Audience Theory Recap...mmm tasty burger!

7/27/2019 Audience Theory Recap...mmm tasty burger!

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AUDIENCE

THEORYA LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES

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MOST AUDIENCE THEORY FOCUSES

ON TWO QUESTIONS..

How powerful are the media in

influencing the ideas and behaviour of

the audience?

And

How does the media shape an

audiences perception of the world?

Audience theories suggest thatrepresentations are open to different

interpretations and that their meanings

are not fixed.

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CONSUMPTION OF MEDIA

There are different ways of consuming media texts

Primary media

(texts demand close and concentrated attention from audience, eg.Films in cinemas)

Secondary media

(texts provide a background for an audience who are often doingsomething else at the same time and are distracted, eg. Radio andsome TV programmes)

Tertiary media

(texts that are consumed by audiences who are almost unaware oftheir own engagement with the media, eg. Advertising or radiostations broadcasting in shops)

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Market-Liberalism

Perspective

Political-Economy

Perspective

Stresses power

of AUDIENCE

over media

producers

Audience preference

decides what media

texts are produced

Audience

research

and pre-testing

Stresses the power

of PRODUCERS

over media

audiences

Media is

produced

to appeal

to

advertisers

The power of media

organisations are

open to abuse -

promoting politicalparties etc

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HYPODERMIC

NEEDLE MODEL

TWO STEP FLOWMODEL

USES ANDGRATIFICATIONS

THEORYRECEPTION THEORY

Dating

from 1920s

Passive audience

Information is

unmediatedAlso

called the

limited

effects

paradigm

Social effects areimportant in the way

audiences consume

texts

Blumler and

Katz 1974

Audiences consume texts for differentreasons and in different ways

Stuart Halls

Encoding/Decoding

model

Texts have

preferred

meaning

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PASSIVE AUDIENCES

Effects Theory

Some commentators see the media as a sinister and insidiousforce.

The Frankfurt School (Adorno and Horkheimer) a group ofMarxist intellectuals developed a critique of the mass media afterexpressing horror at the success of Nazi Germany propaganda.

They argued the media had considerable power over thebehaviour and beliefs of the audience.

The passive audience soak up the empty promises of massentertainment, becoming willing victims who both produce andconsume the products of consumer capitalism.

The audience are powerless to resist the effects of mediamessages.

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THE TWO STEP FLOW MODEL

Katz and Lazarsfeld

Reception in which media messages are mediated by others

opinion leaders.

US presidential campaign 1940

Our opinion can form or develop based on what others have

to say.

Importance of word of mouth

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ENCODING/DECODING

Stuart Hall drew upon the Gramscian hegemony theory indeveloping the encoding/decoding model.

He wanted to focus on how dominant ideological messagescan be resisted or reinterpreted by audience members.

At the encoding stage, the producers of texts createmessages (codes) which they expect their viewers/readers tounderstand.

When the audience come in contact with the text, we decodethe messages to create meaning.

Fundamentally, media messages are POLYSEMIC theycontain numerous possible interpretations.

However, we can be steered towards a preferred reading of atext.

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Stuart

Hall

Preferred,

Negotiated

andOppositional

readings of

media texts

For

example

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McDonalds want you to think....

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You may agree

Or.....

You may disagree

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Or.....

You may think that big macs do taste good,

but Ill only have them every now and again

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So here we have three separate readings of

that one advert

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In 1980 David Morley did a study

of audience responses when

watching the BBC TV show

Spotlight. As a result of his

research, he decided that

audiences tend to fall into three

groups based on theirinterpretation of the text.....

Preferred Reading

Negotiated Reading

Oppositional Reading

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The preferred

reading is the

reading mediaproducers hope

audiences will take

from the text.

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Audience members from

outside the target audience

may reject the preferredreading,

receiving their own

alternative message.

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Negotiated reading is when

audiences acknowledge the

preferred reading, butmodify it to

suit their own values and

opinions.

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What is the

PREFERRED

reading?

The

NEGOCIATEDreading?

The

OPPOSITIONAL

reading?

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ACTIVE AUDIENCES

The Uses and Gratifications Theory

The audience has a set of needs (Blumler and Katz 1975)

Diversion

Integration & Social Interaction

Personal identity

Surveillance/Information

We use the media to gratify our needs.

We actively seek out media products that we really want.

Links with liberal-pluralist perspectives (consumers hold thepower over producers)

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Coronation Street viewers are

individuals who are motivated by

different impulses

A need forcompany

The needto be

part of a

group

The need to

identify with

characters

and

scenarios

Relaxation

The need for

structure and order

offers a

reassuring routine

To combat

lonelinessallows audience to

perceive

themselves to be

part of an

IMAGINED

COMMUNITY

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USES AND GRATIFICATIONS

1) SURVEILLANCE/INFORMATION

We want to find out about society and the world.

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2) INTEGRATION & SOCIAL INTERACTION

Companionship through identification withtelevision characters

We want to find out more about thecircumstances of other people so we canempathise/sympathise with the lives of others.

Sociability through discussion about televisionwith other people.

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3) PERSONAL IDENTITY

Finding reinforcement for personal values.

Identifying with a valued other in the media.

Gaining insight into ones self.

USES AND GRATIFICATIONS

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GRATIFICATION

4) DIVERSION

We use the media for enjoyment, relaxation or just to fill time.

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What uses and gratifications do the above offer their

audiences?

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NEW MEDIA THE INTERNET

UTOPIAN

The internet user issavvy, well informedand creative

Distinctions betweenproduction andreception are blurred

Online communitiesallow audiences to

interact with eachother and producers

Active

DYSTOPIAN

Studies of internet users haveshown an unequal distribution interms of gender, age, ethnicity

and social class.

There are increasing levels ofcorporate domination bigcompanies exploit the potentialfor making money from users.

Levels of control andsurveillance inhibit the autonomyand creativity once associatedwith the internet.