Timed Essay 6

Evaluate the effectiveness of the following theories in understanding how cultural and historical circumstances can affect audience interpretations of news stories: Hall’s reception theory and Bandura’s media effects theory

In this essay I am going to evaluate the effectiveness of media theories in understanding how cultural and historical circumstances can affect audience interpretations of news stories

The media effects theory suggests that an audience is passive and that they will instantly accept the reading that is presented to them in the piece of media they are consuming. It assumes that everyone is the same and that we all have the same opinions. A passive audience will not seek out newspapers that reaffirm their views. This theory is impractical and outdated.

This links to Gerbner’s cultivation theory which suggests that the audience will slowly take on the reading presented to them if they consistently consume a piece of media. Again, this theory’s downfall is that it assumes we are all the same and that the audience will all have the same opinion, which is false however this has more credibility than the media effects theory. For example, if someone reads the Daily Mail, they will begin to take on those views over time.

Identity theory is more effective in understanding the question as this suggests that nobody is the exact same and that the audience are more likely to seek out texts that help to reaffirm their identity and find texts that they understand and relate to but the everything else around them also helps to shape their identity. A person’s identity can come from places such as their upbringing, environment, gender, class, age, sexuality, religion or ethnicity. The media also has the power to influence us and can help to shape our identity through what we consume. For example, newspapers can influence their audience through the political views they promote, meaning either the audience will gravitate towards reading that newspaper, or the newspaper will influence the audience to follow their views. However, opinions can change over time due to a change in identity, as you will not stay the same age forever and the environment around you might change, causing a change in opinions. Identity is a fluid construct, meaning it is constantly changing and can be hard to pin down.

This connects to reception theory as everyone has a different reading of a text due to our identities all being different to one another. Hall’s reception theory states that an audience will take on 3 readings when presented with a media text: preferred, negotiated and oppositional. A passive audience usually take on the preferred reading of a text whilst an active audience are more likely to challenge this and choose the negotiated or oppositional reading. Audiences are likely to seek out texts that reaffirm their views. With newspapers, someone who supports labour won’t read the Daily Mail and someone who supports the Conservatives wouldn’t read the Guardian because they would take an oppositional reading to it.

In conclusion, audiences cannot all be grouped into one category, like the media effects and cultivation theory suggest. Audiences are active and due to their identity, seek out texts that they will identify with and take a preferred reading to.