Category: Exam Paper 2

04 Digital Distribution, Audiences & Democratisation.

Audience, Exam Paper 2, Industry, Key Media Concepts, Media Ecology

LEARNING INTENTIONS:  

  • To explore how audience & industry are (re)shaped by converged technology (aka…the internet & smartphones)
  • To explore the impact (converged) technology on the relationship between audience & star image.

We will be able to answer the following Media Ecology questions by the end of this lesson:

  • “To what degree has the smartphone revolutionised the audiences and institutions…using the music industry as a case study.”
  • “Convergence of the media has led to a more democratised media ecology.” 
  • “Analyse the significance of a particular technological development in the media”.

The rise of converged technology has been exponential in recent years – you have known no different but even in your lifetime, think of how worn technology such as the smartwatch has been developed.  Converged technology and in particular, the smart phone has revolutionised how media is made, distributed and consumed.

Converged Technology can be classified as a DISRUPTOR. 

Task 1
  • Name as many different types of converged technology as you can (Remember the Generation Game we played in the Music Industry module?)
Task 2
  • List as many ways you can think of, that the Smartphone has impacted on the production and consumption of music in recent years?

Remember the Integrated Advertising vide by Satchi and Satchi….when advertising & music used to be a one way transaction but now it is an interactive and synergised product?

Task 3

  • Read the theorist post on Shirky in the class blog and make some notes….or…discuss:

“Our social tools are not an improvement to modern society, they are a challenge to it.” Case study, Andrew Tate & Greta Thunberg.

Then read why Shirky is important for independent study.

Task 4

In pairs, you will be allocated a particular impact of technology on society.

Consider how the smart phone has impacted and  disrupted the media (use the  music industry if stuck) in relation to your allocated area.

One on piece of A4 – create a slogan that sums up your thinking and on the back list in clear writing @ 3 facts, stats, quotes, case studies that will act as evidence to your slogan/focus area.

Show your findings as a placard as though you were in a march/demo in favour of or against technology and democratisation of  the media as a good thing for society.

Decide which side you’re on…

The areas are:

    1. participation & community
    2. interaction 
    3. identity
    4. immediacy & urgency
    5. sensationalism
    6. clickbait
    7. fake news
    8. democratisation
    9. family

You will be asked to present your placard and describe your slogan and point of view to the class using examples to the class.

Task 5

Independent Study.

  • Using the presentation in classroom called Technological Influence in the Media, create a slide and add in 2 x photos of your slogan and your facts and stats. Then annotate the slide with relevant theories that would help support your findings and any other key concepts, debates that you think are also relevant to your observations.

03 Introduction to Ecology

Media Ecology

Learning Intention:

To think about the media as an ecology, a synergistic and symbiotic cultural environment.

From the Specification

“Media ecology refers to the complex environments within which media texts, producers, distributors, technologies and audiences exist. It is a way of conceiving the structure of these environments, their content, and impact on people.”

A question for class discussion:

How can the media be thought of as an, ‘Environment?’

An Analogy

“An ecologist studies the relationship between living things and their habitats.”

So, in the example above, an ecologist would study the lifecycles and symbiotic relationships between living thing in this pond, like water quality, diversity of species, the food cycle, climate, pollutants…

A Media Ecology

So, to continue with the analogy

Task:

Write down the ten most important elements that make up a Media ecology (think…key concepts).

Make a list in your notebooks  computers and be prepared to add to it.

Continue reading “03 Introduction to Ecology”

02 The Four Key Concepts in Media Studies

Audience & Institutions, Exam Paper 1, Exam Paper 2, Media Ecology, Media Regulation, Postmodern Media, Textual Analysis

Learning Intention:

To review, define and refine your understanding of the four key concepts in media.

First off, some study / revision advice for all your subjects…
A presentation… including a task.

Independent study.

Memorise the definition of the following four key concepts, which we came up with in class. There will be a test!

Remember, these are relevant (to a greater or lesser extent) to both your exams in May. So you need this keystone understanding.

01 Media Studies Exams 101

Media Ecology

From the specification:

“The AS & A Level Media Studies course is developed around the four key concepts of Language, Representation, Industry and Audience. Candidates should be prepared to demonstrate their knowledge and understanding of these across all components.”

Media exams are about the degree to which you understand these key concepts and can discuss, debate, explain, illustrate, analyse…a case study.

Make Notes!

So, on case studies:

This is important! You should understand that many of our case studies overlap across exams! Furthermore, your wider experience of the media is useful and should be bought into class discussion or included in essays you will be submitting.

On Note making:

You must keep handwritten or typed notes during all lessons!

It is important that you keep a log, a diary, a journal…a blog… of your learning. Just make a new blog in the dashboard and off you go.

DO NOT USE YOUR COURSEWORK BLOG!

Come to drop in for help with this.

Independent Study Due Wednesday January 4rd

Check and review your current understanding of the four key concepts:

  1. Representation
  2. Media Language
  3. Industry
  4. Audience

Also…FINISH YOUR BLOG!

Well done, if you have already.

Including the Critical Reflection Post + Images?

Well done you!

Did we win the bet?

The Media Ecology

Media Ecology 
KEY TERMS:  Environment; Interconnected; Interdependent; Media impacts on society's understanding, perception, feelings and values

‘You what…?’

Wiki says that Media Ecology is…

‘…the study of media, technology, and communication and how they affect human environments.’

Alternatively…

ECOLOGY = NATURE

Examples of a symbiotic relationships within an ecosystem:

Cleaner Bird & Crocodile

The crocodile & plover have a symbiotic relationship. Food stuck in the mouth of the crocodile can cause infection, and the plover bird’s picking cleans the crocodile’s teeth. Thus, when a crocodile needs its mouth cleaned, it will open it and wait for the plover bird’s help. So, the crocodile get clean teeth and the the plover gets food.

Clown fish & sea anemone

The clownfish and the sea anemone help each other survive in the ocean. The clownfish, while being provided with food, cleans away fish and algae leftovers from the anemone. In addition, the sea anemones are given better water circulation because the clownfish fan their fins while swimming about

NATURAL ECOSYSTEMS

THE CIRCLE OF LIFE

The Water Cycle – PRECIPITATION, SATURATION, EVAPORATION, CONDENSATION, TRANSPORTATION…

So, just like natural environments, the Media Environment has its own ecology – elements that are interdependent and collectively form the Media Ecology/Ecosystem that we are going to study.

A Media Ecology/Ecosystem?

These are the elements of the media ecology. All of them are ‘interlinked’ – they are all tied together and the system would collapse if one of them were to disappear.

For the Media Ecology part of the exam, you will need to have an understanding of all of these components and have your own opinions on how they function with some examples.  We will be covering them all as we go. You have already begun to learn about audience and producers and prosumers – so we already already on our way.

More key terms in need of definition and illustration of how they fit in the media ecology.

TASK:

  1. In pairs create a poster/brainstorm which defines one element of the media ecology and consider how it is an interdependent part of the whole ecology.
  2. Do some research and use your own experiences to illustrate how your element fits within a symbiotic ecosystem…
  3. When finished, take a photo on a phone and email it to your teacher who will compile the posters into a shared presentation.

 

This is quite a detailed video explanation of what Media Ecology is but you should be able to gleen from listening to it that Media Ecology is all about how media impacts on society and the role it plays in society

.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E-H2stBPEBk&t=102s

HOW THIS FITS IN THE YEAR 13 EXAM…

This is how the section of the exam is described in the specification.

I am a Media Prosumer? My Media Diet.

Audience, Audience & Institutions, Industry, Media Ecology 
KEY TERMS:

MEDIA TEXT, USES AND GRATIFICATION (ENTERTAINMENT, INFORMATION, PERSONAL IDENTITY, SOCIAL INTERACTION), PROSUMER

Question of the Week:

“What new ideas have you learnt about your role as a media prosumer in the wider media ecology.”

Here is the article for the week to help you think about this.

Get into the habit of reading up about your next  Media Lesson. It will be interesting to see how many of you actually visited our blog before this lesson.  If you are reading this, then well done you!  Always, refer to the key terms at the start of the blog post to know what key and important vocabulary you should be including in your blog post reflections.

TASK

Create a collage with a minimum of 15 – 20 pictures that illustrate your MEDIA DIET

What you read, watch and listen to.  In other words what media do you consume?

When you watch, listen and read, you are called a CONSUMER.

Also, what media do you contribute to?  What apps, blogs, social media do you add texts, status and click and likes to?

When you interact and contribute to the media, you are called a PROSUMER.

An example – WITH some ideas from media theorists,

Blumler & Katz

You will use ideas described in the Uses and Gratification theory from Blumler and Katz, to indicate which of these media you use for your:

  • ENTERTAINMENT
  • PERSONAL IDENTITY
  • SOCIAL INTERACTION 
  • EDUCATION AND INFORMATION

Annotate about 6-8 of the examples with E, SI, PI, I to show that you understand how you use media for various needs and pleasures:

You should complete the collage using a  single Google Slide, then download it as a jpeg – it will be embedded into your first blog post!

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