12 ALevel Media 2025-2027

  The Big Issue - Ideology and Audience Positioning Starter Define what ideology means, and list the terms we would use to discuss it Define audience positioning and list the theory/terms we would use to discuss it The term ideology refers to the attitudes, values, beliefs and perspectives embedded within media texts that influence how audiences perceive and interpret societal norms and issues. Ideologies often reinforce or challenge the dominant beliefs or the status quo (normality, what is accepted). Ideology then has links to audience positioning as a factor that determines how audiences are encouraged to respond to a specific text or to the mediation of an issue, the representation of a stereotype, etc. Task We are going to analyse The Big Issue cover below for the beliefs that have been encoded (preferred reading) and how the audience has been positioned to interpret and respond to them. We should consider: Ideology (political, but also social and cultural values) Audie...

   The Big Issue - Representation Starter Define Stuart Hall's representation theory. Consider the following: What does Hall mean be a re-presentation?  To what extent would Hall suggest that reality is constructed by the media? Define the relationship between the media and stereotypes. Repeated representations have the power to  shape ideologies  within society by  ' normalising ' certain behaviours.  Representations are ways of media producers to  create and maintain power structures   in society. Task Watch the Mrs Fisher video below and write down answers for the following questions: How and why does The Big Issue represent poverty and homelessness in the ways that it does? Which political ideology does The Big Issue align with and how might this typically be communicated through media language? How does Mrs Fisher suggest men and women are typically represented in The Big Issue? Task Analyse the following The Big Issue covers and write r...

   The Big Issue - Postmodernism Starter List three reasons  why  The Big Issue rebranded in 2021 and  what they did  to try and stand out. Task - Postmodernism Recap Works in Postmodernism tend to have an attitude of  rejection   or  irony   toward typically accepted narratives that have been cultivated over time. Define the term irony Provide an example of a narrative in society (Barthes 'myth') Postmodernism typically criticises long-held beliefs regarding objective reality, value systems, human nature, and social progress, to name a few. Postmodernism really took off in the 1980s. More media texts were becoming experimental and playing with typical genre conventions and narrative structures. The postmodernism of the 1990s in film, advertising & TV has established  intertextuality   as culturally expected in media texts. The extra  complexity   that intertextuality brings to a narrative can help meet the cultur...

  Postmodernism Starter What do you understand about the game 'Chinese Whispers'? 'Chinese whispers' demonstrates the idea of simulation; a message repeated across time and space that changes each time but is always accepted as truth. "We blindly accept simulations as fact...The scariest aspects of our new culture is the likes of Instagram and Tik Tok, which bombard us with simulations of the real, which we blindly accept as true..." Task 1 - Explore the article We are going to work our way through a Media Magazine article on Postmodernism and answer some questions as we go. Intro How do we define Modernism as a period of history? How does Postmodernism as another period of history build upon Modernism? What do we mean by 'death of the author'? Metatextuality What is metatextuality? Provide an example The Nature of Reality How does a mistrust of authority relate to the media? What does Baudrillard say about the distinction between the real and the imag...

  The Big Issue - Satire Starter Find a definition of satire and try to think of an example of this from the media you engage with. While satire is humorous,  its greater purpose is often  constructive  social criticism , using humour  to draw attention to both particular and wider issues in society. Satire is found in many artistic forms of expression, including internet memes, literature, plays, commentary,  music ,  film and television  shows, and media such as lyrics. Task - Satirical Representations Below are some clips from the Spitting Image franchise. Consider the following: In what ways might we consider these clips to be  satire ? What  gratifications  do shows like this offer their audience? Why do you think contemporary politics is one of the main areas of satirical representations that we see in The Big Issue? Liz Truss vs Rishi Sunak - Spitting Image Idiots Assemble: Spitting Image the Musical Task - Satire and The Big...

  The Big Issue - Textual Analysis Starter List some terminology that we would use during textual analysis. List all the conventions of a magazine that you can think of. TBI Conventions Masthead   - the title of the magazine Cover Image  -  the main image on the front page Featured Article -  the main story Tagline  - stands for the ethos of TBI as a charity, rather than just a magazine Image  - Often a use of illustrations, but photographs used too (challenges mainstream mags) Composition/Layout  - changes with every front cover, rather than having a standard layout that is recognisable as part of the magazines brand Mode of Address  - often encodes intertextual references to other media products or cultural traditions Puffs  - the shapes help to reinforce the theme of the issues and create coherence with the main image (aesthetic) Cover Lines  - they aren't always used and when they are, they are usually integrated into the main i...

  The Big Issue - History and Branding  Intro Magazines must be studied in relation to  media language and media representations , including a consideration of the social, cultural and political contexts that influence how media language is used to construct representations.  The Big Issue is a niche magazine outside the commercial mainstream. It provides a contrasting example of how the elements of the theoretical framework for media language can be used to construct  alternative representations than we see in the mainstream that appeal to particular audiences , including a consideration of the influence of the social, cultural and political contexts.  Learners must study  two front covers  of The Big Issue. Discussion Point To what extent can we perceive The Big Issue to be a solution to localised poverty, and do you think this can have an impact on global issues? Task - Branding On your own, bullet point some analysis of The Big Issue covers be...