LO6 Media effects - negative effects and active audience theory (Homework)

‘The media effects debate is an outward concept’. Discuss the statement in relation to a media product you have studied. Use examples to support your answer. (20 marks)

 

The active audience theory is where the audience engages, interprets and responds to different types of media in different ways and ha the opportunity to challenge the ideas shown in a media product. However, a passive audience is more likely to accept the messages in a media product without challenging what the media is trying to say and the audience is more likely to accept the message in the product. I will be talking about different type of media such as games, social media and tv shows; and discussing if they have. Positive or negative impact on the people using the different types of media.

For example an active audience theory which was found by Stuart Hall, 1980, was the encoding/decoding theory. This is where the audiences have different different readings based on their upbringings, culture, political standpoints. There are three different points which and audience can go down about a certain media products. One of the paths is the preferred reading, this is where an audience accepts the dominant viewpoint of the story (dominant ideology - values and beliefs). Another path which the audience can go down is the negotiated reading. This is where the ideology message is agreed by the audience, however, the message is picked apart and negotiated by the audience and they could potentially disagree. The final pathway is the oppositional reading, the message is understood, but the audience disagree with the the ideological perspective. An example of encoding/decoding is the front cover of The Sun newspaper, which says, ‘Muslims covert beheads woman in garden’. The preferred meaning of this would be that the music religion comes across dangerous, to a certain percentage of the audience. An oppositional reading of this statement is that Muslims would feel offended by the title, as the newspapers are portraying that Muslims are a danger to the community. However, a negotiated reading, by the audience, would be that people believe that Muslims shouldn’t be portrayed in that way, and it is only a small minority, which become dangerous. The encoding/decoding theory clearly shows that their are different types of audiences And that some people will be offend in different ways , whether it is directly aimed at them or not.

Another positive example of an active audience theory is the uses and gratification theory. This is where people use the media for their own purposes and they are able to recognise fantasy vs reality. The four different ways that people use the media for are escapism, surveillance, building personal relationships and building personal identities. An example of escapism would be using YouTube, this would allow personnel to forget about the real world and relax and watch something which they enjoy. BBC News would be an example of surveillance because it allows the audience to get information about what is going on in the world and then the audience would manage how the news would effect them. To build a relationship some people use social media apps such as Snapchat, this app allows people to send photo of themselves and what they are doing to other people, which helps them build up different types of relationships. A media which could be used to build a personal identity is Instagram. This allows you to create a feed of different things you get up to, whilst taking different pictures of yourself and your lifestyle. In order to show your friends and family about you as a personal. 

The final positive active audience theory which i will be talking about the fandom theory by Henry Jenkins, 2012. This is the theory where the audiences have developed relationships with the media products to the extent they add to the earning of the product through an immersive relationship. The fandom refers to a particularly organised and motivated audience of a certain media franchise. For example, if someone watched a tv show such as Towie , they may then build a relationship with one of the people featured in the show and start to feel emotion for that person e.g if someone was crying, then that person would feel empathetic towards them, as they my know what they are feeling.

A passive audience theory which also has a negative effect on an audience was by Gross and Gerbner, 1976, is the cultivation theory. The cultivation theory is when the audience see repetitive viewing of violent images and the audience may become immune towards negative and/or violent representations. An example of this could be, if someone  keeps seeing the ideal looking lady all over instagram and they all have a certain ‘hourglass’ look, such as celebrities, then it will make them believe that that it the way they have to look in order to be pretty or successful. This then could lead them to make rash decisions  such as different drug, filler and plastic surgery to make them feel and look go for the public eye.  https://www.cheatsheet.com/health-fitness/photos-of-real-people-extreme-plastic-surgery-like-a-celebrity.html/. 

Another negative passive audience theory is the hypodermic syringe theory by Adorno and Horkheimer in 1947. This is the theory that the media has a negative impact on their audience. Mass audience believe that everything that they see/hear as part of the ‘culture industry’. The film Joker is an example of this. When the film first came out, when an audience really enjoyed the character is a film and liked his behaviour, sometimes people would pretend to be the character and dress up and act like him as if they was in the film which can cause harm to everyone around them. https://time.com/5684823/joker-movie-controversy/

The final negative passive theory which i am going to write about is the desensitisation theory, this the idea that prolonged exposure to violent images numbs the effect on them. The more you become accustomed to violent images, the less likely they are to have impact on the audience. For example, https://games.slashdot.org/story/09/01/14/0055214/halo-3-criticized-in-murder-conviction. This was a boy who killed his mother and shot his father because his parents decided to take the game Halo 3 away from him, which happened due to the violence of the game which he was playing. 

Overall, I believe that the media has a negative effect on some of their audience. However, i also think it could have a positive impact, but people will always look at the worst in a situation rather than the positive. A positive of the media could be on instagram. By using instagram people can like and comment on the photos which you have posted. When people do this it can boost confidence and make people feel good about themselves as well as making people feel important to different people in their lives. But, in conclusion i think the media is a negative place as things such as murders etc is a serious thing which will risk other peoples lives.