Ground rules for the Year 11 Media class include attending all lessons, being on time, completing homework, being organized, participating actively in lessons, no phone use unless instructed, keeping blogs, and not interrupting others. The exam is worth 40% of the GCSE grade, includes a 1.5 hour exam on June 15th, and a pre-release on May 18th. Key concepts covered are media language, institutions, audience, and representation.

1. Year 11 Media
2014
TV News

2. Ground rules
• Attend all lessons- if you miss a lesson you are responsible for the work missed
• Be on time
• Do your homework + independent research
• Be organised – notes, coursework, blog
• Participate in lessons and activities- active learning- want to learn- be positive
• No phones- unless I ask
• blogs
• Don’t talk when others are speaking
• Learn to write- think- have an opinion or argument

3. Assessment Objectives
• AO1 Knowledge and understanding
• AO3 Research, Planning and Presentation
• AO4 Production and Evaluation

4. Exam- controlled assessment- TV News
Exam is worth 40% of your GCSE grade
1hr 30min exam
Pre release 18 May 2015
Exam 15 june

5. Key concepts
• Media Language
• Institution
• Audience
• Representation

6. Media language
Media Language + Forms and conventions
The style and content of television news programmes. Television news has a familiar format which begins with the opening of the
programme through to its end. It is important that you become very familiar with the different elements of this format. These not
only cover the mise-en-scene (the studio set,
the presentation of headlines and the presenters) but also the sequencing or running order of the news stories. The extent towhich
different
programmes prioritise the same news stories can lead to discussion of how news can be organised into different categories and
the status given to each category. It is also interesting to explore how news programmes are divided into short dramatic "stories" of
varying length depending on the perceived status of each. Of course this then leads to the important question of how all of these
elements influence the audience response. The importance of impartiality and lack of bias in news coverage is very important in
studying how news stories are reported. This could lead to work exploring the relationship between visual footage, graphics and
commentary in reporting a news story. To what extent does visual material shape and influence what is reported? How can voiceover
commentary affect and influence how visual footage is received by audiences? Similarly what is the role of the "studio expert" in
shaping the knowledge and understanding of audiences?

7. Institutions
• Institutions
• Who produces television news programmes? News programmes broadcast on different
channels are in competition with one another for audience share. In the UK, under the
Public Service Broadcasting remit, providers are obliged to carry news as part of their
services and such programmes are influential in shaping television scheduling. Critics of
television news argue that despite the plethora of television news programmes available,
audiences are still not provided with alternative perspectives on the types of news
stories that should be covered and how. Television News programmes are very powerful
in that we place a lot of faith and trust in what they tell us. With that power comes
responsibility which leads to the importance of knowledge of the regulations and
controls that are placed on news broadcasters.
• Where do news stories come?
• What are the various roles involved in news gathering and production. Press releases,
freelance journalists, news agencies, reporters being live at the scene are all methods of
finding out what has been happening in the world.

8. Audience
Audience
Who watches television news? Like any other investigation into audience, it
is important to
consider the makeup of different audience groups. Demographic profiles
remain a useful
tool to begin this process which can be developed into drawing up profiles of
both
mainstream and niche audiences and then matching them to contrasting
programmes.
Secondly, why do audiences watch television news programmes? Television
news is suffering from dwindling audiences – why? Under pressure to
maintain audiences has television news lost a sense of balance between
informing audiences and entertaining them?

9. Representation
• Representation
Television News programmes base a lot of their reputation on their reliability
of their reports and the position of balance and neutrality which is adopted.
Latest technology has enabled reports to be beamed into our living room "as
they happen" and we can see events unfolding before our eyes.
However students need to understand that no matter how good the
technology is all news has to be mediated. During this process any news
report can only be "a version of an event".
• Selection of visuals, voice over, presenter lead in, expert comments, are all
features which
impact on the version created.
• How are particular groups represented by television news?

10. Production skills
Part of the assessment is a production task. This could involve anything
from producing a TV news set design, a new web page for a TV news
channel, an opening sequence for a new news channel.
Practical skills need to be practiced to time and have good ideas behind
them.

11. What now?
You need to get into the habit of watching TV news. Both on the Tv and
on line.
Pick two that you are going to use as case studies.
BBC and Sky news or channel four news
Blog set up

12. Today and next week: Coursework Clean up/
house keeping
All coursework must be revisited and improved upon and submitted.
Comics
Film promotion
Magazine production
Meet – THD for meetings