13D NDM:The future of newspapers

Today's lesson is going to begin by sharing the New and Digital Media stories we have found this week. Hope you're ready!

However, the main objective is to look at the impact new and digital media has had on the newspaper industry.

The future of newspapers

Read this article from the Economist on the future of newspapers.

On your blog, write a paragraph summarising the argument the article makes. Then answer the following question: 

Do you agree with its view that it is ‘a cause for concern, but not for panic’?



Homework
You have some serious homework this week - in addition to finding your weekly NDM story - which will provide excellent preparation for university. David Simon, creator of critically acclaimed TV hit The Wire and a former journalist, has written a passionate defence of the newspaper industry in the face of the new and digital media onslaught. This will take a couple of hours - make sure you put the time in.

The article, Build The Wall, is available here on the Columbia Journalism Review website.

Your tasks are as follows:

1) Read the article in full.

2) Create a blogpost on your MEST3 Exam Blog called 'Build The Wall analysis'. 

3) Summarise each section in one sentence:

• Section 1 (To all of the bystanders reading this…)
• Section 2 (Truth is, a halting movement toward...)
• Section 3 (Beyond Mr. Sulzberger and Ms. Weymouth…)
• Section 4 (For the industry, it is later than it should be…)

4) Summarise David Simon’s overall argument in 250 words.

5) Choose three comments from below the article, copy them in to your blogpost and explain whether they agree or disagree with David Simon’s argument and why.

6) Finally, what is your own opinion? Do you agree that newspapers need to put online content behind a paywall in order for the journalism industry to survive? Would you be willing to pay for news online? Critical autonomy is the key skill in A2 Media - you need to be able form opinions on these issues.

Due: Friday 10 October

13D learner response

Type up your feedback (WWW/EBI/LR) on a new blogpost. (You don't need to write your mark and grade if you don't want to.

Answer your learner response question in detail.

A reminder of the question:

• 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?

Here's the Mark Scheme for the question (June 2010).

Here's a C grade model answer.

It's out of 48 and the grade boundaries are as follows...

A: 37 (77%)
B: 31 (65%)
C: 25 (52%)
D: 19 (40%)
E: 13 (27%)

13E: Critical Investigation proposal

The next step in our critical investigations is to develop our presentations into detailed academic proposals. You will be given a one-to-one tutorial to help you find the right angle and issue to concentrate on but first need to develop a blog post working through the following headings and tasks:

Working title

Include specific texts in the title and either 'how or 'why' or both, e.g.: To what extent and why are video games such as 'Call of Duty' and 'Grand Theft Auto’ becoming more violent?

Angle

E.g.: What impact are these increasingly violent games having on their audience? Is this simply a moral panic of the 21st century or is further regulation required?

Hypothesis

E.g.: Video games are psychologically damaging for young people, and audiences have become increasingly desensitised to screen violence.

Linked production piece

E.g.: Newsnight-style documentary video report looking at the impact of violent videogames on young people.

MIGRAIN

Apply the Key Concepts to your texts/topic by using the questions from the Summer Research Project to help you. (Include at least five bullet point/key concept). Include as many media keywords as you can.

SHEP

Apply the Wider Contexts (Social, Historical, Economic, Political) to your text/topic, including at least three bullet points on each one.

Issues/Debates

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using the Media A-Z to help you think about this:

• Representation and stereotyping
• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral Panics
• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century
• The effect of globalisation on the media

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

• Semiotics
• Structuralism and post-structuralism
• Postmodernism and its critiques
• Gender and ethnicity
• Marxism and hegemony
• Liberal Pluralism
• Colonialism and Post-colonialism
• Audience theories
• Genre theories
• Contemporary Media Landscape

Explain how your study fits into this.

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media texts
What your main focus will be, E.g.:
Call of Duty
Grand Theft Auto

Other media texts
(at least five related examples)

TV documentaries
Research videos online, e.g.:
BBC One - Panorama, Addicted to Games? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0

Academic texts/books
(a minimum of five, including author/full title/year, e.g.:)
Barrie Gunter: The effects of video games on children: the myth unmasked (1998)
James Newman: Playing with videogames (2008)
Nancy Signorielli: Violence in the media: a reference handbook (2005)
Peter Vorderer, and Bryant Jennings: Playing video games: motives, responses, and consequences (2006)

Internet Links
1. At least FIVE from Media Guardian or Guardian Culture or another newspaper website.
2. At least FIVE from university websites/academic papers online. Use Google Scholar as a starting point.
3. Any other relevant sites/articles - the more the better.

Use our archive of previous top-grade Critical Investigations to help you.

You have two weeks to complete this detailed proposal before you need to start your research in depth. Good luck!

13D News institution research

In lesson / homework

Research the major players in terms of UK news providers and make notes in a detailed blog post. List companies, publications/ channels/programmes, owners, statistics and anything else you find relevant.

You must include all three platforms (print, broadcast, e-media) and both commercial and non-commercial institutions (e.g the BBC). 

Due: Friday

**REMINDER**

On Friday you have your baseline assessment in new/digital media. You've got the question in advance so no excuses! The question:

• 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?

Revise everything you covered before the Summer (use the Powerpoint from last term) and remember you'll be working on paper in exam conditions on Friday.

Good luck!

13E Ignite presentation feedback and learner response

We have seen some excellent Ignite presentations and should finish the last of them today. You will be given feedback on your presentation and need to do the following:

1. Type up my feedback to you word-for-word on a blogpost called 'Ignite presentation feedback'
2. Make a list below your feedback of five WWW and five EBI based on your reflection/evaluation of the presentation and the feedback you've been given
3. Write what you need to do to turn your Ignite presentation into a top quality Critical Investigation

This needs to be completed for Friday if you don't get a chance in the lesson.

13E Cover Work/Homework: Mon. 15/9/14, p5/6

Remember the basic rules first:

• Arrive on time - make sure you register with the cover teacher/Mr Halsey;
• Stay in the classroom until the end of the lesson;
• Work responsibly on the tasks set.

Complete the following for Friday 19/9, p3:

• Weekly New & Digital Media (NDM) Stories - THREE are needed from this lesson!

• Produce a detailed plan for the NDM Essay Question #1. Carefully plan the structure; make sure you argue both sides of the question (audiences ARE empowered; audiences AREN'T empowered, corporations are instead); include as many examples as you can, along with specific information/theorists/quotes.

• Use the Y12 NDM Lessons: Revision (that you should have made notes on last week for homework) to help you - include as much of this PowerPoint in your plan as possible!

• Post the essay plan up on your blog.

• Continue revising - you'll be doing the essay under timed conditions on Monday 22/9. Failure to achieve your minimum target grade will require an after-school re-sit. A second failure will results in your parents being called in!

13D Cover Work/Homework: Mon. 15/9/14, p3/4

Remember the basic rules first:

• Arrive on time - make sure you register with the cover teacher/Mr Halsey;
• Stay in the classroom until the end of the lesson;
• Work responsibly on the tasks set.

Complete the following for Friday 19/9, p6:

• Upload your 'Ignite' PowerPoint to Google Drive, click 'share' and make it publicly available for 'anyone with the link'. Then post this address as a hyperlink on your blog under the title: 'Ignite Presentation';

• If you've presented already: Write a TEN point self-evaluation of your summer research/presentation (WWW x5/EBI x5), to include the feedback you received from me as well as your own ideas;

• Use Google to search 'The Guardian' website specifically on your text/topic. Type the following (what's in bold italics) into the search box: "tyler the creator" [or "mad men" or "world cup" AND "twitter" or whatever your text/topic is, putting the text/topics in inverted commas] site:http://www.theguardian.com 

• Select FIVE articles that give key information and an editorial opinion of your topic (not necessarily the first five that appear) and read them carefully;

• Post up the link and summarise each article - in your own words - on your blog;

• Write a short paragraph after each one, outlining your opinion/views.

13D NDM Essay Question #1

13D: Your baseline assessment in New and Digital Media will be next week. We're being generous and giving you the question in advance:

• 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?

Plan/revise your answer for this question (using the PowerPoint from last term, and your own research) for a one lesson timed essay on Friday 19 September.

• Here's the Mark Scheme for the question (June 2010).

• Here's a C grade model answer.

It's out of 48 and the grade boundaries are as follows...

• A: 37 (77%)
• B: 31 (65%)
• C: 25 (52%)
• D: 19 (40%)
• E: 13 (27%)

13E NDM Essay Question #1

• 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?

Plan/revise your answer for this question (using the PowerPoint from last term, and your own research) for a one hour timed essay on Mon 16/9.

13D: New and Digital Media case study: News

Today we are starting our new topic - New and Digital Media and News.

Read this article looking at the impact Google has had on the traditional newspaper business.

Answer the following questions on your blog:

1) Why has Google led to the decline of the newspaper industry?

2) Do you personally think Google is to blame for newspapers closing and journalists losing their jobs? Why?

We're on Twitter!

OK, so we're a little late to this particular party (Twitter launched in July 2006) but I'm delighted to say that the legendary Greenford High School Macguffin Blog is now on Twitter. We'll be posting links to interesting Media stories, homework reminders and deadlines throughout the year. You'll find us:

@blogmacguffin

If you haven't joined Twitter, do so: it's a brilliant way of keeping up with what's happening in the media and you don't have to publish tweets yourself if you don't want to. Once you're on board, follow the following Twitter accounts to give yourself a comprehensive daily update on the media world:

Newspaper media sections

Media Guardian @mediaguardian

i newspaper @theipaper

Independent Media @TheIndyMedia

Telegraph film  @TelegraphFilm

Useful Media Studies-related accounts

The Media blog    @TheMediaTweets

Brilliant Ads @Brilliant_Ads

Pete Fraser @petesmediablog

Media Edu @mediaedusites

Big media personalities

Rupert Murdoch @rupertmurdoch

Piers Morgan @piersmorgan

Alasdair Campbell @campbellclaret

Journalists

Roy Greenslade @GreensladeR

Mehdi Hasan @mehdirhasan

Owen Jones @OwenJones84

Nick Sutton @suttonnick

Nick Davies @Bynickdavies

Others

Film4 @Film4

Mo Farah  @Mo_Farah

YouGov polling @YouGov

There are many, many more Twitter accounts you can follow to keep up on certain aspects of the media and anything else you're interested in. Get involved and immerse yourself in the world of the media.

Media Magazine - new issue out now

The latest issue of Media Magazine (MM49) is out now. There's a hard copy in DF07 as usual and the pdf copy has also been added to the folder on the VLE:

VLE > Departments > Media > Shared documents > Media Magazine > MM49

If you want to access the subscription area of the Media Magazine website, you'll need this year's log-in details. They are:

Username: mediamagazine12
Password: j47kmsz

The latest issue has a good feature on using back issues of Media Magazine to research your MEST4 Critical Investigation - something we'll be doing at the end of September.

Make the most of it!

13D: Weekly New & Digital Media (NDM) Stories

Every week (for Wednesday's double lesson, p3&4) you must find, read, summarise and comment upon at least one story about New and Digital Media (A/B candidates will do more). The best sources to begin with are...

The Guardian: Digital Media 
The Guardian: Technology
The Guardian: Newspapers
The Guardian: News Corporation
The Independent: Media News
The Telegraph: Digital Media News

...but don't stick exclusively to these throughout the year. Find your own too - magazines like the Economist have some excellent articles and you may find interesting blogs or media sources elsewhere too.

You'll also find stories linked from our Twitter account, @blogmacguffin so make sure you're following that.

Most importantly, you need to do the following on your blog for each story...

• Provide the title and weblink;
• Include a relevant image or graphic;
• Summarise the story in your own words;
• Produce a list of bullet points of any key data/statistical information;
• Comment on the story: What's your view? (At least one paragraph).

You'll be presenting these to the class each week (I'll randomly select a student and you'll be expected to present from memory, so make sure you come prepared) and this will ensure you build up an archive of up-to-date examples to include in any exam answer. Indeed, by the end of the year, you'll have 25+ stories to call upon in the exam when you need to provide examples from the wider media.

What does this look like? Check out this blog post from one of our students last year - this gives you an idea of what a valuable resource these stories quickly become.

13D Cover Work/Homework: Mon. 8/9/14, p3/4

Remember the basic rules first:

• Arrive on time - make sure you register with the cover teacher/Mr Halsey;
• Stay in the classroom until the end of the lesson;
• Work responsibly on the tasks set.

Complete the following for Friday 14/9, p6:

• Make sure you've completed everything required for the Summer Research Project - all EIGHT tasks need to be completed to the best of your ability;
• Get into a pair and rehearse your five minute 'Ignite' talk at least once with them;
• Write feedback (at least FIVE WWW/EBIs) on their coursework blog under the comments section of the most recent post - consider Structure, Simplicity, Significance, Rehearsal (see slide 58 of this 'Death by PowerPoint' presentation);
• Copy the feedback you gave them onto your own blog in a new posting;
• Make sure you're fully ready to present on Friday's lesson.

13E Cover Work/Homework: Mon. 8/9/14, p5/6

Remember the basic rules first:

• Arrive on time - make sure you register with the cover teacher/Mr Halsey;
• Stay in the classroom until the end of the lesson;
• Work responsibly on the tasks set.

Complete the following for Friday 14/9, p3:

• Weekly New & Digital Media (NDM) Stories - THREE are needed from this lesson!
• Y12 NDM Lessons: Revision - for homework; bring revision notes to Friday's lesson.

Y12 NDM Lessons: Revision

13E: Go back through this PowerPoint for HW this week and revise it for your Y13 baseline assessment exam essay under timed conditions (1 hour)...

Y12 Introduction to New/Digital Media Lessons

Learn some key quotes/ideas (Briggs/Burke, Castells, Gutenberg/Internet Revolution, Keen, Pareto's Law...)

1. Do any of the activities you haven't already done and post them up on your Unit 3 blog.
2. Make cue cards, draw mind-maps, etc. to memorise the key information.

Remember that failure to achieve your minimum target grade (MTG) will mean you'll have to re-sit the essay after school the following week!

Weekly New & Digital Media (NDM) Stories

13E: Every week (for Monday's double lesson, p5/6) you must find, read, summarise and comment upon at least one story about New and Digital Media (A/B candidates will do more). The best sources to begin with are...

• The Guardian: Digital Media 
• The Guardian: Technology
• The Guardian: Newspapers
• The Guardian: News Corporation

...but don't stick exclusively to these throughout the year. Find your own too.

You'll also find stories linked from our Twitter account, @blogmacguffin so make sure you're following that.

For each story...

• Provide the title and weblink;
• Include a relevant image or graphic;
• Summarise the story in your own words;
• Produce a list of bullet points of any key data/statistical information;
• Comment on the story: What's your view? (At least one paragraph).

You'll be presenting these to the class each week (from memory, so make sure you come prepared) and this will ensure you build up an archive of up-to-date examples to include in any exam answer.

What does this look like? Check out this blog post from one of our students last year - this gives you an idea of what a valuable resource these stories quickly become.