Unit 3 Revision Checklist

Use this checklist to organise your Media revision: there is more than enough here to help you get a top grade...

Mainly for Section A

• Section A Practice Questions (with model answers)

• Revision Express Textbook

• 'Identities & The Media' Lessons

• AQA A2 Textbook

• Media A-Z Glossary

• Theory Quotes

• Section A: Q2/3

Mainly for Section B

• Section B Questions

• New & Digital Media Lessons

• NDM Quotes + Marxism/Pluralism

• New and Digital Media: Useful Revision Articles

• NDM Case Studies

Section A and Section B

• Unit 3 Key Theories

• NDM Theories/Issues/Debates Summaries

...start working on this NOW and put together a revision plan to cover it all before the exam on Wednesday June 7th.

Section A Practice Questions (+ model answers)

There are THREE excellent sample papers/responses on MediaEdu... 
(login first: username: greenford; password: greenfordedu)

• Video Game Trailers (Missing Fable Legends clip)
• Britain's Got Talent/Celebrity
• Political Party Election Broadcasts (Missing Labour Party clip)

Make sure you do these yourself, under timed conditions, then check the model answers to compare how you did. There is no substitute for practising using exam questions and applying what you've learnt - this is the most important aspect of revision! And, of course, bring in any practice essays to us for marking!!

Revision Express Textbook

This is a fantastic resource! Really concise.

You are advised to learn all the key terms (in bold) and have a go at the exam questions at the end of each section (these are good for practice although NOT the typical ones you'll get in the exam; see the list of Section B questions for that).

This download covers most of the key issues & debates that you MUST be able to apply to the Section A texts you have to analyse/compare in the exam...

Advertising, Advertising & Marketing, Audience Profiling, Cult of the Celebrity, Effects Theory, Globalisation, Marxism, Media Ownership, Narrative Theory, News Values, Pluralism, Postmodernism, Reception Theory, Uses & Gratifications

...Revision Express Textbook

Identities & The Media Lessons

Section A will have one question (Q2 or Q3) that  that asks you to consider identity/representation issues in the two texts, as well as linking them to other texts you can discuss.

This is where you should be able to make some use of the representation theories/examples you covered in your 'Identities & The Media' lessons on Post-Colonialism and (Post)-Feminism, so make sure you revise them.

AQA Textbook

Read and make notes on this text book, written by the exam board - great for revising...

Contents

1. Critical Perspectives

2. Media Theories

3. Approaching Texts Critically

4. Approaching Topics Critically

Media A-Z Glossary

Make sure you keep reading this during your revision, using it to look up straightforward meanings of any theories/theorists/keywords you need to be clear about.

The more media terminology you include in the exam (all the terms covered in this book) the more marks you will get, so keep testing/re-testing yourself on what's in here...

Media A-Z Glossary

And here is a checklist of the media Issues/Debates and Theories that the specification says you need to know (the AQA textbook has more detailed explanations/examples of all of these)...

Issues/Debates

• 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

• 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

...make sure you have some keywords/theorists for each one that you can apply to whichever texts appear in Section A, or in response to typical Section B questions.

Theory Quotes

Here is a list of some of some useful quotations that will really impress the examiners if you can incorporate them...

Theory Quotes

They will also help to clarify some key Media Studies concepts...

hegemony, Marxism, cultural imperialism, globalisation, liberal pluralism, web 2.0

You should try to memorise a few (or simply a phrase or two from them), thinking about how you could include at least one of them in each of the Section B essay questions (although they are just as useful for Section A too).

Theories, Issues and Debates Summaries

Easy to revise from - some of the key ideas/theorists you need to know...

Theories Issues and Debates Handout A2

UNIT 3 Section B Questions

A big part of your revision will be going back over your Case Studies for New/Digital Media.

Make sure you refine your research - adding to it over the final few weeks with up-to-the-minute info from sources like MediaGuardian, and new articles that will be posted up here.

Read through all your blog postings on your weekly NDM stories (using your really useful index) and look at other students' from both classes too for some of the key topics over the last year.

This is also a really helpful summary of some key ideas...

New & Digital Media Theories & Concepts

You should be able to answer all the typical questions for Section B in the exam (the most recent ones are towards the end and quite a few you've done already)...

New/Digital Media

• “Digital media have, in many ways, changed how we consume media products.” Who do you think benefits most – audiences or producers?

• “Media institutions are right to feel threatened by new/digital media.” Consider this statement and show how media institutions are reacting to technological developments.

• The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. Discuss the arguments for and against this view.

• “The new generation of UK media power players are going stratight to their audience via the web” www.mediaguardian.co.uk Monday July 14 2008. How have media institutions responded to the opportunities offered by new/digital media?

• 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?

• Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the challenge posed by new/digital media?

• The world first heard about the death of Michael Jackson from the online gossip website TMZ. How has new/digital media changed the ways in which information reaches audiences and what are the implications?

• ‘New and digital media erodes the dividing line between reporters and reported, between active producers and passive audiences: people are enabled to speak for themselves.’ (www.indymedia.org.uk) Have such developments made the media more democratic, with more equal participation by more people?

• New and digital media offers media institutions different ways of reaching audiences. Consider how and why media institutions are using these techniques. 

• ‘To connect, to create, to share creativity or thought, to discuss, to collaborate, to form groups or to combine with others in mutual interests or passions.  If you can’t see the point of any of those things, you will not see the point of Facebook.’ (www.guardian.co.uk) What opportunities and/or disadvantages do new and digital media have for audiences?

• Although new and digital media may promise audiences more freedom, it does not necessarily give them more power. Discuss.

• New and digital media is creating one global culture. Do you think that this is true?

• The only way to survive in the digital world is to keep innovating. Do you agree?

• Most of the traditional media’s attempts to compete with new and digital media have been too little and too late. Does your case study support this view?

• The internet is a democratic space, where we are all free to participate equally. Using your own case study, discuss whether the impact of new and digital media is democratic.

• New and digital media offer a wide range of competing ideas and opinions from experts and journalists to bloggers and social networkers, making it harder for audiences to know who to trust. In such an environment, how does the audience know who to trust?

• Does your case study suggest that new and digital media have had a positive impact by offering audiences a more diverse range of values and ideologies?

• New and digital media have led many media producers to involve their audiences more. However audience involvement is only superficial and media producers have ensured they maintain control. Use your case study to evaluate whether new and digital media have changed the role of producers.

• New and digital media have contributed to the process of globalisation: the idea that the world is becoming increasingly interconnected through one global culture. Using your own case study, evaluate the impact that new and digital media have had on globalisation.

• Use your case study to evaluate whether new and digital media are a threat or an opportunity for media producers.

• One of the great benefits of new and digital media is that they have enabled audiences to set their own agenda in terms of how they use the media. Does evidence from your case study support this view?

• “We stand for a single internet where all of humanity has equal access to knowledge and ideas.” Hillary Clinton, former United States Secretary of State, January 2010. Does your case study suggest that new and digital media have made a positive contribution to humanity?

• “As a result of developments in new and digital media, traditional media institutions face a struggle to survive.” Use your case study to discuss this statement. 

• Data is “retained and subsequently used without the subscriber or registered user being informed… private lives are the subject of constant surveillance”.  European Court of Justice – April 2014. With reference to your case study, discuss the extent to which you agree that ‘private lives are the subject of constant surveillance’.

You should have detailed plans for each of these essays and have practised as many as possible under timed conditions (ONE HOUR for each).

Remember, the examiner is looking for the following:

• A sophisticated and detailed evaluation, showing very good critical autonomy.
• Sophisticated and detailed application of a wide range of wider contexts.
• Supports answer with a wide range of examples from other media.
• Articulate and engaged.

New & Digital Media Lessons

Use these to help you revise, by going through each slide/linked article and making summary notes/mindmaps on revision cards and then testing yourself...

• New Digital Media Lessons Y13

The News Case Study: Murdoch/NewsCorp, paywalls, adblocking, UGC, citizen journalism, gatekeepers, news agendas, Galtung & Ruge, Marxism/pluralism, democratisation, globalisation, conglomerates, Alain de Botton, News on the Tweet...

• Introduction to New & Digital Media Y12

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

NDM Key Quotes + Marxism/Pluralism

Make sure you memorise some of these quotes from critics/theorists/media professionals and include them in your Section B essay answers...

NDM Key Quotes

Also, ensure you always make reference to both key critical perspectives in your essay - Marxism and Pluralism...

Marxism/Pluralism summaries

New & Digital Media: Useful Revision Articles

You should try to read ALL of the following, making revision notes/mindmaps and understanding how you can apply the key points to the Section B essay questions:

From MediaEdu...

(login first: username: greenford; password: greenfordedu)

• A2 AQA MEST3 Revision New and Digital Media Example Question
• The Impact of Digital Media Revision
• 24 Hour News Case Study
• We Media, Democracy and Convergence

From MediaMagazine...

(access via our Media Magazine archive)

• The Rise and Rise of UGC. MM30, page 55. 
• Participation debates - media and democracy. MM39, page 12. 
• Web 2.0 - participation or hegemony? MM39, page 58. 
• Participating in the Arab Spring. MM39, page 14.

NDM Case Studies

Remember that you have TWO case studies that you need to incorporate into your Section B essay:

1. The Impact of NDM on News 

This was the one we covered as a class and should form the bulk of your answer. 

We covered things like: the decline of the newspaper industry (include statistics), paywalls vs. free content, UGC, citizen journalism, News Corp/Murdoch, gatekeeping, news values (Galtung and Ruge), Marxism/pluralism, democratisation, the Arab Spring, globalisation, conglomerates, hyperreality (Baudrillard), Alain de Botton, etc. 

Each week on your blog you should have been posting a story on this topic too so go back and revise them all (using your blog index).

2. Your Own Independent Case Study on an Aspect of NDM

You had to come up with your own topic area and research it - a paragraph or two on this will be more than enough in the exam. 

You should have answered all the NDM Case Study Questions on your blog as well as completed the final task - the Ignite PowerPoint presentation.

Unit 3 Key Theories

A helpful resource - that we gave you as a hard copy recently - divided into three sections...

1. Critical Debates/Key Concepts
Includes globalisation, Marxism/hegemony, pluralism, audience theories (Blumler & Katz, cultivation, desensitisation), Barthes, etc. Don't try to learn any new theories now though - just make sure you really know those that we've covered in lessons.

2. Representation

3. New and Digital Media

Unit 3 Key Theories

Section A: Q2/3

Section A, Q2/3 will ask you to link the texts to issues/debates relating to NDM and Identities as well as expecting you to refer to other examples you can think of that are relevant.

This is where you should draw upon your weekly NDM stories that you've posted/analysed on your blog - you should have about 70 stories in your NDM index as well as the examples you came up with for the recent MEST 3, Section A Revision Taskhttp://mediamacguffin13.blogspot.co.uk/2017/04/mest3-section-revision-task.html.

Make sure you have pre-prepared ideas/plans about how you would approach these possible questions...

• Section A, Q2/3 (NDM)
• Section A, Q2/3 (Identities)

A2 Media wider reading

Well done to all students taking MEST1 this morning - it seemed to go very well.

Now the focus turns to our A2 exam: MEST3 on Wednesday 7 June.

You are going to be brilliantly prepared for this exam but remember for the very top grades you need an excellent knowledge and understanding of the wider media. This means reading and engaging with resources such as Media Guardian or the links on our blog Twitter account we've been posting all year. Keep updating your NDM stories - these could prove vital in Section A of the MEST3 exam. You should also be reading Media Magazine regularly - the latest issue is MM60 and looks at punk, surveillance movies, online trolling, transgender issues and the distribution of Marvel movies.

Please note we will be continuing teaching Media lessons right up until the Year 13 final assembly on Wednesday 24 May.

Keep up the good work in these last few weeks!

MEST1 re-sit: final notices and resources

You should now be in the middle of your final revision and preparation for Thursday's MEST1 exam re-sit.

We've got a few final notices and resources to help maximise your performance in the exam.

Firstly, a reminder that you do NOT need to attend lessons on Wednesday afternoon and can spend that time revising for your MEST1 exam.

Secondly, you need to attend Media at 8.30am on Thursday in order to hand over electronic devices and be supervised by staff from the official exam start time of 9am. If you want to get breakfast in the dining hall first at 8am that is fine. You will then be accompanied down to the main hall at 10.30am after a revision session in Media.

Finally, we've put together some exemplar essays for MEST1 Section B covering the British film industry case study films:

This is a MEST1 Section B essay we wrote in class with Year 12 today - looking at audience control. We also have an alternative exemplar for the same question that covers Spectre in addition to Ill Manors and A Field In England. Both of these exemplars contain plenty of critical autonomy - that crucial ability to engage with the question and offer a critical perspective in response.

Good luck with your revision - remember you have a whole YEAR of Media knowledge over the Year 12s sitting this exam around the country - so use all the theories, examples, issues and debates we have studied in A2 Media to really show how good you are!

MEST3 revision cards

Using revision cards is a far more active and effective revision technique than simply reading notes or highlighting text.

The active nature of distilling notes into a few key words, statistics, quotes or theories means you are MUCH more likely to remember them in the exam.

For MEST3 Section B, you need revision cards for the following topics:

• The decline of the newspaper industry – including stats!
• Paywalls – David Simon ‘Build The Wall’/Sun, Times paywall v free Mail Online and Guardian
• News Values – Galtung and Ruge
• News Corporation – Rupert Murdoch and newspaper industry
• User Generated Content (UGC), citizen journalists and hyperreality in modern news (Baudrillard)
• Impact on audience and institution – choice/trust (News on the Tweet – newspapers and Twitter)
• Marxism and Pluralism
• Alain de Botton – news as a form of social control
• Globalisation
• Your own, independent case study (this will obviously require multiple revision cards)

For MEST3 Section A, revision cards are an excellent method to ensure you have enough examples from the wider media for questions 2 and 3 (usually based around media debates to do with Identity and New/Digital Media). For this you need:

• TEN revision cards with examples linked to Identity (E.g. youth, feminism, race/ethnicity - post-colonialism, gender identity issues, identity and film, collective identity, identity and social media etc.)
• TEN revision cards with examples linked to New/Digital Media (E.g. Citizen journalism, #blacklivesmatter campaign, social media impact on news, streaming services and changes in the music industry, Netflix and Amazon Prime etc.

These need to be completed for homework - due date set by your exam class teacher.

UWL lecture: presentations

Last week's lecture on digital media and news was very well attended and it's great to see those ideas already being used in lessons and exam essays.

As promised, the PowerPoint presentations from the lecture have been made available for further revision and study.

Citizen Journalism: Social Media in the Newsroom:

Digital Media in Practice:

If you missed the lecture for any reason, make sure you go through both presentations and make detailed notes of the examples and media debates.

Year 13 Media students: UWL visiting lecturer

Dr Sumaya Alnahed from the University of West London will be visiting us on Friday 5 May to deliver a lecture on the impact of new and digital media on news and journalism.

The key details:

• Friday 5 May
• Periods 3&4
• Lecture Theatre

In a world of fake news and alternative facts, the lecture will explore how social media and citizen journalism has changed the nature of reporting. Has this empowered audiences or merely flooded the modern media landscape with ‘clickbait’ gossip and listicles? Can audiences influence the news agenda or has the erosion of gatekeeping and editorial control meant that power and politicians are no longer being held to account? 

This is compulsory for Year 13 Media students (unless you have another timetabled lesson at that time) and we will be taking a register.

MEST1 mock exam - for re-sit students

If you are re-sitting the MEST1 exam you have a mock after school on Wednesday 10 May.

This will give you a great opportunity to check your revision is on track and that you are confident writing about the case studies from Year 12 - Ill Manors, A Field In England and your own independent case study.

The details:

MEST1 mock exam
Wednesday 10 May at 3.15pm
Lecture Theatre

You'll find a blogpost full of helpful revision links here. Obviously, your own blog from last year will be vital for this too.

There are also MEST1 practice papers and exemplar A grade essays available in DF07 - just pop in and ask for them. These will give you a great chance to look at what a top-grade exam paper contains and then practice the timing at home.

Don't forget: the real MEST1 exam is Thursday 18 May at 9am.

Good luck!