GCSE Media Studies

GCSE Media Studies Revision Guide Summer 2011

Unit 3: Exploring Media Industries

Written Paper - 1 hour 30 mins - 60 marks – 20% of Double Award final mark

External Assessment Section A: 10 short answer questions. Section B: 5 longer responses to a media stimulus.

You can use any of the units we have studied to answer the questions in the exam:

 Science fiction

 Music representation

 Magazines

 Reality TV The Popular Press

The Popular Press refers to mass circulation national newspapers, targeted at the popular end of the market. This includes the following newspapers and their websites:

 The Sun

 The Daily Mirror

 The Daily Express

 The Daily Mail

 The Daily Star

 The News of the World

 Sunday editions of the Express, Mirror and Mail A tabloid is an industry term for a smaller newspaper format per spread; or to a newspaper that tends to sensationalize and emphasize or exaggerate sensational crime stories, gossip columns repeating scandalous and innuendos about the deeply personal lives of celebrities and sports stars, and other so- called "junk food news."

As the term "tabloid" has become synonymous with down-market newspapers in some areas, some small-format papers which claim a higher standard of journalism refer to themselves as "compact" newspapers instead.

“Broadsheet Newspapers” such as The Times and The Guardian are now printed in tabloid size. They reduced the size of their editions to make them more appealing to the readers.

Features of popular press newspapers:

o easy to handle tabloid format o easy-to-read news in short paragraphs

o emphasis on entertaining news stories

o plenty of salacious gossip and scandals

o pictures and stories about celebrities

o enticements (freebies)

o sport – actually largely football

o large colourful photographs

o casual colloquial language Codes and conventions of newspapers:

• Newspapers have a masthead (Title of the paper)

• The copy is as up to date as possible

• Hard news should be almost all fact, ‘soft-news’ tends to be more opinion

• The layout is a key element to grab the reader’s attention

• Newspapers use headlines

• Articles are written in columns

• Articles have subheadings

• Use of 5 Ws.

• Quotations are used

• Usually uses short sentences and paragraphs

• Bold writing or capitals are used for first paragraph.

• The writers of the stories get their name printed (byline)

• Photographs are used to illustrate stories

• Photographs have captions to anchor stories

• Use of 5 Ws.

• There are advertisements What makes something news?

Galtung and Ruge (1965) researched a lot of news stories to see what they had in common. They wanted to find out why some news was covered and some was left out.

News Values – reason stories will feature in the news:

 Timing – newspapers publish the most recent events

 Unexpected – out of the ordinary events are more likely to be covered than ordinary ones

 Negative – bad news tends to get priority

 Personal – stories with a human interest

 Close to home – most news we receive is about things that happen in the UK, International news may also have a national interest

 Powerful countries

 Powerful people

 Conflict

 Continuity – a story may develop over a number of weeks

 Predictability – scheduled events

 Scale – the bigger the event the more newsworthy it is Newspapers must be accurate, but can offer their own interpretation of the news.

A public service news organisation like the BBC goes to great lengths to be impartial and ‘offer the audience an intelligent and informed account which enables them to form a view’. (BBC Guide Lines for factual programmes).

Newspapers and audiences

Audience demographics

Category A: 3% of the population –top earners

Category B: Senior Managers – 20% of the population

Category C1: Other professionals – 28% of the population

Category C2: 21% of the population – they are skilled manual workers, often earning more than C1 professionals

Category D: is 18% of the population – they are unskilled manual workers.

Category E: is 10% of the population. They are people who depend on benefits or are casual workers.

Newspaper circulation and readership The most popular newspapers in the UK are The Sun, The Daily Mail and The Mirror:

The Sun

Circulation Average Daily 3,005,308

Male: 55%

Female: 45%

ABC1: 37%

C2DE: 63%

Readers aged between 15-24: 19%

The Daily Mail

Male: 49%

Female: 51%

ABC1: 66%

C2DE: 34%

The Mirror

Male 53%

Female 47% ABC1: 38%

C2DE: 67%

There is a big difference between the people who read The Sun and the people who read The Daily Mail. This is reflected in the kind of news that features in both of these papers and the way that the stories are written and laid out.

Changes in the industry

The newspaper industry is changing to keep up with new technology and the changing way that people receive the news.

New technology and falling sales

Sales of newspapers are falling – one of the reasons for this is the use of digital technology to present the news. News websites such as the BBC, and mobile phone apps, are free to use and updated regularly throughout the day. 24 hour news channels on TV also provide a regular source of information.

News featured in newspapers may be nearly a day old by the time you read it.

How are newspapers staying competitive?

 Lowering prices

 Online versions of newspapers that are free to use

 RSS feeds for websites

 Incentives such as free gifts and giveaways (token collect holidays, DVDs etc)  Celebrity columnists

How are newspapers funded?

A newspaper typically generates 70–80% of its revenue from advertising, and the remainder from sales and subscriptions.

If the readership falls, then so will the money made from advertising. Companies want to advertise where people will see their products! Economic recession means that companies have cut back on the amount they spend on advertising which has also had an impact.

If the online readership is included then more people are reading newspaper content than ever before. Timothy Balding, Chief Executive Officer of the World Association of Newspapers. said: “Even in places where paid-for circulation is declining, notably the United States and some countries in western Europe, newspapers continue to extend their reach through a wide variety of free and niche publications and through their rapidly developing multi-media platforms,”

Who owns newspapers?

Newspapers in the UK are owned by publishing and news groups. Writing, editing, compiling, printing, publishing and distributing a newspaper every day of the year except Christmas day is a very expensive business employing many people. Most popular press titles make a profit although the national broadsheets make a loss, apart from the Daily Telegraph. Newspapers are therefore generally owned and published by large companies often with global media interests. These are known as conglomerates. News International Ltd. Owned by Rupert Murdoch’s global News Corporation, publishes The Sun, The News of the World, The Times, and The Sunday Times. News Corporation has total annual revenues of approximately US$21 billion. News Corporation is a diversified international media and entertainment company with operations in eight industry segments: filmed entertainment; television; cable network programming; satellite television; magazines; newspapers and book publishing. Associated Newspapers. A subsidiary of the Daily Mail and General Trust (DMGT) publishes the Daily Mail, The Mail on Sunday and Metro DMGT is a long established, successful media group with international business interests in business and financial information and in exhibitions. Media operations comprise UK national newspapers and related digital activities, local media and radio. Trinity Mirror plc. A large British newspaper and magazine publisher. As well as 240 regional titles, it publishes the Daily Mirror, Sunday Mirror, the People, Sunday Mail and the Daily Record. Trinity Mirror plc is one of the UK’s largest newspaper publishers, with an award winning portfolio including five National newspapers, over 120 Regional newspapers and 400 plus digital products. The Group employs over 7,000 people in more than 85 locations across the UK, including nine print sites. The London Evening Standard is now owned by Russian billionaire Alexander Lebedev, who bought the paper from the publisher of the Daily Mail. Publishers say it is to become a free newspaper, and they will more than double the circulation from 250,000 to more than 600,000 each day when it axes its 50p cover price on October 12, 2009.

Criticisms of media conglomerates:

 Small number of companies own the media companies

 Lack of competition

 Interests of the media become commercially driven – making a profit for shareholders

 Owners have a lot of power to present their political views to large audiences

Newspapers and politics:

Newspapers in the UK have traditional supported political parties and this is reflected in their coverage of the news.

Famously in 1997, The Sun switched its traditional political allegiance, and supported New Labour under Tony Blair. Then it claimed that it was responsible for winning the 1997 general election for Blair, with the famous headline ‘It was the Sun what won it’. It has done the same thing in October 2009 and switched from New Labour to the Conservative Party. Readers will tend to read newspapers that reflect their political beliefs.

How are newspapers regulated?:

There is no statutory regulator for the Press as there is for broadcasting. The laws of the country, which includes libel law, applies to all the Press as it does to everyone. What is libel? The simplest definition is that libel is telling lies about someone. As you can imagine, it is rather more complicated. It is possible for a newspaper to libel individuals, groups or organizations. To commit libel a newspaper (or broadcaster) would have to print something that is defamatory. The courts normally apply these criteria to test if a statement is defamatory. Does it expose a person to hatred, ridicule or contempt? Does it injure the person in his or her profession or trade? Does it cause a person to be shunned or avoided? Does it reduce a person in the eyes of right thinking people The Press Complaints Commission (PCC). Funded by the newspaper industry, the PCC acts as an independent regulatory body. If you have a complaint about inaccuracy or misrepresentation in a newspaper then you write to the PCC, who will investigate the complaint. The PCC can fine a newspaper and order it to publish a retraction of a story or to publish the corrected facts. http://www.pcc.org.uk/

The Editor’s Code of Practice sets out how journalists will behave and how stories will be presented. Some of the main points are:

 Stories should be presented accurately

 People have the opportunity to reply to stories

 Journalists should not harass or pursue people

 Journalists should not intrude into grief and shock

 Children should be kept out of the press, not photographed and allowed to attend school safely

 Clandestine devices such as bugging equipment should not be used

 Sources of information have the right to remain confidential

If a person has concerns about the way a story is covered or the way they are represented in the press they can make a complaint.

Jobs in the newspaper industry

The Editor in Chief

The editor in chief is responsible for all aspects of the news operation, including the content of the paper, hiring, budgets, etc. The editor's involvement with the day-to-day running of the newsroom varies with the size of the paper. On small papers, the editor is very involved; on big papers, maybe less so.

Managing Editor

The managing editor is the one who directly oversees day-today operations of the newsroom. More than anyone else, perhaps, he or she is the one responsible for getting the paper out everyday, and for ensuring that it's the best that it can be. Again, depending on the size of the paper, the managing editor may have a number of assistant managing editors responsible for specific sections of the paper, such as city news, sports, etc.

Journalists

Research and write the copy for the articles – they may specialise in a certain field such as a political correspondent, sports reporter, entertainment or fashion journalism.

The British Television Industry

Key Terminology:

Terrestrial channels: BBC 1, BBC2, ITV, C4, C5. These are available to everyone.

All analogue channels are switching to digital in 2012.

Satellite and Cable Channels: Available through Freeview boxes or monthly subscription packages through providers such as Sky and Virgin Media.

Public Service broadcasting: Terrestrial channels have a range of obligations set out in their licenses. The BBC has a specific charter outlining the services it should provide.

BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) The BBC is the world's oldest and biggest broadcaster, and is the country's first and largest public service broadcaster. The BBC is funded by a government grant; it does not carry advertising. The grant is financed by the payment of a television licence fee that all households with a television must pay. Its analogue channels are BBC One and BBC Two. The BBC first began a television service, initially serving London only, in 1936. BBC Television was closed during World War II but reopened in 1946. The second station, BBC Two, was launched in 1964. As well as these two analogue services, the British Broadcasting Corporation now also offers digital services BBC Three, BBC Four, BBC News, BBC Parliament, CBBC Channel, CBeebies, and BBC HD. The BBC is a corporation, independent from direct government intervention, with its activities being overseen by the BBC Trust General management of the organisation is in the hands of a Director-General, who is appointed by the Trust; he is the BBC's Editor-in-Chief. The 2007 Charter specifies that the mission of the Corporation is to "inform, educate and entertain". It states that the Corporation exists to serve the public interest and to promote its public purposes:  Sustaining citizenship and civil society;  Promoting education and learning;  Stimulating creativity and cultural excellence;  Representing the UK, its nations, regions and communities;  Bringing the UK to the world and the world to the UK;  Helping to deliver to the public the benefit of emerging communications technologies and services, and taking a leading role in the switchover to digital television.

ITV (Independent Television) ITV (Independent Television) is the network of fifteen regional and three national commercial television franchises, originally founded in 1955 to provide competition to the BBC. ITV was the country's first commercial television provider funded by advertisements, and has been the most popular commercial channel through most of its existence. ITV plc also operates digital channels ITV1 HD, ITV2, ITV3, ITV4, and the CITV Channel. ITN currently holds the national news franchise. Regional franchises produce programmes such as news. Sky (British Sky Broadcasting)

British Sky Broadcasting Group (a.k.a. BSkyB; trading as Sky) is a public company satellite broadcasting company operating in the United Kingdom and Ireland. It is the largest pay-TV broadcaster in the United Kingdon with over 10 million subscribers.

NewsCorp has a large share in Sky and is looking to take complete control of the company. Sky has bought a lot of channels formally owned by Virgin Media (Living Group)

Funding the television industry

The BBC is partly funded from the licence fee. This is £145.50 per household.

It also makes money from its commercial interests in the same way as any other TV company.

Commercial television makes money from advertising and sponsorship.

Most top ITV shows have sponsors:

 Coronation Street is sponsored by Harveys

 Britain’s Got Talent is sponsored by moneysupermarket.com

Other ways television companies make money are:

 Merchandising linked to programmes

 Selling programmes to other countries/channels

 Selling formats for shows such as Big Brother, Pop Idol etc Changes in the industry:

 Increasing number of channels offered makes the market more competitive. BBC and ITV are still the most watched channels.

 Development of digital services such as red button, iPlayer, Sky+, Pay per view/on demand content

 Move from analogue to digital in 2012

 High definition

 3D

Television and audiences

Monitoring audiences

BARB (Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board) is the organisation responsible for providing the official measurement of UK television audiences. BARB is responsible for providing estimates of the number of people watching television. This includes which channels and programmes are being watched, when they are watched and the type of people who are viewing at any one time. Why is important to monitor viewing figures?

 TV companies measure success of programming and scheduling

 Commercial TV – selling advertising space

 PSB (Public Service Broadcasting) – the BBC needs to maintain a large audience share to justify the licence fee

 Targeting potential programmes for sponsorship opportunities for clients

 Targeting programmes for product placement

Audience fragmentation

As more homes now have access to satellite and cable services more channels are available. This means that audiences are becoming more fragmented.

When there were fewer channels most people were watching the same programmes. More channels mean more choice.

Channels have become more specialised for specific audiences e.g. CBBC, Nickelodeon, Sky Sports, History etc

Terrestrial channels, especially the BBC have to maintain a large share of the audience to justify the licence fee.

Scheduling

Broadcast programming, or scheduling, is the practice of organizing television or radio programs in a daily, weekly, or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters regularly change the scheduling of their programs to build an audience for a new show, retain that audience, or compete with other broadcasters' programs. In the United Kingdom, this is known as TV listings. Television scheduling strategies are employed to give programs the best possible chance of attracting and retaining an audience. They are used to deliver programs to audiences when they are most likely to want to watch them and deliver audiences to advertisers in the composition that makes their advertising most likely to be effective. Techniques used in scheduling: Dayparting: Dayparting is the practice of dividing the day into several parts, during each of which a different type of radio programming or television programming appropriate for that time is aired. Programs are most often geared toward a particular demographic, and what the target audience typically engages in at that time. Theming: Having special theme days (such as for a holiday), or theme weeks such as Discovery Channel's Shark Week. Stacking: Stacking is a technique used to develop audience flow by grouping together programs with similar appeals to "sweep" the viewer along from one programme to the next. Counterprogramming: Counterprogramming is used when a time period is filled with a program whose appeal is different from the opponent programme because it is a different genre or appeals to a different demographic.

Hammocking: A technique used by broadcasters whereby an unpopular programme is scheduled between two popular ones in the hope that viewers will watch it. Public-service broadcasters use this as a way of promoting serious but valuable content. Hotswitching: In hotswitching, the programmers eliminate any sort of commercial break when one programme ends and another begins; this immediately hooks the audience into watching the next program without a chance to change the channel between programs.

Genre and scheduling: The most common genres of programme on terrestrial television schedules are:

 Soap operas

 Reality TV

 Drama

 News

 Light entertainment

 SItcom

The most watch shows on BBC1 and ITV are all soap operas: EastEnders, Coronation Street, Emmerdale.

Why are soap operas so popular?

 Real life characters and situations that characters can identify with

 Regular time slots – often primetime

 Long running storylines

 Dramatic plots that use a lot of dramatic irony to keep audiences involved

 Popular and well-known actors

Primetime:

In the UK, prime time (usually referred to as "peak time") refers to the hours between 6 pm and 10:30 pm — which is the period in which the most popular shows are screened and the highest ratings are achieved. The hours between 6 pm and 8 pm are more popular with families and after that time prime time television is mostly watched by an older demographic. Watershed:

The term the watershed is used for the time period (or the times delimiting this) in television schedules during which 'adult content' can be shown. Adult content is usually defined as images or language depicting or referring to explicit sexual intercourse, graphic violence, or drug use and the use of strong language.

According to Ofcom, the watershed on standard television in the UK starts at 9p.m., and finishes at 5:30 a.m. the next morning. Programmes that are 15+ are shown during this period. However, some 12+ shows can be shown before 9p.m., such as The Simpsons, Malcolm in the Middle and Doctor Who. On premium film or pay-per-view services requiring a subscription, the watershed starts at 8:00 p.m. However, 12, 15 and 18 rated films can be shown on PIN protected channels (such as Sky Movies) at any time of the day. Regulating Television – Ofcom

Ofcom; or Office of Communications is the government-approved regulatory authority for the telecommunication industries in the United Kingdom.

The main duties of Ofcom include making sure:  the UK has a wide range of electronic communications services, including high-speed services such as broadband;  a wide range of high-quality television and radio programmes are provided, appealing to a range of tastes and interests;  television and radio services are provided by a range of different organisations;  people who watch television and listen to the radio are protected from harmful or offensive material;  people are protected from being treated unfairly in television and radio programmes, and from having their privacy invaded The Ofcom Broadcasting Code of Practice publishes guidelines about suitability of programming and advertising for different audiences. Ofcom investigates complaints from the public about the content of programmes. High profile complaints have included:  Voting on X Factor – judges seen to be keeping unpopular acts in to keep ratings high  Frankie Boyle making jokes about Katie Price and her children  Jonathan Ross and Russell Brand received nearly 40,000 complaints for leaving obscene answerphone messages during their radio show in 2008  Racist bullying of Shilpa Shetty on Celebrity Big Brother led to 45,000 complaints to Ofcom. Channel 4 was criticised for not dealing with the incidents because they were boosting the ratings of the show. Jobs in the television industry

Script supervisor

Script Supervisors (aka Continuity) work as part of the Camera Department on Feature Films and Television Dramas. They ensure that, despite the fact that films are shot entirely out of script sequence, they eventually make continuous verbal and visual sense.

Cameraman

On a high-budget drama or a commercial, the most senior person is the Director of Photography (who uses advanced creative and craft skills to design the look of each shot), while the Camera Operator works the camera, usually supported by one or two Camera Assistants.

Art Director

Art Directors work on feature films, commercials and some types of television productions. On feature films they act as project managers for Art Departments. They facilitate the Production Designer's creative vision for all the sets and locations that eventually give productions their unique visual identity.

Makeup and Hair Designers

Make-up and Hair Designers usually work on feature films and high budget television dramas and must be proficient in both make-up and hair techniques. Make-up and Hair are key elements in the overall design of films or television productions, creating a look for the characters in relation to social class, and time periods, and any other elements required to create the desired illusion. They are responsible for the overall design, application, continuity and care of make-up and hair throughout the pre-production and production periods.

Location Manager

Location Managers work on television drama, drama-documentaries and continuing drama productions. They research and assess suitable locations, negotiate contracts and payments, and present their findings to Producers and other decision makers. They oversee all logistical aspects of the location during shooting. Audiences and Media Products

Audience demographics

Category A: 3% of the population –top earners

Category B: Senior Managers – 20% of the population

Category C1: Other professionals – 28% of the population

Category C2: 21% of the population – they are skilled manual workers, often earning more than C1 professionals

Category D: is 18% of the population – they are unskilled manual workers.

Category E: is 10% of the population. They are people who depend on benefits or are casual workers.

Uses and Gratifications Theory Researchers have suggested that there are six main reasons why audiences engage with media texts:

INFORM

EDUCATE ENTERTAIN

IDENTIFY SOCIAL INTERACTION

ESCAPISM

Audience research

 Questionnaires – telemarking

 Focus groups

 Vox Pops – talking to people Ownership, Control and finance

Media conglomerate:

A large international organisation that owns a lot of companies in different media industries. Examples are Disney, Time Warner and News Corp.

News Corp

News Corp, run by Rupert Murdoch, owns a lot of media companies around the world. Some of them include:

 HarperCollins boks

 The Sun Newspaper  The Times newspaper

 The Wall Street Journal

 BSkyB

 20th Century Fox

 National Geographic

 MySpace

Americanisation of culture

Some people believe that large media conglomerates mean that American culture is becoming more dominant, making it harder for British companies to compete.

Funding

 BBC – licence fee

 Programme/distribution sales

 Merchandising

 Advertising

 Sponsorship

 Selling formats – such as Big Brother, Pop Idol,

Working Practices and Jobs

Types of employment contracts: Permanent – on staff, full time, long-term Free lance – short-term, self-employed See industry case studies for specific job descriptions

Regulation

Film: BBFC – ratings for films Press: Press Complaints Commission – Editor’s Code of Practice TV: BBC Trust – regulates the BBC and makes sure they fulfil the requirements of the charter Ofcom – regulates TV, Radio and telecommunications ASA (Advertising Standards Agency)

Copyright Copyright is a set of exclusive rights granted to the author or creator of an original work, including the right to copy, distribute and adapt the work. Copyright protects artistic integrity and helps protect against commercial exploitation.

Royalties Royalties are paid for the use of products or media texts – such as songs, television programmes etc. Technological Developments

Allows audiences to be interactive:

 TV voting

 Chatrooms/websites  Social Networking – Facebook, Twitter etc

 Blogging

 Apps for mobile phones Audiences can produce and share their own media texts:

 MySpace

 YouTube Products can reach wider audiences Faster and cheaper distribution of media Flexibility for audiences – no longer have to follow schedules

Problems for media: Illegal downloading and distribution of music and films Falling sales of CDs, DVDs and Newspapers Regulation of the internet V right to free speech Privacy V what is in the public interest to know Increased competition due to the increasing options for audiences