Timed Essay 6

 6) Evaluate the effectiveness of the following theories in understanding how cultural and historical circumstances can affect audience interpretations of news stories:

-Hall’s reception theory

-Bandura’s media effects theory

Bandura’s media effects theory suggests that the media has an instant impact on the audience and supports ideas of the audience being passive. Media directly ‘implants’ ideas into audience’s minds and they acquire attitudes, emotional responses and new styles of conduct through modelling. Effects theory is simplistic and shows the audience as being passive due to their being no agency to question what ideology they are being shown through the media. However, the theory may be supported by examples of audiences agreeing with everything they read in their newspaper of choice. 

Cultivation theory builds on media effects by suggesting that the audience is more active in choosing how the media effects them, they may question what they are being shown and cultivation happens over time instead of instantly, changing the audience’s views. Another area of this theory is that audiences are likely to seek out texts that they already agree with and match their ideology. This theory is likely more accurate than media effects due to examples of prosumers, audiences creating their own media from what they have consumed and gradual social change that comes from cultivation overtime instead of instantly. 

Media effects theory and cultivation both link to audience ideology and beliefs, meaning this is part of their political and personal identity. People with different life experiences are very likely to have varying views and beliefs due to their upbringing, people around them, culture, religion and socio-political contexts in their life. Class, age, gender and ethnicity show how different audiences have different interests and will likely seek out texts that support their views

Varying elements of identity in audiences of media lead to them having different reading of texts according to reception theory. For example, someone who has maybe struggled in poverty in their upbringing or has had negative experiences due to a right-wing government will likely grow up to favour left-wing views that benefit them more and match their perspective on life and morals. This is because right-wing ideology usually favours the middle and upper classes. Due to their political views being part of their identity, if reading a right-wing text such as the Daily Mail, they are likely to have an oppositional reading of the text and reject what ideology is being represented, disagreeing with the viewpoint. They will also have a preferred reading of left-wing texts that match their views and reinforces their ideology as being correct. 

Hall’s Reception theory offers more agency for the audience and explains how the context of their life experiences and personal identity will affect their interpretation of media texts. It also gives three ways that an audience can read the text; preferred, negotiated and oppositional. This offers more options and can explain most ways that people interact with the media industry.

Another element of identity that links to effects and cultivation is the readers identity of other people agreeing with their views due to the news stories reflecting their beliefs or other readers. Fandom shows how audiences prefer to have other people with the same interests and this adds to their sense of identity. Effects theory shows a simple example of this as audiences are instantly impacted by texts, they are quickly introduced to a community of people with the same views.

Overall, the upbringing and personal identity of an audience will affect the way they read a text and how the text will influence their views.

In conclusion, more developed audience theories are more effective in describing the way that audiences interpret news stories due to it showing them to have more active involvement in the texts they consume. For example, Hall’s reception theory is developed in showing three different readings of texts that cover different situations and viewpoints. However, effects theory shows a simple way of how audiences are affected by texts. The theory also gives the media more instant power to influence people.