Media Audiences

Functionalists

Functionalists: Media shapes norms and values of the audiences (secondary socialisation) creating social solidarity. The media is also an agent of social control- it exposes deviant behaviour which makes us more law abiding

Marxists

Marxists: Part of the ideological state apparatus, media ownership creates false class consciousness e.g myth of meritocracy, scapegoating poor as lazy, promoting consumerism

Feminists

Feminists: Media reinforces patriarchal ideas/ stereotypes in society. Women are symbolically annihilated( sports, business, politics), objectified for the male gaze, presented as wives and mothers cult of feminist

Postmodernists

Post modernists: Media creates hyper reality so audiences may struggle to tell the difference between reality and media created reality for example airbrushed imaged or AI deep fakes of celebrities 

Interactionalists

Internationalists: The media does influence audiences but not every individual responds in the same way. Cohen looked at folk devils and moral panics created by the media, he says this can cause deviancy amplification 

what are the 5 models

• hypodermic syringe model

• 2 step flow

• Selective filter model

• Cultural effects model

• Uses and gratification

Hypodermic syringe model

Hypodermic syringe model- Passive- Marxists 

Assumes messages are infected directly into the audience. The media has a direct impact on the opinions and behaviour of audiences- media is controlled by the ruling class who use the media to spread the dominant ideology 

Passive- audience as they are brain washed by the media. They believe the media is like a syringe which injects ideas, attitudes and beliefs into the audience, who are powerless mass with little choice but to be influenced 

Example: 

• Bandura boba doll experiment- found children who watch violence + aggression in media will more likely imitate it

• The murder of Jamie Bulger- murdered by 2 10 year old boys who watched a horror film and replicated it onto Jamie

• Brexit- Rupert Murdoch passing down his ideologies 

Eval:

• Theory is outdated

• People can choose what they consume

• We are not passive and can reject the dominant ideology 

• No real evidence or proven link between real world and media violence 

2 step flow Katz and Lazarsfeld

Two step flow model- Active/ Passive- Katz and Lazarsfeld

Katz and Lazarsfeld- individuals form their views based on opinion leaders, who are influenced by the media’s ideas, originate from the media and these are interpreted by opinions leaders who pass on their views to the rest of the population 

Passive as people are influenced by the opinion leaders by the media and spread of their beleifs

Active- opinion leaders select, interpret, filter media text from their own opinions on them- pass it onto their audiences

Examples:

• Andrew tate

• Charlie kirk

• Influencers esp- political 

• Friends and family

Eval:

• Outdated since 1955

• Doesn't explain the views of the opinion leaders- how did they get their views- why are some passive and others active

• Process is more complex then 2 step flow there may be multiple steps- Hobson

Cultural effects Hall/ Philo Neo Marx

Cultural effects model- Passive- Hall/ Philo- Neo marxism

Powerful groups in society are able to transmit their values through the media and own this. Message with dominant ideology in society. Model reflects how people do not all share the same beliefs and values and that peoples background will influence how they interpret media messages and whether they reject them or not.

Hall- audience we often able to decode the ideals of the message- not need rejecting 

Audiences are continually exposed to the dominant ideology and this has a gradual ‘drip-drip’ effect and over time audiences come to share the views of the rich and powerful. They also come to criticise those who have been demonised by the ideological framing of the elite: such as immigrants and those on benefits.

The cultural effects model recognises that audiences are active and that they interpret media content in diverse ways, but they do argue that interpretations are narrow due to long term ideological framing of media content.

Passive- capitalist values in the media, media promotes consumerism through advertising, product placement, dramas set in wealthy homes, etc which leads to buying goods which profit the bourgeoisie 

They are passive with some ability to resist media messages

Examples:

• Scapegoating people from BAME or powerless groups- e.g hall policing the crisis

• GUMG -54% journalists privately educated 

• GUMG/Phlio- coverage of the mines strikes

Eval:

• Audiences are not passive+ do reject the dominant ideology 

• Journalists do challenge the dominant ideology by critising the ruling class e.g partygate, Epstein, mandelson

• Not all journalists + media owners believ in the dominant ideology 

Uses and gratification model Bumer and McQuail

Uses and gratification model- Active- Bumer and McQuail

The media performs a vital function in meeting the needs of the audience. Audience select what media they consume depending on their interests and desires. Blumer and McQuil- the 5 main functions the media performs for individual audience 1. Diversion 2. Personal realtionships 3. Personal identity 4. Surveillance 5. Background wallpaper

Active- as the audience selects what media they consume depending on their interests + desires. Media performs a vital function in meeting the needs of the audience 

Example:

Diversion- social media content we are interest in

Personal relationships- social media, online dating

Personal identity- Social media groups 

Survelliance- 24hr news cycle 

Eval:

• Media often performs more than one role at a time

• Entertainment programmes are often intended to influence values and opinions

Selective filter model Klapper

Selective filter model- Active- Klapper 

Klapper agrees with Katz and Lazarsfield that audiences have a degree of choice about how the media they consume affects them. 

1. Selective exposure- the audience chooses whether or not to consume the media in the first place

2. Selctive perception- audience may choose to reject the messages presented in the media

3. Selective retention- audience may forget the message- not memorable 

Active- The media is passed through 3 filters before it affects the audience- 1.selective exposure,2, selective perception, 3. Selective retention 

Example:

Representation of the royal wedding 2018 in the media was partly designed to make people feel more patriotic and deflect from difficulties elsewhere in society it was a children’s party so missed it all

Eval:

• The principle of marketing and advertising is to get past these filters- to influence the audience to buy something\

• Advertisers use various methods to make these messages memorable