YR12 MEDIA STUDIES

Independent Research Week Tasks

After half-term, we are going to begin the new examined units for Media Studies.
In order to prepare you for these units and some of the required content within them, as well as
developing essential independent study skills required by Universities, you will complete some
independent research and create a series of fact sheets to document your findings.

TASK:
Using Word, PowerPoint or a visual media document of your choice, create a fact sheet that can be
used as a hand out to cover some specific information for the exam units and topics.
For each unit and topic, you will be marked against how much you can find out about and how
well you present your answers to the questions and topics below.

The News
For each newspaper brand below, find out the following:

1. Who owns them and what else do they own?

2. How old are they? When were they first published?
3. Who reads them? What is the audience demographic and psychographic profile?
4. How much do they cost?
5. Do they have an online profile? What online content can you find? How is it similar / different
to the print version?
6. Analyse a front page for each paper
7. Analyse a website homepage for each paper

The Film Industry

For this area you will focus on Disney. Find out as much as you can about the following:
1. How old is Disney?
2. What other companies or brands did Disney own in the
1960s?
 3. What other companies or brands does Disney own today?
4. What is a conglomerate? How is Disney a conglomerate?
5. What is vertical integration? How does this apply to Disney?
6. What are the 3 most successful films made by Disney ever?
7. What technology did Disney use to make their films in the 1960s?
8. What technologies does Disney use to make their films today?
9. How much did The Jungle Book 1967 make at the box office?
10. What other formats was the film available in?
11. How much did The Jungle Book 2016 make at the box office?
12. What other formats is the film available in?
13. Who is the audience for these films?
14. List 3 ways in which the films appeal to their audiences
a. In the 1960s?
b. Today?
15. How can audiences participate with these films
a. In the 1960s?
b. Today?

Gaming
For this topic you will focus on Minecraft. Find out as much as you can about the following:
1. Who owns Minecraft?
2. How old is it as a game and how many versions have there been?
3. How is the game distributed? Where can it be played and how?
4. Who uses it / who is its audience?
5. What is the appeal of the game for its audience? Find out 3 different things said about the
game from different fans.
6. How can players participate and interact with the game? Find out at least 3 different ways.
7. Find 3 different fan sites or fan made material about Minecraft and explain why fans might
want to create these.

Radio
For this topic you will focus on the Radio 1 Breakfast Show. Find out as much as you can about the
following:
1. What is public service broadcasting? Summarise your understanding with 5 key pieces of
info.
2. What does the term popular culture mean?
3. How is Radio 1 financed? Where does it get its money from?
 4. How long as the Radio 1 breakfast show been running for?
5. What timeslot (schedule) does it fill up?
6. How long does the show run for?
7. Who is its target audience?
8. Listen to a 20 minute sequence on a day of your choice and create a timeline that maps the
content of those 20 minutes. Now answer the questions below:
1. How does the show appeal to its audience? Name at least 3 different things the
show has that audiences will like?
2. In what ways can the audience interact with the show? Find at least 3 different
ways.

Submitting your Independent Research Tasks

Once you have completed the research, you will need to create a fact sheet for each of the topic
areas that you have been asked to find out about. Look at the templates below to help you format
your research findings. Try to use a different format for each topic area.
You will submit the fact sheets to your teacher in the first lesson on the week beginning 6 th
November.