Encoding and Decoding

The first Encoding and Decoding model of communication was developed by cultural studies scholar Stuart Hall. Stuart Hall is a cultural professor and theorist of Sociology who studied at the Open university. Hall has had a major influence on media studies. He claims that television and other audiences in media are presented with decoded messages, or either interpreted in different ways depending on the individuals cultural background, economic standing and personal experiences.

Stuart Hall looked at the role of audience positioning. Which was interpreted of mass media texts by different social groups. From this Hall came up with a model and suggested three ways that we may read media texts. These are the suggested three - 

1. Dominant reading - this is where the reader fully accepts the preferred reading. Meaning audiences will read the text the way the author wanted them to. This would make the code seem natural and transparent.
2. The negotiated reading - This is when the reader believes the code and accepts the preferred reading, however it sometime modifies it so that it reflects their own position, experiences and also interests.
3. The oppositional reading - Readers which reject the reading. This is their social position which places them in an oppositional relation to the dominant code.