Patrick Wehner (MARIAL Fellow, Emory University)
No Place Like
Home: Media Audience Research and the Domestic Imaginary
Wednesday, March 27th, 2002, 3:00 p.m.
In 1916, the Merchandising Service Department
of the Chicago Tribune sent its agents door to door throughout
Chicago, collecting information about the reading and shopping
habits of families from each neighborhood. From such early pencil
surveys to the Nielsen ratings of today, media organizations
have struggled for more than a century to gather accurate information
about the home and family life of their audiences. Over time,
audience research has become increasingly important to media
decisionmakers, whether findings are used to attract more advertising
or to make strategic decisions about editorial content and programming.
But the complicated dynamics of home life as well as changes
in the underpinnings of the American family have consistently
called systems of audience measurement into question. Skeptics
have often raised doubts about standardized systems of measurement,
suggesting they rest on untenable assumptions about audience
behavior and motivations. Meanwhile, the history of publishing
and broadcasting in the U.S. offers numerous examples that indicate
that despite continual improvement in measurement technologies,
shared myths about the drift of American social life have profoundly
influenced the media landscape we have inherited.
---
Patrick Wehner is a postdoctoral fellow at the
MARIAL Center. His research focuses on media, marketing, and
consumer culture in the post-World War II United States.
---
The MARIAL Center
Emory West, 4th Floor, Room 415E
Open to the public
Refreshments will be served
< BACK to Calendar of
Events
DIRECTIONS TO THE MARIAL CENTER
The MARIAL Center is located on the 4th floor of
the main building of Emory's Briarcliff Campus, 1256 Briarcliff
Rd. There is ample parking close to the building. Alternatively,
you may take the Emory shuttle (Route A). The shuttle leaves every
20 minutes from the main campus and is a 5- to 10-minute ride.
Route A shuttle stops are located at the corner of Asbury Circle
and Pierce Drive, along Pierce Drive, and in front of the Administration
Building. For the shortest travel time, board the shuttle in front
of the B. Jones Center.
Please tell the receptionist at the front window
that you are here for the MARIAL Center lecture.
