Reception theory

Preferred, negotiated and oppositional readings.




Preferred reading: The meaning that the producers want you to think is that 50 cent is a famous guy with wealth and in some what power too. Reebok is trying to send the message that their brand is somewhat successful by using a successful figure on their advert.

Negotiated reading: Some people can suggest that the 'i am what i am' could be a bad thing since the fingerprints in the background may provide a criminal history for him and he's basically saying that he is a criminal and that's just how he is. Others may take it in a good way that he is what he is and he can't change that so he may as well accept the fact and learn to live with it and that message could be spread out to the audience by basically telling them to accept who they are in this world.

Oppositional reading: The fingerprints again provide a criminal history and some people may think that reebok is implying that they agree with the things that he did. It could also come across to the audience that reebok could be associated with crime by using 50 cent in an advert.


Preferred reading: The meaning that is meant to come across and that is seen by an audience is that their hot ketchup really is hot that it will burn your chip. It could come across to the audience that their ketchup is what it is says it is.

Negotiated reading: Some people probably see this product as too spicy by seeing what it did to this chip but others might be interested in trying this product for the experience.

Oppositional reading: Some people may see the ketchup as dangerous or bad as it could possibly ruin your food since the chip in the picture is burned. This may put people off this product since they don't want to ruin their food.




1) Complete Activity 1 on page 2 of the factsheet. Choose a media text you have enjoyed and apply the sender-message-channel-receiver model to the text. There is an example of how to do this in the factsheet (the freediving YouTube video).


The SENDER are the youtube video creators, Wicked Wombat


The MESSAGE is showing viewers animals that have been freed for the first time.


The CHANNEL is Youtube aswell as the internet.


The RECEIVER is the person who watches the video


2) What are the definitions of 'encoding' and 'decoding'?
Encoding is constructing a message using a shared code and language. Decoding is when someone reads it and shares the cultural undertsanding.

3) Why did Stuart Hall criticize the sender-message-channel-receiver model?
He didn't believe that the message had a fixed meaning. He felt that meaning was being produced in the spaces between this relationship in a dynamic way that was varied depending on who was to receive the message.

4) What was Hall's circuit of communication model?
He believed there were different ways to interpret media:

Production: Includes technical skills, production methods, marker research and assumptions about who will be consuming the text

Circulation: The way an audience perceives a text. A text that reaches an intended audience has been successfully circulated.

Distribution: The point where the audience receive and interpret the text.

Reproduction: The way the media and culture might shape their communication of ideas.

5) What does the factsheet say about Hall's Reception theory?
It says that reception theory challenged the idea that audiences all understood media texts in a similar way. It's a way of exploring connections and relationships in the decoding process. It also says that reception theory is a core part of his work because he believes that media products have more than one meaning making them polysemic.


6) Look at the final page. How does it suggest Reception theory could be criticized?
Not everyone will understand the original meaning.