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.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://difference.blogs.glam.ac.uk/files/2010/03/JonSpaceHoppers2.jpg&imgrefurl=http://difference.blogs.glam.ac.uk/&usg=__LQtvGcYg0WzkG4ZbkhtvX9dAKbY=&h=637&w=485&sz=277&hl=en&start=17&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=D4pWy1WgHg0T7M:&tbnh=137&tbnw=104&prev=/images?q=science+tv+programme&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://bnb.bpweb.net/N24/BBC%2520NEWS%252024_20060310-165413__0001.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.ukfree.tv/showchannel.php?id=N24&usg=__7rFKNVIITZoQSwpMevirxamb2Mw=&h=576&w=1024&sz=109&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=ttcjoNF28OO14M:&tbnh=84&tbnw=150&prev=/images?q=TV+news+BBC&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.prs.heacademy.ac.uk/images/news.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.prs.heacademy.ac.uk/news/&usg=__66etgdCQMZZdiTBuSt_TbYuMejQ=&h=454&w=454&sz=55&hl=en&start=1&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=pCzlr53nR2eaAM:&tbnh=128&tbnw=128&prev=/images?q=news&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.comedy.co.uk/images/library/people/300/i/inbetweeners_interview4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000350/simon_bird_may_quit_the_inbetweners/&usg=__5GMBRIsCtXxCQx6TgSOJOfaVHOo=&h=400&w=300&sz=39&hl=en&start=8&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Ac4jqzISHooP_M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images?q=inbetweeners&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://blog.usaseopros.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/water-cooler-gossip.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.usaseopros.com/tag/twitter/&usg=__My0Uy_EqfGAuVljsRitHeRoYX3k=&h=255&w=240&sz=16&hl=en&start=5&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=zRhhPkuRN6bREM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=104&prev=/images?q=water+cooler+gossip&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1 -
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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.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.comedy.co.uk/images/library/people/300/i/inbetweeners_interview4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000350/simon_bird_may_quit_the_inbetweners/&usg=__5GMBRIsCtXxCQx6TgSOJOfaVHOo=&h=400&w=300&sz=39&hl=en&start=8&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Ac4jqzISHooP_M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images?q=inbetweeners&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://www.comedy.co.uk/images/library/people/300/i/inbetweeners_interview4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.comedy.co.uk/news/story/00000350/simon_bird_may_quit_the_inbetweners/&usg=__5GMBRIsCtXxCQx6TgSOJOfaVHOo=&h=400&w=300&sz=39&hl=en&start=8&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=Ac4jqzISHooP_M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=93&prev=/images?q=inbetweeners&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://blog.usaseopros.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/water-cooler-gossip.jpg&imgrefurl=http://blog.usaseopros.com/tag/twitter/&usg=__My0Uy_EqfGAuVljsRitHeRoYX3k=&h=255&w=240&sz=16&hl=en&start=5&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=zRhhPkuRN6bREM:&tbnh=111&tbnw=104&prev=/images?q=water+cooler+gossip&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1 -
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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.
http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://about-face.org/blog/wp-content/uploads/2010/09/1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://about-face.org/blog/archives/category/social-issues/&usg=__HsKZDFvAlbbawIsOuKNhOY7uWCA=&h=276&w=460&sz=26&hl=en&start=3&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=PLvKJtcE42rD8M:&tbnh=77&tbnw=128&prev=/images?q=weakest+link&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?imgurl=http://content.paulnixon.org/images/content/jeff-stelling-v1.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.paulnixon.org/archive/2008/Nov.aspx&usg=__eXlUtm20spkLvzbVTiGBsTvUY1k=&h=276&w=460&sz=22&hl=en&start=2&zoom=1&itbs=1&tbnid=zbA8KE997AxT6M:&tbnh=77&tbnw=128&prev=/images?q=countdown&hl=en&gbv=2&tbs=isch:1 -
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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.