Blumler and Katz Theory - Uses and Gratifications

The Uses and Gratifications model represented a change in thinking, as researchers began to describe the effects of the media from the point of view of audiences.

The model looks at the motives of the people who use the media, asking why we watch the television programmers that we do, why we bother to read newspapers, why we find ourselves so compelled to keep up to date with our favourite soap.

Blumler and Katz in 1974 argued that audience needs have social and psychological origins which generate certain expectations about the mass media, leading to differential patterns of media exposure which result in both the gratification of needs and in other consequences that are often unintended. This assumes an active audience are making motivated choices.

The idea behind the model is that people are motivated by a desire the model is that people are motivated by a desire to fulfil, or gratify certain needs. So rather than asking how the media uses us, the model ask how we us the media. The model is broken down into four different needs.

-Surveillance

- Personal Identity

- Personal Relationships

- Diversion

Surveillance -  The surveillance need is based around the idea that people feel better having the feeling that they know what is going on in the world around them. 

The surveillance model is all about awareness. We use the mass media to be more aware of the world, gratifying a desire for knowledge and security. 

We can associate to the dominant messages of conforming via the dominant ideologies given in media texts such as music videos. 

Person Identity -  The personal identity need explains how being a subject of the media allows us to reaffirm the identity and positioning of ourselves within society.

The use of the media for forming personal identity can be seen in music videos/film. Pop stars can often becoming big roles models. inspiring young children everywhere (an outcry occurs when one of them does something wrong.)

Personal Relationships -  We can form relationships with the media and also use the media to form relationships with others.

Many people use the television as a form of companionship. This may seem sad, but think about how many times you've watched the TV on your own, or with other people but sitting in silence. The television is often quite an intimate experience, and by watching the same people on a regular basis we can often feel very close to them, as if we even know them. When presenters or characters in a soap die, those who have watched that person a lot often grieve for the character, as if they have lost a friend.

The more we watch the same personalities, the more we feel we get to know them. Reality TV shows such as Big Brother give us such a feeling of intimacy with the participants that they can become part of our lives. Even though the relationship is completely one sided, its easy to see how we can fall in love with TV presenters.