; that is, mass media determine people’s thought and behavior. Further, the model embraces a pessimistic view about mass media and interprets its effects in a negative way. The dark tone of the model is due to its historical conditions, namely its having arisen in the course of the First World War. Hence, it must be ...