Task 4 Definitions Of Audience Types

Preferred reading This is when the audience read a piece of text and understands the message and agrees completely with the message given. So the author encodes the message and then the reader decodes the message that has been set out from the author. For example when a food company advertises and the audience see the advert that includes food, the producer hopes that they feel hungry from seeing the advert and its encouraging them to want the product and entice them. They also then want them to buy what has been advertised next time they walk past their company. Also, another example would be if a female audience is reading a magazine and theres a product advertised and it mentions how the product makes your skin soft and smooth, the audience will read it and agree with what has been said and this helps promote their product and makes them buy it. Negotiated reading This is when the reader can generally accept the preferred reading and understand what the producer is trying to get across but they then modify it in a way that reflects their own experiences or interests. For example, when the audience see a food advert and they then see that there are advertising just to promote their product and make some money and it may not look as appetising as they make it out, but the audience will still get hungry and want to buy it because it will still appeal to them. Also, for the product being advertised in a magazine to help skin become smoother and softer, negotiated readers will see the advert and see they are doing it to promote their product and may not agree with how its been advertised and how they approached it but they will still like the idea of it and may buy the product. Oppositional reading This is when the audience understand the preferred reading but doesnt agree with the message being put across by the author and they reject the message and have their own strong opinion or view and it will be the opposite of what the preferred reader thinks. For example, when they see the advert for a food company, they will understand that they are advertising in this way to gain more people to buy the product but they wont let it make them feel that bit of hunger when seeing it and wont go out to buy it because they see why they have advertised like that. Also for the softer and smoother skin product, oppositional readers will see this advert and realize its not as good as theyre making it out and only promoting the product in the way they are to sell more of the product.

The preferred reader of the FHM will see that Mila Kunis is on the front cover and she is a well-known actress and the audience will find her attractive and she is using her sexuality to get to where she wants to by ending up on the front of the magazine, dressing the way she is to show off her body more as a woman to engage the audience more. A negotiated reader will look at the magazine and understand why she is dressed the way she is and how she is promoting her sexuality to get to where she wants to be but they see that it is a bad way of showing it and they might see that she is being sexually exploited but will still buy the magazine. An oppositional reader will see the magazine and they will agree with the message and understand it like the preferred reader, but they will see she is being sexually exploited for a mans benefit and that she is being perceived in a different way and labelling women this way and will not buy the magazine because of this. The preferred reader for Bliss magazine will see that it is everything that a teenager will want to see and its girly so it appeals to teenagers and it will benefit the reader because it has tips and advice on things that girls will need and its a great magazine for the female audience. The font is bright, pink and stands out to the audience as well. A negotiated reader will see the magazine and agree with the message that the producer is putting across and how they have done this but they will see that the advice and tips are based on them wanting to look like a model and trying to merge them into that perfect girl lifestyle at a younger age. An oppositional reader will understand the message thats being put across and see that the magazine is bright and girly and aimed at a younger audience but they will think that they are trying to promote a perfect girl lifestyle and that they are promoting this at a young age by talking about boys, weight loss and looking good.

Participatory This is when the audience are encouraged to have their say on things in the media. This includes news stories, debates and TV programmes. It lets the audience interact and get involved with the media. So people will join Facebook pages, tweet about programmes that are on and they can also write their own blog or comment on blogs and this is called participatory media. For example, the X-Factor has created an app that lets the audience who watch the X-Factor to press a button of people who are performing on the programme. At the end of the show, they add up the number of buzzers pressed for a certain singer and they are displayed at the end and this is just a way that the audience can interact with the show and engage the audience. Another example is that while the opening credits for a programme are on or it may be displayed in certain parts of a programme, the twitter name for the programme will be displayed. This then gets people who like the programme to tweet about whats happening throughout the programme and cause debates and express their views on the programme. Anthony Bourdain tweets live during episodes of No Reservations and this gained him 3,000 new followers during each airing of the episodes. Hollyoaks is another programme that features hashtags and their twitter name before adverts or at the start of an advert. This helps them promote their programme and try to create trends to promote their programme. Cultural competence This is where the audience need to have a level of cultural understanding and some are basic levels (being able to read the language he product is written in) and some may be a deeper level of understanding (interpret signs and symbols to help communicate to their audience). Its a shared cultural understanding. So for example, we use red on emergency vehicles and places because they symbolise danger and blood, but in a different country the colour red will mean something completely different and they will see it in a different way. Different audiences understand different ways in which the language and symbols are used in texts. For example a bracket with a colon symbolises a smiley face. This is more of a text language which relates to a younger audience (mainly teenagers) because they understand and use the symbol in their day to day lives so by using this in their magazines helps relate the audience to the language more. Audiences will see signs and attach them to their own meanings and interpretations of the images shown. For example some people will see a leather jacket and may associate it to Goths or Emos because even thought its stereotyping it is still some peoples cultural competence. Another example would be the magazine Red, uses a lot of the colour

red on their front cover. People over in this country associate red with meaning love and romance and they would interpret that colour to that meaning. But for people who live in China, they associate the colour red to meaning good luck and they would believe that its more of getting better luck. Fan culture This is when fans start to write stories, episodes of TV programmes and alternative endings to films, books and shows. Its when an audience take a role in helping create media based work on existing products. Social media tools helped fans group easier and find each other quicker. So the invention of Facebook, YouTube, Twitter and blogs are all ways in helping fans find each other quicker. They can use these social sites and leave comments on other peoples work and like what the other fans have done and this can also help create their ideas further. For example, people who are into Star Trek can go to conventions and meet people who are into the same things that they are and this helps them group together. They can watch videos that they may have posted on YouTube too. Another example is that for Redbubble, I created a t-shirt which had Lana Del Rey on. This is because I love her music and think she is a really inspiring role model so I used something I liked to create a shirt which other fans of Lana Del Rey would like.