Stuart Hall developed encoding/decoding theory to explain how audiences receive media messages differently based on their own experiences and viewpoints. Encoding refers to how media producers develop messages, while decoding is how audiences interpret and make meaning from those messages. Hall argued that the intended meaning is not fixed, as audiences can decode messages in preferred, negotiated, or oppositional ways depending on their sociological factors. Examples like Disney princess films often elicit a preferred reading where the audience agrees with the producer's encoding, while the Teletubbies television show decoding led to some oppositional readings that disagreed with the initial encoding.

1. Audience reception
theory

2. Introduction
Audience reception is the way we ( people/
audience) react to things.
• Audience reception receive and respond to text
very differently. This is because of everyone
individuality and opinions. This in return
generates varied Reponses which is normal as not
everyone sees things in the same way but it an
also cause disagreement.
• This is where Stuart Hall media theory comes into
places as it explains how one person intended
message can send a different message to another
person. Also how to make sure that everyone gets
your attended message.

3. Stuart Hall
• Stuart Mcphail Hall was a Jamaican born cultural theorist and
sociologist who lived in the UK from 1951.
• He is the founder of many project and theory . Also the encoding
and decoding model of communication and reception theory.
• His paper that he wrote at the begin of his career explaining the
model of encoding and decoding in the television discourse in
1973, got him allot of success and attention this then lead to the
discovery/ ideology of audience reception which was linked to his
previous theory.
“The way a reader decodes a text is
dependent on sociological factors such
as age, past experience and their own
belief.”

5. Encoding &Decoding Theory
• Encoding and decoding its how media messages are produced, circulated and consumed . You
can have one media text representing one ideology and meaning however not everyone will
accept it in the same ways . The text can be decoded by body language to understand
emotion/ relationship.
• This is why Stuart hall argued saying that the meaning of a text is not fixed and determined by
the sender /creator and that the message will not be received the same by the audience.
• He also said that there is a lack of fit between the moment of the production of the message
which in “ encoding “ and the moment of its reception “ reception”.
• However , in order to get the intended reaction within the audience , the audience must
correctly decode the intended message from the creator in order in order for the meaningful
exchange to take place.

6. Audience reception
• There three different ways that the audience will be able to receive a media
text. All deepening on their age, gender and cultural experiences.
1. Preferred reading- This is when the audience agree and accept what the
producers/ creator encoded/ encoding.
2. Negotiated reading – This is when the audience partly agree with the
encoding/ encoded.
3. Opposition reading- This is when the audience totally reject/disagree or
decode the the text differently than its initial decoded .

7. Example 1

8. Example 2- Disney princess
This is a good example of a preferred reading. It agrees with the encoded message

9. Example 3- The teletubbies 1997