50125 Communication and Audience

Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences: Public Communication
Credit points: 8 cp
Result Type: Grade, no marks

Handbook description

In this subject, students analyse different approaches to concepts of the audience from a communication perspective. They critically evaluate the media-influence process and use case studies for a comprehensive and critical assessment of theoretical approaches. Students review and apply semiotics as an approach to understanding the many influences on individual interpretation of visual, auditory and verbal signs. They assess methods to measure audience and to understand audience reception. This subject also explores issues and trends in communication and the implications of the increase in opportunities for interaction on concepts of the audience.

Subject objectives/outcomes

At the completion of this subject, students are expected to be able to:

analyse different approaches to concepts of the audience from a communication perspective;
critically evaluate the media influence process;
assess methods to measure audience and to understand audience reception;
use semiotic analysis to demonstrate an understanding of the many influences on individual interpretations of signs;
demonstrate an awareness of issues and trends in research in communication and audience.

Contribution to graduate profile

Gain an interdisciplinary and coherent knowledge of public communication to inform ethical, creative and socially responsible practice.
Demonstrate ability in critical analysis, multiple perspective-taking and strategic and creative problem solving to achieve a thorough and critical understanding of public communication processes and their social, economic and political contexts.
Be able to engage productively with new challenges.
Gain by class work and group work the specific skills associated with successful professional work in public communication including research and writing skills necessary for professional practice.
Have demonstrated capabilities in audience identification and research.
Know how to interact with, assess and coordinate information across the range of technological platforms in a critical, innovative and ethical manner.
Be able to facilitate and provide professional advice on effective interaction with colleagues, clients and the public as public communication professionals.

Teaching and learning strategies

This subject uses a combination of lectures, debates, discussion and critique of current case studies to engage and challenge students. Video and audio resources are used when appropriate.

Content

Conceptualising the audience: Issues of identification, formation and continuity. Media audience as mass public versus small community. Notions of passive versus active audience. Dimensions of audience.
Review of effects research traditions: From powerful to limited to powerful. Principles and limitations of different approaches.
Uses and gratifications: Development of the idea of the active goal-directed audience.
Media hegemony and beyond. Critiquing cultivation theories. Agenda setting theories: media, public and policy. Audience preference or media emphasis? Reviewing research outcomes. Framing and priming and their relationship to agenda building.
Research approaches for audience measurement and interpretation. The audience in rhetorical analysis, narrative and discourse analysis.
Conceptualising and researching public opinion: What do opinion polls measure? Public opinion as a complex of communication processes. Formation and change.
Semiotics: Visual and verbal signs. Audience interpretative processes. The act of reading/viewing/listening. Convergence of cultural contexts and individual constructs.

Assessment

Any questions about assignments can be posted on UTSOnline discussion facilities for this subject. Students are required to do at least one reading per week and prepare stages in their assessments as indicated in the Program.

Assessment item 1: Individual assignment 1600-1800 Words

Objectives	a, b, c This assignment will demonstrate students' understanding of the complex nature of their own behaviour and responses to different media texts, in the context of one of the dialectics tracked in the history of research and discussion in this field. This assignment will demonstrate students' understanding of the complex nature of their own behaviour and responses to different media texts, in the context of one of the dialectics tracked in the history of research and discussion in this field.

Value	25%

Due	Week 7 in class

Task	Keep a journal of your media use for three weeks. You should develop a structure for noting what media you use in this period and how you use it. You may want to develop a spreadsheet to keep track of this. Suggested column headings might be: Program/text, Context for use, Purpose, etc. The way you record your use should be influenced by the criteria you develop for 3. below and vice versa. Attach the journal as an appendix to the assignment (it is not part of the word count). Select two media works/texts you access regularly from different sources. For example, two of the following: a television program, a radio program, a newspaper, a web site (do not use your email service provider site), someone else's blog. Use your journal as a resource. You will be asked to identify these texts in class so that you can check that your selection will work for the assignment. Develop criteria to analyse your relationships with these media texts. These criteria should be informed by the literature on 'mass' media and audience that incorporates notions of the audience as active or passive. The emphasis in this analysis is not on the texts themselves but on you as an audience member and your interaction or relationship with each of these media. These analyses should be conducted in the context of a discussion of the passive/active dialectic/continuum – one of the three presented in lectures. In discussing this dialectic it is acceptable also to make reference to another - however, this is not required. The dialectics relate to debates on the nature of the audience and are represented as follows: a. Audience as passive versus active b. Audience as mass public versus small community c. An audience member (or auditor) as a site, as opposed to an agent If you would prefer to use one of the other dialectics, discuss this with your lecturer. You may also make reference to theories (such as particular effects traditions or aspects of the uses and gratifications approach) that illustrate points in the discussion.

Assessment criteria	Demonstrated ability to: understand and discuss the assumptions underpinning the debate represented by the 'dialectic'; use concepts from the literature to analyse your own relationship with a media text; structure a discussion effectively; develop, justify and apply criteria for useful analysis; use clear and grammatical written expression, free from typographical, spelling and punctuation errors; use UTS Harvard referencing system accurately; adhere to word limit.

Assessment item 2: Case Study Analysis and Presentation

Objectives	a, b, c, e This assignment demonstrates students' understanding of the differing research traditions in audience studies and how they may be applied to an example from current Australian media coverage. The group then presents the research to class.

Value	50% (20% Report, 20% Presentation, 10% Teamwork and report as whole)

Due	Report: In Class Week 11: Individually assessed plus group grade Presentation: In Class as scheduled Week 13 and 14: Group grade Peer Assessment: In Class Week 14

Word Limit	Report: 2300-2500 Words Presentation: 30-35 minutes (depending on group size)

Task	In groups of 4-5, you are to select a case study of an event, incident or issue, which has appeared in the Australian media in 2007. Your group will suggest how this may be analysed using 4-5 audience research traditions (e.g. one of the effects traditions, plus uses and gratifications, plus reception analysis) explaining their worldviews and appropriate methodologies. Groups will present their findings to class, supplemented by a written report. Teamwork will be evaluated by peers and by the lecturer's assessment of the integration of the report.

Assessment criteria	Demonstrated ability to: select an appropriate event, issue or incident reported in the Australian media this year; understand and clearly explain the different approaches to researching the audience and the media-influence process; make appropriate references to pertinent literature to support contentions or suggestions made in the report and presentation; write a clear, well-reasoned and well-researched report applying the audience research traditions to the case study (by suggesting how it may be analysed); create an interesting, interactive and challenging presentation for the class; identify methodologies appropriate to each research tradition and explain their application to the case study; work as a useful, cooperative and effective member of a creative & professional team; present a report to a professional standard with clear and grammatical written expression, free from typographical, spelling and punctuation errors; adhere to UTS Harvard referencing conventions and word limit.

Assessment item 3: Textual analysis

Objectives	b, c, d Students demonstrate their ability to apply concepts from semiotics to an individual text/work to uncover how the text may be designed to encourage the process of audience/reader interpretation of signs that include images and written text. Students who want to use a different analytic method should discuss this with the lecturer.

Value	25%

Due	Week 14 in class

Word Limit	2200 – 2500 Words

Task	Students select one of the following: a page from a newspaper, magazine, newsletter or annual report (these items must include images). Do not choose a full page advertisement. Using analytical devices (semiotic) presented in class, they will examine the text they have selected to uncover the elements of the text which work to influence the reader's interpretative processes, as well as their assessments of the outcomes of these processes. Students need to analyse the entire page, including relationships between and within elements. Whatever you choose MUST include images (drawn or photographs, including advertisements).

Assessment criteria	Demonstrated ability to: understand and clearly apply semiotic analytic methodology; provide an appropriate rationale to support contentions made about aspects of the examined text; explain interpretative processes in communicating with an audience; present a convincing interpretation of the text, supported by reference to the analysis undertaken; prepare a report to a professional standard with clear and grammatical written expression, free from typographical, spelling and punctuation errors; adhere to UTS Harvard referencing conventions and word limit.

Minimum requirements

Students are expected to read the subject outline to ensure they are familiar with the subject requirements. Since class discussion and participation in activities form an integral part of this subject, you are expected to attend, arrive punctually and actively participate in classes. If you experience difficulties meeting this requirement, please contact your lecturer. Students who have a reason for extended absence (e.g., illness) may be required to complete additional work to ensure they achieve the subject objectives.

Attendance is particularly important in this subject because it is based on a collaborative approach which involves essential workshopping and interchange of ideas. Students who attend fewer than ten classes are advised that their final work will not be assessed and that they are likely to fail the subject.

Recommended text(s)

READER
A Reader has been prepared for students of this subject. It contains a selection of articles and chapters to supplement lecture material. It is available for purchase from the UTS Union Shop, Level 3, Tower Building, Broadway. Take your student ID with you and quote CN 3297. It is $26.00.

Indicative references

Abercrombie, N. & Longhurst, B. 1998, Audiences: a sociological theory of performance and imagination, SAGE Publications, London.

Alasuutari, P. (ed.) 1999, Rethinking the media audience: the new agenda. SAGE, London, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Allen, R.C. & A. Hill (eds.) 2004, The television studies reader, Routledge, London & New York.

Barthes, R. 1988, Elements of semiology, The Noonday Press, New York.

Berger, A.A. 2007, Media and society: A critical perspective, 2nd edn, Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, Inc., Plymouth, UK.

Berger, A.A. 2000, Media and communication research methods, Sage Publications, Inc., Thousand Oaks, London & New Delhi.

Bermejo, F. 2007, The Internet audience: Constitution & measurement, Peter Lang, New York.

Bertrand, I. & Hughes, P. 2005, Media research methods: audiences, institutions, texts, Palgrave Macmillan, New York.

Bryant, J. & Zillmann, D. (eds.) 2002, Media effects: Advances in theory and research, 2nd edn, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, New Jersey & London.

Croteau, D. & Hoynes, W. 2003, Media Society: Industries, images, and audiences, 3rd edn, Pine Forge Press, Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi.

Cunningham, S. & Turner, G. (eds.) 2006, The media & communications in Australia, 2nd edn, Allen & Unwin, Crows Nest, Australia.

Dickinson, R., Harindranath, R. & Linne, O. (eds.) 1998, Approaches to audiences: a reader, Arnold, London; New York; Oxford University Press, New York.

Downing, J. (ed.) 2004, The SAGE handbook of media studies, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Ettema, J.S. & Whitney, D.C. (eds.) 1994, Audiencemaking: How the media create the audience, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, London, New Delhi.

Giles, D. 2003, Media psychology, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, NJ & London.

Gillespie, M. & Toynbee, J. (eds.) 2006, Analysing media texts, Open University Press, Berkshire, England.

Gripsrud, J. 2002, Understanding media culture, Arnold, London.

Grossberg, L., Wartella, E. & Whitney, D.C. 2006, Mediamaking: Mass media in a popular culture, 2nd edn, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Hackett, R.A. & Carroll, W.K. 2006, Remaking media: The struggle to democratize public communication, Routledge, New York & London.

Hay, J., Grossberg, L. & Wartella 1996, The audience and its landscape, Westview Press, Boulder, Colorado; Oxford.

Holmes, D. 2005, Communication theory: Media, technology and society, SAGE Publications, London.

Kress, G. & van Leeuwen, T. 2006, Reading images: The grammar of visual design, 2nd edn, Routledge, London & New York.

Lehtonen, M. 2000, Cultural analysis of texts, SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks & New Delhi.

Littlejohn, S.W. & Foss, K.A. 2004, Theories of human communication, 8th edn, Wadsworth Thomson Learning, Belmont, CA.

Livingstone, S. (ed.) 2005, Audience and publics: When cultural engagement matters for the public sphere, Intellect Books, Bristol, GBR.

Martin-Barbero, J. 1993, Communication, culture and hegemony: From the media to mediations, SAGE Publications, London.

McCombs, M. 2004, Setting the agenda: the mass media and public opinion, Polity, Oxford.

McQuail, D. (ed.) 2006, Mass communication, SAGE, London.

McQuail, D. 2005, Mass communication theory, 5th edn, Sage Publications, London.

Perry, D.K. 2002, Theory and research in mass communication: Contexts and consequences, 2nd edn, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, NJ & London.

Preiss, R.W., Gayle, B.M., Burrell, N., Allen, M. & Bryant, J. (eds.) 2007, Mass media effects research: Advances through meta-analysis, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, NJ & London.

Renckstorf, K., McQuail, D. & Jankowski, N. (eds.) 1996, Media use as social action: A European approach to audience studies, John Libbey, London, Paris, Rome.

Rice, R.E. & Atkin, C.K. (eds.) 2000, Public communication campaigns, 3rd edn, SAGE Publications, Thousand Oaks, CA.

Rose, G. 2001, 'Semiology' in Visual methodologies, SAGE Publications, London, Thousand Oaks & New Delhi.

Ruddock, A. 2007, Investigating audiences, SAGE, London.

Rubin, A.M. 1993, 'Audience activity and media use', Communication Monographs, vol. 60, pp. 98-105.

Traudt, P. 2005, Media, audiences, effects, Pearson Education, Boston.

Tremayne, M. (ed.) 2007, Blogging, citizenship, and the future of media, Routledge, New York & London.

van Leeuwen, T. 2005, Introducing social semiotics, Routledge, New York.

Vivian, J. 2009, The media of mass communication, 9th edn, Pearson/Allyn and Bacon, Boston.

Webster, J.G. & Phalen, P.F. 1997, The mass audience: Rediscovering the dominant model, Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Publishers, Mahwah, NJ.

Williams, K. 2003, Understanding media theory, Arnold, London.

Wimmer, R.D. & Dominick, J.R. 2006, Mass media research: An introduction, 8th edn, Wadsworth/Thomson Learning, Belmont, CA.