MEST 3 PPE LR

1)  Section A

Q1: Handwriting is a real problem as it is difficult to make out your points.

Q2: Not enough focus on the question about audiences. Need to talk more about media products or values and beliefs. No real focus on the Q1 debate.

Q3: This is a good start but just not enough for a 12 mark question. Time management would need to be improved.

Section B

Q6: Page 5 - Need to link Marxist perspective to question. Lacks question focus in the second half - drifts away from institutional survival. Marxism could be argued against the suggestion that traditional institutions would face a struggle to survive. Handwriting is difficult to read.  

2) In this PPE, I failed to meet my target grade which suggests that more work would be needed so that it could improve. I was 6 marks off the next grade and 16 off my desired grade.

3) Potential points made in Question 1: 

-Use of differing production values

-Use of interviews involving residents in New Era Estate    

Question 2:

-None was made

Question 3:

-Didn't make any points in regards to what the examiner would've suggested. 

4) Strongest Section A question:  Q1. This would be because of how it compares the texts. However, this still wouldn't be a solid answer which means that there would still be work needed to be done. 

5) Weakest Section A question: The weakest would have to be Q2. This would be because of the lack of focus that is present by straying away from the question. When the question had focused on product, I had instead started to talk about audience which has no relation to the question.

6) Could've mentioned the historical roles of media producers which could've developed the answer about the survival of institutions. As well as that perspective of traditional media in my answer to focus on a Marxist perspective that goes against the question.

7) For question 1, I would argue that it isn't the best however it didn't fall victim to the issue that some of the students by not looking into media language techniques. 

Question 2 has had a lack of question focus so therefore it has a lack of focus since it drifted away from the focus on products and instead focused on audiences briefly which would harm credibility on the question. 

8)

Question 2 LR

Media products are used to try and make their audience set values and beliefs would be through authenticity. A majority of news sites that are verified on Twitter would be considered trustworthy. However, some made up look a like news twitter pages look authentic so therefore this would mean that there is still some aspect of trying to make products such as a fake twitter page appear believable. 

In addition to this, since fake news isn't verified until days later by an expert, a twitter post looks like any other so unless it is verified, it is uncertain to check and see whether or not this is a good story as it could be a fake story that is tailored to the audience. An example would be the bad stories which surround President Donald Trump. This would be because it is tailored to a liberal perspective that makes it more encouraging to them.

Furthermore, American late night shows that cover Trump's Presidency would also be covered in a more liberal perspective which would also present how it would present their beliefs onto their audience by humouring President Trump due to the increased number of issues that are present in the Affordable Care Act which has made it more from the Republican perspective. This can highlight how an audience can be influenced into having more liberal or left-wing opinions in politics. Especially since the recent controversy between former FBI Director James Comey and how late night hosts presents the negative side of the Trump Administration. This could be argued as a Marxist perspective since it is using what the majority of what their audience opinions are in politics to further encourage audiences to believe in their opinions. This is due to how it can be presented with the two-step flow model and how late-night hosts such as Stephen Colbert influence their audience by dumbing down recent event that have occured.

Section B Practice

Does your case study suggest that new and digital media have had a positive impact by offering audiences a more diverse range of values and ideologies?

The case studies that have been investigated is how new and digital media have impacted the news and gaming industry. This had had a positive impact with newspapers now being more available to the audience. However, it has had a negative impact on the gaming industry due to how it isn't as diverse with the western perspective always being presented in many story modes in games.

Citizen journalism has been both positive and a negative impact on a diverse array of values and ideologies. It has had a positive impact because of how it now present real footage and presents the perspective of an audience member on the scene so it doesn't really require many journalists to be on scene reporting the story as there would be recorded evidence of what has happened. Examples would be events such as Eric Garner's case as he was put in a choke-hold that didn't allow him to breathe which had further presented the controversy of black people getting killed by the police which had started off the Black Lives Matter campaign to go against the police brutality that has been demonstrated. There has also been recorded footage of the Ferguson riots which had presented the damage that the rioters have caused which have further lead to more conflicts between the police and the Black Lives Matter group. In addition to this, there would also be the influence it has on the news agenda as this would present the truth of wrongdoing as how the footage could shape how the news broadcast team would report on the story and what perspective they would take. This would be present with the Death of Gadafi which had recorded all the carnage that the rioters have caused his death which would presenter the rioters as freedom fighters which would go onto orientalism with Said as to how the west would speak for the east in a way that western broadcasters represent what is happening.

Distribution and consumption of the news have had a positive impact on values and ideologies. For distribution, it has offered audiences a wide array of methods for the news as it can be accessed online or broadcasted to an audience with 24-hour news channels dedicated to covering news as it is reported to live. In addition to this, there would also be the benefit of having the news be made readily available on a global scale. Thus can offer a wide range of values and beliefs for an audience to choose from since it will present a variety of opinion on political debates due to how many sources are there for the audience to choose from. Thus would add with the free and instant access to news which has made accessing a wide array of opinions easier. However, it has made journalism go downhill due to the freedom that the audiences have. This would be because of how being a journalist isn't as rewarding as it used to be. This would be because of how Clay Shirky has also said that "its a wonderful time to be a corrupt politician" due to the downgrade in quality journalism.

The volume of news has also increased over time due to the easy access of the new and digital media and so Alain de Botton's comments about a huge volume of news are so great that audiences can't distinguish what is real. This would really disadvantage the audience as this would be because of how there isn't any research done prior. Especially in this age where fake news has become a political threat, this idea of a hyper-reality refers back to Bauldriad's idea of an audience not being able to see what is real. This would be because of the wide range of opinions that are present online and the race to try and make the opposing political party look bad with algorithms being messed with for the audience which can allow the trending page of any social media platform such as YouTube to highlight fake news which would be believed to be real. This would be due to the clickbait that many news stories use to try and make a user click on the site. This is a cheap way to tease the audience by making an obnoxious title that goes against the beliefs of the user so that they can click on it. 

A Marxist perspective of this would be that the elites still control the audiences due to how clickbait is used to manipulate an audience which leads to the hypodermic needle model which presents the audience as passive. This would be because of how a diverse range of views and values is an illusion. This would be because of how there is censorship. In the past, before the LGBT community was accepted into society, their views were silenced due to their controversy and so this has once again repeated recently when there aren't any LGBT community videos showing up on YouTube's restricted mode suggesting that there is hegemony in what is considered acceptable and common sense. Especially how YouTube has been demonetising YouTubers due to how it isn't advertiser-friendly which presents how the elites still have control and so the status quo hasn't been challenged.

Globalisation has been a benefit to a diverse range of opinions because this means that news from around the world can be accessed instantly. This would be very beneficial as this means that people can voice their opinions about worldwide topics which mean that audiences are offered opinions as well as sharing them. This would then support McLuhan's "global village" as this presents the news as being shared globally for an audience to present their views. This has however made some disadvantages as local news has either died or has declined in quality. An example of this would be the Newcastle local paper and how it had reported on seagulls. This has, therefore, had a lack of lack local oversight which might lead to the increase in the potential political corruption.

In conclusion, I think that there is a positive impact for an audience due to the diverse range of opinions and ideologies. This would then lead to audiences being exposed to a wide range of opinions which benefits the pluralist's view. However, it has come at a great cost of quality in terms of journalism which would mean that values and beliefs of the audience are being manipulated. But for the most part, there is a wide range of sources which can give the audience the equipment to double check the story to see if it is true or not. 

Presentation

MEST3: Section A Revision Task

Task 1: List 10 stories/debates/examples that you could use for the Identities and the Media question. 

• Everyday Sexism
• Social media can be a pretty ugly place if you're a woman in politics
• Trump's groping boasts inspire thousands of women to share sexual assault stories on Twitter
• Journalists win 'ending violence against women' awards
• The nun harnessing Twitter to spread her message to the masses
• Gone Too Far Blogpost 
• Ellen coming out 20th Aniversary
• Twitter's racial outburst upon The Force Awakens reveal
• Chineese Censorship
• Black Lives Mater Campaign

Task 2: List 10 stories/debates/examples that you could use for the New/Digital Media question.

• Film and TV streaming and downloads overtake DVD sales for first time
• #DeleteUber: how social media turned on Uber
• Daily Mail group refuses to rule out sale of newspaper titles
• UK media chiefs called in by minister for talks on fake news
• Popular newspapers suffer greater circulation falls than qualities
• Moral panic over fake news hides the real enemy – the digital giants
• Platforms v creators: the battle for the internet economy
• Facebook hires TV journalist Campbell Brown as media liaison after fake news fallout
• Ofcom report: how news consumption has changed
• Fake news clampdown: Google gives €150,000 to fact-checking projects

Independent Case Study

The basics

Your chosen industry:

Video Games

Your chosen case study (i.e. text/institution etc.):

DICE 

Have you received approval for this case study from your teacher? Yes/No

Yes

Audience

1) How has new and digital media changed the audience experience in your chosen industry?

New and digital Media have changed the audience experience as now players can share game-play of highlights from the matches that they play in. 

2) Has new and digital media changed the way the audience consume your chosen product?

Ever since NDM has been around, digital copies have been offered to customers to use with incentives that would make them want to purchase the product. Pre-Orders have been available with early access being made available to those who pre-order certain versions of the game. In this case with Battlefield 1, they had an Early Enlister Edition which gave players who pre-orders this to have 3 days early access.

3) Has the size of the audience changed as a result of new and digital media?

The audience over time has increased with many people being introduced to these games through the trailers that are produced and distributed into YouTube prior to a video so that audiences are aware of Battlefield 1. 

4) What are the positive changes new and digital media have brought to the audience of your case study? (E.g. greater choice, easier access etc.)

The positive changes that this has done is bring in possible careers with YouTubers making content based off the game and updating the player base about what content will be coming out soon. It's like a news channel only this time its main focus is on Battlefield 1 and the updates that come out on a monthly basis.

5) What are the negative changes new and digital media have had on your chosen audience? (E.g. quality of product etc.)

The negative changes would be the quality of the content that is available. The DLC content that is put behind a pay wall is considered a bad move since this would mean thatnot all the contewnt would be playable over time as there would be fewer players that will have access to this making it harder to play these specific maps as not everyone would've purchased the DLC.

6) What about audience pleasures - have these changed as a result of new and digital media? 

Audience Pleasures have changed over time as not only will content creators make videos for those that own the game, but it can also be seen a a form of entertainment for any gamer since they would feature entertaining content such as display of skill with highlights and in live streams where people can see live gameplay as well as feature a chat where people can ask the live streamer questions that could be answered.

7) What is the target audience for your chosen case study? Write a demographic/psychographic profile.

18-35, however, this can be lowered to about 15 as younger players do tend to want to play first person shooters. Mainstreamer M65/35F C12DE.

Institution

1) How has new and digital media had an impact on ownership or control in your chosen industry?

EA has always published games such as FIFA, Battlefield and various other games. However these games can be easily pirated online. This can suggest that NDM has had a great impact on the ownership since people can just illegally purchase the game. 

2) What impact has new and digital media had on ownership in your chosen case study?

The NDM has had an impact on Battlefield 1 since Battlefield developers have placed Easter Eggs that are hard to find in the game. Since the NDM can offer social media for the audience to communicate with, this would mean that it would bring in community. Especially since the Easter egg hunts tend to be on the additional content, this might mean that this is a way to entice the audience to get the season pass so that all players are in the Easter egg hunt.  

3) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions produce texts?

Now that pre-orders have become a more frequent occurrence, this has led to DICE to introducing extra content to make an audience pre-order. As well as that review embargos are also another method that EA would use to make sure that that the games that DICE develop. This could be so that bad reviews don't harm sales as bad press might mean that the game isn't purchased as much.  

4) How has new and digital media changed the way institutions distribute their product?

With New and Digital Media in mind, this would mean that the game is digitally available for purchase so that people can own and download the game on up to 3 consoles. As well as that recent addition to the current game consoles such as the PS4 offer a service known as "Share Play" which would let the player stream their game to let someone try out the game for 1 hour. Timed Trials have also been another aspect that has allowed for the game to be available as players can also access games such as Battlefield 4 for up to 4 hours. In addition to this there is also the online betas which are early builds for the game before launch to test for any bugs and glitches so that it is fixed and ready for launch.

5) How might new and digital media threaten your chosen industry?

New and Digital Media might threaten the industry as anything that is considered controversial, the community would tend to reflect this by not buying games. And so this would mean that it would have a negative effect on the audience. 

6) How has new and digital media changed the way your chosen industry is regulated? 

This has changed how the industry is regulated as thy would have to keep with community guidelines in YouTube to make sure that the trailers that they produce are of a good standard and that they aren't too gruesome that YouTube would be cocerned about. However since games like Battlefield 1 take place in WW1, this would mean that they would have to age gate their videos as this game simulates violence based on The Great War. 


UGC

1) What examples of user-generated content can you find in your case study?

Examples of user-generated content would be livestreams with YouTube and Twitch.tv which are both dedicated livestream platforms that people use to watch live gameplay from people. Especially in competitive play as live streams from ESL in regards to Battlefield tends to be Seasonal so that audiences can view gameplay from an expert perspective since these events tend to highlight professional standard. In addition to this there is also the walk-through of games and lets plays. This aspect has affected games such as the TellTale Games to have a community option to let audiences in the live stream to vote for which approach is preferable which can highlight creativity for the audience.

2) How has UGC changed things for audiences or institutions in your chosen case study?

UGC has changed what an audience can do in the video gaming industry as thre is potential for the Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1) What would be a Marxist perspective of the impact of new and digital media on your chosen case study?

The Marxist perspective would be that with these micro transactions in video games, it has further caused games to incorporate extra content that is sold separate which causes the content in games to be lacking in amount compared to previous years.  

2) How would a pluralist view the impact of new and digital media in your chosen industry?

A pluralist view would be that the impact on digital media would be that now there are new careers to be made from competitive play on live-streams as there are events such as ESL where it would host competitive events for a big prize of money ranging at £100,000.


Globalisation

1) How has globalisation impacted on your chosen industry or case study?

Globalisation has impacted the video game industry with examples such as Call of Duty Online rumoured to have a global release since its currently a Chinese only online game.

2) In your opinion, has globalisation had a positive or negative impact on your chosen industry and case study? Why?

Globalisation has had a positive influence on the gaming market since it has allowed various games to have seasonal events as well as micro transactions to make it more appealing to a wide variety of players which means that there is content that many people will enjoy with a wide variety t choose from.

3) Can you find examples of cultural imperialism in your case study or industry? (The 'Americanisation' of the world)

Selling games such as Call of Duty and Battlefield around the world to further present the American Soldier to a wide audience around the world.
Social media

1) How has your industry or case study used social media to promote its products?

The industry has used social media in a cryptic way. Examples would include the teases of "The Frozen Forest" in Black Ops III which was the main focus of the story. As well as that, social media has also been used to tease and highlight what will be revealed with live stream events being announced on Twitter.

2) Provide examples of how your case study has used social media and explain the impact this would have on audiences.

DICE have used social media as a way for them to tease what they've been doing over time as well as present what new content is ready for their players.

3) Is social media an opportunity or a threat to your industry and case study?

Social Media has been used to spread negative ideas about the game or to be able to speak out about controversy with Activision's choice to lock the Modern Warfare Remastered game away from players old and new with a paywall.


Statistics

1) What statistics can you find to illustrate the impact new and digital media has had on your industry or case study? For example, in news, the UK newspaper industry sold more than 12m copies a day in 2001 but in 2014 it was below 7m.

• 13.3 million players on the Battlefield 1 beta
• Value of the video game market in the U.S. in 2017: 18.4bn USD
• U.S. video game industry hardware revenue in March 2017: 0.49bn USD
• Nintendo - the most recognized gaming brand in the U.S. in 2016: 65%
• Shooter genre sells most video games in the U.S. in 2015: 27.5%

2) Looking at these statistics, what impact has new/digital media had on institutions in your chosen industry? 

NDM has had a big impact on the way in which it has spread awareness for an audience to be very aware of what has happened.

3) What has the impact been for audiences? These may be positive and negative.

This has been a positive impact since the audience is very positive since this would show what the audience represents. Theories

1) What media theories can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media theories and explain how they are relevant to your case study. Note: these can be ANY of the theories we have learned over the whole of Year 12 and 13.

Hypodermic Needle Syringe - Audience is more desensitised to the content that games have.

Dyers Lines of Appeal - What people prefer and how the audience would use the content.

Uses and Gratification: How the audience uses the content. 
Issues/debates

1) What media issues and debates can you apply to your chosen industry and case study? Select THREE media issues/debates and explain how they are relevant to your case study.

Islamophobia: FPS games have been accused of desensitising an audience. Especially since the mission "No Russian" simulated an attack which had further made video games appear more than just a game and rather a simulation.

Gransci: Games such as Doom have included a map editor which can allow consumers to be creative with the designs and put them on the game rather than the developers doing all the creative work.

Postcolonialism: Games have become more and more graphic along with depictions of war being more action packed rather than exploring the cost of war like some games such as Spec Ops: The Line.
Wider examples and secondary texts

1) What other texts or institutions are also relevant to your case study? What would be good secondary texts or examples to use to support the findings of your independent case study?

Activision - Publisher that distributes various games such as Destiny, Call of Duty and many more.

NDM Stories

#1 Broadcasters warned against using children's photographs from social media sites
#2 Facebook and Twitter join coalition to improve social media newsgathering
#3 Meet Snapchat's 'dudeocracy' of talent
#4 BBC Radio 1 aims to be 'Netflix of music radio' with phone-first strategy
#5 Rinstagram or Finstagram? The curious duality of the modern Instagram user
#6 Facebook inflated video viewing times for two years
#7 Twitter pays £1.24m in UK tax as revenues increase by 30.5%
#8 Ad-blockers: are publishers tempted to feed the hand that bites them?
#9 I'm with you on the digital revolution, it's the lack of journalism I can't face
#10 Trump's groping boasts inspire thousands of women to share sexual assault stories on Twitter
#11 Social media can be a pretty ugly place if you're a woman in politics
#12 Newspaper websites suffer post-Olympic dip as print sales hold steady
#13 Local newspaper content too full of listicles and clickbait - lecturer
#14 Lessons to be learned as the Buenos Aires Herald goes weekly
#15 The new social: brands are embracing private sharing
#16 Invasion of the troll armies: from Russian Trump supporters to Turkish state stooges
#17 Facebook faces calls for greater transparency amid 'fake news' row
#18 Twitter suspends American far-right activists' accounts
#19 Fake news clampdown: Google gives €150,000 to fact-checking projects
#20 Platforms v creators: the battle for the internet economy
#21 The nun harnessing Twitter to spread her message to the masses
#22 Journalists win 'ending violence against women' awards
#23 Putin brings China's Great Firewall to Russia in cybersecurity pact
#24 The Financial Times passes another major digital milestone
#25 BuzzFeed publishes unsubstantiated Trump report, raising ethics questions
#26 Snapchat shares soar 44% to value loss-making company at $28bn
#27 Snapchat cracks down on risque images and fake news
#28 #DeleteUber: how social media turned on Uber
#29 Film and TV streaming and downloads overtake DVD sales for first time
#30 Snapchat to set up main international hub in UK
#31 UK media chiefs called in by minister for talks on fake news
#32 Why is Mail Online going after the fact checkers?
#33 Obama is worried about fake news on social media – and we should be too
#34 Twitter suspends 235,000 accounts in six months for promoting terrorism
#35 Daily Mail group refuses to rule out sale of newspaper titles
#36 Facebook to begin flagging fake news in response to mounting criticism
#37 Facebook hires TV journalist Campbell Brown as media liaison after fake news fallout
#38 Moral panic over fake news hides the real enemy – the digital giants
#39 Popular newspapers suffer greater circulation falls than qualities
#40 The real secret of Chinese internet censorship? Distraction
#41 You don’t have to act like a newspaper on the net
#42 Fake news needs real press self-regulation
#43 Reddit bans far-right groups altright and alternativeright
#44 Twitter loses ad revenue despite gaining 2 million users and Trump 'boost'
#45 Finstagram – a secret Instagram account to post ugly selfies
#46 Fake news inquiry to review social networks' complaints procedures
#47 Facebook and Twitter should do more to combat fake news, says GCHQ
#48 Paperback fighter: sales of physical books now outperform digital titles
#49 Teach schoolchildren how to spot fake news, says OECD
#50 Facebook staff mount secret push to tackle fake news, reports say

Weekly Stories: The real secret of Chinese internet censorship? Distraction

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/jan/22/chinese-internet-censorship-uses-distraction

This article talks about the censorship that the Chinese would have and how this would make sure that their citizens know enough but not too much to the point that it would give them ideas. This would be their way of trying to avoid any riots as this would make sure that there is no disagreement with the Chinese as there would be less information that they would know to argue against since the majority of the citizens wouldn't know anything else besides the government approved information which may be biased.

In my opinion, although this can try and make sure that people aren't willing to try and create a protest, this style of censorship isn't giving the reader what would be considered acceptable. The citizens aren't gonna be able to see what is good or bad as they would be given what is considered good or bad.