Thursday, 2 May 2024

Final exam preparation and revision links

Here's everything you need to know for your revision and preparation for the final exams.

The final weeks and days before the final exams are a good opportunity to go over what you know and test yourself against the kind of questions that AQA like the use. 

Media Paper 1

Media Paper 1 is on Monday 13 May in the afternoon.

Section A: Media Language, Representations and Contexts

Unseen text analysis

  • Unseen text analysis - look at previous assessment LRs and revise mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) and other key media language from your GLoW Media glossary.

Magazines: 

Advertising & Marketing: 


Section B: Media Industries and Audiences

Note: It's important to remember that either Newspapers or OSP & Videogames will come up in Paper 1 Section B. Whichever comes up in Paper 1 usually means the other topic will come up in Paper 2 so we'll be watching carefully. 

Newspapers: 

OSP/Videogames: 

Music Video: 

Radio:

Film Industry: 


Media Paper 2

Media Paper 2 is on Monday 20 May in the afternoon.

Section A: Television

Television: 


Section B: Newspapers OR Online, Social and Participatory Media/Videogames

Two 20 mark essays on one of the following topics: 

Newspapers: 

OSP/Videogames: 


Links and revision resources to help you

We have a range of resources to help you prepare for your final exams.

Exemplar questions and answers

You can find a document of exemplar questions and answers from previous lessons here. This google doc will be updated as we look at more questions and sample answers in revision lessons before the exams. Note: some of the CSPs may have changed over time so don't worry if you see a CSP you don't recognise! All the correct CSPs are listed above.

CSP Knowledge Organisers

Ms Fowler has put together a brilliant set of Knowledge Organisers to revise the CSPs. Look through these and then create your own to test your knowledge!

ZigZag practice papers and mark schemes

Use your paper copies of the ZigZag practice papers and mark schemes for Paper 1 and Paper 2. This is particularly good to prepare for the unusual or left-field questions that AQA like to put in their exams sometimes. Remember, if you know the terminology, the theories and the CSPs you can't go far wrong. 

If you don't have a copy of the practice papers then you can collect them from DF07.  

Revision is the key

It's important that you really put the time into your revision to make sure you know these CSPs inside out. If you would like revision cards to revise with feel free to pop in to DF07 and I'll happily provide you with them for free - you need create revision cards for all the exam CSPs and also for media terminology and theory (e.g. Mise-en-scene, Reception theory, Uses & Gratifications theory etc.)

To help, here's a short blog on what makes a good flashcard - always useful to get top tips on effective revision techniques.

The better you know the terminology, theory and CSPs, the better you'll do in the final exams. Good luck!

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Thursday, 25 April 2024

March mock exams - Learner response

With your mock results day just before Easter, we haven't had a chance to work through the last set of mock exams. Now we can kick off our revision by analysing both mock papers and working out what we need to revise. 

 The most important aspect of any mock exam is making mistakes and learning from them. With this in mind, after completing this learner response on the mock exams we will take on an in-class Walk-and-Talk Paper 1 mock exam to put it all into practice and develop our exam timing and technique.
Mock exams learner response: blog tasks

Today, we need to closely analyse our performance across both papers and identity specific ways we will improve for the real exams on Monday 13 and Monday 20 May. Complete the following learner response tasks in a new blogpost on your Media blog called 'March mock exams learner response':

1) Type up any comments you can find in your papers - these may be on individual questions or at the end of the paper. Alternatively, write something you've learned from going through the two papers in class. 

2) Which paper did you do better in?

3) Why do you think you did better in that paper?

4) Focusing on Paper 1, write down three things you need to improve on before the real exams. This may be a particular section or type of question (e.g. unseen analysis, 20 mark essay) or a particular type of media or CSP (e.g. advertising or NHS Represent).

5) Now look at Paper 2. Write down three things you need to improve on for Paper 2 before the real exams. Again, this might be a topic, type of question or specific skill. 


The lesson will be a walkthrough of the exam papers so you may need to complete this learner response for your homework - due date on Google Classroom.
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Wednesday, 7 February 2024

Newspapers: The Times - Audience and Industries

The second part of our case study for The Times focuses on Audience and Industries.

This is the final part of our case study work for Newspapers and is full of information that could easily come up in our exams.


Audience

Target audience

The Times target audience is older with over half the audience aged 55+. In terms of social class, they are overwhelmingly in the ABC1 social classes - 62% from social group AB. This means Times readers are likely to be professionals, managers or company owners. They are likely to be in the Succeeder psychographic group.

Audience pleasures and representation

Surveillance/Information 
The main reason we read newspapers is to find out what is going on in the world around us.  News, different opinions, information about current affairs. This includes British politics and Britain's place in world politics and economics (patriotic). The Times focuses on hard news that we expect from a broadsheet newspaper - politics, economics, world news etc.

Diversion/Entertainment
One of the main reasons we read newspapers is for entertainment. The Times has evolved over recent years to contain more stories that provide entertainment or diversion. It also targets people with disposable income and an interest in culture/status and how they are perceived. 

Personal Identity 
A Daily Mirror reader will probably think very differently from a Times reader. Even if a reader does not always agree with a viewpoint the newspaper puts forward, they may still be agreeing with the values being shared. The Times newspaper seems to endorse the Conservative party and show their strong affiliation with the political party by the way stories are constructed. The way businesses are represented also shows the Times values private companies over working class people. 

Becoming an active participant 
Increasingly newspapers, especially online editions, encourage audience input through comments and email. The audience are not targeted with informal language or direct address as often, leading to a distance between journalist and reader. This encourages less dissent and comment and therefore more passive audience members who will accept the dominant view point of the paper. 

Politics
The Times is right-wing and supports the Conservative Party. It is generally against the left-wing Labour Party. The Times newspaper will act as a voice for the establishment (the wealthy and powerful) and will not support anything that threatens major changes to the status quo.

The Times: Industries

The Times is owned by News UK (a subsidiary of News Corporation). News Corporation is a conglomerate mostly owned by Rupert Murdoch, an Australian media mogul with many business interests worldwide such as the Fox network in the USA.  

In July 2009 News Corporation had to pay large sums of compensation for the phone hacking scandal, where their journalists were accused of using illegal methods to obtain information.  

 The Times circulation in 2019 was 376,000, down 12% in a year and much lower than the high point of over 800,000 in the 1990s. Since 2020, The Sun and The Times have not published their circulation figures, perhaps to prevent knowledge of how many readers they have lost.

In response to the decline in print newspapers, the Times has:
  • Moved towards a multi-platform landscape. This means that it publishes and synchronises across its print, desktop and mobile platforms. Some newspapers (e.g. The Times) have a paywall on their online content. The Times has had a hard paywall since 2010, but it often experiments with making content available for free. Last summer, it began free registrations and has been adding around 30,000 a week.
  • Created a social media strategy in collaboration with the digital team to drive growth of their Twitter and Facebook profiles. 
  • In 2018, Times and Sunday Times hit 500,000 subscribers as digital outnumbered print for first time at an initial cost of £1 per week for a digital subscription.
Watch this advert promoting the Times across different platforms: 


 
Key question: Why have print newspapers declined?

ACCESSIBILITY / DIGITAL AGE: The growth of the Internet as a major source of news (since the 1990s). This has particularly impacted on advertising revenue for newspapers as we use the Internet (often free) for services. Television news is also available 24 hours a day so no need to make ‘appointment to view’ or buy a daily newspaper as updates on-line are more up to date.

COST: People are accessing news freely through social media and other online outlets.  Newspapers cannot compete with the speed and cost-free nature of this.  Twitter has no printing costs, printing factories, distribution costs and journalist wages.

CHOICE & VARIETY: Previously we would go to small number of outlets for our news (BBC and other national broadcasters, national and some local newspapers).  Now there are so many places we can access news (numerous TV channels, websites, social media accounts, blogs). 

IMMEDIACY: Critics of the newspaper as a medium also argue that newspapers haven’t moved with the times. The technology revolution has meant that readers accustomed to waiting for a daily newspaper can now receive up-to-the-minute updates from Web portals, bloggers and new services such as Twitter.


Newspaper regulation: How and why are UK newspapers regulated? 

The newspaper industry is regulated by IPSO.

Previously, the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) was a voluntary regulatory body for British printed newspapers and magazines. The PCC closed on Monday 8 September 2014 after criticism following the phone hacking affair. 

It was replaced by the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO).

The role of IPSO is to:
  • Regulate 1500 print and 1100 online titles.
  • Listen to complaints about press behaviour.
  • Help with unwanted press attention.
  • Advise publication editors .
  • Provide information to the public.
  • Provide a journalist whistleblowing hotline.
There is currently a heated debate in the media regarding whether the newspaper industry requires stronger regulation. Some people argue that the newspaper industry cannot be trusted to regulate itself using IPSO and that stronger, statutory regulation should be introduced instead. This would also implement the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry which followed the phone-hacking scandal. There are links in the extension tasks below if you would like to read more about the newspaper regulation debate.


Reminder: News values

Media theorists Galtung and Ruge defined a set of news values to explain how journalists and editors decided that certain stories and photographs were accepted as newsworthy, while others were not. The following list is adapted from their work:
  • Immediacy: has it happened recently?
  • Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?
  • Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
  • Frequency: does the event happen fairly regularly?
  • Unambiguity: is it clear and definite? 
  • Predictability: did we expect it to happen?
  • Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?
  • Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?
  • Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?
  • Negativity: Is it bad news? Bad news tends to get more focus as it’s more sensational/ attention grabbing. 
  • Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.


Blog tasks: The Times case study - Audience and Industries

Create a blogpost called 'The Times - Audience and Industries' and then work through the following questions:

Audience

1) What is the main readership demographic for The Times newspaper? Add as much detail as you can.

2) What aspects of the front page of the Times CSP edition suggest that their readers are likely to be more educated and interested in hard news rather than entertainment?

3) Times readers are mostly over 55 years old. Why is this and how is this reflected or challenged by the new stories in the CSP pages we have studied?  

4) What are the main audience pleasures offered by the Times? Use Blumler & Katz Uses and Gratifications theory.

5) Why might a reader enjoy this CSP edition of the Times? Use Blumler & Katz Uses and Gratifications theory categories and write as detailed an analysis as you can.

Industries

 1) Who owns the Times? Write the name of the company AND the billionaire who owns the company.

 2) What was the The Times's circulation in 2019? How many papers did the Times used to sell back in the 1990s?

 3) How has the Times reacted to the decline in print sales and the growth of the internet?

 4) What does IPSO stand for and what is IPSO's job?

 5) Why do some people want stronger regulation of British newspapers? 


Extension tasks

Read this Guardian column on the pleasures of print newspapers and the dangers of the digital age. Do you think newspapers will continue to exist in the future? Why? 

Read this Guardian column on IPSO, the press regulator. Why does Polly Toynbee suggest IPSO has been a "total failure"?

Read this short Press Gazette feature on the Times's paywall. Why does the Times head of digital describe the paywall as a success? 

You may also want to watch this video from fantastic Media teacher Ms Fisher explaining The Times and the Daily Mirror for A Level students:


 Due date: on Google Classroom
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Mock exams: Revision and preparation

Your Media mocks are a great opportunity to practice the full 90-minute exams you'll be doing this summer.

Use your notes, blog work and revision booklets / practice questions to prepare for the following:

Media 1 mock exam: Thursday 22 February P3&4

Section A: Media Language, Representations and Contexts

Unseen text analysis - look at previous assessment LRs and revise mise-en-scene (CLAMPS) and other key media language from your GLoW Media glossary.

Magazines: Tatler and Heat - link to original Magazines index here. You can also find the original lesson slides here.

Advertising & Marketing: OMO washing powder advert, Galaxy Audrey Hepburn Chauffeur advert, NHS Represent campaign - link to original Advertising index here. You can also find the original lesson slides here. 

Section B: Media Industries and Audiences

Film Industry: Black Widow and I, Daniel Blake - link to Film Industry index here. 

Radio: Radio 1 Launch - Tony Blackburn and Kiss Breakfast on Kiss FM. 

Music Video: BLACKPINK - How You Like That and Arctic Monkeys - I Bet You Look Good On The Dancefloor - Music Video final index here. 

Media 2 mock exam: Wednesday 6 March P3&4

Section A: Television

The questions in the first section on TV will be on the screened extract from one of our TV close-study products with 2, 8 and 12 mark questions about the clip. The clip will be from one of the episodes we have studied - Doctor Who: An Unearthly Child or His Dark Materials: The City of Magpies.

Question 2 is a 20-mark essay on BOTH Doctor Who and His Dark Materials - TV blog notes can be found on the TV final index here.

Section B: Newspapers

TWO 20-mark essays on the Daily Mirror and The Times - these could focus on any of the four key concepts: Language, Industries, Audiences, Representations.

You will need to be able to refer to the CSP pages provided by AQA. All Newspapers notes can be found in the Newspapers final index which will appear here.

Important: the final question in Media Two is the synoptic question where you need to demonstrate your knowledge of the whole course of study. The best way to do this is to try and use all FOUR key concepts in your answer: Language, Representations, Audiences, Industries. Alternatively, you can mention an additional CSP that relates to the question you are given.


Revision is the key

It's important that you revise properly for these exams and give yourself the best possible chance of success. It's fine to make mistakes - that's what mock exams are for - but there's no excuse for not knowing some key information about the CSPs we have studied.

We suggest creating revision cards or knowledge organisers using the following topics:

Media language
E.g. Denotation and Connotation, Camerawork, Mise-en-scene, Intertextuality, Key conventions etc.

Media theories
E.g. Narrative theories (Todorov, Propp, Barthes), Reception theory, Uses & Gratifications theory etc.  

CSPs
All 15 CSPs we have studied so far in the course. See links above to original blogposts. We recommend one revision card for each key concept you need to study for each CSP. E.g.:

Tatler - Language and Representations - 2 revision cards

Doctor Who - Language, Industries, Audiences, Representations - 4 revision cards 

Media language: Glossary and terminology

We have been focusing on GLoW words throughout the course - the key words you need to know for GCSE Media. Here are two links to help with your Media language revision:

You'll need your Greenford Google login to open these.

Revision cards

If you would like some revision cards to revise with feel free to pop in to DF07 and I'll happily provide you with them for free - I strongly recommend creating revision cards for all the exam CSPs and also for media terminology and theory (e.g. Mise-en-scene, Reception theory, Uses & Gratifications theory etc.)

The better you know the terminology, theory and CSPs, the better you'll do in the exams... Good luck!

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Newspapers: The Times - Language and Representations

The first part of our main case study for The Times is focusing on Media Language and Representations.

Here are your two CSP pages for The Times:





The Times: notes

Media language

Language: The Times tends to attract an audience that is older and more traditional (Conservative politics), so the stories are targeted towards these values and beliefs to target their specific audience. 

Mode of address: The Times employs a formal style with advanced language to reflect the needs/education level of the audience.

Construction: The Times uses some layout design techniques to attract its audience (sell lines, kickers, pugs).  There are usually not as many as The Mirror, though.

Technical Codes: Whilst The Times employs colour, it is much more understated than the tabloid Mirror.  More traditional fonts, styles and sizes reinforce this traditional symbolism.

Conventions: The Times observes more traditional codes and conventions than the Daily Mirror, with less direct address and a more formal, authoritative tone as if giving the reader less active participation and more passive access to information.


The Times: Representation notes

Front page
Some key aspects of the representation on the front page:
  • By using the crest in its masthead, the newspaper is associating itself with being British and part of an established heritage and tradition.
  • Reflects the Times's position as patriotic and a traditional supporter of the Conservative party with a story about a row with French President Emmanuel Macron. Also prioritises Prime Minister Boris Johnson's message for the COP26 summit in Glasgow.
  • Kicker focuses on the super rich and their struggles to find staff. This is sympathetic to very rich people and also suggests to Times readers that the super rich are important and should feature on the front cover.

Inside page
Some key aspects of the representation on the inside page:
  • Climate change story is surprising and subverts what we might normally expect in the Times. The headline is sympathetic to young people and suggests they are 'right to be angry'.


Politics

The Times generally supports the Conservative Party and is against the more leftwing Labour Party. The newspaper will often act as a voice for the establishment (the wealthy and powerful) and will not support anything that threatens major changes to the status quo (how things currently are). This can be found in the front cover of the Times we need to study.


Blog tasks: The Times - Language and Representations

 Work through the following questions to make sure you are fully prepared for questions on the Times and the newspaper industry.

Language

1) What is the main story on the front cover of the Times CSP edition and why does it appeal to Times readers?

2) List the other news stories and kickers on the front page of the Times CSP edition. Why do you think the Times selected these for the front page?

3) What is the main story on the inside page of the Times CSP edition and how is it constructed to appeal to Times readers? 

4) How are the Times front and inside pages designed to reflect broadsheet newspaper conventions?

5) What does a close analysis of the news stories in the Times CSP edition suggest about the Times's political beliefs?

Representations

1) What representation of the Conservative Party can be found in the main story on the front page?

2) What representations of Britain can be found on the front of the Times?

3) How are the super rich represented on the Times front page?

4) How is climate change represented as an issue in the Times? Are there similarities or differences with how it is represented in the Daily Mirror?

5) What representations can you find in the inside pages of the Times CSP? Focus on headlines, articles and images.


Grade 8/9 extension tasks

Read this feature on how UK newspapers report on climate change as an issue. What does it suggest about how climate change is represented and can you find any reference to the Times? 

If you're interested in this topic, this Wikipedia page outlines media coverage of climate change over the last 30 years.

 Due date: on Google Classroom
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Newspapers: The Times - Introduction

Our second newspaper case study is The Times.


This provides an excellent contrast with the Daily Mirror. The Times is a right-wing broadsheet newspaper that generally supports the Conservative Party and is aimed at a more educated, middle-class audience. Remember, this is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four key concepts: Language, Representation, Industries and Audience. We'll be covering all of those concepts over the next two weeks.

This is the front page of The Times we will be studying for the exam:

Moving with The Times

The Times is a great example of a newspaper that still embraces strong traditions but has evolved with new technology to stay relevant in the digital age.

Watch the following clip on The Times media:



The Times - Introduction: blog tasks

Read the About Us page of the Times website and answer the following questions:

1) What year was The Times founded and when did it start using the Times name?

2) What content did John Walter suggest the paper would offer in the first edition?

3) Who owns The Times today and how is editorial integrity protected?

4) What did The Times introduce in 2010 and why?

5) What was The Times named in 2018 by the Reuters Institute for Journalism at Oxford University?

6) What does the section on Editorial Standards say about The Times and newspaper regulation?

7) What does the section on Ownership say about The Times and who is the current editor? 

Finally, look at this News UK webpage with key information about The Times for potential advertisers and complete the following tasks:

8) Write down three key statistics from this page.

9) Look at the various sections of the newspaper outlined on this page (e.g. Entertainment, Announcements, Travel). What do these sections suggest about The Times newspaper's audience?

10) Click on three of the sections - your choice. Write down one key detail for each section you choose e.g. Travel - more Times readers took a holiday abroad last year than any other newspaper.

Extension tasks

Look at News UK's website page for The Times. What statistics can you find that will tell us more about the Times and its readers? 

Due date: on Google Classroom
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Wednesday, 31 January 2024

Newspapers: Daily Mirror - Audience and Industries

Our final tasks for the Daily Mirror involve studying Audience and Industry.

Remember, this is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four key concepts: Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.

Daily Mirror notes

Audience

The Daily Mirror audience is older with almost half the audience aged 65+. In terms of social class, most are in the C1, C2 DE social classes. They are likely to be in the Struggler, Resigned or Mainstream psychographic groups. 

Active or passive?

Traditionally, newspapers were seen as more passive. Audiences had to write to the editors to communicate their opinions and views on news content.

With the increase in technology, the Daily Mirror now offers its audience opportunities to engage with the stories on a much more personal level as well as watching video content. The newspaper is speaking directly to the reader and allows them to comment or share their views on social media.  

Blumler & Katz: Uses and Gratifications theory

Surveillance – the main reason we read newspapers is to find out what is going on in the world around us.  We find out news, different opinions and catch up with the latest gossip and scandal. 

Diversion/Entertainment – One of the main reasons we read newspapers is for entertainment.  Whether it’s enjoying reading the opinions of others, reading the cartoons or completing crosswords.  We want to be entertained. 

Personal Identity – the newspaper you read reflects what type of person are.  A Daily Mirror reader will probably think very differently from a Times reader. Even if a reader does not always agree with a viewpoint the newspaper puts forward, they may still be agreeing with the values being shared and thus reinforcing their own values.

Becoming an active participant – increasingly newspapers, especially online editions, encourage audiences to get involved through comments and social media. This contributes to a sense of personal identity for audiences.


Daily Mirror advertising campaign

What do these adverts tell us about the target audience and audience pleasures for the Daily Mirror?




Industries

The Daily Mirror is owned by Reach, which used to be called Trinity Mirror. Reach publishes over 240 regional titles in addition to the Daily Mirror and Sunday Mirror - including our local newspaper website getwestlondon.

The Daily Mirror's circulation has fallen drastically over the years from over 3 million a day in 1990 down to around 250,000 a day in 2023. Recent falls have been due to the rise of the internet which is why the Mirror's audience is much older now.

To combat falling print revenues, the The Daily Mirror has:
  • Created the mirror.co.uk website and social media accounts on all the major sites.
  • The move towards a multi-platform landscape means that it publishes and synchronises across its print, desktop and mobile platforms. The Daily Mirror provides this online content for free. Some newspapers (e.g. The Times) have a paywall on their online content which means that they charge subscription fees to read articles. Free providers make money from advertising but this is usually a very small amount of money.
  • Create news based content that updates regularly, is shared on social media channels, includes a range of video content and encourages audience involvement.
  • Reach's social media strategy backfired when Facebook changed its algorithm to deprioritise news content from sites like the Mirror and its revenue dropped sharply.

Daily Mirror editor

The Daily Mirror recently announced its editor Alison Phillips will be leaving the newspaper after more budget cuts at Reach. Phillips was the Mirror's first female editor since 1903 and was loved by the staff at the paper. While Phillips was editor, the Mirror ran major investigations including into special advisor Dominic Cummings and Barnard Castle (one of the biggest stories from the first Covid lockdown) and later the Partygate scandal that brought down Prime Minister Boris Johnson.





News values

Media theorists Galtung and Ruge defined a set of news values to explain how journalists and editors decided that certain stories and photographs were accepted as newsworthy, while others were not. The following list is adapted from their work:
  • Immediacy: has it happened recently?
  • Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?
  • Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
  • Frequency: does the event happen fairly regularly?
  • Unambiguity: is it clear and definite? 
  • Predictability: did we expect it to happen?
  • Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?
  • Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?
  • Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?
  • Negativity: Is it bad news? Bad news tends to get more focus as it’s more sensational/ attention grabbing. 
  • Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.

Blog tasks: Daily Mirror - Audience and Industries

Work through the following questions to complete your work on the Daily Mirror.

Audience

1) What is the Daily Mirror's audience? List the key statistics here.

2) Why do the Mirror stories on the CSP pages appeal to the Daily Mirror audience?

3) Why might a reader enjoy the Daily Mirror? Use Blumler & Katz Uses and Gratifications theory to add detail to your answer.

4) Why are print newspapers generally read by older audiences?

5) How is the inside-page story on our CSP pages constructed to appeal to Daily Mirror readers? Think about text and selection of images.


Industries

1) What company owns the Daily Mirror and why are they struggling? 

2) Who was the Daily Mirror editor between 2018 and 2024 and what was the Partygate scandal that the Daily Mirror exposed?  

3) What is the Daily Mirror's circulation in 2023? How many papers did the Daily Mirror used to sell back in the 1990s?

4) How has the Daily Mirror reacted to the decline in print sales and the growth of the internet?

5) List five of Galtung & Ruge's News Values and explain how they link to the stories in our CSP edition of the Daily Mirror.


Extension tasks

There have been plenty of articles about Reach's decline recently as print newspapers struggle to survive - this Guardian story on Reach boss Jim Mullen is particularly good. What statistics and quotes can you pick out from this article to further you understanding of the industry contexts? 

Read this analysis of Mirror owner Reach and its struggle to survive. Do you think there is a future for local and national newspapers like those owned by Reach? 

Guardian Media critic Roy Greenslade writes about why tabloid newspapers like the Mirror are struggling to attract younger readers in this column. Make a note of some of the key statistics in this article and also what Greenslade thinks tabloids should do to stay relevant in the digital age. This column also has an excellent discussion of the Mirror's political stance which is ideal for grade 9 answers.

You will get some lesson time to work on this case study but will need to complete it at home - due date on Google Classroom.
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Wednesday, 24 January 2024

Newspapers: Daily Mirror - Language and Representations

Our first Newspapers CSP is the Daily Mirror.

Remember, this is an in-depth CSP and needs to be studied with reference to all four key concepts: Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.
Daily Mirror notes

Background

The Daily Mirror was first published in 1903 as a newspaper for women ‘to act as a mirror on feminine life’.

Sales for this demographic were limiting, so the newspaper was re-designed to appeal to a broader audience. Initially to middle-class but later during WW2 changed to target C1-C2-DE skilled and semi-skilled working classes who were affiliated with the Labour party.

Hugely popular in the 1990s, it has now significantly declined and only sells around 250,000 copies a day.


Language

AQA has selected the following pages as our Daily Mirror CSP pages:




Analyse these pages and look at which stories have been selected for the newspaper and how they are constructed for their audience.


Representations

The Daily Mirror supports the Labour Party and is against the Conservative Party. Generally, the newspaper will act as a voice for normal people (like NHS heroes) and go against the rich and powerful (like Conservative politicians or big corporations like Amazon).

Here's a graph of the most left-wing and right-wing newspapers: 



You need to study the selected CSP pages for the Daily Mirror to see how the newspaper represents different people, groups, issues and events. Remember: CAGE - class, age, gender, ethnicity.


Blog tasks: Daily Mirror case study

 Work through the following questions to cover the Language and Representations key concepts for the Daily Mirror.

 Language

 1) Write the definition of the following key language for newspaper front pages (you may want to add an example for each from our Daily Mirror CSP):

 Masthead:
Pug:
Splash Head:
Slogan:
Dateline:
Kicker:
Byline:
Standfirst:

 2) How much does a copy of the Daily Mirror cost? (Note: the current cost is different to the CSP edition - we recommend learning both).

 3) What are the main stories on the CSP edition of the Daily Mirror (see above)? Make sure you learn the headline and what the stories are about.

 4) Why is the choice of news stories and content on the Mirror CSP front page typical of a tabloid newspaper?

 5) What is the balance on the Daily Mirror front page between images, headlines and text?
Representations

1) What political party does the Daily Mirror support? Is there any evidence to support this in the CSP pages we have studied?

2) How does the Daily Mirror Pride of Britain Awards represent ordinary British people?

3) How is climate change as an issue represented in the Daily Mirror? What evidence can you provide from the CSP pages to support this?

4) How are environmental protesters like Greta Thunberg represented in the Daily Mirror? Look at the inside pages to answer this.

5) How are different countries and political leaders represented in the Daily Mirror? Does this reinforce or subvert the stereotypes we usually see in the media?  


Extension tasks

 Read this Guardian column on the Mirror's struggles with covering Brexit. How did the Mirror suggest people vote in the EU referendum and how did many of its working class audience actually vote? What does this tell us about social class in Britain in recent years?


You will get some lesson time to work on this case study but will need to complete it at home if it isn't finished - due date on Google Classroom.
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Wednesday, 17 January 2024

Newspapers: Introduction

Our next in-depth exam topic is Newspapers.

Remember, as an in-depth CSP this needs to be studied with reference to all four key concepts: Language, Representation, Industries and Audience.

Introduction to newspapers - notes

GLow Words
  • Left-wing (Socialist): in favour of social equality and reform. The Labour Party is considered left-wing and the Daily Mirror generally supports Labour and left-wing causes.
  • Right-wing (Conservative): prefer the traditional way things are and in favour of low taxes. The Conservative Party is considered right-wing and the Times generally supports the Conservatives and right-wing causes.
  • Agenda: issues brought to the attention of the people through news.
  • Elitist: for the good of a few people, usually the upper classes or most educated.
  • Political Bias: when an industry or media product supports a certain political view.
  • Hard news: information on topics like business, politics and international affairs.
  • Soft news: blurs line between information and entertainment so may be centred more on gossip, celebrities or lifestyle issues.
  • Tabloid: smaller, popular and tends to focus on sensational stories and softer news. 
  • Broadsheet: larger, more niche and tends to focus on serious, harder news.

Historical, social and cultural context

The ‘Press’ is a collective term for the newspaper industry.  The name comes from printing presses. 

Newspapers are still popular media products for audiences to get their news, be entertained and informed.  There are a range of national (Daily Mail), regional (Birmingham Mail) and specialist newspapers (The Racing  Post). 

Whilst still popular, since the 1950s, there has been a gradual decline in newspaper sales due to TV news programmes and, more recently, the growth of digital news through websites and social media.

The importance of a free press

A free press implies that journalists (those that write for newspapers) and newspaper editors can edit content free of intervention from Government influence.  

More than a third of the world’s population live in countries where there is no press freedom. Journalists are often imprisoned if they disagree with the Government, social media channels are not allowed, non-democratic countries often control access to information and employ state-run news organizations.

Recently, democracy has been challenged by the decline in trusted news sources and the rise of 'fake news' or misinformation. Here's a good video highlighting the dangers of a 'post-truth' society:



Tabloids and broadsheets

There are generally two classifications of newspapers – tabloids and broadsheets.

Tabloids tend to be easier to read, feature shorter articles and include more photographs. They report on major news, but also include a lot of showbiz gossip, entertainment and sport. They tend to be the better sellers. Examples include The Sun and the Daily Mirror.

Broadsheet newspapers traditionally used to be larger (printed on ‘broad sheets’) although most are the same size as tabloids now. They tend to be more serious, have smaller fonts, more advanced use of language and less photography (although they have included more over the last 20 years to be more popular). They tend to have lower circulation figures than tabloids. Examples include the Times and the Daily Telegraph.

Newspapers and politics

Most newspapers have some sort of political bias. Unlike TV news, this is allowed in UK media – newspapers can tell us who we should vote for or criticise one political party. This bias is based on their history and the demands of their target audience.

The relevance of the bias is that it impacts on the way news is interpreted and can have significant influence on the audience and how they vote / think. Learn and remember the following:

Left-wing = Labour = Daily Mirror

Right-wing = Conservative = The Times


Introduction to Newspapers: blog task

Create a new blogpost called 'Introduction to Newspapers' and answer the following questions:

1) What type of news can you typically find in a tabloid newspaper?

2) What type of news can you typically find in a broadsheet newspaper?

3) If someone is left-wing, which political party are they likely to support? Which newspaper would they be likely to read?

4) If someone is right-wing, which political party are they likely to support? Which newspaper would they be likely to read?

5) Why has there been a decline in newspaper sales in the last 20 years?


Which newspapers were worst hit by Covid-19? 

Which newspapers are trying to move their readers from print to digital? Why is the switch to digital attractive for newspaper companies?

Do you think most newspapers will survive the next 10 years? Why?

Finally, research the following question: Why is a free press important in a democracy like the UK?

You should have lesson time to work on this but will need to finish for homework - due date on Google Classroom. 
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Wednesday, 10 January 2024

December mock exam: Learner response

The December mock was an excellent opportunity to test our knowledge of the CSPs in a full 90-minute exam.

 Your overall grade for the December mock exam may or may not be something you're happy with but the main thing is that we learn from the process and make sure we put it into practice in the upcoming February/March full mock exams.

 We'll work through the paper question-by-question in class but you also need to complete the learner response tasks below.

December mock exam: Learner Response blog tasks

Create a blogpost called 'December mock exam: Learner Response'. Then work through the following tasks:

1) Type up any feedback on your paper (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential). If you only have marks and a grade on the paper, write a WWW/EBI yourself based on your scores.

2) Use the mark scheme for this Paper 2 mock to read the answers AQA were looking for. First, write down a definition and example of non-diegetic sound (Q1.1 and 1.2). 

3) Next, identify three points you could have made in Q1.3 - camerawork and the extract. Look for the indicative content in the mark scheme - these are the suggested answers from AQA.

4) Now look at Q1.4 in the mark scheme - pick out two points from the mark scheme that you could have included in your answer.

5) Focus on Q2 - the 20-mark essay on representations of age and social and cultural contexts. Pick out three points from the mark scheme that you didn't include in your answer.

6) Turning your attention to Section B, write a definition and example of user-generated content - use the mark scheme to check it.

7) Look at Q4 - the 20-mark essay on the power of influencers. Pick out three points from the mark scheme that you didn't include in your own answer. 

8) Now look at Q5 - the 20-mark essay on regulation and the internet. Again, pick out three points from the mark scheme that you didn't include in your own answer.

9) On a scale of 1-10 (1 = low, 10 = high), how much revision and preparation did you do for your Media mock exam? Be honest here - it's a good chance to think about how to approach the next set of mock exams.

10) List three key things you want to revise before the next mock exams in February (e.g. particular CSPs, terminology, exam technique etc.)

Complete for homework if you don't finish this in the lesson - due date on Google Classroom.
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Final exam preparation and revision links

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