Audience Decoding

Theodor Adorno – argued that the power of the mass media over the population was enormous and damaging (the hypodermic model).

Adorno was a member of the Frankfurt School of German academics working in the 1920s and 1930s.  Their hostility to the mass media was probably influenced by Hitler’s use of propaganda.

Adorno describes the mass media as the ‘culture industry’ to emphasise the purpose of the media is to make a profit.   Adorno argued that all products of the culture industry are ‘exactly the same’ in the sense that they all reflect the values of the established system.  Each product may give the impression of being individual, but this is an illusion.   The purpose of popular culture products is to maintain the established social order.  

Blumler and Katz - Uses and Gratifications Model

This approach focuses on why people use particular media rather than on content. In contrast to the concern of the 'media effects' tradition with 'what media do to people' (which assumes a homogeneous mass audience and a 'hypodermic' view of media), U & G can be seen as part of a broader trend amongst media researchers which is more concerned with 'what people do with media', allowing for a variety of responses and interpretations.

Surveillance/Information

• finding out about relevant events and conditions in immediate surroundings, society and the world
• seeking advice on practical matters or opinion and decision choices
• satisfying curiosity and general interest
• learning; self-education
• gaining a sense of security through knowledge

Personal Identity

• finding reinforcement for personal values
• finding models of behaviour
• identifying with valued other (in the media)
• gaining insight into one's self

Personal Relationships/Integration and Social Interaction

• gaining insight into circumstances of others; social empathy
• identifying with others and gaining a sense of belonging
• finding a basis for conversation and social interaction
• having a substitute for real-life companionship
• helping to carry out social roles
• enabling one to connect with family, friends and society

Diversion/Entertainment

• escaping, or being diverted, from problems
• relaxing
• getting intrinsic cultural or aesthetic enjoyment
• filling time
• emotional release

Stuart Hall – Encoding/Decoding

Hall argues that the ‘preferred reading’ (the meaning the producers want to create) is encoded in media texts through technological codes and conventions.  However audiences decode media texts in different ways.  

Hall identified three possible responses from the audience:

• dominant – the reader shares the text’s code and accepts its preferred reading
• negotiated – understands the text’s code, generally accepts the preferred reading but modifies it according to their social position and experiences
• oppositional – understands the code but rejects the preferred reading.  The audience member will be reading the text from an oppositional position (e.g. a feminist reading).