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Types Of Audiences
- 2.  An individual orcollective group of people who read or consume any media text.  Examples include; Radio listeners, television viewers, Newspaper and Magazine readers.  Without audiences, there would be no media.  Media organisations produce media texts to make profit – no audience = no profit.
- 3.    An active audienceis one that actively engages with the text. They do not simply accept every media message. They question what they see and develop their own interpretation of a media product based on their life experiences, education, family and cultural influences. „Bottom up‟ theories generally assume an active audience. Theories such as “Uses & Gratification” and “Postmodernist theory” assume that audiences are active. Active Audience Theory argues that media audiences do not just receive information passively but are actively involved, often unconsciously, in making sense of their personal and social contexts. Decoding of a media text may therefore be influenced by such things as family backgrounds, beliefs, values, culture, interests, education and experiences.
- 4. A passive audience isan audience that merely observes an event rather than actively responding to it.  A passive audience does not actively engage with a media text. A passive audience is one that does not question the message that the media is sending and simply accepts the message in the way the media outlet intended. „Top down‟ theories of media influence tend to assume that audiences are passive. Theories such as “Bullet/Hypodermic” and “Agenda Setting Function” assume audiences are passive.
- 5.  This is apassive audience theory; that portrays a type of media where they inject a topic or idea directly into the audience  The “Magic Bullet” theory graphically assumes that the media‟s message is a bullet fired from the “media gun” into the viewer‟s head. This is a type of an Active Audience.