A2 media studies

Monday, 9 June 2014

REVISION ESSENTIALS ; CAN YOU ANSWER THESE POINTS?

As the exam draws closer one of the key revision/preparation tasks is to consider what might be the key issues in SECTION B - what ideas do you have to have thought through

a reading of the specification and of the valuable examiner's report give lots of useful guidance that can be summed up in 4 points that you MUST be able to debate.

[1] Be certain that you are able to provide evidence of media institutions that have embraced digital media and institutions that have struggled to adapt to the digital age. The BBC is a good example of a media institution that has made the leap from traditional provider to the digital age [NEWS24; BBC website; I-Player] and to most extents have successfully adapted to the demands of the digital world.

Even having done so, the BBC provides a good example of how such institutions have to continually adapt their practices of how to reach their audience. Standing still is not an option - contrast with HMV case study that we looked at in class.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22042687
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-22040237

Also, MYSPACE is a fine example of how quickly the digital world changes whilst companies like Apple [I-Tunes] and Adobe and SPOTIFY are examples of institutions that are constantly changing the digital approach of their particular business model to suit the needs of the consumer and prosumers. The recent acquisition of BEATS by Apple is an excellent example of a company recognizing a change in its audience [the aging nature of the I-tunes audience who are prepared to download MP3] and the need to develop new audience [youth moving to streaming]. we might also consider Adobe's move to the Creative Cloud as a means of combating widespread piracy and also recognizing the changing needs of its core consumers.

[2] We have also discussed in class examples of how the digital world has challenged the dominant representations of the mainstream media. We focused on citizen Journalism, Arab Spring and even the Blackberry Riots. You need to be very clear that this is a key media issue and a very important debate. A real need here is to find some less obvious examples [China; Crimea/Ukraine]

http://www.economist.com/blogs/economist-explains/2013/04/economist-explains-how-china-censors-internet

[3] You must have the ability to provide examples of how the audience has been empowered by digital media. You could refer to examples in the music industry [SPOTIFY], the publishing industry [CITIZEN JOURNALISM] Film industry [NETFLIX]

MUSIC INDUSTRY/HMV RESOURCES:

[1] The Digital Age creates need for change in music
[2] The rise and decline of HMV
[3] An illustrated timeline

[1] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-25450130

[2] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-21028803

[3] http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-21028024

HMV decline example of inability to read changes in audience needs/expectations in digital age

NETFLIX RESOURCES:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-27102420
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-27037504
http://www.theinquirer.net/inquirer/opinion/2332897/an-online-bbc-three-could-be-the-next-netflix

[4] The one that many find difficult is to construct examples of media and democracy. The simple issue here is : Has digital media made our world a more democratic world? In what way?

If not, then why has it 'failed' to live up to the aspirations held for it?

The key with all of these is concrete examples

Remember :

YOU DO NOT HAVE TO AGREE WITH THE PROPOSITION IN THE QUESTION
YOU CAN USE YOUR MATERIAL AS A MEANS OF SAYING WHY THINGS DO NOT SUPPORT THE IDEA IN THE QUESTION

Friday, 6 June 2014

OTHER PAGES

Don't forget to look at the other pages on this blog -especially the Impact of New Technology page

ESSENTIAL REVISION 2 : THE FINAL COUNTDOWN

Accompanied by the theme music of JAWS, nearer and nearer the exam comes.

This weekend brush up on your media understanding, especially around power of digital media. What better way than having a look at this BBC News link:

http://m.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-27192089

Some useful background material and some sense of the issues/debates surrounding the story of Stephen Sutton and of the increasing use of social media to generate campaigns. Remember the nomakeupselfie? What about linking this to KONY2012?

Monday, 2 June 2014

Essential Revision

Aleks Krotoski on her own in the New Mexico desert, using a laptop

The Virtual Revolution: Homo Interneticus

Dear all

Time is ticking away so make certain that you revise with care the issues and debates. I offer below some useful links to views on the debates surrounding the impact of digital media on society.

Navigate to these sites and watch and make notes: Essential viewing

[1] This is a link to the clips section of the BBC series The Virtual Revolution [which won a BAFTA in 2010]
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n4j0r/clips

[2] this is the link to the home page of the programme
http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00n4j0r

[3] Sadly, the I-Player links no longer offer the programme. However, click on the link below to get to the You Tube clip from the first episode and from there navigate your way through the rest of the sections offered
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NPD4Ep_J81k

[4] the last link is to the interviews page of the BBC site with unedited interviews with some key players.
http://www.bbc.co.uk/virtualrevolution/interviews.shtml

Episode 1:
The wonder and walls of Wikipedia; the blogger media revolution; the price of peer-to-peer piracy... who really has power on the web? Is it the online crowd or the 'gatekeepers'? Is the web a platform for sharing or is it inequality writ large?

Episode 2:
Is the web indestructable or can censorship, cybercrime or infrastructure attack bring it down? As the web trancends the barriers of the physical world the orthodox view is that the nation state will inevitably wither as the porous web of hyperlinks conquers the globe. But some states are fighting back.

Episode 3:
Free services, limitless information, endless opportunities for the user... the web seems to defy all the laws of economics. But are we trading our privacy for a 'free' web?

Episode 4:
Are we empowered, connected and enlightened with the world's knowledge at our fingertips? Or distracted and addicted with shorter attention spans> Are our skittering brains bombarded and stupified by the 'yuck and wow' of the web? Is the web really changing us - the way we think, the way we behave, the way relate to each other? And is it for better or for worse?

Tuesday, 20 May 2014

Representation of Technology

Consider these three adverts

How is technology represented in each?

what are they saying about technology?
what are they saying about consumers of technology?
what are they saying about how we use technology in our lives?
which media theory[ies] might be applied to account for the above?
how accurate do you find each advert?

TEST 1 : Samsung Galaxy

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QR8A3T6sPzU

TEXT 2: Apple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiyIcz7wUH0

TEXT 3: Apple

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODmfmUWqlSA

IDEAS

One of the key issues here is that Samsung do not mention 'Apple' by name but the mise-en-scene makes it clear that it is Apple that is being referenced. Note that the references are not [in themselves] negative,it is the way the updates are talked about and those who are doing the talking that construct a negative representation. They are 'over the top', they seem obsessive [geeky?] and almost too eager to be 'cool': these are what are called the 'early adopters', those who must have the latest and then spend their time convincing others how great their new design is.
There is verisimilitude created by the mise-en-scene [we have all seen the queues; the hype]. Samsung users appear cool without really trying to be so.
Consider how Apple markets itself - no mention of the product, all about the feeling of the thing, the sense of empowerment and creativity.