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.

Best Critical Investigations 2014

A bit of summer reading for new Y13s while you're carrying out your Summer Research Projects. These are all A grade Critical Investigations from last year. If you look at them you'll see the huge amount of reading and research that goes into producing them so start getting into that habit now!

Hopefully, these will inspire you to want to do as well, if not better...

Is the media becoming increasingly violent, especially withthe rise of the torture porn horror subgenre in films such as 'Saw' and the'The Human Centipede'?  Why is this andwhat impact does it have on audiences? (Akshay)

What impact do the graphic representations of violent,sexist content in popular video games, such as GTA5, have on their audiences? (Raghav)

Is the violent, materialistic and sexist content in ChiefKeef's music taking negative representations in the hip hop genre to newextremes and what impact does this have on audiences? (Kiran)

To what extent is Luther a positive representation of blackmasculinity? (Rohit)

To what extent do the female characters in ‘SALT’ and ‘TheDark Knight Rises’ challenge the traditional female stereotypes? (Navneet)

Do Spotify and other developing new and digital media services have an impact on the current music industry? (Harpal)

Summer Research Project

For all Year 12 students (who'll be Year 13 in September '14)...

The following needs to be completed by the first lesson you come back at the start of September...

1. Choose a media text that you are interested in and that is less than five years old.

2. Spend several hours analysing the text – watching, reading, annotating, notetaking, re-watching, discussing with others (and considering the MIGRAIN questions below) etc. 

3. Research your text online.

4. Post up all evidence of research on your Unit 4 blog. You are looking for the following: reviews, newspaper/magazine articles, online comments or blogs linked to your text, useful book titles linked to your text, relevant theory, relevant media issues and debates, information about wider contexts, etc.

5. Don't just cut and paste mindlessly - be selective, try to summarise the information, comment on it and explain why it is useful. Also, make sure that you include specific links to all the sites you find.

6. Feel free to be as creative with your blogs as you can. Include pictures, clips, reflections, links etc.

7. Prepare a 5 minute, 20-slide 'Ignite' presentation on your text to be ready for the first week back. If you're unsure how these work, remind yourself by reading through the lesson slides: Introduction to the Critical Investigation, that has links to good Ignite examples and tips on how to present well.

8. Try to address each of the Key Concepts (MIGRAIN) in your presentation, and answer these questions on your blog...

Media Representations 

Who is being represented? 

• In what way?


• By whom?

Why is the subject being represented in this way? 

• Is the representation fair and accurate?


• What opportunities exist for self-representation by the subject?

Media Languages and Forms 

• What are the denotative and connotative levels of meaning?


• What is the significance of the text’s connotations?


• What are the non-verbal structures of meaning in the text (e.g. gesture, facial expression, positional communication, clothing, props etc)?


• What is the significance of mise-en-scene/sets/settings (CLAMPS)?


• What work is being done by the sound track/commentary/language of the text?


• What are the dominant images and iconography, and what is their relevance to the major themes of the text?


• What sound and visual techniques are used to convey meaning (e.g. camera positioning, editing; the ways that images and sounds are combined to convey meaning)?

Narrative 

• How is the narrative organised and structured?


• How is the audience positioned in relation to the narrative?


• How are characters delineated? What is their narrative function? How are heroes and villains created?


• What techniques of identification and alienation are employed?


• What is the role of such features as sound, music, iconography, genre, mise-en-scene, editing etc within the narrative?


• What are the major themes of the narrative? What values/ideologies does it embody?

Genre 

• To which genre does the text belong?


• What are the major generic conventions within the text?


• What are the major iconographic features of the text?


• What are the major generic themes?


• To what extent are the characters generically determined?


• To what extent are the audience’s generic expectations of the text fulfilled or cheated by the text? Does the text conform to the characteristics of the genre, or does it treat them playfully or ironically?


• Does the text feature a star, a director, a writer etc who is strongly associated with the genre? What meanings and associations do they have?

Media Institutions 

• What is the institutional source of the text?


• In what ways has the text been influenced or shaped by the institution which produced it?


• Is the source a public service or commercial institution? What difference does this make to the text?


• Who owns and controls the institution concerned and does this matter?


• How has the text been distributed?

Media Values and Ideology 

• What are the major values, ideologies and assumptions underpinning the text or naturalised within it?


• What criteria have been used for selecting the content presented?

Media Audiences 

• To whom is the text addressed? What is the target audience? (Demographics, Psychographics)


• What assumptions about the audience’s characteristics are implicit within the text?


• What assumptions about the audience are implicit in the text’s scheduling or positioning?


• In what conditions is the audience likely to receive the text? Does this impact upon the formal characteristics of the text?


• What do you know or can you assume about the likely size and constituency of the audience?


• What are the probable and possible audience readings of the text? 

• What are the audience pleasures, uses or gratifications?  (Refer to theory).

• How do you, as an audience member, read and evaluate the text? To what extent is your reading and evaluation influenced by your age, gender, background etc?

Good luck. There is a lot to do here. Our advice is to work on this throughout the Summer rather than leaving it all to the last minute. It should be an enjoyable process - finding out about something that you're interested in. If you have any problems then please don't hesitate to email me.

And remember, the aim of this is to develop your key research skills that you'll be using when you do your coursework next year...and these are skills that are vital for any subject you do in Year 13 or at university.

Internet Video Task

Due Tuesday 24/6 (12D and 12E)...

Create a 1-3 MINUTE video that consolidates your learning about the impact of new/digital media so far (you should use Premiere or Movie Maker); post it on YouTube (you may need to set up an account); and embed it into your blog (like the videos below).

Include text (summarising some of the information you’ve learned + some new research); images (moving or still; shot yourself or found online); and an appropriate soundtrack.

Answer the key questions - What is so special about the internet? What is wrong with the internet? How does the internet change audiences? 

Use the original lesson slides to help...

UNIT 3 Internet Lessons 1-3

...and use these past student videos to inspire you...

Unit 4 Coursework Blogs

For current Y12s...

In the comments section (at the end of this post) submit your new 'Unit 4 Coursework Blog' address with your first name.

This is where you'll include all the planning/research for the Research and Production Unit, worth 50% of the A2...

1. Critical Investigation (48 marks: 60%)
2000 word research essay

2. Linked Production (32 marks: 40%)

Unit 3 Exam Blogs

For current Y12s...

In the comments section (at the end of this post) submit your new 'Unit 3 Exam Blog' address with your first name.

This is where you'll include all the preparation work/research for the two hour 'Critical Perspectives' exam...

Section A (40%) 1 hour

• Unseen stimulus materials (15 mins viewing) 
• Three short answer questions (45 minutes, 32 marks)

Section B (60%) 1 hour
Pre-set topic area...

• The impact of New/Digital media

One essay question (1 hour, 48 marks)

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

• Representation Lessons

• AQA A2 Textbook

• Media A-Z Glossary

• Theory Quotes

• Theories, Issues & Debates Summaries

Mainly for Section B

• Section B Questions

• New & Digital Media Lessons

• NDM Quotes + Marxism/Pluralism

• New and Digital Media: Essential Revision Articles

• NDM Case Studies

Section A and Section B

• Unit 3 Key Theories

• NDM Issues/Debates/Examples

...start working on this NOW and put together a revision plan to cover it all before the exam on Tuesday June 10th.

NDM Issues/Debates/Examples

Section A, Q3 will usually ask you to link the texts to issues/debates relating to NDM as well as expecting you to refer to other examples you can think of that are relevant.

Make sure you have some ideas about how you would approach these possible questions (which will also be revision for your Section B essay)...

Section A, Q3

Representation Lessons

Section A will have one question (usually Q2) that  that asks you to consider 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 you covered in your lessons on Post-Colonialism and Feminism, so make sure you revise them...

Post Colonialism Lessons

Feminism Lessons

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 went through in class and should form the bulk of your answer. 

We covered things like: UGC, citizen journalism, News Corp/Murdoch, gatekeeping, news values (Galtung and Ruge), Marxism/pluralism, democratisation, the Arab Spring, globalisation, conglomerates, etc. 

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

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 PowerPoint presentation - which is all good for revision.

NDM Key Quotes + Marxism/Pluralism

Try to 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

Unit 3 Key Theories

You've received a hard copy of this but just in case you lost it this is a helpful resource, 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

New & Digital Media: Essential Revision Articles

You MUST ensure you've 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...

(login first: username: mediamagazine11; password: qp726zr)

• The Rise and Rise of UGC
• In the age of media 2.0 - six questions about media and participation 
• Participation debates - media and democracy 
• Web 2.0 - participation or hegemony? 
• Social networking and citizen journalism - participating in the Arab Spring (pp14-19 in Media Magazine 39) (password: mediamagazine11)

New & Digital Media Lessons

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

• New Digital Media Lessons Y13

The News Case Study: Murdoch/NewsCorp, UGC, gatekeepers, news agendas, Galtung & Ruge, Marxism/pluralism, democratisation, globalisation, conglomerates...

• Introduction to New & Digital Media Y12

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

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 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)...

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. 

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.

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

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).

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.

AQA A2 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

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

Section A Practice Questions (with model answers)

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

• London Olympics
• London Riots
• Gatsby (also use this document that has the contextual info and model answers)

Make sure you do these yourself, under timed conditions, then check the model answers to compare how you did.

Don't forget that in the actual exam the two texts will both be moving image (not print) but that doesn't matter - the same skills are being tested whatever the texts are.

Section B sample paragraph

Today with 13E we planned and wrote a sample paragraph on the following question:

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? (48 marks)

Paragraph on paywalls

One of the key examples of traditional news media responding too slowly to new and digital technology is the issue of paywalls. It could be considered the critical error by the industry, in the late 1990s, to make all news content available for free on the internet. Originally seen as an additional marketing tool for print media, by the time institutions realised the damage new technology was doing to the print industry it was too late to stop the tide. David Simon, a former journalist and writer of The Wire, has made a compelling argument for paywalls, stating that news should be viewed as a premium product and institutions should charge accordingly. In ‘Build The Wall’ he passionately argued that the New York Times and Washington Post both needed paywalls to survive in the modern media landscape. In the UK, The Sun and The Times have introduced paywalls for their content – both are owned by Rupert Murdoch who described the internet as “the most significant change for hundreds of years”. However, audiences are largely unwilling to pay for something they can receive for free elsewhere. The Sun has tried to counter this by offering Premiership goals direct to the phone or tablet of the audience – but arguably this further devalues news content as worthless. With major news websites such as the Guardian and Mail Online still free to audiences, any paywall news site will struggle to attract audiences. Although there is a clear benefit to audiences in receiving news for free, there is also a considerable risk in that if institutions cannot charge for their product, they cannot pay for journalists to report and write the news – and therefore quality suffers. The danger is that news loses the trust that makes it so valuable, ending up more like a gossip site like TMZ in America. The Mail Online is already dominated by celebrity news and criticised widely for this.

Important: This is what you need to be able to produce if you want to get an A in the exam - and that means serious revision and preparation. You need to cover around five or six different areas or examples in answering the Section B question - the paragraph above would be just one section of the total essay.

13E: MEST3 Section B question

In Tuesday's lesson, we will be writing a complete answer to the question we worked on last week as a class. I want this to be a 'perfect answer' - that means you can take longer than the 60 minutes you'll have in the exam and use all of your notes, research and the internet to make your answer as good as possible. If we can create a 'perfect' answer in these conditions, we can then revise that material so we have all the key information in our heads before the exam.

A reminder of the question:

New and digital media offers media institutions different ways of reaching audiences.

Consider how and why media institutions are using these techniques. (48 marks)

The rough section-by-section plan we put together was something like this:

Section 1: Paywalls and newspaper industry

Section 2: Focus on News Corporation

Section 3: Opportunity to target younger audience to newspaper – Mail Online/Guardian website

Section 4: UGC – citizen journalists

Section 5: Audience choice – Marxism/Pluralism

Section 6+: Something from your independent case study

You'll have notes from Thursday that provide more detail than the above but it's important to have an idea of how many different ideas we need in a full Section B essay. It's worth 48 marks and we need to earn them!

You won't finish the essay in the lesson so complete for homework.

Due: next Tuesday

While you're writing your essay, I'll be calling you up to check your blogs. You need to have the following up on your blogs:

• Your complete independent case study for New and Digital Media
• Your New and Digital Media stories for the last three weeks (including three that link to journalism or news). That means you're up to 26 stories in total.

Good luck!

By the way, here's a great story for your ongoing NDM homework - about the Mail on Sunday's food bank expose backfiring thanks to Twitter.

13E: NDM independent case study

Now that we've completed our case study looking at the impact of new and digital media on the news industry you need your own independent case study to use in the exam. This needs to be something you're interested in and a different industry to news. Ideally, you will be able to draw links between the work we have done on news and your chosen case study even though they cover different aspects of the media.

The structure is all here in New and Digital Media Case Study pack.

You will need to complete ALL twelve questions from the case study pack. This will take you some serious time but will make a huge difference when you are writing that one hour essay in the exam on Tuesday 10 June.

You should also find as many up-to-the-minute links/research from Media Guardian and other more academic sources (in a similar way to your Critical Investigation) for your NDM case study and post them up on to your exam blog along with the twelve questions from the case study pack.

Due: when we return after Easter.