Media Audiences and Audience Theory Flashcards
ABC1 Demographic
also known as ‘white collar workers’, this audience have middle-class job roles. This demographic group are often targeted by media producers because they attract big advertising revenues
ABC Figures
Audit Bureau of Circulations Features
responsible for measuring the reach of different media across a range of platforms
Aberrant Reading
a reading or product which does not recognise the preferred meaning but produces instead a deviant or unanticipated reading
Active Audience
the theory that media audiences do not just consume a test passively, they actively engage with it because of personal and social contexts
Active Viewers
viewers who are engaged, paying attention and emotionally responding
Aspirer
look at how others view them and try products for visual looks, want to be different
Attentional Effects
Bandura argues that the media is more likely to produce modelled behaviour than our real world encounters because media products command our undivided attention while we watch them
Audience
all people who consume a media product by watching, listening or reading it
Audience Connectivity
using digital media to connect audiences and producers
Audience Immersion
audience immersion occurs when a media product completely absorbs the attention of its audience. Escapist narratives tend to produce this effect
Audience Nostalgia
occurs when products make reference to ideas or things that prompt audience to think of their past: a powerful narrative strategy that quickly engages audience interest, especially that of older audiences
Audience Positioning
each media text that is constructed to position its intended audience in a particular place and to respond to a certain way about it
Audience-Producer Convergence Theory
theory by Henry Jenkins that states that the internet facilitates on exponential explosion of textual poaching as well as convergence of audience-producer relations meaning producers are not reliant on conventions and physical distribution of far output as the internet allows for peer-to-peer networking and for fan networks to be created in real time
Audience Relatability
describes the level of empathy or connection that an audience feels for a character or narrative situation. Media producers use relatability to connect products with the values of their target audience
Audience Surrogate
a character in a text that stands in for the audience, who may think and act as the audience might in the same situation
Bandura’s Social Learning Theory
suggests that people copy what they see, either in real life or in the media, first suggested by Bandura in 1963 when he repeated his famous Bobo Doll experiment two years after he originally did it, this time showing the children videos of either a person attacking a Bobo doll or a person dressed as a cat attacking a Bobo doll, and he found exactly the same results as his original experiment
BARB
Broadcaster’s Audience Research Board
the organisation that measures and collects television viewing data in the UK
Bardic Function
an analysis of television and its role as ‘Bard’ within society today
Binge Watching
when multiple episodes of a TV programme are watched in succession
Blog
a short term for weblog
Blogger
a person who engages in blogging by updating and adding content to a blog
Broadcast Media
media such as television
Bulmer and Katz
the people who developed the Uses and Gratifications Theory
C2DE Demographic
also known as ‘blue collar workers’, this audience group have working class jobs. Because this demographic group earn less, media products aimed at C2DEs attract limited advertising revenues
Call to Action
an instruction aimed at the audience with the hope to provoke an immediate response, can take the form of ‘subscribe now’, often used in advertising and marketing
Cinematography
the art of photography and camerawork in film-making
Clay Shirky
developed the End of Audience Theory, which suggests that audiences are no longer consumers, but are prosumers, theorised that by placing mass communication tools in the hands of the audiences, media production would be democratised so that ordinary people can organise and communicate widescale social change
Cognitive Surplus
how technology makes consumers into collaborators
Collective Identity
the shared sense of belonging in a group
Communications Media
media such as telephones or the internet
Confirmation Bias
occurs when audiences search for media that confirms their pre-held beliefs. Left-wing readers, for example, might choose to read a left-leaning newspaper to confirm their viewpoint and beliefs
Consumable Product
products that we use regularly that need to be replaced; some audience are loyal to a particular brand, whereas, others may be persuaded to change
Consumer
a person who takes in information or entertainment from media
Consumption
the diet of information and entertainment that is taken in by a group or individual
Context
the time, place and mindset of the audience are all features of context that affect how a media text is read
Convergence
where various media producers come together to produce the same message or product
Convergence of Communications and Broadcast Media
describes the way that telephones and social media can now produce media content
Cultivation Differential
a reflection of how heavy TV viewers either overestimate or underestimate a phenomenon because of what is reflected on TV when compared with light TV viewers
Cultivation Theory/Desensitisation Theory
states that people who watch large amounts of television become desensitised and less susceptible to the bad things in the world
Cultural Capital
refers to the behaviours/knowledge that allows individuals to belong to a social class. Consumption of media products can provide knowledge of these behaviours or can be used to signal class membership
Curran and Seaton
wrote the paper Power Without Responsibility, which argued that the internet is dominated by an oligopoly of commercial companies which minimises potential effects or participatory culture so producers still rely on traditional methods to market and reduce product risk
Cyber Dystopian
people who view the internet as having a negative impact on society
Cyber Utopianism
people who view the internet as having a positive impact on society
Death of an Author
a 1968 paper by Roland Barthes which suggested that while an author can attempt to encode certain messages in their texts, they have very little power over how an audience decodes a text
Democratisation Effects
Jenkins argues that democratisation can challenge official information sources. Citizen journalism, for example, can provide alternative views to those produced by traditional news outlets
Demographic Profile
a way of categorising audiences based on factors such as class, income and occupation
Demographics
the characteristics and make-up of a sample of the population, such as age, gender or nationality
Depoliticalisation
where media is softened and made as middle-of-the-road as possible to attract viewers
Desensitisation
a psychological process which suggests that audiences who are regularly exposed to acts of violence through media are increasingly less likely to feel empathy or concern when exposed to violence, bad language or other forms of aggressive behaviour
Digital Era
the current era, where things are done by computers and large amounts of information are available because of computer technology
Digital Native
a person who is brought up with digital technology from a young age
Digital Revolution
the shift from mechanical and analogue technologies to digital technologies
Direct Effect
where producers encode messages and audiences decode them as expected
Early Adopters
a type of audience who eagerly embrace technological change or new ideas. Early adopters buy emerging technologies long before any other groups
Economic Determinist
a theory in political economy which looks for economic conditions as the basis to explain social and cultural differences in society
Emerging Media
the communication that occurs through digital technology and new platforms with interactive elements, for example, podcasts and social media
Enculturation
how we learn the requirements of our surrounding culture through experience and observation, a process that Gerbner argues the media contributes to
End of Audience Theory
developed by Carl Shirky, suggests that audiences are no longer consumers, but are prosumers
Erotic Fanfiction
has led to the perception that fan fiction is seedy or marginal, is often written by heterosexual women who are frustrated with hypermasculine tropes in mainstream media, thus bringing awareness to minority groups such as the LGBTQIAP+ community, therefore countering the commercial imperative to maintain a heterosexual norm
Escapism
an audience gratification that occurs when audiences consume media that provides them with a distraction from their everyday life
Every Day Communities of Practice
where people overcome physical barriers and assemble in the digital world in the way they have always wanted in a self-policing environment driven by non-profit motives that are capable of creating social change, are resilient when threatened but can promote socially undesirable subjects
Evolution of Power Theory
developed by Clay Shirkey, this states that in the 20th century, power lay in the hands of the few wealthy people who could overcome large production costs, whereas in the 21st century, power lies with the many as production and publication cost are minimal with no risks
Explorer
need for change and discovery, want to be different
Fan Appropriation Theory
developed by Henry Jenkins, theorising that fan fiction plugs the gap between the needs of the audience and the commercially safe output of producers
Fandom
online communities that cross countries and can start movements, vent anger when beloved characters are killed off or call out issues in the media texts
Fan Fiction Theory
reflects the audience’s fascination with a product and the fans’ frustration with the producer’s refusal or inability to producer the material that fans want to see
Construct/Refocalisation
stories that reposition minor or secondary characters
