Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and cultural studies with a specific focus on rhetoric, some, such as walter ong, have suggested that the audience is a construct made up by the rhetoric and the rhetorical situation the text is addressing. The cultural theorist, stuart hall, explored how people make sense of media texts. Digitalization and convergence the historicism of a digital age is founded upon the promise of interoperability between all forms of media that rely on digital code. This lecture will continue our exploration of the history of audience theory, investigating theories that position audiences as active interpreters of the meanings made in media texts. Children and adults both spend a significant amount of their time each day engaged in media and communications activities. It explains how people use the media for their own need and get satisfied when their needs are fulfilled.
So, if we want to understand new media developments we must, therefore, include. Apr 26, 2010 the audience as people if we cannot confidently examine audience as a mass, how can we theorise about audience responses to the media. Media dependency theory, a systematic approach to the study of the effects of mass media on audiences and of the interactions between media, audiences, and social systems. An open textbook is one which tries to break free of all technical and legal. New perspectives with karen ross, 2003 and critical readings. Audience positioning each media text that is created is constructed to place the audience in a particular position in relation to the text. It draws on qualitative research of production practices and audience participation in live reality events to explore the multiple meanings of engagement as a series of relationships between creative and executive producers, broadcasters, performers, and audiences. Media effects include theories that explain how the mass media influence the attitudes and perceptions of audience members. Communication models and theories overcoming barriers to effective communication. Conceptualized by george gerbner in the 1960s and 1970s, the theory has been questioned with every media technological development.
Young audiences ultimately may begin to view women differently and think that the aspirational violence is. We will also examine the role of discourse analysis in exploring textual meaning and how discourse analysis methods might aid in understanding audience opinion. Intellectually, all six traditions identified above have benefitted significantly from their. Perceptions of media and media eff ects the third person eff ect, trust in media. A common assumption has been that an audience is a homogeneous group of passive individuals who will interpret a text in the same way. Many of the key theories in mass communication rest on the assumption that the media has effects on audience members. The concept of audience plays a crucial role in the realm of media. The application of stuart halls audience reception theory. Like industrial arts, because the media are carefully planned, designed and constructed products. In the second part of the essay will be illustrate how those two approaches contribute to our understanding of media audiences. Blumer argues that human social life is a continual process of individual and collective definitions. Any content represented through media is seen or read by millions of people, and each and. Along with this altered view is a shift in emphasis from what the media do to the audience to an acceptance that audiences bring many different. Early research into media audiences was dominated by the debate about media effects, in particular the.
Preferred or dominant reading in reception studies the producerintended meaning of a. The handbook of media audiences wiley online books. This report hopes principally to correct some of this imbalance. Defining the audience whether as passive or active has probably been the milestone question of all media theory. The meanings of audience as a subject for theory and for the teaching of writing, audience is obvious, crucial, and yet remarkably elusive. This article focuses on media engagement within the reality television industry. Audience theory in covering this topic we need to be aware of a broad shift from a perception of mass audience to one which recognises that, whatever the size of audience, it is made up of individuals. In their words, the swinging pendulum of audience theory is underpinned. To understand persuasion and social media influence, to get at the heart of conversion and likes, it helps to understand how your audience thinks and feels. This theory suggests that humans are not passive but taken an active role in integrating media into their own interpretive lives. What is the role of gatekeeping journalists in todays media. The theory suggests that social and daily experiences can affect the way an audience reads a media text and reacts to it.
The degree and type of effect varies depending on the theory. Social media is like a theater play where i conduct a performance. Apr 05, 2015 ugc comes in many different forms of course and, although as pointed out above web 2. Find all you need to know to plan your research project. New media theory turned much of its attention to the ontology of digital media as the defining characteristic that would come to supplant the historicism of a second media age.
In a general sense, trust is a psychological state comprising the intention to accept vulnerability based. Audience theories types of audience theories hypodermic needle effect the hypodermic needle theory is related to passive audience specialy massmedia from 1950s1960s and has a direct, immediate and powerful effect, the information and message is purely injected through. The uses and gratification theory discusses the effects of the media on people. Audience tust r in media the notion of audience trust in media applies the concept of trust, originating from interpersonal interactions, to audience interactions with media. A read is counted each time someone views a publication summary such as the title, abstract, and list of authors, clicks on a figure, or views or downloads the fulltext. Participating media audiences 2 repub, erasmus university. Social learning theory proposes that people learn to imitate what they see only if they see. 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. Typology of audiences encyclopedia of life support. Like psychology, because the media helps us misunderstand ourselves and others. Audience costs theory and its audiences branislav l. Along with this altered view is a shift in emphasis from what the media do to the audience to an acceptance that audiences bring many different approaches to the media with which they engage. First, this entry touches on the history of media effects. Hall, stuart reception theory and mediation is the process by which all media products are read by audiences.
In general, the dominant ideas about the obligations of. We can learn all kinds of useful things by reading newspapers, magazines, books, and websites. Implicit in the theory of uses and gratications is the belief that while mass media have h a da n dd oh a v eas i g n i c a n ti m p a c to ns o c i e t y,t h e r ea r em a n yf o r c e sa tw o r. Mar 25, 2010 an active audience theory is developed by stuart hall, and it is used to examine the relationship between a media text and its audiences. The innovation of the mass media, after all, was to eliminate the need for physical co location, for mass communication is communication at a distance, institutionalising a crucial break between performer and spectator or, in todays terms, producer and audience. Our presence on social media seems to be customized for an audience. Herbert blumer blumer was a scholar who demanded empirical reasoning. Social institutions and media systems interact with audiences to create needs, interests, and motives in the person. Theories of representation are linked to encoding and decoding. In the past time, most theorists about the interpretation of mass media messages simply treat audiences as passive sponges, who just absorb the content of television and other media. In general, we underestimate the effect that the media has on us, as we tend to. Towards a new typology of audiences glossary bibliography biographical sketch summary while it may be relatively easy to categorize an audience into typologies, e. Please let us know if you are using this text, either as it is or remixed.
All these traditions of audience studies have developed on the diverse notions of. The text will be encoded with messages and signs throughout that the audience will have to decode. Know your audience a practical guide to media research. Reception theory as developed by stuart hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. Sonia livingstone media audiences, interpreters and users. Yet, the term connotes many different, sometimes contradictory things. Mass media is a significant force in modern culture, particularly in america. Pdf central to media studies is the audience concept. Audience theory is an element of thinking that developed within academic literary theory and. It concerns the relationship between the text and the responses that the audience will have to that text. It is the most vast and versatile form of communication.
We can use music and stories from all kinds of media to shape our moods and trigger pleasant emotions. An overview of text, genre, and narrative analysis provides a context for understanding the relationship of language and society to the media. This article surveys the field of audience studies, noting. Man is a social animal,he cannot live in isolation,so his actions affect not only him but society in general, society affects a. Mass media is known as being one of the most significant forces in modern culture.
Communities and individuals are bombarded constantly with messages from a multitude of sources including tv, billboards, and magazines, to name a few. Like the arts, because through the media we experience all the arts as no other age has ever done. Pdf media effects on the audience attitudes and behavior. Design and deliver message so that it gets the attention of intended audience.
We can use the media to interact with other people and make us feel part of interesting communities, both real and virtual. According to uses and gratification theory, we all have different uses for the media and we make choices over what we want to. What you might not know is that theres a treasure trove of knowledge about your ideal audience hidden in the sea of followers and fans youve already attracted. New media audiences and technologies the writepass journal. The media audience is, in fact, engaged in actively decoding the media fare that was. The theory refined the ability to predict the influence of media messages on audience behavior,dave, 2009 and the reason why people sometime does not influence by media. Audience theory in media studies by camelia galea on prezi. Hall suggests that an audience has a significant role in the process of reading a text, and this can be discussed in three different ways. Aug 10, 2015 an introduction to audience theory, designed for l3 media studies. Find, read and cite all the research you need on researchgate.
In the context of a public and accessible narrative of a brand, microblogging sites that allow messages to be viewed publically across a platform and to spread through likes and reshares such as the twitters retweet are ideal for personal brand construction. The application of stuart halls audience reception theory to. What is the role of gatekeeping journalists in todays. I play a role on social media, i only show the front stage of me to others, and hide the back stage on social media, i present myself in order to influence my audience i try to influence others according to my interests on social media. Pdf television and the active audience researchgate. Virginia nightingale held the position of associate professor with the school of communication arts at the university of western sydney until her retirement in 2010. May 18, 2017 the audience needs to know what they are reading is truthful and honest, and as the conventional role of a journalist is to serve the public and maintain ethical conduct, this is where gatekeeping. Snapchat, facebook, instagram, and even twitter, all use some sort of element to help promote your content. The concept of audience, we know to be receivers and consumers of media messages.
Audience theorists adorno passive consumption, hypodermic model frankfurt school. It was introduced in outline by the american communications researchers sandra ballrokeach and melvin defleur in 1976 dependency theory conceives of dependency as a relationship in which the fulfillment of one partys. Media and audiences with karen ross, 2003, and new media worlds. Dorr describes a sevenyear old who, knowing that bullets in an action. Sociologists refer to this as a mediated culture where media reflects and creates the culture. Audience response theory audience appeal gcse media. This theory implies that the audience do something with media as opposed to media doing something to people. The audience is one of the central elements of media studies. In media studies, media psychology, communication theory, and sociology, media influence and media effects are topics relating to mass media and media cultures effects on individual or an audiences thoughts, attitudes, and behavior. Much of what audiences know and care about is based on the images, symbols, and narratives in radio, tele. Understanding why someone clicks or why they retweet requires you to look at the way the person is wired, the way we are all wired. Uses and gratifications this is probably the most important theory for you to know.
Introductionin this paper, the researcher comprehensively examines the cultivation theory. Effects theory sees audiences as mass as a group experiencing media and its intended. Theoretical approaches to media content, tools for understanding audiences, and the basics of newspaper, television, radio, and film production are covered in this media studies textbook. Article pdf available in journal of organizational and end user computing 282.
A much larger and more radical charge is that all commercially motivated audience research is part of an undesirable enterprise bent on colonizing and commodifying audiences audience commodity. Slantchev department of political science, university of california san diego fearons 1994 original model that introduced the notion of audience costs is both less than what supporters of audience cost theory act think and more than what critics imagine. As we all know, in the bad old days, tv audiences were considered as passive consumers, to whom things happened. Feb 07, 2011 the uses and gratifications model here, power lies with the audience not the producers this theory emphasises what audiences do with media texts how and why they use them far from being duped by the media, the audience is free to reject, use or play with media meanings as they see fit. Analysis of the concept of audience in the digital age atlantis press. Whether it is written, televised, or spoken, mass media reaches a large audience. Audience theory is a brand and content strategy firm whose clients include mtv networks, nbc universal, amc networks, scripps, cbs, yahoo. This contradicts the general pattern in gender role theory, where it was found. It is true that media industries often reduce people to onedimensional members of a target market, or assign them value on a cost per thousand. Consequently, commercial media organizations must cater to the needs of advertisers and produce audience maximizing products. Media audiences, interpreters and users lse research online. Relate to common experiences between the source and destination. Theoretical perspectives audience you will all be familiar with the term audience as a key concept to help you analyse an unseen media text, but this term is also used as an area of academic theory in media studies. You will need to become well read and confident in this area of theory and research.
We can create oneofakind stories and export content in ways that will capture your audience s attention. Polysemic the characteristic of media texts as fundamentally ambiguous and legitimately interpretable in different ways. Pdf on jan 1, 2000, sonia livingstone and others published television and the active audience find, read and cite all the research you need on. L2 intro to audience theory media uses arts2093 lecture. Audiences depend on media information to meet needs and reach goals. Here are four ways you can learn more about your audience by looking at their social media life. However, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended. Offer a way to meet personality needs appropriate to the group situation the receiver is in at the time. As a result, he developed the communication model of encoding and.
This theory is slightly different from the hypodermic needle. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. Audience theories types of audience theories hypodermic needle effect the hypodermic needle theory is related to passive audience specialy mass media from 1950s1960s and has a direct, immediate and powerful effect, the information and message is purely injected through. Social scientists are indebted to him for studying some of the shortcomings of quantitative research. In aristotelian terms audience points to the final cause for which form exists, to the purposefulnessor its lackthat. Marxist media theory daniel chandler opposition to functionalism opposition to liberal pluralism base and superstructure media as means of production ideology media as amplifiers the constitution of the subject differences within marxism the frankfurt school althusser gramsci and hegemony stuart hall limitations of marxist analysis. We use your linkedin profile and activity data to personalize ads and to show you more relevant ads. It was introduced in outline by the american communications researchers sandra ballrokeach and melvin defleur in 1976. Creating a media strategy the balance small business. May 03, 2017 stuart hall was a proponent of the reception theory davis, 2004 and his ideas were an improvement of the original theory. Media theory refers to the complex of socialpoliticalphilosophical principles which organize ideas about the relationship between media and society.
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