Answering the exam question

Plan written by Pete Fraser (Chief examiner) and expanded on by myself.

At the top of the paper, for all topics, there is an instruction that you need to refer to the past, contemporary media and future possibilities and that you should use case study examples to support your arguments. You also need to have some reference to media theory and to refer to examples from at least two media areas. Since 20 of the marks are for explanation, argument and analysis (EAA), twenty are for use of examples (EG) and 10 are for use of terminology (T), you can see that this is not an easy task.

In this post, I am going to try to show how you can make the most of your material to do a good answer.So how would we go about answering these questions?

Step 1: Identify what the question is about. Exam questions are often written to a bit of a formula- 'to what extent...' 'how far...' '...discuss' - you'll see these a lot in G325. what they are all doing is asking you to consider a debate and to look at both sides of something, not just to prove a point. So when Q.8 asks for a discussion of whether the impact of the Internet is revolutionary, it is not setting it as a statement of fact, but asking 'how far' this is true. Similarly, q.9, which refers to distribution and consumption, is asking whether the Internet has made these things very different. So there are similarities between the two questions, though the second one gives you more to tie your answer to, where the first one is quite open. In both cases, though, what you use for case studies is really open to your choice!

Highlight and annotate the questions what are they asking you to do.....what examples could you use. Identify the key words.

Step 2: decide which of the two questions to do

Step 3: note down a plan, with the main points you want to cover and the examples you want to use. Break this down so you cover all the areas needed

Examples
Media areas x2 or more
Which theory/critics to reference- it just means whose ideas do you want to mention
Main arguments
Past?
Present?
Future?
terminology

If you run out of time, the examiner can at least give you credit for where you would have gone.
remember, you could answer this section before you do 1a and 1b if you want.

Step 4 Write an Intro - keep it short and simple. Ensure you reword the question to show the examiner that you understand what is being asked of you. for example;

'In this essay I shall consider how far web microcosies and Internet memes demonstrate the changing nature of distribution and consumption of the media' -

This intro already uses two bits of terminology (microseries and memes) and shows you are going to address the question (distribution and consumption).
If you know that you are going to use the ideas of contemporary critics, you could go on to say

'I shall refer to the ideas of David Gauntlett to consider whether the arguments he makes about Web 2.0 really do suggest that the media has changed dramatically.'

Step 5 get on with it:

case study 1 - this is where you discuss your first example- Draw upon theory to support or challenge any of the points that you make. Ensure you discuss the past, present and future of this study. e.g. where did we used to get our news from - any issues with this ie. newspapers are instantly out of date as soon as they've been printed. Then discuss how online media has revolutionised the news e.g. Dan Gilmor and citizen Journalism (but argue the case just because you take a picture, upload it and leave a comment are you a journalist? What would Michale Moore say about this?) - then lead this discussion of web 2.0 and converging technologies into a discussion/ debate about social networking and David Gautnlett (collaboration) - twitter vs. Jan Moir and Internet memes(outline the good and bad). Murdoch now wanting to charge online subscription fee. Michale Moore offers alternative view that it's capitalist greed that's caused the death of the newspaper as they've dumbed down the nation (this could bring in uses and gratification and why people use the news and how - how has online media made it easier for people to dip in and out of the news?). Then what do you think will happen in the future - where will the news go next?

Step 6 case study 2 - your second example- Define any terms, outline some examples and bring in any relevant theory to support or challenge any of the points that you make. Again Ensure you discuss the past, present and future of this study. For instance if you were going to talk about the music industry you could discuss how music used to be produced (signed to a major label and recording in a large studio - CD's made and sold - issues can only buy albums or buy singles for a lot of money and usually can only buy mainstream in high street stores (was that limiting?)). With the rise of MP3 (smaller file sizes although worse quality) people can record in their own room and upload to social networking sites and offer downloads - (leaving majors - setting up online indie labels). What about file sharing and peer to peer sites? Issues both for and against? Major reaction to illegal downloads? Apples solution - rise of Itunes (can purchase singles) - Chris Anderson's theory of the 'long Tail' selling more niche products as Internet has endless supply (self space in high street stores). Technological convergence means that we can now have our entire music collection in the Palm of our hands.

What about anybody being able to be a music producer? Think about uses and gratifications. Mash-up's? unsigned acts? David Guantlett - creativity and happiness - take a look at Don Tapscott and his book wikinomics - he states that mass collaboration is revolutionising the way people and business operate. He offers that because of web 2.0 meida companies are beginning to conceive, design, develop and distribute products and services in profoundly new ways - youtube, spotify, podcasts etc. However, Andrew Keen suggests that there is a dark side to web 2.0 and that the rise of amateur creativity on the web will drown out authentic talent. He states that "if you democratise media then you democratise talent". - kind of the same argument that Michael Moore has regarding the dumbing down of the nation by multinational capitalist conglomerates.

Step 7 pull your ideas together, preparing for conclusions... an attempt to ensure that you explicitly address past, present and future and that you argue with the critics rather than just accepting their view. (Relating to January's question) - Make some points about the audience changing - we spend more time online, informal distribution of media is growing via social networks and e-mail, maybe some of us make stuff ourselves to distribute (as Gauntlett suggests). Maybe speculate that this could grow even further in the future. But... the sting in the tail is that Tv is still going strong, these online communities we belong to are still owned by big companies and much of what is being consumed is actually just transferred from one medium to another; Wesch argues that it is all getting more democratic, but is contributing to memes really democracy in action or just a form of play with no wider significance? Gauntlett's 'the media were like Gods..' - has that really changed? were audiences ever as passive as his model characterises them? Are they really that much more active now? isn't it just a tiny percentage who actually make stuff to put online?

This is just one essay model . You could take a totally different approach, using other posts as a starting point- for example talking about collaborative texts as a new role for audiences or about the changes to the music industry illustrated. Or you could answer the question about revolutionary change by reference to technology and consider whether it makes any difference at all. Remember- your choice of case studies is up to you. What you know about them and how you are able to relate them to ideas is where the marks come in!

Here are January's questions;