Ang on: The Politics Of Media Research

It may be argued that one of Ang's most acclaimed articles concerns the topic of empirical audience research. In short, the way in which media audiences are studied and therefore represented when analysing a media text or format. The article entitled On the Politics of Empirical Audience Research analyses the work of David Morley, a respected media researcher. In the article, Ang discusses the ethical and political issues surrounding audience research in media studies. In particular, she criticises commercial research that is purely based on statistics and ratings. Saying that to achieve a "critical" and empirically valid analysis of an audience, qualitative data must be used.This is because Ang agrees with Morley's reasoning; that ratings analysis does not account the social, political and environmental context of how a member of a media audience receives the product in question. It is therefore logical that qualitative data (in the form of interviews and questionnaires) would provide a much more detailed and valid analysis of the way in which audiences receive media products.

Ang also expands on Morley’s work in this article. She focusses on the difference between “mainstream” and “critical” research, saying that: 

“I am proposing an open and contextual definition of critical research, one that does not allow itself to rest easily on pre-existent epistemological foundations but, on the contrary, is reassessed continuously according to the ways in which it contributes to our understanding of the world”. 

[ P177 - Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks ]

This clear, but in itself “open”, definition of critical research allows for a more in depth and contextually valid analysis of a media audience.

It is this expansion of Morley’s work that I will be focussing on in the next instalment. What impact has this article and point of view has had on the field of audience research?

References:
Media and Cultural Studies: KeyWorks : Durham & Kellner (2006) Blackwell

Ien Ang: An Introduction

Born in Java, 1954, Ien Ang was schooled in the Netherlands. She is a co-founder, and professor of Cultural studies at, the University of Western Sydney after receiving her doctorate in Social and Cultural Sciences from the University of Amsterdam in 1990. Her work in the field of Media studies has focussed largely on the nature of media audiences and theoretical issues of media consumptions. Her books such as “Desperately Seeking the Audience” have illustrated key cultural differences in media production and its impact on the respective audiences. For example; the differences in how European public service broadcasters and American commercial television companies value the respective audiences.

Ang has also written books concerning the issues of ethnicity and migration in the world of media – in particularly, Australia-Asian relations in contemporary media. “On not speaking Chinese” is an example of Ang’s research into the meaning of national identity in contemporary media. This book also looks at the differences between “Asian” and “Western” cultures and the “paradox” of the Australian “western-like” culture.  

In 2001, Ang was awarded the Centenary Medal for “service to Australian society and the humanities in cultural research”. She currently works as a cultural commentator in Australia and a Council member at the Australian Academy of the Humanities. She is considered one of the global leaders in cultural studies and media theory. For this reason, I will be analysing Ang’s research, her published theories, and ideas in an attempt to understand the ever changing, global media-audience relationship and what influence cultural identity can have on it.    

References:

Ang, I (1991) "Desperately seeking the audience", Routledge 

www.connect.in.com/ien-ang/biography-122579.html 

http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/8431231-on-not-speaking-chinese