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This is really important for media scholars: the narrative that Trump& #39;s supporters were merely unsophisticated victims of a talented demagogue repeats the "media effects" argument, which holds that media audiences internalize all messaging uncritically & have no agency. (1/n) https://twitter.com/tzimmer_history/status/1325548767576199175">https://twitter.com/tzimmer_h...
Media effects theory has always been used to justify censorship, b/c "the kids" will turn violent if they play violent videogames or listen to rap music lyrics that reference violence (for example). (2/n)
And now media effects is being used to justify the innocence of Trump voters, b/c they fell prey to a smooth-talking snake oil salesman and misinformation online. So media effects theory works to legitimate censorship and to legitimate racism at the same time. (3/n)
Let& #39;s note what media effects specifically excludes: the validation of media users& #39; agency. A recognition that, as reception theorists from Iser to Barthes to Hall argued, meaning is made by the reader/viewer/listener. Meaning resides in the receiver. (4/n)
THAT is, apparently, the blind side of a lot of "conventional wisdom" around media: that it& #39;s not about the producer. It& #39;s a little bit about the distributor, spreading messages. It& #39;s a LOT about the receiver. The receiver is NEVER passive. The audience MAKES the meaning. (5/n)
And this is a perspective--I go so far as to call it a fact--that threatens many traditional ideas of how social order should be. B/c the king, or pope, or whoever is the top of the hierarchy, SHOULD be able to determine the meaning of his messages. (6/n)
But that& #39;s not how media works. It& #39;s always been the PEOPLE who have decided what media means. They complete and fill in the media they receive. If they choose to fanfic Trump into a hero, he& #39;s a hero. If they choose to fanfic NWA into a group abt self-worth, so they are. (7/n)
Continuing to buy into media effects supports hierarchical/monarchical/feudal thinking. The dumb peasants just take whatever meanings are foisted upon them. But seeing that reception/fan theory has been true all along mans acknowledging that (8/n)
DEMOCRACY has been active all along. Meaning is more or less democratically made. Yes there is influence & influencers, but each individual human has the power - and responsibility - to decide what any unique media text means. So don& #39;t buy into media effects thinking (/9/n)
b/c thinking each media message inherently contains its meaning and injects it into its hearers/watchers/readers ("hypodermic needle theory" is another name for this school of thought) robs ppl of agency AND lets agential media users off the hook! (/end)
