Conceptualizing television news interpretation by its viewers: The concept of interpretive complexity
Year: 2005
Type: article
Abstract: In recent years many scholars seem to agree that viewers’ interpretations play a prominent role in the influence of television news. However, a clear concept of ‘interpretation’ is still missing. This article proposes to conceptualize interpretation as the ‘representation’ of a news item as constructed and reported by a news viewer. More specifically, we look at this representation in terms of its complexity. Two aspects are important: first, the fundamental elements viewers use in their interpretation (differentiation), and second, how the viewer relates these elements to one another on a more abstract level (integration). Together, differentiation and integration represent the complexity of the viewer’s interpretation of a television news item. The article provides definitions of these concepts and argues that interpretive complexity can be useful in studying the influence of television news. It concludes by outlining research questions in the field of television news using interpretive complexity.
Source: Communications
Authors: Gabi Schaap, Karsten Renckstorf, Fred Wester
Institution: Radboud University Nijmegen
Language: English
Subfield: Communication
Field: Social Sciences
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2097428705