Audience theory

Audience theory

1. Jeremy Trustall

   • PRIMARY AUDIENCE
     • Watching a film in a cinema - the audience is immersed in the film, their sole purpose is to watch the film
   • SECONDARY AUDIENCE
     • If you're watching something at home, you may be interested in it, but you could also be texting, eating or talking at the same time.
   • TERTIARY AUDIENCE
     • When the media text is in the background and your attention is not focused on it, e.g revising with the radio on.

2. Blulmer & Katz - Uses and Gratifications theory

   • ENTERTAINMENT DIVERSIONS - Escape from reality
   • INFORMATION - Gain intellect or common knowledge
   • SOCIAL INTERACTION - Topic of conversation
   • PERSONAL IDENTITY - If you relate to the text.

3. Stuart Hall - Audience Positioning

   • DOMINANT READING
     • When the audience perceives the text the way the director wanted
   • NEGAOTIATED READING
     • When the audience agrees with some of the text and disagrees with other parts of the text
   • OPPOSITIONAL READING
     • When the audience doesn't view the text the way the director intended

4. George Gerbner - Cultivation Theory

   • The more you consume media texts the more you trust them and the more you accept the dominant reading - this could mean accepting and agreeing with representations portrayed In the media

5. Katz & Larzasfeld - Two Step Flow Theory

   • When someone's opinion is taken on by an 'opinion leader' who then relays it through the media to the public, it then becomes the publics opinion - e.g Martin Freeman representing the Labour Party

6. Adorno - Passive/Active Consumption Theory

   • PASSIVE AUDIENCE
     • A Passive audience doesn't attempt to challenge the dominant reading, just accepts it.
   • ACTIVE AUDIENCE
     • An Active audience challenges the dominant reading of a media text