The encoding and decoding theory by Stuart Hall is one of the most influential theories used in studying the manner in which media messages are created, distributed, and received. Instead of thinking of communication as a unidirectional and simple situation where the sender conveys information to the receiver, Hall claims that there are two stages of meaning construction. To begin with, producers convey messages by inserting them with specific values, ideologies and assumptions. Second, audiences would interpret these messages according to their cultural backgrounds, lived experiences, and social identities. According to this approach, there is no fixed meaning; somewhat, it varies according to the person interpreting the message and the circumstances.
Encoding begins with media producers making decisions regarding language, images, narrative structure, tone, and emphasis. Institutional pressures, professional norms, economic constraints and the majority of cultures condition these decisions. Encoding, as Hall points out, is not a neutral but an ideological process, since it represents the social power of the people who have control of media production. Whenever viewers are exposed to such coded messages, they deconstruct them using their own paradigms of knowledge. Hall also distinguishes three leading positions of decoding, namely, dominant readings, where an audience accepts the intended meaning; negotiated readings, where an audience partially accepts and partially opposes the message; and finally, oppositional readings, where an audience understands the coded message but does not like it.
This model is also applicable in the digital context, as a recent study of PubMed points out, with interactive technologies complicating the process of media interpretation by users. Online platforms enable the audience not only to decode the messages but also to remix, comment on, or redistribute them, making it a consumer product. This interchange of roles demonstrates that, despite being developed within the framework of broadcast TV, his model will still be necessary to analyse modern communication phenomena. Real-life examples can be used to illustrate how encoding and decoding are currently applied. Reporting on political protests, news organisations encode specific views through the use of camera framing, the selection of interviewees, and the tone of news coverage. Depending on people’s political inclinations, viewers can interpret this coverage in various ways: some will accept the preferred reading, that the protest is disruptive, while others will balance criticisms and sympathies, and still others will reject the framing and view the protest as righteous. Similarly, luxury brand advertising conveys information about status and exclusivity. Some viewers would infer these messages as aspirational and desirable, whereas other viewers would dismiss them as elitist or fake.
Authenticity is often conveyed through the use of social media, where influencers share their personal lives or daily experiences. These messages can be decoded by followers who admire the influencer as genuine, whereas sceptical users may see them as highly considered performances to avoid losing attention. As a film, a climate change movie can convey a pressing environmental message that is coded within the film, which some viewers will accept wholeheartedly. In contrast, others may partly accept or reject it. These instances reveal that the meaning is not inherent in the message itself; instead, it emerges in the process between the encoder and the receiver.
The model by Hall is still essential to media literacy as it prompts the audience to perceive that media messages are constructed, partial and shaped by power. The knowledge of encoding and decoding enables people not only to question how the meaning is created but also why some meanings are dominant and others are marginalised. This critical awareness is, at the same time, more required in the world of rapidly growing digital communication than ever before.
Reference List
Fiveable (n.d.) Encoding/Decoding. Available at: https://fiveable.me/key-terms/mass-media-society/encodingdecoding
Hall, S. (1973). Encoding and Decoding in the Television Discourse. Birmingham: Centre for Contemporary Cultural Studies.
Media Studies (n.d.) Reception Theory. Available at: https://media-studies.com/reception-theory/
Nouri, A. and Shahid, S. (2024) ‘Encoding and decoding affordances in interactive media technologies’, Journal of Media Psychology. Available at: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/38985828/
Rukhaya, M.K. (2020). Analysis of Stuart Hall’s Encoding/Decoding. Available at: https://literariness.org/2020/11/07/analysis-of-stuart-halls-encoding-decoding/
