My Letter to future A level media students – 

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This is the MP3 recording of  my letter to a future A level media student. Please listen if you would prefer –

Media Ecology is how communication, media and technology affect human environments. There are eight elements to media ecology which all interlink and work together:

• Money
• Institutions
• Social media
• Government
• Distribution
• Audience
• Technology
• Creators

Without any of the eight elements, the media environment would collapse. All of the components have to be able to work together in order to understand the impact media has on society’s understanding and perception of the world, as well as giving insight into the feelings and values of society.

Creating a mindmap focussing on the element of Audience has allowed me to understand how each element is interdependent and how each element works. Without Creators there would be no content to be consumed by an audience, without Government institutions and creators would be able to share anything they liked without thinking about the negative effects to be had on others values and feelings. Money and Distribution mean that people are able to share more whilst earning a living through consumption from the audience on social media sites and other outlets. Finally without technology there would be no audience and no media to be consumed meaning there would be no online media ecology and people would struggle to make hard copies of newspapers or magazines. The mindmap has allowed me to understand how every element in media ecology are all interlinked and equally important.

When I come to make my music magazine I will consider how all of these elements work together so that I can create a magazine which entices my audience. Media Ecology has taught me that I would not be able to make my magazine in isolation or independently as my work would not be successful because producing a magazine that includes all elements would be very difficult to complete alone.

I am a prosumer. I am constantly producing and consuming many forms of media through liking Instagram posts or sharing something on Facebook. The media diet collage I have created, was made to show how I incorporate media into my daily life as well as showing me how many forms of media I use. That could be through watching Netflix or reading a BBC News article or even watching a TikTok. In the modern age media is hard to escape, it is something many cannot live without and it will continue to adapt and change with us.

Through doing this task it has widened my mindset to the many genres of media I consume as well as improving my understanding of the of how media is used in the wider world everyday. I want consider the ways I engage with media daily through the uses and gratification theory created by Blumler and Katz. They believe that all forms of media are used in four certain ways:

•  Entertainment
• Personal Identity
• Information
• Social Interaction

When I go on to create my music magazine I want to think about the ways in which I engage with media and how I can apply that to my own work to be able to form a magazine that entertains as well as providing information on my work. I want my work to give my readers a chance to reinforce ideas within their personal identity as well as the ability to socially interact with others.