Section A Mock Exam Revision

Aside from revising all the key theories/issues/debates (a good place to start is the Media A-Z Glossary) and going through all your NDM/representation blog work, do this practice paper and then read the tips/advice/commentary...

MEST3, Section A: Olympics 

(login... user: greenford / pw: greenfordedu)

Also complete the exam practice you started in class...

• DJ Hero 
• Kinect

13D: Critical Investigation 2nd draft

Firstly, I think all our Year 13 Media students deserve a great deal of credit for the BFI library trip yesterday - the attitude was superb and the staff at the BFI were very impressed. The library is free to use if you want to go back and add to your research - Tuesday-Saturday 10.30am - 7pm. 

Now, you need to make sure you use that research to really improve your first drafts and move up to the level you want to reach.

Your second draft deadline is Thursday 13 March.

This gives you plenty of time to really deliver a second draft of great quality. Following this, you will have one more tutorial to check it over and then a final opportunity to make improvements. After that, it will be marked and sent to AQA.

Remember, the overall deadline for both critical investigation and the linked production is Easter.

Good luck!

13E News values: homework

Homework

How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?

How would you update them for 2014?

In a blog post, write how each news value has been affected by the growth of new and digital technology.

E.g. Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on Twitter or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken by the time the paper is published so different angles might be required.

A reminder of Galtung and Ruge's news values:
Immediacy: has it happened recently?
Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?
Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
Frequency:  did the event happen fairly quickly?
Unambiguity: is it clear and definite?
Predictability: did we expect it to happen?
Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?
Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?
Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?
Negativity: is it bad news?
Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death

Great link for gender representation

One of my superb GCSE Media students, Kishan, has sent me this link - it may be useful for those of you doing critical investigations on gender representations or advertising. Either way, it's an interesting watch and could be an example you quote in the MEST3 exam Section A representation question (or even next week in the mock!)

13E - Citizen Journalism

Read the article from Media Magazine (Dec 2009 pg 56-58) and then create a blogpost where you make notes under the following headings: 

• examples
• theory (audience reception etc.) 
• benefits to institutions 
• benefits to audience 
• wider issues and debates 
• SHEP

Next, answer the following questions in the same blogpost:

1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?
2) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?
3) List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations.
4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?
5) What is a gatekeeper?
6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?
7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?

Finally, consider the following questions:

What impact is new/digital media having on the following:

• news stories
• the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)
• the role of professionals in news

Finish this for homework - due next Thursday 13 February.

Remember, this is in addition to your regular two NDM stories on your blog that are due for next Tuesday - these should be stories #13 and #14 and one should be about news or journalism.

IMPORTANT: Media Magazine - new log-in

We have been given a new log-in to access Media Magazine online resources. For the rest of this year you need to use the following:

Username: mediamagazine11
Password: qp726zr

Our MediaEdu log-in remains as it was:

Username: greenford
Password: greenfordedu

If you have any problems accessing our subscription sites do contact us so we can investigate.

Laurie Penny lecture - this Thursday lunchtime

The Laurie Penny lecture has been re-scheduled for this Thursday lunchtime (6 Feb). You will be sent an invitation so you can leave your Period 4 lesson at 12pm to get lunch prior to the 12.15pm start in the Lecture Theatre.

The school is incredibly lucky to have such a high profile guest speaker coming in and as you know we are making it compulsory for all A Level Media students to attend.

Laurie Penny is a journalist, feminist and prolific user of new and digital technology to challenge widely held viewpoints in the mainstream media. She will provide a perfect additional case study for our New and Digital Media topic and a fascinating perspective on the representation of women in modern media.

We will be taking a register of all Year 13 Media students so see you there!

13E: Murdoch's paywall

Read the last page of the handout - Newspapers: The effect of online technology (from 'Should News be Free').

Also read this blog on the Times paywall three years on.

Answer these two questions on your blog:

1) Do you agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online?

2) Was Rupert Murdoch right to put his news content (The Times, The Sun) behind a paywall?

Finish for homework if you don't get it done in the lesson.

Look! A free NDM story for your homework...

Zulq has suggested that there is always something better to do with your time than read the Guardian... but those of us who live these miserable lives of interest and curiosity sometimes find relevant stories for our NDM homework.

Here's one about whether the internet is killing general knowledge and it's written by a professor of journalism at Kingston University.

Feel free to use it for one of your stories this week.

13D: Critical investigation learner response

On your MEST4 coursework blog, complete the following learner response:

1) Type up your level and comments from your first draft.
2) Write what level/grade you are aiming for in your second draft.
3) Write a numbered list of five things you will do or change for your second draft that will help you get there. Be specific and explain in detail.
4) Write a minimum three-point 'wish list' for the BFI Library trip - what do you specifically want to take away from the BFI in terms of issues, theories or particular sections of your essay?

Due: Tuesday 4 February

13E homework: newspapers in decline

Your homework this week is to develop the work we have done in class on the decline in newspapers. It involves three tasks:

1) Finish the work from the lesson: What audience pleasures or gratifications does online news content offer?

Answer this question in detail (with examples/theories) on your MEST3 exam blog. Use the handout to help you. Minimum 400 words.

2) Your regular homework: two NDM stories on your MEST3 exam blog (numbered #11 and #12) with one covering something to do with journalism or news.

3) Read Telegraph group takes a great leap into the digital unknown from the Guardian website this week. It's the ideal example of a NDM story that covers news and journalism and I'd like you to summarise the story in 50 words and answer one question: 

Has the Telegraph made a good or bad decision in sacking editor Tony Gallagher? 

Answer on your MEST3 exam blog.

Due: Thursday 6 February

13E: New and Digital Media stories

We've had plenty of excellent discussions in class sparked by the NDM stories you've been sharing - but I'm seriously disappointed to see that this isn't being replicated on your blogs. By now, you should have an absolute minimum of 8 stories on your blog with posts every week. You homework this week is to ensure all previous stories are up on your blog AND this week's two are complete. As stated when the work was originally set on this blogpost, you need to do the following:

• Provide the title and link;
• Include an 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).

To show your progress, I want you to number the story or stories in your title from now on - so this week's post or posts will be NDM story #9 & #10.

The whole point of doing this is to have a bank of 25+ stories to revise from in April, May and June. It isn't asking much of you and will pay off massively in the exam.

13D: Olympics Opening Ceremony/Multiculturalism

Write a short analysis on your MEST3 exam blog of the representation of race and ethnicity in the two texts we studied today: the 2012 London Olympics Opening Ceremony and the subsequent opinion piece on the Daily Mail website.

Use the theorists Alvarado and Fanon (as well as any others) and make specific references to the texts.

The links you need:

• The Olympic Opening Ceremony on YouTube - from 101.30 (music section based around the surburban-style house) and 46.00 (NHS section);

• Daily Mail article.

(And also consider an alternative view from The Guardian).

13E: The Future of Newspapers

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

Your tasks are as follows:

1) Read the article in full.

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

3) Summarise each section in one sentence:

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

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

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

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

Due: Thursday 30 January

*UPDATE* Laurie Penny lecture cancelled

Unfortunately, today's Laurie Penny lecture has been cancelled.

We will let you know when we have a re-scheduled date.

Calling Year 13

The school is incredibly lucky to have a high profile guest speaker coming in on Tuesday lunchtime and we are making it compulsory for all A Level Media students to attend.

Laurie Penny is a journalist, feminist and prolific user of new and digital technology to challenge widely held viewpoints in the mainstream media. She will be talking in the lecture theatre at 12.20pm on Tuesday 21 January and will provide a perfect additional case study for our New and Digital Media topic and a fascinating perspective on the representation of women in modern media.

We will be taking a register of all Year 13 Media students so see you there!

13E homework - how has news changed?

How has news changed in the last 20 years?

Finish your extended blogpost answering this question.

Consider the impact for both audiences and institutions.

Who has benefited most?

You must give explanations for your answers.

You also need to be posting your TWO new and digital media stories a week - one linking to the news industry.

All of this is due on Tuesday 21 January.

You also need to bring your reply slip and £7.50 to reception for the BFI Reuben Library trip by the end of next week.

13D, 16/1, p3

13D: Mr Babu will be taking the register/supervising you.

Watch a Post-colonialism tutorial to remind you of the key points.

Add to your notes from last lesson (especially covering Orientalism)

Carry out some further internet research into the following...

• Post-colonialism;
• Frantz Fanon: "Black Skin, White Masks"
• Alvarado: exotic, dangerous, humorous, pitied

...on your blogs, summarise - in your own words - the theories, including some quotes (at least three for each) from other theorists.

Don't forget to upload TWO NDM stories onto your blogs again this week (making it four since the start of term). One should be on any NDM subject; the other on journalism/news. Make sure you summarise and give your point of view.

13E p5/6, 13/1/14

Make sure you've made all the changes/improvements to your Critical Investigations that were advised last week, including...

- a quote from the text you're studying to introduce the title;

- at least twenty footnotes, correctly referenced;

- a full bibliography, divided into sections: works cited, works consulted - with books, websites, moving image texts in each;

- a minimum of 5-10 books in the works cited section;

- spell-checked, grammar-checked, proofread very carefully;

- a word count at the end (not including quotes);

- an updated electronic version (#2) posted on your blog.

Hand in your printed copy (with full bibliography attached) to Mr Babu during the lesson. He will be supervising most of the time but I will come in to check on progress. 

You can use p5 to finalise the above, if needed. 

Then, once complete, please start planning your Linked Productions. Write an individual blog post - to be completed for homework, due tomorrow (14/1) - in which you...

- summarise your idea;

- explain who you're working with and why;

- make at least three links to your Critical Investigation;

- explain what elements you've learnt when doing your essay that you'll apply in the production;

- identify the target audience (demographics, psychographics);

- explain where/which channel/when it would appear and how your text will appeal to them;

- list ten additional genre conventions you aim to incorporate. 

The impact of new and digital media on news

Task 1

Type up your table/notes on the impact new and digital media has had on news audiences and institutions. You also should make notes of any theories or media debates that are relevant, although this is a column we will be returning to later in the unit.


Task 2

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

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


Finish both of these tasks for homework - due Thursday 16 January.