Hypodermic needle model/Magic Bullet Theory

In my spare time, I wanted to research one of the theories that studies the relationship between the audience and the media. I will be specifically looking at the Hypodermic needle model.

The "Magic Bullet" theory graphically assumes that the media's message is a bullet fired from the "media gun" into the viewer's "head".
-Berger, 1995

Hypodermic needle model or Magic Bullet Theory was first developed in the early 1920s, and is one of the most famous theories that studies the relationship between the audience and the media. The mass media in the 1940s and 1950s were believed to have a powerful influence on the behaviour change. This theory implies media has had a direct, instant effect on its audiences.

The fast rise of population of radios and televisions was one of the factors that contributed to this theory of communication. Along with the appearance of the persuasion industries such as advertising and propaganda.  Another reason is the Payne Fund studies of the 1930s, which focused on the impact of motion pictures on children.

This theory is said to 'shoot' or 'inject' a particular message designed to trigger a desired response. It explains how media controls what the audiences views and listens and the effects. They express media as a dangerous mean of communicating an idea because the receiver or audience is powerless to resist the impact of the message. People are seen as passive, so they end up thinking what they are told and so a fixed mindset and perception is created. They depend on media for information especially at the time of crisis and in the time of war.

In 1938, the hypodermic needle theory was successful when the radio adaptation of H. G. Wells’ play “War of the Worlds” was broadcasted. Audiences listen to this stimulation of a news broadcast as it occurred every 40 minutes, so some people believed that it was real account of an alien invasion from Mars, which caused a mass panic to millions of people. People hid in homes and loaded their weapons in an attempt to defend themselves against the supposed forthcoming attack. This became known as the "Panic Broadcast" and changed broadcast history, social psychology and civil defence. Around 12 million people in the USA heard the broadcast with about one million believing that a serious alien invasion was happening. A wave of mass panic disrupted households, caused traffic jams and clogged communication systems. People fled their city homes to seek shelter in more rural areas, raided grocery stores and began to ration food. Some people hid in homes and loaded their weapons in an attempt to defend themselves against the supposed forthcoming attack. The broadcast was the cause of the nation being in a state of chaos. This theory worked because the message was directly injected into the bloodstream of the public, attempting to create a uniform thinking. This shows that the media could manipulate a passive and gullible public, which lead theorists to believe that this method of media authors shaped the audience perception.

Modern day use of the hypodermic needle model can be seen in a lot of films, TV shows and videos. Many sources of information today can be accessed through a variety of media outlets, allowing more control than ever over the messages that influence them. Media is still very influential today, and is far more complex than in the early days of mass communication. Many people only seek information that supports their worldview, factors like attitudes, education, living standards and attitudes can determine whether a person will accept a message from the media. Media plays a huge presence in today's society as it is the biggest source of information, which is designed to tell the public what to think about the world issues and stories that affect a significant portion of society. You are able to interact with media through social networking sites and can even direct the flow of information to others. Media can portray what the world should supposedly be like, this  is implanted into the subconscious mind of the viewer. Today the Hypodermic Needle Theory continues to influence the way we talk about the media and that the mass media has a powerful effect.