Media Theory for A Level: The Essential Revision Guide

by Mark Dixon

Overview

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.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780429626920
Publisher:	Taylor & Francis
Publication date:	10/08/2019
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	240
File size:	1 MB
Age Range:	17 - 18 Years

About the Author

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.

Table of Contents

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

Editorial Reviews

"This is a truly insightful book which addresses important changes in today’s media landscape. It engages the reader through clear exposition, compelling examples and a lively invitation to engage in urgent debates."

Professor Sonia Livingstone, Department of Media and Communications, London School of Economics and Political Science

 

"The book media teachers have been waiting for. As well as accessible explanations of the theories that never patronise or over-simplify, Mark Dixon provides a series of questions that encourage a critical approach to applying the set theories to a range of media products. The book makes links and draws comparisons between overlapping theorists, provides useful explanations of key theoretical terms and even interviews some of the key thinkers to get a more detailed and updated explanation of how their ideas apply to the current media landscape.

Dixon not only gives a concise summary of each of the set theories but also attempts to root them in the sociological, technological or cultural studies traditions from which they were inspired. This is essential reading for all media teachers and I’m already using it with the teacher trainees I work with."

Claire Pollard, Media Magazine

From the Publisher