Active & Passive Audiences.

2 a/b) The Hypodermic syringe model tells us that the media is dangerous an can influence other people to do things. I good example of this is a video game awhile back which was released in 2005 named "Bully". It involved being a teenager in a school campus , in america who would "Bully" other students and play pranks. There was some uproar in the media that this game had influenced children to commit such acts and even though it was just a comical game made by Rockstar Games , some say it had still influenced children in society to do bad things.

Another example of this , is the school shootings in america , and because the person who killed those children had a gun it was seem to have been to do with Call Of Duty , which is a popular First Person Shooter war game , which in my opinion had nothing to do with what actually happened but going back to the Hypodermic Syringe model , it says the media is "dangerous" because of the influences caused but in this case it had absolutely nothing to do with the actual game Call Of Duty.

Another theory is the Cultivation Model. This theory has been portrayed as believing everything what the media says. For example when the Hillsborough disaster happened back in 1989 , The sun newspaper made up lies saying the fans caused the disaster. Which then made people around the country believe it , just because a popular newspaper had written it. I think that this is a theory which in some aspects is quite scary because the media can get lies , to become a true story.

3. Active audience reception is an audience who has their own opinions , on a text and doesn't go off what other people say for example if it was a film , a reviewer on the internet. They would have to find out for themselves. This is an audience who are also free-willed.

Passive audience is an audience who is controlled by what other people , do and think. Never have their own opinion on something , and always go off what someone else says , again for example if a film was reviewed bad , they would also take that review and say it was bad themselves without even seeing it.

4. I think violence on television doesn't influence people in society to go and commit the same acts. But TV and video games are often blamed for doing this for no reason. For example when I play Grand Theft Auto , I don't get the need to steal a strangers car , or shoot someone. But because TV and video games are sometimes based around violence , they're often an easy target to blame , when in my opinion I think that it's stupid.

5. I think Active audiences are more acceptable than passive audiences , because your own opinion matters , you can't live life by going of what other people think , without trying it yourself , and being part of a passive audience in society , you're not being normal ,  everybody has a right to have their own opinion on something , and shouldn't go off what other people think. Because a well known passive audiences is readers of the sun newspaper , back in 1989 , the newspaper saying "All Scousers were thieves" and the audience believed it , just because it was a popular newspaper which had been around for awhile so going off what other people think isn't a good idea.

6.

A media text I enjoy is a program for car enthusiasts by the BBC named "Top Gear". Using the Uses and Gratifications Model I think Top Gear is in the Information / Surveillance category and also the Escapism/Entertainment. Firstly Top Gear gives the information to people in Facts. Because this is a car reviewing program it will often include what the top speed of the car they're reviewing is , who it's built by and how much it costs. They also have a news section of the program which talks about the latest cars coming in later years and again how much they cost etc. Also I chose the entertainment category because they often have to do little tasks which are sometimes done for seasonal specials. For example , Go to America and buy a car for $1000 , and then the audience is watching how they embark on a road trip ,and the challenges they face on the way. This is engaging the audience , and the audience will want to carry on watching to find out what antics will they face next.

7. a ) A preferred reading to this advert would be to not smoke or stop smoking , because it's using shock tactics to scare the average smoking into stopping. The advert shows a man with a hook coming out of his mouth and the slogan "Get unhooked " is there , implying to get unhooked from smoking , because there is then a fact which is provided "The average smoker needs over five thousand cigarettes a year" which is another scare tactic used by the NHS.


b) An oppositional reading to this advert would be that the hook is the mans mouth in the ad , doesn't give us a message to do anything . You have to read the slogan to gather what it is actually about. It's providing help but some smokers may ignore it , as smoking adverts are usually graphic and show lungs , so not that good shock tactics are used in this one.