Page 210 - Media Effects Advances in Theory and Research

Chapter 8

Intermedia

Processes and

Powerful Media

Effects

EVERETT M. ROGERS
University of New Mexico

“Mass communication ordinarily does not serve as a necessary and sufficient
cause of audience effects, but rather functions among and through a nexus of
mediating factors and influences, [but] there are certain residual situations
in which mass communication seems to produce direct effects....”
Joseph T. Klapper, The Effects of Mass Communication (1960, p. 8)

The purpose of this chapter is to analyze several situations in which the
mass media have strong effects. We seek to identify when and why such
relatively rare but important situations occur. We argue that the finding of
strong versus weak media effects may depend in part on the research
designs and the research methods used in an investigation. Further, inter-
media processes, when the mass media stimulate interpersonal communi-
cation about a topic, often considerably magnify the effects of direct expo-
sure to media messages.

WHEN DO THE MEDIA HAVE STRONG EFFECTS?
Research on mass media effects has been the most popular single issue for
mass communication researchers since this scholarly specialty got under-
way with the pioneering works of Harold D. Lasswell and Paul F.
Lazarsfeld in the 1930s (Rogers, 1994). Lasswell studied the effects of
propaganda, mainly through content analysis, whereas Lazarsfeld origi-
nally investigated the effects of the then-new medium of radio via survey

199