A2 Revision

Booklet

UPDATED
Feb 2015

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MEST 3 Exam 5th June AM

2Hrs
Section A 1 hour including 15 minutes reading/viewing time 32 Marks
The first section will be based around unseen stimulus materials which may be print, e-media, audio or
moving image based. The stimulus materials will be designed to be easily assimilated by candidates in the
space of 15 minutes and there will be time for note-taking and essay planning. The materials will be
chosen to raise issues about:
media concepts (form, representation, institutions, audience, values and ideology)
wider contexts
media issues and debates.
There will be three compulsory questions based around the stimulus materials. The questions will
demand short answers to demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the media.


Section B (60%) 1 hour 48 marks
Candidates will have been given two pre-set topic areas for study during the year. They will be
expected to answer one question from a choice of questions linked to the pre-set topics. Questions will be
open-ended so that candidates can respond to the question utilising the media texts that they have
studied throughout this course through the application of their synoptic knowledge and understanding of
the media.

Identities & the Media
Impact of New/Digital Media

Assessment Objectives
AO1 Demonstrate knowledge and understanding of media concepts, contexts and critical debates
AO2 Apply knowledge and understanding when analysing media products and processes (and
evaluating own practical work) to show how meanings and responses are created

Key Concepts
Audience
Genre
Narrative
Media language/form: Codes and Conventions
Representations
Institution

Media Debates
Representation
Effects on Audience
Reality TV
News Values
Moral Panics
Post 9/11 and the Media
Ownership and control
Regulation and censorship
Media Technology and the digital revolution

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Media Theories
Semiotics
Structuralism and Post-Structuralism
Postmodernism
Feminism
Ethnicity
Genre theory
Audience theory
Marxism, Hegemony and Liberal Pluralism
Cultural Imperialism
Cross-Cultural factors
Globalisation

SECTION A

You must be confident in your ability to deconstruct texts quickly picking up on

the key aspects of form, codes and conventions and be able to use the right
terms, vocabulary to describe the texts and their effects
You must be confident in your ability to compare and contrast two texts, possibly
from two different platforms in terms of form or subject matter
You must be confident in your ability to apply relevant theory to the text
You must be confident in your ability to consider wider contextual, cultural and
ideological issues concerning the texts

Question not just HOW the text producers have constructed meaning but WHY they
have constructed the meanings they have and with what possible effects on the
audience, and What connection this has to society.

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Deconstructing Texts

Technical Elements of Moving Image (Film, TV, Gaming)

Mise-en-Scene /Framing : everything that is included in the frame
Composition : How the elements of the scene or frame are organised
Camera Angles: Low, Eye level, High, Birds eye, Tilted
Camera Shots: Establishing or Extreme Long shot, Long shot, Medium shot, Point of View
shot, Over The Shoulder shot, Close-up, Extreme Close-up, Bridging shot, shot/reverse
shot
Camera Movement: Panning, Tilts, Tracking, Zoom, Aerial, Handheld














Editing: Quick cutting, Cutaways, Wipe, Fades,
Montage
B-roll footage
Anchorage
Sound: Diegetic and Non-diegetic
Lighting: high key, low key, filtered, saturated and de-saturated
Colour
Icons & Symbols
Character dress, facial expression, body language, representation
Weather
Set
Location
Contrast (music asynchronous sound, image, voiceover etc.)
Set-ups
Idents
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Technical Elements of Printed Forms (Print, Poster, Web)

Masthead
Headlines
Sub-headings
Banners
Boxes
Bullet points
Captions
Visual Image
Layout & Composition
Text to image ratio
Negative Space
Colour
Contrast
Anchorage
Emotive Language
Imperatives
Rhetorical Questions
Personal Pronouns
Facts and Statistics
Typography: Font, size, colour etc.
Coverlines
Exclusives
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Inverted pyramid structure

Interactive Features
Navigation

Key Concepts

Barthes Signs and Semiotics
Objects can be read as signs and these can be interpreted literally (denotation a dove
is a type of bird) or symbolically (connotation a dove is a symbol or sign of peace).
Media texts are made up of a series of signs that combine to make meaning.

Halls theory of Readings

Specific signs can be put into media texts to create a specific meaning. These texts are
encoded with messages and the audience decode the message when they engage with
the text. Advertising does this alot when the audience encode the message that a
particular product will make you happier, more successful, more popular etc. The
decoding of a text is also called a reading and these can be preferred, negotiated or
oppositional.
A person smoking could be decoded as, and connote to some - sophistication or cool, to
others ill-health or stupidity and to others anti-social behavior or a desire to be non-
conformist. Other signs (dress, body language, facial expressions etc.) will add together
to suggest one of these interpretations stronger than another. All messages could be
seen as polysemic and at best media text producers will achieve negotiated readings.
Audiences will accept most of the dominant or preferred reading but reject some
aspects of it. Nobody can predict or dictate how a person will read a message.

Audience

Audiences traditionally classified through demographics - age, gender, location, status

etc. This led to A, B, C1, C2, D categories. More recent audience classification through
psychographics values, political beliefs etc. Types of audience include Primary,
Secondary, Niche and Mass. Many media theorists believe there is no mass audience in
the digital age as because of market or audience segmentation.
Narrowcasting is taking over Broadcasting and the number of texts which can attract
large numbers of television viewers is decreasing rapidly.
The same is true of film, where the industry relies on formulaic blockbusters or
franchises to generate large incomes. In addition, many argue the world of print media
is dying but The Sun and The Mail still have significant readership in the UK. A good
example demonstrating change is the Independent publishing I paper. This is a print
media product, for a niche audience to supplement and boost the sales of the
conventional parent product.
Although choice has grown significantly, mass appeal texts still exist and have remained
largely unaffected (Eastenders, Coronation Street, Harry Potter Franchise etc.)
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Audiences can be Active or Passive. Passive audiences receive media texts and are
influenced by them. This may be significantly (as in the Hypodermic Needle theory) or
subtly over time (Cultivation, Two step theory). In contrast Active audiences respond to
and negotiate the media they consume (Uses and Gratifications, UGC, Social
Networking)
Cultivation/Desensitization theory: audiences adopt the views and beliefs presented by
the media over time and become desensitized to aspects such as violence, political bias
etc.
Two-Step Theory: that our media consumption is shaped by the opinion leaders who
influence our critical reception of media texts. These opinion leaders can be reviewers,
award givers, news programmes which highlight or make texts prominent or even our
peers who shape opinion through social media.
Uses and Gratifications theory: that media is used by audiences for
entertainment/diversion, information/surveillance, maintaining personal relationships,
personal identity. This theory suggests that all media consumption is positive for the
audience. The Audience is King making conscious choices about what to watch and
consume. But a criticism of this is that these needs are created by the media and that
they create needs that only they can fulfill, making the audience once again vulnerable
to the effects of the media.

If the audience are King they are still constrained by several factors such as
expense not all channels are free and not all people can have access to all
consoles, games, films, internet experiences.
Access could be restricted for a variety of reasons by a variety of institutions
Unintended access the internet in particular delivers us to countless advertisers
which we have no control over. Audiences are products.

The illusion of power held by modern, interactive audience.

Audience can also be described as subversive and will continually seek to oppose the
dominant ideology being delivered. This is a powerful argument consider how
audiences responded to the digitalization of music, the response to viral campaign of
Cloverfield, the audience response to Justin Bieber, X Factor etc. The top-down force
(the media industries) try to push values on the audience which significant groups
reject, criticize and mock.
These have been termed as the resistant audience.
Questions to consider:
1) To what extent does the media construct viewpoints that the audience
automatically accepts?
2) Many media audience theories ignore the role of pleasure in considering
consumption of media texts. How far do you agree?
3) Audience segmentation is essential to deliver audiences to advertisers. How far
do you agree?

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Narrative
All media texts have narrative. Narratives are the threads which pieced together make
meaning. A narrative is constructed from elements of form (codes and conventions) and
representation. Barthes states that narrative codes typify the style of unfolding of the
story (action codes, enigma code etc.) Sometimes students find this difficult to identify
when they are deconstructing print media. In Print, look for meanings which have been
constructed through the relationships between character types and Binary oppositions
which have been suggested. (heroes, villains, victims). Also look carefully at language to
used create these characters (emotive, strong adjectives) and the images used.

Genre
In media Genre is important for rapid identification of the text by the audience. This is
essential in texts where time is money such as advertising. Consumers need to be able
to recognize in seconds the type of advert with regard to narrative structure, product
and outcome. In other types of programming too, audiences use their prior knowledge
and understanding to create meaning from the images they read on the screen. These
sets of signs from which text producers can make choices (crime fiction: male
detective/female detective, smoking/alcohol, femme fatale/innocent woman, well
dressed in suit/scruffy shows difficult personal life, urban environment) are called
paradigms. Chained together these create a syntagm (a new meaning from the added
signs). The paradigm and the syntagm are central to creating genre.
Like Representations, genre changes and adapts over time and moulds itself to our ever
changing culture and society. A typical Postmodern feature is that of the hybrid genre,
which uses several paradigms, fuses them together to create an original genre e.g docu-
soap, sci-fi comedy, rom-com etc. this fusing together of genre also bridges divides and
can double or maximize audience figures.
Parody and Pastiche are also features of postmodern media. Both are thought to be
generally good-natured mimicry of a style or form rather than aggressive mockery and
criticism, although pastiche is gentler than parody. Parody often takes a genre or
specific film and subverts it exaggerating some of the codes and conventions (Scary
Movie/the Office). Pastiche on the other hand tends to weave elements of a genre into
another. A further postmodern feature is intertextuality which uses existing narrative
within another to create a new text.
Questions to consider:
1) Is the concept of genre still a useful tool given the increasing use of hybrid
forms?
2) How has parody been used in contemporary media?

Institution

Historically, media has always been produced by the rich and powerful. Only a select
few have the funds and resources available to own and create an institution for
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broadcasting or publication. These are major operations requiring large sums of money.
The digital revolution has changed this but to what extent? Anyone with a computer,
internet connection and digital video camera can broadcast to an audience creating
websites, blogs, video content, even their own tv channel or radio station. The large
corporations conglomerate and independent, are still the most viewed, most bought
and most trusted sources for information and entertainment. There has been a shift
however. UGC is an increasingly common feature of the media but is supplementing it
rather than replacing it. Audiences have more interaction and control over their media
choices but it could be argued that it is still the institutions that are providing those
choices manipulated and mediated by them. A negative shift is the power of the
conglomerate and their ownership of vast numbers of smaller companies resulting in a
watering down of diversity and promotion of a single dominant view.
Commercial channels need to be fiercely competitive in the media saturated market. A
company like ITV must be as competitive as possible to attract audiences so that
sponsors and advertisers will continue to pay high rates for advertising. With low
viewing figures, advertisers will go elsewhere to get the audience. One outcome of this
is the need to drive the cost of programmes down as far as possible, using members of
the public to be the stars of the show, buying in programmes from abroad, or using the
same programme set and actors/stars to make a variety of programmes (Big Brother,
BBLB, 24hr coverage, What happened next type programmes and more recently
Eastenders and E20). This maximizes the investment or initial outlay. Other ways the
institution can make money include exporting programmes abroad and premium rate
phone lines.
Some forms of media text encourage top-down, elite-led messaging from institutions.
Magazines for example, are created for mass audiences and a one-way communication
tool. Audiences do not interact. The institutions represent the Elite, primary definers of
society a Marxist reading of media. However, in web content, audiences can produce,
interact and comment on the text a liberally pluralistic reading of media.
Exam questions often focus on Brand and brand values of institutions. Always consider
what the text communicates about the text producing institution its status? Its
quality? Its mission and purpose?

Media Debates
Representation

Media representations either reflect or, over time, create dominant ideology. Signs
together also create powerful meanings. A syntagm is a sequence of signs which add
together to create new meaning. An example of this is a montage picture 1 + picture 2
= meaning. A paradigm is a related set of signs which are alternatives of each other. An
example of this is a journalists use of the word evil rather than bad.
Representation in media becomes an issue for debate particularly in the representation
of gender roles, race and ethnicity, age, ability, social status.

Questions to consider:
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1) Media representations of the world appear so natural that we can easily see
them as real. To what extent do you think this is true?
2) How far is it possible for the media to produce fair and accurate
representations?
3) Absent and marginalized representations are more dangerous that negative
ones. Do you agree?

The idea of media as a mirror reflecting society as it is or as a tool constructing society
is the reflectionist vs constructionist view of media. It could be argued that it could only
be constructed as any media text goes through a process of selection & mediation
before appearing to the mass. However, new digital media is having an impact on this
traditional process as more people self-represent or represent without mediation
(editing etc.)

Reality TV

In a multi-channel world, competition is fierce and the need to broadcast programmes

which are cheap and attractive to the highest number of viewers is vital. Reality TV is
formulaic and cheap to produce. The participants (celebrity and public) have a high
economic status, in that they produce money for the text producers, but a low cultural
or social status, in that they have no longevity and only a fleeting interest to the media.
How does this explain the lasting audience appeal? Reality TV has grown and developed
into many different forms which can attract the broadest range of viewers. Uses and
Gratifications theory would suggest that reality TV now fulfills the all needs: maintaining
personal relationships, affirming personal identity, diversion/entertainment and
surveillance/ information as many can share knowledge on a range of skills, professions
or topics. Often at the heart of these programmes is the element of emotional realism
which hooks the audience into investing their time and loyalty. With voyeuristic power,
audiences are given access to some of the most difficult moments that public and
celebrity participants have to go through, often in the form of Humilitainment. Part of
these hooks are created by coming up and next time.. sequences, again rewarding the
audience for staying till the very end, building a culture of anticipation and anxiety over
missing a key moment. The never-ending and highly familiar narrative cycle including
tension, conflict and resolution keeps audiences satisfied.

News and Documentary

News is seen as central to any study of media and is culturally, politically and
historically vital to our understanding of the world. News presents us with information
locally, nationally and globally that we would otherwise not have access to. News plays
an important ideological role in interpreting the world for us that shapes our attitudes
and beliefs. This is partly the reason for Baudrillards concern about our media created
reality within which we exist. News is highly selected and mediated, presenting only 6-
10 stories in one day of the billions worldwide.
The Digital age has changed news dramatically:
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Digital services have enabled 24hr rolling news channels. This has stimulated
greater need for round the clock information and constant updates.
Terrestrial news has responded to these new demands by using ticker tape style
bulletin updates, 60 second news programmes on TV and tabloid sized quality
papers and successful commuter papers like Metro and now i.
Internet sites concentrate on headlines and condensed stories dumbed down
content and content without context.
There is an increasing quantity of UGC on news.
Internet and phone apps allow audiences to select the news they are interested
in which means they can ignore other news.
An interesting point to note is that whereas news from the BBC prides itself on unbiased
objectivity and fulfilling its mission statement to inform, and channel such as Sky prides
itself on being first for news. Speed of information as well as 24 hour supply is
becoming increasingly important, as it raises questions about validity and reliability.
Other points of importance regarding news:
News more often than not focuses on the negative
News has been accused of dumbing down trivializing important issues focusing
more on sensational stories
News is also a commodity like any other and many institutions are governed by
the need for profit and good viewing/circulation figures with regard to the
points above conflict and celebrity sell.
Each story featured is a possible story from a range of other stories which could
have been chosen a paradigm. The way these stories are placed in hierarchical
order next to each other in a news bulletin or in a paper is a syntagm
Questions to consider:
1) How have recent changes had an impact on news coverage? Give examples to
support your answer.
2) Bias in news in inevitable. Do you agree?
3) Who selects news and why?

Moral Panics

Media has a long history of moral panic and witch hunting. Some more recent examples
include influence of violent games on behavior and overuse of game consoles, influence
of hardcore music such as Slipknot, Marilyn Manson etc., spread of viral diseases like
Swine Flu, Sars, Bird Flu etc., Social medias links to Paedophiles, Teenagers including
gangs and knife-crime, Islam and the threat of terrorism, Asylum seekers, Benefit
scroungers and out of control and offensive Comedians. Many of these panics are
symptoms of the moment in time we are caught up in. It is rare these days to read daily
stories of young peoples involvement in drug culture and the threat this causes to
society. However, these were the moral panics of various years in the 1970s, 1980s and
1990s. Moral panics reach a crescendo and then rapidly disappear.
A moral panic does not appear with a singly headline. It is built over weeks and and
months by mass media texts showing increasing concern over an issue. The message
must be repeated over a time period to become a moral panic. The greatest moral panic
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in mass news today surrounds immigration and It is interesting to consider where the
blame or judgement lies in a moral panic. It is usually the Government, the Family, the
Masses or society as a whole, the Other (China, Middle Eastern nations, etc.) . Is it ever
the media themselves? Moral panics work by feeding into existing fear or concern,
showing the public the outcome of that fear (death, illnesss, decline etc.) and passing a
judgement.
Questions to consider:
1) How do the Media present themselves and their role in the moral framework of
society?
2) How does the media benefit from this role?

Post 9/11 and the Media

As we have seen already narrative clearly changed Post 9/11 particularly the narrative of
Action film and the role of the Action hero. Some theorists have noted that in the years
following the US also became keen on the Good vs Evil narrative and the just war
narrative with a return to films and games on WW2 to show how justifiable war is when
faced with an evil enemy. Post 9/11 there was also a shift in the representation of the
Other. This moved unsurprisingly, to Middle Eastern countries. This fear deepened when
attacks happened subsequently by US/UK nationals who were Muslim Fundamentalists.
Has this caused a fear of all Other ? Could this also explain the obsession with
unknown Other of sci-fi aliens, zombies, vampires. Vampire and Zombies are
particularly interesting as the one of us but not us fear can be explored fully.

Ownership and control, Regulation and censorship

Significant changes in recent years to traditional media include

Shrinking traditional industries print media, music industry especially the CD
market, DVD sales
Expanding digital industries which in some cases are out of the institutions
control music file sharing, film downloads, online print media content.
The changes from mass audiences to a segmented market leading to a huge
variety of products and choice. However, take a closer look at the choices. Are
many produced by a single corporation seeking to maximize their profits?
The rise of the conglomerates leading to a small group of about 8 corporations
responsible for the creation, production and distribution of nearly all major
media products in the world. Some argue this contributes to the dominant
Western world view. It also narrows the range of choice of products and can
restrict the freedom of the text producers.
The rise of UGC and mass-amateurisation making some previously highly skilled
professionals in the industry redundant.
Social media, blogging, comments etc, are all examples of everyday audience
interaction with and shaping of media content. This is not controlled in a
traditional way. Content can be filtered by official sites but the vastness of the
web means no organization can ever have the power to mediate all daily traffic.
Oppressive regimes around the world have experienced serious uprisings in
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recent years. The power of social media and image sharing particularly from one
culture to another cannot be ignored.
On demand services mean that there is no watershed and content is freely
available to audiences. Even though content is flagged as being only suitable for
over 18s, unless parental controls are set on the computer, they are accessible
to all.
There have been several high profile cases regarding privacy and the Web. The
recent Footballer Twitter super-injunction is a good case in point. Debate still
rages on about the public right to know what media figures are up to and
whether it is in the public interest for private lives to be exposed. These issues
became public concern in recent years as facebook was called into question over
their privacy policy and comments left on walls were considered in the public
domain rather than private chat.

Media Theories
Semiotics
Semiotics is how audiences create meanings from messages from the systems of codes
and signs.

Structuralism and Post-Structuralism

Structuralism is the process of deconstructing texts by examining the underlying generic

structure. The theory is that the meaning exists within texts but is deep rooted because
its construction is natural to us, we have created the text naturally without conscious
thought we just need to deconstruct the text to find it and understand it. Post-
structuralists would argue that this deep rooted structure should not be analysed as
there is no concrete meaning - signs are open to an infinite number of interpretations
and so do not have any useful meaning or pattern.

Postmodernism

Postmodernism is not a theory but more a collection of elements that add together to
make a text postmodern. These elements include intertextuality, bricolage, pastiche,
parody, hybrid, CGI, Simulcrum and Hyperreality. Another key element of Post-
Modernism is the loss of metanarratives, the big stories about how we understand the
world (good vs Evil, rags to riches, the underdog etc.) to multiple narratives many
different and opposing views of reality and the world. It could be argued that this has
increased as mass media and technology has advanced multiple voices being heard on
the internet, true liberal pluralism.

Feminism

Feminism seeks to challenge traditional power structures that exist between the
genders. Some would argue that as Media institutions are predominantly run by white,
middle/upper-class men their ideology is prevalent in media texts which then
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perpetuates the dominant ideology in society. This has major implications for those in
society who are either women, non-white and working class. Mulvey suggested that all
media is created through the eyes of the heterosexual male, called the male gaze and
that as a result women are viewed in terms of the pleasure they give to men.
Post-feminism allows women to use their sexuality for their own benefit giving them
power. However, as it is still males that produce dominant, elite, mass media, the power
of women is questionable. Instead, the use of sexual icons has been termed
Enlightenend Sexism sexism and Objectification which is ironic and playful as male
text producers argue that the gender war has already been won by women, and so
gender stereotypes are lighthearted and humorous. With recent trolling of high profile
women on social networking, the no. of women in mass media industries, the
representation of women in gaming, there is no doubt that a gender divide still exists in
our Post-Feminist culture.

Marxism, Hegemony and Liberal Pluralism

Marxism is the idea that the elite few are in a continual state of conflict with the many
or the mass. The powerful elite wants to pay as little as possible for the labour of the
mass. The mass wants to get as much out of their work as possible. It is therefore the
role of institutions like the Media to keep the mass happy so that they continue to offer
their full support to the capitalist ideals. Marxists would argue that the medias use of
celebrity is such a device used to create a diversion, keeping the minds of the masses
off of the more serious issues like working conditions, pay and rights.
Hegemony takes this idea a step further suggesting that the dominant group persuades
the mass that the power structure is necessary and more importantly in their favour.
This suggests a more fluid power struggle, that the ruling group may allow the mass
some victories, essentially maintains control, not through predominant force but
negotiation.
Liberal Pluralism relates to capitalism in that it suggests a free media that like any
market economy, it responds to the demands of the consumers. Liberal pluralists would
argue that the success of genres like reality tv are simply the result of supply and
demand. It is worth considering who the media text producers are that are in the
position to fulfill this demand and to what extent the demand been created by the
media themselves.

Cross-Cultural factors

You should always be aware of how media texts or genre are created in other countries.
These are cross-cultural factors. Console games, reality tv, sit-coms are modified for
different audiences. There have been a number of high profile media products being
spread around the world in recent years which have undergone slight changes for each
cultural audience X-factor, Big Brother, The Office). Media text products, the
representations contained within them, the dominant ideologies are culturally bound
and may not translate globally.

Globalisation

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Globalisation refers to the media texts which are translated around the world. These
are global products and the term refers to brands (Nike, Coke, Apple etc.) as well as
texts (Toy Story, Harry Potter etc.). Much globalisation is attributed to American
industries, owned by Western conglomerates and is sometimes referred to as
Disneyfication. This is concerning to many as it suggests that Western (American or
European) ideology is having an impact on developing countries and that the Western
view of the world will dominate. This will and already does cause significant conflict to
people from cultures which are significantly different to those in the west. It is
important to consider how other views, rather than those of the White, Western Male
might be marginalized and un- or mis-represented.

SECTION A

Media Product One The game play trailer for Call of Duty
Media Product Two The cinema trailer for Battle for Haditha

1 How do the two media products represent war?(8 marks)
2 What is the appeal to audiences of such shocking war films and war games?
You may refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)
3 Some media research has raised concerns about unrestricted access to violent images. Do you
think control is necessary? You should refer to other media products
to support your answer. (12 marks)


Media product 1 front page of Metro newspaper
Media Product 2 article from the Daily Mail

1 Compare and contrast the two texts, with particular reference to the representation
of teenagers. (8 marks)
2 Consider the view that the current press treatment of teenagers is simply another
.moral panic.(12 marks)
3 There are always concerns about new technology. In your view, what are the possible
benefits and problems attached to social networking, particularly on the Internet? (12
marks)

Media product 1 - Homepage from Kerrang Magazine

Media product 2 Front Cover of Kerrang Magazine

1 How does Kerrang! create a strong brand identity in these print and online products?
(8 marks)
2 How is the representation of masculinity constructed to appeal to the audience?
You may also refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)
3 How important is it for producers of print products to have a multi-platform presence?
You should refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)

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Media Product 1 Film Trailer for Eclipse from www.eclipsethemovie.com

Media Product 2 Film Trailer for Let the Right One in from
www.lettherightoneinmovie.com

1 Evaluate how the two trailers use the narrative technique of Enigma to encourage the
target audience to watch the film. (8 marks)
2 Why are media products that represent outsiders, such as vampire films, so popular?
You may refer to other products. (12 marks)
3 Do you think that official and unofficial websites contribute to the films success? You
should refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)

Media product 1 MoBo awards of Best female Estelle
Media Product 2 Official website for Estelle

1 How do the two media products represent women in the music industry? (8 marks)
2 How and why do programmes such as the MOBO awards appeal to niche audiences?
You may also refer to other media products to support your answer. (12 marks)
3 What are the advantages and disadvantages for performers of using the internet as a
marketing tool? You should also refer to other media products to support your answer.
(12 marks)

Answer the questions

1. In the information given about the products, highlight key words
particularly information about institutions, platforms, distribution,
audience reception etc.
2. Highlight key concepts and the focus in the questions
3. Make notes during viewings 2 & 3 to help answer the questions
4. Start each answer with a strong evaluative statementeg.
The most significant use of
A particularly effective use of
Whereas text B focuses mainly on, Text B
To show you are answering the question and can summarise points
from your analysis.
5. Include detailed reference to the texts in Q1.
6. Include reference to other texts in BOTH Q2 and 3
7. Root your answers in Media Key concepts.
8. Do not waste time introducing the theory (the examiners know
what they are!) but use it to draw out the impact on the
audience/Institution/text and wider social/cultural implications
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Success Criteria


Strong evaluative opening
statement

Detailed reference to Texts

Reference to key
concepts/focus in Question

Key Theories

Key Terminology

Structure of Answer &
Readability

SECTION B
Identities and the Media:
This is a new topic for examination this year. It is similar to the previous topic on Representation
but now incorporates ideology, audience and new /digital media and how it affects identity.
Areas which could be studies include:
1. The mainstream medias role and influence in the construction of identities
2. Audiences and identities, including audience uses and responses, self-representation, role
playing, collective identities
3. The impact of social media on identity and the role of the individual as producer
4. Power and resistance, debates about the power of the media and audiences, including the
medias influence, varieties of audience uses and responses, campaigning
5. Debates about dominant and marginalised identities
6. Identity politics, including diverse, fluid and multiple identities, changing identities,
alternative and queer identities
7. Ideology, the ideas and values communicated by identities.

From the AQA Specification:

Case studies might include the construction of
female teen identities (considering gender, age, class, ethnicity etc.) in relation to celebrity culture
and its links to ideological positioning. Thus candidates might study the way different aspects of the
identity of a celebrity are produced and reinforced by mainstream media, fans own constructions in
response to celebrity, and the positioning of the audience through their associations with popular
culture in a range of media products. The manufacturing of role models and their use by institutions
and audiences would be a relevant approach to this area. Studies undertaken for this topic would
also involve the evaluation of wider debates such as the blurring of borders between public and
private space, the ideological function of identity and the limits of self- representation. A study of
identities and the media would also lend itself to the examination of a variety of media theories to:
1. consider how identity is constructed across media forms and types of producers
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2. consider the role of technology in forming identity; technological determinism or social

transformation
3. consider the view of technology as threat in the construction of identities (particularly
for younger age groups)
4. consider the effect of identity politics on the media; how do marginalised groups claim
identities and how are they received by dominant groups?
5. consider the limitations of defining individuals and groups by identity characteristics
6. consider the use of representation as a process in defining identity.
Candidates should analyse the way that issues of identity in transformation have become
increasingly important in the content and themes of media production, across a wide range of
media output. This study might take the form of an exploration of how one or more of a range of
identities, for example post- feminist, queer, class, post national are represented as part of a
cultural process of identity construction.

Key Theories:
Judith Butler argues that our gender identity is constructed through a repetitive
performance. This performance is bound by language, body and non-verbal cues, and is
known as Performativity. These repetitive performances are like a trap which people
can find themselves in as gender contains the repetition of painful, oppressive norms
and routines.
Collective identity is most clearly seen in the use of Social Media where high numbers of
individual users are using collective power to shape and construct culture. Consider the
number of campaigns run through social media. Consider also the power of mass media
texts to create our understanding of culture (travellers, immigrants etc.)
Masculine identity has changed over time. Consider masculinity in texts in binary
opposition to femininity. Look at cross-genre identities of men.
Self-Identity, fuelled by social sites and the internet has changed the nature and identity
of celebrity, politicians, individuals etc. Lacan argued that we are fragmented selves
with many identities. We seek to complete ourselves by imagining and ideal-I our ideal
state of self.
Class Identity is the prevalence of representations showing elite dominance over
passive, mass underclass. Media texts of this type have had a boom in recent years
following the London Riots of 2011.

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The Impact of New/Digital media

From the AQA Specification

Candidates might study:
1. The interactive consumer
2. Social networking
3. The internet and the world wide web
4. Blogs
5. Podcasts
6. The changing contemporary media landscape
7. The role of media institutions
8. The media and democracy
9. The changing role of the distributor and exhibitor
10. New technologies and the audience
11. The effect of globalisation on the use of new/ digital media
12. Cross-cultural factors in the use and effects of new/digital media
13. Values and ideology in the impact of new technology.
Candidates might carry out a case study of a chosen new media area eg Youtube or
Wikipedia. Thus, they might study a variety of new/digital technologies over the period of
a term such as the impact of mobile phones and the changing modes of consumption of
media products that are a consequence of such developing technology, or the impact of
social networking sites on the internet such as MySpace.

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and its consequent effect on production and exhibition. Candidates might consider
how new technologies affect the way we consume (and produce) media products
and therefore affect the ways that media products are produced, distributed and
exhibited. They could widen this approach to study the impact of new media
across different media platforms.
Candidates will also consider the changing role of audiences and the decline of the
mass audience in the new interactive age, and how this mainly affects media
institutions now and in the future. A study of the impact of new/digital media would
also lend itself to the examination of a variety of media theories to:
1. consider how new/digital media affects the construction of media products
(media analysis)
2. consider the political and social implications of the new technologies and the
methods of their consumption (media theories)
3. consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media
institutions (media production)
4. consider the role of the interactive audience (media audiences)
5. consider cross-cultural factors in, and the effects of globalisation on, the
impact of new technology as appropriate.
A case study of Youtube might look at a variety of issues all linked with the list above
but would also examine the nature of the site, its content, the implications of a
medium where we are all producers of media texts, the debate over whether a site
such as Youtube is part of a democratisation of the media or whether media
institutions have forestalled the power of the audience by purchasing such sites.
There are also considerable implications for all media producers (and audiences) in
the sense that now,
it can be argued, creators of media products can control the distribution and
exhibition of their own products.
Candidates will be expected to investigate the topics listed above by studying a range
of media texts that encompass the three media platforms that remain central to the
specification:

Broadcasting
Print
Digital/web-based media (e-media)

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Identities and the Media
Mainstream Media is a powerful influence on the construction of an individuals
identity. Use your case study to explore the impact of the media on the construction of
identities.

OR

We are defined by the media we use. How does your case study suggest audiences use
the media to construct their own identity?


The Impact of New/Digital Media
04 (c) Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to
a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by
these developments? (48 marks)

OR

04 (d) Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the
challenge posed by new/digital media?


Identities and the Media
Social media has only served to reinforce existing values and ideologies. Does your case
study suggest social media has played a positive or negative role in the construction of
identities?

OR

The variety of media available encourages us to create many different identities for
ourselves. How far so you agree with this statement?


The Impact of new/digital media

2 (a) .Digital media have, in many ways, changed how we consume media products..
Who do you think benefits most , audiences or producers? (48 marks)

OR

2 (b) .Media Institutions are right to feel threatened by new/digital media. Consider this
statement and show how media institutions are reacting to technological developments.
(48 marks)
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Sources:
A2 Media Studies: The Essential Introduction
Peter Bennett, Jerry Slater, Peter Wall Routledge (2006)
A2 Media Studies
Jaqueline Bennett, Tanya Jones, Julian McDougall Hodder and Stoughton (2002)
AQA Website

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