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The amazing journey of decoding and encoding: Do you really understand the messages conveyed by the media?
In the process of media communication, the audience's understanding method has attracted much attention. This phenomenon is known as audience reception theory, which emphasizes the initiative and diversity of audiences in interpreting media messages. Facing the same media content, everyone may have completely different interpretations, which has also triggered scholars to conduct in-depth discussions on the meaning of media messages.
Audience reception theory emphasizes that the meaning of a text is not inherent, but is jointly constructed by the reader's cultural background and life experience.
The core of audience reception theory is based on the encoding/decoding model proposed by Stuart Hall. In this model, media producers design based on expected responses when encoding, and then viewers interpret according to their own context during decoding. Hall believes that the same event can be encoded in multiple ways, and media content also contains multiple possible interpretations, which makes the process of understanding the message quite complicated.
The social environment, gender, age, race and other factors of the audience are all important variables that affect their interpretation of media content. Hall's model mentions that "dominant" interpretations come from those audiences whose social environment is conducive to accepting media content, while "negotiated" interpretations are those that reconcile media content with one's social background, and may even lead to "confrontational" interpretations. , which is an interpretation arising from a background that is contrary to mainstream views.
This model challenges traditional media analysis methods and emphasizes the audience's activeness and initiative in the interpretation process.
Audience analysis has become increasingly important as this theory develops, especially in the understanding of media texts among different social groups. Scholars typically use several research methods to analyze audience behavior, including broad surveys, focus groups, and in-depth ethnographic observations. Each of these methods has advantages and disadvantages and is often used in combination to obtain more accurate results.
For example, broad surveys can capture large amounts of data, while focus groups can provide insight into the perspectives of a specific group. In ethnographic research, scholars may spend time living with audiences and observing how they interact with media content to understand its impact on culture.
These studies help us understand how cultural diversity shapes different interpretations of the same text.
With the rise of the "ethnographic turn", the scope of audience research has gradually expanded, and researchers have begun to consider the social background and cultural factors of consuming media. Although this "active audience" research perspective has won a lot of support, it has also faced criticism, showing a neglect of cultural power and possibly weakening the authority of the text. Regardless, these studies have advanced our understanding of the close relationship between media texts and individual identity.
Another concept worth noting is the polysemy of text, that is, media texts can produce multiple meanings. This perspective challenges the authority of a single interpretation and reminds us that different audiences may interpret the same text very differently based on personal experience. For example, a movie may be perceived as a comedy by some viewers, while another segment may consider it a tragedy, which is closely related to their cultural background and life experiences.
Audience reception theory further elaborates on the importance of social context in the interpretation of media content. Interpretation of text does not involve the audience passively absorbing information, but relies on their interests and preferences for selection and interpretation. This perspective also implies that the reception of media texts may have very different outcomes in different cultural contexts, and therefore consideration of social context is indispensable for understanding the meaning of media texts.
Audience reception theory provides a valuable framework for understanding the complex relationship between media texts and their audiences.
Finally, the rise of audience reception theory emphasizes the active role of audiences in constructing meaning, challenging the idea of a single interpretation. When understanding the multiple meanings of media texts, we need to pay attention to the impact of individual subjectivity and social context on interpretation. Therefore, when faced with the messages conveyed by the media, we should always reflect on: Do you think you truly understand the messages conveyed by the media?
