Baseline assessment 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 writing, clear intros/conclusions and good question focus

EBI:

• Use paragraphs!!
• Alternative perspectives on 'WoW'-Less affected?
• more industry info for Q3

2) Focusing on the BBC Life Hacks question, write three ways it helps to fulfil the BBC's mission statement that you didn't include in your original assessment answer. Use the mark scheme for ideas.

• Either side of the advice segments, Life Hacks plays music from the Radio 1 playlist which
• provides entertainment for its audience. In addition, audiences may enjoy a sense of
• diversion and personal identity in listening to problems and advice that they can relate to.

3) Question two asked you how useful media effects theories are in understanding the audience response to War of the Worlds. Complete the following:

Gerbner's Cultivation theory: useful or not useful? Why?

• useful- to an extent
• The radio was relatively new media at the time so in terms of audiences being 'dependant' over a long period of time could be argued as not true but the fact that audiences were effectively succepted by WoW could suggest how easily dependant audiences became on radio 

Frankfurt School's Hypodermic Needle model: useful or not useful? Why?

• useful 
• This theory proved how audiences are susceptible to media content 
• i think that audiences were passive as they though that the radio was the best form of media producer so they believed everything that it came out with 

Stuart Hall's Reception theory: useful or not useful? Why?

• useful
• some people may have lisented ti the show in its entirety meaning they understood the dramatic purpose of it and didn't take it seriously 
• others did believe it was a real new broadcast which created the panic in the US 
• A  few thought they were the nazis who were infiltrating the us 

4) Write a full essay plan for the 25-mark Magazines question. The mark scheme contains plenty of ideas you can use here. Your plan should include notes/bullet points addressing the following:
Introduction: one sentence answering the original question and laying out your argument clearly.
Paragraph 1 content: introduction

• explain what type of magazine Mens Health is- mainstream  mens lifestyle magazine and talk about industry background
• explain what Oh Comely is - niche women/feminist magazine- independent etc...
• Talk about how they differ from each other in terms of target audience and content 
• Adress the main points in a summary 

Paragraph 2 content:

• Mens Health -
• Magazine offers a range of audience pleasures: Uses and Gratifications – personal identity and surveillance. Readers see their lives and ambitions reflected on the pages and are provided with solutions and workouts to achieve their goals.
•  Audiences feel part of the magazine, are rewarded for their knowledge and have their expectations met.
•  Men’s Health has moved with the changing face of masculinity while retaining elements of hyper masculinity. Five cover lines emphasise diet or weight loss
• gauntlett- masculinity in crisis
• butler- gender is a performance 
• Vin Diesel a strong central image – pose very deliberate to emphasise body shape. Delivering what Men’s Health readers expect.
•  Design emphasises value of offering – packed front cover suggests huge amount of content.
• Cover lines with ‘127’and ‘103’ also suggests a wealth of information inside.

•  Diversification has strengthened Men’s Health brand with move into home gym equipment
• and supplements.
•  Digital platforms offer a slightly different version of the brand to retain and expand audience– more ‘clickbait’ articles on sex and relationships plus motivational posts on Instagram. An
• attempt to bring in a younger audience?
Paragraph 3 content:

Paragraph 4 content:
 oh comely-

Oh Comely has a very strong, distinctive brand and clearly positions itself to attract an

• audience that perhaps wouldn’t buy other women’s lifestyle magazines. Content arguably reflects the interests of an educated, largely middle-class, feminist audience – gender fluidity, powerful women (‘Speaking Out’; ‘surprisingly strong things’),current issues (FGM, women in tech etc.)
•  Absence of men both in features and contributors may successfully target niche, feminist
• audience.
•  Applying Uses and Gratifications theory, Oh Comely provides a strong sense of personal
• identity, personal relationships and surveillance on issues not covered by mainstream media(e.g. FGM campaigner, performance poet etc.)
•  Could it be argued that Oh Comely is not as successful as it would like to think – very white and middle class, arguably still reinforces conventional women’s lifestyle topics
• Oh Comely reflects a changing media marketplace with small, independent producers finding gaps in the market to connect with niche audiences.
•  The Oh Comely target audience of ‘creative women who spend money on the things h  eylove’ arguably values print (particularly the thick, quality ‘art book’ style of Oh Comely) and therefore the magazine has been less hit by rise in digital publications. Unlike Men’s Health,
• Oh Comely was launched in the digital age. 
•  The internet has provided an opportunity for magazines like Oh Comely to find an audience (and contributors) and not need to rely on major institutions/publishers/distributors/retailers.
Paragraph 5 content:
• conclusion - sum up the essay in 2 sentences aswell as an overall evaluation 

5) Finally, identify three key skills/topics you want to work on in A Level Media this year before the final exams in June.

• time management 
• evaluation skills
• effective exam technique