Active Audience

Stuart Hall - Encoding and Decoding

Hall argued that when texts are made then are encoded with a message by the institution that suit the social, economical and political society they are made in.

He said that when a text is received by an audience it is then decoded and the message can be interpreted in three different ways:

Negotiated reading - the audience may agree with some parts of the text and disagree with others (Active)

Oppositional reading - audience member find themselves in conflict with the text and disagrees (Active)

Uses and Gratification Theory

Blumer and Katz theorised that audiences are active and that actually the audience uses the text, rather than the text using the audience.

The audience seeks out pleasure from the text so choose to consume it

eg. Watching a comedy to laugh

Pleasures and Gratifications can include:

• Escapism
• Diversion
• Information
• Counter cultural experience
• Comparing
• Sexual stimulation