What is the 'Reception' theory?
Stuart Hall, a former media presenter, suggested that media texts contain a variety of messages that are embedded by producers and then uncovered by audiences. This means that the producers are relaying messages which they want people to subconsciously understand from the media they are consuming without them realizing. There are 3 types of people who may receive these subliminal messages: dominant reader, negotiated reader and oppositional reader.
How can this theory be applied?
A person watching a tv show may take it as face value and understand the message being put out by the producers with the same intention (this would be called a dominant reader. Another person watching the same tv show may understand different messages throughout, some which may align with the intent of the producer and some which may not (this would be called a negotiated reader). Lastly, another person may watch the same tv show and completely reject the message being put across by the producer or may find opposing messages in it instead (this would be called an oppositional reader).
What are the weaknesses of this theory?
Some people may argue that certain media texts were created without a specific meaning or encoded message, and not to assume that all texts will contain one.
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