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Audience ± G325

Question 1b G325

Name ......................................................
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Audience ± OCR G325 Question 1b

In covering this topic you need to be aware of a broad shift from a perception of aµmass audience¶ to one
which recognises that, whatever the size of audience, it is made up of individuals. 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 me dia with which they engage.

In its earliest form audience theory believed that an audience was a mass, Blumerset out 4 stages

0
¦ its membership may come from all walks of life, and from all distinguishable social strata; it may
include people of diffe rent class position, of different vocation, of different cultural attainment, and of
different wealth. .....
Ê
 ¦
 mass is an anonymous group, or more exactly is composed of anonymous individuals
 

   
 



 
  
  
¦
   

  
 

 
 
 
  

 
Ñhird, there exists little interaction or change of experience between members of the mass. They are
usually physically separated from one another, and, being anonymous, do not have the opportunity to mill
as do members of the crowd.
0
, the mass is very loosely organised and is not able to act with the unity of a crowd.

Ñask 1

1. Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come ³from all walks of life´ or do different kinds of
people watch very different kinds of programme? Are there any examples of media texts that you can think
of that do seem to have audiences of all kinds of people?

2. How much of your media experience occurs when you are on you r own and how much when you are
with others?

3. Think back to your genre work, how is your media experienced?

4. Are there any ways in which you share your experiences of the media with other people who weren¶t
around when you experienced the text? List as many ways as you share experiences (e.g. msn etc)
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Ñhe effects/hypodermic model

The original model for audience was the 
 

model which stressed the effects of
the mass media on their audiences. This model owes much to the supposed power of the mass
media - in particular film - to inject their audiences with ideas and meanings. Such was the thinking
behind much of the Nazi prop aganda that was evident in Ñ  
  and similar films. It is
worth noting that totalitarian states and dictatorships are similar in their desire to have complete
control over the media, usually in the belief that strict regulation of the media w ill help in controlling
entire populations. The effects model has several variants and despite the fact that it is an
outdated model it continues to exert influence in present debates about censorship and control in
the media.

Ñask 2

Can you think of any examples where the media have been seen to influence public
behaviour or have been blamed for an individual¶s behaviour?

Is this influence always negative?

What effect do you hope that your text has on an audience?

What would be the incorrect effect be and why might this happen with your text?
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üses and gratifications

A more recent model of audience is that of uses and gratifications, whichsuggests that there is a highly
active audience making use of the media for arange of purposes designed to satisfy needs such as
entertainment,information and identification. In this model the individual has the power and they select the
media texts that best suit their needs and their attempts tosatisfy those needs. The psychological basis for
this model is the hierarchy ofneeds identified by Maslow. Among the chief exponents of this model
areMcQuail and Katz.

The main areas that are identified in this model are:


   information

 
  


   
   
 


   identity¦   


 
   


     
  


   

   social interaction
   
 

 



  
  


 

   diversion 
 
     





 
  
 

Ñask 4

Place the following genres into their correct category.

The News, EastEnders, Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?, Friends, Horizon, Cribs, Qi, The Bill, Holyoaks,
Life On Mars, I¶m A Celebrity..., House, Escape To The Country, X Factor, Coronation Street,

Information Identity Social Interaction Diversion

Which of the above programmes might be guilty of employing the µHypodermic Model¶ and which
therefore might also reflect Blumer¶s views on audience?
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Reception Ñheory

Extending the concept of an active audience still further, in the 1980s and 1990s a lot of work was
done on the way individuals received and interpreted a text, and how their individual
circumstances (gender, class, age, ethnicity) affected their reading.

This work was based on Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model of the relationship between text
and audience - the text is encoded by the producer, and decoded by the reader, and there may be
major differences between two different readings of the same code. However, by using recognised
codes and conventions, and by drawing upon audience expectations relating to aspects such as
genre and use of stars, the producers can position the audience and thus create a certain amount
of agreement on what the code means. This is known as a preferred reading.

Ñask 5

Look at the opening of µNanny McPhee¶. Think about the way the text has been constructed
through the use of codes.What has been encoded for the audience to decode?

Categorising Audiences/demographics

Ñask 6

Suggest the difficulties film makers may face by using this way of categorising their
audience.

Discuss the use of µTest Screenings¶ and their importance.

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othnographic model

The latest research into audience has resulted in an 
 

 model,which means that the
researcher enters into the culture of the group and usesquestions and interviews to try to
understand media engagement from theperspective of the group. What seems to be emerging
from this work is


   
  
  

 
   




 
 

  
¦ and finally

  

The first of these stresses the fact that engagement with the media is oftenstructured by the
domestic environment because of the domestication ofentertainment and l eisure. It appears that
the home is not a free space andthere are issues about finance for purchase of media goods,
control of theremote, the gendered nature of watching TV and the 'flow' of TV that fitsalongside or
within a set of domestic relationships. So TV viewing may not bethe concentrated, analytical
business that some theorists suggest.

The second area is best understood in terms of texts that can be identified asbelonging to a
genre that has gender appeal . For example, soaps are usuallyseen to hav e a strong female bias
in viewing audience. There is a selection ofcompetencies that are brought to such texts so
knowing about cliff-hangers; the role of the matriarch or the fluid nature of character relationships
simplyadds to the pleasures associated with the text. Think about the texts that youenjoy and even
though you know how a text will be shaped or how it will endthese are not barriers to your
enjoyment of that text.Competencies even include the very expectations that you have for the
text.The male preference for news and more factual forms can be seen as afeature of cultural
competence because men occupy more public space thandomestic space and therefore feel the
need to be aware of the public worldsreflected in such texts.

The third area identified relates to the way we engage with the hardware inorder to enjoy the
output of the media. There seems to be a strong genderdivide here with computers and complex
technology fitting into the category of'boys¶ toys'. If present trends in technology continu e then
there is a realdanger that just as our society is dividing along lines of information-rich
andinformation-poor then there will be a further demarcation along gender lines.This explains
why schools and TV programmes need to present positivegender rep resentations and good
practice that supports females andtechnological expertise. You will note that many of the lifestyle
programmesthat are on TV use females in less traditional roles as a way of redressing thebalance
(think Suzie Perry on the µGadget Sho w¶).

Overall the shift in the models for audience has gone from mass audience toindividual viewer with
stress on the active audience rather than the passivemodel. The level of activity in the implied
audience is related to the uses,pleasures, cultural com petence, situation and available technology
for theparticular audience.
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Ñask 8.
üsing the ethnographic model (try and separate it into the three areas highlighted) evaluate your own text.
Have you inadvertently prevented certain µaudiences¶ from accessing your text? Write your response in the
space provided below.
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Ñest on Audience ± Simple fact retention.

1 Another name for the effects model? 2

2 What were the concerns of the Frankfurt School in a) o  and later inb)  
? 10

3 What are moral watchdogs? 4

4 What does NVLA stand for? 4

5 What kind of psychology is the effects model based on? 10

6 What is the basic problem with the effects model as a way of explaininganti - social or deviant
behaviour? 12

7 Who still makes use of the effects model? 4

8 What recent cases have cited this model? 12

9 What kind of general perceptions are attributed to the effects model? 6

10 What kind of psychology is the uses and gratifications model based on? 8

11 What four areas are identified in this model? 16

12 What does Morley have to say about the way we read texts? 12

13 Explain 'mode of address' with exam ples. 15

14 What is meant by the ethnographic study of audience? 6

15 What do we mean by the 'domestic context of reception of media texts'? 8

16 How can we describe some texts as female and others as male? Refer tosoaps and news. 8

17 Is technological expertise a relevant factor in our consideration of the waywe understand

audiences in relation to certain texts? 8

18 What is the main shift in emphasis from the effects model to more modernviews of audience? 5

Total marks 150