This theory considered how texts are coded with a meaning, that the producer wishes to convey, and how this meaning is understood, or decoded, by the audience.
Stuart Hall identified 3 ways in which the audience decodes a media text.
Dominant or preferred reading
This is where the audience decodes the message the producer intended them to, and agreeing with it. For example, if the audience watches a political speech and understands and agrees with the politicion.
Oppositional
This is where the message is decoded correctly, but the audience has rejected it due to cultural, political or ideological reasons. For example, if an audience watches a documentary on dog fighting, withe the message trying to be conveyed is that it is wrong, but the audience thinks the documentary is wrong due to them previously believing dog fighting is good and the dogs enjoy it.
Negotiated
This is where the message is decoded, but the audience agrees and opposes different elements of the text, or is disinterested. For example, the idea of putting a stop to benefits, an audience may agree to some extent as they believe some people do take advantage of the system, but also disagree as it would be unfair on those who actually need the benefits as they can't work, or are poor, or if the audience doesn't care what happens either way.
An example of this theory is Bruce Springsteen's song 'Born in the USA'
From the way it is sung, and the beat of the music and the simple easy to remember repetitive chorus, it seems to many to be a patriotic song. When you actually listen carefully to the lyrics, this however is not the case. The song in fact describes how bad and unfair life in the USA can be, 'You end up like a dog that's been beat too much, till you spend half your life just covering up'. It also says that those who got in trouble would be sent off to fight in Vietnam, 'I got in a little hometown jam, And so they put a rifle in my hands, Sent me off to Vietnam, To go and kill the yellow man'.
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