AQA Media Studies for A Level: Revision Guide

113 7 Media audiences Gillmor wrote his book in 2004 and offered an optimistic idea where the amateur becomes the professional, as anyone with an internet connection and some basic technology can now publish their own thoughts, ideas or creations to a wide, potentially global audience. However, this power has some possible issues as there is no gatekeeping function, so anyone can publish almost anything. The law offers some control of online media but ‘we the media’ has no quality control and a lot of user-generated content that lacks polish and professionalism. Amateur productions may be misreadings, inaccurate or completely wrong. Shirky sees this as a culture of mass amateurisation . In addition to the problem of accuracy, if everyone ‘has a voice’ and is able to self-publish, it increases the amount of voices actively communicating and creates a noisy environment for everyone. This means that the most powerful voices are the ones that can make themselves heard. Media industries have the nancial power to ‘shout’ loudly above the noise and this may mean that they still maintain a powerful position. Amateurs or smaller institutions must nd other ways to break through the noise on the internet. Audience context These ways of looking at audience engage with the technological context of contemporary media. Audiences’ interpretations are shaped by the context of consumption, and social, cultural and historical contexts are highly in uential. These ideas will be explored in the revision activities using the CSPs in Chapter 9. SUMMARY • Media producers need to create products that appeal to audiences. • Media products are produced by focusing on the perceived interests and expectations of the target audience. • Audiences interpret the messages communicated by media products. • They may not always accept the intended meaning. • There are concerns about the possible (negative) effects of the media on audiences. • Audience behaviours alter as technologies develop. • Modern audiences often contribute to and interact with media products. • Modern audiences are often participants rather than just passive observers. • Audience behaviour includes participating within fandoms. • Niche audiences are important to media producers. Which of the following techniques would be more likely to get noticed online? 1 a Creating a music video using a tranquil landscape as the mise-en-scène or b Creating a music video with lots of sexual imagery. 2 a Writing a tweet that tried to take a logical approach or b Writing a tweet that supported a controversial point of view. 3 a Writing a headline for an article based on a made-up scandal or b Writing a headline for an article based on fact. 7.14