This document discusses how audiences encode and decode media messages based on their social positions and the context in which they receive the messages. It states that audiences can have dominant, negotiated, or oppositional responses to media texts depending on whether they accept, partially accept, or disregard the dominant values expressed in the media. Audiences' social factors like gender, age, ethnicity, religion, and activity level may influence how they interpret and respond to different media representations.

1. Encoding/ Decoding It is the giving and taking of media messages and whether the audience accept it.

2. Principles Centred on the idea that the media represented will have differentiating impacts on the audiences. Reasons for this are due to a number of factors: Social Position Gender- Male/Female Age – Younger audiences are more modern Ethnicity Religion and beliefs - Morals What the person is doing when the message is received.

3. Audience Responses Dominant – The audience understand and accept the dominant values that are expressed within the media text. Negotiated – The audience generally agree with the dominant values but still disagree with specific aspects. Oppositional – The audience disregard what is represented to them by the media text.