Herta Herzog’s research - the forerunner of the uses and gratifications theory

The uses and gratifications theory represents one of the key theories that contributed to the change of the theoretical paradigm regarding the maximum effects of the media on people. The theoretical question “What do the media do to people?” within this theory has been replaced by the question “What do people do with the media?”. Along with this theory, the concept of an “active audience” was also introduced. Specifically due to the interaction that they enable users to achieve, the uses and gratifications theory itself, as well as the concept of an active audience, have been reinterpreted in the era of digital media and social networks. In view of the aforementioned, the author believes that it is important to take a look back in time, particularly to the 1940s and highlight Herta Herzog’s groundbreaking research on the active role of media audiences, which were highly important to the team gathered around Paul Lazarsfeld and Elihu Katz when laying the foundations of the uses and gratifications theory.