MEDIA STUDIES

Reformed 'A' Level 2017

GCE A LEVEL MEDIA STUDIES

INTRODUCTION
Aims and Objectives

The media play a central role in contemporary culture, society and politics. They shape our perceptions of the world through the representations, ideas and points of view they offer. The media have real relevance and importance in our lives today, providing us with ways to communicate, with forms of cultural expression and the ability to participate in key aspects of society. The economic importance of the media is also unquestionable. The media industries employ large numbers of people worldwide and generate significant global profit. The globalised nature of the contemporary media, ongoing technological developments and more opportunities to interact with the media suggest their centrality in contemporary life can only increase.

The WJEC Eduqas specification offers students the opportunity to develop a thorough and in depth understanding of these key issues, using a comprehensive theoretical framework and a variety of advanced theoretical approaches and theories to support critical exploration and reflection, analysis and debate. The study of a wide range of rich and stimulating media products is central to the specification, offering opportunities for detailed analysis of how the media communicate meanings in a variety of forms. Students will work from the product outwards to debate key critical questions related to the social, cultural, political and economic role of the media. Through studying media products holistically in relation to all areas of the theoretical framework, students will engage with the dynamic relationships between media products, media industries and audiences. You will also consider established media forms alongside more contemporary forms, developing an awareness of emerging and evolving media.

Although the primary emphasis in this specification is on the contemporary media, students will explore how the products relate to their wider historical contexts. Learners will also extend their experience of the media through the study of products with which they may be less familiar, including those produced by or for a minority group, non-mainstream and non-English language products. This specification aims to develop knowledge and understanding of the transnational nature of the media, considering the effect of different national contexts on representations in media products, the global reach of media industries, and the targeting of audiences on a national and global scale.

This specification also recognises the fundamental relationship between theoretical understanding and practical work, providing learners with exciting opportunities to develop media production skills in different forms, apply their knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework to media forms and products, and become creators of meaning themselves. Students will be offered a choice of briefs and forms within which to work, enabling them to explore and pursue their own media interests.

Media Studies offers a broad, engaging and stimulating course of study which enables students to:

demonstrate skills of enquiry, critical thinking, decision-making and analysis
demonstrate a critical approach to media issues
demonstrate appreciation and critical understanding of the media and their role both historically and currently in society, culture, politics and the economy
develop an understanding of the dynamic and changing relationships between media forms, products, industries and audiences
demonstrate knowledge and understanding of the global nature of the media
apply theoretical knowledge and specialist subject specific terminology to analyse and compare media products and the contexts in which they are produced and consumed
make informed arguments, reach substantiated judgements and draw conclusions about media issues
engage in critical debate about academic theories used in media studies
appreciate how theoretical understanding supports practice and practice supports theoretical understanding
demonstrate sophisticated practical skills by providing opportunities for creative media production.

SUBJECT CONTENT

Overview

This WJEC Eduqas Media Studies specification is designed to provide a coherent, integrated and in depth approach to studying the media, enabling students to develop and apply their understanding of the media through both analysing and producing media products in relation to a detailed and comprehensive underpinning theoretical framework and a wide range of advanced theoretical approaches and theories. Students are encouraged to make connections: between different media forms and products, between media products and their contexts, and between theory and practical work. In addition, students will develop the ability to reflect critically on both media products and theories used to analyse media products.

Through this study, you will gain a developed understanding of the key theoretical approaches, theories, issues and debates within the subject, enabling you to question and critically explore aspects of the media that may seem familiar and straightforward from your existing experience. Building on this, students will also extend their engagement with the media to the less familiar, including products from different historical periods and global settings, those produced outside the commercial mainstream and those aimed at or produced by minority groups, providing rich and stimulating opportunities for interpretation and analysis. The study of relevant social, cultural, political, economic and historical contexts further enhances and deepens your understanding of the media, as you explore key influences on the products studied.

This specification recognises the cross-media, multi-platform nature of the contemporary media and the centrality of online and social media platforms in distributing, accessing and participating in the media. In some instances, specific forms are highlighted for detailed study, but this is in the context of their relationships to other media forms and platforms, recognising their fluidity and the way in which they respond to emerging, contemporary developments in the digital landscape.

The global nature of the contemporary media is also an important part of this specification. Students will consider how media industries operate globally and target global audiences, and will explore media products made outside of the US and UK, including non-English language television.

Learning about the media involves both exploring and making media products and these two activities are fundamentally related in this specification. Students create a cross-media production for an intended audience, applying your knowledge and understanding of media language, representation, audience and industry in response to a choice of briefs set by WJEC. The opportunity to select forms, and the opportunity to work in more than one form, allows you to pursue your own media interests and develop your practical skills in this component.

Media Forms and Products

Learners study a range of media forms – advertising and marketing, film, magazines, music video, newspapers, online media, radio, television and video games through age appropriate products set by WJEC. Learners will also study additional products chosen by the teacher.

Collectively, the products studied:

 possess social, cultural and historical significance

 illustrate a range of products in terms of genre/style, form and audience

 represent different historical periods and global settings

 illustrate different industry contexts, including those outside the commercial mainstream

 include those aimed at, or produced by, minority groups

 reflect contemporary and emerging developments in the media

 provide rich opportunities for analysis and application of the theoretical framework detailed below

 include media products that stimulate learners and extend their experience of the media.

The products set by WJEC for both Components 1 and 2 will be reviewed periodically and changed where necessary.

Theoretical Framework

This A Level Media Studies specification is based on the theoretical framework for analysing and creating media, which provides students with the tools to develop a critical understanding and appreciation of teh media. The framework consists of the four inter-related areas:

MEDIA LANGUAGE: How the media communicate meanings through their forms, codes, conventions and techniques.
REPRESENTATIONS: How the media portray events, issues, individuals and social groups.
MEDIA INDUSTRIES: How the media industries' processes of production, distribution and circulation affect media forms and platforms
AUDIENCES: How media forms target, reach and address audiences, how audiences interpret and respond to them, and how members of audiences become producers themselves.

Theoretical Framework

The framework is set out in detail in the respective components in sections 2.1 and 2.2 Click below

Theories

You will study a wide range of theoretical approaches and theories, including advanced approaches, to inform and support their analysis of media products and processes. Those listed below must be studies; appropriate additional theories may be studied.

MEDIA LANGUAGE:

REPRESENTATION:

MEDIA INDUSTRIES:

AUDIENCES:

Contexts of Media

In order to inform your study of the media, students will develop knowledge and understanding of media products in relation to relevant key social, cultural, economic, political and historical contexts.

Historical Contexts

 how genre conventions are historically relative and dynamic

 the effect of historical context on representations

 the relationship of recent technological change and media production, distribution and circulation

 the way in which different audience interpretations reflect historical circumstances

Social and Cultural Contexts

 how genre conventions are socially relative

 the effect of social and cultural context on representations

 how and why particular social groups, in a national and global context, may be underrepresented or misrepresented

 how audience responses to and interpretations of media products reflect social and cultural circumstances

Economic Context

 how media products relate to their economic contexts in terms of:

 production, distribution and circulation in a global context

 the significance of patterns of ownership and control

 the significance of economic factors, including funding

Political Context

 how media products reflect the political contexts in which they are made through their representations, themes, values, messages and ideologies

 how media products reflect the political contexts in which they are made through aspects of their ownership and political orientation, production, distribution, marketing, regulation, circulation and audience consumption.

Skills

This specification enables students to develop a range of skills required for both analysing and creating media products.

in analysing media products, you will:

analyse and compare how media products construct and communicate meanings through the interaction of media language and audience response
use key theories of media studies and specialist subject-specific terminology appropriately
debate key questions relating to the social, cultural, political and economic role of the media through discursive writing.

In creating media products, students will:

apply knowledge and understanding of media language, representation, media industries and audiences to a media production
use media language to express and communicate meaning to an intended audience.

Drawing Together Knowledge, Understanding and Skills

This specification provides opportunities for assessment which draws together knowledge, understanding and skills form across the full course of study.

Students will always be provided with the opportunity to draw together knowledge and understanding from across the full course of study in Component 1, Section B. Component 3 draws on the knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework of media and the analytical skills developed in Component 1 and 2 through the practical application of knowledge and understanding in a media production.

Contexts of Media - more