Richard Dyer's Utopian Solution

• The theory places more focus on the consumer, or audience, instead of the actual message itself
•  “what people do with media” rather than “what media does to people” (Katz, 1959) 

It assumes that members of the audience are not passive;

• The audience has an active role in interpreting and integrating media into their own lives.
• The theory is an audience-centered approach.
•  E.g. By seeking out media, a person fulfils a need to be informed. 

Dyer expresses the Utopian theory as gratification that allows escapism from people’s real lives.
 He sees reality as full of negatives and un-fulfilment whilst the ‘mediated ‘ world represents a hopeful in which to escape.