OUR ATTITUDE, OUR ALTITUDE

For a baby almost given up on as a stillbirth, who did not have any spoon in his mouth, either plain or silver, to attain the zenith that he has attained by dint of faith, hardwork, determination and commitment to excellence, is immensely instructive and deeply motivating. That Prof. Mshigeni’s life philosophy has been inspired by the Biblical dictum ‘the fear of God is the beginning of wisdom’ is a bold statement that science and religion are not incompatible and a true scientist would always acknowledge God and believe in Him. His absorption of Nwalimu Julius Nyeyere’s words, ‘It can be done. Play your part’ also strikes one that all life is about our attitude. In other words, our attitude to God, to our fellow human beings, to our work and to life in general determines our altitude.
At this juncture, let me buttress my point on attitude with this little scientific truth I learnt somewhere with you in order to make life 100% successful. If each letter in the alphabet has a numeric value and its equal to that value in its sequence, then A
B C D E F G H I J K L M N O P Q R S T U V W X Y Z is equal to 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 21 22 23 24 25 26.
Thus, H+A+R+D+W+O+R+K = 8+1+18+4+23+15+18+11=98%,
K+N+O+W+L+E+D+G+E = 11+14+15+23+12+5+4+7+5 = 96%,
L+O+V+E=12+15+22+5= 54%, L+U+C+K = 12+21+3+11 = 47%
(None of them makes 100%). Then, what makes 100%? Is it money, power, fame or what? Every problem has a solution, if only we change our attitude to it. It is our A T T I T U D E towards Life, Others and Work that makes OUR life 100% successful: A+T+T+I+T+U+D+E = 1+20+20+9+20+21+4+5 = 100%.
I am sure we can do everything, but not be the best in everything, can’t we?

drawbacks of the uses and grattification theory

Blumler and Katz’s uses and gratification theory suggests that media users play an active role in choosing and using the media. Users take an active part in the communication process and are goal oriented in their media use. The theorists say that a media user seeks out a media source that best fulfills the needs of the user. Uses and gratifications assume that the user has alternate choices to satisfy their need.

Almost every theory has its drawbacks and weaknesses. And the theory of uses and gratification is no exception and one weakness of this theory is that it presents the media as being good and also talks about only the positive sides of the media. A drawback of this theory is that some of the content presented to us are mostly from the western countries and with this, the youth copy the lifestyle of the westerners like bad eating habits, the way they talk. The audience do not always choose what they want. The public has no control over the media and what it produces. It can also be said to be too kind to the media, as they are being 'let off the hook' and do not need to take responsibility for what they produce.

weakness of the uses and gratification theory

The uses and gratification theory is the idea that the mass audiences make active use of what the media offers. The overall idea of the theory is that people are using the media to fulfill their needs (psychological and social) the theory have some limitations, such as its highly individualistic nature. It only takes into account the individual psychological gratification derived from individual media use. The social context of the media use is ignored. For example the environment as well as the state of the media user.

Despite the wide range of choices available to users, they have no control over the media and what it produces. What they consume is solely prepared by gatekeepers and may include their influences and perception. These gatekeepers add to, subtract from and organize issues, subjects and stories devoid of the control from the users.

two step flow theory

The two-step flow model hypothesizes that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them to a wider population. It was first introduced by Paul Lazarsfeld et al. in 1944 and elaborated by Elihu Katz and Lazarsfeld in 1955 and subsequent publications. Lowery and DeFleur argue the book was much more than a simple research report: it was an effort to interpret the authors' research within a framework of conceptual schemes, theoretical issues, and research findings drawn broadly from the scientific study of small groups Unlike the hypodermic needle model, which considers mass media effects to be direct, the two-step flow model stresses human agency.

According to Lazarsfeld and Katz, mass media information is channeled to the "masses" through opinion leadership. The people with most access to media, and having a more literate understanding of media content, explain and diffuse the content to others.

Based on the two-step flow hypothesis, the term “personal influence” came to illustrate the process intervening between the media’s direct message and the audience’s reaction to that message. Opinion leaders tend to be similar to those they influence—based on personality, interests, demographics, or socio-economic factors. These leaders tend to influence others to change their attitudes and behaviors. The two-step theory refined the ability to predict how media messages influence audience behavior and explains why certain media campaigns do not alter audiences’ attitudes. This hypothesis provided a basis for the multi-step flow theory of mass communication.

hypodermic needle theory

MAGIC BULLET/ HYPODERMIC NEEDLE/ STIMULUS RESPONSE THEORY

Before the first World War, there was no separate field of study on Communication, but knowledge about mass communication was accumulating. An outcome of World War I propaganda efforts, the Magic Bullet or Hypodermic Needle Theory came into existence. It propounded the view that the mass media had a powerful influence on the mass audience and could deliberately alter or control peoples' behaviour.

Klapper (1960) formulated several generalizations on the effects of mass media. His research findings are as follows: "Mass-media ordinarily does not serve as a necessary and sufficient cause of audience effect, but rather functions through a nexus of mediating factors and influences. These mediating factors render mass-communication as a contributory agent in a process of reinforcing the existing conditions."

The main mediating factors which he considers responsible for the functions and effects of mass communications are

- selective exposure i.e., people's tendency to expose themselves to those mass communications which are in agreement with their attitudes and interests; and

- selective perception and retention i.e., people's inclination to organize the meaning of mass communication messages into accord with their already existing views.