Written by experienced teachers and examiners, this illustrated text includes sample exam questions, case studies, activities and practical assignments, which help guide students through their A2 media studies course.

Written by experienced teachers and examiners, "A2 Media Studies: The Essential Introduction" builds solidly on the groundwork laid by the AS Media Studies syllabus and develops key topics in greater depth and introduces students to the notion of independent study. Bang up to date, this full colour, fully-illustrated text is designed to support students through the transition from a focus on textual analysis to the consideration of the wider contexts that inform any study of the media. Individual chapters cover the following key areas: Wider contexts; Independent study and research; Genre; Representation; Audience; News; Comparative textual analysis; Theoretical perspectives; and Passing exams. Specially designed to be user-friendly, "A2Media Studies: The Essential Introduction" includes: sample AQA exam questions, activities and practical assignments, further reading; case studies; and a glossary of key terms and resources. This is a book no A2 level media studies student can afford to be without.

CONTENTS
List of figures
Acknowledgements
Figure acknowledgements
Introduction
Wider contexts
Reality TV
Sport in the media
Getting at these wider contexts
Further reading
Independent study/research
Getting started
Title
Structure
Bibliography and references
Presentation
Some more on AQA Unit 5
Further reading
Genre
Genre: codes and conventions
Pinning down the identities and meanings of genre
Genre studies
Hybrids
Case study: celebrity lifestyle magazines
Case study: British television crime fiction
Ideas for exploring genre
Representation
What is representation?
Mediation as a process
Stereotypes and minorities
Alternative representations
Types of realism
Ideology and representation
Introduction to case studies
Case study: 'In a Big Country': the meanings of Scotland
Case study: 'Slugs and snails and puppy dogs' tails': the meanings of men
Reality TV
The audience
Introduction
Who is interested in the audience and why?
Public service broadcasting and the audience
The segmented audience versus the mass audience
Audience theories
Active audiences
Audiences and hegemony
Reception theory
Television schedules and the audience
Beyond the active audience
Further reading
News
News room roles
Construction of a news story
Television news presentation
Case study
Further reading
Comparative textual analysis
Places to take off from: comparative critical strategies
Postmodernist readings
The conditions of production
The contexts of consumption
Putting it all together
Theoretical perspectives
The popular culture debate
The toolkit of theory
Semiotics
Structuralism
Poststructuralism
Postmodernism
Feminism
Queer theory
Marxism
Liberal pluralism
Cultural imperialism and postcolonialism
Further reading
Passing exams
Why do we have exams?
Common sense prevails!
Concepts and contexts: the Media Studies focus
Unseen text exams
Crime fiction
Historical background
Some gender issues
Enter the expert
Economies of scale and locations of choice
Intertextuality: the knowing audience
The Bill and The Cops
Further reading
Resources
Glossary
Bibliography
Index