Media Influence- Reinforcement Theory (Joseph Klapper) [Effects Theory-What the media does to audiences]

In 1989 the first TAC campaign could have been seen as

a new media driven message highlighting road safety concerns and new driving laws

Klapper argued that these socialising influences were responsible for a person's beliefs and behaviour,

and that the media can only play a role by 'reinforcing' these beliefs and attitudes. The audience will simply ignore messages that contradict their view of the world.

As a result of his research, Klapper generalised that mass communication cannot be considered in isolation

but must be seen as an influence working amid other influences.

One of the problems of the Reinforcement theory is that it

fails to explain why two people with similar socialisation experiences can read the same media text in radically different ways.

if there is no pre-existing value or belief in the audience when issues have not been talked about before. Only on these rare occasions can the media slightly

influence the public for a short time, until other sources of influence in society become aware of the issue.

With the TAC campaign now in its 25th year

reinforcement theorists would now advocate that the network of social factors (family,education etc) have more power to shape opinion and driver behaviour

Sociologist Joseph Klapper basically agreed with the Uses and Gratification Theory in that

the media is not seen as being all-powerful and that the meanings in texts are open to interpretation by the audience

Klapper argued that the influence of the media can be much greater

when the media explores issues that have not been talked about before.

At the point where the media issue has then been immersed into society,

Klapper argued, the network of social factors will again become the dominant influence shaping public opinion and not the media

However, Klapper's theory differs in one important way:

Klapper considered a range of influences upon audiences, of which the media was only one.

According to the Reinforcement theory, the media is seen as having little power to shape public opinion.

Other factors (referred to as 'socialising influences') play a greater role in shaping people's beliefs and attitudes such as the influence of family and peer groups, religion, social class, education, occupation, etc.