2. HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY
This theory suggests that the audience is passive, rather than active, and
the media producers assume that the audience all like the same genre-
no matter what their age, race, social background etc. The media text is
“injected” into the audience by the powerful media producers.
It is supposed to be out of date, but that could be contradicted by shows
such as “Big Brother” and other reality TV shows. Although many
people dislike Big Brother, it is still being aired so it’s still successful,
whether we think of ourselves as an active audience or not.

3. TWO STEP FLOW
Developed mainly in the 1940’s, this idea implied that there would be an
opinion leader, who would give their ideas to a public speaker, who
would then give the ideas to the audience.
It could be used today in media texts, as the media producers would tell
things to people who would then communicate this with the audience.

4. USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
This theory suggests that the audience has four basic needs:
To survey
To divert
To confirm relationships
To confirm identity
However, we obviously have more than four needs, and our viewing habits
are all different, thus making us an ACTIVE audience. We can use the
media texts, and not be used by it, and use it for our own gratification.
Therefore, we have more power over the media producers as they have to
cater for our different needs.

5. AUDIENCE RECEPTION THEORY
The media has to cater for different needs, as the audience is more active
and more diverse, and have to acknowledge this.
The media producers have to accept that media texts can be polycemic,
and try to manipulate the text to be a preferred reading.
One of the most common ways for media creators to secure a preferred
reading of a text is through ANCHORING.
E.g. anchoring an image with text so the audience can see what is being
advertised.