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Audience ± G325

Question 1b G325

Name ....Steph Jarram!

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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 a µmass 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, Blumer set out 4 stages

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



  
  
  
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ÿhird, 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.
^
, the mass is very loosely organised and is not able to act with the unity of a crowd.

ÿask 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?
  
   
 






  




 

 

  




  


  

  



  


 
 
 
 


  

 


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m. How much of your media experience occurs when you are on you r own and how much when you are
with others?
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3. Think back to your genre work, how is your media experienced?

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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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ÿhe 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 ÿ  
  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.

ÿask 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?

 

 

 




 
  




  

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´ses and gratifications

A more recent model of audience is that of uses and gratifications, which suggests that there is a highly
active audience making use of the media for a range 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 to satisfy those needs. The psychological basis for
this model is the hierarchy of needs identified by Maslow. Among the chief exponents of this model are
McQuail and Katz .

The main areas that are identified in this model are:


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   social interaction
   
 

 
 


  
  


 

   diversion  
 
     

 



 
  
 

ÿask 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

ÿhe News Cribs Eastenders Who wants to
Horizon House Friends be a
Escape to the ÿhe Bill millionaire?
country Hollyoaks QI
Life on Mars I¶m a celebrity
Coronation X factor
Street

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

Eastenders is guilty of employing the hypodermic needle model and reflects

Blumer¶s views on audience because it appeals to a wide variety of audience
types and to different classes of people. Another point is that the mass is an
anonymous group and we can relate to the characters in real life situations.
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Reception ÿheory

Extending the concept of an active audience still further, in the 
s and  s 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.

ÿask 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?

The target audience for this film is children. This is because it¶s a family film and children want the
story to happen to them whereas adults want to watch it to have fun. The music of the trailer is
very magical and happy which encourages children to go and watch it because they can relate to
their behaviour and find out more about Nanny McPhee. The film is very colourful and vibrant
which will also attract more viewers. I would expect the storyline to be quite simple so that the
children can understand t he story. The trailer demonstrates most of the story in a positive way. We
can see that he is a single father and adults can relate to this because they might be in the same
situation although children would find it funny when he falls down the stairs. Nan ny McPhee is also
represented in an ugly way and children may find her scary at first but adults can relate her to
Mary Poppins and find her funny. The different classes of people are also highlighted as some are
poorer than others and the family seem like they are middle class. The bright colours make you
focus on the different areas in each scene. The time of year is also pleasing as most scenes are
set in the summer although the wintry setting in the ending is a clear contrast.
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Categorising Audiences/demographics

ÿask 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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Ethnographic model

The latest research into audience has resulted in an 
 

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


   
  
  

 
   




 
 

  
Ô and finally

  

The first of these stresses the fact that engagement with the media is often structured by the
domestic environment because of the domestication of entertainment and leisure. It appears that
the home is not a free space and there are issues about finance for purchase of media goods,
control of the remote, the gendered nature of watching TV and the 'flow' of TV that fits alongside or
within a set of domestic relationships. So TV viewing may not be the concentrated, analytical
business that some theorists suggest.

The second area is best understood in terms of texts that can be identified as belonging to a
genre that has gender appe al. For example, soaps are usually seen to have a strong female
bias in viewing audience. There is a selection of competencies that are brought to such texts so
knowing about cliff-hangers; the role of the matriarch or the fluid nature of character relationships
simply adds to the pleasures associated with the text. Think about the texts that you enjoy and
even though you know how a text will be shaped or how it will end these 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 a feature of cultural
competence because men occupy more public space than domestic space and therefore feel the
need to be aware of the p ublic worlds reflected in such texts.

The third area identified relates to the way we engage with the hardware in order to enjoy the
output of the media. There seems to be a strong gender divide here with computers and complex
technology fitting into the category of 'boys¶ toys'. If present trends in technology continue then
there is a real danger that just as our society is dividing along lines of information-rich and
information-poor then there will be a further demarcation along gender lines. This explains why
schools and TV programmes need to present positive gender representations and good practice
that supports females and technological expertise. You will note that many of the lifestyle
programmes that are on TV use females in less traditional roles as a way of redressing the
balance (think Suzie Perry on the µGadget Show¶) .

Overall the shift in the models for audience has gone from mass audience to individual viewer with
stress on the active audience rather than the passive model. The level of activity in the implied
audience is related to the uses, pleasures, cultural competence, situation and available technology
for the particular audience.
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ÿask 8.
´sing 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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ÿest on Audience ± Simple fact retention.

 Another name for the effects model? m

m What were the concerns of the Frankfurt School in a) â  and later in b)  

? 

3 What are moral watchdogs? 4

4 What does NVLA stand for? 4

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

6 What is the basic problem with the effects model as a way of explaining anti- social or deviant
behaviour? m

7 Who still makes use of the effects model? 4

What recent cases have cited this model? m

What kind of general perceptions are attributed t o the effects model? 6

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

 What four areas are identified in this model? 6

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

3 Explain 'mode of address' with ex amples. 5

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

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

6 How can we describe some texts as female and others as male? Refer to soaps and news.

7 Is technological expertise a relevant factor in our consideration of the way we understand

audiences in relation to certain texts?


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

Total marks 5