Audience theory

Audience – OCR G325 Question 1b

In covering this topic you need to be aware of a broad shift from a perception of a ‘mass 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 media with which they engage.

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

First, its membership may come from all walks of life, and from all distinguishable social strata; it may include people of different class position, of different vocation, of different cultural attainment, and of different wealth. .....

Secondly, the mass is an anonymous group, or more exactly is composed of anonymous individuals [Blumer means anonymous in the sense that unlike the citizens of earlier communities, the people who are members of the mass audience for the media do not know each other].

Third, 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.

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

Task 1

1. Do you think the audiences for most media texts do come “from 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?

I think that most media texts do come ‘from all walks of life’ as most films are enjoyed by a variety of different people. For example films like ‘Harry Potter’ and ‘Avatar’ are enjoyed by many different people from all around the world.  

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

Most of my media experience occurs when I’m on my own or with family, very little of my media experience happens around anyone else. This makes me more passive when watching the film because there is no one around who will keep me involved in the film by talking about it with me as it happens.

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

My media is experienced mainly by films and TV programmes. I mainly watch action/horror films such as the ‘Resident Evil’ films and ‘Doom’, and I tend to watch programmes like ‘Friends’, ‘Scrubs’ and ‘Simpsons’

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)

- MSN

- Facebook Posts

- SMS/Phone call

The effects/hypodermic model

The original model for audience was the effects/hypodermic 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 propaganda that was evident in Triumph of the Will 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 will 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.

Task 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?

The film ‘2012’ caused the public to start panicking and believing that the world was actually going end on December 2012. This was because loads of posters went up saying the world will end and people didn’t realise that it was just a poster for a film.

Is this influence always negative?

This kind of influence is not always negative, and can be used to influence the audience in a good way.