Audience Effects Theory

A passive audience is the idea that audiences consume information from the media passively and that everybody is affected the same way from it. It means that they do not become involved in the media text, and that they accept the meaning it gives out rather than coming up with their own opinions or interpretations based on it.

An active audience is the more largely supported view that audiences interact and develop their own feelings or understandings and make their own opinions based on the media that they take in, rather than getting fed information passively. It means that they engage with it more and respond to the media text in different ways, that they are capable of making their own interpretations of it and that they involve themselves within the media piece that they consume.

The hypodermic needle theory is the idea that audiences always react to media texts passively and take in the message that the producers intended on giving out as if it were physically injected into their minds. Audiences like these have little to none individual differences within them, as they all believe in the same thing and share the same opinion.

Write down a media product (e.g. TV show, newspaper or video game) for each category of Blumler and Katz's Uses and Gratifications theory and WHY it fits that particular audience use/gratification. The first one is done for you:

INFORMATION/SURVEILLANCE: The Times Newspaper

⇛ Why: It tells audiences important information about politics, the world and more. It provides information about events happening around the whole world, which expands their knowledge on things going on outside their specific area.

PERSONAL IDENTITY: Gilmore Girls

⇛ Why: Some may relate to this media piece as a lot of it portrays feelings such as academic validation and revolves around high school/university, while also holding onto friendships and maintaining relationships. This part of it is particularly targeted at teenagers or anyone going through exam stress or having trouble balancing their own lives with their social lives. It is also targeted at older people going through work stress or having a dream of opening their own business, both of which are main points portrayed consistently throughout the show.

DIVERSION/ENTERTAINMENT: Avengers: Endgame

⇛ Why: The story-line is hugely compelling and causes the audience to become immersed within the media piece, as if they were escaping from their own world. It carries a feeling of tension and uneasiness throughout, which captivates the audience and makes them respond in different ways, laughing at times and then sitting at the edge of their seat with the suspense; out of fear for the outcome of the characters.

RELATIONSHIPS: Spider-Man: No Way Home

⇛ Why: The protagonist of this movie is a teenage boy who struggles with keeping his normal life separate from his hero life. However, his identity is then revealed to the entire world and he eventually ends up losing everything and everyone he loves all at the age of 17. This causes the audience to sympathise and care for this character, especially as he is young and is still a teenager, making them grow attached to him and grow to love the people around him - especially as they watch his journey and see his life gradually fall apart over the course of the six movies that he appears in.

Blue Planet:

The Blue Planet clip offers people with information/surveillance (a large amount of information that they may not have known before), about the wildlife and the things that reside in it; this video specifically being focused on the ocean and what lies beneath it. Many people do not know much about the ocean and the animals inside it, especially as less than 10% of it has even been explored by humans. However, Blue Planet gives audiences knowledge on a range of different species that are known to humans and shows the way they live and survive, which helps the audience understand and provides more knowledge for them on what goes on offshore. It can also be seen as a source of diversion/entertainment as well, as it can captivate the audience by seeing clips of the way other species of animals live, most of which are never seen with the human eye. This entertains audiences as they have the opportunity to see the world from a different point of view. This also links to voyeuristic pleasure, as the camera that films these animals is hidden away and kept there for a long time, in order to obtain a good quality clip. This captures the true essence of documentary making and the outside world, as every single scene shown within Blue Planet is genuine and it creates a sense of realism; which attracts the audience to watch it even more and influences their own knowledge on the world and all the things inside it.