Bandura’s theory suggests that individuals learn by observing other, imitating behaviours and receiving reinforcement like punishment for theory actions. Putting this is the context of media audiences, he believes that media portrayals can influence the audience’s behaviour by providing them with models to imitate. Bandura’s view is different from Shirky and Jenkins view of media audiences because Shirky and Jenkins argue that media audiences don’t just passively absorb the media they are consuming but they rather actively share and remix it in complex ways. In conclusion, they all achnolage the active role of audiences engaging with media, but they differ in how they do it. 

1. The video game industry is continuing to grow and grow due to high engagement, leading to large financial returns for investors (this can be seen with the developer Take-Two having a 60% share price increase in 12 months).

2. Esports is the phrase used for competitions based around video games, usually multiplayer ones. They offer monetary prizes for those that win against other teams. The competitions themselves pull in higher numbers of viewers than some mainstream sport events.

3. New technological developments have meant that consumers can get games through digital stores and can play games on their mobile phones as opposed to buying a console. Additionally, cloud gaming allows consumers to play games without actually downloading anything, through the form of streaming.

4. FPS = First Person Shooter (a game centred on gun combat where the players see things from the POV of the characters) MMORPG = massively multiplayer online role-playing game (any story-driven online video game in which a player, taking on the persona of a character in a virtual or fantasy world, interacts with other players)

Bandura stated that the media can implant ideas directly into the minds of the audience, and that they are likely to mimic what they consume.

Jenkins, on the other hand, believes that audiences see themselves as participants in relation to media consumption, and can have conversations about or challenge what they see, and can make media themselves as opposed to simply consuming it.

Shirky stated that there is no longer any such thing as a passive audiences, hence the rise in popularity of the internet. Because the internet can hold conversations around different types of media through the likes of social media, products like newspapers, films and magazines are becoming more digital.

Because Bandura conducted his tests in the 1960s, long before the internet existed, he did not have the proof of audiences actively challenging the media, hence why he came to the conclusion that they instead simply consume and allow it to influence their behaviour.

A passive audience is one that enters a film and simply seeks out the film for entertainment. They see no deeper meaning or intended meaning from the director, with regards to the text. The film literally washes over them. For example, when you walk out of a film and say “Wow, the action was great in that film!”  

An active audience will look deeper into how the film is constructed. They will most likely know a substantial amount about how the film was made, other films in the franchise, the director’s previous work, the genre to which the film belongs to. They will look more at socio/political and historical contexts of the film and not simply see the film as a product made for mass consumption. For example, “Did you notice the homages made to previous films in Jurassic World? I like how the film made reference to the previous films in the genre, yet stayed original”. 

Explain the ways in which media products are thought to impact on audiences cognitively, affectively and behaviourally?  

the actual force exerted by a media message, resulting in either a change or reinforcement in audience or individual beliefs. 

Active Audience – Engages, interprets and responds to a media text in different ways and is capable of challenging the ideas encoded in it. 

Passive Audience – More likely to accept the messages encoded in a media text without challenge and are therefore more likely to be directly affected by the messages. 

Extension: Explain the ways in which media products are thought to impact on audiences cognitively, affectively and behaviourally? 

Media products can impact audiences because they can provide them with dramaticised information that they believe is factual and real. 

Active audience – when an audience is engaging, interpreting, and responding to media messages and are able to question the message.

Passive audience – An audience that is exposed to media material but doesn’t actively engage with the content or messaging.

Extension task: Explain the ways in which media products are thought to impact on audiences cognitively, affectively and behaviourally?

Media products such as newspapers and magazines can affect audiences cognitively as they provide factual information, meaning that the information involved is more likely to be understood by the audience and they can absorb the information through memorization.

Any media product can impact the audience affectively if the content in the product relates to the viewer.  Media messages can have no effect if no one sees or hears them. However, what the audience chooses to look into depends on their interests, education and work commitments.

Other media products online such as advertising can affect pre-teen and teenage behaviour negatively, including self-image, body image, health and citizenship. Any child’s self-image and body image can be influenced by social media.

Active audience= Active audiences are when an audience is engaging, interpreting, and responding to media messages. They are more likely to develop their own interpretation of a media text based on their beliefs and social context. 

Passive audience= Passive audiences are directly influenced by the messages encoded in media texts because they do not question or challenge those meanings. 

Extension task= Explain the ways in which media products are thought to impact on audiences cognitively, affectively and behaviourally.

I think media products, like video games, are thought to expand people’s knowledge and influence minds in both positive and negative ways. There is an increased belief of potential violence in the real world from watching violent media content leading to anxiety about personal safety.

Task 1:

Explain how Bandura’s view of media audiences is essentially different to that held by Shirky and Jenkins.

Albert Bandura is a psychologist who focuses on people’s behaviours and emphasises the importance of observing, modelling and imitating behaviours/attitudes and emotional reactions of others. His theory considers how both environmental and cognitive factors interact to influence human learning and behaviour. Bandura believes that children observe and learn from the people around them behaving in various ways. Therefore, this links to media audiences as he believes the media can directly ‘implant’ ideas into the mind of audiences. This is different to Shirky and Jenkins view of media audiences.

In contrast, Henry Jenkins believes that the media is one-way communication. This means that the flow of communication was from the media producers (Radio, Newspapers and Magazines for example) to the audiences or receivers. He believes that: ‘Fans produce meanings and interpretations; fans produce artworks; fans produce alternative identities’. In each case, fans are drawing on materials from the dominant media and employing them in ways that serve their own interests and facilitate their own pleasures.

Similarly, Clay Shirky focuses on the death of the mass media and the rising usefulness of networks. He argues that with the advent of digital and social media, audiences no longer play a passive receiving role; they become active participants and content creators. This means that the media is growing and becoming more interactive for audiences.

Task 2:

1. Why, according to the news report, do investors like the Video Games Industry so much?

Investors like the Video games Industry so much because the engagement continues to grow and that could mean big returns for investors interested in the space. It is also one of the fastest growing markets ever.

2. What are e-sports?

E-sports is where people play competitively on a multiplayer game for spectators, and competitions can be held. Usually, these are videoed or live streamed and millions of people enjoy watching.

3. How is new digital media technology changing the way that video games are accessed by consumers? 

Traditionally, consumers used to play on consoles or PCs, but now, the percentage of time spent gaming on mobile devices has increased rather than consoles. Mobiles and tablets have influenced the structure of many industries, and 50% of gaming will be conducted on mobile and tablet devices.

4. What does FPS and MMORP stand for? 

FPS – First Person Shooter. – A game that puts the player in first person whilst containing guns. 

MMORP – Massively Multiplayer Online Role-Playing game.  

Active Audience – audiences who engage, interpret and respond to media texts in different ways and can challenge encoded ideas (e.g. discussing the media products with other audiences).

Passive Audience – audiences that are more likely to accept encoded messages and therefore be directly influenced/affected by them (e.g. simply consuming media then moving on).

Statement of Aims 

I am going to create a cover for a lifestyle and fashion magazine that aims to empower and support women. I am inspired by mainstream magazines like Vogue and Pride as I intend to merge the styles and conventions of both. I aim to target a demographic audience of primarily women aged 18-35 who enjoy fashion and support some feminist ideologies. 

I plan to do this through featuring a female cover star and including coverlines which appeal to audiences of all ages. My intention for my final product is to have one singular cover image of a girl in her late teens (a mid-shot), gently resting her chin on the top of her hand, staring endearingly into the camera.  The direct mode of address creates a captivating atmosphere to engage audiences and appeal to both female and male demographics. Her chin resting on top of her hand conveys an idea of her staring into a mirror admiring herself (as if being looked at through the female gaze). This supports the aims and intended purpose of the magazine of self-empowerment and encourages its readers to do the same. As for my cover star’s image, she will wear a low cut, pink top with her hair free and down and minimal, dainty jewelry. This will portray her as stereotypically feminine and appeal to similar audiences as they may relate to her, linking to personal identity of uses and gratifications theory and attract a younger demographic. I intend to keep the background of my cover image a simple baby pink to provide a clear focus on the cover star and comply with common conventions of such lifestyle and fashion magazines. The price of my magazine comes to £7.50, suggesting it is a well-established and popular magazine which is foregrounded by the strapline “celebrating 15 years of success”. 

My masthead will be called “aura” which symbolizes the supportive and self-empowering atmosphere and audience. The serif fonts represent the magazine as stereotypically feminine and “girly”, which is emphasized through the colour scheme of pinks, white and grey which further connote accepting your femininity and appealing audiences which such ideologies. My cover lines will consist of themes of self-love, famous feminists and topics such as hair stylists, fashion advice and rom-com movie sneak peaks. An example of some of these being the pull quote “spoiler alert!” in relation to an upcoming romantic movie called ‘Taste of Lust’. This suggests that this is an exclusive offer, and fans of the genre must buy the magazine to witness the sneak peek. Another cover line will include mentions of the magazine’s favourite hair stylists, this encourages sales as the reader may possibly admire to have similar hair to the cover star and so will purchase the magazine to achieve that dream. Although many of the cover lines will contain similar content, it creates a well-established representation of the inside of the magazine and will attract their preferred audience and the small variety of content they do cover will attract a wider demographic of new readers and broaden their audience.