CRITIQUE OF THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY

This theory of communication,also known as the magic bullet,holds that mass media have a direct, immediate and powerful effect on their audiences.When the media content is unmitigated by other people or process, the effect is said to be direct.This theory simply presents the listener as a passive one who simply gets influenced by the media content and produces the reaction for which the media content was meant to elicit from him/her.
Such a theory is not empirical. Many human experiences have shown that the audiences are capable of forming their own judgment of media contents.Audiences of mass media get exposed to many advertisements,yet quite a number of the products which get advertised do not receive the patronage for which the advertisements were meant to elicit.
It will be very instructive to cite the 2008 electioneering campaign in Ghana.It was clear that the incumbent enjoyed a lot of media coverage.The incumbent used all available means to convince the Ghanaian electorates to vote the Government back to power because of the Government's ''great achievements''.But what happened in the elections? In spite of the huge media visibility the Government enjoyed,with all the many adverts,it lost in both the presidential and parliamentary elections. This tells you that the issue of whether or not a person is influenced by the mass media does not solely depends on the media content and what it is meant to accomplish as the theory sought to create but it depends on the audiences as well.The audiences can consciously decide to be impervious to the media content.