Question

According to which theory the audience is passive and the media messages can be injected into them?

• A. Uses & gratification theory
• B. Two-step flow model
• C. Hypodermic needle theory
• D. Propaganda

Hint:

Hint:
The word injected points to a needle and a syringe.

Answer 1

The Correct Option is C

Step 1: Understanding the Concept:
Media effect theories differ on one main point. Some treat people as helpless receivers, and some treat them as thinking users. We need the first kind.

Step 2: Spot the clue word.
The clue is injected. An injection is given with a needle that goes straight in, and the person receiving it has no say. The same picture fits the theory named after a hypodermic needle.

Step 3: Rule out the active-audience ideas.
Uses and gratification starts from the question of what people do with media, so the audience is active. The two-step flow model has opinion leaders in between, so the message is not delivered straight to everyone.

Step 4: Rule out propaganda.
Propaganda names the act of pushing biased messages. It does not explain how an audience behaves, so it is not a theory in this sense.

Step 5: Background of the theory.
The hypodermic needle idea grew in the 1930s and 1940s, when radio and film were new and war propaganda seemed to move whole nations. Thinkers of that time felt that one strong message reached everyone alike and caused the same reaction. Later research found that people filter messages, and so newer theories replaced it. But the question asks about the passive audience, which is the mark of this early theory.

Step 6: Conclude.
Only the hypodermic needle theory pictures a passive mass audience that takes in media messages directly. That is option (3).

Final Answer:
The answer is the Hypodermic needle theory, option (3). \[ \boxed{\text{3}} \]