New & Digital Media Case Study Booklet.docx
MEST 3: The Impact of New & Digital Media Case Study
STUDENT NAME:Zainab Aljawahiri
TEACHER: Mr Bush
In A2 MEST 3 you will study two distinct topics, ‘Representation’ and ‘The Impact of New & Digital Media’. For each topic you will each be required to produce an individual case study of your own choice (the exam board does not permit groups of students to have the same focus). Your ‘New & Digital Media’ case study must examine the impact of new and digital media on another aspect of media production, exhibition and/or distribution on one or more platforms. This case study will be in addition to the teacher led case study you will do in class regarding ‘The Impact of New & Digital Media on News’. Your own choice of case study topic must not duplicate what you have learned in class and gender/ representation of women in any genre of text and/or platform and the study of News and Digital Media are therefore not permissible as topics for an individual case study. You will be able to (and should) refer to both the teacher led and your own study in the MEST 3 exam (Section B) to demonstrate a range of examples and application of a range of theories, issues and debates as applicable to the question set. This will be worth 60% of your A2 exam grade.
MEST 4 NOTE OF CAUTION: Please also be aware that as you are studying ‘Representation’ and ‘The Impact of New & Digital Media on News’ in this unit you are not permitted to use representation or digital media and news as a main focus for your MEST 4 Critical Investigation (2,000 word study with linked production). There is scope however to cover the concept of representation but from a different angle e.g. the investigation title ‘Magazines are a site of contention regarding ideologies of body image’ covers the contentious representations of women and body image but these are explored in this study through the key concept of ideology, exploring what ideologies are constructed by the media representations, how they are constructed and why the ideologies which are formed from these representations are an issue in contemporary society. The word representation must not therefore appear in your investigation title.
New and Digital media includes: The internet (web, email, VoIP, chat), mobile telephony (txt, 3G, smart phones), gaming, new media technologies like MP3, High Definition, PVRs (Sky+, Freeview+ etc.)
You could in this unit for example carry out a case study of a chosen new media area e.g. Youtube or Wikipedia. Within this you might study a variety of new/digital technologies over the period of a term such as the impact of mobile phones and the changing modes of consumption of media products that are a consequence of such developing technology, or the impact of social networking sites on the internet such as MySpace. This would allow you to investigate a variety of media issues and debates such as globalisation, ownership and control and the digital revolution and its consequent effect on production and exhibition. Candidates might consider how new technologies affect the way we consume (and produce) media products and therefore affect the ways that media products are produced, distributed and exhibited. They could widen this approach to study the impact of new media across different media platforms. You will also consider the changing role of audiences and the decline of the mass audience in the new interactive age, and how this mainly affects media institutions now and in the future.
EXAMPLE: A CASE STUDY OF YOUTUBE
A case study of Youtube might look at a variety of issues all linked with the list above but would also examine the nature of the site, its content, the implications of a medium where we are all producers of media texts, the debate over whether a site such as Youtube is part of a democratisation of the media or whether media institutions have forestalled the power of the audience by purchasing such sites. There are also considerable implications for all media producers (and audiences) in the sense that now, it can be argued, creators of media products can control the distribution and exhibition of their own products.
How will I use this case study in an exam?
Here are some examples of typical exam questions on the topic of new and digital media:
- “Digital media have, in many ways, changed how we consume media products.” Who do you think benefits most – audiences or producers?
- “Media institutions are right to feel threatened by new/digital media.” Consider this statement and show how media institutions are reacting to technological developments.
- The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. Discuss the arguments for and against this view.
- “The new generation of UK media power players are going stratight to their audience via the web” www.mediaguardian.co.uk Monday July 14 2008. How have media institutions responded to the opportunities offered by new/digital media?
- Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?
- Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the challenge posed by new/digital media?
Step One - Generating Topic Ideas for Individual Case Studies:
A study of the impact of new and digital media on………
- Music promotion and the charts
TV broadcasting
- Advertising
The media and democracy
- The role of the distributor and exhibitor
The internet & social networking sites
- The role of media institutions
Now try brainstorming a few of your own……..
- The idea of becoming too thin and the impact that magazines have on this
Social networking sites and addictive behaviour on teenagers
- The use of Blackberry and Iphone as a teaching tool in schools
How has technology changed in the last 3 years ?
- The gadget show – how has it coped with new technologies and the promotions used .
The influence of violent cartoons on child psychology .
- The need for make-up at a young age and the impact of peer group pressure on this .
How have institutions coped with film technologies and the way its implemented .
Step Two: Identifying relevant theories/ issues & debates
Some well known theories/ issues and debates on the topic of new and digital media include:
- Hegemony
- Marxism
- Pluralism
- Cultural Imperialism
- Globalisation
- Post-colonialism
Use the table below to help you gather information and sources on each of the theorists/ issues and debates above and identify those relevant for your study. You may find additional theorists and/or issues of your own which you wish to refer to and should also include these below:
| Theorist/ issue or debate | Topic Covered | Book/ Publication/ Online source | Key Quotes |
| Theorist/ issue or debate | Topic Covered | Book/ Publication/ Online source | Key Quotes |
Write here what your case study will involve. Remember it should be about the impact of new and digital media on.......
Research into gadgets and how they have changed over the last 5 years .
Ipod
Blackberry
Ipad
Macbooks
Intel company
Gadget show – how they adapted to rise in new technologies .
Explain why you have chosen this topic and why you think this will be a rich area for study.
Potential to explore a wide range of theories ,issues and debates within the contemporary landscape
Identify at least three media texts/ products that you will use as your primary sources of evidence to demonstrate the impact of new and digital media in your topic area.
| TEXT | PLATFORM (broadcast, print, e-media) Broadcast Emedia – website http://fwd.channel5.com/gadget-show Print – gadget show magazine | YEAR OF PRODUCTION June 2004-present June 2004-present June 2010 . |
UGC .
Hegemony
Liberal Pluralism
Hypodermic Syringe
Blumer and Katz
Approval by teacher and comments:
Signed:
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