Year 13 Issues and Debates Sample Questions

As I mentioned in the revision session this morning, you can click on the title above and go to the Mark Scheme for the Janauary exam of this year. There you will find the questions that were set for the Issues and Debates paper, including the one we went through in class, together with bullet points on what students might include in an answer. Practising answering the questions can be a great way to go through all your notes and refamiliarising yourself with the material. Most of all you should be practising structuring your responses.

Have Apple Bitten Off More Than They Can Chew?

The EU Commission (that’s the part of the European Union that regulates business and protects consumers in Europe) has started an investigation into the way that Apple allegedly limits the choice of music consumers who use iTunes. According to European Law, consumers should be free to buy the same product from anywhere in Europe, thus allowing them to shop around for the best price. However, if you use iTunes in Britain you can only buy from iTunes in Britain, meaning that you pay 79p for a track, compared to 66p if you were able to buy it from iTunes in France. Apple claim that their hands are tied by the record companies who supply them with the tracks. This is a classic example of how the internet has allowed institutions like Apple and the big record companies to take advantage of the lack of regulation aimed specifically at the internet. The regulators (in this case the EU Commission) are having to play catch up in an effort to protect consumers.

Do Rights Matter – What is DRM?

The BBC has an excellent article explaining exactly what is meant by Digital Rights Management. This is a key issue in the age of the internet and has major implications for how institutions continue to make a profit from the media content that audiences consume.

Can Gaming Kill the Cinema Star?

Computer games have come a long way since the Pong and Space Invaders. Where they were essentially a series of lines and dots on the screen, today’s games have almost cinema quality graphics and sound; so much so that many movie franchises like James Bond and Star Wars have extended their brand with a catalogue of computer games. Whatever the quality of the visuals and sound, however, games have, up until now, never been able to offer the audience the same depth of characterisation, quality of dialogue or compelling narratives as cinema. So while games may offer the audiences more interactivity than a movie, their ability to become a truly immersive experience has been limited by these shortcomings. Keen to develop new audiences, and improve the experience of existing one, the games industry is now looking to Hollywood screenwriters to help them overcome these problems. Click on the title above to read more about this and ask yourself whether games will eventually replace cinema as a mass entertainment form.

The Key Questions In Media Packed Into One Article

Mark Lawson uses the recent TV phone line scandal to ask many of the key questions in Media Studies in one tidy article - (I very much doubt this was his intention but it does anyway.) This isn't just relevant to New Media but also to Broadcast News and Contemporary Issues in British Broadcasting in Year 13. Most of all it addresses the big issue of Audience Theory - what is the nature of the relationship between the audience and the producer? He claims that the phone scandal, and the public's reaction to it, challenges the commonly held view that the audience today is a sophisticated and media savvy. He also discusses the different conceptions of the audience that are revealed through the recent Virgin Media and Sky row - with Rupert Murdoch and Sky seeing the audience as a mere consumers and television as just another product to be sold rather than some kind of cultural artifact that contains meaning for the viewer, "their status more akin to that of guest, student, even patient." He raises the issue of "trust" and how news programmes have sold themselves on the basis of their trustworthiness. However, is this now possible when so many people feel they can trust blogs more than traditonal news outlets like the BBC and NBC (in America)? Are blogs to become the main news source for the next generation? If so, what impact will this have on our shared cultural understanding? In an increasingly personalised media world, will we ever feel connected to those around us?

One Man And His TV Broadcast

Jeff Jarvis details how inexpensize and easy it is for an individual to create their own television output using sites like YouTube, a digital camera and iMovie. He does warn, however, that while the audience can become the producer, the quality of his programming may not yet compare to the that of the BBC or Channel 4 (though have you seen Hollyoaks in the City?)

Game On

The Science Museum has a great exhibition on the history and future of video games running from now until February 2007. It's a great opportunity to play games going back to the 70's and to trace the development of technology, especially the graphics and sound, over the years. There's also the opportunity to play with the latest, most interactive games like Nintendo's new Wii system. What you'll notice is how much more immersive games have become over the years. As the graphics, sound and gameplay develop, players become more involved in the world of the game. Some would say that this is a bad thing, leading players to become detached from reality and those around them. However, the development of online gaming allows players to experience this virtual world with others from all over the world - increasing our connectivity. Even if you don't get to the exhibition, you should check out the museum's site to find out more (follow the link in the title of this post.