Hypodermic Needle Theory Essay

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The hypodermic needle model demonstrates the primary reason for immediate media effects. The hypodermic needle model states that often times the media can send a message to a viewer and the viewer will receive it as a credible source without any other verification (Bryant, Jennings, et al.). The hypodermic needle theory, as well as fear, are a dangerous combination. Two instances of immediate public response due to the hypodermic needle theory are Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast and Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle”. This combination of the hypodermic needle theory and fear was most evident during Orson Welles War of the Worlds broadcast. On Halloween in 1938, Orson Welles narrated a fictional broadcast of the War of the Worlds invasion frightening nearly one million people (Bryant, Jennings, et al.). The fear struck in the public from this broadcast cause immediate pandemonium on the streets. People flooded the streets …show more content…

For example, it would take much longer for an army to assemble than a mere 15 minutes. People were blinded from how unrealistic these claims were because of the fear it caused them. Welles injected the idea that people's lives were endangered and they took it in their own hands from their. This effect was overwhelming strong impacting many people in a very short time frame. Another example of an immediate media effect was during the muckraking era with Upton Sinclair’s novel “The Jungle”. Many portions of the novel were over exaggerated for entertainment; however, the jungle brought to light the horrifying conditions of the food being consumed by the public and the working conditions of the meat packing industry. The novel placed fear in the public that the food they were eating was unhealthy. At one point within the novel he even states that human beings often fall into the rendering vats and are ground into the

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