Thinking Anthropologically about Media: Who are our audiences?

By Johannes Merz

Thinking anthropologically about media is, first and foremost, to think about audiences. Media are tools that people make for people. So the key question we need to ask when we  start working with media should always be: “Who are my audiences?”

The better we know our audiences, the better media products we can create. Such audience-specific media will be more relevant, communicate better, and hopefully prove popular. This is why it’s well worth investing time to get to know our audiences.

The first point we need to remember is that audiences are always plural and diverse because they are made up of different people. While it’s important to get a good idea about the diversity of your audiences, a helpful compromise is to think about a single person who represents your audiences. Then work on your media project as if you were addressing this single persona.

The best way to get to know our audiences is to get to know them personally and share our life with them. Simply hanging out with folks is an excellent way to start and will often lead to questions and discussions with them. The more we know about their lives, their problems and preoccupations, the better we’ll be equipped to design media for them.

Sharing our lives with potential audiences may not always be possible, but this is not an excuse not to make an effort to get to know them anyway. There are many resources out there, on the Internet and in libraries, which can give us insights into specific peoples’ lives. Maybe you’re able to get in touch with representatives of your audiences via social media. Or there can be diasporas in the world’s major cities who may remember some things about their communities back home.

Audience-specific media tend to be better, more authentic and interesting, than media we might consider making for non-specific global audiences. Making audience-specific media doesn’t mean that we should limit ourselves to offering such media to only our target audiences. Many media products have an appeal well beyond their primary audiences. But secondary audiences will be different, have their unique features, and we should take time to understand them as well. Before we adapt media for secondary audiences, make sure to test the media to check that such media are not only appropriate, relevant, and useful, but also that they communicate well.

And now a short quiz to finish: Do you remember the key question you need to ask when getting going with a media project?—Of course, it’s: “Who are my audiences?”—Well done!

Johannes Merz is a senior anthropology consultant with SIL International. He holds a PhD in anthropology and lectures at Moorlands College in the UK. He and wife Sharon have been based in Benin, West Africa, since 2002.