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: A very strong assessment that shows a real command of the questions, theories and enabling ideas in the paper. Just a few tweaks to aim for the push on towards A*
EBI:
- In Q2, you need more evidence from the CSPs, particularly The Voice.
- You could bring in a little more theory to supplement or challenge Hesmondhalgh
- I wonder if there are a few more mainstream media values and ideologies you could discuss... e.g. capitalism and consumerism which arguably Swift very much reinforces (Merch, Eras tour etc.)
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 reading: Use of colour, reinforced by neutral grey of the device, creates feeling of warmth (browns, oranges, sunlight from left-hand side of image).
- Oppositional reading: Reinforces white, western, middle-class representation of family life to the exclusion of other backgrounds (race/ethnicity, sexuality, age, class). Presents the white, western ‘2.4 children’ average as desirable, aspirational lifestyle – some audiences will reject this.
- Oppositional reading: Some audiences may reject the stereotypical gender roles with a mother playing with the two children and no father in shot (presumably at work). This arguably reinforces negative and outdated gender stereotypes.
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).
- Alternatively, it 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.
- 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.
- 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.
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.
Paragraph 1:
- Taylor swift + hegemonic values and ideologies of mainstream media
- despite championing women in the music industry e.g. tortured poets society marketing advertises Swift's appearance
- women as a spectacle, Van Zoonen
- supports Hesmondhalgh's idea
Paragraph 2:
- Voice's failure due to the poor construction of their website and social media presence despite opportunities afforded to them
- Not the powerful voice for black ppl in British media it should be
- Goes against Hesmondhalgh's idea - failure due to low quality not due to narrow beliefs.
Paragraph 3:
- Swift's website reinforces dominant capitalist ideologies in the way everything is used to maximise profits.
- Contains plenty of opportunities for Swifties to spend money on merch or tour tickets.
- Microsite dedicated to her tour to get audiences exited and more likely to spend money
- Supports Hesmondhalgh's ideas regarding a narrow range of values and ideologies and his argument around commodification and the demand for profit in the cultural industries
- 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
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.
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