| Theme | Newsbeat | War of the Worlds |
| Regulation | – Ofcom regulates BBC therefore regulates Newsbeat. Government gives regulative guidelines to Ofcom. – The Royal Charter is the constitutional basis for the BBC. It sets out the BBC’s objective (BBC Charter). | – Regulated by the Federal Communication Commissions (Regulate media across the United States) |
| Ownership | – Owned and produced by the BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) – TV license fee | – Owned by CBS (Columbia Broadcasting System) which is owned by Paramount Global. |
| James Curran (Power and responsibility) | – ‘Independence poses a serious threat to political institutions’ – Pg 134 meaning that the independence of the BBC is threatening political institutions such as the government. | – “profit-driven motives take precedence over creativity” meaning that CBS creates the idea of a massive panic to produce a large sum of money over the idea of making a good entertainment. CBS are in for the money making scheme rather than an entertainment scheme. |
| Jean Seaton | – ‘Commercial broadcasting is based not on the sale of programmes to audiences but on the sale of audiences to advertisers’ – pg 126 – meaning broadcasting requires advertising revenue to maintain programming and they are designed to attract ‘economically affluent audiences’, meaning audiences who want to buy the product that are promoted, although the BBC does not have adverts. The BBC does not want to chase big fantasy stories, this proves they seek to inform audiences on international and national information rather than entertain. | – Seeks to entertain with stories rather than inform audiences. |
| Noam Chomsky | ||
| Paul Lazarfeld (Two-step flow communication model) | – Two-step flow communication model is most people form their opinions under the influence of opinion leaders, who in turn are influenced by the mass media. (People form their ideas from influencers and those with a high reputation.) – An example of this is Prince Harry and Kate the Princess of Wales promoting mental health through Newsbeat. This impacts audiences as opinions leaders like the royal family are helping others. (11th October 2022 – Prince and Princess of Wales take over Radio 1 Newsbeat on World Mental Health day) | – Famous author Orsen Welles reads War of the Worlds, to share their message of entertainment. |
| Jurgen Habermas (Transofrmation of the Public Sphere) | – He states that a variety of factors have affected the way people share their ideas and social issues willingly and freely. -Transformation of the public sphere. – The BBC (when making money) re-invests back into the company to make it better, adapt it and sticks to their charter tighter. (Inform, entertain, educate) | – CBS sticks to making a profit rather than creating better content for their audiences. They do not transform the public sphere as CBS do not share knowledge and news, but only entertain. |
| Cross Media | – | – |
Category Archives: Exam Prep
Filters
RADIO 20 MARK REVISION
| Theme | Newsbeat | War of the Worlds |
| Ownership | Owned by the BBC, the BBC is owned and payed for the by the public. Payed through TV licenses BBC Charter: Educate, Inform, Entertain | Owned by CBS, CBS is payed for by Paramount global. Privately owned, available to everyone. |
| Regulation | Regulated by Ofcom which receives it regulation rules through the UK gov. Also regulates off of the BBC’s Charter. | CBS is regulated by the The Federal Communications Commission (US FCC) |
| Habermas | Transformation of the public sphere, the BBC (when making money) re-invests it into BBC to make it better, adapt it and sticks to their charter tighter. | Sticks to making a profit rather than bettering itself. Does not transform the public sphere, the polar opposite of the BBC. |
| Chomsky | 5 filters of mass media: 1.Structures of ownership – BBC owned by the public, regulated by their own Ethos. 2.The role of advertising – Ads for the BBC are on social media platforms displaying what they offer, for example the “Trust is earned” publication video they made. 3.Links with ‘The Establishment’ – BBC isn’t directly connected to the government however it is regulated by a set of rules the government chooses. 4.Diversionary tactics – ‘flack’ – None really applies as the BBC specialises in its truth. 5.Uniting against a ‘common enemy’ | |
| Audience | Active consumption, choosing to listen in and create opinions and thoughts based on the stories which are on the media/radio from newsbeat. | Passive consumption, taking in what war of the worlds is saying and just believing it. |
| Lazarfeld | Harry and Kate promoting mental Health on mental Health Day, Stormzy being put on the show. This uses opinion leaders so that its not the BBC directly telling the audience how to feel, its their favourite influencers. | It is written by Orsen Wells, who was a popular author uses the two step flow of directly injecting the idea of entertain through War Of the Worlds, at 0:20 it is announced that Orsen will be reading the show and is also announced it is a story from the Theatre on Air. |
| Stuart Hall | ||
| New Technology | Newsbeat is on social media, internet radio and apps. | |
| Cross media creation | Newsbeat is on social media, internet radio and apps. Can be read and understood on different platforms for the younger audiences to access it anywhere and whenever they want. | The show was originally published as a book in the UK and US in 1897, then a radio show in 1938 and then a TV series in 1988 |
| Curran | “profit-driven motives take precedence over creativity” CBS creating the idea of a a massive panic to create a huge amount of money over the idea of making a good entertainment. | |
| Seaton | POWER AND MEDIA: patterns of ownership and control are the most significant factors in how the media operate. Controls how they want to target audiences that are informed and want to learn. Seaton says “Sells audiences to advertisers not products to audiences” which the BBC doesn’t do, they do this by sticking to their “educate” ethos and making stories to educate. | Provides to audiences the idea of entertainment without sticking to any sort of ethos or education. Only entertainment and selling a big story which we don’t know is true (I.E people running out of their homes in fear of the story that they are hearing. |
CSP – WOTW + NEWSBEAT
| COMPARISION | WOTW | NEWSBEAT |
| OWNERSHIP (INSTITUTIONS) | – CBS (Columbia Broadcasting Service) – Owned by Paramount Global (“multinational mass media conglomerate”) – Funded mostly through advertising time on air – War of the Worlds episode was the 17th in ‘The Mercury Theatre on the Air’ series in 1938. – Key terms: Globalization, conglomerate, multinational, vertical integration, ‘risky business’ | – BBC (British Broadcasting Corperation) -Owned publicly by the general public of the UK – Funded through TV Licenses (paid annually – £159 per year) – Paternalist approach (giving audiences what they should have/ need) – First Director General was Lord Reith (he created original ethos) – “provide impartial, high-quality and distinctive output and services which inform, educate and entertain“ – Key Terms: Populist VS Paternalist, public service broadcasting, funded publicly |
| AUDIENCE (Demographic) | – Listeners of CBS Radio Network. Those in the USA. | – Young people – Listeners of BBC Radio 1, 1 Extra and Asian Network. – Ages 15-29 |
| HABERMAS | – Commercial broadcasting goes against Habermas’ ideas. – Commercial broadcasting focuses on profit and entertainment rather than audience. | Transformation of the public sphere. – The BBC values transforming knowledge through entertainment. They provide a paternalistic approach as a way of informing their range of audience on diverse, current and important issues. (quality programming) – Cecil Lewis said that the BBC “opens up new worlds to people”. Discussion VS Directorial – “arena of public debate” |
| HESMONDHALGH | – “the creative industries are a risky business” | |
| CURRAN – The role of public service broadcasting is to ‘diversify voices’ – Plurality | “profit -driven motives take precedence over creativity in the world of commercial media” – Perhaps CBS used the notion of a “moral panic” across the USA as a marketing approach following the broadcast. Commercial broadcasting (especially CBS lacks a public service remit – it can slightly subvert regulation/ enforcement) – Taking a risk | – Media of the “Victorian era” were “engines for social and political change” (linking to Habermas’ ideas on the transformation of the public sphere) – “peak-time television schedules are dominated by lighter entertainment formats” – The BBC is now being overthrown by the rise of social media/ commercial broadcasting due to profit. |
| SEATON | – Power of the media “commercial broadcasting is based on the sale of audiences to advertisers” – CBS were selling ‘War of the Worlds’ to listeners | “the work of broadcasting should be regarded as a public service for a social purpose” – BBC has a remit to inform, entertain and educate (a social purpose). “public service” – Something to serve the public, “social purpose” – Something to help transform our society for the better – Her ideas imply that commercial broadcasting is more of a money making product rather than important to making a change. – “to lead public opinion” “catering for all sections of the community, reaching all parts of the country” – Linking to their Royal Charter: ACCOUNTABILITY |
| REGULATION | Federal Communications Commission regulates privately. Not for interest of the public | – The BBC is overseen by the government through the ‘Royal Charter’. This agreement is proposed in parliament and is reviewed annually. First established in 1927, the Charter provides a remit that the BBC must accustom to. – As well as their charter, The BBC is regulated externally by Ofcom. Ofcom closely monitor the BBC through their Broadcasting Code. They provide a yearly report on their findings. – The emergence of new technologies/ generations today means that the BBC is challenged. Perhaps, the BBC is struggling to keep up with the needs of a changing society. |
| CHOMSKY – Manufacturing consent. | ||
| TEXTUAL EVIDENCE | War of the Worlds: – “We know now that in the early years of the 20th century, this world was being watched closely by intelligences greater than man’s” – “out of character” – “the war of the worlds has no further significance” | – Inclusion of relevant news stories, similar to ones featured on BBC News but delivered in a way that is easy to follow/ is more engaging and interactive. – Stories very much focused on ‘young people’ and how current issues are affect the youth: – ‘Young people face surge in homelessness’ – ‘The young NHS workers who voted yes to striking’ A range of articles focus on celebrities/ pop culture. A way of providing entertainment through a multi-media form that also informs. Debbie Ramsay (Newsbeat editor) said that reporters do not “dumb down” a story. They summarise it without any “airs or graces” |
| EVIDENCE (EXTERNAL QUOTES) | “Radio 1 is about giving young people a voice” – |
compare ‘newsbeat’ and ‘war of the worlds’
Comparative Table
| THEME | NEWSBEAT | WAR OF THE WORLDS |
| OWNERSHIP | BBC – PSB, government, director general in charge – 1st one – Lord Baron Reath, trans-national, multi-media company, not a monopoly – more of an oligopoly, concentration of ownership. BBC has a slightly left- leaning ideology. | CBS – private company, conglomerate, cross-media conglomerate, trans-national? example of concentration of ownership – just a few companies own everything – oligopoly? cartel? Vertical integration |
| HABERMAS | Transformation of the public sphere – BBC intention is to inform, educate, and entertain. BBC is public + non-profit, all money is put back into shows. This supports Habermas’ theory that the BBC is paternalistic, providing what you need rather than what you want. | Commerical profit is a poor ethos – not in the spirit of Habermas’. There is an idea that private organisations do not care about viewers, and instead only care about profit. |
| CHOMSKY | Chomsky talks about how adults are more impressionable to believing falsities, whereas young people are more aware of the truth. | Some people can’t distinguish truth from fiction – universal grammar |
| REGULATION | Ofcom, BBC charter governed by parliament. New technologies mean BBC is faced with more competition | Federal communications department, not necessarily in the public interest |
| AUDIENCE (ACTIVE / PASSIVE) | active (Audience participation – online accessibility) | passive (Audience were passive in the way they received the information) |
| AUDIENCE (LAZARSFELD – two-step flow theory) | Getting popular guests on the show who bring in viewers | Orson Welles – opinion leaders |
| AUDIENCE (HALL) Stuart Hall – theory of preferred reading. suggested that media texts contain a variety of messages that are encoded (made/inserted) by producers and then decoded (understood) by audiences. | Encoded message – of the broadcast being a joke, was not taken on, and instead, peoplemtook it seriously. | |
| NEW TECHNOLOGY | ||
| CROSS MEDIA CONVERGENCE | ||
| ? | ||
| ? |
CSP – NEWSBEAT
Facts and Figures:
- Newsbeat is a radio service from the BBC
- The main focus, rather than your typical news, is news towards teenagers and “twentysomethings”.
- Launched 10th September 1973
- The name was taken from another radio program, “Radio Coraline”, this is because one of Radio Coralines workers “Roger Gale” worked on Newsbeat with the BBC
- Broadcasted on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network.
- 15-19, 84% listeners 12-15
Media Industries:
- Younger audience receiving news that is regulated by the government.
- As well as this, even if the younger audience doesn’t use the radio, newsbeat is multi platform (Radio, Twitter, Instagram, Facebook) so the younger audience have regulated influencers everywhere they spend time in.
- There is no difference between the BBC news and newsbeat, due to the fact its all being regulated by the same people, at the end of the day, they’re going to receive the same news in a different way.
- Funded by the tax from the government, hypothecated tax, money from a specific tax goes towards the BBC for education.
Media Audiences:
- BBC’s Ethos of Educate, Entertain and Inform is cemented within newsbeat as it encases all their key values. Entertains the younger audiences with celebrity news, informs them of dangerous and or threatening news, and educates them with other news.
- Stuart Hall, 3 types of audiences.
Those who accept: Teenager and young people who listen or watch online, taking Newsbeats information and believing/accepting it.
Those who argue: The audience which listens/reads but then disagrees with some things.
Those who reject: The audience which entirely REJECTS what newsbeat has to offer. - To bring in the younger audience, Newsbeat changed the language and style they present in, bringing in teens by using street slang and making stories on popular, younger generation topics, like Tik Tok, Celebrities and Young topics.
Public Service BoardCasting (PSB)
10 Key elements / standards of quality television
- The quality of the sound recording.
- The acting skills to make it seem real.
- The storyline, whether its predictable and easy to read or unpredictable and harder to read and the writing of the story.
- The style of clothes and makeup and the quality of props.
- The picture quality.
- Camera angles
- Themes
Definitions:
- Broadcasting – Targets a large audience (mass media products)
- Narrowcasting – Targets a small audience (niche audience)
- Populism – The idea that media products follow what their audiences enjoy and love.
- Paternalism – The idea that media products follow what is good for their audiences.
The BBC:
- BBC was made in 1922, 51 years before Newsbeat.
- The first director general of the BBC was Lord John Reith.
Ethos of the BBC:
- Lord Reith developed the 3 components of the BBC: 1) Entertain 2) Educate 3) Inform.
- Grace Wyndham-Goldie explains changing nature of modern communication, essentially by transforming time and space through technology.
- British culture was centred around the BBC.
Theorists that can be linked to the BBC:
- Habermas: The BBC correlates to the transformation of the public sphere as this is where there is sharing of knowledge and ideas, which the BBC expresses and informs the UK of international news as well as national news.
- James Curran (talks about power and responsibility) says ‘Independence poses a serious threat to political institutions whose control over broadcasting should be strengthened’ – Pg 134 That the independence of the BBC is threatening political institutions such as the government.
- Jean Seaton explains ‘Commercial broadcasting is based not on the sale of programmes to audiences but on the sale of audiences to advertisers’ – pg 126 – meaning broadcasting requires advertising revenue to maintain programming and they are designed to attract ‘economically affluent audiences’, meaning audiences who want to buy the product that are promoted.
CSP: Newsbeat
Facts and Figures:
- Newsbeat is the BBC’s radio news programme broadcast on Radio 1, 1Xtra and Asian Network.
- Newsbeat is edited by Danielle Dwyer.
- More popular with older groups like millennials with 63% than Gen X with 42% and Baby Boomers with 34%.
- The original release of Newsbeat was in 10th September 1973 to the present day.
- Runs for 15 minutes and its country of origin is the United Kingdom.
- BBC Trust claims Radio 1 targets people who are aged 15-29. However, RAJAR suggests the average listener is actually 30.
- Newsbeat is a multi media production which consist of radio, news and video as well as behind the scenes of the radio (The way the camera angles are presented and the videos are performed).
- Transmitted live over digital audio broadcast most weekdays at 12:45 and 17:45.
- Newsbeat is owned by the BBC.
Media Industries:
- BBC is regulated by the government as audiences are unable to listen to the radio station and their news unless you have a TV license.
- Newsbeat uses multi media products to advertise and present their website through social medias such as Instagram, Twitter and Facebook.
Media Audiences (Relating to Newsbeat):
- Stuart Hall is represented through his reception theory as the producers appeal to their listeners through influencing their audiences opinion (Framing) through his 3 types of audiences. Dominant (Those who accept): Teenager and young people who listen or watch online, taking Newsbeats information and believing/accepting it. Negotiated (Those who argue): The audience which listens/reads but then disagrees with some things. Opposition (Those who reject): The audience which entirely REJECTS what newsbeat has to offer.
- Newsbeat appeal to younger generations of 15 to 29 years of age through their story contexts and presentation. On the stories page of Newsbeat, their stories are based around tik tok, education and celebrities such as the rapper and singer known as Stormzy, and other stories which may interest young audiences.
- Younger audiences have different consumption patterns to the older generations (younger gen through phones and older gen through TV)
Possible Exam Newsbeat Questions:
- Assess the extent in which institutions and audiences play a key role in a product you have studied. (Newsbeat) 20 marks
- How does Newsbeat attract their target audiences? (9 marks)
oh comely
Iceberg Press: an independent publisher
Iceberg Press is completely different to Hearst UK – the publisher of Men’s Health and subsidiary of global conglomerate Hearst. It publishes just two magazines: Oh Comely and The Simple Things
patrick tembo – C.E.O. – Iceberg Media
Read it with a cup of tea or a toddy. It inspires people to be creative, talk to their neighbours and explore new things
1 Oh Comely is a magazine that makes people smile, full of quiet moments and stories
2 it makes people feel better about themselves the way they are
3 launched in 2010
4 publishes 6 issues a year
5 laust issue was September 2021 due to the pandemic
6 owned by ice berg press
7 CEO if iceberg press is Patrick Tembo
Representation of women
Judith Butlers idea of the male gaze isn’t shown in oh comely due to women being fully clothed and photography shots being medium close up therefore you cannot see their figure.
The women wear barely any make up to show and suggest natural beauty.
Social Media Reach: 100,000
Readers Per Issue: 25,000
Average Age of reader: 27
Sold through independents, WHSmith and international outlets
More people see oh comely digitally
What audience pleasures are offered by Oh Comely?
- Surveillance- Knowledge of many new topics and awareness of amazing people who have accomplished great things.
- Diversion- The style of the magazine and the thought gone into the photography and presentation of the magazine makes it one that can be enjoyable just by looking at it.
pages 14-15
Fahma mohammed at age 14 figured out she had the female genital malutation. she commited to ending FGM and has now got a campaign todo so.
the partial or total removal of external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons
Megan Jayne Crabbe promoted self love and body positivity.
Plus sized model
Stuart hall applied
dominant – agree with what she says and does
negotiated – may understand her point of view but not agree
oppositional- don’t like or agree with her actions or point of view
Oh Comely Essay Prep
Institution
Owned by Iceberg press (small company) – Went bankrupt during COVID- didn’t make digital copies of the magazine because of their intense views towards print dying – goes against Hesmondhalgh.
Radical magazine – goes with Curran and Seaton saying massive companies make repetitive products to make money. They don’t appeal to a large audience, as demonstrated by a study which revealed 98% of their readers were female and the average age of their readers was 27. This means that they have to secure that audience with repetitive ideas in order to sell their products.
Language
Barthes – Enigma code on front cover as the dominant signifier is posing for the camera, however is not sexualised or appeals to “Male Gaze” by Mulvey as the model is wearing natural makeup and has short hair. Could confuse the reader and build a sense of anticipation so the people buy it and read on.
Oh Comely features wildly varying design choices, with many photographs heavily deferring from traditional magazine designs. Neale depicts genre as a “corpus” or repertoire of both innovative and predictable elements. When I apply these ideas to Oh Comely I see a plethora of innovative elements which do not follow common conventions of magazines, such as small text with big gaps and indexical images of women portrayed in a very humble and self-aware manner.
Levi-Strauss’ theory of binary opposition can be linked to the CSP in that a clear distinction between the magazine’s view on women and men – males are not even mentioned or shown in any way which shows the nature of their product and makes it abundantly clear that men have no place intervening in the ideas given from Oh Comely.
Representation
Refers to women in a positive, powerful and independent fashion with words like “strong”, “wisdom” which heavily links to the idea of gender performance by Butler and the work of Van Zoonen, who both say that gender is not a matter of biology and can be played out and negotiated, with Butler creating the idea of gender performance. This links heavily to the extract containing a body positivity blogger, who is dressed in revealing clothes however is not using this portrayal to appeal to men, but to empower women, suggesting that their bodies are their own. This heavily contrasts Men’s Health in that it strongly suggests that if you are a man, you need to follow the conventions laid out in the magazine.
Audience
Gerbner – Cultivation theory – Accepting media – fuelled viewpoints as the norm – allows opinion leaders and powerful people who control the media to spread their agenda, often about cultural minorities. Not in this magazine – as there is a page which gives a positive representation of African/Middle Eastern women campaigning about FGM that is not to do with poverty, terrorism, war.
Stuart Hall’s theory of preferred reading goes against Oh Comely in my opinion, as the messages conveyed in the magazine are so wildly different when compared with the vast amount of magazines out there, to the point that I don’t even think there is a definite dominant reading for people to accept or reject. This heavily contrasts Men’s Health in that in the other CSP a dominant reading is incredibly easy to establish and compare your own views to.
Oh Comely
‘Oh is a reimagination of Oh Comely magazine and is still a place to meet new people, hear their stories and hopefully leave you looking at life a little differently. And every issue will still have beautiful photography and illustration at its heart’, from the magazine’s website.
- An alternative magazine, niche target audience
- A part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements
The editor is Lisa Sykes, who used to work at Hearst UK.
She says “We didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy”.
It is a feminist magazine with a niche audience. The women who feature in it are not sexualised, and so it is an unconventional print product.
The first issue was created in 2010, with the final one published in September 2021. The company (Iceberg Press) went bankrupt due to COVID-19.
Makes 6 copies a year – every 2 months
The average age of its audience is 27, and 98% of its readers are female.
OH! COMELY
Owner: Iceberg Press, an independent publisher, bought Oh Comely (which pivoted from the women’s lifestyle sector to the growing mindfulness sector and renamed Oh)
‘Oh is a reimagination of Oh Comely magazine and is still a place to meet new people, hear their stories and hopefully leave you looking at life a little differently.’
Lisa Sykes is the editor, used to work at Hearst UK.
Sykes recalls. “We didn’t like the fact that print dying was becoming a self fulfilling prophecy”
- First issue 2010
- Final issue was published September 2021
- Feminist magazine
- Niche target market
- Made 6 copies a year, one every 2 months
- Average reader age of 27
- Institution – who owns it
- Examples of specific pages
- Language, how it’s laid up, representation
- Audiences – who reads it, who it’s for
Lazarsfeld
Ideas of the two-step flow of communication, supplied by Lazarsfeld, says that ideas flow from mass media to opinion leaders, and from them, to a wider population.
In Oh Comely, there is a radical and apposed representation of women, following ideas of Stuart Hall’s theory on the 3 categories of media representation, it empowers them and not sexualising them like most mass media products such as Men’s Health. But in modern times there is an active conversation on feminism and fighting against the patriarchy, so the two-step model can still be applied here. Modern mass media ideas on feminism is being represented and promoted widely throughout the world and being supported by opinion leaders such as Ariana Grande who support ideas on feminism, which in turn allows this product to be relevant, granted, to a niche market with an average reader age of 27, but it still circles back to the same concept, although these ideas can be considered radical, overall, nothing is really radical as the ideas always flow from someone in power, someone who’s opinion is more relevant to someone else’s, and in evaluation, the magazine only exists to generate a profit. A flow of communication used only to profit off the wider population.
Use of empowering and active words such as ‘power’, ‘wisdom’, ‘strong’ is used in a feminist manner to empower their readers.
There is a conventional representation of the dominant signifier on the front cover in the fact that she is being posed for the camera and wearing makeup — but on the other hand, it could be considered unconventional as she is wearing light, more natural makeup, nothing that changes her looks much and has a more radical style; short hair and clothes that do not show any skin or show off her body, tackling usual focus on sexualisation on most magazines.
On pages 14-15 it demonstrates a woman who is wearing an ethnic turban which is radical in terms of repressing and going against mainstream, common representations within magazines. This magazine tries to go against control and leaning into repressing the common ideologies in which represent women negatively, this magazine does not represent women in a sexualised way and strays away from Laura Mulvey’s theory on the ‘male gaze’ in which this magazine does not appeal to. It works against the mainstream representations of women who are usually used as tools for promotion and greater sales with the over-sexualisation of women. Further proven on page on all other pages where no sexualisation is featured.
Also the word ‘comely’, an old fashioned word means pretty, but is used as a more modest and subtle way to compliment a woman, in a way that doesn’t sexualise them but rather positively represents them.
This magazine follows an active form of Lasswell’s model of communication and supply’s its readers with a magazine every 2 months, so just 6 a year. Also supporting a self confidence and self-esteem almost escapism feature of one’s personal and and social needs following of the Uses and Gratifications theory of Katz, Hass and Gerevitch.