Post-16 Easter sessions

We have managed to arrange two sessions for post-16 Media students in the Easter holidays. In addition, Media is open for the whole of Raising Achievement Day on Friday 27 March (when normal lessons are suspended). Therefore, you have the following opportunities to complete Media work:

Friday 27 March (Raising Achievement Day) 8.30am - 4pm

Tuesday 31 March 9am - 3pm (with Mr Halsey)

Tuesday 7 April 9am - 3pm (with Mr Bush)

This gives you over 19 hours to complete work - easily enough time if you are organised and make the most of these opportunities.

As you know, your coursework deadline is the week after Easter so these are your last chances to work on Premiere Pro or Photoshop in school and receive feedback on your production work or critical investigation.

Good luck!

Y12/13 Media work - Friday 20 March

Both myself and Mr Bush will be taking 27 Year 12 students to Sky Academy on Friday. This means that for Year 12 students not on the trip and all Year 13 students, you have the double lesson to get on with your coursework.

For Year 12, this means completing the video and print work for MEST2 and writing the first draft of your evaluation.

For Year 13, this means editing your linked production and making final changes to your critical investigations.

Mr Qureshi will be on hand to register you as present and help with any technical queries.

Make the most of the time and we look forward to seeing your work next week.

MEST3 Independent case study: New and Digital Media

You've studied your main New and Digital Media case study, the news industry, in great detail and have also covered the second exam topic: Identities and the Media. 

You now need an independent New and Digital Media case study for your Section B exam essay. This should be on an aspect of the media YOU are particularly interested in. Choose an industry - it could be film, music, gaming, social media or something else. You then have to choose a case study within that industry - it could be a particular text (e.g. film, game etc.) or an institution (e.g. Rockstar Games or Twitter). Once you have selected your case study you need to get it approved by your teacher - and then embark on the tasks below.

You will have lesson time to complete this case study up until Easter and then the Easter holidays to complete it.

Case study research tasks

The basics

Your chosen industry:

Your chosen case study (i.e. text/institution etc.):

Have you received approval for this case study from your teacher? Yes/No


Research and answer the following tasks on your MEST3 exam blog:

Audience

1) How has new and digital media changed the audience experience in your chosen industry?

2) Has new and digital media changed the way the audience consume your chosen product?

3) Has the size of the audience changed as a result of new and digital media?

4) What are the positive changes new and digital media have brought to the audience of your case study? (E.g. greater choice, easier access etc.)

5) What are the negative changes new and digital media have had on your chosen audience? (E.g. quality of product etc.)

6) What about audience pleasures - have these changed as a result of new and digital media? 

7) What is the target audience for your chosen case study? Write a demographic/psychographic profile.


Institution

1) How has new and digital media had an impact on ownership or control in your chosen industry?

2) What impact has new and digital media had on ownership in your chosen case study?

3) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions produce texts?

4) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions distribute their product?

5) How might new and digital media threaten your chosen industry?

6) How has new and digital media changed the way your chosen industry is regulated? 


UGC

1)What examples of user-generated content can you find in your case study?

2) How has UGC changed things for audiences or institutions in your chosen case study?


Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1) What would be a Marxist perspective of the impact of new and digital media on your chosen case study?

2) How would a pluralist view the impact of new and digital media in your chosen industry?

3) Are there any examples of hegemony in your chosen industry or case study?


Globalisation

1) How has globalisation impacted on your chosen industry or case study?

2) In your opinion, has globalisation had a positive or negative impact on your chosen industry and case study? Why?

3) Can you find examples of cultural imperialism in your case study or industry? (The 'Americanisation' of the world)


Social media

1) How has your industry or case study used social media to promote its products?

2) Provide examples of how your case study has used social media and explain the impact this would have on audiences.

3) Is social media an opportunity or a threat to your industry and case study?


Statistics

1) What statistics can you find to illustrate the impact new and digital media has had on your industry or case study? For example, in news, the UK newspaper industry sold more than 12m copies a day in 2001 but in 2014 it was below 7m.

2) What impact have the statistics you have found had on institutions in your chosen industry? 

3) What has the impact been for audiences?


Theories

1) What media theories can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media theories and explain how they are relevant to your case study. Note: these can be ANY of the theories we have learned over the whole of Year 12 and 13.


Issues/debates

1) What media issues and debates can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media issues/debates and explain how they are relevant to your case study.


Wider examples and secondary texts

1) What other texts or institutions are also relevant to your case study? What would be good secondary texts or examples to use to support the findings of your independent case study?


Ignite presentation

When you have completed your independent case study research, prepare a 20-slide, 5 minute Ignite presentation on your chosen industry and case study. You will present this in class after Easter to widen our overall knowledge of the impact of new and digital media on a variety of industries, examples and texts. Remember the Ignite rules:

• 20 slides
• 15-second auto-advance
• No more than 20 words on each slide

You will not be able to include ALL of the above sections so be selective and choose the aspects you feel will be most interesting and relevant to your audience - the rest of the class.

Due: after Easter

MEST3 mock: learner response

Your mock exams will be given back today (Friday 13th - unlucky for some!)

You will have a learner response in your feedback - usually re-writing one or more of the weaker questions on your blog. There is no need to panic but I think everyone has some serious revision and preparation to do to reach our target grade in A2 Media and that work starts with this learner response.

To help you, this was the original exam paper, this was the exam insert (print copy of the Real News website) and this was the mark scheme we used to mark your work.

Learner responses need to be on your blog by next week so finish them this weekend.

For those who need to re-sit Section B, this will be after school on Monday 23 March in DF07.

Identities and the Media: index

Now that we've finished our work on Identities and the Media, you need to put together an index so you can easily access your work for revision. It should include the following:

1) Reading the riots

2) Post-colonialism: Destiny Ekaragwa film analysis

3) Post-colonialism: theory and clip task

4) Feminism: post-feminism article and No More Page 3 research

5) Feminism: waves and feminism and online activism

6) Collective identity and the media

Remember, your index should link to YOUR blogpost for each of these tasks.

This is a significant amount of work and should prepare you well both for the MEST3 exam and potentially help with your Critical Investigation final draft too.

Next week: New/Digital Media independent case study.

Reminder: your two New/Digital stories homework is ONGOING every week without fail and - as your recent mock exam demonstrated - essential to give you the wider examples from the media that you need for the MEST3 exam. Some people are not doing it properly - a reminder of what you need to post for each story is here if you need it.

Media and collective identity

Notes and key theories

Collective identity

Collective identity is the shared sense of belonging to a group. In Media Studies, we need to consider the influence media has over a person’s sense of identity.

This is closely linked to the key concept of representation as the way groups are portrayed in the media can influence our sense of identity.

Collective identity: theories

Marxism and the Frankfurt School

Marxists believe identity is constructed through hegemony imposed by the ruling elite. A sense of individual identity is a myth that prevents people challenging powerful groups.

This links to the Frankfurt School, a group of influential Marxists who viewed media audiences as passive vessels. They believe the media is used to control and manipulate people.

Example: Apple branding

Apple’s branding suggests individuality and creative freedom... But in fact it is a massive profit-seeking corporation looking to sell as widely as possible.

Daniel Chandler: CAGE

Daniel Chandler suggested the acronym CAGE, stating our identity is constructed through class, age, gender and ethnicity. 

Does this still apply in the 21st century? Do we construct our own identities along these lines? Think about your presence on social media.

Stuart Hall: media construction

Stuart Hall suggests the media actively constructs our society rather than reflecting it back. 

Our identity is part of this and therefore any sense of individuality we may feel is actually constructed through the media we engage with.

Constructing our own identities

New technology has changed the way we see ourselves and others. Through social media we can construct identities for ourselves.

Example: Facebook

• How did you choose your profile pic?
• What do you ‘like’?
• What groups have you joined?
• How many friends do you have?

Shared identity online

New technology has also created the opportunity for people to form groups online that represent their shared identity.

Think about the work we have already done on feminism and online activism.

Collective identity in the 21st Century

So, collective identity doesn’t just refer to representations in mainstream media.

It also refers to self-constructed identity by users of social media and communities formed online of shared identity (e.g. Feminism).

Collective identity: blog task

Read the Media Magazine article on collective identity: Self-image and the Media (MM41 - page 6). Our Media Magazine archive is here.

Complete the following tasks on your blog:

1) Read the article and summarise each section in one sentence, starting with the section 'Who are you?'

2) List five brands you are happy to be associated with and explain how they reflect your sense of identity.

3) Do you agree with the view that modern media is all about 'style over substance'? What does this expression mean?

4) Explain Baudrillard's theory of 'media saturation' in one paragraph. You may need to research it online to find out more.

5) Is your presence on social media an accurate reflection of who you are? Have you ever added or removed a picture from a social media site purely because of what it says about the type of person you are?

6) What is your opinion on 'data mining'? Are you happy for companies to sell you products based on your social media presence and online search terms? Is this an invasion of privacy?

You will have lesson time to complete this but will need to finish for homework anything you do not cover in the lesson(s). Deadline: confirmed by your teacher.

Identities and the media: feminism online

Key notes

Waves of feminism
First wave: early 20th century, suffragette movement (right to vote).
Second wave: 1960s – 1990s, reproductive rights (pill), abortion, equal pay.
Third wave: 1990s – present, empowerment, reclaiming of femininity (high heels, sexuality etc. See Angela McRobbie's work on women's magazines).
Fourth wave? 2010 – ongoing, use of new technology (e.g. Twitter) for activism.

Fourth wave?
Many commentators argue that the internet itself has enabled a shift from ‘third-wave’ to ‘fourth-wave’ feminism. What is certain is that the internet has created a ‘call-out’ culture, in which sexism or misogyny can be ‘called out’ and challenged. 

This culture is indicative of the continuing influence of the third wave, with its focus on challenging sexism and misogyny in advertising, film, television and the media. 

Key quote: “power users of social media”

The internet has facilitated the creation of a global community of feminists who use the internet both for discussion and activism. 

According to #FemFuture: Online Feminism, a report recently published by Columbia University’s Barnard Center for Research on Women, females aged between 18 and 29 are the ‘power users of social networking’.

(Source: http://www.psa.ac.uk/insight-plus/feminism-fourth-wave)

Critics of online feminism
Critics of online feminist movements suggest that petitions and pressure from Twitter campaigns is simply a witchhunt orchestrated by privileged middle-class white women.

They ask: are ‘trolls’ the danger they are portrayed to be?


Class research task

Feminism online: recent examples
In your pair, research one of the following cases - it will be assigned by your teacher. 

1) Ched Evans: petition to prevent convicted rapist playing

2) Caroline Criado-Perez: female presence on banknotes

3) Caitlin Moran: Twitter silence

4) Emma Watson: HeForShe gender equality campaign

5) Emma Barnett: female journalists targeted

Use the links provided AND other sources to ensure you have a balanced view of the example in question. Remember, you need to be able to explore the issue from a variety of perspectives to achieve an A/A* grade.

Complete the following tasks in your pair and prepare to feed back to the class:

1) Summarise this example for the rest of the class in one paragraph

2) What was the initial incident or situation that sparked this example?

3) In your opinion, is this an example of a valid campaign or something of a witchhunt against people who are not doing any serious harm?


Individual blog task

Choose THREE of the examples above, read the linked articles and complete the three tasks above on your MEST3 exam blog for each.

Complete for homework if you don't manage to finish this in lesson time - deadline set by your teacher.