1. Audience Theory
The Cultural Studies Approach to Audience

2. Morley
 According to Morley, audiences aren’t just passively
affected by media texts, they take an active role in
reading a text.
 The approach tries to understand the intended effects
of media texts, but also sees audiences as
active, starting that different audiences adopt different
standpoints in relation to the values expressed within
a media text.

3. Preferred Reading
The audience recognize the
values being offered by the text
and accepts them as natural
and correct.

4. Negotiated Reading
The audience recognize the
values in the text as legitimate
and accept them in general, but
adapt their reading of the text to
fit in with their experiences and
interest.

5. Oppositional Reading
The audience understands the
values in the text, but disagrees
with them and rejects them.

6. Example:
• A preferred reading would be that I find this
image acceptable of a beautiful woman and
accept the image as it celebrates the
attractiveness of women and how they can
take on a manly role.
• A negotiated reading may be that although I
don’t like the way the image connotes
masculinity in women, it still shows true
beauty in women and how they can take on
both roles.
• An oppositional reading may be produced by
someone concerned by the idea of women
being connected with violence and with the
image consisting of the woman holding a gun
it may be seen as degrading and offensive to
women.

7. Music video
 The audiences may read the values expressed in the
music video in an oppositional way with the men with guns
being violence towards women and can be offensive to
women.
 To encourage the target audience to take a preferred
reading we have made the idea of the music video to be
sad but also uplifting with its uniqueness and abstract
narrative.
 A woman that has been a victim of violence against men
may take an oppositional reading as there are scenes
which will connote violence towards the ballerina.