A Level Media

(Question 1) Explain the political significance of the concept of 'press freedom' and its relationship to representative democracy. Why do you think freedom of the press is important? How much influence do you think the government should have about the things reported in the UK press? The government should have no influence on the things reported in the UK press, otherwise the news would be biased towards solely UK news and they could potentially hide things which they do not want to us to see. The press deserve the freedom to report on whatever they choose to, and journalists should be able to have opinions on current events and situations. If this were to happen, we would be completely unaware of what news events were taking place around the world. This follows Curran and Seaton's power and media industries theory, that ownership and control affect how the media operate. (Question 2) How are newspapers regulated and why do you think this is necessary? Can you refer t

Explain how representations in adverts are constructed to promote the product.  Shelter Shelter has decided to use different ethnicities so that they can represent all people and to show that anyone can potentially be homeless. Also the faces that they have used in their adverts are of sad emotions, to show that homelessness is life changing and is also a miserable time in anyone's life. The people that they used for the advert do not look like the stereotypical homeless person, so it reinforces this idea that anyone can become homeless.   They have used a lot of text compared to the other adverts. The main text is bold and red to try and grab the audience's attention to their main statement, which makes them think about homelessness and how it can affect anyone. The colour red also has connotations to danger, which is suitable for such a life changing thing such as homelessness. But, it especially works well as it exaggerates the pale faces of the people behind it. T

The Guardian      The Daily Mail use certain language, such as 'dragged',  that places the Queen in the position of a victim. Whereas The Guardian made the Queen in a more negative light by using certain words such as 'controversial' and exploiting' For The Guardian, this story is huge because it goes against their ideology and so they have a lot to talk about. This is why they made a series of newspapers on this story that has a yellow theme throughout. Altogether, they had four cover stories solely on this story, this reflects on their socialist view which they clearly stick to, unlike other newspapers who will adjust their ideology depending on the popularity of them at the time.  Unusually, The Guardian has used negative language, such as 'exploiting' and 'accused'. This is due to the story being against the left wing ideology and so they are placing the celebrities in a negative light. More often than not, The Guardian try and ke

Lucozade The advert is for the sports energy drink, Lucozade. Lucozade is a soft drink manufactured by the Japanese company Suntory and marketed as a range of sports and energy drinks. Created as "Glucozade" in the UK in 1927 by a Newcastle pharmacist. It was then acquired by the British pharmaceutical company Beecham's in 1938 and sold as an energy drink for the sick as Lucozade. The company's advertising slogan was "Lucozade aids recovery". In 1989 the Beecham Group merged to form SmithKline Beecham, which in 2000 merged to form GlaxoSmithKline. In September 2013 GlaxoSmithKline sold Lucozade and another soft drink, Ribena, to the Japanese conglomerate Suntory for £1.35 billion.  A single Lucozade bottle costs just £1.  The target audience are children and teenagers that are into sports. Having Gareth Bale as the star of the advert helps appeal to the target audience as he is a key figure in footballing and sports industry and they look up to him

How many organisations own national newspapers and do any companies own more than one title? If so, are these titles linked together? The Daily Mail – backed Conservative/Lib Dem Owned by Viscount Rothemere via DMG Media DMG Media, formerly Associated Newspapers, is a national newspaper and website publisher in the UK. It is a subsidiary of DMGT. The group was established in 1905 and is currently based at Northcliffe House in Kensington. DMG Media is a leading multi-channel consumer media company which is home to some of the UK’s most popular brands, including the Daily Mail, MailOnline, The Mail on Sunday, Metro, Wowcher, Jobsite and Jobrapido. The Guardian – backed Labour Owned by the Scott Trust Limited ‘Guardian Media Group plc (often referred to as GMG) is a British mass media company owning various media operations including The Guardian and The Observer. The group is wholly owned by Scott Trust Limited, which exists to secure the financial and editorial indep

How does intertextuality create meaning in this source? Use of Abba reference (Swedish pop group) There could be many reasons to why they chose ABBA as the group they used to put political heads on. It could be the simple reason that there are four of them or that they are European. Or it could potentially have a slightly deeper meaning, like perhaps they think this type of politics is old school. Also, having David Cameron and Boris Johnson as the lead singers represents how they have the main voice in the debate, whereas the other two are more like the backup. They also used lots of references to ABBA's song titles for puns on the viewpoints of the different figures. Use of Personality (Nicola Sturgeon, David Cameron, Boris Johnson and Nigel Farage.) They have chosen these four political figures as they had the main voices in the debate at the time. However, they have the two figures, Nicola Sturgeon and David Cameron, on the left who are for remaining in the EU. Then t

This cover of The Big Issue has an orange theme to promote the new film T2 Trainspotting, even the logo has changed which they usually keep black and white. Also, their masthead is very different to other magazines as it does not spread across the whole cover and so they have the option to move it around. In this case, they placed the masthead in the top left corner so that it does not affect the image. For this cover they also used a pull quote as the main cover line with a bright orange background which will attracts the audience's eyes to it first. The next thing that pops out to the audience is the black and white picture of the four main characters of the film. They have used this effect to represent them as being old-school, as the first Trainspotting released in 1996. The magazine features the usual release date, price and magazine sell line. These appear on every Big Issue magazine, however it does not need a bar-code as it not sold in shops where it need to be sc

What are the songs about? Burn The Witch - This song has been interpreted in many ways by listeners and critics. The animator behind the video, Virpi Kettu, discussed the motives behind “Burn the Witch”. Interestingly, she believes the video was intended to be happier than the song. “They wanted the video to contrast with what they’re playing and to wake people up a bit,” Kettu explained.   Kettu also said that the band wanted the video to raise awareness about Europe’s refugee crisis and the “blaming of different people including the blaming of Muslims and the negativity” currently engulfing European politics.   I understand where this interpretation has come from as the people of the town are not accepting the 'new' inspector, similar to the way people are turning away the refugees. I see the video as a reflection on the current situation in the U.S, having Donald Trump being elected as president and his extreme views are being showcased throughout this video. Unfinished

RADIOHEAD - Burn The Witch Radiohead are an English rock band from Abingdon, Oxfordshire, formed in 1985. The band consists of Thom Yorke(lead vocals, guitar, piano, keyboards), Jonny Greenwood (lead guitar, keyboards, other instruments), Ed O'Brien(guitar, backing vocals), Colin Greenwood (bass), and Phil Selway (drums, percussion, backing vocals). They have worked with producer Nigel Godrich and cover artist Stanley Donwood since 1994. Radiohead have been together for 32 years, and have been recently annouced as one of the nominees for the 2018 Rock & Roll Hall Of Fame shortlist. Radiohead's music falls under the alternative / indie genre, however, not all their music is restricted into this genre. And due to the wide-spread popularity they have gained over the years, they could possibly be labelled as 'mainstream' music. When represented, it is usually lead singer and songwriter Thom Yorke who is the face of the band. In their music videos, it is usually Th

Massive Attack - Unfinished Sympathy The discography of British  trip hop  group  Massive Attack  consists of five  studio albums , three  compilation albums , five  remix albums , one  soundtrack album , five  extended plays , eighteen  singles  and twenty-seven  music videos . The group were founded in 1988 by musicians  Robert "3D" Del Naja ,  Grantley "Daddy G" Marshall ,  Andrew "Mushroom" Vowles  and  Adrian "Tricky" Thaws  in  Bristol ,  England . Prior to the formation of Massive Attack, all three were members of British  sound system   The Wild Bunch . Blue Lines 01.  Safe From Harm -  Duration: 05:16  0 2.  One Love -  Duration: 04:48  03.  Blue Lines -  Duration: 04:21 04.  Be Thankful For What You've Got -  Duration: 04:09  05.  Five Man Army -  Duration: 06:04 06.  Unfinished Sympathy -  Duration: 05:08 0 7.  Daydreaming -  Duration: 04:14  08.  Lately -  Duration: 04:26 09.  Hymn Of The Big Wheel -  Durat

Daily Mail - Mail Online ( Daily Mail Publication ) The Daily Mail still use over-the-top headlines to try and intrigue the audience in. In this publication they use the word 'refuses' in all capital letters, to exaggerate the story they are trying to sell to the public. Their ideology stays the same online, which is that they are right wing but they tend to roll with whatever seems to be the more popular view and that way can get more people to click on their articles. With the article I chose they try and get the reader to go against Jeremy Corbyn (Labour), therefore trying to make the Conservative Party look better.   Just like their newspaper, Mail Online chug out unpolished, manipulative and mostly 'fake' news stories, unlike The Guardian who spend more time and money into their journalism to create more complete and truthful news. The Mail Online understand that it is a younger audience who use the internet for their news and so they try and create news in

Representation  Lester is represented as a submissive and pathetic person, this is shown through his hunched over posture and the way he always obeys to whatever his wife tells him to do. This is the complete opposite to his wife who is a very loud and tumultuous person. She is seen as the master at the table whereas it would usually be the father of the family. However, she has to be quite caring as she took a lot of time preparing a big meal for her family. Then there is Jane, who seems to be the most collected out of all the family, even though she is stereotypical confused and delusional teenager. Mise En Scene The mise en scene in this scene from American Beauty is used to express the personalities of the family. For instance, Lester is wearing very bland clothes, much like the interior of the house, which shows that his life is boring and repetitive. It could also show that he blends in with the house as if he is not there, which would make sense as he stated at the st

1. Breaking Bad Mild-mannered high school chemistry teacher Walter White thinks his life can't get much worse. His salary barely makes ends meet, a situation not likely to improve once his pregnant wife gives birth, and their teenage son is battling cerebral palsy. But Walter is dumbstruck when he learns he has terminal cancer. Realizing that his illness probably will ruin his family financially, Walter makes a desperate bid to earn as much money as he can in the time he has left by turning an old RV into a meth lab on wheels. 2. Stranger Things Winona Ryder as Joyce Byers, who lives in a small Indiana town in 1983 -- inspired by a time when tales of science fiction captivated audiences. When Joyce's 12-year-old son, Will, goes missing, she launches a terrifying investigation  into his disappearance with local authorities. As they search for answers, they unravel a series of extraordinary mysteries involving secret government experiments, unnerving supernatural forces, an

The guardian is a left wing paper, which means it supports the ideology similar to that of the Labour party. However, The Guardian are much more open to other views especially compared to the Daily Mail. You can see this in the covers I chose where they support David Cameron (Conservative), but also go against him a bit where they said he 'attacked Johnson', showing that they are open to both sides on a topic.  The language that The Guardian uses is much more formal and fair compared to that of the Daily Mail. This is to appeal to their target audience which tends to be middle aged, upper class people. The Guardian's agenda tends to be more 'hard' news and so the viewpoint tends to be more open so that target audience gets a better idea on whatever topic they are reading. The images that The Guardian uses tend to be smaller and more relevant than those used in the Daily Mail. Their headlines are also much smaller and less offensive, this shows tha

The Berliner or Compact Format (The Guardian) The Guardian was once a broadsheet newspaper, also known as 'the quality press ', due to the more serious approach that it took compared to other popular tabloids . But due to printing costs, The Guardian has now took on the berliner format. Because of these changes, people have said that the ' quality press ' has turned into more like the popular press .  In the cover of The Guardian you can expect to see much more text (' copy ') than in a tabloid paper. This shows that they put a lot more detail into their splash , probably to try and keep the ' quality press ' reputation that they have. The Guardian is a left wing paper. This means that they usually represent the socialist ideology , which is supporting the distribution of wealth and resources in society. The agenda for their stories focus on economics, politics and 'hard news'. The Tabloid (Daily Mail) The Daily Mail takes