SUBJECT: MEDIA IN CONTEXT CLASS: PG-1 (MASS COMMUNICATION)

SUBJECT: MEDIA IN CONTEXT CLASS: PG-1 (MASS COMMUNICATION).

SANHITA MUKHERJEE (ENROLMENT NO.: 2122214002503 | REGN NO.: 210025030123).

TABLE OF CONTENTS TOPIC: SPIRAL OF SILENCE. HISTORY DEFINITION ASSUMPTION RELATIONSHIP WITH MEDIA EXAMPLE STRENGTH CRITICISM.

During the early 1970s, Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann was creating the theory of the spiral of silence. She was attempting to explain why Germans who disagreed with Hitler and the Nazi's (many did) remained silent until after his regime ended. This "two-faced" behavior has come to be known as the spiral of silence theory..

The spiral of silence theory is a political science and mass communication theory proposed by the German political scientist Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann. It states that an individual's perception of the distribution of public opinion influences that individuals willingness to express their own political opinions..

Opinion expressed as dominant by mass media Interpersonal support for deviant opinion Amount of people not openly expressing deviant opinion and/or changing from deviant to dominant opinion Elisabeth Noelle- Neumann's Spiral of Silence.

"The major components of the spiral of silence include (1) an issue of public interest; (2) divisiveness on the issues; (3)a non - linear and non sense that helps in understanding the climate of opinion and estimating majority and minority opinion (4) "fear of isolation" from social interaction; (5) an individual's belief that a minority or different opinion isolates oneself from others; and (6) a "hardcore" group of people whose opinions are unaffected by others' opinions..

Relationship with media Spiral of silence theory takes media as reference Media shows what majority thinks to be true as true According to Elisabeth Noelle neumann,three factors play their role producing powerful role of mass media Media is everywhere as a source of information Various news media repeats news stories across their different programs across the time Similarity of values which influence the content which media produce.

In a company, the managing director decides to increase their working hour from 8 to 10 and send e-mail to all employees. Majority of them accept this time changes and few employees are not satisfied with his decision. But they cannot or ready to express their thought publicly. Because 1. They may feel unsupported by the other employees. 2. “Fear of isolation” like transfer 3. “Fear of Rejection” By rejecting their personal opinion from the public will help to avoid fight. 4. They may try to save their job by suppressing or avoid personal statement in public..

STRENGTHS. This theory is applicable both at small and large levels. It increase some important questions about the responsibilities and role of mass media. It determines public opinion during the elections. It has gained attention from both real and reel..

DISADVANTAGES. Spiral of Silence theory has both micro level and macro level explanatory process. 2. It works well during the public campaign, Senate and Parliament. 3. Spiral of silence theory – which helps to raise question about considering the role and responsibility of media in the society. 4. The theory which is not considering the other explanation of silencing. In some cases the person may feel the majority’s ideas or opinion is much better than his own view. 5. It portrait overly negative view of media influencing the average people..

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