Media Audiences

It has been shown that media can have a negative influence on young audiences through violent TV or video games, which can breed aggression. Supporting this, there are sociological theories that suggest that media has a direct and immediate influence on its audiences. 

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    Let us try to evaluate the view that media influences its audience, by studying the following media theories.

    • We will mention several media audience theories.
    • We will look at media audience examples.
    • Then, we will discuss how audience effects in media look like.
    • We will consider the types of media audience.
    • Finally, we will discuss social media audience.

    Media audience examples

    We will go through some models that attempt to explain how media and audiences interact. These are the hypodermic syringe model, two-step flow model, selective filter model, reception analysis model, cultural effects model, and the postmodernist model.

    Media Audiences, TV screens in dark aeroplane, StudySmarterFig. 1 - There are several models to explain how the media and audience interact.

    Media audience theory

    There are many media audience theories. Let us start with the hypodermic syringe model, as the first media audience theory.

    The hypodermic syringe model

    According to this theory, media has a direct and immediate effect on the audience. The theory assumes the audience to be a 'homogeneous mass', and the audience believes what the media portrays without questioning the content. Audience engagement is the audience actively engaging with media messages. In the hypodermic syringe model, audience engagement is low.

    Thus, the media messages are directly 'injected' into audiences to manipulate their thoughts or make them act in certain ways. Consider the following media audience examples as evidence that media directly influences the audience.

    Media effects on the audience: The culture industry

    This theory is associated with Neo-Marxists Theodor Adorno and Max Horkheimer.

    Adorno argues that the culture industry involves a change in the commodity character of art"

    In other words, they suggested that popular culture in the USA was like a production factory, where the content was produced to manipulate the masses.

    They further argued that the type of content produced by the culture industry made the mass audience passive and vulnerable, and encouraged false needs and interests that could be met by becoming good customers of capitalist products.

    Media effects on the audience: Imitation or copycat violence

    Albert Bandura conducted the 'Bobo Doll' experiment in 1961, involving young children and testing for aggressive behaviours through imitation. The children were shown media of adults attacking an inflatable bobo-doll with a mallet and verbally abusing the doll. The children were then sent to a room filled with toys, but were told that the toys were not for them. Later, the children were taken to another room, where there were dolls and mallets.

    As the children were upset and frustrated by being told that the toys did not belong to them, they started acting aggressively by beating the dolls with the mallet - imitating what they saw in the media.

    Experimenters used a control group of children that were not exposed to media violence. The children in this group did not become violent, despite being taken to a room with a doll and mallets.

    Media effects on the audience: Desensitisation

    Elizabeth Newson argued that the effects of media violence on its audience, especially children, were indirect and gradual.

    The theory suggests that children and teenagers are subjected to acts of violence through viewing films and television. Prolonged exposure to acts of violence encouraged audiences, especially children and teenagers, to identify with violent perpetrators, thus becoming 'desensitised' to violence. She further argued that children see violence as a normal way of solving problems.

    Media Audiences, Three children at a table where one covers their eyes one covers their ears and the other covers their mouth, StudySmarterFig. 2 - Children may become gradually desensitised to violence in the media

    Criticisms of the hypodermic syringe model

    • This model may have been relevant when the media was fairly new and the audience was relatively ignorant. It can be argued that audiences in the new media age are well-informed and are likely to criticise media content, rather than accept it.

    • The hypodermic syringe model considers audiences as a 'homogeneous mass', but audiences are more diverse today, which makes this theory less reliable.

    • It is too simplistic a tool to analyse social issues like acts of violence. It is easy to hold the media solely responsible for encouraging aggressive, violent acts.

    • Bandura's experiment on children and teenagers concluded imitative aggression was carried out in an artificial environment; it cannot be used to explain violence in real-life scenarios.

    • According to David Gauntlett, it is not natural for people, especially children, to behave as they do in everyday life if placed in artificial conditions. Children's media habits are often influenced and monitored by parents, specifically when they are very young.

    Audience effects media

    The audience can affect the media as well as the media can affect its viewers. Recently, there have been more studies on on how these two interact. We will now consider further media theories, such as the two-step flow model and the selective filter model.

    The two-step flow model

    Created by Elihu Katz and Paul Lazarsfeld, this theory suggests that the audience is active and influenced by influential people or those who they look up to - called 'opinion leaders' - rather than directly by the media.

    Katz and Lazarsfeld further argued that opinion leaders dominate social networks and form an opinion on media content. Then they pass on their interpretation within their social circle to influence audiences.

    Media content undergoes two steps:

    • The opinion leaders are exposed to media messages.

    • The audience internalises the interpretation of the active opinion leaders.

    In a wider sphere, a political leader can be an opinion leader. Within a smaller setting, an office manager can be an opinion leader.

    Selective filter model

    According to this theory, the audience does not easily accept the media content as the truth. The model suggests that media messages pass through the following filters before influencing the audience:

    • Selective exposure

    • Selective perception

    • Selective retention

    Audiences are exposed to selective media content - they actively choose what they want to watch, read, or hear. Different groups, influenced by things like their interests, age, and education, choose the content of the media.

    Censorship is an example of this; adult media content that prevents children from watching certain shows or films draws the interest of young children rather than adults.

    Media Audiences, Man reading newspaper on the wall, StudySmarterFig. 3 - The selective filter model suggests audiences choose what they want to watch, read, or hear.

    The audience rejects some of the media messages they are exposed to if it does not fit their perception or understanding of the world around them. Finally, the media messages need to 'stick' in the mind of the audiences to have an influence.

    Reception analysis model

    This theory suggests there are three major types of 'reading' for an audience. The audiences do not passively accept the media's perception of content, but they choose to read them in different ways.

    • The dominant reading: sharing in the view considered to be legitimate, often shared by media content creators, editors, journalists, etc.

    • The oppositional reading: opposing the views expressed in the media messages.

    • The negotiated reading: the audience interprets media content to match their own values and opinions.

    These different 'readings' divide the audience into separate roles, each with its own outcome. Audience profiling is the process of dividing an audience into separate groups depending on their behaviours. Audience profiling can be used by media producers to portray different media messages to each reception group.

    Types of media audience

    David Morley suggests that audiences belong to different cultures, which influences their interpretation of media content. According to reception analysis theory, this inconsistency in audiences' perception confirms that they are not passive, homogeneous, or impressionable. Consequently, there is a range of 'negotiated' readings.

    Polysemic refers to the capability of having several different meanings at the same time. Morley argues that audiences have different aspects to their identities, and they interpret media messages in various ways, often altering and modifying their interpretations over time. He stressed that audiences are active and not passive. This makes their interpretations unpredictable.

    Media audience theory: The cultural effects model

    Media content reflects the ideas and values of media professionals - owners, producers, or controllers, who expect the audiences to accept their ideology in interpreting media messages. Exposure to the dominant ideology has a gradual 'drip-drip' effect, ultimately influencing the audiences to share the views of the owners and influential professionals.

    Opposing views and opinions are usually not included in the media content through processes such as agenda-setting and gatekeeping.

    The theory emphasises that audiences are active, but their interpretations are narrowed due to ideological control.

    An example could be the media representation of a celebrity; audiences are told that happiness is about fame, wealth, and having luxurious possessions.

    Media audience theory: Postmodernist model

    Postmodernists argue that the media, being an integral part of postmodern society, gives individuals the opportunity to shape identities and adapt to a lifestyle of their choice. They criticise the hypodermic syringe model for assuming the audiences to be homogeneous, and also the reception analysis model for assuming that there is one dominant or preferred reading of media content.

    Individuals read media messages in various ways, influenced by a range of factors such as individual life experiences. Audiences can also change their interpretation of media messages gradually and make multiple readings of the same media content. Simply put, according to the postmodernist model, the audiences are the most active.

    Social media audience

    Finally, postmodernists suggest that there is no such thing as an 'underlying' reality. They further argue that media constructs people's realities. For example, a person's social media profile on Facebook or Instagram is hugely influenced by media trends and sometimes is not in line with the person's real identity.

    Media Audiences - Key takeaways

    • According to the hypodermic syringe model, the media messages are directly 'injected' into audiences to manipulate their thoughts or make them act in certain ways.
    • The two-step flow model suggests that the audience is active and influenced by opinion leaders rather than directly by the media.
    • According to the selective filter model, media messages pass through filters before influencing the audience. According to the reception analysis model, there are three major types of 'reading' by the audiences - dominant, oppositional, and negotiated.
    • Morley suggests that audiences belong to different cultures, which influences their interpretation of media content. Exposure to dominant ideology has a gradual 'drip-drip' effect, ultimately influencing the audiences to share the views of the owners and influential professionals.
    • Postmodernists argue that the media gives individuals the opportunity to shape identities and adapt to a lifestyle of their choice.

    References

    1. Theodor W. Adorno. (2015). Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. https://plato.stanford.edu/entries/adorno/
    Frequently Asked Questions about Media Audiences

    What does target audience mean in media?

    Target audience refers to the group of people that a certain media program is hoping to attract as viewers.

    Why are media audiences important?

    We must first understand media audiences before we can evaluate the view that media influences its audience. 

    What is the role of audience in media?

    Postmodernists argue media, being an integral part of postmodern society, gives individuals the opportunity to shape identities and adapt to a lifestyle of their choice. Media constructs people’s realities – for example, a person’s social media profile on Facebook or Instagram.

    What is audience engagement in media?

    Audience engagement is the audience actively engaging with media messages.

    What is audience profiling in media?

    Audience profiling is the process of dividing an audience into separate groups depending on their behaviours.

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    Test your knowledge with multiple choice flashcards

    The hypodermic syringe model considers audiences a 'homogenous mass'.

    Bandura conducted the ‘Bobo Doll’ experiment that involved ______ ?

    The negotiated reading means that the audience interprets media content to match with opinion leaders they look up to. 

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