Audiencehood: The word audience hood means wherever you are and go you are an audience. This term refers to the overall view of people which are consciously consuming different products of media. This embraces all aspects from age, gender to ethnicity.
Passive Audience: A passive audience is believe to absorb and understand media passively - They accept messages shown through the media and don’t doubt. They are believed to be more effected by the subjects shown.
Active Audience: Like to interact with the media into order to create bigger meaning for the subject. For example some may see the message and agree however some may watch the same subject and disagree.
The differences between passive and active are that passive audiences like to see the media and believe it and not doubt or form a different view from the media, however active audiences like to form an opinion on the matter at hand and this usually causes debates about the matter as some may have a different view or opinion on the matter.
Len Ang (1991):
“…Media producers have an imaginary entity in mind before the construction of a media product.”
Part 1: The idea that producers have an imaginary entity before the construction of their media product, this supports the idea that the producers already know the effects that their media product will have on the audiences and results and reactions they will get back from the audiences. This idea makes it seem as though the producers and predetermine the feedback for the audience in regard to their product of media.
‘Audiencehood is becoming an ever more multifaceted, fragmented and diversified repertoire of practices and experiences.’
Part 2: What Len Ang (1991) meant by this, is that the ways of media product producers are developing and expanding meaning that their ways of foreseeing the reactions of the audiences and customers to the given products. What she means by ‘fragmented’ is that there are becoming sections and fragments for how they can foresee and predict how their product and what they are doing can result on the reactions of their audiences.
Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory (1991):
The theories three different types of readers (Audience):
Dominant/ preferred reading: Is when the audience’s react to a product in the same way in which the producers expected them to react in. This is also when the audience responds to the given product in the most commonly and widely accepted and interpreted way to the given media text or product. A recent example of this is the recent American presidential elections where some believed completely that trump being elected as president of America was the correct decision.
Negotiated Reading: Is when the audience partly agrees with the media text however not completely. This is also when then the audience reinterprets the media text to fit in with their views and opinions on the matter. You tend to see this most in documentaries and TV programmes. A recent example of this is the recent American presidential elections where some didn’t like Trump being elected however could also see the positives of him being elected.
Oppositional Reading: Is when the audience completely disagrees with the media text and has the complete opposite views and opinions to the media text
given. An example can be in the recent American presidential elections some disagreed to trump being president.
I got some information about all the matters presented in the research from various sources these are the links to the refrences:
http://alevelmedia2.wixsite.com/paralysis/audience-theory
https://www.slideshare.net/BrettMooreG321/audience-theory-52555283
Audience Theories
Mateusz Starak
On this page, you will be able to find different theories and key words which we have researhed about audiences and their different habbits and how we can develop our productions to fit with the specif type of audience we would like.
Audiencehood: Everyone is an audience no matter your age, gender, sexuality or ethnicity no matter where you go you are part of an audience.
2a) Passive Audience: a passive model of consumption suggests that the texts have an effect on the audience. They don’t actively engage with the media text. A passive audience is one that doesn’t question the message that the media is sending and simply accepts the message in the way the media outlet intended.
2b) Active audience: an active model instead suggests that the audience interact with the text to create a meaning. Different audiences can understand a, media message but can have different responses to it. Some people believe and accept the message, others reject it using knowledge from their own experience or can use the process of logic or other rationales to criticize what is being said.
The main difference between a passive and an active audience is that the passive audience accepts whatever message the media is conveying and the active audience don’t they try and challenge it with logic and their knowledge through experience.
An example of a passive audience is EastEnders as they cannot change the storyline in anyway, it is up to the writers to decide what happens and when. The script is written six weeks in advance and will be shown whether the audience like it or not. Soap operas are usually seen as being passive.
An example of an active audience The X Factor as the audience can influence the outcome of the majority of the show. The audience interact by calling to vote for their favourite act, the act with the least amount of votes gets kicked off the show, this determines who will win as there is no way of knowing the outcome at the beginning.
Short films have an active audience as the whole idea of short films is to make the audience think and create their own meaning (interact with the media).
Len Ang
‘‘Media producers have an imaginary entity in mind before the construction of a media product.’’ I interpret this quote as saying that all Media producers have a targeted audience in mind before they start to ‘construct’ their media.
‘‘Audiencehood is becoming an ever more multifaceted, fragmented and diversified repertoire of practices and experiences.’’ I interpret this quote as saying choosing a targeted audience for your media is not as simple as it was in the past as there are now hybrids of targeted audiences.
Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory (1991)
Dominant or preferred reading: The most common interpretations of a message. e.g A 19 year old boy finds Rick and Morty entertaining as it has adult humour.
Negotiated reading: When the audience partially agreed with the message. In the presidential election there was some people who agreed to what some of what trump was saying but not fully.
Oppositional reading: When the audience is in complete disagreement with the message. E.g a 50 year old woman dislikes Rick and Morty as she finds it immature.
Arnold Garry-Plinton
Audience Theory
1) Audience hood- Audience hood is any viewer viewing media becomes and audience member.
2a) Passive Audience- A passive audience consume the text which has an effect on the audience. They often accept opinions and aren’t very interested.
2b) Active Audience- An active audience interacts with the text to create significance. They like to differ on opinions and want to have control.
https://www.slideshare.net/CrispySharp/active-and-passive-audience-theories
The difference form passive and an active audience is that passive audiences won’t change their opinion of media text and believe what it states. They follow the understanding of media text like the ‘sheep’ in society. On the other hand, an active audience is fully engaged with the media text and form their own opinion on it. Their views are expressed based on the media text.
Examples of passive audience- OAP’s. They fear about speaking out as they are seen as having a different mentality.
Examples of active audiences- Teenagers are very opinionated when it comes to soaps. They debate what should have happened according to the soap.
3a) Len Ang’s quote shows that media producers consider existence before producing media content. This means that the media is created to suit the current ideology of existence. There is less focus on who watches it but the imagination of the media product. It signifies that the media producer already know what to produce and they anticipate what they acquire. The producer’s imaginative entity shows they have a vision and want to see it come to life.
https://www.slideshare.net/PBubblegum/media-audience-theories-and-theorist-quotes
b) This quote signifies that audiences aren’t all the same. I know because the use of multifaceted and diversified signifies that audiences have many different sides and are varied. They have different hobbies and interests. Different people will require different needs. This will reflect on the differences they experience when watching a media product.
https://www.slideshare.net/PBubblegum/media-audience-theories-and-theorist-quotes
Stuarts Hall’s Reception Theory
4) Dominant or preferred reading is when the text is read and understood as they producer would want it. The audience comply with the media text. An example of this is when the news is read. The news given may be one sided or biased yet the audience will tempt to agree with it. Also, the information isn’t questioned or debated on. This suggests that it is a form of passive audience as they have similar characteristics.
b) Negotiated reading is when the audience partly agrees with the text however they feel divided about the text. An example of negotiated reading is talent competitions. This is because talent competition are sometime seen as scripted yet there is true talent in some competitors.
c) Oppositional reading is an example of when the audience deliberately chooses to go against the text of the media. The audience recognizes preferred reading but has their own opinion on it. An example of this would be when the audience votes against or doesn’t vote for a competitor in talent competition like the xfactor.