Table of Contents

1. History and Concept of the Audience
PART I. AUDIENCES AS OBJECTS
2. Effects of Media Messages
PART II. AUDIENCES AS INSTITUTIONAL CONSTRUCTIONS
3. Public Opinion and Audience Citizenship
4. Media Ratings and Target Marketing
PART III. AUDIENCES AS ACTIVE USERS OF MEDIA
5. Uses and Gratifications
6. Interpreting and Decoding Mass Media Texts
7. Reception Contexts & Media Rituals
PART IV. AUDIENCES AS PRODUCERS AND SUBCULTURES
8. Media Fandom and Audience Subcultures
9. Online, Interactive Audiences in a Digital Media World
10. Conclusion: Audience Agency in New Contexts

About the Author

John L. Sullivan is Associate Professor of Media & Communication at Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA. He earned his B.A. in German and Media Studies from Pomona College and his M.A. and Ph.D. in Communication from the Annenberg School for Communication at the University of Pennsylvania. Dr. Sullivan’s research explores the links between media industries and systems of social and economic power. More specifically, he focuses on audience constructions within media organizations, the implementation of U.S. media policies, and the political economy of cultural production. Recently, Dr. Sullivan has begun a longer-term project to study the political economy of free, open source software (F/OSS) movements.