¿Los medios de comunicación persuaden políticamente a los ciudadanos? Un siglo de respuestas académicas // Do the media politically persuade citizens? A century of academic answers

Ardèvol-Abreu, Alberto ¿Los medios de comunicación persuaden políticamente a los ciudadanos? Un siglo de respuestas académicas // Do the media politically persuade citizens? A century of academic answers. Infonomy, 2023, vol. 1, pp. 1-22. [Journal article (Unpaginated)]

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English abstract

The media are a vital component of the democratic process, as they connect citizens with the actions of their leaders and provide a forum for debate and opinion formation. However, it is often assumed that audiences are a tabula rasa, defenseless against the almost absolute persuasive/manipulative power of the media. Yet, the reality of media effects on the public is far more intricate. Throughout these pages, the main scientific paradigms and theories that have attempted to explain this matter over the last century are summarized. The overview begins with the precientific origin of the discipline in the 1920s, when the media were regarded as all-powerful actors capable of manipulating the masses at will. A few decades later, the field would take a turn towards the opposite paradigm, one in which the media had minimal or at least limited persuasive capacity. In the 1960s, with the advent of television, social scientists revisited the idea (in a nuanced way) of strong effects, but this time with greater theoretical and empirical support. To conclude, the exposition delves into how the accumulated insights from the past eight decades work together to elucidate the persuasive effects of the media in today’s setting, characterized by fragmented audiences, the ubiquity of the internet and social networks, and the emergence of artificial intelligence.

Spanish abstract

Los medios de comunicación son una parte vital del proceso democrático, ya que ponen en contacto a la ciudadanía con las acciones de sus gobernantes y constituyen un foro de debate y formación de opiniones. Sin embargo, en muchas ocasiones se asume que las audiencias son una tabula rasa, indefensa ante el poder persuasivo/manipulativo casi absoluto de los medios. Pero la realidad de los efectos de los medios sobre el público es bastante más compleja. A lo largo de estas páginas se resumen los principales paradigmas y teorías científicas que han tratado de explicar este asunto en los últimos cien años. El repaso comienza con los inicios precientíficos de la disciplina en los años veinte del siglo pasado, cuando se consideraba a los medios como actores todopoderosos con capacidad de manipular a las masas a su antojo. Unas décadas más tarde, el campo daría un giro hacia el paradigma contrario, según el cual los medios tendrían una capacidad persuasiva mínima o al menos limitada. En los años sesenta, con la llegada de la televisión, los científicos sociales retomaron la idea (matizada) de los efectos fuertes, pero esta vez con un mayor respaldo teórico y empírico. Para terminar, se explica cómo todos los aportes de las últimas ocho décadas sirven para explicar los efectos persuasivos de los medios en la situación actual, caracterizada por unas audiencias fragmentadas, la omnipresencia de internet y las redes sociales y la eclosión de la inteligencia artificial.

Item type: Journal article (Unpaginated)
Keywords: Mass media; Political persuasion; Hypodermic needle; Magic bullet; Limited effects; Selective exposure; Two-step flow of communication; Cultivation theory; Spiral of silence; Agenda setting; Priming; Framing; Medios de comunicación; Persuasión política; Aguja hipodérmica; Bala mágica; Efectos limitados; Exposición selectiva; Flujo de comunicación en dos pasos; Teoría del cultivo; Espiral del silencio; Agenda setting; Priming; Framing; Encuadres.
Subjects: A. Theoretical and general aspects of libraries and information. > AC. Relationship of LIS with other fields .
B. Information use and sociology of information > BJ. Communication
B. Information use and sociology of information > BC. Information in society.
Depositing user: Dr. Alberto Ardèvol-Abreu
Date deposited: 07 Sep 2023 16:44
Last modified: 30 Dec 2023 16:04
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/10760/44773

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