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Media and Audiences -The Effects Debate

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IntroductionAs seen in a previous factsheet, audiences are crucial to the producers of media texts. Without an audience a TV programme, newspaper,magazine or film cannot be successful. Media producers think carefully about identifying their target audience and providing a text whichwill interest and engage them. However, the mass media is such a major part of people’s lives that one of the major debates in media studiesis the effect that the media may have on its audience. This issue focuses on the negative effects that may be created by media texts; forexample, considering if there might be a link between violent behaviour and representations of violence in the media.

The aims of this Factsheet are to:• Identify some theories of the way the media may affect an audience• Support a critical engagement with the theories

2. Advertisers spend millions of pounds promoting theirproducts. The Marks and Spencer’s food adverts haveincreased the grocery sales for the high street shop andencouraged customers to indulge themselves with the luxuryitems they sell.

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Manhunt

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3. Viewing a documentary can provide access to informationthat may change the way you feel about an issue. It may evenmake you want to act differently, eat more healthily, join apolitical group or simply tell your friends about what youhave learnt. This seems to support the view that the mediadoes have the potential to influence people.

Not just food,but M&S food’

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ActivityDoes the media have the power to change peoples’ behaviour, attitudes or promote values and ideologies?1. Do you play violent video games and/or watch violent films? Are you violent in ‘real life’?2. Do you ever see a product advertised on TV or on the internet and decide you want to buy it?3. Have you ever seen a documentary which has drawn your attention to an issue which you now feel strongly about?

1. Whilst some people do act violently, many do not and intoday’s culture it is almost impossible to avoid violentrepresentations. This seems to support the view that themedia does not directly cause people to act a certain way.

MacDonalds began offering ‘healthy options’ afterconcerns raised in this documentary appeared to haveimpacted on sales.

http://stores.homestead.com/unitedindependentmedia/catalog/Super-Size-Me-DVD.jpg

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The question of media effects is a difficult one and it is impossibleto prove either side of the argument. Several theories have beendeveloped which offer specific viewpoints on the effects the mediamay have.

Audience theories regarding the effects of the media on audiencescan be divided into these categories:• Direct Effect Theories• Diffusion Theories• Indirect Effect Theories• The Pluralist Approach

AQA/WJEC/OCR?All awarding bodies require that you consider audience in allaspects of your work. Audience will be an important concept inthe unseen analysis and essay questions at AS for all students.At A2 level the effects debate may well be an important part ofthe investigative essay for AQA and WJEC and as part of thebroader contextualised discussion expected in all A2 examinationtopics.

1. Direct Effect TheoriesThese ideas view the media as having a direct effect on the ideas,attitudes and behaviours of the audience.

Hypodermic Syringe Theory (Care! Consider the criticismscarefully)This is one of the simplest models used to explain the way the mediacan have an effect on the audience. It assumes that the audience arepassive and that all members of the audience group are the sameand respond in similar ways. It states that the media has a directinfluence on the audience and it ‘injects’ its beliefs and valuesdirectly into the viewers or readers. For example, if someone watchesviolence, it will make them behave violently or accept violentbehaviour.

The Hypodermic Syringe TheoryIdeology, Attitude or Value from textAudience belief or behaviour

This theory is largely discredited as it makes simplified judgementsabout the audience. However, it is still used politically as a criticismof certain media texts.

Some texts which have been blamed for specific events:• Child’s Play – The murder of Jamie Bulger• Marilyn Manson – The Columbine High School shootings• Natural Born Killers – a number of murders committed by

romantically linked couples. in one case, the director was suedfor inciting violence although the court case was later dismissed

Three ‘demonised’ media texts:

Child’s Play Marilyn Manson

Natural Born Killers

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The Hypodermic Syringe Theory is often used as a method ofscapegoating and some types of texts seem to get blamed morethan others such as horror films, rock music and video games.Scapegoating is when a simple reason (a media text) is blamed for aspecific action or event. It is often easier to scapegoat a media textrather than look at the more complex reasons why something mayhave happened.

Activity1. Which seems more logical?

(i) Listening to Marilyn Manson caused teenagers to openfire in a high school killing students and teachers?

Or(ii) The Columbine High School shootings occurred due

to a complex relationship between:*o The ease of access to firearms and the social

acceptance of gun ownershipo The alienation felt by teenagers who felt as though

they did not fit ino The hopelessness caused by living in an area where

unemployment was high and was economicallydisadvantaged

o The general desensitisation caused by access to arange of violent images: film, TV, the news, theinternet[* This is the argument offered by Michael Moore inhis film Bowling for Columbine]

2. Which of these ‘reasons’ for this tragedy would be easiestto address and, potentially, solve?

Banning Marilyn Manson would seem to quickly put anend to the cause of the tragedy and ensure it didn’t happenagain if we accept this as the simpler reason for the event.Addressing the other social and economic issues would bepractically impossible and implies that society in generalwas to blame for what happened.

The Hypodermic Syringe Theory can offer quick, simple reasonsfor behaviours with apparently simple solutions but does not takeinto account that a range of factors may influence audiencebehaviour. It is an idea that is popular with the tabloid press andpoliticians who attempt to provide solutions to problems to reassuretheir audience/constituents. However, there is little to support thistheory when it is considered carefully.

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Other audience theories look at more complex relationships betweenaudience members and other people or their environment whichconsider the way that audiences interact with media texts and howthose texts may influence them.

Exam Hint:- Take care not to oversimplify your assumptionsabout audiences. In exams, students will often claim a text canhave a direct influence on an audience member’s behaviourbut this fails to take into account the many different influencesthat may also have an impact.

Cultivation Theory (Gerbner)This theory considers the way the media affects attitudes ratherthan behaviour. The media is seen as part of our socialisationprocess, communicating ‘appropriate’ attitudes and the norms andvalues of the culture. According to this theory, while any onemedia text does not have too much effect, repeated exposure tocertain ideas and values may make the audience less critical of theideas presented as they appear ‘normal’.

The key ideas here are that:• Through repetition attitudes, ideas and values may become

normalised or naturalised; they are accepted rather thanconsidered

• Through repetition the audience may become desensitisedtowards negative and/or violent representations

Often more vulnerable groups are a main consideration within thisapproach. For example, children are often seen to need protectionfrom the cultivation of certain ideas and values. This concern hasled to the banning of fast food advertising during children’s TVprogramming, responding to recent concerns regarding nutritionand childhood obesity. The limiting of media images has removedthe representation of a positive attitude towards fast-food from themedia. Similarly restrictions are placed on how alcohol can berepresented in advertising.

Barely visible - but this alcohol advert bears the phrase ‘drinkresponsibly’ (bottom left).http://www.ciadvertising.org/sa/fall_05/adv380J/twirpo/final/cuervosm.jpg

ActivityConsider a typical action film you have seen recently. It islikely it contained the following values:· Violence for a ‘good’ reason is acceptable.· Violence for a ‘bad’ reason must be punished.

(a) Complete the following table giving textual examples ofhow your text represented these ideas.

‘Good’ Violence Examples?

Protecting a family member

Stopping a criminal

Killing someone who wants tohurt a weaker person

‘Bad’ Violence Examples?

For financial gain or fun

Threatening weaker people

Threatening the state/government

(b) Do these values appear in any other action films, othergenres or other types of media texts?

Things get more complicated when you consider this is alldown to perspective. Is it good if a villain kills someone toprotect his family? Is it acceptable to act violently ifsomeone threatens a state they think is corrupt? Is it alrightto steal from someone who has been violent towards you?

The repetition of the simple values above makes themappear natural and the texts do not always encourage theaudience to question the values presented. Essentiallyviolence is supported in action films as a method for thehero to reach his goal. The only difference between himand the villain is that we agree with the hero’s motivations.

Although cultivation theory goes beyond a simple ‘cause and effect’approach to audience effects, critics see both these direct theoriesas having an elitist element suggesting a judgement is being madeabout the mass audience as they are assumed to be easily led andnot perceptive or self-aware. The individual nature of the membersof the audience is not taken into account.

This theory identifies the media as being a negative influence butdoes not consider forms of ‘high art’ in the same way. Some ofShakespeare’s plays are extremely violent but are not seen to be aproblem whereas games and television programmes are open tocriticism

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2. Diffusion TheoriesThese ideas focus on the influence media may have but concentrateon the personalised way audiences access texts and consider theinfluence other people may have.

Two-Step Theory (Katz and Lagerfield)This theory acknowledges that we often access media texts withothers or, if alone, we may well talk about our media experiences withour friends and family later. One argument is that these kinds ofconversations have more influence on potential behaviour than themedia text itself.

A theory that springs from this idea is called the two-step theorywhich says that, whatever our experience of the media, we are likelyto discuss it with others. If we respect their opinion (the theory callsthese people opinion leaders), the chances are that we may beaffected by the opinion leaders’ responses as well as by the textitself.

Opinion leaders can come in the form of reviewers, presenters ontelevision or people from groups we admire such as religious leaders,politicians etc. as well as from our family or social groups.

3. Indirect Effect TheoriesThese theories acknowledge that the media may affect people butfocuses on the fact that people respond differently to media textsand images and the environment we are in may be a part of that too.

Reception AnalysisReception Analysis is based on the idea that no text has one singlemeaning. The audience create meanings for themselves based onmany individual factors such as:• Gender• Age• Race• Religious beliefs•· Personal values• Upbringing and education• Geographical location• Historical location

Exam Hint:- Audiences are made up of a wide variety of differentpeople and you must always try to consider the way others mayinteract with a text as well as taking into account your ownexperiences as an audience member. Not all texts are aimed atstudent age-groups and often something that you may consider‘boring’ has been specifically constructed to appeal to peoplewith different interest to yourself.

Some texts from the past seem very strange to us. A very popular sit-com in the 1970s called Love Thy Neighbour appears to many modernviewers, racist and offensive. Times have changed and so havepeople’s attitudes and values. What was acceptable as the topic forcomedy some decades ago, no longer is.

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ActivityHow might different people interpret these texts?· What would a pensioner make of Hollyoaks?· How might a religious person respond to Skins?

· Why do many teenagers find Question Time boring?

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· How might a woman who has no interest in cars respondto watching Top Gear?

Whilst members of the groups identified are likely to enjoythe programmes mentioned they are not the targetaudience and so may respond differently to them than thegroup whose interests were being considered when thetexts were made.

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Acknowledgements: This Media Studies Factsheet was researched and written by StephHendryCurriculum Press. Bank House, 105 King Street, Wellington, TF1 1NU. Media Factsheetsmay be copied free of charge by teaching staff or students, provided that their school is aregistered subscriber. No part of these Factsheets may be reproduced, stored in a retrievalsystem, or transmitted, in any other form or by any other means, without the prior permissionof the publisher. ISSN 1351-5136

Hall focuses on the way that texts can be interpreted differently.He identifies that:• The same information can be presented (encoded) in different

wayso The Sun and The Guardian may report the same ‘facts’ very

differently

• Even when media producers try to ‘close down’ meaning allmedia texts contain more than one potential readingo Media producers can never guarantee that all audience

members will interpret (decode) information in the same way

• External factors influence interpretationo Audience members will have different experiences and

opinions and, therefore, interpret media texts differently

Potential readings can, therefore, be:• the dominant reading

o an acceptance of the intended meaning

• a negotiated readingo a broad acceptance of the intended meaning but with

some personal modification

• an oppositional readingo an understanding of the intended meaning but a rejection

of it in favour of one created by the individual

Clearly then, some people may be affected negatively by the media.Someone who is prone to violent behaviour may find that violentimages stimulate that side of them and someone who has a weaknessfor chocolate may be tempted to buy some after watching an advert.This theory acknowledges that media images do not necessarilycreate these behaviours.

Reception theory tries to bear in mind that audience members areall individuals. This can be seen as a strength of the theory as itattempts to take personal differences into account rather thangeneralise as to how the media affects us all in the same way. At thesame time the theory has a weakness – your response to a text maybe influenced by context of everyday life. Reception analysis doesnot take this into account.

ActivityConsider your own activities.• How is watching a television programme alone different to

watching it with friends?• What distractions are there at home when you are watching

a film?• How does a cinema act to force us to pay close attention to

a film?·• Do you read every word in a newspaper or magazine?

Consider these other issues:• Media texts are not standalone experiences in our lives

and our understanding of one text may be affected by ourknowledge of another.

• We don’t always concentrate fully on a media text - we mayskim read a magazine or glance at various differentchannels on television whilst ‘channel surfing’

• The environment we are in alters our reception of a text –horror movies tend to be scarier in the cinema where we arein pitch black and ‘trapped’ in our environment. At homewith the lights on and a ‘pause’ button handy, they tend tolose their power. (Unless you’re at home alone watching atnight when they become unnerving again)

Whilst the media may have values that it represents and may havean influence on us, even texts and institutions which have clearideological perspectives may not be as ‘powerful’ in communicatingthem to all members of the audience. The Sun’s values are bypassedevery time an audience member ignores the reporting and opinionto read the TV guide and the sport pages.

4. PluralismThe final theoretical position is the pluralist one which sees mediainstitutions as free to present whatever point of view they wish andaudiences being equally free to choose from the ideas andrepresentations available. This view sees the audience, not as amanipulated mass, but as individuals who are in a relationship withthe media texts they access. The pluralist view sees the mediaoffering a wide selection of viewpoints to various social groups.

Whilst the pluralist approach appears to give more credit to theaudience members than the Hypodermic Syringe Theory, it is basedon a number of unrealistic assumptions:• All social groups are catered for by the mass media

• Economic restrictions (the need to make a profit) do not lead tobias

• All members of a society share a number of values which aresimply reflected by the media

ConclusionIt seems that we are back where we started. There is no simple‘correct answer’ to the issue of how influential the media may be.Different people have different beliefs and all the theories havelogic aspects within them. What is clear is that the relationshipbetween the media and its audience is complex and in yourdiscussions on audience you should consider which ideas seem tobe most relevant to the media text(s) you are analysing.