Stuart Hall’s 1980 encoding/decoding model explains how media messages are created, shared, and understood, providing a way to understand how media messages are produced, circulated, and interpreted. He challenged the idea that audiences passively accepted media without question. Hall argues that producers do not simply deliver meaning; instead, audiences decode it themselves, using their own experiences to create meaning.
Signs, symbols, and images are all examples of encoding. Producers shape them based on their culture and the institutions (such as TV companies) they belong to. At this stage in encoding, producers have a preferred way they want the audience to interpret their media message. Often, it isn’t a neutral message that is inclusive and preaches harmony; rather, it’s more tailored to lean on a dominant group in society and reflect the values of these specific people. (Hall, 1980). Although producers may try to control how audiences think, Hall disagrees. Audiences are not mindless followers. Through decoding, audiences interpret the message based on their social position, economic class, cultural background, and lived experiences (Hall, 1980). Producers cannot fully control how a message is understood; audiences continually reinterpret it through different social perspectives.
The three key decoding paths the audience takes are the dominant, decoding a message using the exact same assumptions that were used to create it. An example that comes to mind is when a new road law is introduced, such as a 10 mph road in central London (Southgate, 2025). A dominant reading would take the message at face value and agree with the producer’s reasoning for introducing a new road law. Without thinking to even question them, a complete alignment with the values and assumptions encoded in the message.
While that’s one side of the spectrum, the middle is a negotiated reading, where the audience understands the preferred interpretation and only partly agrees, while also holding a standpoint where they don’t align with the message. Stuart tells us that most real-world interpretations fall into this specific category because people often balance dominant ideologies with their own realities. And on the other side of the spectrum is oppositional reading. This is when the audience has a grasp of the message but completely rejects it. Coming back to our example of a 10 mph road, an individual who has this framework.
A large number of people believe that this new law is unnecessary in central London (Chillingsworth, 2025) because the existing traffic on the roads already forces drivers to slow down, and the overpopulation of pedestrians in the area is another factor that contributes to drivers already driving at a slower speed. The audience with this framework will think that there are other issues /matters that are more urgent to be addressed, not this. This highlights resistance within media consumption and emphasises that the audiences can challenge dominant power structures (Chillingsworth, 2025). Stuart Hall, the model highlights the dynamic relationship between media institutions and audiences, explaining that meaning is not fixed but continually negotiated by active readers.
Reference
Hall, S. (1980). Encoding/Decoding. [online] Hutchinson, pp.128–166. Available at: https://spkb.blot.im/_readings/EncodingDecoding_HALL_1980.pdf.
Chillingsworth, L. (2025). Fury erupts as new 10mph speed limit introduced on major UK high street. [online] Express.co.uk. Available at: https://www.express.co.uk/life-style/cars/2126873/speed-limit-islington-london
Southgate, E. (2025). Labour council has introduced a speed limit of just 10mph causing outrage among drivers… [online] The Sun. Available at: https://www.thesun.co.uk/motors/37153544/islington-speed-limit-ten-mph/
