Magic Bullet Theory Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Magic Bullet Theory - Essay Example The paper will also assist in showing how the magic bullet theory suffers shortcomings after the assassination of President John Kennedy. According to the magic bullet theory, people in the society live an isolated lifestyle because of diverse origins, beliefs, and norms. Likewise, media messages act as symbolic bullets that strike their ears and brains resulting in certain effects on their behavior. The effect of media messages on the passive audience is powerful and direct. An example of this theory was demonstrated by Orson Wells when Mercury Theater Group after starting the broadcasting of â€Å"War of the Worlds†. About 12 million Americans heard the ‘one the eve of Halloween’ and a section of the population started believing that a dangerous alien invasion was underway. Such misleading news led to household hysteria and caused traffic jams. People also fled from their City houses to settle in rural areas and many groceries started limiting the food reserves. Accordingly, media practitioners have argued that the â€Å"War of Worlds† is an example of how propaganda can be utilized in the magic bullet theory to manipulate the emotions and beliefs of a gullible public (Gupta & Aggarwal, 2001). On the contrary, the magic bullet theory does not really work since no two individuals can react similarly to media misleading broadcasts. It can be said the pre-deposition, attitudes, prejudices, and moods of an individual influence his reaction towards misleading information from the media.... Research questions I. Can the mass media succeed in issuing misleading information? II. Does the magic bullet theory work? III. Does the media audience respond the propagandas passively? IV. What are the main shortcomings of the magic bullet theory? Literature review According to the magic bullet theory, people in the society live an isolated lifestyle because of diverse origins, beliefs and norms. Likewise, media messages act as symbolic bullets that strike their ears and brains resulting to certain effects on their behavior. The effect of media messages on the passive audience is powerful and direct. An example of this theory was demonstrated by Orson Wells when Mercury Theater Group after starting the broadcasting of â€Å"War of the Worlds†. About 12 million Americans heard the ‘one the eve of Halloween’ and a section of the population started believing that a dangerous alien invasion was underway. Such misleading news led to household hysteria, and caused tra ffic jams. People also fled from their City houses to settle in rural areas and many groceries started limiting the food reserves. Accordingly, media practitioners have argued that the â€Å"War of Worlds† is an example of how propaganda can be utilized in the magic bullet theory to manipulate the emotions and beliefs of a gullible public (Gupta & Aggarwal, 2001). On the contrary, the magic bullet theory does not really work since no two individuals can react similarly to media misleading broadcasts. It can be said the pre-depositions, attitudes, prejudices and moods of an individual influence his reaction towards misleading information from the media (Davis & Baron, 1981). Media propaganda is a communication message that is intended to