Posted on by Mrs Scales

Work plan for September 2011 for year 13 Media

‘We Media’ and Democracy

NB the need to study two different media for this section e.g. blogging, film sharing and uploading, e-mail or text messaging? Mobile phones?

Resources:

 

Introduction: Concepts:

  • Introduce the idea of ‘We Media’ – what it is, what it includes, examples – brainstorm eg’s;
    all media that are ‘homegrown’ local, organic and potentially counter-cultural
    The idea comes from the book by Gillmor founder of the Centre for Citizen Media
    Gillmor’s view is that ‘Big Media’ (i.e. the huge corporations which govern and control the production and sharing of media: BBC, News Corp etc) have dictated who wins and who loses in the democracy stakes which leads to less choice and greater profits for fewer big companies.
  • Use the recent example of Murdoch’s ‘News of the World’ and associated scandal with regard to mobile phone hacking etc.
  • Large groups of people only get represented by other people; small groups are marginalised and only a few key players have any real power.
  • Leadbetter says access is the key issue in assessing the potential of media to make the world a better, fairer place.
  • So the internet will / has become a tool to challenge hegemonic ideologies.
  • Use the Egypt example [see DVD clip as above]
  • Discus China’s stranglehold on Google; attempts to prevent access to European satellites e.g. in Iran. Other examples of lack of or restrictions on access?         [See activity 4 on Prezi ppt]
  • View the Ryan Giggs clip from ‘Have I Got News For You’ 8 mins
  • As a class draw up a comparison chart:
    ‘Big Media’        vs        ‘We Media’
    Think up examples and pros and cons of each.            [See activity 1+2 on Prezi ppt]

 

Go on to:

  • The history – what has ‘We Media’ emerged out of, why and how?
  • Do timeline                                 [See activity 3 on Prezi ppt]

KEY WORDS:

BROADBAND, FACE BOOK, TWITTER, DEMOCRACY, BIAS, ACCESS, ON-LINE, HACKING, PRIVACY, INTEGRITY, REPRESENTATION, MARGINALISATION, DOMINANCE, SUPPRESSION GLOBALISATION, COMPRESSION, CONVERGENCE, OLIGOPOLY, HEGEMONY, IDEOLOGY

 

KEY THEORISTS:

GILLMOR, LEADBETTER, BAUMAN, WATERS, MARX, GRAMSCI, ALTHUSSER, BOYD, HERRING, ANDERSON,

 

Continue with:

reading the text book and answering the questions see separate question sheets on chapters 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4

  1. Do activity p 69 keep a media diary
  2. Do activity p 75 identifying hybrid programmes just the first part and then discuss.
  3. Do activity p 92 applying the long tail theory…
  4. Do activity p 93 applying Wikinomics to online media
  5. Do the question in the activity p 97 as an essay.
  6. Do the activity p 109 assessing the Foo Fighters fan tribute.
  7. Find other examples of such ‘homages’ for yourself and present back to class.
  8. Do the activity p 110 – write a short essay based on your findings.

 

Now:

it is time to start researching which two media forms you will use for the exam.

You will need a history, examples and ensure that you are able to answer the questions which form the outline for study of this topic.

Make sure you are clear on all the issues which involve your chosen media e.g.

  • who they/ it are in competition with
  • current popularity
  • issues of censorship, privacy, invasion
  • economic effects (cyberslacking!),
  • effects on families / addiction?
  • Who owns it / them?
  • What else do they own / operate?
  • Who are they in collaboration with?
  • Access?
  • Make sure you can link theories in whether in support or not.
  • Have your own data!

 

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