A2 Media: Audience Theory

2. Governments had just discovered the
power of advertising to communicate a
message, and produced propaganda to try
and sway the population to their way of
thinking. This was particularly extensive
This theory is still quoted during moral
in Europe during WWI.
panics by parents, politicians and pressure
groups, and is used to explain why certain
groups in society should not be exposed to
certain media texts (comics in the
1950s, rap music in the 2000s); for fear that
they will watch or read sexual or violent
behaviour and will then act them out
themselves.

3. 2 year old toddler Jamie Bulger
was abducted and murdered by
two 10 year old boys.
10 year olds Robert Thompson (l)
and Jon Venables (r) were found
guilty of murder and where
sentenced to imprisonment at a
Young Offenders institution.
The two boys had supposedly watched
the horror film Child’s Play 3 before they
abducted the 2 year old. Jamie’s death
was similar to one of the murders in the
film. ‘The Sun’ then speculated whether
violence in the media should be accepted
in our society. Should violence in the media
be accepted?

4. Would you want to run into Norman Bates on
the street (if you didn’t know he was a
murderer)? I know I would.
With villains nowadays, they dress like us, talk like
YUM! us, look like us - think Billy in Scream.
If you hear a loud noise or rustling in bushes,
you will get scared.. You’ll think Michael
Myers is coming for you.

5. N: As a result, Lazarsfeld and his group then created the ‘two-step flow of communication’ model, which states that ideas
flow from the media to opinion leaders and from them to less active sections of the population.

6. Television
Hypodermic
Newspaper
Finalgirl
Magazine
History
Believe
Affect
Psycho
Media
Radio
Bates