The Active Pursuit of Active Viewers: Directions in Audience Research

This article reviews the contemporary shift to active audience research among European and other media scholars, following the influential work of those such as Ien Ang and David Morley. It proceeds to examine the comparatively underdeveloped state of Canadian research about media audiences, and the variety of incentives to develop such research here. The distance between academic and industry research in Canada is discussed, and possible explanations of the gap in our academic knowledge of Canadian audiences are offered. Finally, the article considers possible means to approach the meaningful study of the media reception process within Canadian households. In the end, it is argued that the work of Ang, Morley, and others offers fruitful prospects for the understanding of media interpretation here.