Audience Theory

Uses and gratification theoryThis theory created a change in thinking as they started to look at media from a audiences point of view. It looks at the reason as to why we use media and why we keep so up to date with it.

The theory makes the audience active as they choose what they want to consume, they are not forced in to consumption meaning that media is created but it is out of choice to consume it.

The theory argues that audiences have social and psychological needs.

The theory is put into four different needs:Surveillance- this is based around the idea that people feel better knowing what is happening in the world around them for example we read or watch the news so we know what is happening around us and to make us feel more secure Personal identity- being a subject of the media allows us to know our place in society for example Megan Trainer all about that bass allows certain body shaped girls to ‘fit’ in society.Personal relationships- we can form a relationship with the media for example watching a certain TV show all the time leads to attachment to the characters and the TV show itself. It can also help us create relationships with other people as an example being able to connect with someone because you like the same TV shows. Diversion- This is the idea that we use media as a form of ‘escapism’ we use it to get away from the problems that are happening in our own lives. For example watching a TV show where other people have problems to forget about your own.

Reception TheoryThis theory argues that who ever created the media text has filled it with values and messages. The text is then decoded by spectators, different spectators will read the text in different ways and not always how the producer intended it to be read.

There are three different types of spectators:Dictator- is an audience who views the text in a way that the producer intended they also agree with the message behind it for example a watch looks appealing to a man in a text and will persuade them to buy it. Negotiated- this is between the dominant and oppositional readings, the audience accepts the views of the producer but also has their own input and understanding for example they like the watch but cant justify spending that much money. Oppositional- they reject the original reading and create their own. They feel that the watch is stereotyping men into being materialistic.

Hypodermic Needle theory The theory suggests that the mass media could influence a very large group of people directly and uniformly by ‘shooting’ or ‘injecting’ them with appropriate messages designed to trigger a desired response. It creates a direct flow from the sender to the reader so they are immediately influenced by the message. The media is dangerous means of communicating as the audience can’t resist the impact of the message. People are seen as passive and have a lot of media ‘shot’ at them so people just believe everything they are told it suggests we are brainwashed by the media. A famous case- In the 1930s a radio broadcast of ‘War of the worlds’ was performed like a real news broadcast to heighten the effect of the story, people listening thought is was real and assumed mars had come to invade the world this shows a passive audience. There are cons of this theory such as the fact that we all consume media in different ways, not everyone watches or reads the news, we are not simply passive proved by other theories and it is out dated.