The Hypodermic Needle or Magic Bullet Model is a retrospective label depicting direct, powerful media effects on passive audiences. It is commonly used in accounts of communication history, although no identifiable scholar clearly formulated the named theory and attributing it to Lasswell is misleading.
- FamilyModel
- Category of its source unitAnalytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
- DomainMedia, Publics & Society
What these mean
Editorial orientation · Family
Model
In this series, Model names the editorial family primarily used to understand and explain communication: theories, frameworks, effects, traditions, principles and other conceptual resources. It is an umbrella for a route into the field, not a claim that every included object is a predictive model.
Editorial orientation · Category
Analytical Frameworks, Typologies & Heuristics
Organizes dimensions, distinctions, types or questions so that a situation can be examined systematically. A framework supplies structure, a typology distinguishes forms, and a heuristic offers a usable way to orient judgment.