THEORIZING IN THE ERA OF MEDIA ADVANCEMENT: A CASE FOR AUTHENTICATION THEORY

Abstract

The earliest theories of effect came with the assumption that the mass media audiences are passive and as such believe every message that emanate from the media. This assumption was proved wrong by the study of Lazarsfeld, Berelson and Gaudet, (1944/1968) in the election of Franklin D. Roosevelt in 1940 which sought to find out the voting patterns and the relationship between the media and political behavior. This study found that there were other factors that influence voters behaviour rather than media messages alone. Consequently, there were other theories of effect otherwise referred to as the intervening variables or the mediating factors explaining what really influence media audience. In this era of media advancement, especially since the advent of the social media that allows internet users to post message at will, the need to authenticate the sources of news stories becomes imperative to avoid misinformation, hence the case for authentication theory which posits that the believability and acceptability of media messages is dependent on the credibility of the source