AQA GCSE Media Studies Student Book

88 Media audiences are also of interest to those politicians, critics and commentators who worry about the influence of the media on society. Usually, they see this influence in fairly negative terms, with arguments beginning with assertions that ‘the media are to blame’ for any number of society’s problems or individual bad behaviour. On similar lines are the fears expressed by many that the media have become too powerful and are able to manipulate audiences at will. These are among the many issues that will be addressed in this chapter. You will start by looking at audiences from the viewpoint of industries who need to define, describe and categorise audiences in order to achieve the desired circulation for their products. Defining the audience Although the term audience is used to describe attendance at a theatre or rock concert, the focus here is on the mass media and, therefore, mass audiences. In the case of the traditional media – television, film, radio, magazines and newspapers – the audience are separated from the producers of media products by space and, often, by time as well, in a way they are not at a live event. At a live event the audience and the performer have direct contact and are able to react immediately to each other. Media consumption can be a social occasion, for example, in the case of the cinema audience, shared listening or viewing at home, but the majority of media use is private and individual. Online and social media provide some interesting exceptions, as we can use social media for one-to-one or small group communication. Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and other social media enable messages, including advertising messages, to be distributed to huge numbers of subscribers or followers. Online video gaming also involves a certain amount of interactivity between players. Increasing opportunities can be seen for audiences to become producers themselves using, for example, YouTube, wikis, tagging and blogs. Most newspapers encourage readers through their websites not only to react to news stories but also to contribute stories of their own. Another feature of the transition to digital technology is the declining size of audiences for any single media product or event. Following are some examples of massive audiences for traditional media: • In 1969, 600 million people worldwide watched the Apollo 11 moon landings on TV. • In 1981, 750 million people watched the wedding of Prince Charles to Lady Diana Spencer. • In the UK, sitcom Only Fools and Horses had record viewing figures of 24 million for its Christmas Special in 1996. Media consumption Audiences and individuals are often described as consumers of media. Media consumption is any engagement with the media by an individual or audience. Key term How many people in your class have produced and uploaded their own media products? Talk about it The 1969 Moon walk AQA GCSE Media Studies