Cultural Theories

CULTURAL THEORIES

1. MEDIA SYSTEMS DEPENDENCY THEORY

This is a system based theory that tackles about the dependency of the media system, the political system, and the general public with one another. This theory tells us that each of the three systems depends and benefits from the other two systems. Each has supremacy over other, even though they need the two systems to exist. An example would be, the general public needs the political system for authority and the media system for their entertainment. The political system needs the media system for disseminating information, and the general public to vote for them during election.

1.  AGENDA-SETTING THEORY 

This theory explains how the public determines the most important thing to be discussed. According to this theory, the media do not tell the public what they should think of, but they influence the perception of the audience regarding the issue that should be given importance and should be talked about. It also says that the more a person sees a certain issue being covered, the more he/she thinks that the issue is important.

1. SPIRAL OF SILENCE

A theory that talks about public opinion. It is based on the assumption that we, people, don’t like to feel like we are different and that the society separates those people who have a deviant thought. Due to the fear of isolation, we observe the situation around us and the way the person we are interacting to thinks. If we think that our opinion would please the majority, we would be proud of it to the point that we speak out what we thought of. On the other hand, if we feel that our opinion is somewhat different from the general public, we will just keep our mouths shut. This theory talks about how an odd thought are suppressed in the society we live in.

1.  KNOWLEDGE GAP HYPOTHESIS 

It talks about the use of communication in the society. According to this theory, the public are separated into two divisions: the information rich and the information poor. The information rich are those people who have the capabilities to have an access to information. The literate, educated, and wealthy are those people who belong to that division. They have the money to avail different gadgets that would add up to the knowledge they possess. On the other hand, those who belong to the information poor division are those people who just have enough money for their basic needs. Usually, they are those who live in the mountainous area wherein technology is not known.

1. CULTURAL IMPERIALISM 

This theory states that the Western nation dominates the media around the world. Their media has a powerful effect on the culture of those nations who are under them. The cultures of other nation are consumed by the Western culture resulting to the loss of identity of a certain nation.

1. COMMUNICATION ACCOMODATION THEORY

The communication accommodation theory is a theory that emphasizes the adjustments that the people do while they are communicating. Howard Giles was the one who developed the theory. According to him, people try to emphasize or minimize the social difference between the people they interact with. This theory discusses the tendency of the humans to change their behaviors while they are communication with someone. We accommodate a certain person’s ways of communication for us to get their approval, and to make a good impression to the person we are talking to.