Media Theory for A Level provides a comprehensive introduction to the 19 academic theories required for A Level Media study.
From Roland Barthes to Clay Shirky, from structuralism to civilisationism, this revision book explains all the core academic concepts students need to master to succeed in their exams. Each chapter contains comprehensive explanations of the academic ideas and theories specified for GCE Media study as well as practical tasks, higher level ‘challenge activities’, glossaries, reference tables, and revision summaries.
The second edition of this best-selling guide features:
- Updated and revised chapters and exemplars, reflecting the new A Level Media specification (AQA, Eduqas, OCR and WJEC)
- Overviews of key critiques of named theorists, including Max Fisher, Christian Fuchs, and Andrew Keen, alongisde outlines of how these approaches might be used in exam responses
- Summaries of secondary theory that can be used to help secure top grades
This book is key reading for teachers and students of A-Level Media Studies and is also a useful resource for GCSE students.
Media Theory for A Level is also accompanied by the essentialmediatheory.com website that contains a wide range of supporting resources including revision flashcards, worksheets, and more exemplar applications of theory to current set texts.
Media language
1. Semiotics: Roland Barthes
Denotation and connotation
The media’s ideological effect
2. Structuralism: Claude Lévi-Strauss
Binary oppositions
Binary oppositions and ideological significance
3. Narratology: Tzvetan Todorov
The three-act ideal
The ideological effects of story structure
4. Genre theory: Steve Neale
Repetition and difference
Industry effects on genre driven content
5. Postmodernism: Jean Baudrillard
The real and the hyperreal
Media representation
6. Representation: Stuart Hall
Media representation processes
Stereotypes and power
7. Postcolonial theory: Paul Gilroy
Racial binaries, otherness and civilizationism
The legacy of empire and English identity
8. Feminist theory: Liesbet van Zoonen
The female body as spectacle
Masculinity in the media
9. Intersectionality: bell Hooks
Interconnected oppression
Hooks’ call to action
10. Gender as performance: Judith Butler
Gendered identities: repetition and ritual
Gender subversion and gendered hierarchies
11. Media and identity: David Gauntlett
Traditional and post-traditional media consumption
Reflexive identity construction
Media industries
12. Ownership Effects: James Curran and Jean Seaton
Media concentration
Effects of concentration of media content
Diverse ownership creates diverse products
13. Regulation: Sonia Livingstone and Peter Lunt
Citizen and consumer models of media regulation
Regulation in the globalised media age
14. The culture industry: David Hesmondhalgh
Maximising profits and minimising risks
The effects of the internet revolution are difficult to diagnose
Media Audiences
15. Media modelling effects: Albert Bandura
Violent behaviours are learned through modelling
Audiences copy media modelling
16. Cultivation theory: George Gerbner
Fear cultivation
Media consumption leads audiences to accept mainstream ideologies
17. Reception theory: Stuart Hall
Encoding and decoding
Dominant, negotiated, and oppositional decoding
18. Fandom: Henry Jenkins
Fan appropriations
Audiences/producer convergence in the digital age
19. The end of audience: Clay Shirky
Everybody makes the media
Everyday communities of practice
Works Cited
Index
Biography
Mark Dixon is an Eduqas A Level examiner and Head of Media and Film at Durham Sixth Form Centre. He is also a freelance author, and has written for The Guardian, Tes, Media Magazine and Teach Secondary as well as authoring a range of digital resources for Eduqas Media.
