Audience And Institutuion

Audience

In covering this topic you need to be aware of a broad shift from a perception of a ‘mass 

audience’ to one which recognises that, whatever the size of audience, it is made up of 

individuals. Along with this altered view is a shift in emphasis from what the media do to 

the audience to an acceptance that audiences bring many different approaches to the media with which they engage.

In its earliest form audience theory believed that an audience was a mass, Blumer set out 4 stages

First, its membership may come from all walks of life, and from all distinguishable social 

strata; it may include people of different class position, of different vocation, of different 

cultural attainment, and of different wealth. .....

Secondly, the mass is an anonymous group, or more exactly is composed of anonymous 

individuals [Blumer means anonymous in the sense that unlike the citizens of earlier 

communities, the people who are members of the mass audience for the media do not know each other].

Third, there exists little interaction or change of experience between members of the mass. They are usually physically separated from one another, and, being anonymous, do not have the opportunity to mill as do members of the crowd.

Fourth, the mass is very loosely organised and is not able to act with the unity of a crowd.