In media studies, what is an interpretation of a media text that differs from…

Concept

In communication, encoding is the creation of meaning in a message, while decoding is the receiver's interpretation of that message.

When the decoded meaning diverges from the meaning intended or encoded by the sender, media semiotics calls the divergence aberrant decoding.

Application

Here, the receiver's interpretation varies from the creator's intention. This is precisely a divergence between encoded and decoded meaning, so the applicable term is aberrant decoding.

Contrast

• Impersonal decoding frames the act as detached from an individual interpreter; it is not the established term for an unintended meaning shift.

• Above-the-line is an advertising classification for mass-reach promotion, not a decoding category for divergent interpretation.

• Unequal decoding is a general descriptive phrase, not the recognized media-semiotic label for this encoder-decoder mismatch.

Cross-check and result

The stem supplies both parts of the definition: a media text is decoded, and the resulting meaning differs from the creator's intention. Therefore, the answer by value is aberrant decoding.