Download Role of the Media

Role of the Media
Essay Planning
Role of the Media - Essay Planning
There are three roles of the media that you need to be able to
write about:
•
Meeting audience needs: entertain, educate, inform
•
Influencing attitudes and behaviours: intentional,
•
•
unintentional
Meeting particular purposes: profit, promotion, public
service
At Higher the Role of Media question is worth 20 marks. This means that 20%
of your overall grade is based on how well you do in this section.
Role of the Media
According to the mark scheme, you are expected to do three things:
a):
• Draw at least one conclusion which provides a judgement in
relation to terms of the question, connected to the evidence
presented, and provide reasons.
• Make points of discussion which debate TWO sides of an
argument, offer critical comment or develop a line of
argument/opinion
• Make points that communicate ideas and information on the role of
media. These points can include relevant issues, facts,
perspectives or theories.
b):
• Make detailed references to media content which develop or
exemplify points of information/ideas or discussion
• Make comments on the references which relate these to the
discussion
Role of the Media
To answer the role of the media question you need:
•
A range of texts to refer to (Axe/Lynx campaigns;
Dover Real Beauty campaign; other ads you have
looked at)
•
A range of potentially controversial issues to write
about – we have focussed on how the media
influences behaviour by perpetuating, maintaining,
and challenging dominant ideologies around gender
and sexuality
•
We have also looked at how this role of the media
can (or cannot) be justified by the other two (i.e.
meeting needs, achieving purposes)
Role of the Media Essay Planning
2015 exam question:
The Role of Media
All media content can be described as having been constructed to meet a particular
purpose. In some content there may be one, obvious purpose; in other content there
may be several purposes, some quite subtle.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied. In your response you
must:
(a) give detailed information or ideas about the role(s) of media referenced above,
and discuss this by giving some opinions, arguments or conclusions about it;
10
(b) give specific examples from media content which illustrate your information,
your ideas or your discussion.
10
Role of the Media Essay Planning
2015 exam question:
The Role of Media
All media content can be described as having been constructed to meet a particular
purpose. In some content there may be one, obvious purpose; in other content
there may be several purposes, some quite subtle.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied. In your response you
must:
(a) give detailed information or ideas about the role(s) of media referenced
above, and discuss this by giving some opinions, arguments or conclusions
about it;
10
(b) give specific examples from media content which illustrate your information,
your ideas or your discussion.
10
Role of the Media Essay Planning
Intro:
•
Address the question - What is the main purpose of advertising? (to make a profit
by promoting products - e.g. Lynx/Axe campaign - you can also refer to any of the
other adverts you have studied - see the notes from your presentations)
•
What other purposes can we identify? (some advertising also aims to promote
ideas / perform a public service - e.g. Dove “real beauty” campaign / any other
“public service” adverts you have looked at, e.g. the “Like a Girl” campaign)
•
What criticisms can be made of the way advertising aims to achieve these
purposes? (e.g. feminist criticisms of the way adverts represent women). In
discussing these criticisms, you should refer to the other roles of the media (i.e.
influencing behaviour, and meeting audience needs
•
Your essay will focus on looking at how these criticisms can be justified by looking
at two campaigns in particular (Lynx and Dove)
Role of the Media Essay Planning
Section 1 - harmful stereotypes of women
•
Look at how the Lynx campaign uses images of women to sell products. Introduce Laura
Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze to explain how the adverts commodify and fetishise women’s
bodies. Refer in detail to at least two of the ads you have studied. (You can also refer to any of
the other ads you have studied that create negative/fetishised representations of women). Briefly
analyse how they use framing, layout, graphics and text to create their representations, and how
these might be expected to appeal to their target audiences.
•
Explain a feminist perspective on these adverts (as argued by Jean Kilbourne - what does she
claim is the result of this kind of advertising?)
•
Explain a libertarian perspective on these adverts (you can refer to John Wright if you want to, or
you can make the case more generally in terms of the libertarian idea that advertisers should be
free to sell products in any way they choose, just as audiences are free to ignore them …)
•
Explain how these perspectives reflect different theories about Audience reactions to Media
content? i.e. the feminist perspective might seem to have more in common with passive theories
such as the hypodermic needle model and the two-step flow model, whereas the libertarian view
might fit better with the uses and gratifications model.
Role of the Media Essay Planning
Section 2:
•
Look at the Dove Real Beauty campaign - how does it aim to
challenge harmful stereotypes about women’s bodies and selfimage? Refer in detail to at least two adverts to support your
analysis. You can also refer here to other ads that aim to challenge
stereotypes (e.g. Always - “Like a Girl”)
•
How would feminists like Jean Kilbourne respond to ads like these?
•
What criticisms can be made of them? (refer to the kind of points
made by some of the articles about Dove’s campaigns in your
handout; and to the fact that these are still adverts, aiming to sell
products; and that, Dove, like Lynx, is owned by Unilever, so that
ultimately they are both the same company)
Role of the Media - Essay Planning
Section 3 and Conclusion:
•
•
You need to come to a conclusion about the ways that advertising represents women to
achieve its purposes. Think about questions like:
•
Can advertisers justify using sexist images on the grounds that they are meeting their audiences’
needs?
•
Do advertisers simply reflect the attitudes of the society around them, or do they help to create them i.e. is the recent spate of “politically correct” advertising (by Dove, Always, and even by Lynx in their
latest campaigns) simply responding to changing adverts, or can it really create and lead social
change?
•
Can audiences' attitudes to sex and gender be influenced unconsciously by images such as those in
the Lynx campaigns, or does this assume audiences are more naive and passive than is really the
case?
•
What difference does it make to our assessment of the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign that we know it
is ultimately funded by the same company that funds Lynx adverts?
You can agree/disagree with any of the perspectives/theories you have discussed, or come
up with your own - the important thing is that you come to some sort of conclusion of your
own
Role of the Media
Specimen paper
The media is consistently criticised as being intrusive, out of control or
problematic in some other way. Often, the response from the media
is that it is simply fulfilling its role of meeting the needs of its
audiences.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied. In your
response you must:
(a)
(b)
give detailed information or ideas about the role of media
referenced above, and discuss this by giving some opinions,
arguments or conclusions about it
10
give specific examples from media content which illustrate the
information, ideas or discussion.
10
Role of the Media
Specimen paper
The media is consistently criticised as being intrusive, out of control
or problematic in some other way. Often, the response from the
media is that it is simply fulfilling its role of meeting the needs of
its audiences.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied. In your
response you must:
(a)
(b)
give detailed information or ideas about the role of media
referenced above, and discuss this by giving some opinions,
arguments or conclusions about it
10
give specific examples from media content which illustrate the
information, ideas or discussion.
10
Audience Question
Intro:
• Address the question by discussing briefly –
•
•
•
•
What audience needs does advertising claim to meet?
(Entertainment? Information? Education
What problems can we identify with advertising? (representations of
gender can be seen as harmful to society)
What perspectives are relevant to this? (feminist;
capitalist/libertarian)
Your essay will focus on looking at whether advertising can justify its
actions by looking at two campaigns in particular (Lynx and Dove)
Audience Question
•
Section 1
•
Look at how the Lynx campaign uses images of women to sell products. Explain the target
audience and their needs.
•
Introduce Laura Mulvey’s theory of the male gaze to explain how the adverts commodify
and fetishise women’s bodies. Refer in detail to at least two of the ads you have studied.
(You can also refer to any of the other ads you have studied that create negative/fetishised
representations of women). Briefly analyse how they use framing, layout, graphics and text
to create their representations, and how these might be expected to appeal to their target
audiences.
•
Explain a feminist perspective on these adverts (as argued by Jean Kilbourne - what does
she claim is the result of this kind of advertising?)
•
Explain a libertarian perspective on these adverts (you can refer to John Wright if you want
to, or you can make the case more generally in terms of the libertarian idea that advertisers
should be free to sell products in any way they choose, just as audiences are free to ignore
them …)
•
Explain how these perspectives reflect different theories about Audience reactions to Media
content? i.e. the feminist perspective might seem to have more in common with passive
theories such as the hypodermic needle model and the two-step flow model, whereas the
libertarian view might fit better with the uses and gratifications model. Can adverts justify
these representations in terms of their audiences’ needs?
Audience Question
Section 2:
•
Look at the Dove Real Beauty campaign - how does it aim to challenge
harmful stereotypes about women’s bodies and self-image? What
audience needs does this campaign aim to meet?
•
Refer in detail to at least two adverts to support your analysis. You can
also refer here to other ads that aim to challenge stereotypes (e.g. Always
- “Like a Girl”)
•
How would feminists like Jean Kilbourne respond to ads like these?
•
What criticisms can be made of them? (refer to the kind of points made by
some of the articles about Dove’s campaigns in your handout; and to the
fact that these are still adverts, aiming to sell products; and that, Dove, like
Lynx, is owned by Unilever, so that ultimately they are both the same
company)
Role of the Media - Essay Planning
Section 3 and Conclusion:
•
•
You need to come to a conclusion about whether the ways that advertising represents women can
be justified in terms of audience needs. Think about questions like:
•
Do advertisers simply reflect the attitudes of the society around them, or do they help to create them - i.e. is
the recent spate of “politically correct” advertising (by Dove, Always, and even by Lynx in their latest
campaigns) simply responding to changing social attitudes, or can it really create and lead social change?
•
Can audiences' attitudes to sex and gender be influenced unconsciously by images such as those in the Lynx
campaigns, or does this assume audiences are more naive and passive than is really the case?
•
What difference does it make to our assessment of the Dove “Real Beauty” campaign that we know it is
ultimately funded by the same company that funds Lynx adverts?
You can agree/disagree with any of the perspectives/theories you have discussed, or come up with
your own - the important thing is that you come to some sort of conclusion of your own
Role of the Media
Exemplar Paper
It has been argued that whether we are happy to admit it or
not, the media influences our behaviours and attitudes.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied.
In your response you should:
(a) give detailed information or ideas about the role of media
referenced above, and discuss this by giving some opinions,
arguments or conclusions about it
10
(b) give specific examples from media content which illustrate
your information, ideas or discussion
10
Role of the Media
Exemplar Paper
It has been argued that whether we are happy to admit it or
not, the media influences our behaviours and attitudes.
Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied.
In your response you should:
(a) give detailed information or ideas about the role of media
referenced above, and discuss this by giving some opinions,
arguments or conclusions about it
10
(b) give specific examples from media content which illustrate
your information, ideas or discussion
10
Influencing Attitudes /
Behaviours question
•
How would you plan to answer this question ...?