Blog 4: Media Use and Audience Responses

There are three main theories in regards to media use and audiences responses.  Two of those, I will be covering.  The first is Uses and Gratification Theory which shifts the focus of direct effects of media onto the receivers.  Instead of the audience being injected, so to speak, with a particular idea, like the Hypodermic Needle Theory, Uses and Gratification assumes an active audience and questions media's impact on the people's motivation.  Because motivation is the driving force, U and G proposes that audiences are selective about their media choices.  The way one is motivated is through achieving goals, such as learning, passing time, companionship, escapism, or relaxation.  These goals are categorized as either ritualized - using media as a diversion and, thus, habitual - or instrumental - using media to require information and, thus, non-habitual.  However, overlap can occur, such as a stock broker who habitually watches the news to detect market trends based on political unrest.

The other type of of media use theory is called Active Audience.  Active Audience challenges the idea that people are indoctrinated by media without realizing they are being dominated.  Furthermore, it assumes two things: the concept of agency, meaning the power lies in thee people and they are not easy to dominate and media cannot tell the people what to think or how to behave in any direct way, and autonomy, meaning our belief in the intelligence and autonomy of people.  Essentially, the theory also contrasts the Hypodermic Needle Theory because it assumes the audience is active and thinks for itself.

Both of these theories are similar because they contend the audience has free will and can choose how it will behave.  However, it must be remembered that each individual in the audience has grown up with a different set of experiences and, therefore, will interpret the intended media message in a different way.  Do you think there are any universal experiences that everyone has had that media producers can try to influence?  Or is it impossible to have a message come across the same way to all people?