audience notes pdf

AudienceJames Perkins

Monday, 5 September 11

A media text itself has no-meaning until it is decoded by an audience.


The Hypodermic Needle ModelFirst to attempt to explain how mass media was perceived by audiences.

Suggested that audiences passively receive the information without processing or challenging the data.

Dates back to the 1920’s, started to use propaganda.

The experience, intelligence and opinion of the subject are not relevant to the reception of the text. Can be manipulated by the media-makers to think or do differently. Still quoted today e.g. young children watching rap videos etc


Two-Step FlowHypodermic Model proved too clumsy to precisely explain the relationship between the text and the audience.

Mass media was now an essential part of life.

Analysed the decision-making processes of the 1940 presidential election.

Information does not flow directly into the individual’s mind but filtered through “opinion leaders” who then communicate it to less active associates who are influenced by them.


Two-Step Flow

The audience meditate the information and apply the ideas and thoughts from opinion leaders, not being influenced by a direct process.

But by a ‘Two-Step Flow’

This made the media less powerful and they concluded social factors were also important in the way the audience received media-texts.


Uses & Gratifications

During the 1960’s, the first generation to grow up with television became adults.

It became apparent that they made choices when interpreting media texts.

Audiences were made up of individuals who actively consumed texts for different reasons in different ways.


Uses & GratificationsIn 1958 Lasswell suggested that media texts had the following functions for individuals and society;

Surveillance

Correlation

Entertainment

Cultural Transmission


Uses & GratificationsHowever, a theory published in 1974, gave other purposes for why they might choose and use a text

Diversion - escape from everyday problems and routine

Personal Relationships - using the media for emotional and other interaction e.g. soap operas for family life.

Personal Identity - finding yourself related in texts, learning behaviour and values from texts

Surveillance - information which could be useful for living e.g. weather reports, financial news, holiday bargains


Reception Theory

This theory extended on the concept of active audiences and how they interpreted the text but also how their individual characteristics such as age and gender affected their reading.

Based on the encoding/decoding model. Encoded by the producer and decoded by the reader.

There may be major differences between the same reading because of how it is decoded.


Reception Theory

However, using recognised codes and conventions and drawing upon audience expectations such as genre and use of stars, the producers can position the audience.

They can then create a certain amount of agreement on what the code means.

This is called ‘Preferred Reading’


audience notes pdf

Technology

media texts

mass media

consumed texts

reception theory

audience expectations

twostep flow hypodermic

opinion leaders

text diversion escape