Audience theory

In recent years, the violent nature of various video games have been at the front
of blame for various violent attacks throughout the 21 st century. Multimillion-
dollar videogame corporations such as Call of Duty have been at the forefront of
the blame from encouraging gun violence and thus resulting in people
replicating the actions of the video game into real life.
In this modern era the consumption on 18 plus video games orders for more
adult themes in the specific genre, which it is in, such as action open world
games such as GTA, will order for more violence in the game. This can be
achieved through things such as gun violence, gore and the ability to kill
innocent civilians. The 18-age rating can also be achieved through various other
ways such as the horror value of the game, and sexual content.
These 18 rated values can have an effect on people when it exposed too much,
this can could potentially affect people mental health by influencing them into
violent states of mind and a mind which has taken in the adult themes into their
real life. Every year we see stories in the media of people being supposedly
influenced by one of these violent video games committing acts of terror.
A preffered reading in which the producers of the media have ther content
procieved in the way that they want it to be. For example the GTA producers
would want their audience to understand that the game is intended to be
senslessly violent.
A negotiated reading is a when the audience who are using the media know and
accept what is intened for them to feel, however they will change some of the
initial intentions in order to fit with how they want to procieve the media.
An oppsitional reading is when the audience coompletely reject the media`s
preffered context of reading and instead percieve and interpret the media in
their own different way.
A participartory audiecne reseponce is a response in which the audience react
the media in a way which is neither completely objective or subjective, instead
somewhere inbertween, so they are slightly influenced whilst still having their
own ideas.
Fan culture response form the audinece in which the media is interpested very
well to the point of the audinec creating their own media to add onto what the y
have already seen, just because they enjoyed it so much. For example Star Wars
fans creating add on magazines
The first audience theory is the hyperdermic needle theory, this is the
communications theory in which it is suggested that the media which is being
shown to the audience is completely acceopted by the audience, thus
influenceing their opionions. This theory also suggests that the media being
shown has an immidieiate effect on the audience, influencing their thoughts and
opinions. The main form of media this theory can be applied to is advertisment
the producers of the advertisement will try to expose the audeinced
sesepterbility to being influenced by media. The hyperdermix needle theory can
also be attributed a great amount to propaganda, the best example of this is inw
WW2 when Hitler completely took over all forms of media in order to influence
the population to follow his ideals and beliefs. The same sort of idea can be
applied to childrens TV, as found by the Payne fund studies, which looked into
how motion pictures influenced childrens young minds. The hyperdermic needle
theory also suggests that the media shoots people with ideas that trigger a
desired response. A lot of the audience are also seen as passive so when a lot of
the same media is shot at them and they have nothing else to wacth, they
have to believe what they are wacthing.
The next theory is the uses and gratifications theory , this is a theory in which in
which it tries to understand why people search for specific types of media that fit
in with their own ideas and specific needs. This theory is trying to understand a
mass communiciation between audiecne and media. This theory puts more focus
on its audience rather than focusing on the actual media and the messages that I
sent with it. The theory looks at it from the perspective of What do people do
with media instead of What does media do with people The uses and
gratifications theory puts more trust into the consumers by seeing the audience
as active instead of being passive. This means that the audience play their own
active role by interpreting different forms of media in their own individual way,
resulting in a broad range of ideas and beliefs in society. This theory also
explains that people will search for specific types of media to fullfill their own
gratifications. These gratifications can be fullfilled in various aspects, these
being; educate, identity, social interaction and entertain.Music is a very strong
form of media that supports this theory as people choose the music they listen to
based on various apsects of their own identity such as mood, social
empowerment etc. This theory goes in direct conflict with the hyperdermic
needle theory as that theory suggests that people are completely influenced by
the media, where as the uses and gratifications theory says that people can
influence themselves and take an active role amongst all the media influences.
The third theory to look at is the reception study, this is a type of reader
response literary theory in which it exagerated each singular persons reading
and interpretation by creating a meaning from literal text.
The final theory to look at is the passive or active consumption theory. A passive
consupmtion in this theory would be when the audinece completely doesnt
challenge any of the ideas in the media and instead just accept the media as
truth without any further research or questioning into what is being said. An
active consumption would be the oppisite to this, so the audience would actively
challenge and question what is being shown and said in the media before making
a final judgement whether this be accepting or rejecting the media. This theory is
heavily linked with hyperdermic needle theory.