"Virtual Cultural Resonance” as an Evidence for "Media Effect by Consent”: Notes on Media Audience Theories and Proposing New Communication Model

Abstract

Virtual Cultural Resonance (Adamu, 2014) is a new concept invented to explain the reality of the cultural intrusion of Transnational Media flows as against the previously much talked about Media Cultural Imperialism. Discussing the nature of media effect, Yusuf (2011) invented another concept he called ‘Media Effect by Consent (MEC)'. He suggested this media-audience relationship as an alternative to Media Domination or Cultural Imperialism. This paper is an attempt to present Adamu's (2014) Virtual Cultural Resonance (VCR) as further evidence for Yusuf's (2011) Media Effect by Consent (MEC). Being the amalgam that it is, the paper will use the models of Hindi movies' audiences around the world and their localizations of their storyline as presented by Adamu (2014), to explain the reality of how audiences develop a mental frame of a particular media content right before their engagement with the media. This mental frame of the content, not the content itself determines to a large extent, the media effect. The paper will be arguing therefore, that audiences of the media especially the transnational media are being influenced exactly the way they want to be influenced.