MAC 201

MEDIA STUDIES 1

Session 2009/10 Semester 2

MODULE GUIDE

INCLUDES
Module descriptor
Details of module content and approach to study
Assignment details
Week by week schedule and reading
Criteria of assessment

KEY DATES
Deadline for first assignment: Wednesday 17th March 2010
Deadline for second assignment: Wednesday 19th May 2010

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TITLE: MEDIA STUDIES 1
CODE: MAC201
LEVEL: 2
CREDITS: 20
SCHOOL: Arts, Design, Media and Culture
MODULE BOARD: Media and Cultural Studies
PRE-REQUISITES: MAC101
CO-REQUISITES: None
LEARNING HOURS: 200 (including 24 hours of lectures and seminars and approximately 15
hours of screenings, remainder to be taken up by tutorial support and
self-directed study).
Learning Outcomes
On completion of this module students will be able to demonstrate:
1. Knowledge and critical understanding of key theories and debates relating to the analysis of media
texts and audiences
2. Ability to evaluate and apply appropriate theoretical perspectives and research methods in analysing
specific areas of media output and consumption
3. Ability to communicate information, arguments and analysis cogently and fluently
4. Evidence of the successful application of scholarly skills.

Content Synopsis
This module aims to develop the concepts and approaches introduced in MAC101 through an analysis of
non-fictional television texts and discussion of a range of perspectives on media consumption. It consists of
two sections:

Television Texts: news and documentary

This part of the module explores concepts such as ‘realism’, ‘discourse’, ‘ideology’, ‘objectivity’ and
‘subjectivity’ in their application to contemporary developments in television news, current affairs,
documentary and ‘reality TV’. The relevance of work on narrative and genre to these areas of television is
explored, and the significance of the production and institutional contexts is assessed. Throughout, you are
encouraged to engage in close textual analysis in developing your arguments.

Media Audiences
This unit begins by examining early work on media consumption within ‘mainstream’ mass communication
research, before going on to explore issues raised by more recent work in the cultural studies tradition. A
range of academic and industry perspectives on media consumption is considered, and you are invited to
reflect on appropriate theory and method in audience research. You are also introduced to debates about
specific cultural audiences for contemporary media output.

Learning and Teaching strategies

Themes and issues are introduced each week through lectures. Seminars are used to discuss these
themes and issues, with discussion being focused on screened material or a reading of academic texts.
Lectures 12 hours Seminars/workshops 24 hours
Screenings 15 hours (approximately) Independent study 149 hours

Assessment methods
Unit 1 One assignment of about 2500 words 50% (assessing all learning outcomes)
Unit 2 One assignment of about 2500 words 50% (assessing all learning outcomes)

Programmes using this module as a core or option

BA (Hons) Media Production (Television & Radio) (C) BA (Hons) Film & Media (C)
BA (Hons) Media Production (Video & New Media) BA (Hons) Media, Culture and Communication (C)
BA (Hons) Journalism (C) BA (Hons) Broadcast Journalism (C)
BA (Hons) Public Relations (C) Media Studies within Combined Subjects (C)
Public Relations within Combined Subjects (C) Journalism within Combined Subjects (C)

FRANCHISED: No
Module Leader: Robert Jewitt Room 201b Media Centre
Ext: 3431 e-mail: robert.jewitt@sunderland.ac.uk

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Staff involved in this module
Module leader: Robert Jewitt

Other contributing members of staff:

Dr Angela Werndly angela.werndly@sunderland.ac.uk
Keith Hussein
Dan Kilvington
Eve Forrest eve.forrest@sunderland.ac.uk

Learning and Teaching methods

Division of time:
Lectures 12 hours
Seminars 12 hours
Workshops 12 hours
Screenings 15 hours (approximately)
Independent study 149 hours

Lectures are held in the Media Centre Cinema every Wednesday at 11 am.

The lectures are designed to introduce key ideas and form the basis for seminar
discussions. Seminars are intended to clarify and elaborate on the material
presented in lectures, and you are keenly encouraged to voice informed opinions
and raise any issues you feel are relevant. It is vital that you prepare properly for
the seminars, and you should take note of the independent study hours allocated
to the module. If you use them well, seminars will familiarize you with and give
you confidence in the key concepts and ideas relating to the module, and will
prepare you well for the assessment. Seminars will also help you to develop your
own research and communication skills. Some seminars may be held virtually in
the WebCT Vista space. This will be a place for you to discuss ideas raised in
the physical seminars with staff and other students.

Much of the module requires that you watch the screenings as well as select
relevant news stories from other media (radio, podcasts, newspapers, etc).
Seminars have been scheduled the same day as lectures. Material for the
seminars will be placed on WebCT Vista in advance for you to prepare your
thoughts. You will be expected to have read the material placed there before
attending the seminars.

Seminars and lectures will be supplemented by an assessment workshop on

Friday at 1pm. This is also held in the Media Centre Cinema and will focus
primarily, but not exclusively, on helping students with the module assessment.
The session will also be supplemented with material on WebCT Vista for those
who do not attend. Workshops are interactive and may differ in their format from
one week to the next.

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Reading is a vital part of the work of this module. Recommended readings will
be placed in the relevant weekly section of WebCT Vista. Students are expected
to spend approximately 10 hours per week preparing for 20 credit modules.
You should bear this in mind if you are expecting to do well.

You should use this time to extend your understanding of the subject, to
stimulate your own thinking and responses in relation to current evidence
(because the media change very quickly, ideas in a book or article published in
1992 may need to be rethought in relation to current practices). While you should
consult the reading lists that are included in the Module Guide and on seminar
handouts, browsing the shelves of the library and consulting academic journals
will also throw up additional interesting material.

Use your reading especially to develop your awareness of different insights about
the media from researchers who have studied media audiences or media texts in
some depth. You should think through the differing approaches and opinions
indicated in your reading, and try to work out your own arguments in relation to
these. Always take notes when you read (preferably in your own words) and
keep references.

The module is divided into two distinct sections which, when considered
holistically, consider the production dissemination and consumption of media:

Section 1 Weeks 1 - 6
Television Texts: News & Documentary

Section 2 Weeks 7 - 12
Audience Research

The first half of the module will consider the ways in which media texts, notably
news, are constructed to produce an ideological account of the world. The
second half of the module will be concerned with the ways in which audience
members make sense of the media landscape presented to them.

Seminar groups

You will have been allocated to one of three seminar groups. All take place on a
Wednesday

You will have been automatically allocated to a seminar group by the start of the
module by the University’s timetabling software. This manages individual
timetables for all students in order to avoid clashes with other modules so you
are expected to stick to your allocated group.

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In the unlikely event that you have a clash with other modules or you have
another legitimate reason for requesting a change (such as care responsibilities),
you should request a switch of group by contacting the Module Leader by email
no later than week 3. If any clash is with a seminar on a smaller module, please
consult the other Module Leader first to see if you can arrange a change of group
there (which is often much easier on smaller modules). If you email asking for
a change, you must outline the full reasons for your request and provide
details of your timetable.

Should you wish to request a change of group because of work arrangements,

you will need to do this by arranging your own swap with another student. You
MUST inform the Module Leader of any arrangement of this kind once you have
made it, to ensure accuracy of class registers.

Tutorial advice and consultation with staff

For individual advice outside of the seminars, all members of full-time teaching
staff have office hours, or appointment arrangements. The details of these are
normally posted on office doors and available from the Media Centre Reception.
These hours are for the benefit of all students of course, and should not be used
as a substitute for class time except when you are catching up on work missed
because of illness or other circumstances beyond your control.

It is important that you avoid disturbing staff in their offices at other times, other
than in an emergency. Also, while it is tempting to speak to staff after seminars or
lectures, they may well have other duties to discharge and might not be in a
position to linger. You are encouraged to use email, of course, although you
should bear in mind that many staff will wait until their Office Hours to go through
and respond to emails.

Do make full use of the staff Office Hours should the need arise. Ultimately, it is
important that you let a relevant member of staff know if you are having
difficulties with the module. We are keen to help whenever we can.

WebCT Vista/SunSpace

Essential documents relating to the module will be available on WebCT Vista.

Also, lecturers may opt to put lecture material there, at their own discretion.
Remember you need to be registered on this module to access MAC201 in this
way, and you should not rely upon material from all of the lectures being
available on WebCT. It is always good advice to take high quality notes at the
time of the lecture and, importantly, from your own research.

If you cannot see MAC201 against your WebCT Vista/Sunspace login then it is
likely that you are not registered to attempt MAC201 or you were meant to be
taking it in Semester 1. If this is the case, any work you submit for the module

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will NOT be marked. You will need to complete a Module Change form. If you
have any questions about this either contact the Module Leader, your Personal
Tutor or your Programme Leader.

You will also be required to submit an electronic copy of your essay via WebCT
in addition to the hard paper copy. The former will be screened for evidence of
plagiarism. Failure to submit an electronic and a paper copy will result in a
fail grade for the assessment.

Assessment

Assessment for this module consists of two pieces of work. Both of these are
2000-2,500 word essays, and each is equally weighted at 50% of the final mark.
Assessments must be handed in to the Learning Resource Centre in the
Prospect Building by the due date and time noted on page 1 of this guide.

The first assessment requires you to analyse and discuss some television news
bulletins, making use of a number of the concepts covered in the first part of the
‘News & Documentary’ strand of the module. The second assessment requires
you to review at least one academic audience research study and relate it to
common (mis)conceptions about media/audience relations.

You need to attempt both assessments and gain an overall mark of 40% in
each of the 2 parts of your assessment in order to pass the module. If you
do not attempt both forms of assessment you will be referred in the module
and may face progression problems in future. See the guide to university
regulations in the ‘Help’ folder on WebCT Vista: MAC201

Assessment details can be found in this guide from page 13 onwards

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Lecture and Seminar Schedule
Lectures are held in Media Centre Cinema (MC207) every Wednesday at
11am.
Any screenings will be held in the Media Centre Cinema and advance
notice of these will be given in the lectures and in MAC201’s WebCT Vista
space. Some video material may be hosted via WebCT.

Section 1: Television Texts: News & Documentary

Useful textbooks for this module

Allan, S. (2004) News Culture 2nd Edition, Buckingham: Open University Press
Burton, G (2004) Media & Society: Critical Perspectives, Maidenhead: Open
University Press
Brian McNair (2009) News and Journalism in the UK: 5th Edition, London:
Routledge
Week 1 – 3/2/2010
 Lecture
Introduction to the module
 Seminar
No seminars in week one – students should prepare by engaging with the
recommended reading material outlined for the following week in advance of
attending the seminar

Screening (showing news texts for Assessment 1): Thursday 4th February,
5-7pm in Media Centre Cinema (MC207) and then repeated February 11th,
18th, 25th, March 4th, 10th and 17th. Copies of this material can be obtained
from Peter Burt (MC122) and streamable via WebCT/SunSpace

Week 2 – 10/2/2010
 Lecture
What is news: introducing the critical concept of “news values”.
 Seminar
Who or what determines ‘news values’ on British television?

Useful reading:
Allan, S. (2004) News Culture, Buckingham: Open University Press (chapter 1).
Golding, P. and Elliot, P. (1999) “News values and news production”, in P. Marris
and S. Thornham (eds.) Media Studies: a reader (2nd edition). Edinburgh:
Edinburgh University Press, pp. 632-644 (originally published 1979).
Harcup, T. and O’Neill, D. (2001) “What is news? Galtung and Ruge revisited”,
Journalism Studies 2: 261-280.

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Lichtenberg, J. (1996) “In defence of objectivity revisited”, in J. Curran and M.
Gurevitch (eds.) Mass Media and Society (2nd edition). London: Arnold, pp. 225-
242.

Week 3 – 17/2/2010
 Lecture
News and the public sphere
 Seminar
What are the advantages and disadvantages of imagining the political and
cultural responsibility of the news in terms of a “public sphere”? How clearly has
the “public sphere” been defined?

Useful reading:
Habermas, J. (1999) “The public sphere”, in P. Marris and S. Thornham (eds.)
Media Studies: a reader (2nd edition). Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press,
pp. 92-97 (originally published 1973).
Higgins, M. (2006) “Substantiating a political public sphere”, Journalism 7(1): 25-
44.
Brookes, R., Lewis, J., and Wahl-Jorgenson, K. (2004) ‘The Media
Representation of Public Opinion: British Television News Coverage of the 2001
General Election’, Media, Culture & Society, Vol 26 (1).

Week 4 – 24/2/2010
 Lecture
News: objectivity, impartiality, balance?
 Seminar:
Is there a substantial difference between the idea of “objectivity” and that of
“impartiality”? Why is it important for television news to be impartial and does it
succeed in being so?

Useful reading:
Allan, S. (2004) News Culture. Buckingham: Open University Press (chapter 3)
Davies, N. (2008) Flat Earth News: An Award-winning Reporter Exposes
Falsehood, Distortion and Propaganda in the Global Media, London: Chatto &
Windus.
Galtung, J. and Ruge, M. (1973) “Structuring and selecting news”, in S. Cohen
and J. Young (eds.) The Manufacture of News: Deviance, Social Problems and
the Mass Media. London: Constable, pp. 62-72.
Hartley, J. (1982) Understanding News. London: Routledge (chapter 5)
Hall, J. (2000) ‘The First Web War: “Bad Things Happen in Unimportant Places”’,
Journalism Studies, Vol. 1, No. 3.
Montgomery, M. (2006) ‘Broadcast news, the live ‘two-way’ and the case of
Andrew Gilligan’, Media, Culture & Society, Vol. 28 (2).
Starkey, Guy (2006) Balance and Bias in Journalism, Palgrave Macmillan.

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 Week 5 – 3/3/2010
 Lecture
News and personalization
 Seminar
Does an emphasis on narrative and human interest in news presentation have
implications for the quality of news? Is there any worth in the term “dumbing
down” in this debate?

Useful reading:
Drake, P. and Higgins, M. (2006) “I’m a celebrity, get me into politics”, in Su
Holmes and Sean Redmond (eds) Framing Celebrity: New Directions in Celebrity
Culture. London: Routledge.
Franklin, B. (2005) ‘McJournalism? The McDonaldization Thesis, Local
Newspapers and Local Journalism in the UK’ in Stuart Allan (ed.) Journalism
Studies: Critical Essays, Milton Keynes: Open University Press
Hartley, J. (1982) Understanding News. London: Routledge (chapter 6).
Macdonald, M. (1998) “Politicising the personal: women’s voices in British
television documentaries”, in C. Carter and G. Branston et al (eds.) News,
Gender and Power. London: Routledge, pp. 105-120.

Week 6 – 10/3/2010
 Lecture (KH)
Constructing the real: documentary and its recent developments.
 Seminar
Is documentary in danger of abandoning public interest for private issues and
celebrity interest?

Useful reading:
Bruzzi, S (2000): New Documentary: A Critical Introduction. London: Routledge.
Chapters 3 and 6
Corner (2002): ʻPerforming the Realʼ, in Television and New Media. Vol 3, No. 3.
Kilborn, R. and Izod, J. (1997) An Introduction to Television Documentary:
Confronting
Reality. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Holmes, S and Jermyn, D (2004): Understanding Reality. London: Routledge.
Kilbourn, R (2003): Staging the Real. Manchester: Manchester University Press.
Piper, H (2004): ʻReality TV, ʻWife Swapʼ and the Drama of Banalityʼ, in Screen.
Vol 45, No 4.

Audience Research

Week 7 – 17/3/2010
 Lecture
Making, reading and thinking critically about “audience research”
 Seminar
No seminars this week due to essay submission

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Useful reading:
Ang, I. (1991) Desperately Seeking the Audience. London: Routledge.
Machin, D. (2002) Ethnographic Research for Media Studies, London: Arnold
Nightingale, V. and Ross, K. (2004) Media and Audiences: New Perspectives.
Buckingham: Open University Press (chapter 2).
Ruddock, A. (2001) Understanding Audiences: Theory & Method, London:
Arnold. (Chapter 1)
Moores, S. (1993) Investigating Audiences: The Ethnography of Media
Consumption, London: Sage. (Chapter 1)

NB: Deadline for first assessment is Wednesday 17th March by 3pm 

There is no workshop this week

Week 8 – 24/3/2010
 Lecture
Looking critically at claims regarding audience ‘effects’
 Seminar
To what extent can we meaningfully talk of the “effect” the media has upon its
audiences?

Useful reading:
Barker, M. and Petley, J. (eds.) (2001) Ill Effects : The Media/Violence Debate
(2nd edition). London: Routledge (see Introduction, Chapters 6 & 8).
Gauntlett, D. (undated; originally 1998) “Ten things wrong with the effects
model”, available at
http://www.theory.org.uk/effects.htm
Ross, K. & Nightengale, V. (2003) Media & Audiences: New Perspectives,
Maidenhead: Open University Press. (Chapter 4)

------SPRING VACATION------

Week 9 – 21/4/2010
 Lecture
Context and audience ‘decodings’
 Seminar
What are the implications of Hall’s ‘Encoding/Decoding’ model for the study of
audiences? How might the model be employed to investigate contemporary
audience responses?

Useful reading:
Hall, S. (1980) 'Encoding/decoding' in Hall et al (eds.) Culture, Media, Language,
London: Hutchinson.
Jancovich, M. (1992) ‘David Morley, "The Nationwide Studies"’, in Martin
Barker and Anne Beezer (eds) Reading into Cultural Studies. London and New
York: Routledge

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Moores, S. (1993) Interpreting Audiences: The Ethnography of Media
Consumption, London: Sage (Chapter 2).

Week 10 – 28/4/2010
 Lecture (RJ)
Issues of audience taste
 Seminar
How might a consideration of the socio-cultural position of media users bring
about a more complex understanding of audience taste?

Useful reading:
Thomas, L. (1997) “In love with Inspector Morse”, in C. Brunsdon et al (eds),
Feminist Television Criticism: a reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Davies, H. et al (2004) “In the worst possible taste: children, television and
cultural value”, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill (eds), The Television Studies Reader.
London: Routledge.

Week 11 – 5/5/2010
• Lecture
Audiences and media technologies
• Seminar
What might an investigation of users of a media technology tell us that
concentrations on investigations of media content might overlook?

Useful reading:
Bull, M. (2005) “No Dead Air! The iPod and the Culture of Mobile Listening” in
Leisure Studies, Vol. 24, No. 4, pp 343-355.
Evans, E. J. (2008) “Character, audience agency and transmedia drama”, Media,
Culture & Society, Vol 30, No 2
Thornham, H. (2008), “‘It’s a boy thing’: Gaming, gender, and geeks”, Feminist
Media Studies, Vol 8, No 2, http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/14680770801980505
Gray, A. (1987) “Behind closed doors: video recorders in the home” in Helen
Baehr & Ann Gray (eds) Turning It On: A Reader in Women and Media. London:
Arnold.
Lally, E. (2002), At Home With Computers, Oxford: Berg (Chapter 8)
Mackay, H. (ed) (1997) Consumption and Everyday Life, London: Sage (Chapter
6)

Week 12 – 12/5/2010
• Lecture
Audiences and gender
• Seminar
To what extent is media consumption a gendered activity and how might a
consideration of gender alter understandings of media use?

Useful reading:

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Moores, S. (1993) Investigating Audiences: The Ethnography of Media
Consumption, London: Sage. (Chapter 3)
Moss, G. (1993) Girls tell the teen romance: four reading histories. In D.
Buckingham (ed.) Reading Audiences. Manchester: Manchester University
Press.
Frazer, E. (1987) Teenage girls reading ‘Jackie’, Media, Culture and Society 9:
407-25.
McRobbie, A. (1982) ‘Jackie’: an ideology of adolescent femininity”, in B. Waites
et al. (eds) Popular Culture: past and present. London: OUP.
Barker, M. (1989) “Reading the Readers”, in Comics, Ideology, Power and
the Critics. Manchester: Manchester University Presss

Deadline for second assessment is Wednesday 19th May by 3pm 

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Assignment 1 - Wednesday 17th March by 3pm
This assignment consists of an analysis of the selected short extracts from
television news bulletins to be screened from Thursday 4th February (it will be
shown again at the same time for the following 4 weeks and a limited number of
copies will also be available for additional review). Your analysis should
demonstrate your understanding and ability to apply at least two of the following
concepts in your own critical discussion of the screened extracts:
(a) news values
(b) the public sphere
(c) impartiality
(d) objectivity
(e) personalisation
(f) tabloidization
(g) ideology

Your essay must include critical reference to definitions of your chosen concepts
from legitimate academic sources, either from within the recommended course
reading or from your own library research. You should relate ideas from your
reading to your own analysis of the screened material, and you are encouraged
to supplement this and draw contrasts with other examples, including from the
lectures on reality television and documentary.

Your assignment must be written entirely in your own words (except for properly
acknowledged quotations). A bibliography must be appended. We remind you
about and emphasise the importance of the university regulations on collusion
and plagiarism (see http://www.library.sunderland.ac.uk/the-
library/researchers/self-help/infobites/plagiarism_html for further information).

If you are in any doubt about suitable means of referencing, please consult your
Guide to the Degrees (available on the web via ADMC site, or consult Infobites
again at http://www.library.sunderland.ac.uk/the-library/researchers/self-
help/infobites/citations_html.

If you remain uncertain about any aspect of the conventions of academic writing,
ask your seminar tutor for further guidance. Good practice can also be
established by following the example of critical books or the journal articles
recommended in the course reading.

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Assignment 2 - Wednesday 19th May 2010 by 3pm
This second assignment requires critical examination of an appropriate
Media/Cultural Studies-based academic audience study, that is, of readers,
viewers, fans or participants in any popular culture form. It should not be based
wholly on quantitative industry data or Psychology-inflected research. Your
discussion should briefly outline the following:

1. Who authored the study and who is being researched?

2. Why was the research undertaken?
3. Method: how did they go about the study? How did they obtain people to
interview? How many people did they interview, how were they selected
(according to age, race, class, religion etc)? How did they devise their
questions? Are there questions you think they ought to have asked? How
did they analyse the material they collected? What difficulties did they
encounter? How might the way(s) in which the material was gathered
have implications for the type of content produced?

Analysis: this is the key element of the assessment and you should make sure
that you offer detailed and considered assessment of your chosen researches:

1. What did they find? What are the implications of their discoveries?
2. Comment critically on the analysis and conclusions?
3. How far does this work alter/confirm your understanding of this media form
and its users?
4. How far does this research differ from popular ideas about ‘audiences’?
To recap, standard ideas would include the following:
• To be an audience for something, you sit and become absorbed in it.
• For most people, this is momentary, and they can ‘shake it off’ almost
immediately. But “Vulnerable” members of an audience are particularly
affected by their viewing.
• The bigger the audience, the more the chances of people being
affected.
• The obvious kinds of effects we need to worry about are things like
violence, sex and obscenity.
5. How does the piece you’ve selected compare?

Word Count: APPROXIMATELY 2000-2500 WORDS

If you are struggling to identify a suitable academic case study then you
should consult the advice on WebCT/Vista or use the recommended texts
below:

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Suggested research for assignment 2:
These are some suggested readings you could analyse for the assignment. You
are advised to select and read approximately 2 of these per week from Week 9
onwards in order to be best prepared for the second assignment.

Austin, T. (2005) 'Seeing, Feeling, Knowing: A Case Study of Audience

Perspectives on Screen Documentary' Particip@tions, Volume 2, Issue 1
http://www.participations.org/volume%202/issue%201/2_01_austin.htm

Barker, M. & Brooks, K. (1998) Knowing Audiences: Judge Dredd, its Friends,
Fans and Foes, Luton: University of Luton Press (Chapters 2 and/or 11)

Barker, M., Arthurs, J. & Harindranath, R. (2001) The Crash Controversy:

Censorship Campaigns and Film Reception, London: Wallflower Press (Chpter 6)

Barrett, J. (2007) ‘''You've Made Mistress Very, Very Angry”: Displeasure and
Pleasure in Media Representations of BDSM', Particip@tions, Volume 4, Issue 1
http://www.participations.org/Volume%204/Issue%201/4_01_barrett.htm

Brooker, W. (2001) ‘Living on Dawson's Creek: Teen viewers, cultural

convergence, and television overflow’, International Journal of Cultural Studies,
Vol. 4, No. 4.

Boughtwood, D. (2005) 'View to be Thin: Interrogating Media's Relationship to

Eating Disorders through Audience Research', Particip@tions Volume 1, Issue 3
http://www.participations.org/volume%201/issue%203/1_03_boughtwood_article.
htm

Bull, M. (2005) ‘ No Dead Air! The iPod and the Culture of Mobile Listening’ in
Leisure Studies Vol 24, No 5, p. 343-355.

Carruthers, F. (2004) 'Fanfic is Good for Two Things - Greasing Engines and
Killing Brain Cells' Particip@tions Volume 1, Issue 2
http://www.participations.org/volume%201/issue%202/1_02_carruthers_article.ht
m

Davies, H. et al (2004) “In the worst possible taste: children, television and
cultural value”, in R. C. Allen & A. Hill (eds), The Television Studies Reader.
London: Routledge

Frazer, E. (1987) Teenage girls reading ‘Jackie’, Media, Culture and Society 9.

Gauntlett, D. & Hill, A. (1999), TV Living: Television, Culture and Everyday Life,
London: Routledge (Chapter 5)

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Gray, J. & Mitchell, J. (2007) 'Speculation on Spoilers: Lost Fandom, Narrative
Consumption and Rethinking Textuality', Particip@tions, Volume 4, Issue 1
http://www.participations.org/Volume%204/Issue%201/4_01_graymittell.htm

Hardy, S. (1998) The Reader, The Author, His Woman and Her Lover: Soft Core
Pornography and Heterosexual Men, London: Cassell (Chapters 5 and 6)

Knight, V. (2005) 'An Investigation into Mass Communication Consumption in a

Closed Young Offenders Institution', Particip@tions, Volume 2, Issue 1
http://www.participations.org/volume%202/issue%201/2_01_knight.htm

Hill, A. (2001) ‘“Looks like it hurts”: women’s responses to shocking

entertainment’ in Barker, M. & Petley, J. (eds), Ill Effects: The Media Violence
Debate, London: Routledge

Lally, E. (2002), At Home With Computers, Oxford: Berg (Chapter 8)

Lay, S. (2007) ‘Audiences Across the Divide: Game to Film Adaptation and the
Case of Resident Evil', Particip@tions, Volume 4, Issue 2
http://www.participations.org/Volume%204/Issue%202/4_02_lay.htm

Moss, G. (1993) Girls tell the teen romance: four reading histories. In D.
Buckingham (ed.) Reading Audiences. Manchester: Manchester University Press

Radway, J. (1984) Reading the Romance: Women, Patriarchy and Popular

Literature, Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press (Chapter 3)

Staiger, J. (2005) 'Cabinets of Transgression: Collecting and Arranging

Hollywood Images', Particip@tions, Volume 1, Issue 3,
http://www.participations.org/volume%201/issue%203/1_03_staiger_article.htm

Stevenson, N., Jackson, P. & Brooks, K. (2003) ‘Reading Men’s Lifestyle

Magazines: Cultural Power and the Information Society’ in Benwell, B. (ed),
Masculinity and Men’s Lifestyle Magazines, Oxford: Blackwell Publishers

Storr, M. (2002) ‘Classy Lingerie’, Feminist Review, Vol 71, Iss 1

Thomas, L. (1997) “In love with Inspector Morse”, in C. Brunsdon et al (eds),

Feminist Television Criticism: a reader. Oxford: Oxford University Press

Tulloch, J. (with Tulloch, M.) (1995) ‘“It’s meant to be fantasy”: teenage

audiences and genre’, in Tulloch, J. & Jenkins, H. (eds) Science Fiction
Audiences, London: Routledge

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Tulloch, J. (1995) ‘“But he’s a Time Lord! He’s a Time Lord!”: reading formations,
followers and fans’, in Tulloch, J. & Jenkins, H. (eds) Science Fiction Audiences,
London: Routledge

NOTE ON ASSIGNMENT 2:

In order to be sure you have a suitable case study you need to ensure that
the research donates a substantial amount of space over to audience
members (loosely configured as fans/participants/readers/viewers etc) and
their voices. If your chosen study does not contain material from real
audience members then it is probably not suitable for this analysis.

There will be essay advice placed in the relevant folder on WebCT Vista.

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Media and Cultural Studies: Theoretical Modules CRITERIA of ASSESSMENT
Coursework is assessed according to the Learning Outcomes of the Module and in relation to the specific
mode of assessment (e.g. essay; portfolio of work; critical report; practical & production; evaluation).

Class I
Percentage: 70+
Critical understanding of the scope and possible implications of the question.
Critical and fluent engagement with main issues and approaches.
Clear, coherent and complex response to topic/learning outcomes.
Clearly structured argument, including introduction and conclusion.
Justification of argument with appropriate evidence and referencing.
Effective use of a range of critical reading, including primary sources where appropriate.

Class II:1
Percentage: 60 – 69
Critical understanding of the scope of the question.
Critical engagement with main issues and approaches.
Clear and coherent response to the topic/learning outcomes.
Argument has sense of structure, including introduction and conclusion.
Justification of argument with appropriate evidence and referencing.
Effective use of critical reading, including primary sources where appropriate.

Class II:2
Percentage: 50 - 59
Understanding of the scope of the question.
Engagement with main issues and approaches.
Clear response to the topic/learning outcomes.
Argument has sense of structure, including introduction and conclusion.
Argument uses appropriate evidence and referencing.
Use of critical reading, including primary sources where appropriate.

Class III

Percentage: 40 - 49
Some understanding of the scope of the question.
Some engagement with issues and approaches.
Lack of clear response to the topic/learning outcomes.
Argument has sense of structure, including introduction and conclusion.
Argument uses some evidence and referencing.
Some use of reading, including primary sources where appropriate.

Fail
Percentage: 1 - 39
Little understanding of the scope of the question.
Little engagement with issues and approaches.
Lack of clear response to the topic/learning outcomes.
Little sense of structure, including introduction and conclusion.
Insufficient evidence and referencing.
Insufficient use of reading, including primary sources where appropriate.

Fail
Percentage: 0
Plagiarism/Collusion

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