Uncertainty and Communication

Dale Brashers

University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign

Uncertainty has been an important concept in communication theory for many decades (→ Uncertainty Reduction Theory). Understanding how people respond to uncertainty in developing relationships (→ Relational Uncertainty) and in intercultural encounters has been the foundation of a large body of interpersonal communication research. This work has demonstrated complex relationships between communication, → information seeking, and the management of uncertainty (→ Uncertainty Management). “Uncertainty exists when details of situations are ambiguous, complex, unpredictable, or probabilistic; when information is unavailable or inconsistent; and when people feel insecure in their own state of knowledge or the state of knowledge in general” (Brashers 2001, 478).

Recent theory-building and theory-testing have extended the concept into the domains of social influence and behavioral change, primarily through → health communication research. Theories of communication and uncertainty management, motivated information management, problematic integration, and the risk-perception attitude are recent theoretical directions that recognize the complexity of uncertainty and information management in the area of health. Social influence researchers have used theories of → information processing and uncertainty management in recent research on health behavior change. Other related areas of research have included tests of messages promoting HIV testing (Hullett 2006) and organ donation.

One complexity that has received attention is the collaborative nature of uncertainty management. Researchers need to account for the motivations, outcome assessments, and efficacy beliefs of both information seekers and information providers. Support from others can assist with uncertainty management by helping achieve information goals, but also by means such as facilitating skill development, providing acceptance or validation, or encouraging reappraisal or perspective shifts (→ Social Support in Interpersonal Communication).

References and Suggested Readings

1. Antheunis, M. L., Schouten, A. P., Valkenburg, P. M., & Peter, J. (2012). Interactive uncertainty reduction strategies and verbal affection in computer-mediated communication. Communication Research, 39(6), 757–780.
2. Babrow, A. S., Kasch, C. R., & Ford, L. A. (1998). The many meanings of uncertainty in illness: Toward a systematic accounting. Health Communication, 10, 1–23.
3. Brashers, D. E. (2001). Communication and uncertainty management. Journal of Communication, 51, 477–497.
4. Hullett, C. R. (2006). Using functional theory to promote HIV testing: The impact of value-expressive messages, uncertainty, and fear. Health Communication, 20, 57–67.

Uncertainty Management

Walid A. Afifi

University of Iowa

Uncertainty reflects a perceived inability to predict or explain a person, interaction outcome, or issue with confidence. The theoretical debates about uncertainty have revolved around why and how people experience and manage uncertainty (→ Relational Dialectics; Uncertainty and Communication; Uncertainty Reduction Theory).

The predominant position is that individuals have an innate motivation to predict and explain lived experience, making uncertainty inherently distressing. Some, however, have argued that people’s experience of uncertainty differs according to context and culture, with evidence that uncertainty is sometimes the preferred state. For example, studies have shown that people diagnosed with chronic illness view uncertainty as hope (Brashers 2001). Still, most experiences of uncertainty involve some potential threat that encourages uncertainty management. So, how is that done? Scholars initially proposed that individuals manage uncertainty by seeking information through observation, third parties, or direct communication with the target (Berger & Kellermann 1994). However, more recent scholarship recognizes that individuals might respond to their uncertainty experiences by avoiding information altogether, cognitively re-assessing the state of uncertainty, or even basking in its presence.

Afifi and Weiner (2004) advanced the Theory of Motivated Information Management (TMIM) as a way to address some of the inconsistencies in the literature and more fully capture the complexity of uncertainty management decisions within interpersonal encounters. The theory proposes that process starts with awareness of a discrepancy between the amount of uncertainty one has and the amount one wants about an important issue. That discrepancy is then appraised and experienced emotionally in some manner (most commonly, as anxiety). In response, people consider two general questions: “What are the costs and benefits of information seeking?” (labeled ‘outcome expectancy’), and “Am I able to seek and cope with the information received?” (labeled ‘efficacy’).

The theory predicts that individuals are increasingly likely to seek information directly to the extent that outcome expectancies are positive and the efficacy assessments are high. Afifi and Weiner (2004) argue that information providers go through similar assessments in determining what information to give and how to do it. The end result of this process depends on the seeker’s strategy and the provider’s response. Most recently, scholars have turned their attention to the neurological and physiological implications of uncertainty management, with considerable promise for linking uncertainty and its management to well-being.

References and Suggested Readings

1. Afifi, W. A. & Weiner, J. L. (2004). Toward a theory of motivated information management. Communication Theory, 14(2), 167–190.
2. Berger, C. R. & Kellermann, K. (1994). Acquiring social information. In J. A. Daly & J. M. Wiemann (eds.), Strategic interpersonal communication. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 1–30.
3. Brashers, D. E. (2001). Communication and uncertainty management. Journal of Communication, 51(3), 477–497.

Uncertainty Reduction Theory

Denise Haunani Solomon

Pennsylvania State University

Uncertainty reduction theory (URT) explains how → interpersonal communication is affected by a lack of knowledge and how people use communication to gather information (→ Uncertainty and Communication). This theory was founded on the observation that initial interactions between strangers routinely involve an exchange of demographic and public information, and these interactions change in predictable ways as they progress (Berger 1997). Interpersonal communication plays two roles within URT: (1) communication is among the behaviors that people seek to predict or explain; and (2) communication is a tool people use to gather information or form predictions and explanations (→ Information Seeking).

URT assumes that people are driven to increase the predictability of their own and their communication partner’s behavior. Uncertainty reduction can be ‘proactive,’ focused on predicting future behaviors, or ‘retroactive,’ focused on explaining past experiences. The theory also distinguishes between ‘behavioral uncertainty,’ which is a lack of knowledge about the behaviors that are appropriate or expected, and ‘cognitive uncertainty,’ which involves questions about a communication partner’s personal qualities.

Berger and Calabrese (1975) advanced URT as seven axioms concerning the association between uncertainty and facets of interpersonal communication within initial interaction between strangers: (1) as the amount of verbal communication between strangers increases, uncertainty decreases; as uncertainty is reduced, verbal communication increases; (2) as the amount of nonverbal warmth expressed between strangers increases, uncertainty decreases; as uncertainty is reduced, nonverbal expressions of warmth increase; (3) when uncertainty is high, information-seeking behavior is frequent; as uncertainty decreases, information-seeking behavior decreases; (4) when uncertainty is high, the intimacy level of communication content is low; as uncertainty decreases, the intimacy level of communication content increases; (5) when uncertainty is high, partners are more likely to reciprocate each other’s communication behaviors; as uncertainty decreases, the rate of reciprocity decreases; (6) similarities between communication partners decrease uncertainty; dissimilarities between communication partners increase uncertainty; and (7) when uncertainty is high, liking for a communication partner is low; as uncertainty decreases, liking increases.

By considering all possible pairwise combinations of these seven axioms, Berger and Calabrese (1975) offered 21 specific theorems linking uncertainty to interpersonal communication variables and outcomes. For example, considering the first two axioms in tandem generates the prediction that amount of verbal communication and expressions of nonverbal warmth are positively correlated.

Berger and Bradac (1982) elaborated on the methods people use to gather information about a target person. “Passive strategies” involve observing a person. “Active strategies” involve altering the physical or social context and observing a person’s responses to that environment or asking third parties for information. “Interactive strategies” involve communicating directly with the target person.

Tests of uncertainty reduction theory have addressed three general issues: (1) how uncertainty reduction changes over the course of developing relationships; (2) the factors that prompt uncertainty reduction; and (3) the communication behaviors that people use to gather information during face-to-face interactions (→ Questions and Questioning).

Uncertainty reduction theory has been applied to various communication situations, such as the experiences of new employees, doctors and patients, students in a classroom setting, television viewers (→ Parasocial Interactions and Relationships), computer-mediated communication partners, intercultural communication experiences, and romantic relationship transitions (→ Relational Uncertainty).

The theory’s claim that uncertainty reduction is a motivating force in interpersonal interactions is debated. Alternative views suggest that (1) communication in initial interactions is motivated by a desire to predict the rewards and costs of continued interaction; (2) people may prefer to maintain uncertainty if the information they might gain is threatening (→ Uncertainty Management); and (3) uncertainty is both desirable and undesirable in the context of ongoing personal relationships (→ Relational Dialectics).

References and Suggested Readings

1. Berger, C. R. (1987). Communicating under uncertainty. In M. E. Roloff & G. R. Miller (eds.), Interpersonal processes. Newbury Park, CA: Sage, pp. 39–62.
2. Berger, C. R. (1997). Message production under uncertainty. In G. Philipsen & T. L. Albrecht (eds.), Developing communication theories. Albany, NY: SUNY Press, pp. 29–55.
3. Berger, C. R. & Bradac, J. J. (1982). Language and social knowledge: Uncertainty in interpersonal relations. London: Edward Arnold.
4. Berger, C. R. & Calabrese, R. J. (1975). Some explorations in initial interaction and beyond: Toward a developmental theory of interpersonal communication. Human Communication Research, 1, 99–112.
5. Berger, C. R. & Kellermann, K. (1994). Acquiring social information. In J. A. Daly & J. M. Wiemann (eds.), Strategic interpersonal communication. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 1–31.

UNESCO

Andrew Calabrese

University of Colorado at Boulder

UNESCO – the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization – is a specialized UN agency, founded in 1945, and composed of 196 member states. Its headquarters are in Paris. UNESCO also has more than 50 field offices around the world. The preamble to the UNESCO constitution emphasizes the importance of the organization’s mission of peace through intellectual and cultural development and exchange, stating that “since wars begin in the minds of men, it is in the minds of men that the defences of peace must be constructed.” For the 2012–2013 biennium, UNESCO had a budget appropriation of US$653 million, with an additional US$541 million in “extra-budgetary resources” (additional funds from sources other than member states’ assessed contributions), for a total budget of US$1.19 billion for the two-year period.

In 2005, under the leadership of the Culture sector, the organization adopted a “Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions.” The convention aims “to protect and promote the diversity of cultural expressions,” and it emphasizes the unique nature of cultural goods and services as “vehicles of identity, values and meaning” (UNESCO 2005; → Culture: Definitions and Concepts). The culture sector also works to promote cultural exchange through modern → ‘culture industries,’ including publishing, music, or the Internet, focusing particularly on freedom of expression (→ Freedom of Communication), cultural diversity, and economic development. For pursuing its goals UNESCO runs five program areas: education, natural sciences, social and human sciences, culture, and communication and information. In monitoring its activities in the communication sector UNESCO created a ‘Observatory on the Information Society,’ established in 1997. Today, reports, statistical data and many other resources are available on the sub-website Communication and Information of the UNESCO Institute for Statistics (UNESCO 2014).

In the 1970s and 1980s there was significant criticism by several countries about the majority call by UNESCO members for a → ‘new world information and communication order’ (NWICO), which was articulated in Belgrade in 1980 at the 21st UNESCO General Conference. The report Many Voices, One World (see MacBride Commission 2004) highlighted many controversial issues that continue to define the north–south divide related to communication and information.

References and Suggested Readings

1. MacBride Commission (2004). Many voices, one world: Towards a new, more just and more efficient world information and communication order, 25th anniversary edn. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield.
2. UNESCO (2005). Convention on the Protection and Promotion of the Diversity of Cultural Expressions. At http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0014/001429/142919e.pdf, accessed August 31, 2014.
3. UNESCO (2014). UNESCO Institute for Statistics – Communication and Information. At: http://www.uis.unesco.org/Communication/Pages/default.aspx, accessed August 31, 2014.

United Kingdom: Media System

Dominic Wring

Loughborough University

The modern newspaper industry developed during the mid-nineteenth century (Curran & Seaton 2010). The growth of literacy enabled proprietors to use their newspapers’ burgeoning popularity to assert their influence. These ‘press barons’ promoted a largely center-right agenda through titles like the Mail and Express that became hostile towards the growing Labour Party, whose only reliable media support came from the Daily Herald. Despite its large readership the Herald lacked advertising revenues and was rebranded as the Sun before its purchase by Rupert Murdoch in 1969. The proprietor turned the daily and its Sunday sister, the News of the World, into the UK’s bestselling titles and consolidated his influence by acquiring The Times and Sunday Times and forging relationships with successive governments (→ Media Conglomerates; News Corporation).

The seeming omnipotence of the Murdoch operation helped his News of the World initially rebut allegations made by the Guardian over alleged phone hacking involving numerous victims. However, when the full scale of this was revealed in 2011 it led to the immediate closure of the paper. The scandal led the government to set up an inquiry which recommended the abolition of the Press Complaints Commission (→ Ethics in Journalism). The PCC, originally set up in 1991, was the latest in a line of self-regulatory bodies consisting of industry figures adjudicating on cases brought to it by aggrieved parties (→ Accountability of the Media). A perceived reluctance by the Commission to censure newspapers had previously led to calls for new statutory regulated system to protect the public from invasions of their → privacy. The scandal gave major impetus to those seeking such reforms. Newspaper sales were in decline before the hacking controversy and fierce competition for advertising only further curtailed revenues (→ Media Economics). Local newspapers have been affected, although the London Evening Standard has seen a revival in its circulation following its 2009 relaunch as a free newspaper. Similarly Metro, another advertising-reliant giveaway, is widely circulated throughout the country.

Historically, whereas politicians have been reluctant to regulate the so-called ‘free press’ they have been keener to supervise the electronic media in the guise of radio and then television. The → BBC, founded as a private company in 1922, was brought under government supervision as a public corporation in 1927 (→ Public Broadcasting, History of; Public Broadcasting Systems). Granted a license to operate courtesy of a periodically renewable Charter, the BBC was overseen by a government-appointed Board of Governors and adhered to a so-called “public service model” that sought “to inform, educate and entertain” (Curran & Seaton 2010). Though television began in 1936 it was not until the 1950s that television superseded radio as the most popular medium following the coronation of Elizabeth II and arrival of commercially funded Independent Television (ITV) network of regionally based channels (→ Privatization of the Media).

Like ITV, the BBC developed a regional identity through its television programming, an effort supplemented by local radio. The BBC also sought to cater for different age groups through the launch of popular music stations in 1967. Initially the commercial response came with new local radio in the 1970s and later, national services. The latter tendency encouraged the merging of the once independent ITV network of regional franchisees in 2004 into a single company following a decline in advertising revenue (→ Television Broadcasting, Regulation of). This was partly in response to new non-terrestrial broadcasters created during the 1980s, notably Rupert Murdoch’s BSkyB, which became the dominant force in the market (→ Satellite Television). Take-up of digital television reached 93 percent of households by 2011 (Ofcom 2011).

There was also a rapid increase in Internet usage. In 1998, less than 10 percent of households had online access; by 2014, this had risen to 87 percent. Traditional news media have been particularly proactive in developing their online presence with the BBC, Mail Online and theguardian.com boasting some of the most visited news sites in the world, attracting significant traffic from outside as well as within the UK. This may in part explain why some of the most established media brands look set to continue to shape national debates as well as those beyond the nation’s borders.

References and Suggested Readings

1. Curran, J. & Seaton, J. (2010). Power without responsibility: The press and broadcasting in Britain. London: Routledge.
2. Ofcom (2011). Statistics. At www.ofcom.org.uk.
3. Williams, K. (2009). Get me a murder a day! A history of mass communication in Britain. London: Bloomsbury Academic.

United Nations, Communication Policies of

Emmanuel Derieux

University of Paris II

The general principles of the United Nations (UN) communication policies are found in the Charter of the United Nations, although the Charter does not explicitly refer to them. They are enumerated in the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) and in the International Covenants on Civil and Political Rights and on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights. UDHR was adopted on December 10, 1948, as a ‘resolution’ by the UN General Assembly. It recognizes the classic idea of freedom of expression, with both its necessary limits and, in a positive and concrete manner, certain rights including the possibility of demanding those rights, which constitutes, as it were, the basis or inspiration of national communication laws.

Freedom of expression is set forth in Article 19 of the UDHR: “Everyone has the right to freedom of opinion and expression; this right includes freedom to hold opinions without interference and to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media, regardless of frontiers” (→ Freedom of Communication; Freedom of Information). The limitations on free expression are in Article 12, which states “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.”

The differences between western Europe’s individualistic idea of freedom, based on the idea of the state’s abstention, and the more collective and interventionist approach to human rights of the eastern block led, in December 1966, to the establishment of two international covenants in order to strengthen the UDRH principles: one on civil and political rights (ICCPR), and the other on economic, social, and cultural rights. The latter, called International Covenant on Economic, Social, and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) stands in sharp contrast to the ICCPR in that it provides for a more positive and collective framework of human rights to communication.

Several specialized UN institutions determine and implement a wide range of international communication policies. Among the most important institutions relating to communication law and policy are the UN Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organization (→ UNESCO) and the World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO). WIPO is primarily concerned with intellectual property issues, especially copyright and related rights.

References and Suggested Readings

1. Derieux, E. & Granchet, A. (2011). Droit de la communication. Lois et règlements. Recueil de textes, 9th edn. Paris: Victoires.
2. Derieux, E. (2003). Droit européen et international des médias [European and international media law]. Paris: LGDJ.
3. United Nations (2014). The Universal Declaration of Human Rights. At: http://www.un.org/en/documents/udhr/index.shtml, accessed August 31, 2014.
4. World Intellectual Property (2012). International survey on private copying. Geneva: WIPO At: http://www.wipo.int/export/sites/www/freepublications/en/copyright/1037/wipo_pub_1037_2012.pdf, accessed August 31, 2014.

United States of America: Media System

Robert L. Stevenson

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Glenn Scott

Elon University

Donald L. Shaw

University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Lars Willnat

Indiana University

The first newspaper published in the British North American colonies was Publick Occurrences, Both Forreign and Domestick. One issue appeared in 1690 in Boston. It was soon closed down by the colonial government. The first continuously published newspaper was the Boston News-Letter, which began publication in 1704 and continued for several decades. The oldest daily paper still publishing is the Hartford Courant, which was founded in 1764. Newspapers and especially pamphlets such as Thomas Paine’s Common Sense played an active role in the movement for independence (→ Newspaper, History of).

Partisan journalism remained the standard for most of the nineteenth century. The latter years of the century introduced two trends that are still visible in newspapers in many countries. Excessive competition between William Randolph Hearst and Joseph Pulitzer for dominance of the New York market led to ‘yellow journalism’. In contrast was the sober, non-partisan coverage pioneered by the New York Times. Adolph Ochs took over the financially ailing Times in 1896 and declared that it would publish “All the News That’s Fit to Print,” a slogan that still appears on the nameplate on page one.

Legal Framework

The simple statement guaranteeing press freedom in the First Amendment to the US Constitution is one of the oldest and surely the most famous legal formulation of what is now considered a universal right (→ Freedom of the Press, Concept of; Freedom of Communication). The American approach to press freedom is minimalist. It is mostly a set of restraints on government, as the First Amendment specifies. At its core is the principle that government cannot prevent publication of information but can hold journalists responsible after publication.

The Freedom House Report 2013 ranked the United States eighteenth among 63 ‘free press’ countries. The Obama administration has promised, for example, that it will improve public access to official information. A memo from US Attorney-General Eric Holder said that “an agency should not withhold information simply because it may do so legally.” In early 2009, however, the US government opposed the publication of photos that showed prisoners tortured by US troops in Afghanistan and Iraq. The administration argued that these photos could undermine military morale and encourage anti-American feeling.

Printed Press

Daily newspaper circulation reached a peak in 1985 when 1,676 daily newspapers produced 62.8 million copies. Since then, circulation – along with the number of daily newspapers – has declined steadily. This loss in circulation has led to a huge decline in advertising revenue. Overall newspaper revenue declined 52 percent from 2003 to 2012 to $22 billion. While digital advertising grew almost three times in the same period to $3.4 billion, the increase was still a long way off compensating for the huge losses on the print side (Pew Research Journalism Project 2014).

The United States has three daily newspapers that circulate nationally: the popular USA Today, which was founded in 1982 as a national newspaper (circulation, print only, in 2013 was 1.4 million), the business-oriented Wall Street Journal (circulation 1.5 million), and the general news-oriented New York Times (circulation 731,395). Most daily papers are small and oriented toward local communities. Circulation figures mask the full impact of newspaper decline because they omit reference to the rapid population growth of the United States.

The percentage of Americans who had read a newspaper ‘yesterday’ dropped from 40 percent in 2006 to 29 percent in 2012, with most of the loss in readership coming from those who read print newspapers (Pew Research Journalism Project 2013). However, this loss is somewhat balanced by the growing number of people who read newspapers online. US newspaper websites in late 2012 drew an average of 113.7 million unique visitors per month, generating more than 4.17 billion page views (Newspaper Association of America 2012).

Radio and Television

Terrestrial broadcasting in the United States is regulated by the → Federal Communications Commission (FCC), which grants broadcast licenses and maintains limited oversight under a ‘trusteeship’ model of broadcasting represented by the phrase “public interest, convenience, and necessity.” As of June 2009, the FCC had granted active licenses to 11,249 commercial radio stations and 3,106 educational or public radio stations, and to 1,395 commercial TV stations and 390 public TV stations. Additional licenses, mostly for translators and boosters and for low-power licenses operated by universities and a few communities, brought the number of terrestrial broadcasters licensed in the United States to 30,473.

Most commercial television stations are affiliated to one of the three traditional networks – CBS, ABC, or NBC – that provide news and prime-time entertainment programming, or to one of the limited networks, such as Fox or the CW network aimed at young adults.

Cable television is the standard delivery system, providing, in some cases, more than 300 programs as well as high-speed Internet access and a telephone service (→ Cable Television). In 2012, 90 percent of all TV households were cable subscribers. There are close to 8,000 cable systems, although most are owned by a handful of large corporations such as Comcast, Time-Warner, and Cox. Federal regulations require cable providers to carry all local terrestrial stations. Since the federal government’s authority to regulate content does not apply to cable or satellite broadcasting, cable content on pay services such as Home Box Office (HBO) often includes nudity, rough language, and graphic violence that are prohibited on traditional channels.

Direct broadcast satellite (DBS) is available in the United States but relatively limited (→ Satellite Television). Terrestrial digital radio is slowly gaining in popularity in the United States, although only about 14 percent of all radio stations broadcast a digital-signal version of their traditional terrestrial programs. Satellite radio reaching from coast to coast is available through the sole operator, SiriusXM.

Role of the Internet

Almost three-quarters of all US adults enjoyed a connection to the Internet in 2013 (Smith 2014). The recent growth has occurred in the accelerating adoption of high-speed Internet service. Over time, media groups have increased their reliance on the web, building more sophisticated sites to exploit its interactive features and to combine traditional forms of video, audio, print, → photography, and graphics in multimedia offerings.

News organizations moved warily onto the web as some journalists cautioned against a loss of control, and perhaps function, in a more fluid, interactive environment (→ Online Media; Online Journalism). The surge of independent publishing on the web, popularly labeled → citizen journalism, has awakened the established media to the revolutionary possibilities of digital networking through blogs, podcasts, video sites, and popular social networking sites. Scholars and professionals continue to explore the implications of the new digital landscape, debating issues such as whether news and advertising will continue to be presented in bundled forms via branded websites, or more commonly delivered through personalized channels and services via feeds to PCs and other, more portable devices such as mobile telephones.

References and Suggested Readings

1. de Beer, A. S. & Merrill, J. C. (eds.) (2009). Global journalism: Topical issues and media systems, 5th edn. Harlow: Pearson.
2. Gillmor, D. (2006). We the media: Grassroots journalism by the people, for the people. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly Media. At www.oreilly.com/catalog/wemedia/book/index.csp, accessed August 28, 2014.
3. Meyer, P. (2009). The vanishing newspaper: Saving journalism in the information age, 2nd edn. Columbia, MO: University of Missouri Press.
4. Newspaper Association of America (2012). Trends and Numbers. At http://www.naa.org/Trends-and-Numbers/Newspaper-Websites/Newspaper-Web-Audience.aspx, accessed August 28, 2014.
5. Pew Research Journalism Project (2013). State-of-the Media 2013. At http://stateofthemedia.org/2013/newspapers-stabilizing-but-still-threatened/#fn-12990-2, accessed August 28, 2014.
6. Pew Research Journalism Project (2014). State of the media. At http://www.journalism.org/2014/03/26/state-of-the-news-media-2014-key-indicators-in-media-and-news/, accessed August 28, 2014.
7. Schudson, M. (1999). The good citizen: A history of American civic life. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
8. Smith, A. (2014). Older adults and technology use. At www.pewinternet.org/files/2014/04/PIP_Seniors-and-Tech-Use_040314.pdf, accessed August 28, 2014.
9. Tunstall, J. (2007). The media were American: U.S. mass media in decline. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Uses and Gratifications

John L. Sherry

Michigan State University

Andy Boyan

Michigan State University

Media uses and gratifications (U&G) research represents one of the oldest and largest continuous programs of research in the field of communication. The tradition investigates the reasons why people use mass media. The product of this massive research effort has been a large set of taxonomies of media use motives; research linking those motives to antecedent variables (e.g., social factors, personality) and media use, along with some consequences (effects) of that use; and an extensive theoretical discussion and critique.

Major Dimensions of Uses and Gratifications

Katz et al. (1974) provided the germinal theoretical description of the U&G paradigm, stating that U&G research is concerned with “the social and psychological origins of needs, which generate expectations of the mass media or other sources, which lead to differential patterns of media exposure (or engagement in other activities), resulting in need gratifications and other consequences, perhaps mostly unintended ones” (Katz et al. 1974, 20). In contrast to → media effects theories, U&G posits an active audience that uses media to satisfy felt needs, rather than a passive media audience that is affected by media messages (→ Media Effects, History of).

Rubin specified five a priori assumptions embodied in U&G research: 1) media use is motivated, goal-directed, and purposive behavior; 2) individuals initiate media use in response to felt needs; 3) a variety of individual differences and social factors guide and filter media use behavior; 4) media use is just one of many alternatives people have; and 5) U&G research assumes that people are a more powerful influence than media in most cases. Schramm et al. (1961) specified three motives for television use among children: entertainment, social interaction, and learning. As other taxonomies were specified with the emergence of new media and genres, these three core motives expanded, but remained fairly consistent with the original formulation.

Changes Over Time in the Topic and its Treatment

According to Rosengren et al. (1985), U&G research proceeded in three major phases up until 1985. The first phase from 1940s until the late 1950s was characterized by descriptive research focusing on the reasons individuals use media. The second phase focused on developing typologies of media use during the 1960s. The second era efforts culminated in the early paradigm models proffered by Katz et al. and by Rosengren in Blumler & Katz’s classic 1974 collection. Of these perspectives, the model advanced by Rosengren (1974) best encapsulates the core concepts and theoretical linkages of U&G, stating that basic needs, individual differences, and social pressures combine to result in a variety of perceived problems and motivations to which gratifications are sought from the media and elsewhere, leading to differential patterns of media effects on both the individual and societal levels.

From the mid-1970s on, researchers continued to expand empirical data in support of the Rosengren model. This effort resulted in the emergence of several core concepts and debates. Some scholars attempted to reduce existing taxonomies into clearer theoretical distinctions, specifying ‘instrumental use motives’ (seeking exciting or entertaining information) and ‘ritualistic use motives’ (habitual). Another focus emerged from the debate as to whether media audiences were ‘active’ or ‘passive.’ Though the paradigm had always posited an active audience, this notion was difficult to sustain as research into habitual or ritualistic motives continued to emerge.

Researchers also began to investigate the differences between media gratifications sought and media gratifications obtained. Recently research has shown that unconscious selection of media and → genres may be driven by biological states that are either transitory or relatively stabile across the life-span (Sherry 2001). Thus, media use is likely both active and passive; conscious and unconscious.

Criticism of the Uses and Gratifications Approach

Several scholars have criticized U&G as non-theoretical and lacking in conceptual clarity and explanatory mechanisms. In particular, critics claim that many of the key concepts, particularly motives, needs, gratifications, and uses, are not conceptually distinct from one another. Recently, however, scholars have begun to clarify the concepts implicated in reasons for media use by borrowing concepts from psychology like intrinsic, implicit, and explicit motives, as well as intrinsic motivations.

Another problem is that the taxonomic tendencies in the literature are too compartmentalized to support the notion of a unified theory of media use. Careful consideration of the guiding model suggests that this conclusion is more due to the research that has been undertaken than to any deficit in the potential explanatory power of the U&G model.

Finally, critics have complained that U&G research is narrowly focused on individuals and does not acknowledge the impact of societal factors and societal-level changes. While this has certainly been the case with the empirical research, scholars have begun to call for cross-level theorizing in media research. U&G is a good candidate for cross-level thinking; Rosengren’s (1974) model clearly articulates the importance of both individual- and societal-level variables as a part of the media selection process.

Future Directions in Research, Theory, and Methodology

One of the advantages of the U&G approach is the ease with which it applies to new media. In fact, interactive technologies such as the Internet and video games have breathed new life into U&G research and its emphasis on active audiences. Online users and games must make frequent content or response choices while engaged with these new media. Taxonomies of Internet usage motivations parallel earlier media in some ways (e.g., interpersonal utility, pastime, information seeking, convenience, and entertainment) but also provide a place to communicate with family and friends. This difference marks one of the major distinctions in this new medium (→ Exposure to the Internet).

Recent work on new media highlight two broad types of gratifications users can expect: process gratifications (activities such as surfing the net or playing games) and content gratifications (information such as → news stories, product information). In addition, new media offers a new social aspect that traditional media lack (e.g., instant messaging, talking over the Internet while gaming), putting more information in the hands of users more quickly than any other medium.

For now, growing numbers of young scholars are focusing attention in two directions. First, they are creating taxonomies of use of emerging media as scholars did in the past. More importantly, they are more closely examining the experience of media use through an array of entertainment media theories and concepts. Like the U&G scholars that preceded them, they are addressing the weaknesses of the paradigm through continuing empirical and theoretical advances.

References and Suggested Readings

1. Katz, E., Blumler, J. G., & Gurevitch, M. (1974). Utilization of mass communication by the individual. In J. G. Blumler & E. Katz (eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives of gratifications research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, pp. 19–32.
2. Palmgreen, P. C., Wenner, L. A., & Rosengren, K. E. (1974). Uses and gratifications research: The past ten years. In K. E. Rosengren, L. A. Wenner, & P. C. Palmgreen (eds.), Media and gratifications research: Current perspectives. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, pp. 11–37.
3. Rosengren, K. E. (1974). Uses and gratifications: A paradigm outlined. In J. G. Blumler & E. Katz (eds.), The uses of mass communications: Current perspectives of gratifications research. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage, pp. 269–286.
4. Rosengren, K. E., Wenner, L. A., & Palmgreen, P. C. (eds.) (1985). Media and gratifications research: Current perspectives. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
5. Rubin, A. M. (1994). The uses-and-gratifications perspective of media effects. In J. Bryant & D. Zillmann (eds.), Media effects: Advances in theory and research, 2nd edn. Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum, pp. 525–548.
6. Ruggiero, T. E. (2000). Uses and gratifications theory in the 21st century. Mass Communication and Society, 3, 3–37.
7. Sherry, J. (2001). Toward an etiology of media use motivations: The role of temperament in media use. Communication Monographs, 68(3), 274–288.