Mass Media: A Hell of A Drug

So, most of us wouldn’t consider ourselves to be puppets, with our every move being orchestrated by someone else who has attached strings to our limbs that dictate how we engage life. But have you ever thought about how the media communicates to us? I mean, we’re not necessarily Pinocchio, but the media does a great job a being Geppetto.

Disagree? Familiar with the Bullet/Hypodermic Needle Theory? Basically, it states that the media (needle) injects the message into audiences’ minds, causing changes in the audiences’ behavior and psyche towards the message.

I’m not claiming to be a puppet, but I believe this to be a communications norm and I know I often fall prey. I will talk about how it impacts me but think about yourself in the process.

Unfortunately, I don’t have to think long and hard, but I can take the coronavirus as an example, and how I’ve responded and reacted to its existence. First, let me say that I am sincerely sympathetic to everyone who has had it, dealt with it and even had loved ones to die from it. I hope that everyone who has been impacted by Covid-19 directly finds peace from whatever greater power that they believe in.

Now let’s talk Bullet/Hypodermic Needle Theory. It is effectively the tale of two stories (narratives). Upon initially hearing about the coronavirus, like many people, I was hypersensitive to everything the media was saying about it. The media dictated my every move. Or in my case, my lack of movement, because I didn’t care what anybody else was doing, I WAS STAYING AT THE HOUSE!

The daily publishing and communication of infected people and death tolls had me completely spooked! At the time, not knowing fully how it was transmitted fueled my self-imposed quarantine. But the media did a masterful job of confirming that my self-imposed quarantine was a great idea. Fast forward to now. With less media communication about Covid-19, I have become more laxed as well. Now, I’ve been fully vaccinated, and I voluntarily wear my mask in public. But by doing my own research, I’ve been seeing that the death toll and infections as of right now, are comparable to what the peak was in months past, before the vaccine. But because of the media’s lack of minute-by-minute communication, I feel safer to engage life with some semblance of normalcy.

To a lesser degree and on a much lighter note, the media has a heavy influence on what society defines as an attractive person, and I have fallen prey to the media’s definitions. I think it is a great thing that we’re seeing more plus-size people in areas where we would have never seen them twenty years ago. In turn, what I would have defined as attractive twenty years ago, is not my same sentiment today. There are attractive plus-size people as well, but for many years I followed the lead of the medium in thinking that there were not any.

A third example would be the narrative of news outlets. It’s amazing how Fox, MSNBC and CNN can be reporting about the exact same thing, but communicate in three very different ways, in an effort to communicate to their target audience. Well, it works, and I’m proof. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m not gullible enough to believe that everything my chosen news outlet reports is true, but because I side with their viewpoint, I often don’t care whether what they say is true or not, as long as it confirms my bias.

These are just a few examples, and the list goes on and on. Mass media’s impact on society will continue to expand and even knowing that I’m evidence of the existence of Bullet/Hypodermic Needle Theory, I can’t imagine that a heightened since of awareness will dictate change. I guess media is a hell of a drug too.