As stated by Barker, “the active audience tradition suggests that audiences are not cultural dopes but are active producers of meaning from within their own cultural context” (Barker, 2004, p. 325).
The implication here is that the meanings audiences decode from texts are influenced by things such as their beliefs, culture and interests. One of the key aspects of the active audience paradigm is that it views television audiences as individuals instead of simply a mass of people, and therefore each consumer is able to create their own interpretation of what they are viewing.
Barker contends that “watching television is a socially and culturally informed activity” through which individuals construct meaning behind what they are viewing (2003, p. 325).
As each viewer is treated individually, it is possible that a whole host of meanings are taken from what audiences are watching. As Morley explains, the polysemic nature of media content is one of the key assumptions of the active audience paradigm (2005, p. 17).
However, the nature of these meanings are to influence and as such “audiences need to be understood in the contexts in which they watch television” (Barker, 2003, p. 326).
For example, a white American male watching a documentary about WWII will draw a different set of conclusions about what he just witnessed when compared to a female German who lived during the war. The exploration of how people interpret what they see on television is aided by two key communicative theories; the encoding-decoding model and hermeneutics. The active audience theory is itself influenced by other communicative theories. As stated by Barker, it has been “theoretically informed by the encoding-decoding model of communication and by hermeneutic theory” (2004, p. 1).
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As the name implies, the encoding-decoding model involves the xploration of the message producers of content want their viewers (encoding) to take away and the message viewers actually take away (decoding).
Barker argues that if producers and audiences share cultural and societal similarities “they will decode messages within the same framework” (2003, p. 327).
However if the audience spans across various classes and gender the notion of polysemic messages comes into being, as audiences are more likely to be culturally dissimilar to the producers of television content and therefore more open to interpreting what they see in a different way to what the producers intended.
It can therefore be said that the encoding-decoding theory is intrinsically linked to the polysemic nature of media content. Hermeneutic theory is another communicative concept that is directly related to the active audience paradigm. It offers yet additional challenge to the idea that there is “one textual meaning associated with authorial intent” (Barker, 2003, p. 327).
However, instead of focusing on the cultural similarities and differences between producers and audiences, hermeneutics emphasises the changing nature of a viewer’s interpretation of media texts during the course of reading.
For example, a ‘reader’ of television may have expectations before watching a show, with these expectations shifting as they watch they program, causing them to decipher new meanings from it. Hermeneutics demonstrates that while texts may attempt to guide the reader to reach certain conclusions “it cannot fix meanings,” as the reader will be influenced by how they interact with the text in creating their own meaning (Barker, 2003, p. 328).
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Active audience theory does not just relate to the interpretation of media texts, however, it can also be used to better understand why people watch television in the first place.
The investigation into the reasons behind audiences’ decision to watch television is another central concept of active audience theory. The work of Cooper and Tang is particularly useful when exploring this aspect of the paradigm. They investigate several schools of thought related to television viewing, using what they call the “uses and gratifications approach” to demonstrate that television audiences can be “active and goal-directed when consuming media” while also giving credence to the view that this view ignores the fact television exposure “is not completely free of constraints” (2009, p. 01).
The latter view is particularly important when exploring the active audience paradigm as it acknowledges the role structural factors, such as the audience’s ability to access television or their willingness to pay for premium content, have on people’s consumption of media. However, there are times when audiences will actively seek out certain shows, with Ien Ang’s study of the viewers of Dallas demonstrating this. She contends that viewers of Dallas actively choose watch it as they “put a lot of emotional energy into it and experience pleasure from it” (1985, p. 0), with the pleasure viewers derive playing a central part in their decision to continue watching. In contrast to this active desire to watch a certain show, there are times when people will watch television because it is easily accessible or because it is simply a habit or a part of their daily routine (Cooper and Tang, 2009, p. 403).
Thus, it is important to note structural and individual variables impact the level of activeness an individual has in their choice to watch television. The active audience paradigm is a communicative theory that has many facets.
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Cultural Media Watch A few common assumptions would offer some very general stereotypes which most Americans are probably subjected to each time they tune into their favorite program. The problem with making assumptions based on stereotypes, racism, and bias maybe considered two-fold. Of primary concern should obviously be the narrow-minded and over generalized prejudice which exists in mainstream ...
The theory treats audience members as individuals, capable of creating their own meanings from what they see on their screens. It also emphasises the polysemic nature of media content, thus giving credence to the view that multiple interpretations can be garnered from one media text. Active audience theory is influenced by the communicative theories of encoding and decoding, along with hermeneutics, both of which add further depth to the exploration of how people determine meaning from television.
The theory can also be used to examine individual’s decision to watch television in the first place, with this concept adding another layer of intricacy to the paradigm. The theory of active audience is therefore a complex one with many interrelated concepts that influence it. Reference List Ang, Ien, Watching Dallas: Soap opera and melodramatic interpretation. London: Methuen & Co. , 1985. Barker, Chris, “Active Audiences” in Cultural Studies: Theory and Practice. London: Sage, 2003, pg. 325-329
Barker, Chris, “Active Audiences” in The SAGE Dictionary of Cultural Studies. London: Sage, 2004, pg. 1-2 Cooper, Roger and Tang, Tang “Predicting Audience Exposure to Television in Today’s Media Environment: An Empirical Integration of Active-Audience and Structural Theories” in Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media. Danesi, Marcel “Active Audiences” in Dictionary of Media and Communications. New York: M. E. Sharpe, 2009, pg. 8 Morley, David, Television, Audiences and Cultural Studies, New York: Routledge, 2005
