What is the role of audience in media
The relationship with audience members is very important for media. Media develop content about and for their audience. With the fragile situation in which many media find themselves, this relationship has however become even more important. Show Audience-first CultureOne of the main factors that allow a media business to grow (in terms of audience numbers, partnerships with others and revenue) is the extent to which the medium is able to put the audience members (or clients) at the core of everything. Media today do so by constantly analysing: What does the audience need? How is what we give to the audience different from what others are offering? How can we optimise the experience the audience has when engaging with our medium and our content? To answer these questions, media engage more with their audiences, in addition to gathering data on their audiences through digital metrics or traditional audience research. Especially in contexts in which it is difficult for a medium to get in touch with audience members (because of the safety situation for example), it is important to find ways to gather information about the audience to prevent the media business from steering blindly. Understanding the audience is an important aspect of a media business model. Audience EngagementAudience engagement is about making the communication with the audience a two-way communication, rather than one-way communication. Traditionally, media have been sending information to their audiences. With the digital transformation, media can now also use their audience to obtain reliable information, but also engage with audiences (online) to build more loyal and lasting relationships. Audience engagement can bring several advantages to a medium (also depending on the type of engagement), including:
Audience engagement can be quite time-consuming. A media outlet will need to invest the time of at least one person (partially) to for example reply to comments online. The engagement needs to be sustained over time in order to gain results. Therefore, the main cost of audience engagement is time and patience. Audience (or Community) SupportMany of the successful media today are able to gather much support from audiences, bringing audience members together as a community. Even though the path towards generating revenue through membership models and donations is a long one – in which building trust with the audience and putting them first is vital – media indicate that the effort is worth it. When it comes to debating the field of media development, we can identify a significant lack of audience research – both in academia and in grey literature. We can detect the consequences of this gap for project design and policy making and also for broader efforts to integrate media into governance debates. So what about bringing back the audience? Audience research here refers to two things: firstly, research measuring changing levels of media consumption amongst target audiences, and secondly, the (often qualitative) research which seeks to understand the complex, contingent and context-specific ways in which citizens make use of the media, both within governance processes and as part of their daily lives. While the lack of evidence has been noted before, the extent of this gap has never been directly investigated. An analysis of recently published scoping reviews of the relevant literature shows that:
These scoping reviews show that robust audience research is lacking in the field of media development. In an era of evidence-based policy making, this is problematic for those wishing to raise the profile of media in debates about governance. Equally, for those seeking to design effective media development interventions, there is insufficient evidence to explain the precise ways in which, and circumstances under which, media may contribute to good governance (and vice versa). This lack of detailed audience research is also important for challenging optimistic and universalizing normative ideals about the role that media should play in promoting good governance. The theory of 'media imperialism' was one of the dominant paradigms of development communication in the 1970s. It was claimed that, influenced by the dominance of mass media in more powerful countries, an exploitative capitalist and Western culture was spread to less powerful ones. This theory rested, at least partly, on the assumption that Western ideology was carried by mainstream media and injected into the minds of non-Western audiences. The fallacy of this assumption was exposed by a number of audience studies which revealed the dynamics and complexities of the ways in which different audiences interpret content. In the same way, audience research that focuses on the perspectives of ordinary citizens will likely expose and challenge the underlying assumptions within media development. Within the wider governance research agenda, for example, research which has adopted the perspective of citizens or end users has successfully challenged the traditional state-centric view of governance and instead highlighted the importance of hybrid and informal systems of governance. Recommendations for future audience research in the field of media development.
Of course, generating research that takes into account even some of these issues will inevitably require a significant amount of resources. However, research has shown that rigorous audience research may refute various assumptions underlying media development projects and therefore contribute to significant improvements in project and program planning. In addition, supporting an independent and reliable audience research sector in developing countries would be an important step towards a transparent and sustainable media market in developing countries. This article is part of the #mediadev series "Building coalitions for media reform" where experts from the field of media, academia and development discuss the impact and interaction of media with other governance issues - and how media can fit into the broader development agenda. Why is an audience important?Why is My Audience Important? Knowing your audience helps you to make decisions about what information you should include, how you should arrange that information, and what kind of supporting details will be necessary for the reader to understand what you are presenting.
How does the audience influence the media?Audiences actively choose what to watch, which is influenced by their interests, age, gender, education etc. Censorship may also deny some groups access to certain content, thus denying them exposure. An example of this is with age-graded media content which parents might prevent their children from watching.
What is the importance of audience to broadcasting?The opinion of the audience is important for those who create news as whether the news is interesting or not depends the rating of the show. If people are not interested in watching this specific show, it means that the team failed to cope with the task, to search for the data which may be interesting for people.
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