Essay
Audiences' Response to riots - Radio and Mirror
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QUESTION: How might different audiences respond to The Mirror and Radio 4’s coverage of the riots?
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How might different audiences respond to The Mirror and Radio 4’s coverage of theriots?
There were many different audiences who were invested in the event of the Capitol Hill riots.
Depending on the type of audience and the source of media of which they receive their news
from, audiences may respond to the coverage differently, expressing a variety of behaviours
and reactions. To compare the different audiences, two forms of media including The Mirror,
a tabloid newspaper, and Today Radio 4, a radio programme, will be discussed.
The Mirror has a demographic of a traditional, working-class people around the ages of 30 to
55, who typically have a more liberal approach to contentious concerns. Their views and
values are likely to be left-wing, as a result, they are generally critical of a Conservative
government. The Mirror therefore covers the event of the riot in a way that adheres to its
audiences, so that it can receive positive feedback in order to continue to retain old
audiences as well as gaining new audiences. On the other hand, BBC Radio 4 states that
the ‘average age’ of their audience is 56 years old, although their target audience are people
aged 35 to 54 and are a part of the ABC1 category. The audience is more educated with
better paying jobs, and for that reason, Radio 4 has covered the riots in a way that allows
them to interact with their news with more meaningful, elaborated comments and
discussions.
As newspapers are primarily passive, and The Mirror is a newspaper, its audiences are likely
passive as well since there are very little methods of responding to the newspaper directly.
Passive audiences are therefore rather accepting of the ideology and values that The Mirror
presents without a challenge, and as a result, the audiences may be directly affected by the
newspaper as it could impact the way they think and act. In this case, the audience may be
inclined to believe that Trump is incapable of being a president as he cannot even control his
own supporters. This could be due to the cleverly positioned sentences in the standfirst can
affect the audiences’ views regarding Trump, where the line stating that a woman was
‘reported dead’ is placed immediately after Trump’s direct quote. It communicates to the
audience the impact of Trump’s words, such as his claims of the election being a fraud,
which may pose Trump as the person to blame as the positioning can imply that Trump was
the one responsible for the death. Furthermore, the deliberate word choice of address Trump
as ‘Election loser’ which can either be interpreted as Trump losing the election or that
Trump, as a person, is a loser. The use of a double meaning can convince them to believe
that Trump truly is not fit for president. Passive audiences may also come to believe simply
and blindly that anyone who is a supporter of Trump is capable of and willing to causing
violence. An evidence of The Mirror’s attempt at manipulating the audience is the
sensationalised headline ‘MOB RULE’. To refer to the rioters as a ‘mob’ implies that rioters
are disorderly and chaotic. The negative connotation of a ‘mob’ implies that rioters have no
control over their actions and simply did whatever they wished to do without thinking of the
consequences of their actions. It also indicates that the rioters are not respectable people,
as they are violent, harmful and wish to cause fear upon the innocent. The fact that ‘mob’ is
repeated again in the standfirst reinforces the idea that rioters are violent. In response, the
audience may associate rioters with gangs and therefore feel frightened.
Although audiences of newspapers are generally assumed to be passive, the Uses and
Gratifications model suggests that audiences are not passive but are active agents who
have control over the way they consume media. And, depending on their different needs,
they are able to respond differently. One example of gratification is information. Audiences
read news in the first place to learn and satisfy their curiosity. Certain audiences may be
interested in The Mirror’s newspapers as they prefer the way The Mirror describes and
explains the narrative. To be able to access reports on the events of the Capitol Hill riot may
appease audiences, and in response, they may feel pleasure and satisfaction when reading
the news. Another example is personal identity. It can be said that there are characters
, present in this hard news story that audiences may admire and aspire to be like. For
instance, Trump supporters may identify with the rioters. In this case, it is likely that the
supporters are not a loyal audience to The Mirror but had picked up the newspaper to see
what has occurred in the recent period. They may find that what the rioters have done and
how Trump acted in the follow-ups of the event and what he said is actually right and quite
inspiring. Anger and exasperation had clearly been expressed in the riots, and Trump
supporters may feel the same way about the election. The supporters could potentially
model and imitate the rioters, which the act of it is known as copycat behaviour, in order to
further communicate to everyone else their anger. However, it could also be audiences who
are anti-Trump that personally identify with the police and the members of the House. These
audiences may be supporters of the law or they could have relations with people who are a
member of the police force, and therefore would obviously support their families. In response
to this, audiences may feel positive knowing that the police force is strong and respectable
enough to be able to prevent the rioters from further damaging and injuring others and to
protect the community. On the other hand, however, the audiences may feel disappointed as
they have lost their respect for Trump supporters.
Similarly, audiences of the Today Radio 4 can also be both passive and active. Passive
audiences usually listen to the radio as background noise whilst completing the chores
around the house or whilst driving the car. They do not respond much and may not be
paying attention to the radio at all. However, in this case, Galtung and Ruge’s theory of news
selection may persuade the passive listeners to at least pay attention and accept the words
of the reporters – in which they might look down on the rioters for their careless actions and
appreciate the efforts of the police. It can be said that the riots were not only unexpected but
was also an absolute intense story with references to elite persons and negativity, which
could lead audiences of Today Radio 4 into a moral panic.
Active audiences are much more popular amongst radios, however, and can react more than
one would with a newspaper. The incorporation of rhetorical questions, such as ‘“So can
President Trump remain in office?”’ can mentally engage the audience. In response to the
question, audiences will ponder on the answer. Some audiences may worry that Trump will
for definite remain in the office, and may feel the need to voice their thoughts so that the
idea will be dissuaded. An active audience may gain the gratification of integration and social
interaction through Today Radio 4. A number of people can listen to the same radio at the
same time, such as a family in the same room of the house or in the car. This may raise a
discussion if one person finds an aspect of the radio programme interesting, in this case, the
storming and rioting in Capitol Hill or President Trump’s speeches, and either mention or
question the other people present. Interaction can be continued by building points upon one
another and exchanging different opinions, additionally, agreements and disagreements can
also be made. Audiences who wish to know information about the Capitol Hill riot may listen
to Today Radio 4 in order to gain a better insight on the event, as they can hear the tone of
the reporters, the recordings that were taken during the event and the different viewpoints
belonging to the witnesses. Emotional language and voices said in a sad, tearful tone may
even make the audiences feel more attached to the hard news story, and therefore feel
sympathy for the people present in the event. An evidence of this in Today Radio 4 is the
direct speech of a former White House Advisor: ‘“I don't know what Donald Trump will do
tomorrow; I don’t know what he’ll do the next day.”’ The element of colloquial language
through the use of contractions, ‘don’t’ and ‘he’ll’, adds realism to the story. This may then
position audiences to feel concerned, as they could potentially realise that this is reality and
not just any story. Audiences may even react to the realism by feeling more attached to the
hard news story. The use of anaphora, ‘I don’t know’, reaffirms the advisor’s expression of
unsureness and fear. Some audiences might even find that they personally identify with the
advisor, as they share the same feelings of fear, which could allow audiences to feel
satisfied and comforted knowing that they are not the only ones who worry but that someone
else, with a reputation, also feels the same way. This may position the audience to continue
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