Introductory description

In this module we will reflect on the nature of media audiences and how they accept, reject or reinterpret the messages they receive from global media producers of TV, music and film. We will explore how message makers or producers (artists, broadcasters, filmmakers, advertisers, etc) try, and sometimes fail, to shape and adapt their messages for different social and cultural contexts. In so doing we will pay attention to the relationships between cultural identities and cultural products which help to form them, and reflect on how transformations in the global commercial production of media are related to social identity (national, regional, individual, communal). Taking a holistic view of the audience, we consider the ways in which cultural consumption challenges established regimes of meaning as well as shapes emergent communities.

Module web page

Module aims

Outline syllabus

This is an indicative module outline only to give an indication of the sort of topics that may be covered. Actual sessions held may differ.

The current syllabus will remain, albeit with minor changes reflecting changing conditions and current affairs (i.e. a tutor's regular updating of module content).
Week One: Introduction and Defining ‘the Global Audience’
Week Two: Knowing the Media Audience
Week Three: Research Methods / Dimensions of Culture
Week Four: The Global Consumer and the Problem of Abundance
Week 5: The Global Audience for TV and Music
Week Six: tutorial and group work week
Week 7: Brands and Publics: Global Audiences in Digital Economies
Week 8: Audiences and the City
Weeks 9 and 10: Student presentations

Learning outcomes

By the end of the module, students should be able to:

• Demonstrate knowledge of a range of disciplinary perspectives on ‘the audience’ in the context of global cultural production
• Articulate an understanding of the complex issues involved in the cross-cultural transmission of media communication and cultural products
• Demonstrate an understanding of the concept of cultural identity in global and mediated contexts
• Work collaboratively with others in seminar discussion
• Reason critically and debate interpretations
• Construct a theoretically and empirically informed argument

Indicative reading list

Reading lists can be found in Talis

Subject specific skills

The module will draw on the traditions of reception and audience research as they have been shaped by media and cultural studies as well as anthropology and sociology. We also touch on influential perspectives that advertising and marketing sectors have drawn on in addressing and ‘solving’ the problem of the audience. We will also host sessions on practical work with audiences through hands-on case studies.

Transferable skills

The module will equip the student with the necessary skills and knowledge for essay writing, presentational skills, collaborative working and questioning assumptions.

It will enhance an ability to understand and situate existing research publications, used by a range of agencies and researchers, advocates and consultancy experts, for debate and analysis of media in a global context of consumption.

It will enhance skills in the processes and challenges of researching cultural issues in relation to political ones, and in the context of large organisational and market factors.