OSP assessment: Learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW: Some very clear and well argued points

EBI: Q2 needs developing - a conclusion, more focus on the question (Hesmondhalgh) and consideration of Shirky as another theorist

2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify three specific aspects from Figure 1 (the Google Home advert) that you could have mentioned in your answer (e.g. selection of image, framing and focus, colour, text etc.)

Preferred - Coloured pencils and paint bottle represent creativity and ideal family life (playing with children)

Oppositional - Repetition of 'home' may disturb readers, as it suggests that nowhere is safe from the influence of multinational conglomerates such as Google

Negotiated - The speaker is a useful product despite the fact that it may exploit user data for monetary gain

3) Now use the mark scheme to identify three potential points that you could have made in your essay for Question 2 (Hesmondhalgh - validity of theory/narrow range of values and ideologies).

The Voice offers an explicit Black British perspective on news stories and issues in London

and the UK. This alone sets it apart from mainstream media and suggests that

Hesmondhalgh’s view that only a narrow range of values and ideologies are available is not

entirely valid. Features such as the first black photographer to shoot the cover picture of

Vogue magazine (December 2018) and campaigns such as the Black Pound campaign

encouraging readers to spend their money with Black businesses (also seen in the suggestion

to ‘Buy Black on Black Friday’) both reflect this agenda.

However, The Voice has been doing this to some extent since its launch in 1982 and it has

arguably become less powerful and influential in recent years. This suggests the digital

revolution Clay Shirky writes about (the “billion new participants in the contemporary media

ecosystem”) has not benefited The Voice in its mission to promote values and ideologies

that remain outside the mainstream. Perhaps this reinforces Hesmondhalgh’s view that the

media is dominated by a narrow range of values and ideologies in that The Voice has failed

to really challenge the hegemonic ideology of the UK.

The Voice should be successful due to the opportunities that are offered by digital media

and the new media landscape in creating a platform for values and ideologies such as a

strong Black British voice. However, the poor construction of the website and social media

presence (poorly worded polls, cluttered design, low-quality photography, lack of fresh

content, poor video production values, weak sponsored content) means it is not the

powerful voice in British media it should be. This may reinforce the validity of

Hesmondhalgh’s ideas when it comes to a narrow range of values and ideologies.

4) Use your exam response, the mark scheme and any other resources you wish to use to write a detailed essay plan for Question 2. Make sure you are planning at least three well-developed paragraphs in addition to an introduction and conclusion.

5) Finally, identify three key areas you plan to revise from the OSP unit (CSP aspects or theories) having looked at your feedback from this assessment.

Clay Shirky

The Voice

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