Sep 13 2010
Framing Questions-Week 3
Week 3 Framing Questions:
1.In Chapter 5, it discusses public opinion and propaganda in respect to the behaviorist standpoint through the studies of political scientist Harold Lasswell. In the last paragraph on Pg. 102, it states that Lasswell published a report in 1927 that “defined propaganda as ‘the control of opinion by significant symbols, or, to speak more concretely and less accurately, by stories, rumors, reports, pictures and other forms of social communication.'” Considering this definition of propaganda, are people as susceptible to advertising through marketing today as they were back then? Is this type of “propaganda” still considered a “strong effect” on society or are we more resistant today to its effects than before?
2. Does the “two-step flow” of communication that occurs through opinion leaders, as described in Chapter 5, still exist today? Are we susceptible to these opinion leaders, even though the media portrays itself as being the 4th estate of the government, the so-called “people’s branch” that is supposed to run tabs and check every branch of the government for the public? Is there really such thing as a non-biased 4th estate or do they all have their own agenda?
3. Chapter 6 discusses the Media Systems Dependency Theory. Can one apply this theory to the idea of “Internet addiction”? Can an addiction to certain media be considered dependency or is it considered more of an unusual disorder?