Wednesday 24 August 2022

BLACKPINK

CONTROVERSY OVER ELIGIBILITY FOR MTV VMA NOMINATION ALONGSIDE BTS

US charts success.

MVAs lipsync? Fans defend. Koreaboo.

Friday 1 April 2022

2023 and beyond CSPs crossword!

Rather than simply read a list of the CSPs (the case studies we use for the 2 exam papers) have a go at this crossword - which uses a range of technical terms within the clues to give you a flavour of how your language will develop after a year or 2 of Media!!! (here's another - used for the 2023 taster lesson). Another site for making your own...

You will almost certainly need to do some googling for many of these...




Friday 28 May 2021

INFLUENCERS popular metalheads, Instagram king and more

See Louder (e-zine) article.

The 2021 king of Instagram, commanding up to $1.6m per sponsored post, and taking in $40m from Instagram last year is ...

Thursday 15 October 2020

Monday 16 September 2019

NEA 2020 RADIO brief

be Slothful...
See this post for useful examples/analysis to help inspire your ideas. I added a video/points on hiphop DJ Charlie Sloth on 29th Sept 2019 which I think you will find useful!


exam board detail on what audio ISN'T allowed
I asked the exam board to clarify some of the rules for your radio coursework which were ambiguous/unclear from the written instructions. ... this is the full reply: 
In response to question 1, the audio used must be original which means that clips from online videos or games cannot be used. Sound effects from sound libraries (question 2) with programmes may be used, providing they are really short, only 1-2 seconds at most. 
For question 3, as long as there are at least 2 minutes and 30 seconds of speech (if this were measured as a continuous sound source), any amount of other sounds can be used, including as music beds or sound effects under the speech. The gaps between the speech sections, whether these be for music, jingles or whatever, should not total more than 30 seconds.The key focus of the audio should be to convey representation through the voices, through tone, language, volume and pace.

here's the brief:



And further guidance on what to be thinking about:


breakdown of what to hand in for coursework:


here's a detailed breakdown of the marking criteria


...

Friday 13 September 2019

TV Turkey 2nd only to USA in global distribution

How Turkish TV is taking over the world https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/sep/13/turkish-tv-magnificent-century-dizi-taking-over-world?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Wednesday 24 July 2019

UK MEDIA AUDIENCE GENERATION GAP OfCom reply

Young people in UK abandon TV news 'almost entirely' https://www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio/2019/jul/24/young-people-uk-abandon-tv-news-almost-entirely-ofcom?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger

Monday 24 June 2019

AUDIENCE The me me me generation myth

https://www.theatlantic.com/national/archive/2013/05/me-generation-time/315151/

Sunday 24 March 2019

GAMING FOR LEARNING

At A-Level games are used as part of the coursework evaluation, with some of the marks specifically for creative use of technology. For both GCSE + A-Level they can be really useful to create your own revision tools, and help embed some of the details, terms, theories and debates raised through your exam CSPs.

WWTBAMillionaire is one good example - the trick is in carefully choosing the 3 WRONG answers so that they'll remind you, whether playing it yourself or with classmates (great tool for collaborative revision!!).

There are multiple Ppt templates - try searching 'gameshow name powerpoint template' yourself to find, experiment with others. You can DL the Millionaire template we'll use in lessons here - the same site has more gameshow templates like Jeopardy and The Weakest Link you could try too. The Excel template is linked in the Ppt.

Saturday 16 March 2019

RADIO TRAILS plugging your show

A common feature of shows, including the 1967 R1 launch show with Tony Blackburn, is trails for other, upcoming shows. Radio stations are always hoping fans of 1 show/DJ might be persuaded to tune in for more, boosting ratings.

Like everything else, there are some recognisable conventions:

  • state the name of the show and presenter/s
  • usually incorporates the station name and frequency (eg 96.1 FM) or other means of access (eg listen now on the iPlayer; or catch up now on radio1.com)
  • crucially, features short snippets of multiple bits of 1 or more shows - which means multiple voices (co-presenter/s; callers; interviews/studio guests) [some similarities to a film trailer - it uses clips from throughout the film]
    • obviously you'll hear the DJ's voice too with these!
  • use of music, and some wild tracks
  • a clear sense of style and content/topics (music/wild tracks will reflect the brand)
  • brisk pace; trails are rarely over 60secs
Here are some examples + useful guides:

Multiple examples of trails from a call-in talk show:


Radio 1 trails

Wednesday 6 March 2019

RADIO jingle hells, essential branding

THE MEDIA LANGUAGE OF RADIO

A FAST WORD ON DJ SLOTH
I'm going to add this to the post, but please note: there is 1 bit of swearing just after 11mins, and more in the last few mins; some of the comments on vaping should be considered in the light of new evidence (the video is from 2017) that e-cigs/vaping are causing deaths through cancer. He moved recently from Radio 1xtra to Beats Radio.

WHY post this then?!?
  • multiple examples of catchphrases/jingle slogans
  • an illustration of the ongoing fame/celebrity status of music radio DJs
  • ...so for any coursework you consider claiming a zeitgeisty, youth-friendly online celebrity like Sean Evans of Hot Ones as a guest (speaking about whatever topic you've been set)
  • the DJ, Radio 1xtra's hiphop/grime king Charlie Sloth (so, kind of comparable to Beats Radio's Julie Adenuga - he moved to Beats in 2019!) is a stereotype: fat and jolly (he describes himself as morbidly obese) BUT directly urges viewers/listeners to embrace their body shape, celebrate it (as he does through his Insta vids and pics), so is arguably a countertype of the slim hipster? Simply using the word 'big' in a presenter's name brings up an area of representation, whether counter/stereotyped (or a bit of both)
  • his accent and use of street slang likewise raise useful representation issues: stereotypically working-class, though also more commonly associated with BAME youth (this was central to the joke/satire of Ali G)
  • at the very end when he gives his pitch, note how many platforms or modes of distribution he mentions - and that he explicitly states his show is accessible online to people outside of the UK




And here you can get a great example of the use of wild tracks, and branding a specific regular segment (NB: some limited strong language once the rapping begins), the autoplay vid on his channel when I looked it up (29.9.19):


DRAFT JINGLES

IN THIS POST:
  • Satires (Smashie & Nicey; Alan Partridge; Frasier)
  • Jingles: examples (Downtown Radio; 'legendary' comp; 80s Radio 1; Tommy Vance incl new UGC/fan-made; Partridge)
  • jingles: conventions
  • Intros + TV on the radio: learn techniques from Fluff + Vance
  • Your suggestions

SMASHING STUFF - NOT 'ALF MUSIC LOVERS
As I note further down, this satire was based on actual DJs and their often bizarre patter, the self-aware, highly ironic Alan 'Fluff' Freeman being a key example...

See more Smashie and Nicey here.

Here's another legendary satire, Alan Partridge.

Sunday 3 March 2019

RADIO1 Breakfast Show

NOV 2020 OFCOM SAYS YOUNG IGNORE BBC IPLAYER
Lot of detail here, but that 1967  launch as BBC were failing to serve the youth audience; the disgrace of binning BBC3 on to online only (didn't help Class!!?); ... has ANYTHING really changed???

OfCom renewed their assault on the BBC's failure to properly serve the youth audience, noting a shocking 22% drop in the 16-34 audience in just 3 years. Guardian.

Thee BBC just can't win, with a right-wing press and government both keen to see it either privatised or so weakened (eg the government decriminalised licence fee non-payment which is now soaring) that scrapping the license fee seems inevitable. OfCom had attacked the BBC for failing to serve the youth audience ... Now it's investigating the Beeb for ... serving the youth audience!!!
The Sounds app brings together all BBC radio, and has proven a success, with a new Radio 1 Dance channel being launched through the app to further boost their youth appeal. But now commercial (ad-funded or subsidised like Times Radio and Beats/Apple Music 1 by conglomerates) companies are complaining that the BBC is taking their audience! Read more here.

The station increased its audience by more than 100,000 a week to 8.9 million at the end of March. The BBC says Radio 1 still remains relevant to a youth audience in the digital age, with 24 being the most common age of a listener. It pointed out that its YouTube and Vevo channels attracted more than 2 million views a day.----Zoe Ball's BBC Radio 2 show loses a million listeners




Toast and jams: the Radio 1 breakfast​ ​show through the ages https://www.theguardian.com/media/2018/may/31/radio-1-breakfast-show-nick-grimshaw-bbc?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Blogger




...

...

...


...
Boat That Rocked Wiki.

...

...

...

...


Listen to the full 1967 launch show on Mixcloud. On BBC.
Rip from Mixcloud.

BBC radio history: 1967 launch. More.
BBC Radio 1 history.
BBC values.
BBC Reith.
BBC the pirate stations.

Dazed - history of pirate radio and why its still here.
Radio Luxembourg Wiki.
Fantazia - timeline of UK pirate scene [contains swearing]
UK pirate radio Wiki.

Radio 1 breakfast show Wiki.
Guardian history of the R1 breakfast show.

Needle time Wiki.

OfCom
- 2006 OfCom warn BBC over Chris Moyles swearing
- 2008 BBC radio fined record 400k for fake comps
2016 R1 apologises for Lady Gaga swearing ... and 5pm play of Flume song with swearing
- 2018 OfCom slam BBC's poor service for youth

Here's a very detailed Ppt which gives an overview of R1 from its history to the present day, focussing on the breakfast show...




Monday 18 February 2019

CSP online-games industry overview

In time I'll cut this down to shorter bullet points, and keep more detail on my mediareg blog, with annual hub posts, starting with 2019 (I'll sum up key changes/events, especially on regulation, which along with the linked topic of monetisation is the key factor for this area of the course.
...


SOME FAQS/THEMES

Will there be statutory regulation?
Yes, its already happening: GDPR; Germany will enforce $20m fines if hate speech isn't removed within 24 hours, and it + France are leading the way on taxing the tax-dodging giants. Apple has already been forced by the EU to pay the Irish government €13bn in back-tax.

Will the FAANGS conglomerates be forced to break-up into smaller companies?
Probably, but the timescale is uncertain. EU pressure will be a factor, but it will be US regulators/politicians who ultimately decide if, like the film industry back in 1948 (Hollywood giants were forced to sell off their cinema holdings), they legally form monopolies and therefore competition + consumer protection law insists they must become smaller. The FAANGS are spending $millions to persuade US lawmakers that the EU are trying to undermine USA dominance, and that any attack on them is bad for the USA.

However, with deregulation being the long-term trend ever since Reagan back in 1980 (same for the UK from 1979 when Thatcher was elected, two very right-wing, 'free market' politicians), the film industry may actually see its anti-trust laws scrapped in 2019! Right-wing governments (eg Trump/Republicans, May/Tories) are reluctant to regulate the 'free market'.

The right-wing press may also be very free market, but they do frequently campaign for tighter regulation of other media (just not the press), which will add pressure to right-wing politicians to act.

Are children (+ how they are monetised) a factor?
Absolutely!!!
Protection of children, arguably even more than protection of democracy, is a (the?) key driver behind media regulation. The age rating system (film, games), TV watershed, multiple clauses in the press industry's Editors' Code, much of the ASA's policymaking, all are dominated or even defined by protection of children. The ASA's ruling that apps must not contain gambling if they're accessible to kids is just the start of what promises to be a tough EU-led fightback against the non-regulated, wild west approach of the 'digital gangsters' of new media.

Phone hacking was a scandal to Guardian readers until the Milly Dowler case broke, and within weeks the highest-selling Sunday paper was closed and a multi-year formal commission (Leveson) was set up to investigate newspaper malpractice, while the self-regulator, PCC, scrapped itself and announced IPSO would replace it.

Expect Facebook and Google/YouTube's lax age controls to become a major issue.

The non-regulated monetising of freemium apps (Lara Croft Go, Kim Kardashian's Hollywood) and vlogging social influencers like Zoella is already facing restrictions.




FACEBOOK + SOCIAL MEDIA TO GET STATUTORY REGULATION? UK MPs CALL FACEBOOK 'DIGITAL GANGSTERS'
Read more on the Feb 2019 'digital gangsters' statement + call for statutory regulation, which was quickly backed by the Labour party (but the Tories are unlikely to agree).
A 'digital gangster'? UK MPs are furious with Zuckerberg

Facebook (and Google/YouTube) are facing ever growing scrutiny over their (mis)use of user data and facilitation of anti-democratic forces (in US presidential election, Brexit vote, spreading of anti-vaccine ideas, etc). They have grown into vast global conglomerates with little or no formal regulation.

GDPR, laws passed within the EU to insist on minimal standards of privacy and registration of user data, was an early sign of this wild west era ending, though the lobbyists (PR, campaigners) employed by the FAANGS have successfully argued to US politicians that this is the EU trying to damage American business.

There remains the distinct possibility, though, that US regulators will get tough on them. Facebook is facing multi-billion fines for misuse of user data, which could lead to a re-think on regulation there.

Wednesday 16 January 2019

CSP advertising marketing industry overview

tbc

ASA force I'm A Celebrity app maker to remove gambling ads for breaking rules on children.




CSP AD Omo

tbc

CSP AD NHS

TBC

the ad itself on the NHS channel. One sign of success: its been viewed many times. 








a short guide from a Media student




NOV 2020 Ad industry creates environmental damage, needs regulation 
Guardian reports a study highlighting how the industry promotes consumption.

Tim Kasser, an emeritus professor of psychology at Knox College in Illinois, who co-authored the report, said there was a body of evidence to show that in order to make progress in addressing and reversing climate and ecological degradation, it would be prudent to rein in and change the practices of the advertising industry.

“This report argues that enough sound empirical evidence exists to support the conclusion that the advertising industry indirectly contributes to climate and ecological degradation through its encouragement of materialistic values and goals, the consumption-driving work and spend cycle, and the consumption of two illustrative products, namely beef and tobacco,” Kasser wrote.

The researchers examined several studies linking exposure to advertising with increased materialism. They say such exposure “heightens the priority people place on materialistic values and goals” and is associated with “negative ecological attitudes and unsustainable behaviours”.

Stephen Woodford, chief executive of the Advertising Association, said: “Banning advertising of certain parts of the economy is not the answer; applying pressure on systemic change in the way an industry operates is, and recognising that advertising itself will make the best contribution to climate action by helping promoting these critical changes to people and encourage rapid behaviour change.

“At the same time, our own industry needs to make sure its operations have a real net zero impact which is why we have launched Ad Net Zero to reduce the carbon impact of the development, production and distribution of advertising to real net zero by end 2030. This includes the goal of encouraging advertisers and agencies to measure the carbon impact of their campaigns which is a good and proven first step towards reduction.”

In August, it was revealed the government paid social media personalities to promote the NHS test and trace system; more than 7 million people were reached by posts from celebrities including former Love Island contestants, telling them how to book Covid-19 tests online.
The response, however, was not positive. Social media commenters called it “scandalous” that taxpayer money was spent on “wannabes” and “vacuous media whores”. (Guardian)

CSP AD Galaxy

tbc

Good example of how nostalgia is seen in ads beyond the Galaxy CSP: a decades old Hovis (bread) ad is being brought back. It poses the same question as the Galaxy ad - is part of the nostalgia for a period when the UK/US were mightier, and also whiter (absence of non-Caucasians)? As good today... Hovis brings back its 'boy on the bike' TV advert https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/jun/03/hovis-boy-on-the-bike-tv-advert-as-good-today-ridley-scott?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard


May 2020: junk food pre-watershed ban paused but public pressure, NOT ASA, sees Kellogg's cease pushing Pringles on Joe Wicks morning exercise videos (originally for adults but made for families throughout the pandemic).

CSP Lara Croft Go all KCs

tbc

CSP Kim Kardashian Hollywood game all KCs

tbc

BBC on how KUWTK became a global phenomenon.
https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2019/nov/25/eggs-fakes-kim-kissing-kanye-decade-in-instagram-posts

CSP TV Dr Who 1963

BBC SIGNS WORLD (NOT UK, IRELAND) EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH DIANEY+ FOR DR WHO OCT 2022 Guardian. 'The president of Disney+, Alisa Bowen, said the show would be introduced to the next generation of audiences in more than 150 markets.'

https://www.bigfinish.com/news/v/sainsbury-s-brings-doctor-who-romana-and-k-9-to-vinyl
tbc

https://venturebeat.com/2019/06/29/doctor-who-the-edge-of-time-daleks-and-weeping-angels-come-to-life-in-vr/

FILM industry overview

tbc

CSP MUSIC VIDEO - music industry

placeholder for now, I'll gather materials from posts like this.

Sunday 6 January 2019

CSP NEWSPAPER INDUSTRY

I may spin off further posts, but I intend to build up hub posts on each CSP. On newspapers there will be a post for the TimesDaily Mirror; and the wider industry/key terms. Note that its likely the CSP text will change each year - the newspaper editions will be updated - but the two chosen CSP newspapers are unlikely to change. They have been chosen to reflect a binary opposition of tabloid v quality, left-wing v right-wing, and British v globalised ownership.

2021
VALUE OF NEWSPAPER COMPANIES SHRINKING
Guardian. A large number of regional papers, many priced not long ago at higher than the combined sale price of £10m, have been bought by a new group. Reach rejected a £50m deal in 2019, deciding instead to launch online-only rivals like Belfast Live and Edinburgh Live. Johnston Press had paid £570m for the Yorkshire Post and other regional papers in 2002, plus £160m for The Scotsman group in 2005. A deal nearly as bad as Murdoch's billion dollar purchase of MySpace (sold for $1!).


2020
Guardian approaches 1 million subscribers. Dec 2020.


BASIC DESCRIPTION:






KEY POINTS/THEMES/ISSUES:







DIGITISATION, DISRUPTION, CONVERGENCE; CIRCULATION DECLINE + AD MIGRATION:








KEY THEORIES TO APPLY: 
CONVERGENCE/DISRUPTION/WEB 2.0:
GLOBALISATION:
CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP:
TABLOIDISATION:







RESOURCES FOR INDEPENDENT READING/RESEARCH:
EDUQUAS hub for student resources; lots of great stuff including sample analyses and theory guides.
BBC revision guide.
Guardian terminology guide.
Quizlet flashcards.
AQA key terms.
A linguistics (like English) guide - advanced terms, but a short feature overall.
AGENDA-SETTING long article (you could pick a detail/quote from it) showing how despite circulation decline the press continues to set the news agenda followed by the broadcast media. This is especially true of the right-wing press.
Wilby: New Statesman on the history of the press, and its failures in the online age.
Journalism.org US-centred 2018 factsheet on the newspaper industry.
DB NB: The trends playing out in Britain are accelerated in the US, which offers a good picture of how things will develop for the UK press industry.
MediaReg - my blog specifically on media regulation, with lots of detail on IPSO and its predecessor the PCC (press regulators) and other aspects of the industry.
MediaKnowItAll - nice, graphically presented intro to key parts of analysing a front page.
Regional newspapers (ScotsLaw) - gives you an idea of the range of non-national papers
MagForum - its an out-of-date site, but still full of great info. If you're unsure about what's out of date you can check with me
Euromyths - how the Mail etc consistently flouted Editors' Code Clause 1 (Accuracy)

Roy Greenslade: do newspapers have a future? 2 clever uses of ads could help...
Great article, lots of useful detail:

  • there are 3 dominant owners in the REGIONAL UK press (JPI Media: 200+ papers including the i; Newsquest 165, Reach 260). Note that Reach is 1 of these 3!! It 'is trading profitably but regularly closes or merges titles'. Like the Indie going online only, this is 1 sign of the industry's struggles.
  • Newspapers produce more news than radio/TV/web combined: 'When the government’s review into the sustainability of high-quality journalism was launched last year, it was claimed that newspapers produced more original journalism than broadcasters and websites combined.'
  • the digital disruptors, non-newspapers, are having the same problem as papers in making ad-funding work: 'BuzzFeed is to cut 15% of its staff, while Verizon Media is seeking 7% cutbacks at newsrooms such as Huffington Post, AOL and Yahoo.'
  • 'Rowly Bourne, co-founder of a startup called Rezonence, believes he can persuade advertisers to pay a sensible amount for their ads by providing them with proof that the ads have been read and understood. ... He argues that publishers are making as little as 50p per reader per year from digital ads. ... “I believe there is a better way,” he says. “Instead of a paywall, we call it a freewall. It’s a simple cost-per-engagement mechanism in which readers are presented with a single advertisement. In order to read the full article, they are required to answer a relatively simple question below the ad. This proves to the advertiser that the readers have paid attention to their brand.” ... According to his company’s own estimates, freewall access to a site by, say, 10 million users would produce more than £10 per reader. By contrast, it is doubtful if paywalls produce 60p per reader.'
  • 'Dominic Young, founder of a startup called Agate, believes he can persuade readers to pay for access to newspaper and magazine content ... ' His idea is for micro-payments. 'He has developed a method aimed at encouraging readers to make payments into an online wallet. They pre-pay an amount into the wallet, which gives them access to a range of outlets, and the price of each article is deducted by the publisher. Each site can charge as much or as little as it thinks appropriate. When the wallet is empty, the reader can top it up.'

THE DIGITAL DISRUPTORS ARE ALSO STRUGGLING TO MAKE AD-FUNDING WORK
As mentioned in the Greenslade article above, new media sites like Buzzfeed that are partly responsible for the press industry's huge loss of younger readers, are struggling to get enough revenue to survive. They also find it hard to make enough from ad revenues.
FRONT PAGES + POLITICAL BIAS ON PM MAY'S BREXIT VOTE
Nice example of the left-/right-wing bias coming through. Broadly speaking the right-wing papers support Brexit and are very hostile to the EU, but left-wing papers don't think Brexit should happen and are quite pro-EU. PM (Prime Minister) May is a Tory (Conservative), so she tends to get positive coverage in the right-wing papers, and negative in the left-wing press.
EXAMPLE OF LEFT-WING PRESS HOSTILITY TO PM MAY
This cartoon is by The Guardian's Steve Bell. He also portrays Jeremy Corbyn as a crazy old man - Corbyn is left-wing but too left-wing as far as the Guardian is concerned!
DAILY MAIL LABELLED FAKE NEWS
'Visitors to Mail Online who use Microsoft Edge can now see a statement asserting that “this website generally fails to maintain basic standards of accuracy and accountability” and “has been forced to pay damages in numerous high-profile cases”.
The message, which is produced by a third-party startup called NewsGuard, tells readers to proceed carefully given that “the site regularly publishes content that has damaged reputations, caused widespread alarm, or constituted harassment or invasion of privacy”.
It gives Mail Online, one of the world’s biggest news websites, one out of five on credibility – the same level as the Kremlin-backed RT news service.'
By the way, if you see someone described as 'red' its a right-wing way of attacking left-wing politicians (in this case a union leader). Think of the old USSR flag (it was red!).
Part of the criticism of the Mail website is that they 'farm' news - most of their online 'reporters' basically steal reportage from other sources + re-write it. There have been scandals across Europe recently about such plagiarism (copying from other sources without saying so); trust in the media is very important in a democracy.
MURDOCH ASKS GOVERNMENT TO ALLOW HIM TO INFLUENCE SUNDAY TIMES
- TIMES MADE £10m PROFIT IN 2018
- BUT NEWS UK MADE £90m LOSS!
That may seem a strange idea - he owns it, and the paper clearly reflects his personal right-wing views (it wasn't so right-wing before he bought it). But to be allowed to buy BOTH the Times AND Sunday Times he had to agree to legally guarantee he wouldn't interfere with the 'editorial independence' of the paper. Editorial has 2 meanings: news content (as opposed to columns and opinion pieces) but also, confusingly, the daily column in which a newspaper gives its views on issues (the editorial; news content is all editorial).
At the moment the Sunday Times is run as a separate paper with its own editor and staff. Murdoch argues the tough conditions in the press market means he should be allowed to make job cuts by sharing the staff on the 2 papers.
'Last week, the publisher of the Times and Sunday Times revealed a pre-tax profit of £9.6m in the year to 1 July 2018, up from a loss of £6.5m a year earlier, in its most recent publicly available filing. Turnover was up 2% year on year.
The subsidiary that publishes the Sun and Sun on Sunday revealed that its pre-tax losses more than tripled year on year to £91.2m for the same period. Turnover fell 5%.
News UK said total advertising revenue for the year increased for the first time in seven years, with continuing declines in print more than offset by growth in digital advertising.
Murdoch moved to buy the Times titles following his 1968 move into the British newspaper market, beating Robert Maxwell to buy the News of the World, the UK’s highest selling newspaper, and a year later the ailing Sun, which he reinvented.'




SAMPLE EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS:








LESSON MATERIALS:



CSP NEWSPAPERS DAILY MIRROR

I may spin off further posts, but I intend to build up hub posts on each CSP. On newspapers there will be a post for the TimesDaily Mirror; and the wider industry/key terms. Note that its likely the CSP text will change each year - the newspaper editions will be updated - but the two chosen CSP newspapers are unlikely to change. They have been chosen to reflect a binary opposition of tabloid v quality, left-wing v right-wing, and British v globalised ownership.


Newsquest bids for JPI to create UK regional press powerhouse

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/nov/12/newsquest-bids-for-jpi-to-create-regional-newspaper-powerhouse?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Gmail

BASIC DESCRIPTION:






KEY POINTS/THEMES/ISSUES:







DIGITISATION, DISRUPTION, CONVERGENCE; CIRCULATION DECLINE + AD MIGRATION:








KEY THEORIES TO APPLY: 
CONVERGENCE/DISRUPTION/WEB 2.0:
GLOBALISATION:
CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP:
TABLOIDISATION:







RESOURCES FOR INDEPENDENT READING/RESEARCH:
Slideshare - ppt by another teacher which focuses on an edition reporting Trump's election (see Times post for another looking at that paper's coverage).
DAILY MIRROR ONLINE EDITIONS/APPS:
Tablet app; £4.99 a month (1 month free trial) = about 23p a day, or 1/3 of the cover price
They didn't start charging until 2016 (PressGazette), the last UK newspaper to have their tablet edition free. Their e-edition page offers 4 platforms: Apple's app store, Google Play, Amazon's Kindle Fire, and Windows Store - there is also a separate international edition available on the 1st 3 (not Windows store).
Owner Reach has 12 newspaper apps, including for regional papers like the Huddersfield Daily Examiner, and the Mirror's Scottish twin, the Daily Record. The Android app is also £4.99 a month, including both the Daily and Sunday Mirror.
Stablemate papers the Express and Star each have their own apps under the banner of Express Newspapers.
They have a wide range of social media platforms, including accounts for specific topics, including FB (main account + 18 more), Twitter (1 each for Daily/Sunday Mirror + 21 more interest areas eg @MirrorCeleb), 3 Instagram accounts, and Pinterest and Google+ accounts. Note the lack of Snapchat (younger) or Reddit (more tech-savvy, sophisticated).
Nonetheless, they have joined many other papers in calling for tougher regulation of the very same social media they use (Aug 2018 Mirror leader column)





THE CSP TEXT 2019 exam:









THE CSP TEXT 2020 exam:







THE CSP TEXT 2021 exam (tbc):








KEY CONCEPT MEDIA LANGUAGE:









KEY CONCEPT AUDIENCE:









KEY CONCEPT REPRESENTATION:









KEY CONCEPT INDUSTRY:









SAMPLE EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS:








LESSON MATERIALS:




CSP NEWSPAPERS TIMES

I may spin off further posts, but I intend to build up hub posts on each CSP. On newspapers there will be a post for the Times; Daily Mirror; and the wider industry/key terms. Note that its likely the CSP text will change each year - the newspaper editions will be updated - but the two chosen CSP newspapers are unlikely to change. They have been chosen to reflect a binary opposition of tabloid v quality, left-wing v right-wing, and British v globalised ownership.


CSP MAGAZINES the wider industry, key terms

I may spin off further posts, but I intend to build up hub posts on each CSP. On magazines there will be a post for Tatler; Reveal; and the wider industry/key terms.




BASIC DESCRIPTION:






KEY POINTS/THEMES/ISSUES:







DIGITISATION, DISRUPTION, CONVERGENCE; CIRCULATION DECLINE + AD MIGRATION:

Even the iconic Q magazine may go as Bauer considers 10/100 brands in the light of coronavirus losses. (May 2020)

Between the covers: how the British fell out of love with magazines

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2019/sep/14/between-the-covers-how-the-british-fell-out-of-love-with-magazines?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Copy_to_clipboard





KEY THEORIES TO APPLY: 
CONVERGENCE/DISRUPTION/WEB 2.0:
GLOBALISATION:
CONCENTRATION OF OWNERSHIP:
TABLOIDISATION:







RESOURCES FOR INDEPENDENT READING/RESEARCH:
Conde Nast goes from 2017 profit to huge 2018 loss (Guardian).
Wiki list of UK mag sectors. Separate link for the Wiki A-Z mag listing. It doesn't actually list them all though - so: Tatler Wiki Nat Mags list (owner of Reveal before Hearst UK)
Compare women's titles to men's like Maxim (Wiki), Esquire (Wiki; covers archive; Amazon kindle listing). GQ (Wiki; Amazon kindle edition).
MagForum - it hasn't been updated for a good while, but still an excellent resource (this link is for women's mags, there are more sections)
Wiki list of UK mags
Magazine.co.uk women's mags listings
Miss Vogue - teen brand
ABCs womens mags Aug 2018 (PressGazette)




THE CSP TEXT:








KEY CONCEPT MEDIA LANGUAGE:








KEY CONCEPT REPRESENTATION:









SAMPLE EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS:








LESSON MATERIALS:





CSP MAGAZINES REVEAL downmarket women's gossip mag

I may spin off further posts, but I intend to build up hub posts on each CSP. On magazines there will be a post for Tatler; Reveal; and the wider industry/key terms.


BASIC DESCRIPTION:
A celebrity/gossip mass market (downmarket) women's magazine that was closed by publisher Hearst in Sept 2018 after circulation fell by 75%, though Hearst maintains a large portfolio of women's magazines. Originally published by NatMags (Wiki), which Hearst merged with another European acquisition, Hachette Filipacchi Médias (Wiki), in 2011 to form Hearst Magazines UK (Wiki).





CSP MAGAZINES TATLER upmarket ABC1 society mag

I may spin off further posts, but I intend to build up hub posts on each CSP. On magazines there will be a post for Tatler; Reveal; and the wider industry/key terms.






Detail from the 2018 'Media pack' on the publisher site

THE WIKI DESCRIPTION:
Tatler is a British magazine published by Condé Nast Publications focusing on fashion and lifestyle, as well as coverage of high society and politics. It is targeted towards the British upper-middle class and upper class, and those interested in society events. Its readership is the wealthiest of all Condé Nast's publications.[2] It was founded in 1901 by Clement ShorterTatler also has editions in local languages in mainland China, Taiwan and Russia. The editions in Hong Kong, Indonesia, Singapore, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines are in English. Tatler promotes indigenous British culture by arranging "debutante ball" events in these foreign countries.








KEY POINTS/THEMES/ISSUES:







DIGITISATION, DISRUPTION, CONVERGENCE; CIRCULATION DECLINE + AD MIGRATION:
Amazon Kindle edition







KEY THEORIES TO APPLY: 








RESOURCES FOR INDEPENDENT READING/RESEARCH:

Tatler. Their list of top 10 most read articles on tatler in 2017.
Conde Nast (publisher/brand owner) page with media pack link. Media packs detail audiences that advertisers can target through that media outlet. This is typically updated annually: 2018 pack;
Conde Nast goes from 2017 profit to huge 2018 loss (Guardian).
Conde Nast Wiki.
Mail - Tatler sacks a third of staff (2017)
Vice (2014) on Teen Tatler
Guardian on Posh People: Inside Tatler (2014 TV series)
How fashion brands targeted teens; great 2013 Guardian feature looks at new teen titles (all gone or online only [Teen Tatler!] by 2019) + how teens form a good chunk of adult titles readership. See also Tatler teen section, Miss Vogue + check on industry post
Is Tatler doomed? iNews, 2017





THE CSP TEXT:
The April 2017 front cover, accessible on the website.








KEY CONCEPT MEDIA LANGUAGE:








KEY CONCEPT REPRESENTATION:









SAMPLE EXAM-STYLE QUESTIONS:








LESSON MATERIALS:



Monday 10 December 2018

CSP TV CLASS

I've referenced this in a few posts but I'll start a fresh post here.

BBC3 RELAUNCH DISASTER: YOUTH NOW SPEND JUST 17 MINS A DAY ON LIVE TV 

 the total youth audience for all British television channels has collapsed by 70% over the last decade. The average teenager’s consumption of live television has fallen from almost three hours a day to just 50 minute during this period.Guardian April 2022.

AUGUST 2021 - BRITS 6 HOURS DAILY SCREEN TIME AS 60% HAVE STREAMING SUBSCRIPTION

OfCom research reveals the speed with which the deep-pocketed global giants have become a normal part of UK households media consumption. A third of Brits' waking time in 2020 was spent on TV/films/gaming (screentime), up 1 hour on 2019 to nearly 6 hours. Guardian.

MARCH 2021

BBC3 TO RETURN AS BROADCAST STATION! Guardian. BUT...JULY 2021: C4 + Sky lodge protests! OfCom investigation due to report in January 2022. Guardian.


JAN 2021

As Whitaker quits Dr Who a reminder of some advances: Whittaker’s Doctor Who tenure has been considered a success, with the launch show being the most watched for a decade with 9 million viewers tuning in. The show has also evolved during her time with a virtual reality episode released in 2019 and a mini DIY episode airing in March shortly after national coronavirus lockdown measures came into force. (Guardian)


C4 moving to online only? Nov 2020

Guardian reports that C4 is looking to double its online ad revenue (it currently relies heavily on TV ad income) and increase the uptake for All4+, the £3.99 monthly ad-free subscription to it's catch-up service. This is seen as pre-empting the Tory government review of PSB, with the Tories frequently calling for C4 to be privatised.

It said it hoped to make 40% of its revenue from digital advertising and other sources of revenue not linked to the traditional TV market by 2025 – around double the current amount. As part of this it wants more people to pay for All 4+, the ad-free version of its catch-up service, which costs £3.99 a month.


Channel 4’s annual programme budget of £660m a year makes it a relative minnow compared with the likes of the BBC and Netflix, which is investing more than $1bn (£750m) just in UK-filmed productions this year.


The culture minister, John Whittingdale, a longtime proponent of privatising Channel 4, has raised concerns recent months that the broadcaster’s business model may struggle to survive in the face of competition from the likes of Netflix.

Is BBC3 returning to TV? (May 2020)

...
BBC gets a hand to compete with Netflix et al 

BBC iPlayer can show programmes for a year instead of 30 days.


...

Sunday 9 December 2018

RADIO INDUSTRY

IN THIS POST...
Lots of general links/docs/resources to broaden your knowledge and understanding AFTER some contemporary news updates, especially around the regulation of radio and disruption of online, converged devices...

JAN 2023: BAUER BECOMING RADIO FORCE
Guardian. Local radio is in flux with both commercial chains & the BBC cutting local output. Bauer have bought many local stations and then rebranded them with a national station like GHR, Greatest Hits Radio. They also own Magic and Absolute Radio, which has multiple niche brands itself. The article also compares the audience demographics of BBC R2 and GHR.

SEPT 2022: INDIE RADIO CRASHING UNDER WEIGHT OF ENERGY BILLS
Guardian. Ara would be the Luxembourg equivalent of the UK Indies. This article features a range of stations I hadn't heard of myself. The comments are interesting too - like some others I wonder if they can make subscription work like so many podcasters have.

OCT 2021: BBC WARNS ALEXA etc KILLING RADIO, DEMAND AD BAN
Guardian. The Beeb together with its commercial rivals has asked for a law to ban smart devices/assistants like Echo, Alexa, Siri from inserting ads into radio broadcasts. They don't currently do this ... but the strong suspicion is they will (just think of how YouTube works).
'The BBC is particularly concerned by research suggesting that when BBC material is consumed through a smart speaker or other third party device, audiences are substantially less likely to mentally associate it with the BBC. This has potentially enormous implications for the future of the licence fee and convincing audiences to pay for the BBC in the future.'
A campaign to legally guarantee that new media carry radio "free to air" parallels that to ensure the traditional PSBs get prominence on EPGs (see Guardian).
FM is set to continue until 2030 (originally to be switched off in 2015!) with many rural areas reliant on it. The government report misses the point here that the DAB signal is also patchy in urban areas too - I was able to pick up ONE station in my Yorkshire home a few years back, but the full range on FM. However, AM/MW (especially important for speech radio like R5 and Talk Radio) faces switch off in a few years.

'The British radio industry is facing a demographic timebomb. In the new report, it has renewed calls to scrap regulations that limit the ability to rebrand stations and change formats, as well as asking for continued government financial support for the Audio Content Fund to produce material for under-served audiences.

Though overall radio listenership remains high, it is much lower among younger listeners and people from ethnic minority backgrounds, many of whom feel they are not represented by existing stations and are instead switching to podcasts and streaming music services.'






RAJAR infographics (pdf); UK's most popular radio stations (YouGov); Wiki: UK radio stations; history of radio (techwholesale); BBC bitesize radio history/industry; Wiki: timeline of UK independent radio; history/development of UK radio (media.info)

https://www.theguardian.com/music/2020/apr/21/ronan-orahilly-pirate-radio-godfather-made-a-sea-change-in-british-pop




https://www.loudersound.com/features/why-doesnt-your-band-get-played-on-the-radio-heres-the-ugly-truth

BBC Bitesize summary is a really good overview, using multiple useful terms, in an easy-to-digest format as the name suggests!

Lengthy overview of radio 1



General overview



Case studies on how radio/social media work in synergy