ABC - Audit Bureau of Circulation - independent body which provides circulation figures of newspapers and magazines for advertisers
ABCE - Audit Bureau of Circulation Electronic - for electronic versions of above
Active audience - An audience who interact with the media product
Conglomorate - Large industrial corporation, usually involved in several different industries
Consumers - Term for media audiences which emphasises the commercial aspects of distribution and exhibition, thus production and CONSUMPTION of media texts
Convergence - Describes the comming together of previously seperate industries (computing, printing, film, audio etc which increasingly use the same or related technology and skilled workers.
Technological convergence - Describes the coming together of previously seperate technologies (computing, printing, video, film, telecomms etc)
Deregulation - The removal of government restrictions on media industries
Digital - Based on numerical information, distinguished from analogue
Distribution - How the product gets to the audience. Traditional vs digital. Distribution of online papers is via the Internet but it also available on different platforms i.e. mobile phone, text alerts, email. This is MULTI-PLATFORM distribution.
Globalisation - A process in which activities are organised on a global scale
Ideology - Shared ideas and values and how these ideas are related to the distribution of power in society. Media have a role in reinforcing or challenging the dominant ideology.
Institution - Used in media studies to refer to the social, cultural and political structures within which media production and consumption are constrained
Internet - The global 'network of networks' offering a range of services governed by different protocols, such as the World Wide Web, email etc
Liberalisation - the loosening of controls over media markets by governments
Market - The total of all the potential sellers and buyers for a particular product (and the number of products likely to be exchanged)
Marketing - The process of presenting a product to its target audience, the ways in which its positioned in its particular market
Mode of address - The way a text speaks to its audience
Moral panics - A sudden increase in concern about the possible 'effects' of media products
Multi-media - Referring to several traditionally seperate media being used together, e.g. sound, image and text on computers
Multi-platform - This can be interpreted as Multi-platform in terms of the convergence of different platforms i.e video, radio and telecomms and/or in terms of being distributed via different platforms i.e. Internet, mobile phone apps (API), podcasts, email, RSS feeds etc. Please try and distinguish which you are being asked to write about, if you can't then introduce explaining the there are two ways of understanding the term.
News agencies - Organisations which gather news stories and sell them to broadcasters and newspaper publishers
Niche Marketing - The idea that there are very small, but highly profitable markets which could support specialist advertising-led media products
NRS - National Readership Survey is teh organisation supplying information on UK readership of national papers and magazines
OFCOM - Regulator for the UK broadcasting and telecommunications industries
Passive Audience - An audience who do not/cannot interact with the media product
Production Practices - How is the product produced? Discuss new Guardian offices for example and the technology they have invested in to produce the multi-media, multi-platform guardian.co.uk
Public Relations (PR) Professional services promoting products by arranging opportunities for exposure in the media
Quality Press - The 'serious' newspapers - in the UK synonymous with broadsheet. Audience have a strong interest in politics and current affairs
Segment - To divide up a target audience into even more specialised groups which can be addressed by advertisers
Synergy - The combined marketing of products across different media and other products (in music, toys, Internet, and TV programmes, T-shirts, Theme Park rides and so on) which are often owned by the same corporation, such that the total effect is greater than the sum of the different parts
Technophobes - People who are afraid of new technology
Virtual - Something which is a representation rather than the real thing. 'Virtual Reality'
World Wide Web (WWW) The network of 'pages' of images, texts and sounds on the Internet which can be viewed using browswer software.
Mail Online: up nearly 75% year on year, and with monthly growth of more than 5%
Mail Online remained the most visited UK newspaper website in April, according to the latest figures from the Audit Bureau of Circulations Electronic published today.
Associated Newspapers' website network had just over 2.3 million average daily browsers during April, a 5.33% month on month and 74.5% year on year increase. Mail Online also became the first UK newspaper website to top 40 million monthly uniques in April.
Guardian.co.uk was again the second most popular national newspaper website, with just over 1.8 million average daily browsers, and Telegraph.co.uk third, with just under 1.6 million.
National newspaper websites now use an average of daily visitor numbers as their headline measurement figure as it is felt to be more representative than a monthly user figure.
Newspapers struggled with print revenues and circulations in 2010 but continued to set the news agenda. Photograph: Sang Tan
Printed newspapers may be going out of fashion but the national titles were at the forefront of setting the news agenda throughout the year. Yet they often relied on online disclosures by WikiLeaks. Three of the year's major stories – the Afghan and Iraq war logs, and the embassy cables – were the result of the leaked data put up on the net. This not only provided rich material, it enabled them to fill endless pages with comment about the ethics of publishing it. Newspapers do like to have their cake and eat it.
It was also noticeable that the election's transformative moment came courtesy of a TV debate in which Nick Clegg emerged as a political contender. However, it was newspapers' response that boosted Nick Clegg's public image. There is little doubt papers still carry considerable clout despite falling sales.
Indeed, with audiences building online, they arguably have more influence than ever before. That's the positive side. The negative is that print revenue fell further, leading to reductions in editorial budgets. The question asked continually was how to fund quality journalism. Some owners and editors showed a touching faith in apps' game-changing possibilities. Among them was Rupert Murdoch, who also boldly dared to go where no publisher had dared to go before by introducing charges for access to his papers' websites. Paywalls have since been the year's hottest topic within the industry.
By contrast, the Independent – having acquired a new owner, Alexander Lebedev – launched a cheap sister title, i. He also showed that another funding model, going free, could work with the London Evening Standard. But the overall picture for print has been anything but bright. Circulations continued to slip away, especially from the daily regional titles, and there were more closures of weeklies. But predictions of complete meltdown did not come to pass.
The Guardian Media Group resigned from regional publishing altogether, departing from its historic Manchester base to sell out to Trinity Mirror. There were further indications that the Daily Mail and General Trust is also eager to dispose of its regional division, Northcliffe., having held talks with Trinity. The other two major regional publishers, Johnston Press and Newsquest, faced increasing journalistic opposition to their costcutting strategies. Further consolidation can be expected. But all eyes will be on the Murdoch paywall results.
Prepare bullet points under each of the following headings to be ready for just about any question in the exam. All bullet points should refer to the Guardian with notes on the rest of the industry where relevant.
PRODUCTION PRACTICES (Traditional and New Media)
MARKETING (AUDIENCE TARGETING) and SYNERGY - By which methods do the Guardian advertise their product? Do they own any of these companies? Who do the Guardian work with in a mutually beneficial arrangement? Twitter? Apple?
DISTRIBUTION METHODS (Traditional and New Media) New media distribution is MULTI-PLATFORM i.e. it is distributed via the internet and available on the paper's website via a PC or a Mac but is is also distributed via the iPhone App, RSS feeds, text alerts, email, Twitter and Facebook. - this is not even a complete list!
EXCHANGE - what is the point of exchange?
PATTERNS OF AUDIENCE CONSUMPTION - (Who are the audience, circulation figures, unique users, how and why do they consume?)
CONVERGENCE/MULTI-MEDIA
INTERACTIVITY - What does the Guardian offer on different levels?
If you get a question on PRODUCTION and DISTRIBUTION you will be assessed on your ability to illustrate patterns of production, distribution, exchange and consumption through relevant case study examples and your own experiences as audiences.
You should cover the following material in your response to the question: • Production practices which allow texts to be constructed for specific audiences • Distribution and marketing strategies to raise audience awareness of specific products or types of products • The use of new technology to facilitate more accurate targeting of specific audiences • Audience strategies in facilitating or challenging institutional practices
All the info you need to prepare paragraphs on each of these is on the blog. Ensure you understand what is meant by PRODUCTION PRACTICES, DISTRIBUTION METHODS AND MARKETING STRATEGIES, EXCHANGE, CONSUMPTION
The only info available at this time is from the Jan 09 exam and you can find all the info at: http://www.ocr.org.uk/qualifications/type/gce/amlw/media_studies/documents/index.aspx - we've looked at this site before you'll recall.
Hopefully you might be able to shortcut the search by using these links:
Question Paper for Jan 09 http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/pp_09_jan/ocr_34833_pp_09_jan_gce_g322_01.pdf
Mark scheme for Jan 09 http://www.ocr.org.uk/download/ms_09/ocr_35065_ms_09_gce_jan.pdf
The question is always different but at least you have some idea of expectations here. We will of course cover all of this in revision but it may help your essay for Monday.
