Media Audiences

Preface Acknowledgments Chapter 1. History and Concept of the Audience What Is an Audience? History of Early Audiences Audiences and Notions of Power Conclusion: Constructing Audiences Through History and Theory Discussion Activities Additional Materials References SECTION I. AUDIENCES AS OBJECTS Chapter 2. Effects of Media Messages Origins of Media Effects Theories in the Early 20th Century Mass Society Theory and the Payne Fund Studies The War of the Worlds Broadcast and the Direct Effects Model Mass Propaganda Concerns and World War II Communication Research Postwar Communication Research: The Rise of the Limited Effects Paradigm Effects of Media Violence Conclusion: Enduring Concern Over Media Effects Discussion Activities Additional Materials References SECTION II. AUDIENCES AS INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRUCTIONS Chapter 3. Public Opinion and Audience Citizenship A Brief History of Public Opinion Survey Methods and the Public Opinion Industry Public Opinion and the Limits of Audience Constructions How News Shapes Public Opinion Conclusion: The Construction of Public Opinion and Its Implications for Democracy Discussion Activities Additional Materials References Chapter 4. Media Ratings and the Political Economy of Audiences The Political Economic Approach to Communication Political Economy and the Commodity Audience Ratings and the Construction of the Audience Product Measuring Audiences: The Ratings System Ratings, Market Research, and the Audience Commodity: Assigning Market Value to Mass Audiences Conclusion: How Effective Is Institutional Control Over Audiences? Discussion Activities Additional Materials References SECTION III. AUDIENCES AS ACTIVE USERS OF MEDIA Chapter 5. Uses and Gratifications Early Examples of Uses and Gratifications in Communication Research The Uses and Gratifications Approach Expectancy-Value Approaches to Uses and Gratifications Social Uses of Media The Uses and Dependency Approach Conclusion: Refocusing on Audience Power Discussion Activities Additional Materials References Chapter 6. Interpreting and Decoding Mass Media Texts The Rise of Critical Cultural Studies Interpretation and Semiotics Ideology, Screen Theory, and the Critical Paradigm The Birmingham School and the Encoding/ Decoding Model The Nationwide Audience Studies Gender and Media Interpretation: Soap Operas, Romances, and Feminism Cross-Cultural Reception of Popular Media Race, Ethnicity, and Audience Decoding: Viewers Interpret The Cosby Show Open Texts and Popular Meanings Intertextuality and Interpretive Communities Revisiting Encoding/Decoding in the 21st Century Conclusion: Interpretation and Audience Power Discussion Activities Additional Materials References Chapter 7. Reception Contexts and Media Rituals Media in Context: Notions of Space and Time Media Reception in the Domestic Sphere Media and Everyday Life in the Domestic Context Media Rituals: Another Reception Context Conclusion: Audiences in Context Discussion Activities Additional Materials References SECTION IV. AUDIENCES AS PRODUCERS AND SUBCULTURES Chapter 8. Media Fandom and Audience Subcultures Defining Fan Cultures Fan Cultures and Interpretive Activity Fans and Textual Productions Fans and Cultural Hierarchy: The Limits of Textual Reinterpretation Conclusion: Fans, Creativity, and Cultural Hierarchy Discussion Activities Additional Materials References Chapter 9. Online, Interactive Audiences in a Digital Media World Digitalization, Fragmentation, Platforms, and the Rise of Audience Autonomy Big Data and Online Audience Metrics Audience Agency, Creativity, and Democratic Participation Crowdsourcing Media Production: Wikis and Blogs Questioning Audience Power in the Networked Information Society: Issues of Media Ownership, Surveillance, and Labor Exploitation Conclusion: Networked Creativity Meets Undercompensated Labor Discussion Activities Additional Materials References Chapter 10. Conclusion: Audience Studies in an Era of Datafication The Rise of Mobile, Transmedia Experiences in the Post-Network Era The New Economics of Audience Aggregation Rediscovering Media Audiences in the 21st Century Charting a Course for Audience Studies: The 2030 Agenda Conclusion Additional Materials References Index About the Author