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What is meant by the term ‘the active audience’? Describe and evaluate the arguments for the active audience, giving examples.
The notion of the passive audience, through the transmission model of communication, was originally designed from various American theories to improve and explain communication practices within large organisations (Schirato and Yell,1996). ... The concept of the ‘active’ audience challenges these ideas and states society is built up from individuals, whom ‘actively’ create their own understandings and the meanings of messages. ...
We have at least three arguments for the active engagement of audiences with the mass media (Livingstone, 2001). ... However, Livingstone (2001) argues that even though an audience may be active, media must also play some role, not matter how in slight, in the decisions and beliefs of its audience. Which leaves one vital question, how far do the media restrict or direct the interpretations that arise on viewing, so that particular meanings, rather than any and every meaning, may result from viewing (Livingstone, 1998), and hence determine how active, if at all, audiences are? ... An active thought process when receiving media messages can be defined as ‘Intentionality’. Unlike selectivity and utilitarianism, which precedes media viewing, intentionality occurs as the audience receives the message. As information and experiences occur, the active audience engages in an ‘active cognitive process’ (Biocca, 1995). In particular, intentionality audiences are ‘implied’ (Biocca, 1995) by subscriptions to the media, thus the thought process and subscription to various media renders the audience active. ... The third fold of Biocca’s model is ‘utilitarianism’, meaning that the active audience uses the media only for specific functional needs i. ... Their active media usage is selected and filtered through rational choice with correlation to past experience. ...
Audiences that are resistant to the influence of the media are also considered to be active, as they are in control of what they do and do not receive from various media. The activity in this argument is once again about choice – resistant, or ‘obstinate audience’ (Biocca, 1995) limit the messages the media sends to them, to remove unwanted ideas, points of view and information, the remain unaffected except as decided by themselves
Finally, Biocca explains ‘Involvement’ as an active audience. Involvement is the degree in which the active audience engages the media (Biocca, 1995). Biocca argues that media has the potential to make the audience ‘physiologically and emotionally aroused by the media’ (Biocca, 1995).
Approximate Word count = 1914
Approximate Pages = 7.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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