Purpose (last assessment 2023) Notes

In this section, you will look at the main reasons why audiences engage with certain media products. As a media consumer, you might feel like watching a Netflix show in order to entertain or distract yourself. On the other hand, you might read an e-magazine in order to take in information about the world and educate yourself. 

In some cases, the purpose of a media text will depend more on the goals of the people who produce it. People can create media products in order to support a political leader or make money for a business or demonstrate new innovations in technology.

Generally speaking, there are many reasons for audiences to consume media texts and many reasons why people create media texts.

• Information – To teach the audience something about a particular subject or the wider world we live in, e.g. TV documentaries, Broadsheet newspapers, Official website on a specialist subject
• Entertainment – To give audiences a pleasurable and leisurely way of filling their free time, e.g. Netflix Film, Comic Book, Massively Multiplayer Online Video Games
• Escapism – To divert the audience’s attention away from the stresses and challenges of daily life, e.g. Podcast for journey home from work, TV repeats of old shows, Superhero films
• Inspiration – To encourage audiences to achieve or work towards something, e.g. YouTube Vlogs, Self-help Websites, Health and Fitness Adverts
• Social Interaction – To allow audiences to communicate with one another through media, e.g. Social Networking Sites, Video Call Apps, Leaflets for Local Events
• Affirming Personal Identity – To give audiences the tools they need to construct and develop their own sense of self, e.g. Niche-subject Magazines, Human Interest Podcasts, Music Videos with Themes of Social Justice

• Profit – To make money and enable the production company to make more content in the future, e.g. Blockbuster Films, Tabloid Newspapers, Adverts for Commercial Products
• Community Benefit – To encourage the development or improvement of a specific area, usually a town or village, e.g. Regional Radio Programme, Brochures for Local Events, Community Centre Posters
• Raising Awareness – To inspire the audience to engage with an important issue, possibly through donations or activism, e.g. TV Charity Advert, Documentary Films, Online Articles
• Critical Acclaim – To gain acknowledgment of artistic achievement through reviews, awards, plaudits, etc., e.g. Awards-season Films, Pioneering Video Games, Television Dramas
• Innovation – To create something new and original, usually in order to solve a problem that consumers experience, e.g. Mobile Apps, Official Website for a New Business, Video Games that experiment with new technology
• Experimentation – To push creative boundaries and try new things with technology, genre, narrative, etc., e.g. Arthouse Films, Surreal Music Videos, Interactive television shows   
• Advocacy – To express support for a particular person, group or cause, e.g. Brochure for a Political Party, Newspaper that Supports a Political Party, An Advertisement for a Charity

The BBC is what is known as a public service broadcaster (PSB). Public service broadcasters are state-owned and funded by the public through TV licences. For example, anyone who owns a TV in the UK must pay for a TV licence, and this money is used to fund channels such as the BBC. Because public service broadcasters are funded by the public, they adhere to the Broadcasting Act 1990, which states that they must provide programming which informs, educates and entertains the public. Public service broadcasters do not use advertisements to fund their programming, unlike...

Commercial broadcasters provide programming with the end goal of making money (via advertising or subscription fees); for example: ITV, HBO, and Netflix.

Channel 4 is a unique PSB in that it has the same obligations as the BBC under the Broadcasting Act 1990 as it is state-owned, but it is commercially financed; this is why it features advertising breaks, unlike the BBC, which is funded via TV licence payments.