Nalini Prasad

“Audience doesn’t constitute itself, it

doesn’t know itself, it doesn’t govern

itself. All is done by institutional bodies-

media organization, research and

government agencies. Thus, audience is

the ‘imagined community that enables

those institutions to operate.

-ANDERSON (1991)

Without audiences there would be no

media.

Media organizations produce media

texts to make profit – no audience = no

profit.

The mass media is becoming more

competitive than ever to attract more

and more audiences in different ways

and stay profitable.

An individual or collective group of

people who read or consume any

media text.

Active Audience

Passive Audience

Hegemonic Model

Pluralist model

Uses and gratifications

theory

Effects

model

Reception

theory

Passive audience theory (the

hegemonic model) The idea that the

media ‘injects’ ideas and views directly

into the brains of the audience, therefore

controlling the way people think and

behave. Media has a direct and

powerful effect on it’s audience. Can

you think of any examples of this in the

media today or in history?

Active audience theory argues

that media audiences do not just receive

information passively but are actively

involved, often unconsciously, in making sense

of the message within their personal and

social contexts. Decoding of a media

message may therefore be influenced by

such things as family background, beliefs,

values, culture, interests, education and

experiences.

Gender Age Sex

Social Class

Ethnicity

Digital technology has also led to an

increasing uncertainty over how we

define an audience, with the general

agreement that a large group of people

reading the same thing at the same time

is out-dated and that audiences are

now ‘fragmented’. The division of

audiences into smaller groups due to the

variety of media outlets.

Mass audience

•Mass audience – often termed ‘broadcast audience’. Those who consume mainstream or popular texts such as soaps or sitcoms. Media and communication that targets a very large group of people (women, men, children, adults etc.)

Niche audience

•much smaller but very influential. A niche audience is a small, select group of people with a very unique interest.

McQuail, Blumler and Brown (1972) mentioned 4

major areas of need which the media in general

seek to gratify.

Diversion: an escape from routine and problems, an

emotional release.

Personal relationships: companionship, feeling part

of a social group.

Personal identity: exploring or reinforcing our own

values through comparison through others values

(this would include the values of the media

producers and of celebrities).

Surveillance: the need for a constant supply of

information about what is happening in the world.

Emphasises what the audiences for media products do with them.

Power lies with the individual consumer of media who is imagined as using particular programmes, films or magazines to gratify certain needs and interests.

The audience is made up of individuals free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they choose •

THE AUDIENCE IS ACTIVE.

Stuart Hall claimed that audience

members share certain frameworks of

interpretation and that they work at

DECODING media texts rather than being

‘affected’ in a passive way. So Media

producer ENCODES meanings into text

Media consumer (the audience) DECODES

meanings (relies on our own experiences,

social demographic etc.)

DOMINANT- where the reader recognises what the programmes ‘preferred’ or offered meaning is and broadly agrees with it…eg flag waving patriot who responds enthusiastically to Presidents speech.

OPPOSITIONAL- where the dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural, political, or ideological reasons…eg pacifist who understands the speech but rejects it.)

NEGOTIATED- where the reader accepts, rejects or refines elements of the programme in the light of previously held views.

CREDIBILITY means trustworthiness and competence.

Before the audience accepts any message he will

judge whether the communicator and the

organization the individual represents, can be relied

upon and is competent enough to give the

information.

Aristotle divided the aspects of persuasion into

three categories: ethos (credibility), pathos

(emotion) and logos (logic).

Media credibility refers to the perceived

believability of media content "beyond any

proof of its contentions.“ Media credibility

research has shifted the focus from

characteristics of individual, personal sources

to characteristics of media behaviour such as

objectivity, accuracy, fairness, and lack of

bias.

Message The recommendations from research, the

technology constitute the content or subject

matter, the message.

Information which is relevant to particular set of

audiences, constitute the messages, otherwise for

them this is ‘noise’.

A good message clearly states what to do, how to

do, when to do and what would be the result.

Messages which are relevant, interesting, useful,

profitable, credible (latest and best, based on

research findings) and complete (neither too

much, nor too little) are likely to motivate the

people.

Media occupies a significant part of people’s

daily lives, it significantly impacts the social

construction of reality, the shape of public

consciousness and the direction of socio-political

change. Therefore, media's credibility is as

important as the message itself.

Television viewers find hard news more credible

than soft news.

The credibility assigned to different media varies

by race and gender of news consumers.

Communication to be successful must be target

oriented.

Response of the audience is the ultimate

objective of any communication function.