Audience theorists

1. AUDIENCE THEORISTS By Stefano
Towell

2. BLUMLER AND KATZ – USES AND
GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
Uses and Gratifications Theory: "Different
audiences gain different pleasures from a
media text e.g. Gravity can be enjoyed via
diversion or escapism, it can use
surveillance to give information to
audiences and can also be discussed on
forums and blogs as a form of developing
personal relationships(common also in
video games). Personal identity can be
developed with audiences who relate to
certain characters more than others". The
Uses and Gratifications Theory follows a
basic model. It is an audience-centered
approach. When an audience actively
seeks out media, they are typically
seeking it in order to gratify a need. For
example, in social situations, people may
feel more confident and knowledgeable
when they have specific facts and stories
from media to add to conversation. By
seeking out media, a person fulfils a need
to be informed.

3. JEREMY TUNSTALL – PRIMARY, SECONDARY,
TERTIARY AUDIENCE ENGAGEMENT
Primary, Secondary, Tertiary Audience
Engagement: "Watching films in a cinema
involve a primary mode of audience
engagement as the spectator is immersed
with the narrative while watching a
programme at home on television may involve
eating a meal at the same time, texting, using
social media or other additional activities.
Tertiary audience engagement is using the
text as background media like music radio".
– Primary (close attention) e.g. cinema, books
– Secondary (the medium in question is
relegated to the background) e.g. Radio,
some TV, music
– Tertiary (although medium is present, no
conscious monitoring takes place) e.g.
pictures

4. DAVID GAUNTLETT –
PRODUCER AS CONSUMER
(PROSUMER)Producer as Consumer
(Prosumer): "Media Studies
students regularly make their
own short film productions but
are also regular consumers of the
media - in doing so they are both
producer and consumer blurring
the boundaries of traditional
media consumption". Gauntlett
published ‘Media Studies 2.0’
online in 2007, which argues that
classic media studies fails to
define when the categories of
‘audiences’ and ‘producers’ unite,
and that new, altered teaching
methods are needed. He states
that because of web 2.0, we as
audiences can become our own
producers thanks to websites
such as YouTube. Through this
we can create our own identity
and even influence other peoples.

5. STANLEY COHEN – MORAL
PANICS
Moral Panics: "Recent stories about
young audiences' behaviour after
playing violent video games reflects a
common moral panic that some
media like the Daily Mail constantly
seek to remind its readers of".
A moral panic is an intense feeling
expressed in a population about an
issue that appears to threaten
the social order. A moral panic
occurs when a "condition, episode,
person or group of persons emerges
to become defined as a threat
to societal values and interests".
Those who start the panic when they
fear a threat to prevailing social
or cultural values are known by
researchers as moral entrepreneurs,
while people who supposedly
threaten the social order have been

6. GEORGE GERBNER –
CULTIVATION THEORY
Cultivation Theory: "The cultivation
theory suggests that the more you
look at television, the more you are
likely to believe in the reality of the
representation e.g. believing
everything you see and hear on BBC
News 24 and not challenging the
nature of a constructed text". Gerbner
claimed that because TV contains so
much violence, “people who spend the
most time in front of the tube develop
an exaggerated belief in a mean and
scary world.” He also said “today, the
TV set is a key member of the
household, with virtually unlimited
access to every person in the family.”
He compared the power of television
to the power of religion, saying that

7. KATZ AND LARZASFELD –
TWO- STEP FLOW THEORY
Two Step Flow Theory: "Jonathan
Ross discussed with his guest Steve
Coogan the recent phone hacking
scandal and made it clear he had an
opinion on the subject - this
reflects the Two Step Flow theory
where an existing idea or belief is
taken on by an opinion leader (as in
newspapers as the 'Fourth Estate')".
This theory asserts that information
from the media moves in two
distinct stages. First, individuals
(opinion leaders) who pay close
attention to the mass media and its
messages receive the information.
Opinion leaders pass on their own
interpretations in addition to the
actual media content.

8. ADORNO – PASSIVE
CONSUMPTION, HYPODERMIC
MODEL (FRANKFURT SCHOOL)Passive Consumption, Hypodermic Model (Frankfurt School): "A strong
argument suggests that audiences may be passively affected by the
sexist, violent representations in GTAV as it is a more realist text than
other shoot em' up action adventure games. Young audiences ultimately
may begin to view women differently and think that the aspirational
violence is acceptable as a means to an end". The hypodermic needle
model (also known as the hypodermic-syringe model, transmission-belt
model, or magic bullet theory) is a model
of communications suggesting that an intended message is directly
received and wholly accepted by the receiver.

9. STUART HALL – AUDIENCE POSITIONING
AND DOMINANT, NEGOTIATED,
OPPOSITIONAL READINGS
Audience Positioning and Dominant,
Negotiated, Oppositional Readings: "Some
texts, like The Mighty Boosh may have a
number of readings, dependent on audience
- a dominant reading could be that it is a
postmodern representation of celebrity
culture while a negotiated reading could be
that it is simply surreal and funny while an
oppositional reading could be that it is
childish, subversive and offensive". Dominant
reading - audience will read the text the way
the author intended them to so that the code
seems natural and transparent. The
negotiated reading – the reader partly
believes the code and broadly accepts the
preferred reading, but sometimes modifies it
in a way which reflects their own
position. The oppositional reading – the
readers social position places them in an
oppositional relation to the dominant code.

10. MARTIN BARKER –
CHALLENGING MORAL
PANICSChallenging Moral Panics: "Barker
suggests once you have entered
into a debate about violent video
games for example you must
have already decided about
negative media effects". Martin
Baker said “you can only have a
witch-hunt if you believe in the
existence of witchcraft. You must
have already decided in negative
media effects if your question is
“does this product have the
potential to deprave its audience?