Magazine discussion: considering issues

U block discussed in brief a few key issues surrounding the magazine industry, which are summarised here:

Why don't younger audiences typically read magazines?

Magazines still sell! And they sell reasonably well. Some magazines in particular are surprisingly successful. Yet, by and large, they tend to appeal to, and be targeted towards either middle aged audiences or young children. 

So why don't younger people typically read magazines?

• Competition from digitally convergent media - greater accessibility of content
• Environmental reasons, and issues with space
• Much cheaper, if not 'free' to access similar material online. Remember, if something is 'free', then YOU are being sold
• Magazines lack active audience engagement
• Potentially audiences live a more active lifestyle? Or do they? 
• Buying a magazine involves leaving the house
• Shift to free magazines changed the industry
• Magazines are expensive, and even marketed as a luxury product
• Magazines do not tend to be targeted at teenagers, but instead target a middle-aged audience

However, magazines still do sell well to a dedicated audience:

• Specific interests: magazines conveniently collect high quality information
• Magazines are written by professional journalists
• Magazines are physical products, and are often extremely high quality: a luxury product?
• Collect and shown off
• Some magazines are collectables and can be sold for huge amounts of money
• Status symbol??

What paradigmatic features do magazines share as a medium? How can we differentiate them from a similar medium such as newspapers?

• Paradigm: something that shows the audience what genre something is
• Specific type of information, and specific genres and subgenres
• More diverse subject matter, and tend to be less political in nature
• Quality of paper and the images used are significantly higher: much higher production values 
• Tends to be a focus on a single high quality front cover image
• Use of language: potentially more formal, and far less of it
• Big focus on 'feature' articles, including interviews, reviews and so on
• A wider range of colours and fonts
• Assumption of expert knowledge 
• Familiar faces, celebrities, allows them to target a 'pre-sold' audience
• Magazines can shift their style and content on a seasonal basis 

Key theory revision: Barthes and Levi-Strauss

The following is a very brief bit of revision on two extremely important media theories: semiotics and structuralism. These two theories are most at home tackling textual analysis, so make sure you slip them in next time you have to analyse something in media!

Roland Barthes - Semiotics: 'the study of meaning'

• Symbols, language and codes
• Codes: anything in a media product which means something. This means that audiences engage in an active process of 'reading' a media product
• Hermenutic code - anything which asks a question. Also known as an enigma code. A mystery which hasn't yet been solved
• Proairetic code - anything which suggests that something is going to happen. Checkov's gun: if we see a gun, it WILL be used. Also known an action code
• Symbolic code - something that means something else, or has a deeper meaning. "the red rose is symbolic of love, romance, England, war..."
• Referential code: something which makes reference to something else. Also known as intertextuality

Claude Levi-Strauss - structuralism: 'how narratives are structured, and how they shape the world' 

• Binary oppositions: where two things in a media product conflict with one another. Conflict is interesting to audiences
• Our entire lives and also our entire perception of the world is based on binary oppositions. For example, we would have no concept of good if not for evil, of night if not for day

How does the Assassin's Creed Valhalla trailer appeal to its audiences?

Promotional material for Assassin's Creed: Valhalla, such as this promotional image utilises the iconography and colour scheme of previous Assassin's Creed games, which allows the game to be simultaneously marketed towards a presold audience and an audience who may be curious about the game's strong narrative and immersive setting

The following is a brief analysis of this trailer. Clearly, this trailer will be an excellent example to refer to promotional material, audience appeal and the use of digital technology in the exam!

• Dark fantasy/historical setting appeals to pre-existing fans of these genres
• Use of conventions of the Assassin's Creed franchise, such as certain elements of MES and of course the title appeals to pre-existing fans of the franchise
• Escapism and wish fulfilment: the opportunity for audiences to live out violent fantasies?
• Historical references, appeals to history fans. History mode included, which allows game and series to appeal to a diverse audience
• Intense soundtrack, dark electronic pop music which allows the game to appeal to a wider audience
• Highly immersive, using filmic techniques such as a range of shot types and camera movement to position the audience with the Viking protagonist
• High production values focus on pre-rendered graphics as opposed to in-engine gameplay, which presents more exciting footage to the audience
• Game trailer strongly resembles a film trailer through the paradigmatic features such as a focus on narrative and action
• Clear narrative features such as an antagonist delivering a monologue criticising the protagonist, and a binary opposition between what is being said, and what is being shown. A clear construction of an underdog story.

Playing games

For this session, you will be playing a variety of games, mainly AAA/big budget/mainstream/major releases, but also some older, 'retro games' on the Sega Mega Drive.

Dark Souls III is an action RPG developed by FROM Software, based in Tokyo, and published by Bandai Namco, a Japanese videogame conglomerate. It is famous for its extreme difficulty. Maybe today you will discover how audiences can appreciate difficult games!

This is a fun lesson, but an important one. This session will help you to answer the following questions:

• How does this product attract and maintain its audiences both locally and globally?
• How exactly is this industry regulated, and who does it?
• How does this product attract/target its audiences? How does it construct an audience?
• How does this product use technology to maximise audience consumption?
• How can audiences interpret this product in different ways?
• How does this product use technology to target a specialised/niche/cult audience?
• How do audience responses to this product demonstrate sociohistorical circumstances?

and possibly many more.

This lesson is not a doss or a throwaway or a waste or anything else you want to accuse it of. It is an essential opportunity to build explicit case studies for the final exam. The notes you make in this lesson will help you to prepare for the final exam! But we also want you to enjoy it. 

Questions to answer, notes to make... for each and every game!

Facts

Name of game

Developer

Publisher

Exclusive or multiplatform?

Year released

Experience

• Who is the target audience for this product? Be VERY specific...
• How does this game appeal to it's audiences? 
• How does this game position it's audiences?
• How does this product use elements of interactivity to immerse, challenge or otherwise position it's audiences?
• How does this product employ mise-en-scene, setting, colour and other elements to appeal to it's target audience?
• We are playing this game as a group. What experiences do these games offer their audiences when played as a group?
• How can audiences interpret this product? What is the dominant ideological perspective suggested by this product (it could be as simple as 'violence is fun', but is there something more to it?
• We've discussed how important production values are to the production and distribution of videogames. Does this game have high production values? Can you give specific examples?

What's going on this term in A-level Media Studies?

 

It's a bit late this year because I was on leave, but here's the week-by-week. Click to see full size

This term is a bit weird

It's weird because of covid. One the one hand the various measures we've had to live with are drawing to a close. Yet on the other hand, there are still certain restrictions and considerations we need to follow. 

First years

After (finally) finishing the newspaper industry, we'll be moving on to the magazine industry, which may surprise you with hat issues it raises. We'll be looking at two magazines, a stereotypical woman's lifestyle magazine published in the 1960's, and a recently published anti-capitalist, avant-garde magazine published far more recently. This topic is assessed at a much higher level than anything we've done so far, which means we're going to be going in to more detail regarding concepts such as sexism, racism, climate change, patriarchal hegemony and capitalist hegemony. It's a great opportunity to get argumentative!

Towards the end of the magazine unit, you'll also be producing your own, high end fashion magazine as a class. It's a great opportunity to practice your Photoshop and design skills before we commence the actual coursework.

After the magazine industry has finished, we'll be looking at music videos, with two very different examples of the medium in very different genres. Music videos is an assessed subject that could come up in component one, but it's also what your coursework is going to be based on, so, covid willing, we'll also be running a short practical task at the end of the short unit, where you'll remake the first 30 seconds of an 80's music video we'll give you. It's going to be silly, and it's going to be a great way to free yourself from your inhibitions before you begin planning your music video straight after Easter!

Second years

The radio industry was a very short topic, and frankly very straightforward. The videogame industry is also short, being only two week long, but it's a little more complicated. You'll be looking in particular at the Assassin's Creed franchise, but we'll also be considering videogame experiences in a variety of genres, and, yes, this means we will be playing games!

Straight after that is your final unit: online media, which is possibly the most full on and certainly the most contentious unit you will have done: there's a reason we save it until last! There's loads of stuff to talk about, from body image to hyperreality, and from conspiracy theories to LGBTQ+ representation. We hope you enjoy this one! There is a mock exam, rather inconveniently placed in the penultimate week of the unit, but you can't have everything.

Finally, for the final two weeks of the half term, we'll start revision. This is done fast and concisely. We will focus specifically on essay writing and exam technique. These lessons are a little dry, but they're essential. By Easter, we will have revised advertising, film and newspapers. 

Monday 7th February

On this day, it will be announced what changes (if any!) will be made to the assessment of A-levels, including A-level Media Studies. We do not wish to speculate, but it has been reported that elements of the final exam may be removed. Of course, we will share this information with you guys the second we have the information

Thursday 11th and Friday 12th February

These days are admission days. Next year's students will be interviewed on these days. Do not come in! And don't come in for the whole of the next week, because it's half term. Time moves quickly!

Monday 7th March

The biggest change to the timetable is that second years are having a mock exam week in the week starting 7th March. This will involve taking every student off timetable for a full week to accommodate it. It's far from ideal. The idea behind this is we may need more robust data if exams are cancelled again. But please remember that it is looking increasingly unlikely that exams will be cancelled.

Please let your teacher know if you have any questions, and remember: all this is totally subject to change at any time!

OFCOMs Broadcasting codes

To what extent is Late Night Women's Hour affected by regulatory issues?

Click here to go directly to OFCOM's generic broadcasting codes and guidelines for TV and radio 

Spend some time digging around.

• What can you not do on radio or television in the UK?
• Do any regulations surprise you? Why?
• Why is it written like this? Who is this information meant for? BIG HINT: it isn't you guys!
• To what extent is Late Night Women's Hour affected by regulatory issues?

LNWH: reception theory and audience response

How do audience responses to [this product] demonstrate sociohistorical circumstances?

Sociohistorical circumstances here refers to the social issues which were important in the time in which the media product was made. For this activity, the episodes we are listening to are mainly around 2018, which for all intents and purposes is 'here and now'. So a different way of phrasing this question could be 'how do these radio shows reflect the dominant ideological perspectives that exist today?

Other ways in which this question could be phrased in the exam:

• Explore the ways in which [this product] reflects the ideological perspectives of it's producer
• To what extent does [this product] reflect the views and ideologies of the time in which it was made?
• Stuart Hall suggests that audiences can receive the ideological perspectives of media products in many different ways, in a system of exchange and negotiation. To what extent do you agree with this audience theory?

Late Night Woman's Hour is indicative of the BBC's remit to provide a plurality of voices, opinions, ideologies and representations. Broadcast on BBC Radio 4, it is later podcasted through the BBC Sounds app/webportal, and edited in to bite-size chunks in order to increase audience accessibility. 

The below episodes can be found hosted on BBC Sounds as of 19/01/2022

Reception theory revision

Every media product reflects the ideology of the producer that made it. This process is called encoding. However, audiences can also take, or recieve meaning from media products. This is called decoding.

Dominant ideology: the ideology that is generally accepted in the [UK]. Hall argued that media products tend to reflect and reinfoce the dominant ideology of the country in which it was made.

Preferred reading: the audience recieves the media product in the way the producer intends, gets the intended meaning out of it, and agrees with the ideology of the producer

Oppositional reading: where the audience disagrees with the ideology of the producer

Negotiated reading: where the audience partially agrees with the ideology of the producer

Vaginas/pockets

Plurality of voices: young black British woman, and an older American woman, a blogger, a journalist, anthropologist, stereotypical middle class professions

Preferred reading

• women's pockets are too small, and this is a significant issue 
• Raises an issue that women's are manufactured to be form fitting over having a practical utility. Yet another example of patriarchal hegemony
• Preferred reading: an acknowledgement that vaginas do not always smell fresh, and that women should embrace sometimes not smelling like hegemonically accepted stereotype
• A potentially controversial topic to be raised! Both topics draw attention to the inherent sexism in society

Oppositional reading

• some audiences may find the frank discussion of genitalia, in particular female genitalia is distasteful
• Potentially upsetting or distasteful content for younger audiences (???)
• Some audience members may feel the pockets discussion is irrelevant and not particularly care about
• People with traditional views and values may be offended or even shocked by this episode

Negotiated reading

• what the hosts are saying is valid, yet this is clearly not that important, or not important to everyone
• The viewpoints are valid, but there are more pressing issues
• Audiences may not wish to hear about embarrassing personal stories, but may enjoy the discussion of pockets
• Male audiences may not be able to identify with the episode, but may come to a greater understanding of what some women experience

Quotes: "a vagina is a self-cleaning oven" - potentially controversial, potentially informative
"it's not a clementine" - racy, a bit sexual, perhaps appealing to an older audience

Intersectionality/racist 'trapdoors'

Dominant ideology: Episode presents a pro-feminist ideology, in particular intersectional feminism

Preferred reading

• audiences will agree with the message of this episode, and will also feel that feminism and issues surrounding feminism will have a big ,impact on their lives
• Presenter criticises broad statements and statements made by a podcast hosted by two white women
• Preferred reading: feminism can challenge a patriarchal hegemonic society

Negotiated reading

• while the issues raised in this episode are important, they are clearly not the biggest issues in the world

Oppositional reading

• the brand of feminism in this episode is argumentative and divisive
• audiences may be upset by and disgusted by representation of sexually promiscuous women 
• audiences may feel that there is a double standard between the representation of men and women

Body image

This clearly reflects the time in which it was made, and raises many socio-historical and political issues.

Dominant ideology: body image is an important topic and deserves to be discussed. This topic holds more hegemonic importance to audiences such as young women. However, the first commentator argues that Instagram is a force for good, and allows for positive manifestations of body image. This contradicts negative stories that may be reported on Instagram, for example promoting EDs SH, etc. 

Hyperreality: where the representation is more real than the thing it is representing

Preferred reading

Body image is an issue that is important and should be discussed

Oppositional reading

Body image is not an important issue

Newspaper circulation data

 

Image via Wikiwand

List of newspapers in the United Kingdom by circulation

• What overall trends can be noted regarding the consumption of newspapers in the UK?
• What significant points or outliers do you notice?
• What may be responsible for the trends you have noted?

Audience positioning and the newspaper industry - U block

Explore the ways in which audiences are positioned by this front page of The Daily Mirror

Make reference to:

• Anchorage

• Lexis

• Layout

• Technical codes

• Language codes

• Bias

Informal language, eg 'porkie pie', cockney rhyming slang, appeals to working class target audience

Directly accuses the UK PM of lying, suggesting a left-wing ideology

Clearly against the ideologies demonstated by the PM, "plot to ditch PM"

Use of informal lexis makes heavy use of assumptions, for exacmple the acronym BGT insead of Britains Got Talent suggests a familiarity with the typically working class TV show

A binary opposition is constructed between images of sterotpyically attractive and powerful women, and the weak, cowardly and potentially incompetant PM

Image of Johnson looks concerned and cowardly, which suggests bias by selection on behalf of the newspaper

The use of the colour red is symbolic of danger, warning and excitment which suggests to the working class audience that the newspaper will contain scandalous and exciteing content 

Johnson dominates the front page, which suggests that the newspaper is prely focusing on negative elements surrounding the PM 

Condesending mode of address. The producer is taking a clearly complex issue, and is "dumbing it down" by reductin g tit to a funny joke involving a prok pie. Attemping to make a complex issue comprehensible for a less infomred audience.

A highly sterotypical positioning of the working class target audience 

By constantly using simple language to communicate with their working class audience, The Daily Mirrir may be creating a less educated audience reliant of the Mirror for their news. 

Can this allow the paper to control their audience? Is the biggest threat to the uber rich the working class?

Marxist theory: those in power use their power to keep the rich rich and the poor poor

 

Audience positioning and the newspaper industry - Q block

Explore the ways in which audiences are positioned by this front page of The Daily Star

Make reference to:

• Anchorage

• Lexis

• Layout

• Technical codes

• Language codes

• Bias

• Heavy emphasis on images suggests a working class audience, and is a clear attempt to appeal to them
• Image of a stereotypically hegemonically conventionally attractive woman targets a heterosexual male demographic 
• Use of simple language/lexis suggests an informal mode of address for a working class audience
• Layout is bold and easy to read for a working class audience
• Sexual connotations of image of woman are further anchored by the caption "spooked by my flashing, giant orbs"
• The MES of Boris Johnson's brightly coloured Hawaiian shirt functions as a symbolic code, suggesting that he is careless and incompetent 
• A binary opposition is formed between the PM of the UK and the ridiculous costume and props he is associated with
• Poor photoshop quality suggests low production values, which further makes Johnson a figure of fun
• Suggests that the audience are immature, by taking an informal and non-serious mode of address
• Soft news: Gnasher the cartoon dog has turned vegan
• Use of informal language takes a patronising and even mocking mode of address
• Assumption that working class audiences have less intelligence and will only be able to understand restricted code 
• Escapism provided by informal language can be pleasurable 
• By reinforcing and normalising a low level of literacy among the working class, the daily star is effectively keeping the working class in their place, and normalising the idea the working class are uneducated. This ensures that The Daily Star have a guaranteed audience, day after day
• Marxist theory: does The Daily Star ensure the proletariat remain poor? And reinforce certain ideological perspectives that ensure that society will not change?

Radio industry: BBC Sounds, and meeting the needs of audiences

The BBC Sounds webportal provides a clean and readily accessible front end to a diverse range of services, in  a variety of genres. This clearly helps the BBC to meet the needs of it's many, fragmented audiences

Big question: In what ways does the BBC meet the needs of its audiences?

Starter: what needs do audiences even have, anyway? Why do we consume media?

• Escapism 
• Excitement
• Entertainment
• Information
• Sexual gratification
• Identification and relating to the characters/presenters
• Modes of address and lexis 
• Drama
• FOMO/social interaction
• Reflection

Why does the BBC have to meet the needs of so many audiences?

The BBC is publicly funded by the British public through the licence fee. It is a not for profit, PBS (public broadcasting service). Conversely, the vast majority of broadcasters worldwide are funded through advertising and/or monthly premium subscriptions. This makes the BBC's operating model notable. The BBC also has a legal remit to provide informative and educational content, to be free from political bias, and to schedule regular news bulletins, local news, and a plurality of voices, accents, languages, creoles and opinions. Additionally, the BBC's remit is often surmised as "to inform, educate and entertain", and to demonstrate a plurality of voices

An excellent example of the BBC's commitment to plurality is it's coverage in pidgin English

How does the BBC Sounds webportal meet the needs of its audiences?

• A series of thumbnail images demonstrates the range of different shows and the diverse performers on them
• BBC Sounds functions as a webportal to a range of different services
• It is easily accessable to a range of audiences, and can be accessed through desktop computer or mobile phone 
• It has a simple and straightforward layout, with many hyperlinks to click on 
• Simple layout allows a range of audiences to find the content they want to find and all new shows too
• Digital hosting allows audiences the opportunity to rewind, fast forward, download and listen in their own time
• Appeals to younger, digitally connected audiences
• Audio quality is superior

How does [your own example] meet the needs of its audiences?

Find an example of a show accessed though BBC sounds, of any form and any genre, It can be a series or a standalone episode. Regardless, make sure it's something that you (yes you!) actually want to listen to. Make notes on How this episode meets the needs of its audiences? How does it meet your needs?

• Specific target audience (for example, LNWH specifically targets middle aged, middle class white women, though this isn't to say other people can't listen to
• Mode of address (formal or informal, with examples)
• Lexis (specific choice of language used, with examples)
• Ideological perspective (what beliefs, attitudes and messages are presented in this podcast? Remember, they don't have to be spicy...)
• Production values (does it sound high quality? How do the production values affect the audience experience?)

The newspaper industry: Exploring how ideological perspectives are linked to models of ownership

 Exam question: How do models of ownership affect and influence the newspapers you have studied/the newspaper industry?

Read this article, and briefly surmise the ideological perspective encoded by the producer

U Block 14 January - The Newspaper Industry

 The study of media industries is looking at how media products are made, how they are distributed/ circulated so that the audience can access them, who owns the production companies and what impact does this and technological develops have on the products and the way we interact with them.

You have already studied one media industry (the Film Industry) so now you need to consider the world of newspaper production. The newspaper industry does have much in common with the film industry for example, conglomerates and independent companies, vertical and horizontal integration and both have been heavily impacted by new digital technologies.

Please work through the tasks and activities in the presentation below to start to see how the newspaper industry works.

The Newspaper Industry: Organisation and Control

U Block 13 January - Newspaper Audiences

All newspapers will have a very specific target audience in mind when they are creating the content of the paper. Who the target audiences is will affect everything from the content of the newspaper, the style of language and images they use. 

Our two case studies (the Daily Mirror and The Times) have very different target audiences and today you will explore who the target audience is and how the newspapers try to target, address and reach their audiences.

Please work through the activities and questions in the presentation below and record everything on your blog

Newspaper Audiences

Work for Q Block IF NEEDED

 If you have finished ALL of the newspaper work then you can start to find out about the next unit - Magazines. Have a look at the presentation below. If you are still working on the newspaper activities that is absolutely fine and the next KA test will be on newspapers so make sure you have completed tasks well and you could spend time revising as well!

Introduction to Magazines

Q Block Wednesday 12 January - Newspaper Audiences

 For Section B of the Component One exam you could be asked to discuss how the two newspapers we have studied (The Times and the Daily Mirror) target, attract, and reach their target audiences (which you have looked at in class before the Xmas break). You will need to give specific evidence to support any exam questions however, you can use the front pages and articles you have studied far. The examiner will expect you to use evidence from the newspaper's websites, other front pages and a whole edition of each news papers.

Today you are going to focus on the websites and how they target, attract and reach their specific audiences. 

Start a new post called Newspaper Audiences and complete the tasks in the presentation below.

Newspaper Audiences

The Times Website

Daily Mirror Website

U Block Tuesday 11 January - Newspaper Regulation

 Today you will be looking at how the newspaper industry and the rules that the press are meant to follow.

Please work through the task, questions and activities in the presentation below.

Newspaper Regulations - click on the link to see the presentation

Don't forget that you also have homework to do based on the representation work you did last week. I have included the information below as no one seems to be able to add it to Teams! It's due in on Friday - make sure you publish your post!

Homework:

Link for video - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4M1udqtBhaM&t=175s

Year 1 Q Block 10 January

Please complete the work on Regulation in the Newspaper Industry from the last lesson - I think you should need about 20 - 30 mins to do that. Then please move onto the presentation below about how the Newspaper industry is organised and who owns what. Start a new post and call it Ownership in the Newspaper Industry.

If you finish this work before the end of the test please revise what you have covered so far as there is a KA test (Key Assessment) coming up in the week beginning 24 January.

Ownership in the Newspaper Industry.

Year 2 - Introduction to the Radio Industry

Component 2: Section B: Media Industries & Audiences

The next text we look at is an unusual one that many people your age will not have heard of. When it first began it was broadcast on Radio 4 but now podcasts seems to have take over as the new form of 'talk radio'. It is now only available as a podcast but there have not been any new episodes in nearly two years.

Late Night Woman’s Hour is a spin-off from the long-running BBC Radio 4 daily magazine

programme, Woman’s Hour. It began broadcasting in 2015 on a limited basis but became

so popular that it began a permanent run as a monthly, then in 2018, a weekly podcast.

Late Night Woman’s Hour is recorded weekly, hosted by Emma Barnett (occasionally

founder Lauren Laverne) and features female guests from a range of backgrounds

including science, health and entertainment.

Each episode focuses on a particular theme relevant to its female audience e.g. ‘Lost

Friends’ and ‘Extreme Breastfeeding’. The original broadcast was at 11pm on Thursday

nights, which meant explicit and honest discussions could be had. Since becoming a

podcast, the show has been less controversial.

We need to understand this text from an Industry and Audience point of view.

INDUSTRY:

•    Production, distribution and circulation of media products.

•    The specialised and institutionalised nature of media production, distribution and circulation.

•    How recent technological changes impacts upon production, distribution and circulation.

•    The effect of ownership, vertical integration and diversification.

•    Use of marketing to maintain varieties of audiences.

•    Regulation.

•    Impact of new media on regulation.

CORE THEORIES:

Curran and Seaton

 

AUDIENCE:

•    Grouping and categorisation including demographics and psychographics.

•    How audiences are targeted.

•    How audiences can be constructed.

•    Relationship between media technologies and patterns of consumption and response.

•     How audiences interpret the media including DIFFERENT responses to the same text (Hall’s audience readings).

•    How audiences INTERACT with the media and can be actively involved in media production.

 

CORE THEORIES:

Demographics, Audience Profiling, 4Cs model, Opinion Leaders, Bandura’s Media Effects (Hypodermic Syringe), Desensitisation, Gerbner’s Cultivation theory & Hall’s Responses (readings) theory. 

Start a new post on your blogs called Introduction to the Radio Industry. Click on the link below and work through the activities, questions and research tasks. If you finish before the end of the lesson you can move on to the next lesson or make flash cards of the information you have learnt so far or research more about the radio industry.

Lesson One

Lesson Two

Lesson Three

Year One U Block 7 January

Representation in Newspaper

Today in lesson you will be looking at the way in which newspapers represent social groups, individuals, events and gender. You will be focusing the front cover of The Times (including the article about Teresa May) and the front cover and a double page 'spread' (article across two pages) of the Daily Mirror.

This is the presentation that will be used in lesson today - click on the link to follow along. There are also some hyperlinks within the presentation that you will need as well. 

High Resolution copy of The Times

High Resolution copy of the Daily Mirror

High Resolution copy of the double page spread

Year One Q Block Lesson 5 Jan

 As part of our study of the newspaper industry it is important that you understand how the industry is regulated as well as how newspapers use media language, represent people and issues, and target and attract the audience. 

Please work through the presentation linked here. The presentation start by outlining where different questions on newspaper will be in the exam and typical types of questions you might be asked. Please record this information on your blog for future reference. Then work through the tasks recording your notes and findings on your blog.