National Year 13 Media Studies

Chapters: 3

1. 3.6 Media industries

Ownership, production and regulation · Enabling ideas

Media Industries – Media industries are the businesses and organisations that make, sell and deliver films, TV, music, news, games and online content. A product passes through production, distribution and exhibition. A few big conglomerates own many companies, joined by vertical and horizontal integration. Technology has caused convergence, so one phone now does what many devices did. Media are paid for by public money, advertising or subscriptions. Regulators set rules such as age ratings. Digital distribution and streaming have made the industry global and changed release windows.
Media Theory: The Key Ideas on Representation, Industries and Audiences – Media theories are tools that help you explain how media works. They fall into three groups. Representation: Stuart Hall (meaning is made through signs; stereotypes reflect power), David Gauntlett (people build identities from media), Liesbet van Zoonen (gender is constructed; women's bodies as spectacle), bell hooks (race, class and gender interlock), Judith Butler (gender is performed) and Paul Gilroy (colonial ways of ranking peoples still shape media). Industries: Curran and Seaton (concentrated ownership limits variety), Livingstone and Lunt (regulation balances citizens and consumers) and David Hesmondhalgh (cultural industries cut risk). Audiences: Albert Bandura (people copy media models), George Gerbner (heavy viewing cultivates beliefs), Hall again (audiences decode in different ways), Henry Jenkins (active fans) and Clay Shirky (audiences become producers). Good answers apply a theory to a real product and also say where it falls short.

2. 3.7 Media audiences

Targeting and response · Enabling ideas

Media Audiences: Who Watches, Why, and What They Do With It – Audiences are grouped by demographics (age, gender, income) and psychographics (values, lifestyle) into mainstream and niche groups. Producers target them through genre, scheduling, stars, marketing and data. Effects theories ask what media does to people: Bandura says we may imitate behaviour we see, and Gerbner says heavy viewing slowly cultivates a view of the world. Reception theory (Hall) says audiences decode messages in preferred, negotiated or oppositional ways. Jenkins shows fans actively remaking texts, and Shirky argues the internet ends the old idea of a passive audience because everyone can make and share.
Media Theory: The Key Ideas on Representation, Industries and Audiences – Media theories are tools that help you explain how media works. They fall into three groups. Representation: Stuart Hall (meaning is made through signs; stereotypes reflect power), David Gauntlett (people build identities from media), Liesbet van Zoonen (gender is constructed; women's bodies as spectacle), bell hooks (race, class and gender interlock), Judith Butler (gender is performed) and Paul Gilroy (colonial ways of ranking peoples still shape media). Industries: Curran and Seaton (concentrated ownership limits variety), Livingstone and Lunt (regulation balances citizens and consumers) and David Hesmondhalgh (cultural industries cut risk). Audiences: Albert Bandura (people copy media models), George Gerbner (heavy viewing cultivates beliefs), Hall again (audiences decode in different ways), Henry Jenkins (active fans) and Clay Shirky (audiences become producers). Good answers apply a theory to a real product and also say where it falls short.

3. 3.8 Non-exam assessment: cross-media production

Responding to an annual brief

Media Production: How a Media Product Is Made – Media production is making a media product, such as a video, podcast, poster, website or magazine, for a purpose and an audience. It starts with a brief: what the client wants, for whom, by when and on what budget. Producers research their target audience (age, interests, where they spend time) and choose the platforms that reach them. Production happens in stages. Pre-production: idea, research, script, storyboard or mock-up, shot list, schedule, permissions. Production: filming, recording or photographing, using shot sizes, angles, lighting and sound with purpose. Post-production: editing, adding music, graphics and captions, and checking quality. Distribution: publishing on the right platforms, often as a cross-media campaign where products link to each other. Finally, producers evaluate using audience feedback. Good media is legal and ethical: respect copyright, get consent, avoid stereotypes and be honest.