2. Audience
Audience = people who read ‘any’ media text
One of the key concepts in media industries is audience because all media texts
are produced with an audience in mind.
We are all engaged with media as members and participants of an audience and
not only that but media cannot survive without an audience but in our days it's
quite difficult to live without media.
3. Effects Theory: also known as ‘hypodermic syringe theory’ or ‘bullet theory’
Effects Theory argues that the mass media has a profound effect on its audience and society – so much so that people will
believe and copy everything they see in the media.
This theory is showing how powerful the mass media is and the audience are passive. Media can inject their audience with
ideas and meaning (hypodermic syringe refers to the media being like a drug that is addictive to the audience). Particularly
in film, films can be really powerful in giving us ideas and changing how we think and what we want to do.
A passive audience accepts and believes all messages in any media text.
For example, Since the 1999 release of the first "Matrix" movie, there have been several cases involving violent crime in
which attorneys have used "The Matrix" on behalf of their clients, saying that the accused believed they were in an alternate
reality and were influenced by this and murdered someone.
Effects theory, helps explain moral panic there has always been PANICS about ‘the audience’ and the effect that the media
will have on them. When an audience is deeply affected by an issue in the media this is known as a ‘moral panic’
‘A moral panic is an intense feeling expressed in a population about an issue that appears to threaten the social order’.
Effects model is an outdated theory
4. 2- Step Theory:
The 2-Step theory argues audience are only convinced or ‘sold’ via the media when there are 2 steps –
1. The first step is the media product itself, opinion leader gets information from a media source
1. The second step is a ‘celebrity’ or ‘opinion leader’, well respected person, for example politician, famous tv star, passes the
information along to other and this encourages others to buy the product, endorses the media product or idea. These other
people can be family,
Friends, acquaintances etc.
Opinion leaders:
Pay close attention to mass media and the massage it gives
Influential and popular
The influentials:
Look up to the opinion leaders
Easily influenced and believe those above them
Examples:
- Elections
- Advertising
- Mean Girls
- Child's Play
5. Uses and Gratifications:
Uses and gratifications suggests that there is an active audience making use of the media. In this model
the individual has the power and selects the media texts that best suit her/his needs.
An active audience is using media text for their own purpose.
What an active audience wants:
a) the need for information about our social world (news and drama)
b) the need for identity, by using characters and personalities to define our sense of self and social
behaviour and being able to relate to characters personality, feelings and life events (film and celebrities)
c) the need for social interaction through experiencing the relationships and interaction of others and
discussing media events with friends/ work colleagues (soap lives and sitcom, sports)
d) the need for distraction by using the media for purposes of play and entertainment (game shows and
quizzes)
6. Encoding and decoding
This is an active audience theory and is focusing on the audience reaction to a particular encoded media text.
Interpreting the meaning and reaching a conclusion after a puzzle effect, the audience can object or share the
message.
Depending on the age, nationality or culture of the individual the media content can be read (decoded) in different
ways. An example of how an audience decodes a text supposing a film is created via binary oppositions for
example ‘good vs bad’ an audience will read these codes but they may chose to interpret them in opposition (in a
different way)
For example: King Kong, instead of the audience thinking the monster is bad they might be sympathetic towards
the monster.
Or
Frankenstein the audience might sympathise with the monster
In an oppositional reading the audience interpret the film how they want rejecting the morality of the film/tv
programme etc
The audience may sympathize with the ‘baddie’ for various reasons and disagree with the actions of the ‘hero’
