What is Magic Multiplier?

What is Magic Multiplier?

What is magic multiplier?


Mass Media is called the magic multiplier as it can multiply the messages and reach a number of people very fast.


Wilbur Schramm (1964), in his book Mass Media and National Development, argued that each person would have requirement of information of the work he would undertake. And there be millions of workers would require information of various types.


The conventional channel of communication would never be able to meet this demand. Therefore, modern communication technologies would be of great use to meet this demand by multiplying the messages and reaching each and every worker simultaneously.


Arguments for magic multiplier:


We need magic multiplier for the following reasons:

1. For social change of great magnitude, people must be informed, educated, motivated and persuaded. Information must flow, not only to them but also from them, so that their needs can be known and they might participate in the acts and decisions of the nation-building.
2. As the required amount of information and learning is vast and so as the targeted population.
3. The available channels of communication like inter-personal, group-communication, traditional media are incapable to undertake this task. As this will require a lot of time and resources. For a developing country, it's difficult to gather a large pool of resources and wait for such a long period. Mass media with its magical reach can do this job in less time and resources.
   
   Audit of magic multiplier:
   
   1. The audit finds out that the mass media succeeded in reaching a vast majority of population in less time and resources, but it failed in achieving its basic objectives for which it became a Magic Multiplier.
   2. Mass media as a magic multiplier did a commendable job in spreading awareness but it could not give expected results in persuading and educating the targeted population.
   3. It was found that persuasion, motivation and education for/on something is best achieved by close interactions which is possible in inter-personal, group-communications etc.