War of the Worlds (Reception Theory) - A1

“Media audiences always respond to media products in the way that producers intended.” To what extent do you agree with this statement? In your answer, refer to your Close Study Products War of the Worlds (1938). 

Media producers encode meanings and messages into their products in hopes that the audience will decode them in the same intended way. Though some will respond accordingly, media audiences are proven to be active and may have different viewpoints on the product. Therefore, I disagree with the statement that media consumers’ responses are the same as the producers. This theory can also be applied to the War of the Worlds radio broadcast to some extent.

According to Stuart Hall’s Reception Theory, audiences might adopt three different readings while consuming media products. The dominant or preferred reading by the audience is the one intended by the creator of the 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. For instance, Orson Welles’ intention was to offer audiences an unconventional hybrid broadcast and people with a dominant reading would find it enjoyable and entertaining. However, a person might read it in an oppositional way and create their own reading depending upon factors such as their age, gender, culture, life experience as well as the mood at the time of viewing. For example, audiences with an oppositional reading would reject the radio broadcast and think that it is inappropriate, misleading and may cause chaos and misunderstanding. Media audiences may also have a compromise between the dominant and oppositional readings, in which they accept parts of the producer's views, but has their own perspectives on the product. Thus, audiences who adopt the negotiated reading would agree that the War of the Worlds is an enjoyable and amazing radio broadcast, but think that it could make people misunderstand since they were all anxiously waiting for updates on the war.

To conclude, Stuart Hall suggests that even though media producers encode clear messages and values into their media for the audience to decode, different audience members will decode the media in different ways and possibly not in the way the producer originally intended due to a wide range of factors. Therefore, I do not agree with the statement above.