Theory

Bandura: Media Effects
Audience Theory

The Theory:

• Consumption of media texts has an effect or an influence upon the audience, normally considered a negative effect.
• Assumes that audiences are passive and powerless to prevent the audience. 
• The power lies in the message of the text.

Key Evidence

• Bobo doll experiment: controversial piece of research that apparently proved that children copied violent behaviour. It was conduced in 1961 by Albert Bandura.

The conclusion reached was that children will imitate violent media content. The Effects Model (backed up by the Bobo doll experiment) is still the dominant theory used by politicians, some parts of the media and religious organisations.

Modern interpretations

• Media can influence audiences directly or through social media - media messages can influence without being seen directly
• Different media have different effects
• 'New' media can offer opportunities for self-directedness (a personality trait of self-determination, that is, the ability to regulate and adapt behaviour to the demands of a situation in order to achieve personally chosen goals and values)

Limitations

• In each case there was a media and political outcry for the texts to be banned (e.g. The Clockwork Orange), however, it was found that no case could be proven to demonstrate a link between the text and the violent acts
• The Effects Model contributes to Moral Panics whereby the media produce inactivity, the media produces violent 'copycat' behaviour or mindless shopping in response to adverts.
• It is still unclear that there is any link between the two.

Explain the theory and discuss its limitations and value in terms of analysing newspapers and TV drama.

Bandura’s audience theory explains that the consumption of media texts has an effect or an influence upon the audience, usually a negative one. This was proved through the ‘Bobo doll experiment’, conducted by Bandura himself in 1961. It proved that children actually copied violent behaviour they had seen from an adult repeatedly hitting a doll. In terms of newspapers, the theory proves that there is a correlation between the two, but in some ways, there isn’t. Firstly, it does prove positive for the messages that are delivered strongly and consistently across all newspapers, for example, the negative effects of terrorism, as that message will then be conveyed across to everyone and it will spread. It also supports the argument that newspapers should be regulated in order to avoid public harm. However, there are some ways in which the theory does not work in terms of newspapers. The theory was originally developed to explain the effects of media with a powerful audience positioning, such as television, making newspaper representations of violence less likely to be imitated. Newspaper messages are also likely to be contradicted by messages from politically and socially opposing newspapers, such as The Guardian and the Daily Mail.

In terms of long form TV drama, the theory does work, as it draws attention to the need to investigate the direct effects on the people who consume TV dramas, and supports the arguments of those who think television should be regulated in order to avoid public harm. However, the complex representations common to long form TV dramas are less likely to cause a direct effect on audiences.


Hall: Reception Theory
Audience Theory

• States that media texts are encoded by the producer, meaning that whoever produces the text fills the product with values and messages
• The text is then decoded by the audience, but people will decode it in different ways, and not always the way the producer intended
• Can be received in 3 ways: dominant/preferred reading, negotiated reading, oppositional reading

Dominant/Preferred Reading: Read in the way the producer intended it to be, the audience agree with the messages and ideology that the producer has placed behind the text, this is a positive thing for the producer of the text, as it means their production has been successful as to get across the messages and values the producer wanted

How? 

Clear message, audience is the same age, same culture, easy to understand the narrative, relevant to the audiences society, audience are choosing to consume the product so must have a reason to like it in the first place

Negotiated Reading: Compromise between the two, audience accepts views of the producer, but also has their own input/understanding of the text, they do not agree/disagree, they can however see a point being made in relation to the reading whilst also making their own opinions, this is a good response to the product as it is still getting the message the producer wanted to get across, even if the reader is still making their own judgment

How?

May not have the same life experiences, may not understand the narrative so cannot relate to it in a meaningful way, age may vary the reading and understanding, do not understand all of the messages making it unclear what the dominant reading is supposed to be

Oppositional Reading: Audience rejects producers preferred reading and creates their own reading; usually this is the opposite of what the producer intended, the reader rejects the meaning completely as they do not agree with the message that is being presented to the audience, overall, this is a bad response to get to a product as it will mean the people who view it will not want to buy it.

How?

The product has controversial themes, the audience disagree with the messages of the production, dislike the genre, no understanding, cannot relate to the narrative structure, is not reflective of their society, different cultures have different understandings

Explain the theory and discuss its limitations and value in terms of analysing newspapers and TV drama.
In terms of analysing newspapers, Hall’s reception theory can be useful in that it draws attention to the the range of possible audience readings, whilst acknowledging the role of ideological power in creating dominance within newspaper messages and values. However, Hall’s theory is not useful in terms of analysing newspapers because it assumes that there is one dominant reading to which the audience responds; it doesn’t fit messages with multiple different possible readings.
It is a very similar case when using Hall’s theory to analyse long form TV dramas. The theory is useful because it draws attention to the many possible audience readings of long form TV dramas messages and values, whilst also acknowledging the role of power in creating dominance within television messages and values. However, the theory is limited in that there is one dominant meaning to which the audience responds; it doesn’t fit messages with multiple different readings, for example, ironic messages in Homeland.


Shirky: End of Audience
Audience Theory

• Believes that audiences are no longer passive
• Believes audiences are now more active, wanting to interact with media
• Believes this because technology has changed our expectations and behaviour
• Believes that audiences like to 'speak back' to producers

Explain the theory and discuss its limitations and value in terms of analysing newspapers and TV drama

The theory is useful when analysing news in the ways that it draws attention to the revolutionary effect of online media on news, and the threat this represents to traditional models of news gathering and distribution, for example, fake news. It also highlights how online newspapers increasingly rely on participatory media such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter to spread their news. Another way that it is beneficial is that it draws attention to the role of amateur producers in citizen journalism.
However, the theory can be limited when analysing news because it does not really apply to print newspapers, due to their traditional production. It also applies less to online newspapers than to fully user-generated online content as online newspaper brands have not embraced the ‘publish then filter’ model of the new media.
When analysing long form TV drama, the theory can be useful as it draws attention to the way audiences for long form TV dramas can provide value for one another by using websites to offer fan theories, merchandise, wikis, etc. However, the theory is limited as it does not apply to broadcast television, and streaming services do not reflect the view of the online media proposed by Shirky insofar as they primarily operate like the ‘old’ media by offering centrally produced content.

Gauntlett: Identity Theory

• Believes that while everyone is an individual, people tend to exist within larger groups who are similar to them.
• He thinks the media do not create identities, but just reflect them instead
• Part 1: Audiences get a sense of their own identity through the media products they consume
• Part 2: New media products offer far more complex and diverse ideas in terms of representation, compared to past constructions which were very straightforward and simple
• He particularly applies this to gender and sexuality representation
• Less of the simple binary representations

• In the modern world, it is now an expectation that individuals make choices about their identity and lifestyle. For example, the success of 'popular feminism' and increasing representation of different sexualities created a world where the meaning of gender, sexuality and identity is increasingly open
• Gauntlett's theory is useful when exploring over simplified representations of groups of people or for discrediting the role of media when creating identities. 
• The internet and social media can be used as a platform for building identities which reflects the creativity of individuals. 

Explain the theory and discuss its limitations and value in terms of analysing newspapers and TV drama

Gauntlett’s theory can be useful when analysing newspapers in that it can apply to the sense of identity that a newspaper can offer its readers, for example a liberal, progressive Guardian reader. It also applies to the diverse and sometimes contradictory media messages provided to audiences in discrete newspaper sections, which offer a range of points of identification. However, the theory is limited in that younger people, who are more likely to gain a sense of identity through self expression in user-generated online media products are less likely to use newspapers. It also assumes that audiences are powerful, active agents, and so may underestimate the power of media conglomerates to shape popular culture, taste and identities.
In terms of analysing long form TV drama, Gauntlett’s theory is useful in terms of the fact that it may tend to offer diverse and contradictory representations that audiences can use to think through their identity as they have the time and resources to develop complex representations. Long form TV dramas often attempt to reach and engage an international audience by offering a local representation with international resonance, thus increasing the diversity of representations of place and cultures, for example, Trapped. Long form TV dramas may also achieve cult status, adding to their value in helping to create identities. However, the theory does not apply to long form TV dramas as it assumes audiences are powerful, active agents and so may underestimate the power of media conglomerates and the forces of global capitalism to shape popular culture, taste and identities.