Online, Social and Participatory assessment details

Your Online, Social and Participatory media assessment will be on the first day back - Monday 7 January. 

Your main priority is to get the OSP Index completed and make sure you have a separate index of five stories from Teen Vogue and five stories from The Voice website. In the assessment (and the exam) you'll need to make specific reference to stories, sections and elements of design from the two CSP websites.

In terms of the questions you will face, this is an in-depth topic so you'll have a 25-mark essay question in Media Paper Two. In your assessment, you will have two 25-mark questions to test different aspects of your knowledge on these CSPs. Remember, the questions can focus on any of the four main concepts: language, audience, industry or representation.

Online, Social and Participatory: practice questions

Here are a few practice questions to help your revision and planning:

1) Stuart Hall's reception theory suggests media products can be interpreted by audiences in a variety of ways.

To what extent does an analysis of your online, social and participatory Close Study Products (The Voice and Teen Vogue) support this view?

[25 marks]


2) David Gauntlett suggests that identity in the media is in "a process of constant change". How far is this true of your online, social and participatory Close Study Products (The Voice and Teen Vogue)?

[25 marks]


3) New and digital technology has had a huge impact on traditional media industries. 

What challenges have media brands faced as a result of changes in technology? Refer to your online, social and participatory Close Study Products (The Voice and Teen Vogue).

[25 marks]


Revision and resources

There is a lot you can revise for this assessment - such as all of your theory from Year 12 and the work we did for newspapers and magazines that is applicable (e.g. Gauntlett, Hall etc.) 

We recommend you buy the two A Level Media textbooks for this new specification - details on this blogpost here. The two books cover all the theories and media types and many of our CSPs also feature - the Year 1 book has several pages on Teen Vogue, for example.

You've also got our Media Magazine archive with new issues appearing four times a year and again many of our CSPs are covered.

Good luck!

Coursework: Final deadline

Your final deadline for coursework is 31 January 2019.

Between now and the final deadline, you need to make sure you have received feedback on your trailer rough cut and three draft Photoshop film posters. If you've met your deadlines, it's likely you've already had this feedback and can now simply get on with completing the final additions, re-shoots and edits that will result in work approaching professional standards.

If you haven't met your draft deadlines, it's absolutely essential that you have a trailer rough cut and three film posters up on your blog by the time we return to school in January. Remember, school is open on Thursday 20 December until midday for the lower school's final day - you are welcome to edit in Media during that time in order to submit your draft coursework.

If you need a camera to shoot any final scenes or re-shoot anything you've had feedback on make sure you book a camera with Ms Quinn as soon as possible (we are down to the final few cameras available).

January's lessons will be an opportunity to act on your feedback and complete your coursework to the professional standard we're aiming for - that is four full weeks to deliver A/A* creative work.

Coursework deadline: 31 January 2019.

OSP & Weekly news story indexes

We are now at the end of our Online, Social and Participatory media unit and need to create TWO indexes to ensure we are keeping up with the workload. 

You'll have a January assessment on this topic and the weekly stories you've been collecting for Teen Vogue and The Voice will provide excellent examples and evidence for your exam essays. 

News story index - Teen Vogue and The Voice

In today's lesson you need to create an index of all of your news stories so far from the Teen Vogue and the Voice websites. We didn't start this until we were two weeks into the half-term so you need FIVE stories from each CSP. 

It is this selection of stories that will give you concrete examples to support your exam answers and essays (in addition to our close-textual analysis of each CSP). 

Feel free to simply add to your previous news story index - guidance for the original task from September (with top-level examples from previous years) is here.

Remember, every story you post needs to be on a separate blogpost and the link in the index should go to YOUR blog post on that story, not the original article itself.

Online, Social and Participatory index

You also need to create an index for ALL of your work for Online, Social and Participatory media this half-term. 

This process is an excellent start to your revision for the Media Two exam in the summer as well as your upcoming January assessment. It will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips and allow you to catch up if you have fallen behind this half-term. 

Your index should include the following:

1) OSP: Clay Shirky - End of Audience blog tasks
2) OSP: Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
3) OSP: Teen Vogue - audience and representation
4) Newspapers: Assessment learner response
5) OSP: Teen Vogue - industry and social media
6) OSP: Hall and Gilroy - media theory
7) OSP: The Voice - blog case study

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 assessments or exams due to gaps in your knowledge.

Online, Social and Participatory media: assessment revision

You will have an assessment on this unit in the first week back in January. Revise everything in the indexes above in order to prepare for this.  

Index due date: anything you don't complete in the lesson needs to be posted by the first lesson back in January.

Film posters - Steel Tongs font

The credits or billing block at the bottom of a film poster is in a very distinctive font - arguably, you can't make a film poster look authentic without it...

Luckily, we have downloaded the font on to school computers - it is called Steel Tongs. The way the font works is that CAPITAL letters work normally while lower case letters each correspond to one of the movie credits ('Directed By...' 'Written By...' etc.)

You may want to look at a Steel Tongs guide to see which letter you need for each credit - there are plenty online, here's an example:




Note: we have an older version of the Steel Tongs font so not every credit is possible - if you can't find the one you need, just change the credit. It's unlikely to cost you any marks but focus on the major or most relevant credits wherever possible.

OSP: The Voice - blog case study

Our second Online, Social and Participatory CSP is the Voice newspaper website - a niche publication targeting the black British community.

The Voice has a significant place in the social and historical context of race relations and representation in Britain, launching in 1982 in the wake of the Brixton race riots. It is also the perfect case study to further develop our understanding of Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory we studied last lesson.

The Voice - background and notes

The Voice, founded in 1982, is the only British national black weekly newspaper operating in the United Kingdom. It is owned by GV Media Group Limited, and is aimed at the British African-Caribbean community. The paper is based in London and is published every Thursday. 


The first issue of The Voice was printed to coincide with the Notting Hill Carnival in August 1982. Its cover price was 54 pence, and was only sold in London.

You can read more of this background from the original source - the Voice website About Us page.

The Voice: social and historical context

In 1981, the Brixton race riots shone a spotlight on race relations in Britain. 

The Voice emerged in 1982 partly as a result of these riots – both due to the need to offer a voice and representation to black Britons and also due to a business loan from Barclays Bank. The bank was keen at the time to improve their reputation with the black community due to investments in Apartheid South Africa.

Social context - The Battle for Brixton documentary

The Voice analysis: production values

The Voice offers a strong contrast to Teen Vogue with significantly lower production values across its digital operations – website design, video content and social media. However, the growth of digital technology means that the Voice can effectively compete on the same playing field as Teen Vogue, albeit targeting a niche audience.

Watch this video on influential black women in business and compare it to Teen Vogue’s video content – similar in ideology but very different in production values (note the view count too):

The Voice: representation

The Voice was launched to cater for the interests of British-born black people. Applying Gilroy’s work on “double consciousness”, it could be argued that the Voice was launched to give black audiences an opportunity to see the world through their own eyes rather than through the prism of white, often-racist mainstream British media.

The Voice: industries

The Voice is owned by Jamaican media organising the Gleaner company and published in Britain by GV Media Group. It is a significant contrast to Teen Vogue and the international giant Conde Nast.


The Voice: case study blog tasks

Language and textual analysis

Homepage

Go to the Voice homepage and answer the following:

1) What news website key conventions can you find on the Voice homepage?

2) How does the page design differ from Teen Vogue?

3) What are some of the items in the top menu bar and what does this tell you about the content, values and ideologies of the Voice?

4) Look at the news stories in the Voice. To what extent does the selection of news stories fit Galtung and Ruge’s News Values theory?

5) How is narrative used to encourage audience engagement with the Voice? Apply narrative theories (e.g. Todorov equilibrium or Barthes’ enigma codes) and make specific reference to stories on the homepage.

Lifestyle section

Now analyse the Lifestyle section of the Voice and answer the following:

1) What are the items in the sub-menu bar for the Lifestyle section and what does this suggest about the Voice audience?

2) What are the main stories in the Lifestyle section currently?

3) How does the Lifestyle section of the Voice differ from Teen Vogue?

4) Do the sections and stories in the Voice Lifestyle section challenge or reinforce black stereotypes in British media?

5) Choose three stories featured in the Lifestyle section – how do they reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice?

Feature focus

1) Read this Voice Lifestyle feature on the first black photographer to shoot the cover of Vogue magazine. Why would this appeal to the Voice’s audience?

2) Read/watch this Lifestyle interview with The Hate U Give star Amandla Stenberg. How does the interview reflect the values and ideologies of the Voice? What do you notice about the production values of the interview?

3) Read this feature on ‘buying black’ for Black Friday. What does this feature tell you about the values and ideologies behind the Voice? Does this viewpoint reflect Gilroy’s theory of the ‘Black Atlantic’ identity?

Audience

1) Who do you think is the target audience for the Voice website? Consider demographics and psychographics.

2) What audience pleasures are provided by the Voice website? Apply media theory here such as Blumler and Katz (Uses & Gratifications).

3) Give examples of content from the website that tells you this is aimed at a specialised or niche audience.

4) Studying the themes of politics, history and racism that feature in some of the Voice’s content, why might this resonate with the Voice’s British target audience?

5) Can you find any examples of content on the Voice website created or driven by the audience or citizen journalism? How does this reflect Clay Shirky’s work on the ‘end of audience’ and the era of ‘mass amateurisation’?

Representations

1) How is the audience positioned to respond to representations in the Voice website?

2) Are representations in the Voice an example of Gilroy’s concept of “double consciousness” NOT applying?

3) What kind of black British identity is promoted on the Voice website? Can you find any examples of Gilroy’s “liquidity of culture” or “unruly multiculturalism” here?

4) Applying Stuart Hall’s constructivist approach to representations, how might different audiences interpret the representations of black Britons in the Voice?

5) Do you notice any other interesting representations in the Voice website? For example, representations or people, places or groups (e.g. gender, age, Britishness, other countries etc.)

Industries

1) Read this Guardian report on the death of the original founder of the Voice. What does this tell you about the original values and ideologies behind the Voice brand? 

2) Read this history of the Voice’s rivals and the struggles the Voice faced back in 2001. What issues raised in the article are still relevant today? 

3) The Voice is now published by GV Media Group, a subsidiary of the Jamaican Gleaner company. What other media brands do the Gleaner company own and why might they be interested in owning the Voice? You'll need to research this using Google/Wikipedia.

4) How does the Voice website make money?

5) What adverts or promotions can you find on the Voice website? Are the adverts based on the user’s ‘cookies’ or fixed adverts? What do these adverts tell you about the level of technology and sophistication of the Voice’s website?

6) Is there an element of public service to the Voice’s role in British media or is it simply a vehicle to make profit?

7) What examples of technological convergence can you find on the Voice website – e.g. video or audio content?

8) How has the growth of digital distribution through the internet changed the potential for niche products like the Voice?

9) Analyse the Voice’s Twitter feed. How does this contrast with other Twitter feeds you have studied (such as MailOnline or Teen Vogue)? Are there examples of ‘clickbait’ or does the Voice have a different feel?

10) Study a selection of videos from the Voice’s YouTube channel. How does this content differ from Teen Vogue? What are the production values of their video content?


Homework and deadlines

There is plenty of work here - at least 3 to 4 hours - but this is the only blog task on the Voice and covers all four of the key concepts.

Finish for homework - due first lesson back in January (you'll need this for the January assessment on Online, Social and Participatory media).

OSP: Paul Gilroy - Diasporic identity

There are several important theories we need to learn and apply to our Online, Social and Participatory media unit.

These include Clay Shirky's End of Audience theories, Stuart Hall's work on representation and reality and Paul Gilroy's postcolonial theory of black diasporic identity.

Notes from the lesson

Stuart Hall: representation and reality

Stuart Hall suggests individuals each have their own conceptual map – effectively what we use to decode and understand media texts.

Building on this, Hall outlines three approaches to understanding the relationship between reality and representations: 

Reflective approach: the media simply mirrors (or reflects) the real world. This is a limited approach that minimalises the power or complexity of the media.

Intentional approach: the producer of the text constructs the world as they see it and the audience accepts those values encoded in the text. This is effectively the dominant or preferred reading (reception theory) and leaves no room for the negotiated or oppositional reading.

The constructivist approach: this was Hall’s preferred approach and closely matches reception theory with preferred and oppositional readings. This suggests concepts and signs do have some shared meanings but they are not all inherent and can be interpreted by the audience in a number of ways (dependent on their own ‘conceptual map’).

Paul Gilroy: black diasporic identity

We first explored Paul Gilroy’s theories of black diasporic identity when studying music video.

This is the idea that black identity is informed by diaspora – literally the ‘scattering of people’ across the world. He suggests this creates a “liquidity of culture” that means black identity is formed by journeys across seas, not the solid ground of a home country or culture.

Importantly, Gilroy sees this identity as impossible to reverse – there can be no return to the place of origin as the experience of slavery and displacement can never be “rewound”.

Gilroy: black British identity

The Voice newspaper was formed in 1982 to create a voice for the black British community. Gilroy wrote of the dominant representation of black Britons at that time as “external and estranged from the imagined community that is the nation”.

Gilroy suggests diaspora challenges national ideologies and creates “cultural tension”. This tension helps to create the diasporic identity but often comes with negative experiences such as exclusion and marginalisation. 

More succinctly, Gilroy sums this up as the white racist’s question to BAME people: “Why don’t you just go home?”

Paul Gilroy and Russell Brand

In 2017, Paul Gilroy took part in Russell Brand’s Under The Skin podcast, exploring ideas and modern culture. Watch the following two extracts and consider how Gilroy’s ideas reflect recent events and media culture.

Extract 1: 17.50 – 25.45
Extract 2: 44.30 – 48.08

Paul Gilroy - blog task

Go to our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive and open Factsheet 170: Gilroy – Ethnicity and Postcolonial Theory. Our Media Factsheet archive is on the Media Shared drive: M:\Resources\A Level\Media Factsheets

Read the Factsheet and complete the following questions/tasks:

1) How does Gilroy suggest racial identities are constructed?

2) What does Gilroy suggest regarding the causes and history of racism?

3) What is ethnic absolutism and why is Gilroy opposed to it?

4) How does Gilroy view diasporic identity?

5) What did Gilroy suggest was the dominant representation of black Britons in the 1980s (when the Voice newspaper was first launched)?

6) Gilroy argues diaspora challenges national ideologies. What are some of the negative effects of this?

7) Complete the first activity on page 3: How might diasporic communities use the media to stay connected to their cultural identity? E.g. digital media - offer specific examples.

8) Why does Gilroy suggest slavery is important in diasporic identity?

9) How might representations in the media reinforce the idea of ‘double consciousness’ for black people in the UK or US?

10) Finally, complete the second activity on page 3: Watch the trailer for Hidden Figures and discuss how the film attempts to challenge ‘double consciousness’ and the stereotypical representation of black American women.

We normally set this work for homework but have deliberately kept this week's work to a minimum so you can complete it in your exam class lessons. This will allow you to use your Media homework time this week to ensure everything else is up-to-date on the exam side. Since half-term this includes the following:

1) Clay Shirky - End of Audience tasks
2) Teen Vogue - background and textual analysis
3) Teen Vogue - audience and representation
4) Teen Vogue - industry and social media

Make sure all of the above - including today's work on Gilroy - is complete for Monday 10 December.