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Communication » Media » Elihu Katz

Elihu Katz




Over the past five decades, Elihu Katz (born in New York in 1926) has made a major contribution to the analysis of mass communication. Best known for the concept of the “two-step flow of mass communication” and for the theory of “uses and gratifications” obtained by media audiences, Katz’s work examines the relation between the individual and the group in the process of mass media influence, contributing to the understanding of the active television viewer, the diffusion of innovations, media effects, public opinion, and media imperialism. Professionally, Katz has divided his time between America (first the University of Chicago, later the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Southern California, then the University of Pennsylvania) and Israel (where he founded the Communications Institute at the Hebrew University, headed the Institute of Applied Social Research, and directed the task force charged with introducing television to Israel in the 1960s).

His work began with the publication of Personal influence in 1955 (with his mentor at Columbia) and two books on the diffusion of innovation: Medical innovation (1966), with James Coleman and Herbert Menzel, and The politics of community conflict (1969), with Robert Crain and Donald Rosenthal. These were followed by the founding statement of uses and gratifications theory, The uses of mass communications (1974), edited with Jay Blumler, which stressed the active and selective nature of audiences’ responses to the media. His equally influential investigation into the cultural conditions of audience reception of the American soap opera Dallas, The export of meaning (1990), with Tamar Liebes, took him in a more cultural, interpretive direction. More recently, he published a groundbreaking analysis of media events, Media events (1992), with Daniel Dayan.




Other books include a reader on Bureaucracy and the public (1973), edited with Brenda Danet; The secularization of leisure (1976) with Michael Gurevitch; Broadcasting in the third world (1977) with George Wedell, a cross-national account of media and modernization; Social research on broadcasting (1977), a report on the role of research in understanding the audience for the BBC; Almost midnight (1980) with Itzak Roeh, Akiba Cohen, and Barbie Zelizer, on the changing nature of television news; Mass media and social change (1981), edited with Tamas Szecsko; Election studies (2001) with Yael Warshel; and, most recently, Canonic texts in media research (2003), edited with John Durham Peters, Tamar Liebes, and Avril Orloff, which re-examined canonical (or “should be” canonical) figures in the history of media and communication research.

According to the two-step flow hypothesis, opinion leaders seek out mass media messages relevant to their expertise and disseminate these through vertical or horizontal flows in their local community, especially during periods of uncertainty, resulting in a selective transmission process, which either resists or facilitates social change, depending on interpersonal relations in primary groups. Looking more broadly at the question of media influence, Katz (1980, 119) argued that “the history of empirical work on the effects of mass communications can be written in terms of two concepts: selectivity and interpersonal relations.” Thus, “the ‘power’ of the media rises and falls, conceptually, as a function of the importance attributed to the intervening processes of selectivity and interpersonal relations” (Katz 1980, 120), an importance which he shows to oscillate over six decades of research on “effects.”

In a famous exchange, Todd Gitlin (1978) articulated the classic critique of media effects research, attacking its focus on measurement, quantification, and short-term effects, its marketing orientation, and its claim to scientific objectivity and political neutrality: in short, its grounding in functionalist sociology. Katz and Lazarsfeld, claimed Gitlin, drastically underplayed the power of the media as regards long-term ideological effects, particularly those that reinforce the status quo. Notwithstanding attempts from Katz and others to rebut these criticisms (Peters 1989; Simonson 2006), the debate between Katz and Gitlin became emblematic of the struggle between administrative and critical scholars during the 1970s and 1980s.

Yet Katz has consistently advanced an agenda of convergence across often warring divisions in the research field – seeking to integrate methods, political positions, academic disciplines, and research traditions. Drawing on social psychology, sociology, and political science, his commitment to convergence is also evident in his various academic and practice-oriented collaborations, as expressed in a series of articles designed to build bridges across intellectual divides.

Katz’s work furthers the understanding of the complex relations between public opinion, media, and social interaction. Influenced by the social theorist Tarde, Katz points out that, insofar as Tarde argued for the rationality of public opinion as contrasted with the mindlessness of the masses, he may be seen as the originator of the active/passive viewer (or voter) debate in media and communications research, with the notion of the two-step flow (Katz & Lazarsfeld 1955), foreshadowed in Tarde’s social psychological essay of 1898, “La conversation” (Katz 1992). Last, Katz has always been committed to the usefulness of social science research in public policy terms, seeking ways to ensure that his research on media effects, media institutions, public opinion, and audiences benefits society, especially journalism, broadcasting, and public policy.

References:

  1. Blumler, J. G., & Katz, E. (eds.) (1974). The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives on gratification research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
  2. Gitlin, T. (1978). Media sociology: The dominant paradigm. Theory and Society, 6, 205 –253.
  3. Katz, E. (1980). On conceptualising media effects. Studies in Communication, 1, 119 –141.
  4. Katz, E. (1992). On parenting a paradigm: Gabriel Tarde’s agenda for opinion and communication research. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 4(1), 80 – 86.
  5. Katz, E., & Lazarsfeld, P. F. (1955). Personal influence: The part played by people in the flow of mass communication. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
  6. Livingstone, S. (1997). The work of Elihu Katz: Conceptualizing media effects in context. In J. Corner, P. Schlesinger, & R. Silverstone (eds.), International handbook of media research: A critical survey. London: Routledge, pp. 18 – 47.
  7. Peters, J. D. (1989). Democracy and American mass communication theory: Dewey, Lippman, Lazarsfeld. Communication, 11, 199 –220.
  8. Simonson, P. (ed.) (2006). Politics, social networks, and the history of mass communications research: Re-reading “Personal influence” [special issue]. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 608.




Communication Research

Communication Research

  • Media
    • Media Economics
    • Media Effects
    • Media History
    • Media Production and Content
    • Media Systems
    • Media and Perceptions of Reality
    • Excitation Transfer Theory
    • Effects Of Exemplification And Exemplars
    • Economics of Advertising
    • Antitrust Regulation
    • Audience Commodity
    • Brands
    • Circulation
    • Commercialization of the Media
    • Competition in Media Systems
    • Concentration in Media Systems
    • Consolidation of Media Markets
    • Consumers in Media Markets
    • Cost and Revenue Structures in the Media
    • Cross-Media Marketing
    • Distribution
    • Diversification of Media Markets
    • Economies of Scale in Media Markets
    • Globalization of the Media
    • Labor in the Media
    • Labor Unions in the Media
    • Markets of the Media
    • Media Conglomerates
    • Media Management
    • Media Marketing
    • Mergers
    • Ownership in the Media
    • Piracy
    • Political Economy of the Media
    • Privatization of the Media
    • Forms of Media Corporations
    • Public Goods
    • Agenda-Setting Effects
    • Appraisal Theory
    • Media Effects on Attitudes, Values, and Beliefs
    • Cognitive Availability
    • Albert Bandura
    • Catharsis Theory
    • Steven H. Chaffee
    • Credibility Effects
    • Cumulative Media Effects
    • Desensitization
    • Diffusion of Information and Innovation
    • Emotional Arousal Theory
    • Media Effects on Emotions
    • Effects of Entertainment
    • Fear Induction through Media Content
    • Leon Festinger
    • Framing Effects
    • Frustration Aggression Theory
    • George Gerbner
    • Carl I. Hovland
    • Intercultural Media Effects
    • Elihu Katz
    • Knowledge Gap Effects
    • Latitude of Acceptance
    • Linear and Nonlinear Models of Causal Analysis
    • Mainstreaming
    • Media Effects: Direct and Indirect Effects
    • Media Effects Duration
    • History of Media Effects
    • Media Effects Models: Elaborated Models
    • Strength of Media Effects
    • Media System Dependency Theory
    • Mediating Factors
    • Mediatization of Society
    • Structure of Message Effect
    • Elisabeth Noelle-Neumann
    • Effects of Nonverbal Signals
    • Observational Learning
    • Opinion Leader
    • Order of Presentation
    • Persuasion
    • Physical Effects of Media Content
    • Priming Theory
    • Media Effects on Public Opinion
    • Reciprocal Effects
    • Schemas and Media Effects
    • Effects of Sex and Pornography as Media Content
    • Sleeper Effect
    • Media Effects on Social Behavior
    • Media Effects on Social Capital
    • Social Judgment Theory
    • Trap Effect
    • Two-Step Flow of Communication
    • Secondary Victimization
    • Effects of Violence as Media Content
    • Academy Awards
    • History of Advertising
    • BBC
    • Cable Television
    • History of Censorship
    • History of Cinematography
    • History of Citizen Journalism
    • Civil Rights Movement and the Media
    • Coffee Houses as Public Sphere
    • Effects of Violence as Media Content
    • Academy Awards
    • Collective Memory and the Media
    • History of Digital Media
    • History of Documentary Film
    • History of Elections and Media
    • Electronic Mail
    • Federal Communications Commission (FCC)
    • Fleet Street
    • Fourth Estate
    • Graffiti
    • Historic Key Events and the Media
    • Illustrated Newspapers
    • Literary Journalism
    • History of Magazine
    • Music Videos
    • Nineteenth-Century New Journalism
    • History of News Agencies
    • History of News Magazine
    • Newscast
    • 24-Hour Newscast
    • Antecedents of Newspaper
    • History of Newspaper
    • Paperback Fiction
    • Penny Press
    • History of Postal Service
    • History of Printing
    • Newsreel
    • Freedom of Communication
    • Propaganda in World War II
    • History of Public Broadcasting
    • Radical Media
    • Radio Networks
    • Radio: Social History
    • Radio Technology
    • Satellite Television
    • History of Sports and the Media
    • History of Telegraph
    • Television Networks
    • Television: Social History
    • Television Technology
    • Underground Press
    • History of Violence and the Media
    • Virtual Reality
    • Watergate Scandal
    • Women’s Movement and the Media
    • Accountability of the Media
    • Accountability of the News
    • Accuracy
    • Balance
    • Bias in the News
    • Commentary
    • Commercialization: Impact on Media Content
    • Conflict as Media Content
    • Consonance of Media Content
    • Construction of Reality through the News
    • Credibility of Content
    • Crime Reporting
    • Editorial
    • Endorsement
    • Ethics of Media Content
    • Fairness Doctrine
    • Fictional Media Content
    • Framing of the News
    • Infotainment
    • Instrumental Actualization
    • Internet
    • Internet News
    • Local News
    • Magazine
    • Media Performance
    • Morality and Taste in Media Content
    • Narrative News Story
    • Negativity
    • Neutrality
    • News
    • News Factors
    • News Production and Technology
    • News Values
    • Newspaper
    • Objectivity in Reporting
    • Plurality
    • Quality of the News
    • Quality Press
    • Radio
    • Radio News
    • Reality and Media Reality
    • Scandalization in the News
    • Sensationalism
    • Separation of News and Comments
    • Soap Operas
    • Soft News
    • Sound Bites
    • Stereotypes
    • Synchronization of the News
    • Tabloid Press
    • Tabloidization
    • Television
    • News
    • Truth and Media Content
    • Violence as Media Content
    • Africa: Media Systems
    • Austria: Media System
    • Balkan States: Media Systems
    • Baltic States: Media Systems
    • Argentina: Media System
    • Bolivia: Media System
    • Brazil: Media System
    • Canada: Media System
    • Caribbean States: Media Systems
    • Central America: Media Systems
    • Chile: Media System
    • China: Media System
    • Colombia: Media System
    • Convergence of Media Systems
    • Cuba: Media System
    • Czech Republic: Media System
    • Egypt: Media System
    • France: Media System
    • Germany: Media System
    • Gulf States: Media Systems
    • India: Media System
    • Iran: Media System
    • Israel: Media System
    • Italy: Media System
    • Japan: Media System
    • Malaysia: Media System
    • Mexico: Media System
    • Netherlands: Media System
    • North Africa: Media Systems
    • Poland: Media System
    • Portugal: Media System
    • Public Broadcasting Systems
    • Russia: Media System
    • Scandinavian States: Media Systems
    • Singapore: Media System
    • South Africa: Media System
    • South Korea: Media System
    • Spain: Media System
    • Switzerland: Media System
    • United Kingdom: Media System
    • United States of America: Media System
    • West Asia: Media Systems
    • Behavioral Norms: Perception through the Media
    • Body Images in the Media
    • Computer Games and Reality Perception
    • Cultivation Effects
    • Disowning Projection
    • Entertainment Content and Reality Perception
    • Extra-Media Data
    • False Consensus
    • False Uniqueness
    • Media Campaigns And Perceptions Of Reality
    • Media Content and Social Networks
    • Media Messages and Family Communication
    • Media and Perceptions of Reality
    • Perceived Realism as a Decision Process
    • Perceived Reality as a Communication Process
    • Perceived Reality: Meta-Analyses
    • Perceived Reality as a Social Process
    • Pluralistic Ignorance
    • Pluralistic Ignorance and Ideological Biases
    • Social Perception
    • Social Perception: Impersonal Impact
    • Social Perception: Unrealistic Optimism
    • Socialization by the Media
    • Spiral of Silence
    • Stereotyping and the Media
    • Third-Person Effects
    • Video Malaise

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