Impact of New Media

impact of new media suggestions for case study

Critical Perspectives The two topic areas for Unit 3 of your Media ‘A’ level are representation and the impact of new media You should prepare your own case study in preparation for the exam. You’ll answer just one question on one case study, but if you prepare two you’ll have a greater choice of questions to answer.

Unit 3 Exam Like last year’s Unit 1 exam, the Unit 3 exam is in two parts. The ﬁrst part involves answering questions based on unseen media texts. For example, you might see the title and opening sequence of a news programme, along with a graphic showing search results on YouTube. Both texts might be concerned with Barack Obama’s election as US President.

Compulsory Questions You will have 15 minutes to make notes on these texts. You will then answer three compulsory questions, worth a total of 32 marks.

Second Part For the second half of the exam you answer ONE question from a choice of four Your answer is worth 48 marks! In your answer, you should refer to your independent case study. Questions might look something like...

Representation 4a) Critics have accused the mainstream media of tokenism and stereotyping by creating extreme and exaggerated representations. To what extent is this true for the group or place you have studied? OR 4b) Media representations rarely challenge the dominant values of society nor do they give a voice to those with lile power. To what extent is this true for the group or place you have studied? Why?

Impact of new media OR 4c) The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. Discuss the arguments for and against this view. OR 4d) “The new generation of UK media power players are going straight to their audience via the web” www.mediaguardian.co.uk Monday July 14 2008. How have media institutions responded to the opportunities oﬀered by new/digital media?

Your approach In answering questions like 4c and 4d, you need to have useful research information at your ﬁngertips. For example, question 4c would reward a student who has investigated an audience-related topic Question 4d is clearly more focused on media institutions

In other words... You should make sure your case study includes research on the impact of new media on audiences and/or institutions... ...preferably both!

What is new media? “New media” encompasses... The internet (web, email, VoIP, chat) Mobile telephony (txt, 3G, smart phones) Gaming New media technologies like MP3, High Deﬁnition, PVRs (Sky+, Freeview+ etc.)

The halo eﬀect!

But... What exactly is a case study? You’ll ﬁnd examples of case studies in Media textbooks in your school library — or ask your teacher Case studies are like essays which illustrate a wider theme by referring to a speciﬁc example in depth So rather than an abstract thought along the lines of “SMS texting has changed the way people socialise”, you come up with actual examples of these changes, based on evidence and research.

Some suggestions The following questions are designed to start you oﬀ on research, and are not meant to be exhaustive As with all research, you should “follow your nose” and follow your interests. Some of the topics can be related to each other for a more sophisticated approach (e.g. combine #1 with #2 or #2 with #3 if you’re aiming for a higher grade)

#1a: the newspaper industry Look at historical data on newspaper circulations How many daily copies were papers like The Sun, The Guardian, Telegraph, Mail, etc. selling back in 1992? How many do they sell today? How have diﬀerent national newspapers responded to new media?

#1b: the newspaper industry What about your local paper? What do the experts and pundits say is the future of the newspaper industry? If you were asked, what strategy would you suggest? Will newspapers ever be able to charge for their online content?

#2 Advertising Again, by comparing historical data, assess the impact of new media on the advertising industry Is there a finite pool of money, and if so, does the pie get sliced differently under the impact of new media? Where do advertisers like to spend their money these days? Why? What’s the future of mass media advertising? Have the forms and conventions of adverts changed? What other factors might affect advertising spend? (Clue: credit crunch!)

#3 ITV Using data (e.g. from BARB), compare audience ﬁgures for ITV shows in the 70s, 80s, 90s, and 00s What happened? To what extent can ITV blame new media for its troubles? How have ITV responded? What’s the future for quality scripted drama on ITV?

#4 the BBC In contrast to ITV, how have the BBC responded to new media? What controversies surround the BBC and new media (clue: there are lots!) Is the BBC the new evil empire? Yesss, preciouss, we hatess it, nasty Does the BBC’s free news/radio BBC, it will cheat you, hurt you, lie! online content distort the global media market? How does the iPlayer impact the UK market, and the viewing habits of the audience?

#5 YouTube What are the implications of the YouTube moo, “Broadcast Yourself”? How has the wider entertainment industry responded to YouTube? Opportunity? Or threat? How does the audience interact on YouTube? What new media forms have been encouraged by YouTube?

#6 The Entertainment Industry and the ©opyfight The entertainment industry has reacted to new media in a variety of ways — many of them negative Do they have just cause for complaint? Are they keeping up with their audience and meeting their needs, or treating their customers like criminals? Contrast different approaches to new media by different media institutions Examine the discourse surrounding, say, downloading and file-sharing — who controls it?

#7 Social Networking Flickr, Bebo, MySpace, FaceBook, Twier... what have been the major trends in social networking? How does the audience use social networking technology? How do institutions exploit social networks? How safe are the audience from this exploitation? Do we give away our privacy for not very much in return? Or do the beneﬁts outweigh the risks?

#8 The iPhone The iPhone has been a game-changing device in mobile telephony — why? Can you account for its success? How have other new media institutions reacted to Apple’s dominance in this sector? How might iPhone and iPod Touch applications transform our social and working habits? Compare the iPhone to other smartphones like the Blackberry, Android, Pre, etc.

#9 Politics How has new media inﬂuenced political campaigning and debate? How was new media used in the 2008 US Presidential election? How was Twier instrumental in recent street protests in Iran? How do repressive governments respond to new media? How are British politicians using new media? How do counterculture groups organise themselves using new media?

#10. Gaming Research and account for the popularity of MMORP games like World of Warcraft. Who are the institutions behind such games, and what’s their business model? What are the most popular games with diﬀerent age groups and genders? How might games like Rock Band be the salvation of the music industry?

#11 iTunes iTunes was originally introduced by Apple to manage ﬁle transfer to its then-new MP3 player, the iPod. Later, Apple added the iTunes store — which many pundits said wouldn’t succeed... has it? What’s the measure of success? ...How have iTunes and the iTunes Store evolved? What new media forms have been created as a result of this evolution? (clue: podcasts!) How do audiences make use of iTunes — and how do institutions exploit it?

#12 New Media Institutions While old media struggles to respond, new media companies have grown to ﬁll the gaps in the market. While Sony allowed its lawyers to dictate its hardware policies, for example, Apple sneaked in and took the portable music player market. While ITV dithered about royalties, YouTube stormed in and exploited the popularity of ITV shows. Who are the most powerful new media companies — and why?

Finally... Although your study of new media might include the internet, you shouldn’t use the internet exclusively in your research! Books are often still the most trustworthy sources Use your school library — and your school librarian who might be able to get books for you on loan from bigger libraries.

Impact of New Media

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