The word audience has long been familiar as the collective term for the 'receivers’ in the model of mass communication process (source, channel, message, receiver, effect). It is a term that is understood by media practitioners and theorists alike and has entered into everyday usage; however, there is much room for differences of meaning, misunderstandings, and theoretical conflicts. In Audience Analysis, author Denis Mc Quail provides a coherent and succinct account of the concept 'media audience’ in terms of its history and its place in present-day media theory and research. He describes and explains the main types of audience, alternative theories about the audience, and the main traditions and fields of audience research. This informative volume explains the contrast between social scientific and humanistic approaches and gives due weight to the view 'from the audience, ’ as well as the view 'from the media.’ It summarizes key research findings and assesses the impact of new media developments, especially transnationalization and new interactive technology. Finally, the volume concludes with an evaluation of the continued relevance of the audience concept under conditions of rapid media change. Providing both an overview of past research and a guide to current thinking, Audience Analysis will be enlightening to academics and students in the fields of mass communication and media studies.
Spis treści
A Concept with a History
The Audience in Communication Theory and Research
Typologies of Audience
Questions of Media Reach
Principles of Audience Formation and Continuity
Audience Practices
Social Uses of the Media
Communicator – Audience Relations
The Audience in Flux
The Future of the Audience Concept
O autorze
Denis Mc Quail (1935-2017) was Emeritus Professor at the School of Communication Research (ASCOR) University of Amsterdam and Visiting Professor in the Department of Politics at the University of Southampton. He studied history and sociology at the University of Oxford and received his Ph.D. from the University of Leeds. He is an Honorary Doctor of the University of Gent. He has published widely in the field of media and communication, with particular reference to audience research, media policy and performance, and political communication. His most recent book publication is Mc Quail′s Media and Mass Communication Theory, 7th edition., SAGE, 2020, co-authored by Mark Deuze.