A2 audience theory

Recap

What are the five categories of Blumler and Katz’s Uses and Gratification theory?

• Cognitive needs• Affective needs• Personal Integrative needs• Social Integrative needs• Tension free needs

Rokeach and DeFleur Dependency theory

What were the main ideas outlined in this theory?

• you do not depend on all media equally.

• you will become more dependent on media that meet a number of your needs than on media that provide just a few.

• When social change and conflict are high, established institutions, beliefs, and practices are challenged, forcing you to reevaluate and make new choices. At such times your reliance on the media for information will increase. At other, more stable times your dependency on media may go way down.

RecapMoral Panic!

From your research and your own media consumption, what moral panics have been orchestrated in the media in recent years?

How to get the most out of your lessons

In order to utilise your time efficiently in lessons, you must do the following.• We will collectively explore media theory• You will independently research contemporary media issues (and

cases through recent history that have impacted on current affairs).• You must apply new theories to the resources that you are exploring.• Collectively, we will discuss your findings and thoughts on the topic.

• Be ready to discuss your ideas! Media Studies is nothing without discussion!

• Keep a running case study (via PP or Word) to document your research, apply theory and explore your ideas and opinions.

Audience TheoryThe key motivation for media production is - consumption.

You must be able to explore and apply a variety of audience theories to your case study.

Who are the audience?

• Demographics and psychographics

Demographics

DemographicsCLASS- We divide class into 5 categories:

• A: Upper Upper Class: i.e. Royalty/ PM etc

• B: Upper Class: MPs, Consultants, Lawyers, Headmasters, Bank Managers

• C1: Upper Middle Class: Teachers, Secretaries, Solicitors, Architects

• C2: Lower Middle Class: Plumbers, Electricians, Mechanics

• D: Upper Lower Class: Unskilled workers i.e. Shelf stackers, road sweepers, rubbish collectors

• E: Lower Class: Unemployed, Homeless, Non-incomeWhat demographic group would you attribute each of these

papers to?

Demographics"Maslow developed a

model called the "Hierarchy of Needs”, which demonstrates that we must fulfil our basic needs (at the bottom) before progressing up to the next step and so on.

Advertisers know this…there is nopoint advertising a flashy new carwith GPS, blue lights, originaldesign to someone who canbarely afford to live. If they needto buy a car, they will want to knowhow it can get them from A-B to helpthem make a living.

http://www.futurehi.net/images/maslow.jpg

Psychographics

• This is a way of describing an audience by looking at their behaviour and personality traits.

• Psychographics labels a particular type of person and makes an assessment about their viewing and spending habits.

Psychographics

• This is a way of describing an audience by looking at their behaviour and personality traits.

• Psychographics labels a particular type of person and makes an assessment about their viewing and spending habits.

Psychographics

Joey Essex.

Discuss

People are not passive

This approach to textual analysis focuses on the scope for "negotiation" and "opposition" on the part of the audience. This means that a "text"—be it a book, movie, or other creative work—is not simply passively accepted by the audience, but that the reader / viewer interprets the meanings of the text based on their individual cultural background and life experiences. In essence, the meaning of a text is not inherent within the text itself, but is created within the relationship between the text and the reader.

Stuart Hall’s Reception theory

What do we interpret from a message

Stuart Hall stressed the role of social positioning in the interpretation of mass media texts by different social groups. In a model deriving from Frank Parkin's 'meaning systems', Hall suggested three hypothetical interpretative codes or positions for the reader of a text.

Reception models• Dominant (or 'hegemonic') reading: the reader fully shares the text's code

and accepts and reproduces the preferred reading (a reading which may not have been the result of any conscious intention on the part of the author(s)) - in such a stance the code seems 'natural' and 'transparent';

• Negotiated reading: the reader partly shares the text's code and broadly accepts the preferred reading, but sometimes resists and modifies it in a way which reflects their own position, experiences and interests (local and personal conditions may be seen as exceptions to the general rule) - this position involves contradictions;

• Oppositional ('counter-hegemonic') reading: the reader, whose social situation places them in a directly oppositional relation to the dominant code, understands the preferred reading but does not share the text's code and rejects this reading, bringing to bear an alternative frame of reference (radical, feminist etc.) (e.g. when watching a television broadcast produced on behalf of a political party they normally vote against).

Example - TOWIE

Dominant reading of TOWIE:

A 19 year old girl from Essex. She loves watching the show and finds it funny. She thinks that it is a representation of their real lives. She enjoys seeing what the characters get up to. She sets it to record so that she doesn’t miss an episode. She talks about it to her friends.

Example - TOWIENegotiated reading of TOWIE:

A 25 year old female from Liverpool. She finds it entertaining but realises that some of the programme is scripted and situations are not always realistic. She will watch it when it’s on but doesn’t mind if she misses an episode.

Example - TOWIEOppositional reading of TOWIE:

A 45 year old male from London. He finds it ridiculous and fake. He finds the character’s annoying and lacking in talent. He avoids watching the programme, if it comes on the TV he will turn over.

Check list

Audience theoryDemographicsPsychographicsUses and gratification theoryMaslow’s hierarchy of needsMoral PanicDependency theoryReception theoryHypodermic needle theory

Whilst continuing to collaborate your independent research on the Lee Rigby case together, consider audience theory.

How did different audiences receive the information?

How was it accessed and how does this tie into the pyschographics of an audience?

What is the impact on specific audiences?

How are specific audiences targeted?