Browse Hierarchy CMC5008: Audiences, Users and Producers

The aim of this module is to address the role of the audience in mass communication, and how understanding of this has shaped approaches to research. It will examine ways in which the media audience has been conceptualised, from early reception studies, through audience ethnographies to more recent constructionist approaches. Students will consider cultural functions of the media in the contemporary world and the increasingly creative and participative role of the audience in the digital age. Students will also develop understanding of the ways in which audiences have been researched and apply their understanding of theory and method in researching their own and others' media consumption. This is a Level 5 module appropriate for those interested in the ways audiences have been understood and researched from a range of stakeholder perspectives. Its focus on the relationship between theory and method in research means it extends work done in Academic Literacies and supports the compulsory Level 6 Research Project module. It also allows students to integrate understanding gained in Digital Media and Youth Identities, and Research Methods.