Audience and Institution.

Exam speak

The issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by international or global institutions;
The ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
Key theory

Audience
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 believe all media texts have a target audience and come from all walks of life, for example all kinds of people watch documentarys and the News.

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

i would say about 95% of my media experience would be on my own and the other 5% with friends, like going to the cinema and stuff.

3. How do you experience/consume media (i.e. watch or listen to it)?

I prefer to watch media like tv programmes than read it.

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)

facebook
text

Uses 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:
a) the need for information about our geographical and social world
b) the need for identity, by using characters and personalities to define our sense of self
and social behaviour
c) the need for social interaction through experiencing the relationships and interaction of
others
d) the need for diversion by using the media for purposes of play and entertainment.


Task 2


McQuail and Katz didn't focus solely on film, but you have to. Try and identify a film for each of the FOUR areas identified by McQuail and Katz