Media Theories and Audience Engagement

Curran and Seaton

Oligopolies dominate media industries and therefore the concentration of media ownership is becoming smaller.

Curran and Seaton

The range of stories created and represented is narrowed.

Hesmondhalgh

Passive consumption: streaming platforms encourage a functional rather than meaningful aesthetic music experience.

Turkle

Our relationship with technology is an extension of ourselves.

Turkle

We have developed intimate relationships with technology.

Cultivation theory

Audiences are heavily influenced by media, especially passive audiences.

Cultivation theory

Audiences begin to perceive the world in the ways that the media they consume presents over repeated exposure.

Cultivation theory

The messages presented in the media become the reality for the consumer even if it is in fact different from reality.

Cultivation theory

Desensitization.

Jenkins

Active audiences have an impact on the media.

Jenkins

Argues that the modern media sphere offers many opportunities for individual audiences-not just institutions-to participate in the creation.

Jenkins

Fandom - audiences express their fandom by consuming media created by media institutions and then developing their own culture.

Jenkins

New media texts are created.

Two step flow theory

The audience now believes, accepts and uses the information received from the media with the ideas and thoughts expressed by opinion leaders.

Two step flow theory

Indirect consumption of media.

Shirky

Audiences are now active consumers of media.

Shirky

Active consumers due to → internet and modern tech.

Shirky

Audiences expect to interact with media.

Shirky

When they can't interact → consumption decreases.

Shirky

Audiences want to interact 'speaking back' and feel part of the production or at least marketing process.

Reception theory

That media producers and audiences work together during the consumption of media.

Reception theory

Dominant reader: Accept the intended message & agree.

Reception theory

Negotiated reader: Accept the intended message but not fully agree.

Reception theory

Oppositional reader: Reject the intended message & do not agree.

Hall

Media audiences are active consumers that often view media through the lens of their own experiences and social context.

Hall

Media creators → encode a media text.

Hall

Audiences → decode the message.

Hall

The decoding process is always affected by social contexts. Creators know this and create media with an understanding of their audience.

Hall

Knowledge of target audience when creating a media text.