Reception Theory - A1

Reception Theory

Reception Theory by Stuart Hall asserts that media texts are encoded and decoded. The producer encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. Different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended.

Audience members adopt one of the following three positions when they decode the text:

• Dominant - how the producer wants the audience to view the media text. Audience members will take this position if the messages are clear and if the audience member is the same age and culture; if it has an easy-to-follow narrative and if it deals with themes that are relevant to the audience.
• Oppositional Reading - when the audience rejects the preferred reading and creates their own meaning for the text. This can happen if the media contains controversial themes that the audience member disagrees with. It can also arise when the media has a complex narrative structure perhaps not dealing with themes in modern society. Oppositional reading can also occur if the audience member has different beliefs or is of a different age or a different culture.
• Negotiated Reading - a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, where the audience accepts parts of the producer's views but has their own views on parts as well. This can occur if there is a combination of some of the above e.g. audience member likes the media, is of the same age as you and understands some of the messages, but the narrative is complex and this inhibits full understanding.

Many factors could affect whether the audience takes the dominant, oppositional or negotiated reading:

• Age
• Belief
• Culture
• Gender
• Life experience
• The mood at the time of viewing

Apply Stuart Hall's Reception Theory to the Daily Mail newspaper.

According to the Reception Theory, the editor encodes messages and values into their media which are then decoded by the audience. Different audience members will decode the media in different ways and might not be the way the producer originally intended. This is evident in The Daily Mail as the editors often encode specific messages into the newspaper. 

Since The Daily Mail is socially, economically and politically conservative and backs the Conservative Party in politics, their viewpoint is extremely right-wing. The front covers regularly report about politics including pro-Brexit comments, criticize the EU regulation and laws, discuss the Royal family and celebrity gossips as well as attacking the Labour Party, people who have a left-wing political stance, immigrants, the IGBT community, etc. When encoding the meanings, they hope that their audience will support their point of view and decode the same intended messages. In order to persuade and make their values clear and evident, the editor often uses strong emotive, persuasive language and other techniques that attempt to stir the emotions of the readers. 

Due to the fact that the editor’s opinions will affect how people view the newspaper and its values, the readers may adopt three positions when they decode the text: Dominant Reading, Negotiated reading and Oppositional Reading. Therefore, The Daily Mail want the audience to adopt the first reading, which is the Dominant Reading as it is how the editor wants them to view the media text. To make the audience members take this position, the messages within the newspaper are clear, has an easy-to-follow narrative and deal with themes that are relevant to the audience. Moreover, The Daily Mail is a tabloid, which includes short stories using simple language and has more pictures than other newspapers, making it much easier for the viewers to understand and absorb the information.