Media Studies Main Evaluation RE-SIT
Q. In what ways does your media product use, develop or challenge forms and conventions of real media products?
For my media product I created a local news bulletin, before writing my script or doing any recordings I did some research on the way different radio stations i.e. local radio stations like Manx Radio, Energy F.M and Three F.M presented the news to the audience. Whilst listening to the news I made notes on the way the presenters spoke; they all spoke very clear and it was easy to understand what they were saying. This was one of the negative feedback that I got from my last recording, which was that my voice wasn’t clear enough and sometimes you couldn’t make out what I was saying, so this time I also made a note of this and made sure before I started any recordings that my voice wasn’t going to be an issue. Another change that I made from my last script was having real news but changing it and putting it in my own words. I found it quite tricky having to make up news so I chose news that was quite recent and re-wrote it. In news bulletins it always starts and finishes with a jingle so I added the same jingle as last time from garage band. This time instead of keeping the stories short and simple I knew that it would be more preferable to extend some stories especially the first three stories as they are the most important ones, this was what I also realised from listening to the different bulletins because when there is a big story it always covers most of the bulletins. This was how I developed the forms and conventions, by using these techniques, just like in real media products people who are involved in the world of media have to make notes, pick out the important parts then edit it and double check before it can go on air.
Q. How does your media product represent particular social groups?
My media product is represented for the group of everyday people that tune into to the radio to find what has been going on around the island, especially vehicle users and travellers because they would want to hear whether there has been an accident anywhere or if roads are blocked so that they can take a different route instead of the same one they take every day. This leads me nicely to my next point which is the rise in fuel duties that I mentioned in my news bulletin, this would involve pretty much everybody because the majority of people these days have a car or some sort of transport and nobody would want the fuel duties to go up because it would cause a problem for many people as I mentioned on my script; parents taking their children to school and businesses. My second to last news story about the Christmas lights switch-on would involve mostly families and couples because it’s a nice way to spend a night out with the family and with a partner but for others it may be less interesting.
Q. What kind of media institutions might distribute your media and why?
The most obvious media institution that would distribute my media product would be blogger because anyone can access the site especially different media studies students can view my site and listen to my audio; it can also be a very useful for some students to get some ideas. Another institution that could distribute my media work would be at my institution where I study because, once again, it’s a good way to show and give different media student’s ideas on what they can do for their projects, I have always found it very useful seeing some else’s work (with permission) because it helps you see how the person planned and the progression they made to eventually having a finished project.
Q. Who would be the audience for your media product?
The audience for my media product is aimed at a variety of age groups. I first started off by letting my parents listen to the audio, and then asked for their opinion on whether it was suitable for them and if it made sense. Their response was that it made clear sense and most stories would concern them. I then asked my next door neighbours on what they thought on my news bulletin, they also said that it made perfect sense to them especially the story about the fuel duties. I also let some of my friends boys and girls listen to the audio, I got a mixed reaction; they guys found the first two stories interesting, but on the other hand the women found the last story about the Christmas lights interesting. However the most important thing was that I had news that interested the variety of age groups.
Q. How did you attract/address your audience?
By adding a story that caused chaos at a quiet and peaceful island would create tension if the news bulletin went on air, people would tune to hear what the cause of the fire was, where there any people injured and the latest updates from around the area. This was how I attracted my audience or would attract my audience because for a small island like the Isle of Man it is very rare that we get big news stories especially as dramatic as the first story from my script.
Q. What have you learnt about technologies from the process of constructing this product?
Whilst constructing my product on the Mac computer and my SONY voice recorder, I realised that without those equipments I would not have been able to create my local news bulletin. My voice recording was so hopeful because I was able record from a location that would suit the story i.e. the background noise. Garage band is very easy to use and it was straight forward doing my editing and recording my voice. The technologies that I used to create my product were vitally important for completing the audio, and I would definitely use the same technology again.
Q. Looking back at your preliminary task, what do you feel you have learnt in the progression from it to the full product?
I have learnt a lot from my preliminary task. One important factor is planning, it is very important as I found out after finishing my preliminary task. It leads to a lot of time wasted when I got to my main task. Last year when I was constructing my main task, it took me too much time and was put in a lot of pressure to complete the work, this was because of the amount of time that was wasted doing the first task. This time when I planned my main task I had enough time to make changes which is why I believe my news bulletin is better than my last one. I also learnt that it is very important that you appeal to your audience which I believe I didn’t last time and that is one of the improvements in my main task from this year.
