Media Studies A-Level
Decoding and preferred meaning
What Decoding and preferred meaning means in Media Studies A-Level, as defined for AQA.
Definition of Decoding and preferred meaning
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Read the wording for your board, then hide it and explain Decoding and preferred meaning in your own words. Rough notes are fine. This is a self-check, with no mark or grade.
Reference: AQA
Conditions of consumption shape how a text is decoded because they affect attention, expectation and the frameworks an audience brings, steering a reading towards or away from the preferred meaning.
Topics that use Decoding and preferred meaning
- Reception theory (AQA A-Level)
Related terms
- Framing
- Place, device and social setting
- Reception theory
- Relationship between framing and agenda setting
- Salience
- Variation in audience reception
- Agenda setting
- Conditions of consumption
Using Decoding and preferred meaning in the exam
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