RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
Argumentative Essay:
"1984" and the theories of mass communication, George Orwell's novel accuracy with
society's and the media's inner workings
Laura Cabrera
Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra
Academic Writing
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
Thesis: George Orwell's novel has an affinity with the mass communication theories and
depicts the reality of society and the media today.
"1984" argument
Mass Communication Theories
•
Gatekeeper
•
Spiral of Silence
•
Cultivation Theory
•
Agenda Settings
Theories present in "1984"
-Gatekeeper
-Spiral of Silence
-Cultivation Theory
Counterargument:
•
Uses and Gratification Theory
Historical Context of "1984"
-Totalitarian Regimes
-Technology breakouts
Similarities with today
-Big Brother and the NSA
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
-Perpetual War
-Double think
Conclusion
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
George Orwell's "1984" is a fiction novel written in 1949, it describes a horrifying
dystopian society that contains, albeit exaggerated due to its genre, a lot of characteristics of
today's society and the media's inner workings which are explained in the theories of mass
communication.
The plot centers around middle aged Winston Smith, a member of the outer Party who
starts second guessing the regime, he works at the Ministry of Truth and his task, ironically,
is to rewrite history to the convenience of the Party, "at one time it had been a sign of
madness to believe that the earth goes round the sun; today, to believe that the past is
unalterable" (1949, George Orwell, 1984). Wanting to evade Big Brother's and the Party's
omnipresent vigilance, he meets Julia, with whom he starts an affair. Both end up believing
they're a part of the Brotherhood, an organization considered a myth, built to overthrow the
Party. Both Julia and Winston are later imprisoned and tortured for their affair and their
involvement with the Brotherhood.
The mass communication theories are a result of the deliberate study of
communication and mass media. They try to explain how it works and its effect on people.
Some of the theories explain how the media often stops people from really being informed of
what is going on such as the Gatekeeper and Agenda Settings theories. Other theories such as
the Cultivation Theory suggest that the media implants certain thoughts, behaviors and
beliefs in the audience, while other theories focus more on the audience's reaction to the
media, such as the Spiral of Silence.
In "1984" some of these theories can be seen clearly even though they had not been
formulated yet. The gatekeeping theory was first instituted in 1943 by social psychologist
Kurt Lewin in regard to food. It describes the process in which the gatekeeper (the person in
charge of selecting the food) is influenced by culture, thus only selecting what is considered
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
as food for humans, cow meat is considered food, a cockroach is not. Later on, the theory was
applied to mass media, explaining how the gatekeepers (the people in charge of spreading the
information) are influenced by lots of things, such as politics and economic gain, to filter the
information in such a way that only about 10% of what is really happening reaches the
audience.
This theory is present in the novel in how the Party tended to change all information
to suit its purpose, "This process of continuous alteration was applied not only to newspapers,
but to books, periodicals, pamphlets, posters, leaflets, films, soundtracks, cartoons,
photographs—to every kind of literature or documentation which might conceivably hold any
political or ideological significance." (1949, George Orwell, 1984 p. 40) Only what the Party
wanted to be the truth, was.
The Spiral of Silence is a theory first instituted by Noelle E. Neumann in 1974, it
suggests that people with different opinions to what is considered "the norm" tend to keep
quiet for fear of being isolated or excluded from society due to their way of thinking. “Being
in a minority, even in a minority of one, did not make you mad. There was truth and there
was untruth, and if you clung to the truth even against the whole world, you were not mad.”
(1949, George Orwell, 1984)
But, what is considered common opinion? Well, that is partially explained by the
Cultivation theory which explains how media affects the audience's point of view on certain
topics.
As successive generations grow up with television's version of the world, the former and
traditional distinctions become blurred. Cultivation thus implies the steady entrenchment of
mainstream orientations in most cases and the systematic but almost imperceptible modification of
previous orientations in others; in other words, affirmation for the believers - indoctrination for
deviants. That is the process we call "mainstreaming." (1986, Gross, L., Morgan, M. & Signorelli, N.)
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
This theory is present in the novel in the form of everything the Party says. It has to be
considered truth or there were severe consequences. "If all others accepted the lie which the
Party imposed—if all records told the same tale—then the lie passed into history and became truth.
'Who controls the past' ran the Party slogan, 'controls the future: who controls the present controls
the past." (1949, George Orwell, 1984)
On the other hand, there is a theory which has a positive stand on the media's inner
workings. It suggests that instead of the media having an unlimited effect on people's
thoughts and behavior, the audience is not a passive consumer, but an active one that uses
media to satisfy a need for information and entertainment, holds power over media
consumption and can interpret and integrate this information in their life according to what
suits them.
"1984" was written in the post-war period, when Orwell had witnessed all of the
totalitarian regimes of the time in full action, how they manipulated and oppressed their
people, and how they abused their power. He had observed how the technological advances
had aided these regimes in their quest to control every aspect of people's lives and that was
imprinted in his writing.
It is frightening to think about how so much of what can be read in the book translates
to some of the things that can be seen in the real world today. Big Brother's omnipresence,
which is very often mentioned in the book, the Party observed its members' every move
through a television screen which had to stay on all the time, this can be compared to the
USA's National Security Agency's ability to access emails, phone calls and social media
records.
The constant war in which the Party is involved with different regimes, is also
emphasized in the story,"The object of waging a war is always to be in a better position in
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
which to wage another war." We see this in the news everyday; every year there is another
conflict between different countries and will almost always have the US Government
involved in some way. "Today we have the so-called war on terror, with no end in sight, a
generalized societal fear, suspension of certain civil liberties, and an ill-defined enemy who
could be anywhere, and anything." (2013, Beale)
Doublethink is a concept created by George Orwell, which means that we see through
something or someone's intentions, yet we believe in it blindly. People have always practiced
double think, even about themselves, we act a certain way and we rationalize why, but deep
inside there is another contrary reason for the behavior. It means believing that two contrary
concepts are correct, and it is evidenced in the book by the Party slogans, which were often
repeated throughout the novel: war is peace, freedom is slavery, ignorance is strength.
"It has also been particularly useful to the activists who have been hard at work introducing
legislation regulating abortion clinics. The claim is that these laws are only to protect women's
health, but by forcing clinics to close because of stringent regulations, they are effectively shutting
women off not only from abortion, but other health services."(2013, Beale)
"1984" was and still is an eye opening, thought provoking novel that makes the reader
stop and analyze their own surroundings. It is a testament to how much the thirst for power
causes humanity to repeat it's mistakes, and how truth can be manipulated to serve a certain
minority's purposes.
"For, after all, how do we know that two and two make four? Or that the force of gravity
works? Or that the past is unchangeable? If both the past and the external world exist only in the
mind, and if the mind itself is controllable, what then?" (1949, George Orwell, 1984).
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RUNNING HEAD: "1984" and the mass communication theories
References
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Gross, L., Morgan, M., & Signorielli, N. (1986). Living with television: The dynamics
of the cultivation process (pp. 17-40). publisher not identified
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Orwell, G. (1949). 1984
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Simons, B. (2000). Building big brother. Communications of the ACM, 43(1), 31-31.
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Pettigrew, A. M. (1972). Information control as a power resource. Sociology,6(2),
187-204.
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Shoemaker, P. J., & Riccio, J. R. (1991). Gatekeeping. John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
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Beale, L. (2013, August 3). We're living '1984' today. Retrieved April 9, 2016, from
http://edition.cnn.com/2013/08/03/opinion/beale-1984-now/
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Lewin, K. (2014). Psychological ecology. The People, Place, and Space Reader, 17.
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Shao, G. (2009). Understanding the appeal of user‐generated media: A uses and
gratification perspective. Internet Research, 19(1), 7-25.
doi:10.1108/10662240910927795
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