Evaluation of Active Audience Approaches

• One criticism of the Uses and Gratifications Model is that it used Retrospective 'Self-reports' such as questionnaires, which can be limited as viewers may not know why they chose to watch what they did, or may not be able to explain their choice
• Another criticism of Active Audience Approaches is that they have been seen as overly individualistic and ignore the social-cultural context, emphasising psychological and personality factors and de-emphasise sociological interpretations (arguable that people's interpretation of media content is shaped by their cultural & socio-economic status)
• Another criticism of Active Audience Approaches is that Marxists suggests that the needs that are met by media content are created by the media, for example, people might argue they use a media product such as Facebook as it fulfils their needs, however these needs were met in entirely different ways prior to Facebook (so media products are created by capitalism to make money & distract from the real issues)
• Another criticism of Active Audience Approaches is from Barwise and Ehrenberg (1988)
• Barwise and Ehrenberg (1988) studied their criticism of Active Audience Approaches
• Barwise and Ehrenberg studied their criticism of Active Audience Approaches in 1988
• Another criticism of Active Audience Approaches is from Barwise and Ehrenberg (1988) who argued while audience seem to select media & content, often media use is habitual (done out of routine), ritualistic (follows a specific routine to fill time) and unselective (consuming whatever is available) rather than the product of an active choice
• Barwise and Ehrenberg (1988) argued while audiences seem to select media & content, often media use is habitual (done out of routine), ritualistic (follows a specific routine to fill time) and unselective (consuming whatever is available) rather than the product of an active choice
• Barwise and Ehrenberg (1988) criticised active audience approaches by arguing that they overestimate the audience's engagement with media content - They suggested that most media consumption is passive, with viewers often seeking entertainment or diversion rather than actively interpreting or challenging media messages
• Another criticism of Active Audience Approaches is from Neo-Marxists who argue that though the audience has some agency in decoding messages, the media is a powerful institution that exerts a great deal of control over the production of ideology and access to alternative ideas is limited