interpreting the media

• What do some theories argue about audience interaction with media?

  Audiences actively respond to media content
• How do people engage with media today?

  They actively choose and respond to it
• Who proposed the Uses and Gratifications Theory?

  Blumer & Katz
• What does the Uses and Gratifications Theory suggest about media use?

  People use media to meet their needs
• How did McQuail study soap opera audiences?

  He examined their need for social companionship
• What did Lull find about TV usage in the UK?

  Different demographics use TV for various needs
• What type of theory is the Uses and Gratifications Theory?

  Functionalist theory
• What does the Selective Filter Model state about audience media experience?

  Audiences choose which media to engage with
• What did Fiske say about individuals as media readers?

  They can interpret media texts in various ways
• What are media texts according to the Selective Filter Model?

  A piece of media like a TV program
• What did Klapper argue about media messages?

  Media must pass through three selective filters
• How does the Selective Filter Model view individual control over media?

  It emphasizes individual control over media experience
• What is a strength of the Selective Filter Model?

  It highlights audience engagement with media
• What does the Structured Interpretation Model propose about media messages?

  There is a dominant interpretation audiences follow
• How does the Structured Interpretation Model differ from earlier theories?

  It considers social context in audience interpretation
• What is a preferred reading in media?

  A dominant interpretation intended by creators
• What did Morley find about audience responses to the same program?

  Responses varied by social group but were similar within groups
• What does Postmodern Theory say about audience behavior?

  Audiences pick and choose from various media
• How does Postmodern Theory view the relationship between media and reality?

  Media blurs the boundaries between reality and itself
• How can news images be misleading?

  They can be taken out of context
• What is a simulacrum?

  Something that looks real but isn't
• What did Baudrillard argue about the Gulf War?

  It existed more as media images than reality
• How can information be distorted in media?

  To appear more correct to viewers
• What is a criticism of Baudrillard's writing?

  It is considered deliberately obscure
• What is a common criticism of postmodernism?

  It is too theoretical and lacks evidence
• What is one criticism of the selective filter model?

  It overestimates individual control over media
• What does 'preferred reading' mean in media context?

  The intended interpretation by media creators
• What are simulacra?

  Copies without connection to the original