Case Study for Contemporary Media Regulation

It was announced on Thursday 7th July that The News of the World was to close. This came after days of allegations that the NOTW was involved in phone hacking. The latest allegations did not, however, involve celebrities they were the mobile phone of missing teenager Milly Dowler, the family of murdered child Jessica Chapman, allegedly the phones of families of the 7?7 bombing victims. The list seemed to go on and on.
Despite these despicable practices and the following media and public backlash no one expected the announcement that the newspaper was to close.

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/comment/editors-corner/end-one-era-likely-beginning-very-similar-one-093339939.html

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/blog/2011/jul/08/news-of-the-world-phone-hacking-scandal
http://www.pcc.org.uk/
http://www.pcc.org.uk/news/index.html?article=NzI0NQ==

Globalisation and the media

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A useful resource for the Global Media groups.

Case Study for Contemporary Media Regulation

http://uk.news.yahoo.com/5/20110412/tuk-online-trolls-target-family-tribute-45dbed5.html

this news article discusses the need for legislation to stop people writing offensive and abusive messages on Facebook tribute pages.
It is a very useful case study for contemporary media regulation.

Narrative Theory Posters

Functions of Genre and Tasks

How do we use genre?
Genres do have a material effect on the organisation of both our responses to a film and the way the industry itself institutionalises its output. There were whole studios which concentrated on particular genres and actors and directors identified wholly with just one genre.
TASK:
List a studio, 3 actors and 2 directors that are recognised as specialising in a particular genre.

Functions of genre:

• Reinforcement of our ideas and values
• Creation of a set of audience expectations
• Creation of characteristics by producers which audiences can recognise
• A relationship between audiences and producers which minimises the risk of financial failure
• Dynamism and flexibility - they are constantly transformed by new additions.

TASK:
Find your children's film, thriller opening and music videos on youtube.
Watch them through and write notes on how you used, developed and/or challenged generic conventions of relevant genres during the creation of these projects.
Ensure that you make direct reference to the functions of genre.

GENRE Definitions and Tasks

Definitions of Genre

Genre - the word genre derives from French and means 'type' or 'kind'. In a study of media texts it is used to divide texts into easily identifiable categories. It is a way of classifying media products according to the elements that they share.

Genre Conventions - these are the repertoire of elements that texts belonging to the same genre have in common. They are the aspects that an audience expect to see in a specific media text. They help audiences to recognise the genre and have been built up over a period of time so that they are esily recognisable. For example, the use of hand-held cameras is a convention of some documentaries used to suggest realism.

Hybrid genre - a text that combines or subverts the conventions of an existing genre to create a new one. For example the reality tv genre combines insome cases, aspects of the documentary and game show genres.

Sub-genre - A subcategory within a particular genre: The academic mystery is a subgenre of the mystery.

TASKS:
Discuss and blog your responses:

1. What are the advantages and disadvantages of genre from the following perspectives:
* Producer (company that funds the film)
* Audience (Consumers of the film)
* Director (Creator of the film)
* Scriptwriter (Person who comes up with new ideas for films)
* Marketer (Person who has to sell the film)

2. Pick a genre from one of the following:
Comdedy, horror, action, romance, drama, thriller, sci-fi, crime.
Research the development of that genre and find examples of a classic, a sub genre and a hybrid from your chosen genre.
Consider the future development of that genre and also why it appeas to viewers.

SECTION A

Please ensure that you look at the sheets given out in today's lesson that explain the requirements of Section A.

Section a explained

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Tuesday's Task for Cancelled Lesson

Apologies that the lesson has been cancelled.
Please can you start working individually on one of the following essays, there is a choice of two for each theme and you don't have to choose the one for your theme if you feel more comfortable with a different theme.
These essays are part of the assessent for this unit and are a vital way of assessing your readiness for the summer exam.
The assignments are due in on Wednesday 23rd March in the lesson and should be a minimum of 1500 words or 2 sides of A4 if you prefer to hand write your essay.
They will need to include:
* References to contemporary media theory (check out lesson 10 tasks for a refresher),
* detailed examples from 2 different media areas (i.e. TV, film, music, videogames, social networking sites, news/journalism, blogs etc), detailed means specific scenes from a tv programme or a specific case study of a facebook group etc.
* Your own opinion in response to the question
* An idea of how things have changed over time and also how they may develop in the future

QUESTIONS:
Contemporary Media Regulation
1. How effectively can contemporary media be regulated?
2. How far do changes to the regulation of media reflect broader social changes?

Global Media
1. What impact does the increase on global media have on media audiences?
2. To what extent are the media now more global than local or national?

Media and Collective Identity
1. Analyse the ways in which the media represent one group of people that you have studied.
2. "The media do not construct collective identity, they merely reflect it". Discuss.

Media in the Online Age
1. "The impact of the internet on the media is revolutionary". Discuss.
2. Discuss the extent to which the distribution and consumption of media have been transformed by the internet.

We-Media and Democracy
1. How far can the media in 2011 be considered to be democratic?
2. Explore the claim that the 'new' media are more democratic than the 'old' media.

Catfish Task

Do some research into the film Catfish (2010), what was the critical reception for this film, who made it, who produced it, who funded it?

Then answer one of these questions in detail on your blog, using the film as one of your examples. It must be done individually and be at least 400 words in total.

This is a task due to Tuesday's lesson not running as it is admissions day so it must be completed by Wednesday's lesson. The DVD is available in the library if you haven't seen the film in class.

Questions:

1. How has the Online Age revolutionised the film industry?

2. What issues do interactivity and participatory culture raise around the concept of authenticity?

3. How is the identity of women mediated via the internet and why is this problematic?

4. Outline some of the reasons that certain areas of the media need regulating?

5. What kind of shared experiences are there in the online world and what are some of the issues surrounding this 'global media'?

Global Media Revision

This is the presentation put together by Josh for the lesson on Global Media

Global media by Josh Rhodes

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How much of a Global Consumer are you?
Consider the music you listen to, the tv programmes you watch, the films you enjoy, the clothes you wear, the restaurants you eat at, the news you listen to, the magazines you read, the technology you use - where is it from?
Are you made in Great Britain or are you a Global Consumer.

http://www.mediaed.org.uk/content/view/76/115/
Read this article on Globalisation and work through the activities.

After this please consider these questions:

1. What kind of media are increasingly global in terms of production and distribution?

2. How have global media developed, in historical terms, and how inclusive is this trend in reality?

3. What kinds of audience behaviour and consumption are increasingly global?

4. What are the arguments for and against global media, in relation to content, access, representation and identity?

Example of WeMedia

This is an example of WeMedia that was put together by my students during a student led lesson on We-Media.
They were asked to express their opinion on any subject using any form and put it anywhere as an example of We-Media.

We-Media Revision

Watch these videos on Citizen Journalism









http://cj.ibnlive.in.com/ - Look at this site and explore these examples of citizen journalism.

Consider the following questions:

1. What are 'We media'?

2. Where/how has 'We Media' emerged?

3. In what way are the contemporary media more democratic than before?

4. In what ways are the contemporary media less democratic than before

Media in the Online Age Lesson

Congratulations to the Media in the Online Age group for a very interesting, informative, participatory and fun lesson.

Here is the YouTube video you made - Tell your friends and lets see how many hits it can get before the end of the year!



In addition here are the notes you made on how the internet has changed some key media industries.






If you want to pursue this theme and do some more reading in preparation for the exam then make a start with the group's blog.

http://Theonlineage.tumblr.com

Media in the Online Age Revision

This is the video we started watching on the way YouTube works and the impact it has had on culture, the media and people's lives.
As a revision task for Media in the Online Age watch the video and use it as examples to then answer the following questions:

1. How have online media developed?

2. How is consumer behaviour and audience response transformed by online media, in relation to the past?

Lesson 15

http://www.channel4.com/programmes/dispatches/episode-guide/series-79/episode-1

Watch this episode of the topical news show. Then use this case study to consider the following questions:

How effective are regulatory practices?

What are the wider social issues relating to media regulation?

Lesson 14 Tasks

Today all teams must finish their info-films and embed them onto your blogs.

Next - all teams will be required to teach the rest of the class about their theme. On Friday you will all pick out at random a date to teach your class.
Teams will be required to lead the group for 1 hour. The purpose of the lesson will be to inform the rest of the group what your theme is about so that they are equipped to understand the basics of the theme for the exam.
A typical lesson would include the following:
* Explanation of theme
* Group task
* Feedback
* Summary of what they learnt

You have today and Friday in which to plan out your lesson and if you require any materials photocopying for the session I must have them by the end of Friday's lesson.

Lesson 13 Tasks

Today is all about making your info films.
It is essential that you create an account with Xtranormal and keep an eye on your credit otherwise you may go to publish your film and it will ask you for money.

In addition, here are some extra links for you all that will further improve the understanding of your theme through real life examples. You decide which one is relevant for your theme.

Television online
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/programmes/click_online/9200106.stm?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter

Don't threaten fan coimmunities, license them to your brand
http://www.managingcommunities.com/2010/08/19/rethinking-the-cease-and-desist-dont-threaten-fan-communities-and-groups-license-your-brand-to-them/

Internet activism, restriction and change
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/09/28/what-internet-activi.html

Twitter and social activism
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2010/oct/02/malcolm-gladwell-social-networking-kashmir

Online music - How to make your music go viral
http://mashable.com/2010/11/28/viral-music-video-how-to/

Media and Democracy
http://www.digitalpercept.com/tag/mark-townsend/

Why YouTube is better than TV
http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2010/dec/13/alan-partridge-baby-cow-fosters-online

Collective Identity
http://collectiveidentity.posterous.com/

Google and Censorship
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-11380677?utm_source=twitterfeed&utm_medium=twitter


Your homework is to pick one of these links and summarise it on your group blog.

Lesson 12 Tasks

Your scripts are coming along really well - there are some excellent features in all of them so well done.
Everyone has feedback on the scripts on your blogs and everyone has some additions/revisions to make before we can move onto the production of the film.
Please read your feedback, make the changes, get Andrea to check them and then you can begin production.

Lesson 11 Tasks

Today I would like you to make a profile at Xtranormal.com and explore what the site can do.
Decide how you will present your film, i.e. will it be a debate between 2 characters or a monologue from one character.
What location will you use and which character.


Then you must make a start on your scripts - all scripts must include the following:

*An explanation of your theme i.e. what does contemporary media regulation mean?
*Indicate which two media areas you are looking at, what specific examples you have researched.
* Include reference to at least two contemporary media theories and how your specific examples prove or disprove the theories
*Include a summary of how you would answer each of the 4 prompt questions using the media theories and your textual examples.

SCRIPT DEADLINE: All scripts must be completed by end of Tuesday's lesson to be approved by Andrea.

Lesson 10 Tasks

Collective identity group - here are your theories.
Please look through the powerpoint and complete the tasks on the last slide.

Collective id theory and examples

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Everyone else - read on:

Please read through this presentation and then discuss in your groups how these theories can be applied to your media area (i.e. social networking sites) and your specific media texts (i.e. Facebook):

P2 media theories explained

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Lesson 6 and 7

1. Go through all tasks for the previous lessons and ensure you have done all of the tasks. The tasks for lesson 5 are particularly important.

2. Present your blog and your 2 media areas, with your specific examples to Andrea.

3. Tuesday's lesson is cancelled. Ensure that you read the handout given to you by Andrea. Write notes on how it relates to your area on your blog. Consider how far this new information may help you to answer one or all of the 4 prompt questions.
Be prepared to present your summary notes on the reading to Andrea on Wednesday.

Lesson 5 tasks

Each group has a set of questions that they must answer, in detail, on their group blog by the end of the lesson.
Each group will have some question tokens left over from last lesson - use them or lose them!

Media and Collective Identity

• What collective does your example illustrate?
• How has the representation of that group changed over time? What examples do you have to support this claim?
• What are the advantages to representing this collective in this way?
• What are the disadvantages to representing this collective in this way?
• How can you express your identity in the world? What barriers are there to expression, what facilities are there to express identity?

Contemporary Media Regulation

• Who is regulating what?
• What authority do they have – who gave them that authority?
• Who needs protecting? Why?
• Who/what are they being protected from? Why?
• What examples do you know about where media regulation works? Why does it work in that example?
• What examples do you have of when regulation doesn’t work? Why didn’t it work then? What could have been done to prevent it?

We-Media

• How has we-media evolved in your media area and what evolution (possibly technological) caused it to occur?
• What do you think are the concerns that media institutions have about we-media in their area and why?
• What do you think are the advantages to we-media in your chosen media areas?
• What do you think are the disadvantages to we-media in your chosen media areas? (Give me some specific examples of cases where we-media has been a negative thing).

Media and the Online Age

• How has the internet changed how products are made and how consumers access products in your media area?
• How were products made and how did consumers used to access those products prior to the internet?
• How do you think this has changed the industry?
• What is technological convergence?
• How has technological convergence changed or effected your media area? Give specific examples of how this works in action.
• How can you relate wikinomics and the long tail to the specific examples from your media areas?

Wikinomics is a term that describes the effects of extensive collaboration and user-participation on the marketplace. Companies are being forced to change their business model in order to be successful in an online world.
The Long Tail - Our culture and economy is increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of "hits" (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve and toward a huge number of niches in the tail.

Global Media and Democracy

• How do audiences consume and/or participate, in the media areas you have selected, now compared to in the past? Give specific examples.
• How ‘global’ is your media area? Can everyone in the world access it or is it still dependent on access to the internet? How many people in the world have access to the internet?
• What do you think are some of the problems of global media in terms of a community’s identity?

Lesson 4 tasks (Tues 11th Jan)

All of your blogs are looking very interesting and it is clear to me that you are beginning to engage with the content for this unit.
What needs to happen now is that we need to build on these initial findings and begin to mould them into something you can use for the exam.

The examiners want you to be able to discuss clear case studies, now you have all begum to define specific media areas such as television or online gaming. You must now pick some specific examples. i.e specific companies, films, tv programmes (be episode specific), YouTube channels.

1. By the end of the lesson I would like each groups blog to have clearly set out your examples for each media area.
IMPORTANT: Your examples must cover the past and the present.

2. You have 4 question tokens today and you must use a token every 20 minutes or you will forfeit your question token and you will have less tokens next lesson.

Lesson 3 tasks

1. Look back at the tasks for lesson 2 and ensure you have completed them all

2. You must ensure that by the end of today's lesson you write a post on your blog confirming the two media areas that you intend to cover, i.e. tv, film, news, videogames, music, social networking etc.

3. All of you need to demonstrate that you know and understand some media theory so the following links are the starting point for this process. Read and begin to make some notes on the following links:

Global Media
http://www.shirky.com/writings/national_identity.html
http://www.theory.org.uk/ctr-ador.htm

Media and the Online Age
http://www.boingboing.net/2010/10/05/xkcds-online-communi.html

We Media
http://wethemedia.oreilly.com/
http://oreilly.com/catalog/9780596007331/preview

Contemporary Media Regulation
http://www.dcsf.gov.uk/byronreview/actionplan/index.shtml
http://www.slideshare.net/rikhudson/media-regulation-booklet-ocr-media-conference-2009

Media and Collective Identity
http://www.aber.ac.uk/media/Documents/marxism/marxism09.html
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LtS24lqluq0

Lesson 2

In today's lesson each group will be given 5 question tokens, therefore you must think about what questions you want to ask Andrea before you do because once your tokens have run out you need to find the answers yourself.


1. Continue to research the key phrases of your theme, ensure you write up everything you find out on your blog.

2. Write a summary paragraph explaining what you understand your theme to be about and what types of things it could include.

3. Make some notes as an initial response to your prompt questions

4. Read the blog post entitled exam requirements - copy it to your group blog.

5. By Friday you must confirm to Andrea what the two media areas you intend to look at will be so begin having some initial discussions as to the best two media area to select for your theme, i.e. For Media and Collective Identity I would recommend film and /or television.

6. Begin making some notes on possible case study examples for the media areas you are focussing on.

Your blogs and some useful links

Well done on a great lesson today guys - you are all getting the hang of your themes.
Here are the links to your blogs, just in case any of us forget.

Media and Collective Identity
http://collectiveidentitymedia.blogspot.com

Contemporary Media Regulation
http://regulation-media.blogspot.com/

'We-Media' and Democracy
http://wemedialads.blogspot.com/

Media and The Online Age
http://Theonlineage.tumblr.com

Global Media
http://post-modernmedia.blogspot.com/
http://globalmedia93.blogspot.com/

Other useful blogs are:

This is a blog put together by the Chief Examiner for OCR.
http://petesmediablog.blogspot.com/

This blog is put together by Dave Harrison and is specific to Media and Collective identity
http://collectiveidentity.posterous.com/

This blog was put together by Andrea Joyce and is specific to Media in the Online Age
http://meintheonlineage.blogspot.com/

This blog is authored by Julian McDougall - the principal examiner for OCR. Some of the content is for teachers but some of it could still be relevant and useful.
http://getaheadocrmedia.blogspot.com/

Postmodern Advent Calendar
http://www.longroadmedia.com/advent/

Lesson 1 tasks

1. Get into a team of 3-4 people. It doesn't have to be the same as your production group.

2. Select a number from Andrea to reveal which theme is your groups focus

3. Create a group blog using blogger.com (you may need to create a googlemail account to enable you to create a blog i.e. globalmedia@gmail.com)

4. Read the prompt questions for your theme on this blog

5. Begin to discuss in your groups what you understand your them to mean and what it might incorporate. Define key words such as postmodernism (use the internet and the books in the classroom to assist you)

6. Post a summary of your discussion and research onto your blog

7. Email Andrea (ajoyce@longroad.ac.uk) the link to your blog by the end of the lesson.

Exam Requirements

In preparation for the exam students must:

*Engage with a range of theoretical perspectives

*Demonstrate a personal position on the issues

*Know about research carried out to discover audience practices and habits (this could be research carried out by themselves)

*Exam answers must have a historical, contemporary and future perspective, focussing mostly on the contemporary.

*Emphasise the active audience i.e. how people 'give meaning' to cultural products (media texts).

*Have an understanding of two different areas of the media ie. film, television, internet, magazines, etc.

'We Media' and Democracy

1. What are 'We media'?

2. Where/how has 'We Media' emerged?

3. In what way are the contemporary media more democratic than before?

4. In what ways are the contemporary media less democratic than before?

Post-modern media

1. What are the different versions of post-modernism(historical period, style, theoretical approach)?

2. What are the arguments for and against understanding some forms of media as post-modern?

3. How do post-modern media texts challenge traditional text-reader relations and the concept of representation?

4. In what ways do media audiences and industries operate differently in a post-modern world?

Contemporary Media Regulation

1. What is the nature of contemporary media regulation compared with previous practices?

2. What are the arguments for and against specific forms of contemporary media regulation?

3. How effective are regulatory practices?

4. What are the wider social issues relating to media regulation?

Media in the Online Age

1. How have online media developed?

2. What has been the impact of the internet on media production?

3. How is consumer behaviour and audience response transformed by online media, in relation to the past?

4. To what extent has convergence transformed the media?

Global Media

1. What kind of media are increasingly global in terms of production and distribution?

2. How have global media developed, in historical terms, and how inclusive is this trend in reality?

3. What kinds of audience behaviour and consumption are increasingly global?

4. What are the arguments for and against global media, in relation to content, access, representation and identity?

Media and Collective Identity

1. How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic/social/collective groups of people in different ways?

2. How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?

3. What are the social implications of different media representations of groups of people?

4. To what extent is human identity increasingly mediated?

Task Introduction Film

Task

You will work in 6 teams to find information for, research, plan and create an info film.

The purpose of the info film is to act as a revision guide for yourselves and the rest of the class.

It must include a guide as to what essential elements need to be included in preparation for the exam, textual examples and make reference to contemporary media theorists.