Audience Theory

An audience is fed media texts containing information that they can receive and interpret in different ways. For many years media analysts have been producing and focusing on many ways to describe how audiences receive, reads and responds to a text. This is named 'Audience Theory'

 The Hypodermic Needle Model-

Dating back to the 1920's this theory was first created to explain how an audience could be affected by mass media. It is generally slightly offensive to the audience stating that media texts works like a syringe and injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs straight into the audience's mind without the viewer questioning or really processing the information properly. It produces an idea that the audience is naive and passively willing to register the information they are being fed, accepting it to be true or the correct way to think/act. This theory suggest's that the producer of the media text ie the director, writer, reporter can manipulation the audiences feelings towards a text.

The Hypodermic needle model is referenced commonly at times of moral panic. When a situation arises sometimes the press find links with a tragedy, problem or social issue and the way a media text can effect them. For example, recently in the press a huge debate goes on at whether young girls are affected by the representation of young girls bodies in magazines, on adverts, over the internet and in films. Are these media texts effecting there target audience so deeply that they could cause these girls to believe this is how they need to be? Is there are link between anorexia and the representation in the media of girls with ideal bodies? Media researchers have found that teen advertising negatively effects young girls by the constant ideals of what a woman should look like. So with this example is The Hypodermic Needle an unhealthy theory for audiences of the public.....

Two step flow theory

The Two step flow model theory replaced the hypodermic needle theory as it seemed to basic and "inadequate".  In the 1940's Paul Lazarsfeld., Bernard Berelson and Hazel Gaudet produced a paper called 'The People's choice'. This paper explained there analysed results focusing on the decision making of public during the presidential election campaign. There results suggested that information is not injected into the audience's mind but it is filtered through "Opinion leaders" people who are initially exposed to media content and who then communicate it to their less active associates influencing them in a specific way.

This theory means that the audience are active when being influenced by media. This then develops the idea of the audience not being influenced by a direct process but a two step flow.

Uses and Gratifications

The Uses and Gratifications theory focuses on why audiences are pulled in to different media texts and how audiences are affected by mass communication.

. What makes you watch that TV program or buy a certain magazine each week?

The idea from the theory is that we gratify certain needs and helps towards our social fulfillment. This theory presents the audience that individuals actively consume texts for different reasons and in different ways. The uses break down into 6 different uses audiences want in a text.

Reception Theory

The reception theory or audience reception is a reader & response literacy theory and works on the theory of negotiation and opposition. The reception theory developed the understanding that the audience are not the same people with the same social class, gender, ethnicity  so how could they passively take information the same way. The reception theory essentially states that media messages have multiple meanings and are interpreted by there audience in different way's according to there context and type of audience. This theory was developed by Stuart Hall in 1970 and he considered how the text was encoded with meaning by producer and decoded understanding by the audience.

Further Definitions by Stuart Hall 3 Types of Reading

Preferred /Dominant Reading- The message that the director/producer of the media texts intends the audience to receive.

Negotiated Reading- When the audience accept some of this intended message but partly interprets the message on the own.

Opposition Reading- The intended message is completely disagreed with and rejected by the audience.

Mode of Address- Mode of address is when a text try's to engage there audience by targeting them and speaking directly to them .The Mode of Adress is how the text speaks to the audience and how it involves them. It is a stylized way to target and engage the audience influencing them to respond to a text in a certain way. This will depend on Age, Gender, Social class etc.