Media Blog 1

  Zendaya: Language and Representations blog tasks Work through the following tasks to complete the first half of your blog work on Zendaya. Introduction and background reading  Read  this Vox article on what makes Zendaya a great celebrity . Answer the following questions: 1) What was the 2015 Oscar controversy involving Zendaya?  That was when Zendaya, age 19, happened to appear on the red carpet in a white silk gown, with her hair in dreadlocks — and on E’s  Fashion Police ,  Giuliana Rancic commented , “That hair is swallowing her. I feel like she smells like patchouli oil.” An offscreen (and never-identified) voice added, “Or weed.” Outrage followed thick and fast, with  commenters   across   the internet  decrying the  Fashion Police  segment as racist.   And in the ensuing controversy, Zendaya could easily have let those commenters position her as the passive victim of Rancic’s ignorance. 2) How did Zendaya control th e narrative of that controversy? Instead, she rapidly took co

  Influencers and celebrity culture: blog tasks 1) Media Magazine reading Media Magazine 72 has a feature linking YouTube influencers to A Level media theories. Go to  our Media Magazine archive , click on MM72 and scroll to page 60 to read the article ‘The theory of everything - using YouTubers to understand media theory’. Answer the following questions: 1) How has YouTube "democratised media creativity"? The YouTube platform has democratised media creativity, with ordinary users uploading their own content: they are ‘producers’ (producer-users) and ‘prosumers’ (producer-consumers). Content is published first and then filtered or judged later by audiences. How does YouTube and social media culture act as a form of cultural imperialism or 'Americanisation'?  Improved communications turned the world into a global village, and this was decades before the internet. Not all famous YouTubers, like Emma Chamberlain, are American but Americans certainly make up the majority.

  The Gentlewoman: Audience and Industries blog tasks There are five reasonably short tasks for The Gentlewoman - Audience and Industries plus some optional extension work for those aiming for the very top grades. Create a blog post called 'The Gentlewoman: Audience and Industries' and work through the following: 1) Media Magazine feature: Pleasures of The Gentlewoman Go to  our Media Magazine archive  and read the article on The Gentlewoman (MM84 - page 34). Answer the following questions: 1) What does the article suggest is different about the Gentlewoman compared to traditional women's magazines?  Gentlewomen subverts all magazine stereotypical conventions as there is   only text is the title, subtitle and name  of the person in the photograph, which is taken as a portrait and framed like  a painting. It’s a bold statement that  says this is more than just a magazine, this is art. In case it wasn’t different  enough, the masthead is in lower  case! 2) What representation

  Clay Shirky: End of audience blog tasks Media Magazine reading Media Magazine 55 has an overview of technology journalist Bill Thompson’s conference presentation on ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ It’s an excellent summary of the internet’s brief history and its impact on society. Go to  our Media Magazine archive , click on MM55 and scroll to page 13 to read the article ‘What has the internet ever done for me?’ Answer the following questions: 1) Looking over the article as a whole, what are some of the positive developments due to the internet highlighted by Bill Thompson?  we  don’t generally have to think about the power  grid, or how roads work, or whether there’ll be  water in our toilets.  The network connects us to other people,  it provides a great source of information, it  can be used for campaigning and political  action, to draw attention to abuses and fight  for human rights. 2) What are the negatives or dangers linked to the development of the internet? A  lot

 Industries: the appeal of print - blog tasks 1) What is the definition of an independent print magazine? Independent magazines are defying the predictions of many that print magazines are a fading relic of the pre- digital world. 2) What does Hamilton (2013) suggest about independent magazines in the digital age? A small but growing body of evidence suggests that small printed magazines are quietly thriving even as the global newspaper and book industries falter” (Hamilton 2013: 43). 3) Why does the article suggest that independent magazines might be succeeding while global magazine publishers such as Bauer are struggling? This market has been referred to as the “global niche” (Hamilton 2013: 44) and highlights the differences between independent and established mainstream magazines. Magazines produced by large companies like Bauer Media and News Limited in Australia are struggling to keep readers from moving online. In contrast, those behind independent magazines use digital developm