The document discusses several key concepts in audience theory, including target audiences, passive versus active audiences, and the work of media theorist David Morley. It defines how audiences can be categorized by gender, age, and social class. It also summarizes Morley's three ways audiences can interpret media texts: preferred reading, negotiated reading, and oppositional reading. Additionally, it outlines the hypodermic needle model of media effects and its assumption that audiences passively accept media messages. Finally, it covers uses and gratification theory and how people actively seek media to fulfill needs around personal identity, surveillance, entertainment, and personal relationships.

1. AUDIENCE THEORY
AS Media Studies

2. A SUMMARY OF WHAT I HAVE
LEARNED ABOUT AUDIENCE THEORY
Under the topic of audience theory I have learned the following
keywords;
• Target audience – The audience we think we are making this
product for.
• Passive Audience – Those who listen to whatever the media
states without gathering their own opinion or own information.
• Active Audience – Those who make their own choices about the
news they hear, practically the polar opposite of a ‘passive
audience’.
• David Morley – Media Theorist
• Hypodermic Needle Model
• Uses and Gratification

3. DEFINING THE AUDIENCE
When choosing a target audience, they can be defined through
subheadings such as;
• Gender – Women are assumed to buy grocery items whereas
men are assumed to deal with the technological side of life.
• Age – For example, children are more typically assumed to be
interested in cartoons and older people are assumed to be
interested in documentaries.
• Social Class – Advertisers have not yet been persuaded by
the classless society in the UK and so media texts are often
aimed towards those of higher class, etc.

4. DAVID MORLEY’S 3 WAYS TO
INTERPRET MEDIA TEXT
• Preferred reading is when the text that the media produces cause
the audience to react in the way in which they wanted them to.
• Negotiated reading is where only some members of the audience
will agree with a text that the media has produced, such as films,
documentaries and TV programmes.
• Oppositional reading is when the audience are completely against
and disagree with a text produced by the media.

5. HYPODERMIC NEEDLE MODEL
The Hypodermic Needle Model is the theory that the media is like a
syringe which injects beliefs and attitudes into the minds of the
audience. The thesis is that the audience is a powerless mass with
little choice but to be influenced by whatever the media states.
This theory was not based on empirical findings from different
research but instead on assumptions about human nature at that
time. People were assumed to be “uniformly controlled by the
biologically based ‘instincts’ and that they react more or less
uniformly to whatever ‘stimuli’ came along”.
This model is rooted in the 1930’s behaviourism and now is
considered obsolete in todays society.

6. USES AND GRATIFICATION
The Uses and Gratification theory is the approach to understanding
why and how people actively seek out specific media to satisfy
specific needs. Gratification itself can be split up into four
subheadings such as;
• Personal Identity – This is how we may watch TV to look for
models for our own behaviours. The characters help us decide
what we feel about ourselves.
• Surveillance – This is the process of simply gathering
information.
• Entertainment – Self explanatory. Used for enjoyment, relaxation
or to fill time.
• Personal Relationships – This is how we may form relationships
based on knowledge or a similar enjoyment of certain media texts.
Intergration provides a base for base for social interactions.