Cultural Proximity and Audience Behavior: The Role of Language in Patterns of Polarization and Multicultural Fluency

Ksiazek, Thomas B.; Webster, James G.

doi:10.1080/08838150802205876

Cited by 65 publications

(42 citation statements)

References 16 publications

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“…Language and cultural proximity are also powerful determinants of media use (Straubhaar, 2003). Within the United States, the growing availability of Spanish‐language programing has effectively segregated Hispanic and non‐Hispanic audiences (Ksiazek & Webster, 2008). Only a few with sufficient multicultural fluency seem to move between those environments.…”

Section: Emerging Patterns Of Public Attention In the Digital Environmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Duality of Media: A Structurational Theory of Public Attention

Webster

2011

Communication Theory

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139

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Digital media offer countless options that compete for a limited supply of public attention. The patterns of use that emerge in this environment have important social implications, yet the factors that shape attendance are not well integrated into a single theoretical model. This article posits such a theory using Giddens's notion of structuration as an overarching framework. It identifies public measures that distill and report user information as a pivotal mechanism that coordinates and directs the behaviors of both media providers and media users, thus promoting the duality of media. The theory is then used to understand evolving patterns of public attention in the digital media environment.Digital technologies offer a seemingly endless supply of media that compete for public attention. Commentators have variously celebrated or decried this new world of media, though all seem to recognize that patterns of use will be central to understanding the media's social impact. This article argues that public attention is the result of a structurational process in which institutions and users mutually construct the media environment. Central to this process are two types of public measures. The first, market information regimes, provide media institutions with the data they need to monitor and respond to the marketplace. The second, user information regimes, are new measures that offer consumers tools to navigate the digital environment. All such regimes are socially constructed and potentially biased. Increasingly, though, they determine how things come to public attention.To explore the forces that shape public attention, this article proceeds in four sections. First, it defines public attention and makes a case that it is an important, but underdeveloped, concept in media studies. Second, it outlines a theory of public attention that is derived from Giddens's (1984) work on the duality of structure and the literature on media industries and audience behavior. Third, it demonstrates the ways in which public measures affect the duality of media systems. Finally, it considers how structurational processes shape three socially consequential patterns of

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Section: Emerging Patterns Of Public Attention In the Digital Environmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Duality of Media: A Structurational Theory of Public Attention

Webster

2011

Communication Theory

Self Cite

139

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“…Additionally, contrary to cultural proximity postulations, domestically produced television content has not triumphed over foreign media content in many parts of Africa. Unlike in Europe and Latin-America where longitudinal studies in individual countries have revealed that audiences have strong affi nity to local and regional productions (Ksiazek & Webster 2008), the situation in Africa is diff erent. Media audience in Africa largely prefer foreign (Western) content and local producers are shaping media output according to audience preference (Endong, 2014;Haynes, 2011).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 94%

Local reception of global media texts: Telenovelas as sites of cultural mixture in Ghana

Tindi

Ayiku

2018

Legon J. Hum.

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Telenovelas have had phenomenal success as global media texts, but their continuous export to Africa has signifi cant cultural implications. Using hybridity theory and Stuart Hall's encoding/decoding model of audience reception, this paper assessed the extent to which Simply Maria, an 'indigenised' telenovela of Mexican origin, infl uenced the local identity of Ghanaian viewers and the mechanisms through which this occurred. Interviews with regular viewers revealed that the telenovela shaped views about personal identity. This occurred through internalisation, value-based evaluations and identifi cation with characters. Viewers decoded the telenovela from a negotiated position, a development which calmed the homogenising currents of globalisation feared by cultural theorists.

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“…Existing studies of audience duplication focused on measuring levels of overlapping audiences between pairs of channels or programs (Cooper, 1996;Ksiazek & Webster, 2008;Rust, 1986;Webster, 2006;Webster & Lin, 2002;Webster, Phalen & Lichty, 2006). Because the unit of analysis was limited to channel or program pairs, the researchers did not have the means to detect and examine audience duplication patterns that may exist across more than two channels.…”

Section: Other General Network Parametersmentioning

confidence: 99%