MIGRAIN: Assessment 2 learner response

 1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW - you start very strongly and show lots of good knowledge, it may just be a timing or exam technique issue for Q4.

EBI - Id like to see a bit more depth to your paragraphs in Q4 either examples or more discussion of critical points or alternative perspectives. Revise public service broadcasting more.

2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

1 - Typography, Preferred and Oppositional and  representations (black, males, rappers)

• The verbal codes (text) signify a range of different meanings – modern yet serif font for the

artist name suggests the artist has a strong presence yet moves with the times. The ‘h.i.t.h’

(standing for ‘Heavy is the head’ – the name of the album the tour is promoting) is in an old

fashioned almost medieval font that perhaps suggests royalty or power. It could also offer

connotations of British power seeing as Stormzy is a British artist and this is ‘The World Tour

2020’.  

• The image of Stormzy constructs a range of meanings. The medium shot sees Stormzy

looking down, not making eye contact with the audience. This is somewhat unconventional

for tour posters and music promotion. The image perhaps offers connotations of

vulnerability which subverts black male stereotypes in the media.

• In contrast to this, the image has Stormzy bare-chested which arguably reinforces the

sexualisation of black males in the media and reinforces traditional masculine stereotypes

which contrasts with the idea of vulnerability. The lighting is low-key and sees a focus on

both the left side of his face and chest, emphasising these contrasting meanings of

masculinity and vulnerability.

2 - Conglomerate ownership ( dominate media industry ) and Diversification ( companies can embrace new technology and find new revenue streams )

3 - more knowledge on Psb and its impact on audiences 

• good quality
• it is regulated
• have to represent everyone as it is publicly funded 
• psb can take risks as they wont go out of business 
• younger people and online streaming
• hard for commercial broadcasters to compete - cant ask people to pay for news if they get it for free (Murdoch)

• BBC and Channel 4 shouldn’t produce popular programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing as

this is unfair on commercial broadcasters struggling to survive in the digital age. Instead PSB

channels should focus on programming that isn’t profitable so therefore not produced by

commercial rivals.

• BBC and Channel 4 shouldn’t produce popular programmes such as Strictly Come Dancing as

this is unfair on commercial broadcasters struggling to survive in the digital age. Instead PSB

channels should focus on programming that isn’t profitable so therefore not produced by

commercial rivals.

4 - present both sides, leave more time for question

• cultivation theory
• hypodermic needle model
• two step flow theory
• uses and gratifications theory
• dependency theory
• bandura - social learning theory
• Cohen - moral panic
• Technopanic

3) On a scale of 1-10 (1 = low, 10 = high), how much revision and preparation did you do for this assessment? You may also want to think here whether you had completed all the original blog tasks from last term before doing the assessment.

6

4) Look at your answer for Question 2. Did you manage to write about three different strategies and three different benefits? It's vital you read the question and follow it exactly.

Yes

5) Look at your answer for Question 3. Did you follow the question guidance and write about both the BBC and commercial broadcasters? What could you have added to this answer to reach a higher mark?

I could have added more about public service broadcasting and its benefits and also why its bad and spend more time on it

6) Now look over your mark, teacher comments and the mark scheme for Question 4 - the 20 mark essay question on media effects theory. Write a new paragraph for this question based on the suggested theories/answers in the mark scheme. Make sure it is an extensive, detailed paragraph focused on the question and offering examples from the wider media. 

The hypodermic needle model suggests that audiences are passive and believe everything they see in the media which would be very damaging to the audience as they might believe things which are not true like fake news and continue spreading it, however it was disproven as audiences are more active and choose the media that they want to engage with which means that they have control over what they are seeing. The two step flow model suggests that audiences listen to people rather than the media itself. The audience look to people they trust (opinion leaders) in order to help them form their own opinions and beliefs about something. This can be both harmful or helpful depending on the opinion leader and their beliefs, a lot of opinion leaders are celebrities as they have a big voice in the media. If celebrities like Kanye West share their controversial views in the media will influence their fans who trust him to also think the same way which has a damaging affect on them however it can also work the other way around where an opinion leader is sharing something positive or helpful which their audience will listen to and agree with so the media is actually helping the audience lead more positive lives.