Audience Reception

Revision

Encoders those who produce the text

Some media texts promote certain ideologies overtly - for example a
newspaper will often make its political affiliations fairly obvious.
Other texts will be more subtle and ideologies may be more subtly
encoded, for example many 1950s science fiction films whereby alien
invaders routinely tried to take over the USA were often a metaphor for
America's struggle in the Cold War and the threat of Communism.
Whether it's political or not all texts will have ideologies encoded into
them.
Looks and appearance are important
Other people's of you are important
Feeling good about yourself and having self
confidence is important
Strong independent women should be celebrated women hold positions of authority and influence
Emotions and feelings should be discussed and
reflected upon
Celebrities are people too - with feelings and
vulnerabilities
Women need guidance to help them make the right
choices
Women are maternal
A fashionable look is important but people (children)

This does not necessarily mean that

an audience will accept and agree
with these ideologies

Preferred Reading
Is not just about 'liking' a text - you must understand
what the purpose of a text is and agree with its
ideologies and the messages it carries.
Oppositional Reading
Is not just 'disliking' a text - there are many reasons why
someone may take an oppositional reading - but
whatever these reasons are, the audience member
must understand what the intentions of the text
are, but reject them.
Negotiated Reading
Can be the case whereby an audience member agrees
with some ideologies and not others, but it can also be
the case where the audience doesn't fully
understand the intentions of the text - or is

The strengths of the Encoding/Decoding model is

not only does it realise the audience as actively
engaging with a media text but it also acknowledges
the importance of an audience member's
personality and cultural background, even if the text
has been completely misunderstood!
In the exam you may have to discuss how and why
an audience may take different positions - your job
is to know how to apply this theory to your own
experience of the media, or even a text provided by
the exam board.