Revision PowerPoint into everything you need to know for the AQA Media Studies examination on Publishing

1. Section A - Publishing
By Matthew Howell

2. AUDIENCES & MEDIA PRODUCTS
Section A - Publishing

3. Identifying a Target Audience
• In order to fully understand the needs of their target audience, many publications will often use
research methods in order to determine the needs of the audience from the product.
• These publications will often conduct primary or Secondary research in the form of:
– Questionnaires – These are surveys which they will give to their readers to allow them to find out what kind
of features the demographic are looking for from the publication. These may include: certain types of
articles or more opportunities to get involved and interact with the media.
– Researching into existing products – A publishing company may research into similar publications to find out
how they cater to the needs of their intended audience. From this they may be able to take various ideas on
how to improve readership and gratification to their own products. For example: If a company found out
that an online discussion forum was a success with readers they may wish to implement one for their own
publication.
– Consumer Trials – A company may consort a group of people who reflect the general demographic of which
they are trying to entice. They will often issue a prototype copy to test their reactions to the content to
ensure what they are producing meets the gratificational needs of the target audience. This is useful as it
means the company doesn’t waste time developing a product which may potentially not be successful.

4. How the audience control an end-product
• The audience have a great influence over the final product which is produced. This is because if a product
doesn’t meet the specific needs of the demographic it ultimately won’t be successful because it wouldn’t
have the appeal of which they were looking for.
• To ensure for a successful end product, producers will often cater to the audiences needs based on
existing insights into the types of products an audience would want to have. This data is compiled by an
independent research board and then sent to producers to allow them to make an economically viable
product.
• An example of a company which conducts research into publication demographics is the National
Readership Survey (NRS). They conduct research into demographics based on numerous demographic and
psychographic factors and manipulate this data into a variety of readership categories which are: A, B, C1,
C2, D and E. They look for crucial factors such as: the appeal of certain topics to different demographics,
the viability of cross-platform publishing and the importance of correctly structuring and advertising
publications. This is important to allow them to have a secure understanding that the product they are
creating will be successful in accomplishing its intended purpose.

5. Establishing Demographics
• As mentioned earlier, research boards will often separate their demographics
based on a variety of factors such as:
– Age and Gender
– Psychographic details (Interests)
– Lifestyle factors (Class, Income and Sexual Orientation)
• Research boards will divide their audience into the following categories:
Grade Social Status Types of Jobs
A Upper Class High managerial or executive placements.
B Middle Class Lower departmental managerial positions.
C1 Lower Middle Class Supervisory placements and Junior Managerial placements.
C2 Skilled Working Class Skilled manual workers.
D Working Class Semi/Unskilled Manual Workers.
E Lower Working Class Single earners with lower wage and grade positions.

6. The Impact of New Media Technologies on
Publishing
• The advancements in technology ahs changed the ways in which various demographics are able to consume the
media. In the past the conventional way of consuming media was by buying a print publication such as a
newspaper or magazine.
• However, with advancements such as the iPhone and the considerable improvements made to wireless
infrastructure, conventional means of accessing the media have started to diminish with the ever changing
demands of the audience. This has come in the form of e-publication subscriptions (through services such as
Apple Newsstand) and through the use of mobile applications and social media feeds (such as with The Guardian
for example). This has become a large proportion of the income for many publications through the use of more
targeted and interactive advertising as well as subscription based services such as The Guardian and The Observer.
• To try and maintain the viability of print publications, many companies have started to offer much cheaper
magazine subscriptions which are well publicised to ensure that they target wide proportions of their
corresponding demographics. Another thing many conglomerates are doing is starting up free newspapers (such
as the Metro) with the intent of appealing to a city-worker demographic. This has been successful through the
wide availability of such publications on various means of public transport (such as buses and trains). These are
largely funded by advertising and appeal to their audience because they are able to provide the audience with the
content in areas with limited Wireless Infrastructure (such as the London Underground).

7. Uses & Gratifications Theory
• Uses and Gratifications theory is used to identify the needs of certain demographics from a product and
how they should be effectively met.
• There are various needs of gratification which a producer must cater to. These include:
– Escapism – this is where the audience is able to detach from society and immerse themselves in a make-believe world. An
example of a medium for this is with comic books.
– Information & Education – this is where the audience need for information is fulfilled regarding a certain subject which is
being discussed. This idea is prominent in the category of newspapers.
– Entertainment – this is the need to gain gratification from being entertained by the media. This need is predominant in
genres such as Comedy to engage the audience.
– Personal Identity – This is where the audience can imagine themselves in the position of a character (for example in a soap
opera, they may be able to relate to personal problems that a character is going through or in a news programme they
may be able to relate to a person featured on the programme with regards to their views and their lifestyle).
– Social Interaction – This is where the audience enjoys the social interaction that comes with reading a publication. This can
be presented in various different forms such as via Social Media (to discuss certain ideas in the news currently), with family
and friends (to share different ideologies regarding different news events) or with work colleagues or classmates (the
following day).

8. 2) OWNERSHIP, CONTROL & FINANCE
Section A - Publishing

9. Conglomerates (News Corp)
• News Corporation (or News Corp) is an organisation based in America which
publishes content for the mass media worldwide.
• They own a variety of media companies, notably The Sun in the United Kingdom,
Foxtel in Australia and Wall Street Journal in the United States.
– The Sun – This is a newspaper located in Britain which provides its readers with information
regarding current affairs. They have a conservative political agenda which they convey to their
audience in their articles. They have often been known to become involved in a few
controversies for how they present certain people in the media.
– Foxtel – This is an Australian Cable and Satellite Television company which operates and
delivers numerous TV Channels as well as producing a variety of content which is exclusively
distributed across the Foxtel network.
– Wall Street Journal – This is an American newspaper which primarily focuses of business and
financial news. It also produces European and Asian editions making it the largest newspaper
in the United States in terms of circulation.

10. Smaller Organisations: Future PLC
• Future is an organisation which specialises in publishing in a variety
of genres which appeal to younger demographics such as: Music,
Games and Technology.
• They own numerous publications including: Techradar, Lifehacker
and Games Master. These each have their own demographic and
psychographic appeal to their corresponding audiences.
• They distribute their content to their audiences via numerous
platforms including: print magazines, websites, social media and
mobile apps. These allow the convergence for a much greater
proportion of the available target demographic – hence increasing
the success and effectiveness of these publications.

11. Issues facing content producers
• Horizontal Integration is where companies of different industries merge together to deliver a variety of products and services to their
consumers. An example of this is Condé Nast which owns numerous publications featured on both print and electronic forms such as
Vogue, Tatler and Wired.
• Vertical Integration is where a company acquires various stages of the production of content. An example of thiswould be where a
publishing company produced their own content (through a team of journalists and writers), self-manufactured the design of the
publication (with in-house editors) and finally managing its own distribution (through owning printing companies or self-managing their
online and social media feeds).
• Issues of bias are very prominent in aspects of publishing. This is because of the variety of publications available to the consumer which
are able to better cater to their specific needs of gratification. The idea of bias amongst newspapers and the publishing industry during
the 2015 Election where each of the specific papers with political agendas would be primarily producing content in order to ensure
their values and ideals are seen by the potential demographic. However, controversy can arise due to the potential lack of clarity
between fact and opinion which s an issue that isn’t as apparent in the Television industry.
• Media Imperialism is the idea that with the rise of bigger companies, smaller companies opinions aren't being recognised. This idea is
prominent with the ideologies of national and local newspapers as the national papers (such as The Sun, The Times or The Guardian)
generally lead the path of people who conform to their ideologies whilst leaving the values of smaller newspapers (such as the Hull
Daily Mail) behind.
• An example of a recent controversy was that of the News of The World phone-hacking scandal in 2011. Many newspapers criticised the
News of The World and The Sun for the ways in which it compiled information that it intended to publish thus sparking huge debate as
to how publications are legally allowed to operate.

12. WORKING PRACTICES & JOB ROLES
Section A - Publishing

13. Jobs in Publishing
• There are numerous opportunities for employment positions in Publishing. These include:
– Writers – The main job of a writer is to produce the content which is delivered to the consumer. The
responsibilities of this include: Ensuring that the content being produced is of the highest standard
possible (to successfully appeal to the target audience) and is appropriate (as not to offend any
potential consumers – which would have serious repercussions).
– Journalists – The job of a Journalist is to actively discover the latest news and information which is to
be printed in the publication. Their main responsibilities are to: ensure that appropriate methods are
used to gather such content (an example of defiance being the News of The World Phone hacking
scandal) and to ensure that all demographics being represented are portrayed fairly and equally
(which can cause issues with current affairs such as politics).
– Editors – The role of an editor is to make the final cut as to what content is going to be featured in
the publication. Their responsibilities associated with this are: to ensure that the content is
appropriate for all potential demographics (and succeeds in enticing them towards the product) and
to ensure that the publication is effective in conveying its ideologies to the reader.

14. Freelance Opportunities
• In Print Media, many employment opportunities are centred around
freelance employment. This is where a person is employed by a company
for a short amount of time, generally to contribute in completing a project
that a company may be working on. Examples of job opportunities
include:
– Area Managers – These may be employed for a couple of months due to an
unexpected absence or restructure of the company whilst they attempt to find
new staff to ensure the job is still done during the mean time.
– Designers & Writers – Designers and Writers may be employed if a company
intends to do a one-off project (such as an advertising campaign). This is
useful if the company only needs them for a set amount of time and
employing them long-term wouldn’t be financially viable.

15. 4) REGULATION & ETHICAL/LEGAL CONSTRAINTS
Section A - Publishing

16. Regulation in Publishing
• The organisation which regulates the industry of publishing is the IPSO. They are
responsible for ensuring the content being received by the consumers is fair,
accurate and appropriate. To ensure that organisations stick to this the IPSO have
created an Editor’s Code which discusses the following issues:
– Accuracy – This amendment states that the information being conveyed by a media organisation
must be as accurate as possible. An example of a way organisations should conform to this is by
clearly separating fact from opinion as not to cloud the public’s opinion regarding a certain issue.
– Privacy – This amendment cites that any individual should have the right to their own privacy in a
private location. This means that Editors must be able to justify any intrusions into privacy and that if
asked to desist by the subject they comply.
– Children – This clause cites that young people under the age of 16 should be able to live their lives
without any media intrusion. Any intrusion into their lives must be asked via their parents and with a
valid reason.

17. Case Study: Hyland-Ward v The Argus (Brighton)
• Ben Hyland-Ward complained to the IPSO regarding an article published in The Argus
newspaper called “Update: teenager arrested on suspicion of fraud following Bestival ticket
upset”. He cited that his concerns arose with the inclusion of the complainant’s phone
number which he deemed to breach Clause 3 of the Editor’s code regarding privacy.
• The complainant believed that the inclusion of his mobile phone number was irrelevant to
the article being discussed and filed a complaint against The Argus. The IPSO informed the
newspaper of this on behalf of the complainant whereby the newspaper stated that they had
already been alerted to this by an external source and had removed the accidentally printed
information.
• As a result the IPSO stated that the inclusion of the mobile phone number was a breach of
Clause 3 for privacy in spite of the newspaper claiming that it was an accident. The IPSO
recommended that because the article was published on the website, the adjudication
should remain on the homepage for 24 hours before being archived in the usual form.

18. Company-Specific Guidelines: The Guardian
• The Guardian have devised a set of guidelines which all editorial staff are expected
to follow. The purpose of this is to ensure content is created fairly and
appropriately. These guidelines cite:
– Anonymous Sources – This amendment states that wherever possible, sources should be cited
to provide information for the reader and not to create any confusion. However, all
precautions should be taken to ensure the confidentiality of any anonymous sources remains
secret due to the vulnerability of many of these sources.
– Children – when reporting on cases involving children, parental consent must be sought prior
to any potential interviewing or photographing. The identification of children generally should
not be undertaken unless in exceptional circumstances whereby the identity is genuinely
relevant and appropriate to the story.
– Race – Information regarding a subject’s race should not be published unless genuinely
relevant to the issues being discussed in the story. For example, a case where it would be
appropriate to specify race would be in a report regarding a hate crime.

19. The Data Protection Act
• The Data Protection Act 1998 is an act which covers a variety of forms of data to ensure security
and validity.
• The Act states various key principles including:
– The data acquired must only be use for its intended purpose as stated to the supplier. This means that the
data cannot be used for anything other than what the owner consented to.
– The data must only be kept for the least amount of time as is possible to prevent data theft/loss. This means
that when the data is no longer needed it should be removed from the systems.
– The data must always be as accurate as possible. This means that false information must not be present in
the database.
– The data can only be transferred to countries outside the EU with a similar level of data protection and
security. This is to prevent data fraud and loss in foreign locations.
– Appropriate measures need to be taken in order to decrease the likelihood of data theft. This may involve
things such as data encryption.
• In Publishing, The Data Protection Act is used in terms of online services (such as article
subscriptions with The Guardian) whereby a user’s contact details are necessary for their
identification.

20. 5) TECHNOLOGICAL DEVELOPMENTS
Section A – Publishing

21. The Impact of technological advances on
Publishing
• The implementation of technologies into society has changed the way in which consumers access the media. For
example, with the rise of devices such as Apple’s iPhone, we are beginning to see a decrease in consumers accessing
publications via traditional means (i.e. magazines and newspapers) with a greater amount of people seeking internet
sources. The impact of this on publishing is substantial because of the fact that traditional publishing and advertising
via this would have been their main source of income that is constantly diminishing. In response to this, publications
have started to integrate their content onto more technologically based platforms such as The Internet or Mobile
Devices. The companies now have a new means of funding through advertising (which is present on the websites in
image and video form) as well as through subscription pay-walls (which will often offer enticing features such as no
advertisements or exclusive content). These means of funding help make up for the encountered loss due to
diminishing magazine and newspaper sales.
• Moreover, another impact on traditional means of consumption is that of Social Media. This is because it provides
them with information instantly via networks such as Twitter and Facebook. This has a significant appeal to commuters
because of the convenience associated with these methods as it utilises a device that they already have and allows
them to access the content from pretty much anywhere (due to the advancements in Wireless Technologies).
Moreover, these technologies provide more in terms of interactivity with the media because of the ability to comment
and discuss certain issues that are prevalent in the world today (a need of which was difficult to fulfil with a
newspaper).

22. Technology Case Study: The Guardian Mobile App
• The Guardian Mobile App is an application available on numerous mobile
platforms including iOS and Android. The app allows the user to be able to catch
up on the latest news and current affairs from anywhere in the world.
• The app provides numerous features to the end-user including: Access to image
and video content (which wouldn’t otherwise be possible with conventional
media), The ability to comment (which allows for the fulfilment of the need of
social interaction – providing the user with gratification), and the ability to
customise their experience (which provides the user with gratification through the
ability to choose and control what they are able to see).
• Another feature which has been implemented is the ability to save articles to read
later. This is a useful feature for commuters on public transport – such as Metro
services – where there is often reduced access to data services. This helps entice
them to this platform because of the additional functionality which replaces their
need for media consumption via traditional sources (i.e. Newspapers).

23. The Guardian (iOS)
The images to the right showcase the
features available on The Guardian
mobile application. These include: Live
updates and Video Content.