Abstract
This research proposes a theory that ameliorates the deficiencies of agenda-setting, two-step flow, and third-person effect theories that are linear in explaining the influence of mass media on their audience. Whereas postmodernism abhors universality because, in reality, different groupings of individuals in different societies receive and respond to media messages differently depending on the influence of both internal and exogenous variables in the society in any communication process. These lacunas in the theories birthed the environment dynamo theory which does not intend to replace but to capture the idea that science, psychology, ethnography, and technology have broadened the understanding of the nuances that determine the relationship between the media and audience, and vice versa. The environment dynamo theory cumulatively created a web to explain media effects in society based on three components that are intricately interwoven - the audience, media, and environment.
TopIntroduction
In a postmodern world, truth and reality are shaped by both internal and exogenous variables such as personal history, social class, gender, culture and religion, individuality, and technology all of which combine to define the narratives and meanings of our lives which are locally constructed without universal applications (Cornell, 2006). These variables could not be sufficiently explained with linear theories of the media as postulated in agenda-setting, two-step and third-person effect. In this era, major changes in the characteristics of the media, audience, and environment have occasioned varied responses to mass media messages. Unlike in the past when media analyses and effects were monolithic in explaining the effects of the media on audience and environment, advancements in science and technology have pushed the frontiers of knowledge and awakened the consciousness that different variables – demography, psychology, ethno-religious, culture, politics, socio-economy - all combine to influence the outcome of the media content; who is communicating what to whom, and with what effect in a spiral of news source (Musa, 2011; Imoh, 2013; Oludele, 2020).
This development has pushed to the fringes the era when a single story defined an explanation of an all-powerful media effect on society. At present, science and technology have shown that different narratives combine to influence audience reaction to media content. As Cornell (2006) posited, the pre-modern era marked the period religion was the source of truth and reality while science characterized truth and reality in the modern era as against the postmodern era where there is no single defining source for truth and reality beyond the individual. This can be seen in the different reactions that greeted the recent Pope’s Fiducia Supplicans on the blessing of couples in irregular situations and of couples of the same sex. (Francis, Fernandez & Matteo, 2023) observed that previously, it would have been a fait accompli for an imprimatur from the hierarchy of the Catholics Church without dissent. Arnold (2024) observed that there is a growing resistance in Africa to the Fiducia Supplicans while globally, bishops are divided as to its acceptance or rejection.
Apart from the clerics, the faithful have voiced their opinions which was either contrary or supported the Pontiff’s declaration based on their different individualism, laws, and cultural peculiarities. The stance was predicated on how the media in different countries interpreted and communicated the declaration on Fiducia Supplicans. This is obvious in the position of the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) that assured there would be no possibility of blessing same-sex unions and activities in the church as that would go against God’s law, the teachings of the Church, the laws of our nation and the cultural sensibilities of our people (Ugorji & Ogun, 2023). Contrary to that, Argentina, the home country of the Pontiff while in support, states that Fiducia Supplicans does not give rise to confusion and that confusing the blessings with approval or permission would be reductionism (Arnold, 2024).
Key Terms in this Chapter
Environmental Dynamo Theory: This is a postmodern mass communication theory propounded in the year 2024 by Dr. Desmond Onyemechi Okocha and Maureen Chigbo from Bingham University, Nigeria. Aside principally factoring the social-cultural dynamics of the African media ecosystem, the theory sought to remedy the deficiencies of selected linear theories such as the agenda-setting, two-step flow and third-person theories. Its central argument is that the nature and elements defining three major environments (1. the physiological, psychological and sociological make-up of media audience, 2. The external economic and political environments of the audience, and 3. The media, ownership structure, contents and the environment within which the media exist and operate) are responsible for the dynamics and interactions between the media and their audience.
Two-Step Flow Theory: The concept of the ‘two-step flow of communication’ suggests that the flow of information and influence from the mass media to their audiences involves two steps: from the media to certain individuals (i.e., the opinion leaders) and from them to the public.
Third-Person Effect Theory: Audience perceptions regarding media influence have been extensively studied since the 1980s. Originating with a landmark article by W. Phillip Davison, the term “the third-person effect” (TPE, later on also referred to in the literature as the “third-person perception,” or TPP) relates to people’s tendency to perceive that mass-media messages have only minimal influence on them but greater influence on other people—the “third persons.” Much research has been dedicated to documenting such perceptions in various contexts and to exploring the psychological mechanisms behind them.
Media Ecosystem: It is the study of media environments, the idea that technology and techniques, modes of information and codes of communication play a leading role in human affairs.
Agenda-Setting Theory: In a nutshell, agenda setting refers to the process by which mass media — including journalistic media — present certain issues (e.g., gun violence) frequently and prominently, with the result being that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as being more important than others.
Culture: Culture is a term that refers to a large and diverse set of mostly intangible aspects of social life. According to sociologists, culture consists of the values, beliefs, systems of language, communication, and practices that people share in common and that can be used to define them as a collective.
Communication: The exchange of information, ideas, or thoughts between individuals or groups.
Mass Media: refers to the technologies used as channels for a small group of people to communicate with a larger number of people. The concept was first addressed during the Progressive Era of the 1920s, as a response to new opportunities for elites to reach large audiences via the mass media of the time: newspapers, radio, and film. Indeed, the three forms of traditional mass media today are still the same: print (newspapers, books, magazines), broadcast (television, radio), and cinema (movies and documentaries).