AudienceKey Concepts in Media Studies

Who are the audience?

Who is the spectator?

Who controls the audience?

Who has the power?

Is the message a drug?

The media injects the audience

Hypodermic Theory

Nazi propaganda in the 1930s and 1940s…

The media controls the message and influences the audience

The audience is weak and vulnerable, easily led, drugged, dumb, and duped.

The audience must be protected from the power of the media.

Can you see any problems with the hypodermic model?

Does this model view the media in positive, negative, or neutral terms?

What view of the audience is promoted by this model?

What do you think?

Uses and Gratifications Theory

Meaning isn’t fixed and determined

Meaning can be negotiated or encoded/decoded

What THEY think it means and what YOU

decide it means

But who are THEY? And who are YOU?

How do YOU use the media?

How do YOU use the media?

• Education

How do YOU use the media?

• Education

• Escapism or stress release

How do YOU use the media?

• Education

• Escapism or stress release

• Information

How do YOU use the media?

• Education

• Escapism or stress release

• Information

• A means of self-identification

How do YOU use the media?

• Education

• Escapism or stress release

• Information

• A means of self-identification

• A way to belong to a group or society

How do YOU use the media?

• Education

• Escapism or stress release

• Information

• A means of self-identification

• A way to belong to a group or society

• Sexual stimulation

Is the actual audience the same as the

intended audience?

CULTS

Fragmented society…

Niche audiences

Life Magazine…

GENERAL INTEREST… is there any such category?

Family viewing

Fan fiction…Home movies…

Blogging…Podcasting…

YOU are the media AND the

audience(s)

DO IT YOURSELF

Review

• What are the two main theories of audience we discussed today?

• Write a sentence to characterise each one

• What are the main problems with each?

• How many different forms of DIY media can you think of?