This document discusses theories around media audiences and reception from various scholars. [1] It outlines Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding theory which proposes that the meanings of media messages can be interpreted differently by audiences than intended. [2] It also discusses the concept of dominant, negotiated, and oppositional codes of reading media texts. [3] Finally, it considers debates around whether new media has made the media landscape more democratic by allowing greater audience participation and engagement.

1. From Effects to Reception
Theory
• Learning Objectives:
• To understand newer ways of thinking about
audiences
– To discuss Stuart Hall’s Encoding / Decoding
Theory
– To understand the notion of Global Village
– To discuss whether Media is becoming more
democratic and consider current debates.

3. Jürgen Habermas
• “The advanced capitalist phase of modernity
transformed the public sphere from a culture-
debating one to a culture-consumer one”
• Advertising and PR have diluted the public
sphere and dragged it into the ‘levelling down’
pit of mass-media.
• Modern day consumers are ‘hoodwinked’ into
‘constant consumption training’ that shapes
public opinions into a soft exchange of views.
(1989)

6. Stuart Hall, 1982
• The meanings of messages are able to be
distorted and interpreted differently by
audiences than intended by the producers.
• Language / messages are encoded (=made
to mean something) by those with ‘the
means of meaning production’ and are then
decoded(=made to mean something) by
audiences

7. Reception of
text:
Dominant code
Negociated code
Oppositional
code

8. Reception of text:
Dominant code - preferred reading
Negotiated code – negotiated reading
Oppositional code – oppositional reading
However - hegemony works to allow dissenting voices
but to suppress the force of opposition by actively
seeking out support from all parts of society
The professional code (producers) operates WITHIN
the hegemony of the dominant code.
“Make-belief democracy”?

10. Resistance to dominant ideologies
• Sub-cultures operate through a system of
oppositional codes that offend the majority
and threaten the status quo.
• Aim to resist incorporation into the
mainstream
• Role of new media – helpful or destructive for
sub cultures?
• Also, more and more niche audiences.

11. McLuhan’s Global Village
• Telephone, TV and now the internet are
shrinking the world and bringing people
closer together.
• Eg. The world’s online Marketplace, Ebay,
MySpace, Facebook etc… as global
villages where users spatially distant from
each other can converge around common
tastes and interests.
• But social and economic exclusion for
many.

13. Democratisation of the media?

15. Is the media more
democratised?
• Buckingham on Media/Web 2.0
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/mmclips/b
• McDougall on Media 2.0
http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/_mmclips/
• http://www.englishandmedia.co.uk/mm/subscribers/_mmclips/

16. About New Media Democracy and new era journalism
Posted by businge
Imagine a world where all journalism was of the people, by
the people, for the people. Where all people have a chance to
participate, where anyone has a chance for their voice to be
heard, where all participations in the media are geared
towards the people, and where people (general public
interest) are the center of all media interactions. That, while
not perfect, would be the best journalism.
New information and communication tools are already almost
developing this ideal. There are new media tools enabling all
to communicate, engage, offer feedback, have their say etc.
But the noise in the crowd is too much to facilitate any
substantial conversation and understanding necessary for
informed decisions-the essence of democracy and free
participation. So we still need the people who specialize in
gathering information on particular issues and disseminating
distilled information in the public interest.

17. Opinion 1
• In many ways, it helps to look at new media as a
form of media democracy where there is better
chance that what the media does is of the
people, by the people and for the people. So
while it is unsettling for many media houses and
journalists, I have come to accept that the new
media tools and trends present the best chance
for the media and journalism to do their best in
informing, educating and entertaining while
providing the best chance for audience
engagement and citizen participation.

18. Opinion 2
• I've been rather busy of late, but I did manage to read some articles on
how social media have promoted democracy, and how people are
more involved with politics, elections, campaigns ... and with one
another... due to web 2.0 tools. I also had a read about democracy and
social media.
I believe that the Internet has given an opportunity to all people to be
more involved, share their views and take action ...oh and donate
money...
So, people are more engaged and their views are out there for
politicians to take them into consideration. But wait... just because I
Blog and use facebook and social groups or use twitter to write what
I'm doing does not make me an active citizen in my community in real
life. Sure, it makes me an active member, but, in an online
constituency, sharing my views with like minded people.
Participatory democracy needs people to be involved, and YES you
can be involved through social media. You will also need to act in real
life.

19. Opinion 3
Data traffic indicates that, online, we are increasingly
talking to people just like ourselves, relying on our
friends' directions to navigate the web. It's ironic that,
rather than opening us up to an ever-greater number of
opinions and attitudes, social networking sites such as
Facebook and Twitter may actually be narrowing our
worldview, confirming what we already believe and
reinforcing attitudes we hold already.
So what happens when we only communicate with people
like ourselves, and the messages we share only reinforce
our mutual hatred? It's a technique radical religious and
racist organisations have always used to make sure their
members conform, but now they're employing
technological tools to create global communities of like-
minded ideologues.

20. Research topics
• Eastenders cot death plot line
• Untangling the Net webpages – hate and
bullying
• Weakileaks
• Tunisia
• UK Uncut
• Trolls
• Mumsnet