Q.Discuss how the mass media influence audiences

Introduction

For centuries the media has produced entertainment and education to the general public. This over the years has lead to a special relationship between the the media and the audience developing many theories on how audiences react. These theories further analyse this relationship by studying how it can be used for marketing purposes. To understand audiences they first have to discover who they are and where they come from to do this they use a process called demassification. Demassification is the process of separating sections of the mass media to fit specific target audiences which can be determined due to the different features such as basics such as their likes and dislikes. Once these audiences have been found they understood that society can control the media as due to new media such as the internet they now have a personal choice in what the audience wants to watch. This process is called narrow casting as now the audience has full control over what they watch and see whether this be flicking through TV channels or specifically choosing to watch a TV show online. This has caused audience fragmentation as they have separated from these larger target audiences into individuals. Although the use of old media such as newspapers are dying out they are still relevant in the modern age as it still exists and is used regularly. These sources over the years have created a power that allows them to dictate what is newsworthy. Together with new media they have also created a society that is being studied constantly due to audience theory. 

The Effects Model

A popular theory used to discuss the connection between the media and the public is the effects model also known as the Hyperdermic needle theory. The theory suggests that the media produces and injects ideas into a passive audience commonly known as couch potatoes. This can be refereed to the process of giving a medical patient a drug by injecting it straight into them. This leads to suggestions that people can become addicted easily as there is no need for the audiences to react as the theory suggests that they have to just receive the information to be entertained. The theory also raises the debate whether the transaction of information is just from the mass media or is the transaction a mass communication making both the parties active roles. This theory originates from The Frankfurt school in the 1950s it was founded by Adormo & Hankheumer and they suggested that the culture and media help persuade sales and the audience are likely to believe all that is said through mass media.This shows how the reaffirmation from media can plant an idea in an audiences head.

An example of how this theory works can be shown through an American event known as the 'panic broadcast'. This happened on October 30th, 1938 when a theater group known as the Mercury theater company broadcast a radio edition of the H.G Wells play 'War of the worlds'. The radio station used a realistic advertising technique as they played a news bulletin that stated martians had began an invasion of Earth in New Jersey. This broadcast was easily believed by listeners and sent panic into people causing them to start evacuating their homes even causing disruption in its path causing people to stop religious services and started many traffic jams. The broadcast was so widely believed that it placed the whole country in hysterics. It was believed that 12 million people in the US heard the broadcast and about one millions people believed it. This example shows how quick people are to react and believe the mass media. The theory worked by it reaching the main media listeners and creates a uniform thinking strategy. This shows how media can manipulate the public. There is a lack of modern research into the effects model as new media has influenced the control and realistically it can be used as it is seen that the audience now have a stronger control over what they watch. (1)

There are many faults with the effects model which theorists have determined with avid research. The first main fault is the research that constructs the theory, known widely as 'Pavlov's Dog' the theory states that people or in this case the dog can be conditioned into believing that anything their told is true or in the dogs case he believed that if a bell rang he would get food if a bell was rung. This conditioning convinces us that we are a passive audience. This research can not be fully trusted as human behavior is compared to that of a dogs and does not take into account the individual thinking patterns that humans have, It portraits us as passive suggesting that humans have no active thinking or choice to make decisions placing a misconception on the way that a human would react. Further research into the theory can be seen through the BoBo doll experiment. This research method showed a child's response to a violent video where a doll was beaten. This aggressive behavior was copied by the children when the doll was presented to them, this shows some truth of how a child could react once seeing something produced by the mass media. This research had one main fault as the children copied the reactions that their parents would have done. This shows that their culture and where they come from can also have a major influence on their actions. Overall, the research did not take into account a child's desire to please adults as they wanted which could possibly be the reason they acted aggressively towards the doll. This makes the experiment non-conclusive. This also relates to the way that mass media tends to target at women and children  known to be stereo typically the weaker audience maybe suggesting they would break easily to advertising. This has also changed in the modern age as women empowerment has taken place making them equal meaning that this theory is outdated.

Overall, the research backing the theory has many contradictory results placing the theory as untrue as it lacks a concrete backing. The theory all together produces the audience as inactive making them appear as passive receptors causing many issues some positive for people such as advertisers such as mindless shopping once seeing an advertisement but also some bad such as copying violent behavior. This is the main reason a censorship has been put in place but this is easily broken.

The Uses and Gratifications Theory

On the other end of the spectrum to the effects theory there is the uses and gratifications theory. Instead of the idea of the mass media holding full control of the media produced the audience decides what is created. Th main idea is that the audience makes active use of what the media offers. The audience will also set what is produced to for fill their needs. This means that the audience are active in the products produced leaving all the power with the consumers instead of the media To understand what needs to be produced they need to evaluate the uses and gratifications the public can receive from the media. The first and main need the media need to fill is surveillance this is the need to find out about significant events this means that program-mes such as The  BBC news and newspapers are created. An audience may also use media to create their own personal identity this allows people to create a sense of self this can either be through identifying with the media and possibly by connecting to role models. 

Together as an audience we all have our own relationships with the media this can mean people are watching, reading or listening to achieve many things. By creating a relationship with the media such as TV people are seen to be having an intimate relationship with the media creating  an emotional bond with certain sources for example soaps. This can be seen mostly through elderly people as they may not be able to see people on a daily basis they may need to connect and make friends with the character making them into realistic people. Another way of companionship for these elders may be social communication as media provides them with talking points as thousands watch the same show at the same time allowing people to spark a conversation with anyone at anytime. The most popular use of media is that of diversion and escapism. Media can be used as a temporary distraction from peoples life problems, this helps them but also allows media to easily create a believable world that people can fully submerge into most often used in si-fi shows. 

The relationship between media and audience varies from the effects model as instead on the theory that media is pure persuasion for its audience, the uses and gratifications theory believes it is that of reinforcement. This means that instead of believing something from first hearing it you need to be reminded again slowly over and over this can be seen mostly through adverts between TV shows as it is slow advertising a thought by reminding you every time you see it every time you watch  the show. This theory see its audience as 'active' participators on how the media is seen. It acknowledges that a person can make their own decisions this is dependent on the audience members mode of address this is the way in which the text is interpreted. This is also often based on a particular persons situation culture this is the how they are raised and their lifestyle including the like and dislikes. A media producer who believes this theory will take this into consideration whilst producing through creating their ideal target audience which is often done by creating one particular person. 

The biggest example of the uses and gratifications theory is the process is shown through new media particularly social media. As on this newly developed technology it allows the audience to directly express their views on everything showing how truly 'active' they are while media producers are creating media they can directly access their audience for their opinions. This places emphasis on the fact that the audiences is gaining control over the media. We can see connection clearer during shows such as The X factor as in these situations the audience have participation in the show not only seen through the voting system but also more recently through Twitter comments that are replayed throughout the show in their own segments. This creates a sense of community as you can sense a large gathering of people coming together to react to the show. This can also provide people a sense of belonging which is a gratification that media can produce. 

Although unlike the effects model the uses and gratifications theory acknowledges the audiences participation it still has its downfalls. As the theory takes into account people individual views it only takes into account their individual's gratifications this ignores that the audience is a mass of people so this may forget specific social context for example the environment of the media viewer. Although it shows that the audience is 'active' it does not acknowledge that media should be produced purely for the audience. This still allows the media the main control allowing them to withhold or share anything.(2)

The Reception Theory

The reception theory presents the argument that the text can not be interpreted containing one single meaning. This suggests that the media is interpreted based on an individuals cultural background and life experiences. This may explain how children in the previously mentioned BoBo doll experiment may have recited aggressive behavior as they may have been using their life experience to determine that they should follow similar acts to their elders or parents. The theories creater Stuart Hall suggests that it is based on the audiences and medias way of encoding and decoding sources. This means that a producer may encode or in basic terms create a product that can later be decoded by its audience. To decode a text an audience will consume and decide what they are going to take away from the text, this process is where a person will refer to their cultural background to make their decision. This does mean that produced text may have an adverse effect to the one desired by the media. An example of this may be within controversial advertising such as the Antonio Federici ice cream: Immaculany conceived campaign where two vicors are seen as in a relationship this would be decoded differently dependant on whether they come from a highly religious culture or not this is the boundaries that it is pushing that makes the advert controversial. An argument can be made to support the idea the campaign suggests or may set people completely against it.

To delve deeper into the thoughts of audiences the theorists for this theory will carry out ethnographic audience studies. This process is often known as focus groups it is when a gathering of varied people from all backgrounds are shown a piece of media and their reaction are recorded and from these records media producers can gather an even response. This places the audience in control and creates a more realistic response. In other theories reactions were recorded from individuals thoughts either from producers or just from assumptions of academics. These created false false responses as it did not take into consideration the world around its audiences. This theory does break down its audiences into three direct groups of readers this is dependent on the way that they would decode a text. This still takes into account the audiences background and culture but does allow the producers to section their target audiences. The three groups include :

• Dominant Readers: These are readers that broadly agree with what the media is trying to state. This group is the most like the audiences seen in the effects model as they do agree when shown facts but they do also take into their culture first. 
• Oppositional Readers: This is a reader that understands that the media is pushing a certain idea but also rejects it for their own reasons. This maybe either because  of their ideology, their cultural background or their political beliefs. Mainly they deny the media the ability to place or push an idea upon them.
• Negotiated Readers: This reader take into consideration what the media producers preferred message is and accepts it but will also try to resist it. To bring together their split they will modify the message in a way that suits them whether this is to fit round their experiences or their belief system. 

Reception theory overall takes into consideration an ' active' audience and how their reactions controls the media. It understands that the audience will not completely agree nor disagree. They instead negotiate their own choices depending on the world around them depending on their characteristics and culture. This theory does not deny that advertiser can simply produce a believable idea for an audience but it does state that audiences do not have a singular opinion and have their own ideas.

Conclusion

In the modern age these theories have altered as audiences have become active in the light of new media such as social networking sites. This has also altered the producers methods of creating media as slowly broadsheets and TV news is being replaced by news websites, changing the way producers think of the audience as unlike before they can answer back giving a true picture of the audiences reaction. This has changed the control of the media placing it within the audiences hands as now they can have the final say. This does effect these now outdated theories as the outcome they can have has now changed. In the case of the effects model the audience can now display the fact that it is now a mass mind but does allow people to be surrounded by new media completely emerging them in and pushing ideas from the media easily. The emerging experience can produce as audience that is susceptible to believing what the media states proving that an audience can believe what it is told. Although this idea doe have its faults such as the way people can escape from these ideas now and now can have their individual thought displayed. The theory overall is outdated but still is a possibility even with the growth of 'active' audiences as they are still overpowered by media even in the new age.

The uses and gratifications theory is more accepting of new media as it suggests that the audience is 'active' and uses media for their own purposes this still fits within the creation of new media. As they now can fill gratifications within the new media such as the need for social interaction which now can be met through the specially designed media social media for example Facebook and Twitter. The theory more then ever allows producers to directly see the audience reactions allowing them to create the correct media to suit their needs. This again is seen within the reception theory as the power is now within the audiences hands instead of the producers, both of these theories accept that. This shows that having an 'active' audience has now become beneficial for the media as now they can produce what they know will be successful and popular with its audiences. Overall, the mass media now have less control over the audience but still by reputation still have an influence over its audience.