Unit 5: Media Contexts
Media Studies · Semester 1 Plan · Unit 5 of 6 · ← Unit 4 | Unit 6 →
Concepts: Media Industry · Media Audience · Case Study Method
What this unit does
This unit closes Component 1 and moves the course into Component 2. Your Component 1 portfolio is due Friday of W13, with no edits allowed after that; its feedback becomes your Semester 2 production targets. You then study audience and institutions theory — uses and gratifications, Morley, ownership, integration/synergy/convergence, regulation — building toward A4, your first Section A sit in the authentic exam format and the anchor for your Forecast Grade. This unit also opens the case-study document you will use for A4, the End of Term Exam, and Paper 2.
Dates & span
W13–W16: Mon 2026-11-23 → Fri 12-18 — 14 teaching days (L11: 6, L12: 4, L13: 4). W14 contributes only Mon 11-30 + Tue 12-01.
These dates may shift when the school publishes the calendar for this period.
Lessons
- L11 Audiences and the Portfolio Submission — mass/niche/target audiences and the limits of the effects model; CCR help in the last help window; A3 handed in, returned with self-banding first, and converted into LB4 targets; Blumler and Katz on your own weekly media use.
- L12 Institutions and Section A Craft — Morley’s Nationwide; ownership, PSB vs commercial; CS8 with the mark scheme open; the Component 2 case-study document opened.
- L13 A4 — Section A in Authentic Format — integration, synergy, convergence through one institution; the authentic 30+45 sit; regulation context.
Assessment
| Item | Date | What | AO |
|---|---|---|---|
| A3 | Fri 2026-11-27 | Component 1 portfolio complete: product + CCR + blog; C1 criteria (AO2 20 + AO3 80, scaled to 50); no edits after (returned Tue 12-01) | AO2+AO3 |
| LB4 | Tue 2026-12-01 | Response to feedback: one production target logged | — |
| CS8 | Wed 2026-12-09 | Guided Section A, mark scheme open — direct practice for A4 | AO1+AO2 |
| A4 | Wed 2026-12-16 | Component 2 Section A in authentic format: 30 min viewing/notes + 45 min writing; Forecast Grade anchor | AO1+AO2 |
See the full register.
Key content
- Theorists: Blumler and Katz (uses and gratifications), Morley (the Nationwide study, differential readings).
- Institutions: ownership and funding (PSB vs commercial), integration, synergy, convergence, regulation and its consequences.
- Component 1 closes: internally complete and graded; one evidenced production target per student for Semester 2.
- Component 2 opens: the case-study document is opened Fri 12-11 from a template — a case study you will still be using in May — updated live through L13 and added to through homework entries.