learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW- good range of audiences theory on q3
LR- very little understanding on the psbr

2) Read the mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify at least one potential point that you missed out on for each question in the assessment.

Q1- Synergy allows companies to maximise profit from a brand (e.g. Harry Potter) by branching
out into other platforms, merchandise or products.

Diversification means companies can embrace new technology and find new revenue
streams e.g. music industry and streaming

Q2- Channel 4 reinvests any profits back into programmes – this raises quality and benefits
audiences.

Public service broadcasting prevents the UK media industries being quite so cut-throat –
broadcasters can take risks safe in knowledge channel can’t go out of business. For channel
4, profitable programmes (e.g. reality TV) can fund loss-making programmes (e.g. C4 News).

Q3- Moral panic (Cohen) could be used to argue that the media does not have a damaging effect
on audiences – it is just a convenient scapegoat to blame for issues in society. E.g. poverty,
violence, gun crime etc.

Technopanics – the online version of moral panic. Links to idea the internet is dangerous and
unregulated. Suggests media perhaps can have a damaging effect on audiences.


3) On a scale of 1-10 (1 = low, 10 = high), how much revision and preparation did you do for this assessment?

3-4 not much and mainly last minute.


4) Look at your answer for Question 1. Did you manage to write about three different strategies and three different benefits? It's vital you read the question and follow it exactly.

I looked at the different strategy but explaining them was not good and not all of the strategy were right which led me to do a lot badly in that questions.

5) Look at your answer for Question 2. Did you follow the question guidance and write about both the BBC and commercial broadcasters? What could you have added to this answer to reach a higher mark?

I think i could of added the point of Channel 4 reinvests any profits back into programmes – this raises quality and benefits audiences. and how Public service broadcasting prevents the UK media industries being quite so cut-throat – broadcasters can take risks safe in knowledge channel can’t go out of business. For channel
4, profitable programmes (e.g. reality TV) can fund loss-making programmes (e.g. C4 News).

Feminism: blog tasks

Media Magazine reading

1) What are the two texts the article focuses on?

Pan Am' and Beyonce
2) What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

The main characters 'cause male characters in the airport to turn and stare' in the opening scene which is a blatant example of male gaze as we are watching from their perspective. She also mentions the slow-motion shots that allow us to marvel at their beauty which in return isn't us watching from their perspective, but a males.
3) Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

These texts show that there is progression yet it doesn't go against all sexism issues like rape. It is a start to a new wave of feminism as it mocks and challenges the way we look all at women which leads to said crimes.
4) Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Feminism – A movement aimed at defining,
establishing, and defending women’s rights

and equality to men.

Male Gaze – The gaze referring to Laura
Mulvey’s seminal article ‘Visual Pleasure and
Narrative Cinema’ which argues that main
stream Hollywood films subject female
characters to the ‘male gaze’ of the camera,

fragmenting and objectifying their bodies.

Nostalgia – A sentimental longing for the past,
often only remembering the positives of the
time.

Music video analysis

1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

Mainly because she is acting like a certain women for the attention so the character beyonce is playing the part making it not biological and agree with butlers theory.
2) Does this video reinforce or challenge the view that women should perform certain roles in society?

It challenges as it shows beyonce trying and getting emotional over it and not enjoying her life.

3) Would McRobbie view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women? Why?

Yeah as mcrobbie saw the magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour, taking a different perspective to traditional feminists. An could include beyonce with this example.

4) What are your OWN views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey)?

I think Beyonce does empower women as she is saying and showing that girls try way too hard to impress men and shows u should be happy as well as the man and to not seek his approval all the time.

Introduction to feminism

1) Why did Laura Bates start the Everyday Sexism project?

She started the project because of the bad week she was having of all the men sexually harassing her verbally and physically.

2) How does the Everyday Sexism project link to the concept of post-feminism? Is feminism still required in western societies?

It links to post-feminism as there are still men who are ruse and inappropriate to women in modern day. Even though there is more peace and balance between men and women it does not mean it is gone and it is likely due to the everyday sexism. Also some countries in the middle east still are not equal between men and women and is still required/

3) Why was new technology essential to the success of the Everyday Sexism project?

So people can give their story out on social media and feel empowered by others so they can stand up for themselves and or help others with the problem. Also gives women around the world more confidence to stand up to men.

4) Will there be a point in the future when the Everyday Sexism project is not required? What is YOUR view on the future of feminism?

I think more and more people are being more respectful with women everyday and started to change so that's why in the future it will change and we wont need it but for now it is still a problem and needed to make sure it goes.

1) Summarise the questions in the first two sub-headings: What is networked feminism? Why is it a problem?

Networked feminism is the Fourth Wave; it aims to tackle social equality issues found both on, and using, modern technology. It is a problem because the internet has so many denominations, societies and communities of people who claim to be feminists, and equally as many for those who claim to be against it, and so definitions and ideologies can become blurred.

2) What are the four waves of feminism? Do you agree that we are in a fourth wave ‘networked feminism’? 

First wave: The Suffragette movement - earth 20th century. Women campaigned for the right to vote.

Second wave: Campaigning for reproductive rights (abortionetc) and equal pay - 60s to 90s

Third wave: Women receiving more employment opportunities, whilst reclaiming femininity. 1990s - present

Fourth wave: Using social media and technology for campaigning and activism.

I do agree with this as feminists even today are always calling out people for their actions.


3) Focus on the examples in the article. Write a 100-word summary of EACH of the following: Everyday Sexism, HeForShe, FCKH8 campaign, This Girl Can.

This project was started by Laura Bates, from a website. She set it up to raise awareness of the different forms of sexual harassment that women got on a daily basis. The project helped people to share their experiences about what had happened to them. Also, this drew focus to the fact that these events occur quite regularly due to them becoming acceptable within society. The project gained recognition and became more well known due to its user-generated content and use of social media.

4) What is your opinion with regards to feminism and new/digital media? Do you agree with the concept of a 'fourth wave' of feminism post-2010 or are recent developments like the Everyday Sexism project merely an extension of the third wave of feminism from the 1990s?

I agree with this because they call out people on the media which makes more people aware and help make people not want to do it.

Representation theory

1) Why is representation an important concept in Media Studies?

Representation is important because it portrays people on what they are like and so if the media portrays people or a group of people in a bad way then it could lead to them people getting stereotyped and not being shown to how they truly are. There is so many cases where this is true but as time go's on some stereotypes on people tend to break.
2) How does the example of Kate Middleton show the way different meanings can be created in the media?

It shows the media uses an image or a story to portray someone in however they want to be in a good light or a bad light and with the Kate Middleton example they could imply if they wanted choose the pictures that made her look bad and use the ones and make it seem like she had a drinking problem. But also if they wanted to make her look good then they could say how respectful and well manured in the way she is drinking the wine making her look good.

3) Summarize the section 'The how, who and why of media representation' in 50 words.

Impacts with representations are considered by producers. They choose the needs of audience, limitations with genre codes. In this process the producers reject and select specific representations, this helps create ideological meaning. These are known as genre codes, which slowly become natural to the audience.

4) How does Stuart Hall's theory of preferred and oppositional readings fit with representation?

This fits into representation because the media can portray a group or a person in a certain way and then you as a consumer of that media can identify what the preferred reading of that portrayed thing is (What everyone is mostly thinking) and what the oppositional reading is (the other side of the argument). 
5) How has new technology changed the way representations are created in the media?

With the rise of new media, audience members can now construct and share their own media products, and in websites, video-sharing platforms and social media there are more opportunities for people to represent themselves than ever before. Individuals can now engage in the act of self-representation, often on a daily basis, through the creation of social media profiles and content. When we post an image on Instagram or some thoughts on Facebook, we are constructing an idea of ourselves, and we are distributing it to our followers or our friends. The choices we make in terms of which images to upload and which comments to create a construction of an idea about ourselves. Social media allow us to construct selective and controlled representations of the public identity we wish to communicate to the world.

6) What example if provided of how national identity is represented in Britain - and how some audiences use social media to challenge this?

The Sun sent a free newspaper to 22 million households in England which represented its own concepts of ‘Englishness’ by symbolic references –queuing, the Sunday roast, Churchill and The Queen – to heroes, values and behaviours that the paper (and its owners, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corps) defined as appropriate expressions of‘English identity’.

Richard Dyer's theory suggests that the complexity and variety of a group is reduced to a few key characteristics. An exaggerated version of these characteristics is then applied to everyone in the group. In this case for taken its the man being strong cool calm and collected. This goes on throughout the whole movie as the main character hero is giving advice and beating up bad guys throughout the film.

Andy Medhurst suggests stereotyping is shorthand for identification. This means we use stereotypes to tell audiences a lot in a short space of time. This is shown in taken when the women gets taken we can see she is the damsel in distress stereotype and that's what we associate with her. And also because the villans are European we instantly tell they are bad guys.

Tessa Perkins suggests some stereotypes can be positive and are often true. Which is represented with the main character being a man he is typically strong and it is true and it makes them out to be in a positive light.

Laura Mulvey suggests that the dominant view in the media is masculine and created for the benefit of men. Women are presented for men to look at, hence the ‘male gaze’. This links to the idea of ‘sex sells’ and women being represented as sex objects. Ans its not typically shown in taken mainly due to the fact that the main character is a older man trying to save his daughter.

Claude Levi-Strauss suggests that representations in the media are informed by ideology: the set of beliefs and values held by the producer of the text. This is shown that the main villains don't get a story on why they are doing what they are doing making them look bad when they might just need the money.

Introduction to Representation

1) List the different people/groups represented in the trailer (men/women/Americans etc.)

Young women, men.

2) For each group you identify, decide whether the representation is a dominant or alternative portrayal. Explain why you think this.

For the young women they are represented to be dominant from the sterotype that young women are helpless and week as from the trailer we see the young girl getting kidnapped and the mother crying through it all not doing anything about it.

For the man its the same as it is dominant as we see him saving the day going through hell to get his daughter back which shoes and reinforces the stereotype that man are stronger then women and get the job done .
3) What stereotypes can you identify in the trailer? 

One stereotype is that the villeins are always foreign as in this film trailer they are in this case. Another stereotype that is present is the fact that women are weak and vulnerable as throughout the whole trailer the mother was crying and the daughter needs to be saved. Lastly the man is strong and takes command as we see the main protagonist save the girl.
4) Why might the Taken trailer offend or alienate certain groups?

The trailer may offend people who are not american as it makes america look like the main top hero and the foreign people in the trailer paints them in a bad light.

5) Why do mainstream film and television texts such as Taken so often use stereotypes?

They tend to do this because they can then attract the viewers who believe in them stereotypes and get more people watching that film or TV show.

Representation catch up work

The front cover of that newspaper make young people seem like criminals and paints them in a bad image as it shows them stealing and also with the hood signalling they are about to do something bad and harm others.

Representation is the process by which the media presents the ‘real world’ to an audience.

Media texts are artificial, constructed versions of reality

Even factual media – such as news – goes through processes of selection, organisation and editing that shapes its content

Groups like women are stereotyped to be weak and helpless while men are strong and always get the job done. And people like young teens are stereotyped to be rude and a danger to society.

I think people stereotype because it satisfies the need to understand and predict the social world. You no longer need to wonder what each individual is like or what he or she is likely to do . All of this is contained in the stereotype.

Social groups could be under-represented or misrepresented because of the media and how they portray weather that be in a bad light.

Media texts are a construction of reality, and play an important role in the way we view the world.

Reality is therefore subject to mediation which is the process that takes place when a media text’s meaning is communicated.

When mediation takes place, an institution, individual or even technology comes between the actual event and the audience.

5 words we associate people with:

• America= Donald trump, Food,patriotism,president,freedom
• Private school students=smart, stuck up, strict,well mannered, rich
• Brexit referendum=Immigration,borders,laws,control,people

Media messages have to be communicated quickly which often means relying on stereotypes. Stereotypes work as a kind of shorthand where a word, image or sound will stand for a lot more.

A stereotype is a standardized, usually oversimplified picture or attitude towards a person, social group, place or event.

Gender stereotypes 

MEN:                                          WOMEN:

strong                                          passive

smart                                           emotional 

active                                           talkative 

tough                                           indecisive 

cruel                                              weak

A representation in the media will either reinforce or challenge the stereotype.

If it reinforces the stereotype, it is a dominant representation.

If it challenges the stereotype, it is an alternative representation.