Unit 1: Industries, Texts & Audiences

Unit 1.3: How Media Texts are constructed in relation to their audiences

Things you need to know…

» How the industry thinks about its audiences.

» How products are tailored to audiences.

» How the industry represents its audience, other social groups or social issues of interest to its audience.

Why are audiences important?

» Without them - why would media texts be created?

» Size & reaction measure success.

» People who buy provide income for production companies.

» Advertising.

Disney

» ‘High School Musical’      Movie – DVD-stage show – ice show CD - Stationary – Karaoke Sticker Album – lunch boxes Dance Mat – Dolls – clothing Sing a long showings - competitions

BBC

» Programmes / brands often have off shoots     educational magazine series / comics audio books – books DVDs Toys – ie Tellytubbies / tweenies –

How the industry thinks about its audiences.

Target audiences

» Media producers and institutions view audiences as an ‘imaginary entity’, a mass rather than individuals. They will however have a ‘typical’ audience member in mind. (len Ang: 1991)

Doreen

» Typical listener » Age, likes, dislikes, habits, household, husband.

» Educated & intelligent » Half listens » Does not necessarily understand long words or discussions.

» Make sure understands and is engaged with.

» Talk to personally, as if known.

Imaginary Entity

» Subjectives used to help define the social position of the audience member: » Self image » Age group Gender Family » Class » Ethnicity » Politics Nation Education Religion » Location (geographical & local)

Mode of Address

» The way in which a text will address or speak to its audience.

DEMOGRAPHICS

Grade Class A B C1 C2 D E Upper Middle Middle Lower Middle Skilled Working Higher managerial, administrative or professional. [Doctors / lawyers] Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional. [teachers ] Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional. [office / Nurses] Skilled manual workers. [White collar] Working Lowest level of substance Description Semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers. [blue collar] Casual workers, unemployed, state pensioners, students.

Television Scheduling

» Breakfast » Daytime » Teatime » Primetime » Grave yard

Channel 4 Schedule

Audience Theories

» Hypodermic needle effect.

» Two step flow » Uses & Gratifications » Reception Theory » Effects debate

Hypodermic Needle Effect

» Suggests media is capable of ‘mass manipulation’ » Audience believe what they see » Gullible audience:   War of the world s (1938 radio broadcast) April fools – BBC Panorama spaghetti tree!!!

Two Step Flow Model

» Paul Lazarsfeld & Elihu Katz » Mass media information is

channeled to the "masses" through opinion leadership. The people with most access to media, and having a more literate understanding of media content, explain and diffuse the content to others.

» They pass on their opinions and interpretations.

Uses & Gratifications

» Jay G. Blumler and Elihu Katz » Audience has a set of needs that are met by the media.

» Diversion » Surveilance » Personal identity » Personal relationship

Reception Analysis

» Text is not passively accepted - audience interpret meaning based on individual cultural background or life experience.

» Programme is encoded by the producer and decoded by the audience.

» Opositional / negotiated readings » Stuart Hall – CCCS (Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies, Birmingham)

Effects Debate

» ‘Moral Panic’ [Stan Cohen 1972]   Mods & Rockers 1960s “mass response to a group, person or

an attitude that becomes defined as a threat to society”

» Threat identified – panic created through press & other media.

Video Nasties

» Jamie Bulger Murder Case 1993  Childs Play 3 » BBFC consider influence as well as content.

» Bowling For Columbine » Internet – You tube videos

Counting Audiences

» Film:   Figures based on box office receipts. [tickets sold, then DVDs bought/ rented [Subtract production costs to find profit = success] » Print:  Circulation [copies read]  Audit Bureau of Circulation www.abc.org.uk

» Radio / TV:    Viewing figures. Sample of population, viewing/listening habits monitored for 7 days.

Broadcast Audience Research Board www.barb.co.uk

Radio Joint Audience Research www.rajar.co.uk

Key Audience Studies

» The Nationwide Audience » Ien Ang’s Dallas Study

The Nationwide Audience

» David Morley, 1980 » BBC Nationwide programme » Broadly based on Gramscian model of hegemonic power.

» Draws on semiotics – argued that audiences worked at decoding media texts.

» http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Modules/T F33120/morleynw.html

» Dominant / Hegemonic:  Reader recognises and agrees with preferred reading.

» Oppositional:  Reader recognises but rejects preferred reading (for cultural/political/ideological reasons) » Negotiated:  Reader accepts, rejects or refines elements of the programme due to previously held views

Ien Ang’s Dallas Study

» 1985 » Reactions to and reasons for watching ‘Dallas’ » 3 response types: » Ideology of mass culture:    Watched because it was high profile piece of US popular culture » Ironic/detached position: watch because wanted to see what other people were watching, even though knew it was ‘bad’ » Ideology of popularism: got pleasure from watching even though knew it was ‘trash’

Representation

» Do the media suggest to large

audiences that

x

or

y

character is typical of that group, and therefore that the whole group should be viewed in certain ways?

Stereotypes

» Negative / Positive » Coronation Street / Eastenders    Cultures - corner shop owners Sean – Camp Battersby family. » Hugh Grant:  Notting Hill, 4 Weddings & a Funeral, Love Actually.