2. Advertising and Marketing
Tide Print Advert (Audience only)
● Despite women having seen their roles in society change during the War, domestic products of the 1950s
continued to be aimed at female audiences.
● The likely audience demographic is constructed through the advert’s use of women with whom they might
identify with (Uses and Gratifications Theory). The audience is targeted is through the use of an
endorsement from Good Housekeeping which reinforces the assertion that Tide is a leading product.
● Reception theory - Stuart Hall
● The dominant message that should be received by “you women” is that the woman in the main image has
an important relationship with the product “Tide has what you want”. Made by indirect MoA.
● Cultivation theory - George Gerbner
● The Tide advert aims to cultivate ideas that it is a miracle product, and is desirable for its female audience.
the repetition of key messages causes audiences to align their own ideologies with them.
3. Advertising and Marketing
Wateraid Audio-visual Advert (Audience only)
● WaterAid acts as an Opinion Leader for the target audience who would assume the “650 million people...”
statistic (01.14) is true and reliable.
● The unconventionally positive visual codes, audio codes and representations give the advert unique
selling points compared to other charity appeals and therefore make the audience more likely to donate.
● Reception theory - Stuart Hall
● The use of handheld camera shots and indirect mode of address made by Claudia connote that the
audience is following her story, but Water Aid rather than she herself have constructed this narrative for
us. This, according to Hall, is the dominant or hegemonic encoding created by WaterAid.
● Cultivation theory - George Gerbner
● This theory might suggest that audiences have become “immune” to traditional pleading charity adverts
featuring people suffering, and their perspectives have been changed by generically similar adverts.
● They now don’t believe that these suffering people can be helped by their donations.
4. Newspapers
The Daily Mirror
● The Daily Mirror is owned by Reach PLC and was once the most popular tabloid in the UK. However,
thanks to online media it has had the largest fall in sales of any national print newspaper. The Daily Mirror
now launched ‘Mirror Online’ and has a presence on social media sites to combat this.
● Power and media industries - Curran and Seaton
● The Trinity Group have diversified into regional news to maintain their position despite falling sales of
mainstream titles. This diverse pattern of ownership has allowed them to create the conditions for more
varied and adventurous media products.
● Regulation - Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
● After the Phone hacking scandal and Leveson enquiry, The Trinity Group faces increasing pressure to
adhere to strict industry guidelines. There is an underlying issue of protecting citizens from harmful
material while ensuring choice and press freedom. It is much harder to regulate content online as readers
are able to comment and share articles with their own opinions.
5. Newspapers
The Daily Mirror
● Cultural Industries - David Hesmondhalgh
● Trinity Mirror group has become a horizontally integrated company in order to maximise audiences and
minimise risks. The company has embraced its digital expansion and now offers digital marketing as well
as digital classifieds to generate additional income.
● Cultivation theory - George Gerbner
● Audience exposure to repeated patterns of representation by newspapers may shape and influence their
views and opinions. The Daily Mirror publishes a lot of stories about the royal family which may cultivate
the idea to the audience that it is a really important topic to know about.
● Lots of crimes stories about the UK may cultivate fear into the audience, Readers become worried about
terror attacks etc and are more likely to click on stories that target these issues.
6. Newspapers
The Times
● The Times was first published in 1785 and is part of the Times newspaper group which is a subsidiary of
News UK. News UK is a British-based, American-owned newspaper publisher, and a subsidiary of the
American mass media conglomerate News Corp.
● Power and media industries - Curran and Seaton
● As The Times is part of both a horizontally and vertically integrated company and subsequently a large
conglomerate, being part of a huge press organisation could limit or inhibit creativity and journalists’
freedom. Rupert Murdoch is often accused of controlling his newspaper content and editorial teams which
would support this point.
● Regulation - Livingstone and Lunt
● The increasing power of companies like News Corp and their expanse into digital media has also placed
traditional approaches to media at risk. The Times online can only be read by subscription ad there is no
comment or share section which could be an attempt to strengthen regulation for the newspaper.
7. Newspapers
The Times
● Regulation - Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
● After the Phone hacking scandal and Leveson enquiry, News Corp faces increasing pressure to adhere to
strict industry guidelines. The increasing power of companies like News Corp and their expansion into
digital media has also placed traditional approaches to media at risk.
● Cultural industries - David Hesmondhalgh
● The Times Newspaper group is part of a both vertically and horizontally integrated company to maximise
audiences and minimise risks. They also embrace digital expansion rather than seeing it as a threat.
● The company is part of a wide organisation responsible for different cultural industries which can benefit
the newspaper greatly in terms of production and promotion.
● The Times’ target audience is predominantly ABC1, over 35 and has a liberal/right wing political stance.
The Trump election win edition will target this group as it takes a fairly neutral approach which will allow
readers to construct their own opinion and negotiate their own response to the election outcome.
8. Film
I, Daniel Blake (Industry only)
● The film won the Palme D’Or at the Cannes film festival. Ken Loach is a social campaigner which is
important to consider in terms of film production and maintaining an audiences which is intended to be
educated, media literate and socially aware. I, Daniel Blake conveys a clear left-wing political message
and criticises specific government policies.
● I, Daniel Blake is a low budget social realist film, funded by the BFI and BBC. It was filmed largely on
location (hospital, job centre etc.), features lesser known actors and does not rely on special effects. The I,
Daniel Blake website includes links to social media and the trailer offers a hashtag (#idanielblake)
suggesting links with Twitter but also uses more traditional methods such as posters and trailers.
● The audience for this film has been maintained by marketing materials that establish the status of the film,
for example the trailer showing the award won at Cannes film festival. In addition, Ken Loach has a long
history in the social-realist film genre which resists tendency to change impacted by technology.
9. Film
I, Daniel Blake (Industry only)
● The only specific “star” identified in the trailer using intertitles is the director Ken Loach. Loach’s work
whilst having broad appeal sits firmly within the niche of social realism and it could be considered that to
an extent the fans of his work are pre-sold based on his name alone.
● Power and media industries - Curran and Seaton
● The trailer seems to offer an experience that sits outside the logic of profit and power and may arguably
also demonstrate a level of variety and creativity that does not reflect Curran and Seaton’s ideas about the
impact of media concentration.
● Loach’s own pre-sold audience, and socially diverse patterns of ownership may mean that the trailer is
able to offer a more adventurous production.
10. Film
Straight Outta Compton (Industry only)
● Straight Outta Compton is a biopic, produced by Legendary Pictures, distributed by Universal Pictures and
directed by F. Gary Gray.It follows the story of hip-hop group N.W.A in 1980s America.
● N.W.A. were significant in terms of social change as advocates for free speech, producers of protest songs
and as highly successful black men from disenfranchised American urban communities.
● Two members of the original band N.W.A. co-produced the film, so consider the possible significance of
this in relation to funding and to the portrayal of historical events
● Straight Outta Compton was produced by Legendary Pictures who entered into partnership with Universal
Pictures (the film’s distributor) in 2014. The fact that the film was produced and distributed by a major,
vertically integrated film studio that is part of a media conglomerate is significant in terms of funding,
possibilities for cross- promotion and reaching a global audience.
11. Film
Straight Outta Compton (Industry only)
● Some potential target audiences of the film include; fans of N.W.A (older fans for nostalgia, younger for
cultural significance), fans of rap music (people who relate to the artists or middle class youths?), fans of
biopic films (open-minded, educated), fans of the film studio ( consider previous Universal productions).
● Fans of the N.W.A. for instance may be attracted to trailer scenes of the band being formed or the music
but wider audiences may be interested in scenes of social tension, cultural change or drama.
● The first trailer of the film released had a red band to reflect the restricted nature of the content, and an
introduction from Ice Cube and Dr. Dre. The second global trailer was shown before the screening of
Universal’s Furious 7 which arguably has a large audience, SOC benefits from the vertical integration.
● Beats by Dre launched an app that allowed users to create a ‘Straight Outta’ logo with a location of their
choice. Over 6 million downloads were generated and shared before the film’s opening day.
12. Film
Straight Outta Compton (Industry only)
● The pre-sold Hip Hop fan base of the band N.W.A. might serve to offset the economic risk of the film
production. Similarly, the success of other hip hop biopics/music drama films e.g. Get Rich or Die Tryin’
(2005) might help to guarantee an audience for the film.
● As an example of synergy, Both the soundtrack for the film, featuring music by N.W.A. and a Dr Dre album
inspired by the film, Compton, were released in conjunction with the film. The commercial success of
these albums arguably contributed to the film’s success.
● Cultural industries - David Hesmondhalgh
● N.W.A offer considerable cultural significance but their story may have been reduced to a profit making
exercise by industries.
● The fact that the film was released in conjunction with very successful music albums proves
Hesmondhalgh’s theory that media conglomerates operate across a range of cultural industries
13. Video Games
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
● Assassin’s Creed III: Liberation, part of the very successful games franchise, was developed by Ubisoft
and released on October 30 2012, along with Assassin’s Creed III. The game was originally exclusive to
the PS Vita but was later (2014) released in a modified HD version across a large range of consoles and
platforms (including PS3, Xbox 360 and Microsoft Windows).
● The game was released on the Sony handheld device PlayStation Vita. It was developed by Ubisoft and
released alongside Assassin’s Creed III on the PlayStation 3. This simultaneous release might be
discussed in terms of an attempt to have maximum impact on the three major markets for console and
video game release (Japan, North America and Europe).
● The game could be purchased over the internet using such outlets as Steam, the Playstation Network or
Xbox Live Arcade which increases the possible audience and accessibility of the game.
14. Video Games
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
● Regulation - Livingstone and Lunt
● Although the game has a PEGI 18 rating, not all parents follow and younger audience can have access.
● Content is also available on YouTube (gameplays etc) so it can be heard to regulate online content.
● Although it being law in the UK for all video games to have PEGI ratings, in the US there is no law against
the sale of violent video games to children.
● Cultural Industries - David Hesmondhalgh
● Released on a new hardware (PS Vita) but with familiar software to an existing audience minimises risk.
● The game is part of an established franchise with a large fan-base. Producers are clearly attempting to
harness the popularity of this franchise to encourage sales both of the game and the PS Vita.
● In 2014 it was released onto other platforms such as PS4 to increase audience.
15. Video Games
Assassin's Creed III: Liberation
● Media effects - Albert Bandura
● The game has a PEGI 18 rating due mainly to violent content. Bandura’s Bobo doll experiment found that
children are likely to adapt violent behaviour if exposed to it by adults/games etc.
● In the game the player can choose actions etc and follow a story meaning that Bandura’s claims are made
more relevant as audiences are choosing to commits acts of violence rather than just watching.
● Fandom - Henry Jenkins
● The development of the ‘new’ media has accelerated ‘participatory culture’, in which audiences are active
and creative participants rather than passive consumers. They create online communities. Produce new
creative forms, collaborate to solve problems, and shape the flow of media.
● Gamers use social media to create online communities where they can discuss the game and also play
multiplayer mode online which is a new advance in technology.
● Also conventions for active fans of the game have been held to increase hype etc.
16. Radio
Late Night Woman's Hour
● Power and Media Industries - Curran and Seaton
● The podcast might also be used to support Curran and Seaton’s idea that socially diverse patterns of
ownership help create conditions for varied and adventurous productions. It could be argued that Late
Night Woman’s Hour challenges the idea that media is controlled by a small number of companies driven
by the logic of profit and power.
● Whilst the BBC is inarguably a large, significant company, the nature of PSB and the content of the
broadcast seem to be at odds with the “logic of profit and power”. Because of the licence fee funding the
BBC doesn’t rely on well-known celebrities and pop-culture to generate a profit.
● Regulation - Livingstone and Lunt
● Because of the BBC’s position as PSB and being licence fee funded by the public, they have to promote
unbiased and non-controversial points meaning political topics are not usual covered. The topics covered
on LNWH are generally life-style related and safe. OFCOM regulates all BBC products to make them safe.
17. Radio
Late Night Woman's Hour
● Reception theory - Stuart Hall
● A gendered approach may consider the lack of male representation. However it is unusual to have an all
female cast - shows changing patterns of patriarchy. In 2014 the BBC famously introduced a ban on all
male TV and radio panels to offset this dominance.
● Cultivation Theory - Gerbner
● The idea of women as cooks or as interested in craft is constantly cultivated into media and has been for
decades - however, this is counteracted by the presentation of women in academic roles, which provides
an alternate presentation of what women should be.
● Identity - David Gauntlett
● Altogether, the variety of professions of the female guests (professor, psychotherapist, author, chef) allows
the audience to ‘pick and mix’ elements their own identity and appreciate the variety of professions and
interests a woman is now able to have in this modern day