Week Eight: audiences!
May 18, 2009
Couldry, Nick. “The extended audience: scanning the horizon.” In Gillespie, Marie. Ed. Media audiences. Berkshire: Open University Press, 2005, 185-196 & 210-220
After establishing the ideas of types of audiences that have existed historically, Couldry introduces various concepts, such as the ‘diffused audience’, ‘extended audience’, and ‘media culture’. With the introduction of new media, particularly mobile media, the nature of audience interaction with media content has changed significantly, questioning traditional roles in power and the extent of interaction and control that the audience has.
The audience has become more involved in the production of the media content they interact with. In fact, even as I type up this post, I am a clear example of how audience contribution has changed, where traditionally, I would merely be able to view web sites, but here I can contribute to the types of media that is viewed on the internet. The audience relationship is an extremely important aspect of the media industry, and many complexities have risen in their role as technology has changed. Youtube is another prominent example of how audiences have become an intrinsic aspect of a wider ‘media culture’, becoming “produsers” and having significant input in the media industry.
I think that the changing roles of the audience have been allowed by the increasing interactivity provided by both changing technology and the responses from the industry to these changing technologies. Couldry’s article brings up the question of how audiences will continue to change as technology evolves. The line separating audience and the creation of various media has become extremely blurred, and self-production is increasingly common. The role of the audience becomes a question of power, which Couldry also explores, as the audience have a clear control over media, through the remote control as well as personal viewing over the internet.
Within our culture today, we are constantly audience members of some form of media or another. We demand control but with this knowledge, industry’s have to exercise their power in public spaces, through huge amounts of advertising, which are being moved to the digital. Media is being thrown at us every day, through mobile phones and advertising, showing us that being part of a media audience is inescapable.
