UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE - TASK 1 THE AUDIENCE The audience - - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

UNDERSTANDING THE AUDIENCE - TASK 1

Miguela Xuereb

THE AUDIENCE

๏ The audience makes up the readers, listeners and

spectators of the media.

๏ If there is no audience, then there is no media. The

statistics of readers determines the incoming profit, as well as the amount of advertising received by the audience.

๏ The audience is constantly searching for great articles and

facts when they are searching for news.

THE HYPODERMIC NEEDLE THEORY & THE WAR OF THE WORLDS

๏ Also known as the Magic Bullet Theory, this had an explicit, immediate and strong effect on

its audiences. This was perceived as a powerful influence on behaviour change through the mass media in the 1940s.

๏ The hypodermic theory is a passive form of theory that suggests that the mass media could

directly influence a large amount of individuals by ‘injecting’ them with relevant information that triggers the audience to continue reading or listening.

๏ The mass of the audience is urged to think in a comparable way by the media. The media is

capable and strong when controlling the people who are vulnerable since the message by the media is constantly infused. The theory considers that there is no other source other than the media that compares its message.

๏ The theory also suggests that information from the media are powerful as well as influential,

meaning that somewhat the audience can’t resist what they are reading or listening.

THE WAR OF THE WORLDS - H.G. WELLS

๏ This radio drama was broadcasted in 1938 as a Halloween episode and news

bulletin, directed by Orson Welles.

๏ A large group from the audience understood the play as people from another planet

attacking a place in New Jersey and believed this broadcast was real. The message

• f this broadcast caused a mass panic to millions of people who believed there was

an ‘alien invasion’.

๏ Following the broadcast, there was a widespread of outrage expressed in the media.

The news-bulletin format was described as deceptive by public figures as well as magazines which resulted in an outcry against the perpetrators of the broadcast.

๏ Effects of this broadcast suggested that the mass media manipulates a passive

public, which lead theorists to believe that this was one of the fundamental ways the media shaped the perception of the audience.

STRENGTHS & WEAKNESSES OF THE HYPODERMIC THEORY

• Strengths:
• The use of statistics can be a persuasive and consistent way of seeing lately trends.
• The effect studies often associate a broad amount of accomplices which sometimes can extend
• ver a long period of time.
• Mass media can directly impact large group of individuals to do positive things that can benefit

themselves as well as others, example; mass news corporations set up a charity project.

• Weakness:
• The same way the hypodermic theory can influence a positive impact, this theory can also influence

a large number of people to impose a false perception on a mass audience. For example, some magazines promote weight loss articles that suggests the you should have a limited weight.

• In today’s world, the theory is not as applicable as it was in the 1940s & 50s. Now, there are many

media options with the growth of media outlets

THE TWO STEP MODEL

๏ Developed by Paul S. Lazarsfeld and later by Katz in the 1940s, the two-step model states that most people are not

immediately influenced by the mass media, but comparatively from opinions based on opinion leaders who depict media information and putting them into context.

๏ The two steps of this theory include;

• 1. Opinion leaders are given information from media sources
• 2. Then, opinion leaders pass on the information along with their clarification to other individuals.

๏ Those who are influenced by the opinion leaders generally look up on them and are not really informed by the media. ๏ The theory suggests that opinion leaders should pay attention to the mass media and follow the foot steps of their

interpretation of media information to others.

๏ Unlike the Hypodermic Needle theory, the two-step theory perpetuate that audiences are active accomplices in the

communication process. This also acknowledges that audiences consist of individuals who are part of a society who actively interpret media messages influenced by the people around them.

ALBERT ARNOLD GORE

๏ Al gore, an American politician and environmentalist is a great example of

an opinion leader.

๏ He was the main focus of a documentary known as ‘An inconvenient truth in

which followed his campaign of raising awareness regarding global

• warming. He concentrates on an issue and helps influence public opinion.

๏ On the ‘Climate project’, Al Gore attracted the assistance of approximately

1000 public speakers, in which Lazarsfeld would have called the the opinion leaders, to enroll and spread his message regarding global warming.

๏ The result of this campaign have reached an estimated audience of over a

million people.

STRENGTHS AND WEAKNESSES OF TWO-STEP THEORY

• Strengths:
• This theory focuses on flow of influence and stresses on the importance of opinion leaders in the

formation of public opinion

• Active participants of an audience are seen as part of the society in the communication process
• Weaknesses:
• When talking about the modern communication, there is likely to be more than two steps in the

flow of communication

• This theory is more complex
• The theory does not adequately define the flow of learning. Lazarsfeld was unable to determine

what is the specific flow of influence.

• There is a chance that opinion leaders are being paid to say certain information. This information

can be biased.

References

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resources/encyclopedia/audience [Accessed 11 Nov. 2017].