Excerpt from Media Institutions and Audiences, Ch. 6 Approaches to Audiences
This first section (pages 144-161), focuses on the way media affects the minds and actions of its audiences. It includes research made by those who study “the effect” media has on us such as the Frankfurt school. The section investigated the different theories on how the media has such a strange yet big effect on consumers. The theories included 'uses and gratifications' model, the 'encoding/decoding' model, and ethnography. These discussed theories provided reasoning for how an irrelevant or false form of media can completely alter the way you think and behave, such as watching a political party broadcast and suddenly desire to vote for them.
The second section (pages 162-171), described the certain factors in medias such as movies and tv that are used to attract and maintain the focus of an audience. Energy: The 'latest' news; handheld camera; the pace of a series of sharp, short items. Abundance: news-gathering equipment Intensity: emphasis on crime and dramatic incident; visual collection with climactic moments in mind. Transparency: certain newscasters, actors, and politicians adopt a "man of the people" demeanor; events are simplified. Community: Assumptions of consensus: the planet is made as a global village. These different details all come together and contribute to approaching and manipulating an audience.
The third section (pages 172-179), discusses Stuart Hall's idea that certain media send specific messages, but how viewers interpret them determines how they are read and seen. This idea can be extended to investigate why different generations can have such disparate reactions to the same texts. Kids, for example, have only a minimal understanding of traditional definitions. Our social class, race, and gender may all have an effect on our capacity. Considering the audience's social background brings one to ethnography, the most recent branch of audience research to gain popularity.