Supreme Pack of

media past questions

Notes on How to Use the Supreme Pack of Past Questions:

As you go through the pack, you will notice that the question structure and value will vary. The new syllabus questions, which you will be undertaking, started January, 2010.

The current exam structure goes like this:

9 – Will be a 9 mark question which will require you to identify and describe three concepts.10 – Will be an 18 mark question. This is broken down into 6 marks for AO1 (identification and description) and 12 AO2 (evaluation and analysis). 11 – A 33 mark essay which is broken into 15 marks for AO1 and 18 marks for AO2.Or12 - A 33 mark essay which is broken into 15 marks for AO1 and 18 marks for AO2.

The old syllabus questions have more short answer questions which we advise you to attempt in order to maintain your knowledge of key concepts and issues within the topic.

You are able to treat the 20 mark questions as either an 18 mark question, or a 33 mark essay.

Media Past Questions

June 2002(a) Explain what is meant by a ‘folk devil’ (Item A, line 1). (2

marks)(b) Give two examples of issues that have become moral

panics. (4 marks)(c) Identify three ways in which newspaper owners can ‘have

a major influence over what appears in the press’ (Item A, lines 3 – 4). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why moral panics occur. (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which males and females are represented in the mass media. (20 marks)

(f) Using material from Item B and elsewhere, assess the view of the relationship between audience and media put forward in Item B. (20 marks)

January, 2003.(a) Explain what is meant by a stereotype (Item B, line 3). (2

marks)(b) Suggest two reasons why exposure to mass media

depictions of violence might not produce violent behaviour in the audience (Item A). (4 marks)

(c) Give three examples of “news values” (Item B, line 8). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two problems of using the method described in Item A to measure the effects of the media on their audiences. (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which the mass media portray any two of the following: age; ethnicity; sexuality; disability. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the view that the selection and presentation of the news by the mass media are biased. (20 marks)

June, 2003.(a) Explain what is meant by the idea that the media reflect

the “male gaze” (Item A, line 5). (2 marks)(b) Identify two criticisms of the pluralist theory of the mass

media (Item A, line 7). (4 marks)

(c) Suggest three concepts that sociologists might use in order to explain the ways in which ethnic minorities are represented by the mass media. (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons for changes in the ways that members of groups such as those referred to in Item A are represented in the mass media. (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which the output of the mass media may be influenced by owners and journalists. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the view that audiences are largely passive and easily influenced by the mass media. (20 marks)

January, 2004.(a) Explain briefly what is meant by “the hypodermic syringe model” (Item A, line 4). (2 marks)(b) Identify two possible effects that viewing violence on television may have upon audiences (4 marks)(c) Suggest three needs that audiences might fulfil by using the mass media (6 marks)(d) Identify and briefly explain two criticisms of the uses and gratifications approach. (8 marks)(e) Examine the ways in which gender and sexuality are portrayed in the mass media. (20 marks)(f) Assess the pluralist view of the mass media. (20 marks).June, 2004(a) Explain what is meant by “news values” (Item A, line 11).

(2 marks)(b) Suggest two reasons why editors’ and journalists’

ideology is “often broadly similar to that of the owners”. (4 marks)

(c) Suggest three practical and/or organisational factors that “play a part in shaping [the] output” of media organisations (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two criticisms of the “manipulative model” of mass media output (Item A, line 1). (8 marks)

(e) Examine reasons why the mass media may exert only a limited influence over their audiences. (20 marks)

(f) Assess sociological explanations of the ways in which the mass media portray gender and social class. (20 marks)

January, 2005.(a) Explain what is meant by “folk devils” (Item 3A, line 8). (2

marks)(b) Suggest two reasons why some groups are represented

negatively by the media (Item 3A, line 1). (4 marks)(c) Suggest three problems sociologists face in studying

media effects (Item 3A, line 9). (6 marks)(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why the mass

media may “have at most only a limited influence on their audiences” (Item 3A, lines 10 – 11). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the processes by which the mass media produce ‘news’. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the pluralist view of the mass media. (20 marks)

June, 2005.(a) Explain what is meant by “stereotyping” (Item 3A, line 1).

(2 marks)(b) Identify two possible controls over the media’s portrayal

of individuals or groups (Item 3A, lines 8 – 9). (4 marks)(c) Suggest three reasons why representations of previously

stereotyped groups may now be becoming more positive (Item 3A, lines 10 – 11). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why the lower classes are often portrayed negatively by the mass media (Item 3A, lines 1 – 2). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which audiences respond to the messages produced by the mass media. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the view that capitalist ownership of the mass media means that their output is inevitably biased. (20 marks)

January, 2006.(a) Explain what is meant by ‘agenda-setting’ (Item 3A, line

4). (2 marks)(b) Identify two sociological models that see the mass media

as having ‘only a limited or indirect effect’ on their audiences (Item 3A, line 3). (4 marks)

(c) Identify three concepts, that sociologists might use to understand the process by which ‘the mass media amplify deviance’ (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why using experiments may be an unsatisfactory way of studying media effects on their audiences. (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which the mass media portray any two of the following: ethnicity; sexuality; disability. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the hegemonic view of the mass media. (20 marks)

June, 2006.(a) Explain what is meant by ‘ideology’ (Item 3A, line 6). (2

marks)(b) Identify two criticisms made of the Marxist view of the

mass media (Item 3A, line 5).(4 marks)(c) Suggest three reasons for the negative stereotyping of

certain social groups by the mass media (Item 3A, lines 3 – 5). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain one advantage and one disadvantage of using content analysis to study ‘how the media portray social groups’ (Item 3A, line 8). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which the news is selected and presented to audiences. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the hypodermic syringe model of the relationship between the mass media and audiences. (20 marks)

January, 2007.(a) Explain what is meant by a ‘cathartic’ effect (Item 3A, line

10). (2 marks)(b) Suggest two reasons why mass media portrayals of

violence ‘might stimulate viewers to commit acts of violence themselves’ (Item 3A, lines 3 – 4). (4 marks)

(c) Suggest three difficulties sociologists might face in studying the effects of the mass media on their audiences (Item 3A). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly describe two models or theories that see audiences as being ‘able to resist the influence of media messages’ (Item 3A, line 8). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the role of editors, journalists and owners in influencing the output of the news media. (20 marks)

(f) Assess sociological explanations of the ways in which the mass media portray gender. (20 marks)

June, 2007.(a) Explain what is meant by a ‘hierarchy of credibility’ (Item

3A, line 5). (2 marks)(b) Suggest two factors that might influence news output

apart from those referred to in Item 3A. (4 marks)(c) Identify three news values apart from those referred to in

Item 3A. (6 marks)(d) Identify and briefly explain two criticisms that other

sociologists might make of Marxist views of the mass media (Item 3A, line 1). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which the mass media portray any two of the following: age; disability; ethnicity; social class. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the view that audiences’ interpretations of media messages are shaped by the social groups that they belong to. (20 marks)

January, 2008.(a) Explain what is meant by ‘symbolic annihilation’ (Item 3A, line 9).

(2 marks)(b) Suggest two reasons why mass media portrayals of gay and

lesbian characters have become more positive in recent decades (Item 3A, lines 10 –11). (4 marks)

(c) Identify three ways in which the state is able to ‘influence what we see, hear and read’ (Item 3A, line 7). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two criticisms that other sociologists might make of the post-modernist view of the mass media, apart from the one referred to in Item 3A. (8 marks)

(e) Examine the relationship between the mass media and their audiences. (20 marks)

(f)Assess the view that ‘the role of the news is to reproduce and spread the ideology of the capitalist class’ (Item 3B, lines 1– 2). (20 marks)

June, 2008.(a) Explain what is meant by ‘agenda-setting’ (Item 3A, line

6). (2 marks)(b) Suggest two reasons why media professionals may ‘share

the same outlook as media owners’ (Item 3A, lines 9 –10). (4 marks)

(c) Suggest three ways in which government and/or the law may influence the output of the mass media (Item 3A, lines 1–3). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain one strength and one limitation of using content analysis to study news coverage (Item 3A, line 8). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the ways in which the mass media portray two of the following: social class; disability; age; gender. (20 marks)

(f) Assess the view that audiences are easily manipulated by the mass media. (20 marks)

January, 2009.(a) Explain what is meant by the symbolic annihilation of

women. (2 marks)(b) Suggest two reasons for the stereotyping of minority

ethnic groups by the media. (4 marks)(c) Suggest three reasons why the representation of some

groups is becoming more positive. (6 marks).(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why the mass

media “may not have a powerful effect on audiences”. (8 marks).

(e) Examine the processes involved in the selection and presentation of the news. (20 marks).

(f) Assess the usefulness of Marxist views of the media. (20 marks).

June, 2009.(a) Explain what is meant by a ‘folk devil’ (Item 3A, line 1). (2

marks)(b) Identify two models of the mass media that claim that the

media’s power to influence their audiences is limited or indirect (Item 3A, lines 6 –7). (4 marks)

(c) Suggest three types of audience behaviour that sociologists claim are influenced by the media, apart from moral panics (Item 3A, lines 4 – 6). (6 marks)

(d) Identify and briefly explain two reasons why moral panics occur, apart from the media creation of folk devils (Item 3A, line 2). (8 marks)

(e) Examine the role of owners and journalists in influencing the output of the mass media. (20 marks)

(f) Assess sociological explanations of media portrayals of different social groups, such as those referred to in Item 3B. (20 marks)

January, 2010.(a) Identify and briefly explain three ways in which the

media is said to be socially constructed. (9 marks).(b) Assess the view that media imperialism threatens the

cultural identities of many countries. (18 marks).(c) Assess the view that the output of the media has little

direct effect on the audience. (33 marks)OR

(d) “Both age and ethnicity are still too often portrayed by the mass media in ways that reinforce stereotypes”To what extent do sociological arguments and evidence support this view? (33 marks).

June, 2010.0 9 Identify and briefly explain three examples of news values. (9 marks)

1 0 Using material from Item C and elsewhere, examine how the new media have affected the role of the mass media in society today. (18 marks)

EITHER1 1. Evaluate Marxist theories of the ownership and control of the mass media. (33 marks)

OR

1 2 Assess the effects of the mass media on popular culture. (33 marks)

January, 2011.0 9 Identify and briefly explain three ways in which media representations of sexuality and/or disability could be said to be stereotypical. (9 marks)

1 0 Using material from Item C and elsewhere, assess the view that ‘today’s children use the media in new and very different ways from their parents’, (Item C, lines 14 – 15). (18 marks)

EITHER1 1. Evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the mass media. (33 marks)

1 2 Assess the impact of globalisation on the structure and role of the mass media in the world today. (33 marks)