Media and Its Audience. Beneficiary or Victim?

Essay from the year 2017 in the subject Communications - Mass Media, grade: NA, course: Media, Journalism, Mass Communication, language: English, abstract: The essay will first of all attempt to answer the question: "What is audience?" Next, it will probe in to the origin of the word "audience" and the gradually evolved uses of it and will go on to describe the various conceptions of audience. The essay also looks at medias conception of audience. Measurement of audience is another important point that will be considered and then the question is posed: "Is audience research important?" It is also important to discuss the power of the audiences and the future of the audience concept. Contemporary media scene is one of convergence mainly technological and corporate. Audience studies have always faced certain fluidity due to the dynamic nature of audience itself. This is more pronounced in the age of media convergence. All the same the paper will make an attempt to understand the phenomenon of audience - meaning, origin, and nature. Conceptions of audience are multiple. Contemporary audience phenomenon is characterized by massification. Massification has led to commodification conveniencing media houses and advertising firms to measure it, which in turn helps to rate various programmes, especially on broadcast media. Of course, the power of the mass audience cannot be underestimated especially with the emergence of New Media, through social networking sites. Surely, audience fragmentation and polarization is an unavoidable fact arising from the contemporary mushrooming of media outlets. This poses numerous difficulties in the area of audience research - researching for audience and for commercial interests. The commercial research and audience measurement turns audience in to a market.