Mini Assignment 3 - Media Ownership & Structure Presentation

Brief

For this mini-assignment you need to complete some in-depth research into both the structure and ownership of a media company of your choice. Using the glossary you have just completed into the various media terms and definitions you should be able to present a clear, concise and informative piece of investigation into a relevant company. This short presentation will be accompanied by a well-produced, designed handout that will be circulated to the rest of the group. It is an opportunity to get under the skin of a media company and find out how they are run and how they function, so make sure your research is both thorough and well directed to ensure you can deliver an engaging and interesting presentation.


Tasks

1. Research your Media Company - firstly you will need to carry out some research into your Media Company to find out some details, facts and figures about it for your presentation. Good places to look are obviously on-line (company web sites, news articles etc) or in media books (the library is well stocked try course books i.e. A level etc).Consider all of the following questions and find answers to these and GIVE EXAMPLES to illustrate your points.· Find out something about the how the company started. History etc· What media industries are they involved in? TV, radio, film, print, music new media/online etc. Some or a few of these.· Is the company involved just in media industries or other business too?· Who owns or heads up the company? Research them a little.· What companies do they own? If any. Give examples of companies. cont./· What media products do they create? Give examples of brands etc.· How does it make its money? Create media content, advertising etc · Are the companies horizontally or vertically integrated? Or both? · What is the size of the company? Major (Multinational, TNC’s) Medium sized (National) or Independent (often smaller company)· Is it Local, National or Global Company?· Is the company publicly or privately owned?

2. Put together a handout on your Media Company - once you have got the answers from the above questions you will need to gather all of your findings and put together a handout to be distributed to the class reporting back on your findings. Use the above research as the topics to be covered/mentioned and condense all of the information but make sure you mention all of the areas you have researched above, use bullet points and extract just the key points. A few pointers are below.· Make sure the handout is just one side of A4.· Condense your points and don’t waffle. Be to the point but informative.· Make the handout clear and easy to read.· Include answers/points to all of the questions above· Give good examples to illustrate your points and make them clear.· Make it clear who your company are and also your group names.

3. Preparing for the PresentationNow you have to prepare a short presentation to the class on your Media Company. If you have done all of your research and prepared your handout you will have all of the information that you need. Again remember to mention ALL of the areas you researched in 1 above.· You will need to do a 4-5 min presentation followed by a Q&A from the group.· Make sure you mention every area in 1 above. Powerpoint slide for each?· Make it interesting and entertaining. Consider Powerpoint & visuals etc.· Rehearse your presentation so you know what you are saying.· Do NOT simply read from a sheet or the Powerpoint use them as a guide.



Work to be submitted by 4pm on 8.12.10 on your individual blog-sites.

Your 4 - 5 minute presentation – including visuals: Powerpoint, youtube clips, still images, graphics etc.

An A4 handout sheet – including relevant, detailed information, visuals etc.

Media Industry Glossary - Unit 6

The following are all useful terms that will add to your media vocabulary - which in turn will help when analysing texts, and in your general understanding of your chosen subject area. It will also feed in to the next few unit 6 tasks that you will be attempting in the next few weeks. You can define the following terms by using media text books, or on-line information. Include as much information as you can - preferably with some examples to illustrate your points. Do not simply cut & paste definitions without really understanding what they mean - this will not increase your knowledge at all - discuss what these companies/institutions/regulatory bodies actually do.

AUDIENCE

ADVERTISING STANDARDS AUTHORITY (ASA)

BROADCASTERS AUDIENCE RESEARCH BOARD (BARB)

BRITISH BOARD OF FILM CLASSIFICATION (BBFC)

BROADCASTING

COMPANY SIZE: MAJOR COMPANIES (TNC)

COMPANY SIZE: BIG TO MEDIUM SIZED

COMPANY SIZE: INDEPENDENT

CROSS MEDIA COMPANIES

HORIZONTAL INTEGRATION

INSTITUTION

NEW MEDIA INDUSTRY

NARROWCASTING

NATIONAL READERSHIP SURVEY (NRS)

OFFICE OF COMMUNICATIONS (OFCOM)

PRESS COMPLAINTS COMMISSION (PCC)

PRIVATE OWNERSHIP

PUBLIC OWNERSHIP

PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING

REGULATORY BODY

SELF-REGULATORY BODY

VERTICAL INTEGRATION

Work to be submitted by 4pm on 3.11.10 on your individual blog-sites

Mini Assignment Two

Brief
Working within the magazine publishing area of the media you will need to be aware of a wide range of constraints, which must be followed, namely;

· Professional codes of practice – how industries must conduct themselves
· Legal constraints – relating to laws of the land
· Ethical constraints – how people should be treated

Use the following tasks to research these considerations that your own particular specialist branch of the media industry needs to be aware of, and give examples to back up your points using the correct technical terminology wherever possible. You will need to present your detailed findings and need to apply these considerations to your own particular specialism - mentioning which apply to you and need to be aware of in the making of your own magazine projects. The information on the SNC Times blog-site will help you.
Tasks

1. Professional Codes of Practice
The following organisations all help regulate various areas of the media industry – some of them are regulatory and impose regulations, others are self-regulatory where the industry imposes agreed regulations upon itself. Your task is to look at these organisations and research them, answering the questions below:

· ASA
· NUJ
· PCC

Questions
· What is their full name?
· Who do they regulate? Which areas of the media?
· Are they regulatory or self-regulatory?
· Give 2-3 examples of the specific codes that they put into practice?

Workplace codes
These are codes that everyone at work should be treated the same and be professional, such as good time-keeping and wearing the correct clothing. Name three other codes you feel would be relevant to the magazine publishing industry.


2. Legal & Ethical Restrictions
Legally there are laws that need to be followed in the media just as there are in everyday life. Please make notes on the following;
· Criminal Law & Civil Law – what are the differences between these?
· Health & Safety – What H&S checks would you make before a photo-shoot – list five factors to consider whilst shooting on location or in the studio?
· Copyright – what is copyright, what can you actually copyright and how does this protect you as the author of a text or set of images?
· Libel Law – what is defamation, what is libel, what is slander? Give examples of all three.
· Data protection – what is the data protection act?
· Ethics - give three examples where you feel that groups or individuals have not been treated fairly in the media – consider stereotypes.


Work to be submitted by 4pm on 6.10.10 on your individual blog-sites;

• Professional codes of practice work – inc. research into the three main organisations/bodies listed in task 1, and the questions answered
• Legal & Ethical Restrictions work – inc. definitions of all the elements listed in task 2