Wednesday 23 March 2022

Revision: introduction to the newspaper questions

What kind of questions will we get?

This year, we KNOW newspapers will come up in component one section two, and we KNOW you will be asked a number of industry and context questions around them

How will we get marks?

You will get marks for knowledge and understanding of media studies (naturally!)

You will also get marks for knowledge and understanding of the contexts surrounding the newspapers you have studied

Basically, there's a lot of knowledge and understanding being assessed

How is this part of the exam structured?

You'll find a mixture of big questions and small questions here, everything from one mark to 16 mark. 

In total, all of the questions on newspapers will probably add up to 25. So you might get a 

2 mark

8 mark

15 mark kind of structure. 

Is there anything else we need to know and talk about?

You will get a prompt for one of the larger questions along these lines:

For question 3d, you will be rewarded for drawing together knowledge and understanding from across your full course of study, including different areas of the theoretical framework and media contexts

What does this mean?

Basically, even though you will be asked industry type questions, you will get the opportunity to reference audience, media language and representation too. You may also wish to compare the newspapers to completely different texts and industries! So, in a question on regulation, you may wish to point out the regulation of the videogame industry and how this is particularly ineffective, and the regulation of the film industry, and how this is far more effective.

So do we talk about the Theresa May covers?

NO. You will need to talk about a completely different edition of both newspapers! We will study them this week.

You can find the new set editions by clicking here.

How many lessons will we have on this and what will we do in them?

Four lessons, with a total of six hours of class time. That's two Lord Of The Rings films. Thats a lot of time.

1 - Key terms - this session will address how to define the one and two marker questions in the most simple and straightforward way possible


2 - Power and profit - this session will explicitly look at how our case studies ensure they maintain ideological power and make profit. Theorists: Hesmondhalgh and Curran & Seaton 


3 - Regulation - how newspapers are regulated and the issues this brings up, both in print and digitally. Theorists: Livingstone and Lunt


4 - Context and alternatives - concluding the revision of newspapers, we will finish off analysing the case studies, think about why they are the way they are, and suggest some alternatives to the current model


What else  do we need to know?

Here's a checklist of terms you should be able to define and things you should know. It's big, but don't freak out: the answers are all very simple and straightforward. 

Key terms

Left wing

Right wing

Centrist

Curran and Seaton

Hesmondhalgh

Livingstone and Lunt

Vertical integration

Horizontal integration

Multimedia integration

Convergence

Digital convergence

Synergy

Conglomerate

Conglomeration

Unique selling point

Regulation

Self-regulation

Advert

Caption

Main Image

Masthead

Sell line

Banner advert

Classified advert

Copy/body copy

Broadsheet

Tabloid

Column

Getter

Edition

Filler

News values

Editorial

Distribution

Folio

Hard news

Soft news

Kill

If it bleeds, it leads

Libel

Reporter

Journalist

Splash

Pug

Key questions

Who owns The Mirror?

Who owns The Times?

Who owns a few other national newspapers?

What are three UK tabloids?

What are thee UK broadsheets?

Who regulates the UK newspaper industry?

Who used to regulate the newspaper industry?

What are some big controversies that have affected the UK newspaper industry?

Tasks

This session, you will construct either digital physical resources that tackle the following headings

Industry key terms
Newspaper key terms (with a labelled front cover/double page spread)
The difference between left and right wing politics
Tabloids vs broadsheets
The three industry theorists
Regulation and controversies