Problem
Media Audiences and Users
Implied Audience Analysis
An implied audience is one that is imagined, usually by media producers, industries, or policy makers. It is defined by assumptions about how individuals normally receive media and communications, and can be identified by analyzing the form, content, and other characteristics of a media work.
Using the articles "Audiences: A Sociological Theory of Performance and Imagination" by Nicholas Abercrombie, Brian Longhurst and "Encoding/Decoding" by Stuart Hall, write an analysis of the implied audience of the show "Grey's Anatomy". Include a thesis with a clear argument about how your implied audience works that is supported through the analysis. Cite at least 3 relevant scholarly sources. Your analysis should be grounded in the concepts explored in the first module of the course.
Course concepts:
Media effects and content analysis
The media effects paradigm: the audiences in the media effects paradigm
Answer the following with specific examples from the series you are studying:
i. What are the characteristics of the implied audience? Is the audience tightly defined demographically, or is the series intended for a broad audience? Are there specific values, norms, ideologies, or attitudes that this audience is expected to have?
ii. What is the implied audience's expected experience of the series (e.g., access conditions, activity levels, behavior, social engagement) and reception context?
iii. How are the implied audience and its experience realized through the properties of the medium or the content of the series?
iv. Who has a stake in this implied audience's construction, how have they shaped its creation, and why? (e.g., industry, advertising, educational institutions, political parties, etc.)