A2 MEDIA STUDIESSECTION BEXAM

Section B Your questionIn section B you will be given a choice of two

questions. You will answer only one of these.

Remember the question you are answering is based on ‘Media in the online age’

Past questions

1. ‘For media audiences, the internet has change everything. Discuss’

2. Explain the extent to which online media exist alongside older methods of distribution in 2010’ (50marks)

Examiners Report

In the examiners report it was noted that candidates who answered section B first did better overall.

This is probably down to the fact section B is worth more marks (50) as where the section A questions are worth 25 each. So if you run out of time at least the question you wrote less on isn’t worth as many marks.

EXAM PREPARATIONFor the exam you need to learn about the following, in relation to

at least two areas of the media: The film industry and internet. Online media production by the public (social network sites)

What you need to know. The historical development of online media.

Examples of how media production has been transformed by the internet and broadband access (and examples of media that have remained untouched by these developments ,if any)

The impact of broadband internet access on audience behaviour

The importance of media convergence and the role of the internet in accelerating this

Debates around the future of the media in the web 3.0 era.

WHO OR WHAT ?Independent Research

You will be expected to have knowledge on the following areas, though we will be covering them during lesson time you will be expected to conduct your own independent knowledge building for this section

You need to research these three theories. To reference in your answer. Chris Anderson’s (2006) theory -‘The Longtail’. Don Tapscott and Anthony Williams- (2006) ‘Wikinomics’ Charles Leadbetter -‘We think’

These are the media areas you need to conduct research into. Concentrating on two of them in particular.

Online Newspapers Online TV, EG I player Web Radio (DAB) Film industry and the internet Online media production by the public (social network sites) Audio books

HISTORY OF THE INTERNET.

This will help you understand how much the internet can influence our choices. In comparison to the choice we had before the internet really took off.

ACTIVITY:In pairs, you are to create a timeline outlining a brief history of the

internet. You will be presenting your timelines to the rest of the class.

Your timeline needs to show the following info:1. When the internet started and by whom/what?2. Who created emailing?3. When was Spam born?4. What is MUD and USE NET?5. What happened in 1988?6. What was launched in 1989?7. When was the first Web page created?8. Why was 1995 significant for internet users?9. When did Google go live?10. When is Wikipedia launched?Anything else you think may be a significant factor for the internet.

CASE STUDY Chris Anderson THE LONGTAIL

What is it? In 2006, Chris Anderson, editor of ‘Wired’ magazine (Wired is a

full-colour monthly and on-line periodical, published since March 1993, that reports on how technology affects culture, the economy, and politics.) Published his theory-a description of the way that the internet has transformed economics, commerce and consumption.

He argues that pre-broadband era, companies and distributors were interested in blockbuster hits and best-selling products, now there is a realisation that adding up all the niche consumption might amount to as much revenue (profit) as units sold of the peak material.

The next slide is a visual representation

THE LONG TAIL THEORY If you think about it in

terms of a graph, there is a longer, flatter, low end of the market-this is the ‘long tail.’

His simple point is this: as broadband internet allows more and more people to look for and share or buy less of more. So instead of ignoring all the small sales of obscure products in favour of concentrating on huge mass sales businesses ought to consider both routes and give equal weighting to both ends of the tails.

To the right is the long tail (yellow), to the left are the few that dominate (Green)

The Long Tail Theory

In Anderson’s own words:

“Our culture and economy are increasingly shifting away from a focus on a relatively small number of hits (mainstream products and markets) at the head of the demand curve, and moving toward a higu number of niches in the tail. In an era without the constraints of physical shelf space and other bottlenecks of distribution, narrowly targeted goods and servisces can be as economically attrctive as mainstream fare.”

What is he saying? Basically, Stores can only stock a certain amount of stock

whereas, the internet is a ‘virtual warehouse’, a fewer overheads associated with niche distribution, therefore infinite choice becomes an essential commodity.

An example - Amazon

The company Amazon apply to the Long Tail strategy.

Amazon sells books that are popular and books that are more obscure. Amazon finds that they sell more units of the obscure books, then they make on the more popular books.

This is down to the fact most book shops won’t stock the more obscure books, so through unavailability customers will look on line for the book they want.

This is how the internet is affecting the way people shop for media products.