Social media and influencers have added a whole new dimension to celebrity culture in the last 15 years.
As part of our study of online, social and participatory media - and before we start studying Taylor Swift - we need to explore the rise of influencers and the way celebrity culture has changed. This also builds on last week's work on Clay Shirky and his End of Audience theories.
User-generated content
Influencers exist because of changes in technology and the internet. This created social media sites like YouTube and Facebook and led to the rise in user-generated content.
User-generated content (UGC) is any content—text, videos, images, reviews, etc.—created by audiences, rather than brands or professional producers.
This links to Shirky’s work on audiences as producers – we create and share media as well as viewing it.
The rise of influencers: changing culture
The rise of social media influencers and online celebrity culture has fundamentally changed the relationship between brands, stars and audiences.
Some argue that YouTube has democratised the contemporary media landscape – anyone can become the next star and audiences can choose who to follow. Others suggest that social media has blurred the boundaries between advertising and entertainment – and that young audiences are being exploited.
Influencers and their impact on media and culture
What impact are influencers having on society, media and culture? You need to be able to form your own opinion on this question. To help you, watch this BBC Panorama programme on influencers. Here's a brief summary:
Here's the extended 28-minute Panorama if you'd like to see more:
Bad Influencer: Belle Gibson & The Great Insta Con
The danger with user-generated content is whether we can trust what we see on social media. Belle Gibson was one of the first lifestyle influencers but ended up in a controversy over faking cancer diagnoses to promote her posts. This is a preview of a BBC3 documentary on Belle Gibson and the Great Insta Con:
Influencers and celebrity culture: blog tasks
1) Media Magazine reading Media Magazine 72 has a feature linking YouTube influencers to A Level media theories. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM72 and scroll to page 60 to read the article ‘The theory of everything - using YouTubers to understand media theory’. Answer the following questions: 1) How has YouTube "democratised media creativity"?
2) How does YouTube and social media culture act as a form of cultural imperialism or 'Americanisation'?
3) How do influencers reinforce capitalist ideologies?
4) How can YouTube and social media celebrity content be read as postmodern, an example of hyperreality?
5) What are the arguments for and against regulating online content such as YouTube?
6) How can Hesmondhalgh and Curran & Seaton's ideas be linked to online media debates?
7) How can Gauntlett's ideas around identity and audience be applied to YouTube and influencer content?
8) What is YOUR opinion on celebrity influencers? Are they a positive, democratic addition to the contemporary media landscape or a highly constructed product promoting hegemonic capitalist ideologies?
1) What did the YMCA's report suggest about social media content and celebrity culture?
2) What examples are provided of how this can have a damaging effect on young people?
3) What is YOUR opinion on this topic? Do you feel social media is dangerous to young people? Should age restrictions be enforced? Explain your answer.
We are starting our coursework with apreliminary exercise: a chance for you to refresh your technical production skills prior to creating your actual production.
This is a vital element of the overall coursework as it gives you the opportunity to make mistakes and learn from them without it impacting on your grade. However, we also strongly advise you to create a preliminary exercise that is linked to your real coursework concept - this may give you additional material to edit into your production later on. Preliminary exercise: TikTok Music video Task: Plan, film and edit a 45-60 second TikTok music video Length: 45-60 seconds Equipment: Your own camera / smartphone as this will make it easier to video in vertical mode and follow conventions of TikTok music video. You can borrow and sign out a phone tripod holder from our technician Mr Ray in DF06. Groups: None. You MUST work individually. However, other people will need to be involved - perhaps as a performer, actor or part of your production team (camera operator etc.) This is fine as long as they are directed by the candidate submitting the work. Keep a note of who you use and how you directed them as you'll need to send this to the exam board at Easter. What your music video extract needs to include Content: Your preliminary exercise must include the following:
An artist logo/brand identity that appears on screen at the beginning of the music video.
A range of different camera shots and angles which fit the codes and conventions form of TikTok.
Either a narrative or performance element (or both).
Editing appropriate to the content and song.
Camerawork: Your camerawork must be appropriate for your genre, artist and song and careful consideration of TikTok music video conventions. It is likely you will want to include a significant number of close-ups, particularly on the artist/performer based on the industrial context of production. Editing: You must edit your TikTok music video appropriately for the song and/or narrative. Sound: For this exercise, you can simply use the sound from the song you are using. However, if you wish to include an element in your music video that contains narrative and diegetic sound this is acceptable. Mise-en-scene: iconography to establish genre of your band/artist - think carefully on setting, costume, make-up props, lighting etc.
Graphics on screen: Create a brand identity for your original artist (e.g. font/typography, colour, logo etc.) that appears on screen at the beginning (or end) of your preliminary exercise. Deadlines Planning deadline: Next week (from when this blog was posted) Filming & editing deadline: Week after (from when this blog was posted)
Final deadline: See Show my Homework for specific day - total time available for project is two weeks.
Research and planning blog tasks Create a blogpost called 'Preliminary exercise: Research and planning' and complete the tasks below. First, watch this clip on the mistakes beginner filmmakers make - it will help you identify the errors to avoid when planning and shooting your video (this clip is about narrative filmmaking but many of the same points apply to any video project). This is a great video discussing five mistakes to avoid when making a music video - but you'll also find loads of great ideas here too:
And here's another one with some specific tips on making a music video - for example, there's some great stuff on composition (leading lines) and lighting here:
There are also loads more tips and tutorials from Darius Britt (D4Darius on YouTube) that we would recommend watching as part of your research and planning. These include:
Now complete the following tasks: 1) State the song you have chosen for your preliminary exercise. 2) Choose at least three music videos similar to your concept and watch a clip or more from each. Make bullet-point notes on everything you watch, commenting on camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene.
3) Write a short music video treatment for your extract (this is basically a script for your TikTok music video). You can find an example of a treatment here. If you are making your real coursework then feel free to use the treatment from your summer project.
4) Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing (in a music video you will find you need FAR more shots than you think, particularly close-ups). These additional shots can be close-ups, alternative angles or something more creative. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word/Google Docs to set out your shot list - you can find an example here (this is from narrative filmmaking but the same format can be used for any video project). 5) Plan your mise-en-scene: what iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre and style of your artist? Plan your settings, costume, make-up, props and lighting. 6) Plan a shooting schedule that will ensure everything is filmed by the deadline. Include when, where, who is required, planned equipment and any other aspects you need to arrange.
There have been someexcellent Ignite presentations with some brilliantly creative responses to the coursework brief.
Hopefully, the presentations and Q&A sessions that followed have highlighted the strengths and weaknesses of your coursework proposal and may indeed have prompted re-drafts of your statement of intent. Your learner response is as follows and will take some time to do properly: Create a new blogpost called 'Ignite presentation learner response' 1) Type up your feedback in full including the ratings out of five for each of the categories. 2) Use this feedback, comments from peers and your own reflection on your presentation to self-assess and write your own detailed WWW and EBI for your coursework concept and presentation as a whole. 3) Write a paragraph discussing how your presentation will lead into your actual coursework production. Do you need to update your statement of intent? Does your concept offer enough clarity? Is it appropriate for the audience specified in the brief? Is it achievable to film with the resources you have available? Can you add media terminology or theory to your statement of intent now you have reflected on your presentation and seen others? REMINDER: You also need to ensure that ALL your research and planning from over the summer - including your current statement of intent - is posted to your Media 2 coursework blog. Due date: See Satchel One
The summer project is a vital element of your coursework - an opportunity to plan three outstanding TikTok videos and three web pages to promote the artist's own branded new soft drink and then present it to class in September.
Your summer project contains compulsory and optional elements; everybody will be researching TikTok videos, creating a concept, writing a first draft Statement of Intent and presenting this to class as an Ignite presentation in September. However, you may wish to also plan and film elements of your production over the summer while you have time available - this is up to you.
Your AQA coursework brief is here: NEA Student Booklet - Brief 4. Summer project tasks Complete the following tasks on a blogpost on your coursework blog called 'Summer Project: coursework planning': 1) Research: TikTok videos You need to write a 150-word close-textual analysis of SIX TikTok videos that will inform your production work. The TikTok videos you analyse are up to you but focus on a different aspect of media language for each one (see guidance below).
TikTok videos TikTok Video 1: Narrative How is narrative used in the TikTok video and what impact does this have on the audience? Can you apply any narrative theories to the story in the TikTok video? TikTok Video 2:Camerawork (shots, angles, movement) Look for particular camera shots and movement - remember that movement is a critical convention of most music videos and performances and camerawork can contribute to this. TikTok Video 3:Mise-en-scene What do you notice about the use of mise-en-scene to create meanings for the audience? Use CLAMPS to help you here and think in particular about how mise-en-scene is used to communicate the genre of music and the personality or brand identity of the band/artist.
TikTok Video 4:Editing
For editing, analyse pace, transitions, the number of shots and juxtaposition. How does the video create pace and excitement - or does it create a different effect for the audience?
TikTok Video 5:Music Video Conventions
Think back to our Introduction to Music Video and our work on Andrew Goodwin's theory on music video conventions as part of the Ghost Town CSP. How many key conventions of music video can you find in your fifth TikTok example?
TikTok 6:Visual effects, intertextuality or product placement
Choose a TikTok video that has interesting visual effects or intertextuality and analyse the effect this creates and how it is constructed. Alternatively, you could look at product placement here and see how a band or artist has incorporated a brand or product into their video. You can start adding TikTok links to this shared document that should help with research and, of course, or you are free to select videos of your choice. You may wish to write more about one video than another but as long as you have 800+ words of TikTok video research in total you will be fine. Feel free to use bullet points if this is helpful.
2) Planning: THREE TikTok video treatments A treatment is like a script for a TikTok video - it tells the artist exactly what will happen in the video and the kind of style or effect the video will have. You'll need choose what songs you are going to use at this point - remember, you can use an existing artist's work but it needs to be appropriate for the brief.
For this aspect of your summer project, write a basic treatment that gives your reader a good idea of what each of your three TikTok video will look like. The most important thing is to keep in mind the brief - the TikTok video can feature any of the following:
personal information from the artist
replication of a social media trend (eg ‘bees
in a trap’ video, ice-bucket challenge) extracts
from podcasts, press conferences, red carpet
appearances and/or promotional interviews
clips from a music video
any other content you feel is appropriate.
Start each of your THREE treatments with the following key details:
1) Artist and song(s) you will use for video.
2) Original name for artist you have created - MUST be completely original
For example, Ed Sheeran - Shape of You is the artist and song you plan to use but your original name for your artist will be John Smith - Shape of You. 3) Statement of Intent Write the first draft for your genuine 500-word Statement of Intent. This will be submitted to the exam board alongside your media products and is worth 10 marks of the overall 60 marks available.
It should explain:
the ways in which you will apply knowledge and understanding of media language and media representation to your products
how your products will target the intended audience
the industry context they are created for
how you will exploit the opportunities for digital convergence between the products
We also strongly recommend you look at our Statement of Intent questions to consider document too (you'll need to log in with your Greenford Google account to read this).
This is just your first draft of the statement so try and keep it under 500 words if you can. That will leave a bit of room to add later when you do your next draft.
4) Ignite presentation Prepare a 5-minute, 20-slide presentation using the Ignite format in which you present your coursework project. In effect, this is your statement of intent in presentation format. You must cover:
Your TikTok videos and web pages concept: your new originalartist, genre, song and TikTok video treatments. Then, your print brief: website name, title, logo, name of artist's new soft drink etc.
Media language: how you will use TikTok video conventions and website conventions - e.g. camerawork, editing and mise-en-scene to create meanings for your audience.
Media representations: how you will use or subvert stereotypes in your TikTok video and web pages; applications of representation theory; social and cultural contexts - how your coursework will reflect contemporary media culture and society.
Media audiences: your target audience demographics and psychographics; audience pleasures - why they would enjoy your TikTok video and webpages; audience theory if relevant.
Media industries and digital convergence: the potential record company that would promote your artist; the website; the brand identity for your artist; how fans would engage with your products etc.
Ignite presentations have very specific rules: you must create exactly 20 slides with each slide set to 15-second auto-advance. This means your presentation will be exactly five minutes followed by questions and comments from the class. You will deliver your presentation on your coursework planning in the first week back in September. Your Ignite presentation will be marked out of 30 on the following criteria (each worth a possible 5 marks): 1) Research (through the presentation AND your blog - make sure it is posted before you present) 2) Coursework concept 3) Language: terminology and theory 4) Representations / social and cultural contexts 5) Audience and Industry / digital convergence 6) Presentation delivery You can find more information about Ignite presentations - including examples - in this Ignite presentation blogpost here. Summer project deadline: all tasks above due in first lesson back in September
Summer project: optional extensions Pre-production tasks Some students in previous years expressed an interest in filming their video production over the summer break. This makes a huge amount of sense - far more availability of actors, much more time to schedule filming etc. If you do want to film over the summer, make sure you complete the following pre-production tasks here: TikTok video planning and treatment This is effectively your script for your TikTok video. There is guidance/links above on how to write a great TikTok video treatment. Storyboard Sketch out a selection of critical shots from your TikTok video, take a photo of the storyboard and upload it to your blogpost. What visual style are you trying to create? Storyboard sheets can be downloaded from here. Shot list Write a shot list containing EVERY shot you plan to film for the TikTok video AND additional shots to create flexibility when editing. These additional shots are often close-ups, cutaways, alternative angles or similar. I advise using a simple table on Microsoft Word to set out your shot list - you can find a film example here. It makes sense to organise your shot list by scene or location rather than a huge list of every shot in the TikTok video in chronological order. Mise-en-scene What iconography are you including to ensure your audience understands the genre you are working in? Plan your cast, costume, make-up, props, lighting and setting. This can be simply completed using your blog or Microsoft Word - the key aspect is to have planned all the critical details. Shooting schedule Plan a shooting schedule for your filming over the summer. Include when, where, who is required and what shots you will complete at each time/location. Again, this can be on Word or Excel or you could simply use your blog. The most important thing is that you've planned it! Non-assessed participants You will need to provide a written record of all non-assessed participants in your production work (both video and print). Keep a record of everyone involved - actors, camerawork, sound etc. You will also need a keep a record of any non-original sound and note it on the Candidate Record Form - so this means the song for your music video. Keep these on your blog for easy reference when submitting your work in Year 13. Production: Filming and photography Once you have completed your pre-production tasks, you can film or carry out photoshoots as you wish. Good luck!
Our first topic for Year 13 is Online, Social and Participatory media (OSP).
This will allow us to build on the work we did in Year 12 while further exploring the impact of the internet on audiences and media industries. Our two in-depth CSPs are the online presence of music sensation Taylor Swift and The Voice website - the online home of the weekly newspaper for the Black British community. Notes from the lesson Before studying the CSPs, we need to learn a key theorist for this topic Clay Shirky's End of audience theories. This, along with the remarkable impact of the internet, will underpin everything we study for Taylor Swift and The Voice. The internet: a brief history The internet has been the most significant social, cultural and technological development of the last 30 years.
In 1998, just 9% of UK households had internet access.
By 2020, it had risen to 96%.
Daily internet use in the UK has trebled since 2006 with almost 50 million using it every day.
Smartphones are now the most popular device to access the internet. The iPhone was launched in 2007.
Source: ONS (Office for National Statistics) The 'Information Revolution'
550 years ago, the invention of the printing press by Johannes Gutenberg meant that the number of books in existence rose from a few thousand to 20 million in just 25 years. This led to the Reformation, the Renaissance and the scientific revolution in which centuries-old modes of thinking were radically questioned.
The internet has been likened to the Gutenberg revolution – which means we’re living through this ‘Information revolution’ right now:
“The most important medium of the twentieth century” (Briggs and Burke 2005)
“An application that will usher in The Information Age” (Castells 1996)
Clay Shirky: End of audience Clay Shirky suggests the 20th century media model “with professional producers and amateur consumers” has been replaced by a more chaotic landscape that allows consumers to be producers and distributors. From the rise of collaborative projects to publicity campaigns run by volunteers, he believes that “organizations now have to understand, and respect, the motivations of the billion new participants in the contemporary media ecosystem.”
One of big changes with digital platforms is that “Every consumer is also a producer, and everyone can talk back.” Yet what may be more significant is the simple math of how many people can reach each other through the connections in a network. The result is always more connections.
Shirky adds that media had been a hierarchical industry—in that one filtered first, and then published. “All of that now breaks down,” he says. “People are producing who are not employees or media professions. So we now publish first, and then filter. We find the good stuff after the fact. This is dramatically different.”
Clay Shirky: End of audience blog tasks Media Magazine reading Media Magazine 55 has an overview of technology journalist Bill Thompson’s conference presentation on ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ It’s an excellent summary of the internet’s brief history and its impact on society. Go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM55 and scroll to page 13 to read the article ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ Answer the following questions: 1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson? 2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet? 3) What does ‘open technology’ refer to? Do you agree with the idea of ‘open technology’? 4) Bill Thompson outlines some of the challenges and questions for the future of the internet. What are they? 5) Where do you stand on the use and regulation of the internet? Should there be more control or more openness? Why?
Clay Shirky: Here Comes Everybody Clay Shirky’s book Here Comes Everybody charts the way social media and connectivity is changing the world. Read Chapter 3 of his book, ‘Everyone is a media outlet’, and answer the following questions: 1) How does Shirky define a ‘profession’ and why does it apply to the traditional newspaper industry? 2) What is the question facing the newspaper industry now the internet has created a “new ecosystem”? 3) Why did Trent Lott’s speech in 2002 become news? 4) What is ‘mass amateurisation’? 5) Shirky suggests that: “The same idea, published in dozens or hundreds of places, can have an amplifying effect that outweighs the verdict from the smaller number of professional outlets.” How can this be linked to the current media landscape and particularly ‘fake news’? 6) What does Shirky suggest about the social effects of technological change? Does this mean we are currently in the midst of the internet “revolution” or “chaos” Shirky mentions? 7) Shirky says that “anyone can be a publisher… [and] anyone can be a journalist”. What does this mean and why is it important? 8) What does Shirky suggest regarding the hundred years following the printing press revolution? Is there any evidence of this “intellectual and political chaos” in recent global events following the internet revolution? 9) Why is photography a good example of ‘mass amateurisation’? 10) What do you think of Shirky’s ideas on the ‘End of audience’? Is this era of ‘mass amateurisation’ a positive thing? Or are we in a period of “intellectual and political chaos” where things are more broken than fixed? A/A* extension work: Read Chapter 1 ‘It takes a village to find a phone’ and Chapter 4 ‘Publish, then filter’ to further understand Shirky’s ideas concerning the ‘End of audience’.
You will have lesson time to work on this but will need to finish for homework. Due date on Show My Homework.
The Easter holidays are a critical time for revision and final coursework improvements.
This is the time to be revising the exam topics, practising questions and making any final improvements to your production work. It's also important to have a break too! Make sure you give yourself a couple of proper days off amongst the school work.
Coursework deadline
The coursework deadline is Friday 17 April - all details on this blogpost here. Please remember that although the production work is due after Easter your Statement of Intent cannot be changed after 30 March so whatever we have on that date will be your final Statement of Intent.
Exam revision links
Here's what you need to revise with links to the original blogposts:
Media Paper 1 - Thursday 14 May (afternoon)
Section A: Language and Representation
Unseen analysis
Revise media language and representations - including theory - as well as looking back at your assessment LRs across the course. Many of these had an unseen question so look at the mark schemes and feedback to help prepare for this question.
The majority of Paper 2 will be THREE 25-mark essays on your in-depth topics. AQA states for your extended response questions:
“You will be rewarded for your ability to construct and develop a sustained line of reasoning which is coherent, relevant, substantiated and logically structured.” This means plan and write an essay with a clear and convincing argument!
The structure for the 25-mark questions in Paper 2 is as follows:
Q2: evaluation of theory question - you MUST focus on the theory and simply use CSPs for evidence
Q3: contexts question (e.g. social and cultural contexts, political or economic contexts etc.)
Q4: synoptic question - more details below
Q4: Synoptic question
The final question in Paper 2 will always be the synoptic question – which requires you to demonstrate knowledge of the whole two-year course of study. AQA states:
“Question 4 is a synoptic question in which you will be rewarded for your ability to draw together different areas of knowledge and understanding from across the full course of study.”
How do we do this? Answer: Key concepts - Language, Representations, Audience, Industries. In your answer make sure that you areaddressing 2-3 of the key concepts in responding to the question. This will demonstrate your knowledge of the whole course - but make sure you dostay focused on the question!
You can look through this AQA Specimen Paper 2 paper to familiarise yourself with the structure of the paper. Note that several of the CSPs have changed since this specimen paper was produced.
Revision links, resources and guidance
We've got plenty of resources to help you with your revision and preparation for the upcoming exams.
You'll be given eight full practice papers to take away for Easter - four Paper 1 and four Paper 2. Make sure you collect those from your exam teacher.
Here are some sample questions and answers we've worked on in exam revision lessons in previous years. We'll be adding to this document in our revision lessons after Easter but you may want to look through this for exemplar answers and help revising. Note that many of the CSPs have changed so we'll be updating these after Easter. You'll also need your Greenford Google login for this resource as it is only for GHS Media students.
We also gave you a paper copy of the Theoretical Perspectives resource which covers all the theories in the A Level Media specification. Let us know if you didn't get one! Our advice is to use this simple theory revision sheet and fill one in for all of the named theorists. If you are confident in the arguments for and against certain theorists you will be able to answer 'How useful' or 'How valid' evaluation of theory questions.
On the subject of theories, we've collated all of Media Magazine's Theory Drop articles on the named theories into one PDF document. It's a great way to revise the theories - remember AQA's suggestion that for each named theory you create a bullet point summary followed by a table of reasons to agree/disagree with the key ideas. You'll need your Greenford Google login for the theory drop link.
Revision is a very personal thing and everyone has different techniques. Here's a video on YouTube with top tips for A* A Level revision:
Personally, I strongly recommend using flash cards (they are often called record cards if you are trying to buy them online or in WHSmiths). The simple act of distilling topics into a few key words or phrases to put on the card will seriously help in remembering the key information in the final exams. I have spare flash cards in DF07 if you'd like some. Try creating three sets of cards:
Terminology/key words
Theories
CSPs
Chat GPT for revision
Although we've correctly told you to stay well away from AI and ChatGPT for coursework, we've heard of some excellent ideas in terms of using AI to revise. If you type out an answer to an exam question, you can ask ChatGPT to mark it by clearly giving the prompt of the exam board, paper and number of marks.
Other ideas include asking ChatGPT to quiz you on a particular topic or come up with example questions.
Revision example and useful resources - thank you Assia!
One of our former Year 13 Media students, Assia, very kindly shared some of her revision resources with us when she left Greenford. These are notes on CSPs which you may find useful but I'd also recommend creating your own similar resources for the CSPs to help you remember the key details. By the way, this is what an A grade student looks like! You'll need your Greenford Google login to access these and note that some of the CSPs have changed this year:
If you want to mix up your Media revision a little then you can always read around the subject or look through our Factsheet archive for topics you're struggling with.
Anything you read in our Media Magazine archive will help to give you a wider perspective on media debates and every issue has several articles which focus on interesting examples, theories and debates that will help you in the Media exams. You'll find our Media Magazine archive here.
Similarly, you have access to our whole Media Factsheet archive if there are any particular topics or theories you want to revise in more detail. Look at these for example:
If you want to test your knowledge of the complete subject content, you can find it on the AQA website here. Look at the menu on the left-hand side - under media language, media representation etc. you'll find everything that could come up in exams:
Assessments
As discussed, we will complete a short newspaper assessment either in the first or second week back and then followed by a Walk-and-talk Paper 1 to practice the timing and style of questions for Paper 1. This will be in the third week back after Easter so be prepared!
We have completed our final topic - Newspapers. Congratulations on finishing the content for A Level Media!
This means you have studied all NINE types of media and covered all the CSPs. This is an outstanding achievement - you know how much work we set! Now, to finish off Newspapers we need to complete our index. As you will know after almost two years of this, indexes are a good way to check we have covered all the work while also kickstarting our revision.
Newspapers index
Your Newspapers index should include the following:
For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each aspect of the case study quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in the final exams due to gaps in your knowledge.
The Guardian is our very final CSP and provides a compelling case study of a newspaper evolving to survive in the digital age.
As with the Daily Mail, we need to study the newspaper from the perspective of audience and industries, linking what we've already learned about the newspaper industry and journalism. Similarly, we need to look at the Guardian newspaper website just as we studied MailOnline. Notes from the lesson The Guardian is a centre-left, national UK broadsheet newspaper. Its website is freely available worldwide and the Guardian reflects the changing nature of technology, the media globally and the newspaper industry specifically.
The Guardian: values and ideologies
The Guardian’s ideological position – its overall values and beliefs about the world – reflects a progressive stance on a range of contemporary issues (which can cause controversy amongst its readership – such as in the recent debate around trans/gender critical positions).
The political affiliation of the paper has shifted across left-wing parties, and it has a ‘critical friend’ approach rather than unconditional support for one party.
Parent company of GMG is the Scott Trust - created in 1936 to "secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian" and "safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values" of the paper.
The Scott Trust allows the Guardian to make significant losses - usually around £20m - £30m each year. They cope with this by making money elsewhere in their global media business.
The current editor-in-chief of the Guardian is Katharine Viner.
The Guardian: economic contexts
The Guardian has responded to the decline of the print newspaper industry by focusing on growing its global digital audience. Significantly, it doesn't use a paywall, believing that its journalism should be free for people to read around the world. Instead, it asks readers for voluntary donations and makes money from online advertising and print subscriptions. It has around 500,000 readers making regular donations globally.
57% of Guardian readers from high/highest income bracket; 67% is ABC1.
Average time spent reading per month on the Guardian website is 18 minutes – joint highest with the Telegraph v any other quality newsbrand.
Ofcom report on news consumption
The Guardian is:
Rated joint #2 with Observer for reach of all newsbrands (31%) ahead are The Daily Mail/Mail on Sunday with 33%
Rated #3 for those who access online news, BBC and Sky News are ahead and Daily Mail are #4
Circulation and global readership
The Guardian's statistics include:
Most UK print national newspapers have kept circulation figures private since start of 2020. The Guardian joined this in September 2021. In July 2021, it was reported they had under 105,134. Ten years ago, it was around 250,000 a day.
If these titles have fallen in line with rest of the industry their current circulations as of October 2025 would be estimated around 60,000.
However, when including the website, the Guardian boasts 20.7 million cross-platform UK readers a month (print and digital) which is more than the Times and the Telegraph.
It also has 122 million unique browsers globally each month. This includes 45m in North America, 35m in the UK and 16m in Europe. (up by 36m since 2023).
Watch the Guardian's Richard Furness talking about this transformation over the last 20 years from print to digital and from UK to global:
The Guardian: regulation The newspaper industry is regulated by IPSO - the Independent Press Standards Organisation. However, The Guardian has not signed up to IPSO and instead established their own complaints procedure. This includes their own internal ombudsman - called the 'reader's editor' - who responds to complaints raised about the paper.
The Guardian analysis and significant front pages AQA's CSP booklet suggests studying one entire issue of the Guardian print edition alongside a selection of stories from the Guardian website. You can buy a copy to study for this or alternatively you can take pictures of the Guardian print editions we look at in class alongside some notable Guardian front pages. Either way, consider the following in your analysis:
Selection of news
How is news selected and presented by editors? Is there an ongoing narrative created by the newspaper to engage an audience?
Audience and ideology
What ideologies are present in the text? Is the audience positioned to respond to stories in a certain way?
Phone hacking scandal that led to closure of News of the World and Leveson report:
Boris Johnson partygate report:
The Guardian website
The Guardian website has become the driving force of the newspaper with four international editions based in the UK, Europe, the USA and Australia. Audience engagement is a major aspect of the newspaper with live blogs and reader comments and interactions a key audience pleasure.
The Guardian CSP: Blog tasks Work through the following tasks to complete your case study on the Guardian newspaper and website. The Guardian newspaper and website analysis
Use your own purchased copy plus the notable front pages above to answer the following questions - bullet points/note form is fine.
1) What are the most significant front page headlines seen in the Guardian in recent years?
2) Ideology and audience: What ideologies are present in the Guardian? Is the audience positioned to respond to stories in a certain way?
3) How do the Guardian editions/stories you have studied reflect British culture and society?
1) What are the top stories? Are they examples of soft news or hard news?
2) To what extent do the stories you have found on the website reflect the values and ideologies of the Guardian?
3) Think about audience appeal and gratifications: what would an audience enjoy about the Guardian newspaper website?
The Guardian newspaper Factsheet Read Media Factsheet #257 The Guardian Newspaper. You can access it from our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive or download it here via Google using your school login details. Answer the following questions: 1) Who owns the Guardian and what is their ownership designed to achieve? 2) How is the Guardian regulated? Note its very unusual regulatory approach and give examples where you can. 3) Pick out some key statistics on the Guardian's audience (see beginning of page 2). 4) What are the institutional values of the Guardian? What does it stand for? 5) How is the Guardian's international audience described? See the end of page 2 and pick out some more useful statistics here about their audience .
6) Now look at page 3 of the factsheet and the Guardian online. Select a few examples of the different sections of the website and copy them here.
7) What different international editions of the Guardian's website are available and what example stories are provided as examples of this?
8) What is the Guardian's funding model? Do you think it is sustainable?
9) What is the Cotton Capital Commission and how does it link to the Guardian's values and ideologies?
10) What audience and industry theories could be applied to the Guardian? How?
Media Magazine articles Media Magazine has two excellent features on our newspaper CSPs - a focus on Guardian front pages and a comparison of how the Guardian and Daily Mail cover the same story in different ways. You need to read both articles - MM78 (page 12) and MM87 (page 20) - our Media Magazine archive is here. Answer the following questions:
MM78 - The Guardian
1) What are the Pandora Papers and how does the story fit with the Guardian's ethos, values and ideologies?
2) Pick out all the key statistics and quotes from the section on the Guardian's funding model. In particular, the fall in paper readership, the rise in digital readership and the number of contributors paying to support the journalism.
3) What does it mean when it says the Guardian frames regular payments from readers as a "philanthropic act".
4) What is the Scott Trust and do you think it is a sustainable model for newspaper ownership in the future?
5) Why is the Guardian criticised as hypocritical? Give some specific examples here.
MM87 - The Daily Mail and the Guardian front page analysis
1) What are the stories featured on the Guardian and Daily Mail on November 10, 2023?
2) How do they reflect the values and ideologies of the two newspapers?
3) Why does the writer suggest the front-page images on both papers might be exploitative? Do you agree?
4) What else does the writer suggest regarding the Daily Mail's front-page image of murdered teacher Ashling Murphy?
5) How does the rest of the Guardian's front page (features on Yoko Ono and Todd Haynes) reflect the values and ideologies of Guardian readers?
A/A* extension tasks
Look at the Guardian Media Kit in more detail. What do you notice about the Guardian's audience compared to other newspaper brands? What is a 'typical Guardian reader'?
Take on the tasks at the end of the Guardian factsheet, including the exam question: “Media audiences do not simply consume media content anymore.” Focusing on the newspapers you have studied, to
