OSP assessment learner response

 1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW

*Good analysis in relation to Reception theory for: oppositional and negotiated readings.

*Relevant points raised on how both OSP CSP's are constructed through representation.   

EBI

*More developed analysis for preferred reading.

*Your essay is lacking in how both 

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify three specific aspects from Figure 1 (the Google Home advert) that you could have mentioned in your answer (e.g. selection of image, framing and focus, colour, text etc.)

Dominant readings - Positions the Google Home device as at the heart of aspirational family life.

Oppositional readings - Google presenting its smart speaker as a ‘natural’ part of home life will be strongly rejected by audiences concerned with data, privacy and the power technology companies such as Google have in modern western societies.

Negotiated readings - An acceptance of a warm picture of family life – plus the potential usefulness of the speaker – despite concerns over how the device uses data and the growing power of companies such as Google and Amazon.

3) Now use the mark scheme to identify three potential points that you could have made in your essay for Question 2 (Hesmondhalgh - validity of theory/narrow range of values and ideologies).

1. The ‘End of Audience’ that Clay Shirky writes about means that a wider, more diverse range of values and ideologies are now available to consumers. This would suggest Hesmondhalgh’s theory is not valid. Taylor Swift’s online and social media presence arguably supports this with her promotion of a liberal agenda that challenges attitudes towards gender in society and the music industry. The power and influence of Taylor Swift’s fans (‘Swifties’) also shows that a wider range of values and ideologies are now available in the cultural industries thanks to technology and social change.

2. The Voice offers an explicit Black British perspective on news stories and issues in London and the UK. This alone sets it apart from mainstream media and suggests that Hesmondhalgh’s view that only a narrow range of values and ideologies are available is not entirely valid. Features such as the first black photographer to shoot the cover picture of Vogue magazine (December 2018) and campaigns such as the Black Pound campaign encouraging readers to spend their money with Black businesses (also seen in the suggestion to ‘Buy Black on Black Friday’) both reflect this agenda.

3. Swift’s website and social media presence also arguably reinforces dominant capitalist ideologies in the way everything is used to maximise profit. The website contains plenty of opportunities for Swift fans to spend their money on merch, collectable versions of her albums (including on cassette tape, CD and vinyl) or tour tickets. An entire tour microsite gives audiences the opportunity to engage with the tour and demonstrate their level of fandom via social media – usually through the money they spend following Swift. This would support Hesmondhalgh’s ideas regarding a narrow range of values and ideologies and also his arguments around commodification and the demand for profit in the cultural industries. Swift’s Eras tour has  grossed more than $2bn and may bring in over $4bn when other revenue streams are included – she is big business and ultimately exploits her fans for cash just as Hesmondhalgh accuses the major conglomerates and tech companies of doing.

4) Use your exam response, the mark scheme and any other resources you wish to use to write a detailed essay plan for Question 2. Make sure you are planning at least three well-developed paragraphs in addition to an introduction and conclusion.

Introduction - I somewhat agree to a certain extent that cultural industries are dominated by a narrow range of values and ideologies such as The Voice. 

Paragraph 1 - The Voice should be successful due to the opportunities that are offered by digital media and the new media landscape in creating a platform for values and ideologies such as a strong Black British voice. However, the poor construction of the website and social media presence (poorly worded polls, cluttered design, low-quality photography, lack of fresh content, poor video production values, weak sponsored content) means it is not the powerful voice in British media it should be. This may reinforce the validity of Hesmondhalgh’s ideas when it comes to a narrow range of values and ideologies.

Paragraph 2 - Paul Gilroy has written extensively on the experience of Black British people and his work on ‘double consciousness’ is worth exploring in relation to this question. The Voice arguably plays an important role in offering a more diverse range of values and ideologies in offering Black British audiences representations that more closely reflect their experience of life in Britain. Gilroy would arguably agree with Hesmondhalgh’s view that the cultural industries promote a narrow set of values and ideologies – ideologies that are dominated by white voices and a white perspective. If The Voice offers black audiences the opportunity to see representations that are not created by media producers that are overwhelmingly white (and middle class) then it is arguably offering an important service to British culture despite its low production values or YouTube view counts.

Paragraph 3 - Could be argued that Taylor Swift is simply replicating many of the mainstream, hegemonic values and ideologies found across the cultural industries with regards to the representation of women. Despite championing women in the music industry (for example, at the Woman of the Decade award ceremony) her marketing material for the Tortured Poets Society (which is plastered across her website and social media) is constructed in a sexualised way that emphasises Swift’s appearance. This appears to reinforce stereotypical representations of women in the media as spectacle (van Zoonen) and therefore support Hesmondhalgh’s idea that only a narrow range of values and ideologies can be found despite the size of the cultural industries.

Conclusion - In conclusion I think Taylor Swift has way more power and control over her fans as she is well known in American and is able to get her fans to agree to her viewpoints and opinions which gives her the control she needs and makes her influential. Even though The Voice is unique and niche, it is struggling to do well in the new digital age and is struggling to get known by people in the UK which means that The Voice can't do as well as it wants. 

5) Finally, identify three key areas you plan to revise from the OSP unit before the January mock exams (e.g. CSP elements or media theories) having looked at your feedback from this assessment.

1. Revise CSP's more so I know more on what to talk about (Social and historical content) 

2. Revise my media theorists more so I am able to apply my own knowledge of what I know about them and impress my examiner. 

3. Creating flashcards. This will help me retain and remember the key bits of information that I need so I do not sit there in the actual exam and try remembering what is important and not.