Week 4: Audience & Media Theories

Through today's lesson I have gained knowledge into the different audience theories which are used in relation to how media audiences respond to media products. These theories included:

• Hypodermic Needle Model

- This theory has direct communication to the audience: the audience does not challenge the information given to them. They consume the media product for what is intended for, this makes the consumer a 'Passive Consumer'.
-The media producers are able to create a product and get the desired response from the audience.
- An issue with this theory is that not everyone is a passive consumer. Therefore some media producers may struggle when creating products for a broad audience, as some people may challenge its purpose.

Hypodermic Needle Model

• Uses and Gratifications

- This theory shows that the consumer are 'active consumers'. These are people who consume what they want, they interpret the product as they wish and do not take the product in as the way the producer intends them to. Many people will consume the product in different ways and use it for different reasons.
- This theory was extended in 1974 and media producers believed that audiences may use the text for the following purposes:
          . Escapism
          . Personal Identity
          . Surveillance
          . Entertainment
- This theory was expanded and is reflected within media texts which we consume ourselves, some of these include:
          . Entertainment- Quiz Shows and TV Soaps
          . Knowledge- Quiz Shows and Television News
          . Character Identity- TV Soaps
          . Escapism- TV Soaps

• Reception Theory

- This theory tests how texts are 'read' by the audience. People could have different interpretations of a text, this could be because of reasons such as gender, class and age.
- Model of relationship between text and audience: text is encoded by the producer and is decoded by the reader. These texts have a particular meaning in which the audience has to decode.
- Messages within the media texts are Polysemic (multiple meanings), these are interpreted according to the audiences cultural background.
- Similar to the Uses and Gratifications, the reception theory also sees the audience not agreeing with the intentional meaning and create an alternative reading (meaning).

I was also introduced to the readings used in relation to media products and their audiences, these included:

• Dominant Reading: the producers intended message is accepted fully by the audience. They do not second think the purpose of the product and use the product as it is intended by the producer.
• Oppositional Reading: the audience can disagree and reject the intended message within the text.
• Negotiated Reading: this reading suggests that the audience may agree with parts of the intended message, but other parts they might believe can be altered based on the audience members personal experiences.

Here is an example of a media product showing the three readings put into action this product is the iPad.
- Dominant Reading: the iPad is an amazing product and is essential for reasons such as the Internet, apps, word documents and photos (the different elements which the iPad is intended for).
- Oppositional Reading: the audience may believe the iPad is un-necessary and is not as good as other products such as the laptop.
- Negotiated Reading: the audience may agree with some of the main intentions of this product. Although, they believe other parts of the product could be changed as they are not necessary.