This document discusses the language and mode of address used in media texts and how it provides clues about the intended audience. It identifies four modes of address: informal, formal, direct, and indirect. Informal modes use slang and personal pronouns to engage audiences, while formal modes employ complex vocabulary to appeal to sophisticated readers. Direct modes have subjects communicating straight to the audience to make them feel involved, while indirect modes do not feature characters addressing the viewer/reader. The language and mode of address used aims to attract particular target audiences.

1. Introduction

2. Language & Mode of Address
The ways in which media texts 'speak' to audiences and the
language used give us a clue as to who that audience is and
to the genre and purpose of the text. This may refer to the
written language of print texts or the spoken word in
moving image texts. The language used and the way in
which it is used conveys meaning. When analysing language
and mode of address consider the following.

3. Mode of Address
This is the tone and the written or spoken style of the
media text and the way in which it communicates with the
target audience. When analysing the mode of address of
media text we need to consider :
 Informal Mode of Address
 Formal Mode of Address
 Direct Mode of Address
 Indirect Mode of Address

4. Informal Mode of Address
 Some texts, for example magazines aimed at young
women, adopt an informal register. They use slang,
colloquial vocabulary and the personal pronoun to
engage their target audience and make them feel as if
they are talking directly to them. The audience then feel
as if they are part of the seemingly exclusive world of the
magazine.

5. Formal Mode of Address
 Other texts, for example quality newspapers, will adopt a
more formal style with more complex vocabulary and
writing style. This suggests that the target audience are
more serious and sophisticated and want more detailed
information. News anchors combine a formal mode of
address with a serious code of expression, this
encourages the audience to trust them and believe what
they have to say.

6. Direct Mode of Address
This is where the subject of the text communicates
directly with the audience.
Television presenters of a live television show- The effect is
to make the audience feel involved with the programme; it
is as if they are talking directly to us at home.
News anchors engage in direct mode of address as they are
dealing with serious and important matters.
Magazine cover models and celebrities often look directly
out of the magazines, engaging seemingly in direct eye
contact with the reader. They draw the audience into the
magazine, persuading us to purchase the text.

7. Indirect Mode of Address
In many media texts the audience do not expect a direct
mode of address.
In television programmes and films it would be unusual for
the characters to step out of the film world and speak
directly to the audience.