The Purpose of studying Media Audiences and Institutions

 Introduction

There are many diverse reasons that catalyse the study of both media institutions and media audiences. However, there is one very important aspect that can never be overlooked between media institutions and media audiences. That aspect is the inevitable relationship between the two. There are various reasons why it is important to study these two dimensions of media i.e. Media Institutions and Media Audiences. Where Media Audiences are concerned, the following are the two most basic reasons for study of media audiences: as individuals we are consumers of the different types of media, and thus the understanding of how various types of media construct and disseminate their content becomes important in understanding how the audience interprete this content and the effects thereof. Another important reason for the study of media audiences arises from the fact that as a Professional in the Communications field, a deeper understanding of media audiences becomes very important concept to understand. This is so because, it enables or is a fundamental understanding which will enable better content creation that is tailored for the target audience, that the audience will find useful and interesting. This will enable an achievement of the desired impact.
Media Institutions on the other hand, are a complex concept and element in media content creation, that is widely contested, and a subject of many debates that will be explored in the following discussion. This blog entry intends to discuss and reflect on the purpose of studying media audiences and media institutions.

Media Audiences:

With the rapid changes and flexibility in technology, the world is seeing more and more each changes in the type of media audience(s). The major technological changes that this blog can safely conclude to have caused a major shift in the new type of media audience that exist is the availability, affordable and convergence of the mobile technologies. What is leading and at the forefront of these mobile technologies is the mobile telephones or cellular phones. There are other mobile technological devices like ipods etc but the cellular phone leads the pack.
Because of the convergence of many types of media into this simple small device which moves to everywhere and anywhere, the world and media world are challenged with a new type consumer. A consumer who expects content at the touch of a button, who has a freedom of choice of many types of content in a very limited time, an audience of all ages – both young and old; who wants to entertained all the time with graphics, photographs, videos etc. all at the same time. However, the most ‘scary’ of them all is that this consumer of media is now also a producer of content. The above statements can be proved in the following quote: “For many years “journalism” has been synonymous with newspapers, magazines, radio, and television. Academic programs positioned themselves to train students to work as reporters, editors, photographers and presenters (in the U.S, called “anchors”). For generations we considered these skills and practices’ as uniquely our own. But now, media education has become ubiquitous, and there seems no limit to how young a child can be to get on-air experience (Koehlenberg, 2003). Teenagers with little training routinely produce podcasts, videoblogs in their bedrooms and upload them to YouTube, facebook, or the latest, coolest social networking site. Their friends and acquaintances watch at home or on their broadband cellular telephones” (mediadigest. 2008).

The importance in the study of audiences now lies with how to continue making journalism and related communication content creation fields or disciplines relevant and make it co-exist with the new media audience who is now capable of producing their own content. This audience does not need academic qualifications to produce content but yet the content they produce is very powerful as it can be produced anywhere at any time, while media institutions have to go through multiple processes before content or news can be released to the audience. The fundamental purpose of studying audience will enable and chart a way forward to journalism in the future and predict and thus invent ways to captivate the new type of audience. Intensive research into audience research is very important, and Mytton (2010:14) mentions that:“ By audience research we mean the various methods and techniques used to find out about the audience. It covers a wide range of information gathering exercises”. These will be addressed in-depth on the next blog (Blog number four).

Livingstone (1998: 2-6) highlights briefly a history of audience research and mentions the various types of theories and disciplines that contributed and continue to contribute to the history, construction and development of audience research. Livingstone (1998: 2-6) mentions the history of audience research to be anchored in the following studies or theories:

• Audience Reception Studies – which refer the interpretation of media messages or texts by different audiences.

• Cultural Studies: a mass culture was developed because of mass media (McQuail. 2011: 113). This then means that a new kind of mass culture is developing, catalysed by new platforms of technology and new content creation methods. Audience research will help to make this new culture understandable and predictable enabling media institutions to better tailor their message and target their audiences well. 

• Critical Mass Communication Research

• The Dominant Structuralist Approach to textual analysis

• Feminist Approaches – female representation in media and the implications thereof with regard to new media. The new platforms have made it easy for any kind of content to be available e.g. pornographic material. This is further contributing to the objectification of women; however the greater challenge lies with the fact that now younger audience have access. The study of media audience will enable ways of better control of these liberating yet what this blog can declare highly volatile mediums.

• The Ethnographic Approach:
These will still continue to be relevant in the study of the 21st century media audience.
Last but not least Livingstone (2010: 05) mentions that: “I would like to identify the particular form of success, namely the construction of the research canon, as itself now posing a central problem for audience studies. By canon I mean using a small set of often-repeated examples of audience studies which are often repeated examples of audience studies which are used both to justify enterprise—in which they have so far been successful—and, implicitly or explicitly, to direct it, this is more problematic in the absence of a clear set of quick questions or arguments”. To conclude this section of the blog, in studying media audience the following aspects are considered: content, different genres, age and cultural groups, theories, effects etc. this is a very diverse field of study that cannot be fully contemplated into a single study, however, it is a very important part of media studies and mass media – especially now with the new technology.

2. Media Institutions

Media institutions on the other hand are challenged with creating ways to remain relevant. Just like with the concept of media audiences, the biggest challenge to media institutions lies with integrating new technology into their functioning. This has seen the online creation of content through the internet, blogging, social networks, the streaming of content. The dissemination of content with these platforms is rapid and unlike old methods like print can be updated regularly. The content is highly interactive and allows for the interaction with the various audiences. This is both positive and negative. Positive because the institutions are able to get instant feedback. Negative because the type of feed-back cannot be controlled, it can be highly negative. Media institution now have to battle to media sphere with an audience whom are content producers themselves. They have to battle to differentiate themselves as professional in a media sphere that does not really ‘care’ of the journalism profession anymore, as the lines between professional and non professional content producers are slowly but surely becoming blurry.
Media institutions are now forced to become all media types into one e.g. integrate videos, highly interactive graphic, interactive content etc. in order to be able to survive. Again just like the new type of audience that exists, so does the new types of media institutions that now exist.

List of Sources:

Media Digest. 2008. Media Convergence and the Implications for Audiences, Institutions and Journalism Education.[O]. http://rthk.hk/mediadigest/20080425_76_121820.html (Accessed 25 August 2015).

Mytton, G. 2010. Handbook on Radio and Television Audience Research. UNICEF, UNESCO and the BBC World Service Training Trust: Paris

McQuail, D. 2011. McQuail’s Mass Communication Theory. SIXTH EDITION. London: SAGE

Livingstone, S. 1998. (PDF) Relationships between Media and Audiences – LSE Research Online. .[O]. http://eprints.Ise.ac.uk/.../Relationships-between-media-and-audiences (LSE RO)... (Accessed 25 August 2015)
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