The document discusses several media theories: - The male gaze theory explains how media typically presents the perspective of a heterosexual male viewer and objectifies women. - Reception theory examines how audiences actively interpret media texts differently than how they were encoded by producers. - Uses and gratifications theory focuses on what audiences do with media and what needs it fulfills rather than how it affects them. It suggests audiences choose media to satisfy specific needs like entertainment, social interaction, or education. - The hypodermic needle model from the 1920s viewed audiences as passive receivers of media messages without processing them critically.

1. MEDIA THEORIES &
THEORISTS.

2. The Male Gaze
• Laura Mulvey is a feminist who developed the male gaze
theory. Her theory shows how the audience is put into the
perspective of a heterosexual man. She believes that
women should enjoy the attention and put them self in a
position to be looked at through the gaze.
• Mulvey states that women are typically the object rather
than the possessors of gaze because the control of the
camera (and therefore the gaze) comes from factors such
as the as the assumption of heterosexual men as the
default target audience for most films.
• The male gaze also shows how female sexiness is
brought in even when the product is not necessarily sexy
itself.

3. The Female Gaze
• Laura Mulvey also states that the female gaze is the
same as the male because women look at themselves
from the point of view of men.
• Many other feminist writers, artists and theorists have
pushed for a “Female Gaze”- a sense of visual arousal
that includes, but is not limited to, erotic portrayals of men
tailored to female desires. Some examples of this
movement include now defunct Filament Magazine “for
women who like hot men and intelligent thought,” which
featured erotic photos of men and intellectual articles for
women. Jen Davis’s series of photos of men entitled “I ask
in Exchange” as well as Kitty Stryker’s “Andro-Aperture
Project”, and the MAN as OBJECT – Reversing the Gaze
exhibition.

4. The Hypodermic Needle Model
• This theory is from the 1920s and was the first attempt to
explain how mass audiences react to mass media. It
suggests that audiences passively receive the information
transmitted through a media text, without any work on
their part to process the data. This theory was developed
in the age when the mass media was still fairly new (radio
and cinema was less than two decades old).
• Governments had just realised the power they had
through advertising to communicate a message
(propaganda) and sway the population to their way of
thinking (common in Europe during the First World War
and its aftermath).

5. The Hypodermic Needle in my Magazine
• The Hypodermic Needle Model is appropriate to my
coursework as it will allow me to passively feed relevant
information, such as places to visit or things to do, to the
consumer without any work on their behalf.

6. Uses and Gratifications Theory
• This theory asks the question “what people do with
media?” rather than “what media does to people?”.
The theory focuses more on the consumer as it
assumes that members of the audience are active
and not passive in interpreting the media in their own
lives.
• The theory also shows that the consumers have the
power as they are responsible for choosing the media
that meets their needs. This demonstrates that
people use the chosen media to fulfil specific
gratifications. This too suggests that the media fight
against other information sources for the viewers
gratification.

7. Uses &
Gratifications
Model
Social
Interaction
The Product to
Produce a Topic
of Conversation
Entertain
Offers you
enjoyment and
‘escapism’
Educate
To gain
knowledge and
information
Identify
Being able to
recognise people
or places

8. • The uses and gratifications theory relates to my magazine
publication ad the four needs of the basic model are all
relevant to my publication. The consumer should be able
to identify some of the locations used in the magazine,
such as the London Eye or Big Ben, and the magazine
will be able to educate them so they gain knowledge of
London from using the publication. It will also entertain
the readers and spark social interaction and discussion
points between the group of people who are reading the
magazine.
Uses & Gratifications in my Magazine

9. Reception Theory
• The reception theory is based on Stuarts Halls
“encoding/decoding” model and the relationship between the
text and the audience.
• The text is “encoded” by the producer and then “decoded” by
the audience receiving it.
• As everyone reads the encoded text differently everyone
decodes it differently so there can be major variations of the
same “code”. Basically it is different reading of the same text.
• However by using widely accepted codes and conventions
and by drawing upon audience expectations relating to
certain aspects (such as genre) the producers can position
the audience and create an agreement on what the codes
mean.

10. Reception Theory in my Magazine
• This theory is relevant to my portfolio. As a media
producer I will be producing an artefact that the audience
will interpret as they wish. I am also hoping that they will
be drawing upon previous knowledge of magazine and
travel guides they have experienced and use this
information when decoding my publication.