Reception Theory

The effects model and uses and gratification have their flaws, a different approach was developed by Stuat Hall. The reception theory is based on the idea that there is no single meaning for any media texts. It focuses on what the audience see in the media text and what the producer intended for the viewer to see. The messages from media texts are said to have a preferred meaning (the meaning the producer intended to convey) however anyone can have a individual interpretation. The audiences readings can be effected by variables of age, gender, social status and social context which could lead to them rejecting or accepting the preferred meaning. The theory suggests that when a producer creates their content they encode it with a meaning or message. The audience that recieves and consumes the media text will either accept the message and correctly decode the meaning the producer is trying to convey or reject/fail to correctly understand the message. There are three types of audience readings of the texts:

1. Dominant or Preferred - The audiences correctly decided the message.

2. Negotiated - The audience accepts the message however rejects or refines elements of the text in light of previously held views.

3. Oppositional - The dominant meaning is recognised but rejected for cultural, political or ideological reasons.

An example of this model in effect is Bruce Springsteen - Born in the USA. The dominant meaning of this was the curuptness of the USA and the Viatnam war, the horrors and trouble they experienced both during and after the war. However most viewers of the song believed it was patriotic towards the USA and was even used within politics meaning many consumers recieved an negotiated or oppositional reading opposed to the dominant meaning the producer intended to convey.