Handbook

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Unit content:

Introduction
What is Media Studies? What will we do in this subject?

Media Change
This is another introductory week to ideas of media change. We will be looking at where media started to where it is now. We will be questioning how the definitions of media have changed and why. This week will provide a historical overview on the development in media.

Reinventing traditional Media: Newspapers
This week we will be looking at how the Newspaper has developed and what the possible future of the Newspaper is. We will examine the current crisis facing print news. Newspapers are no longer generating the revenue they once did. We will examine the role of contemporary newspapers in the context of online news forums.

Reinventing Traditional Media: Magazines
This week we consider the rise of tabloid media by studying Magazines and magazine cultures. We will look at how traditional journalism may have changed in the production of magazines and touch on celebrity
and/or popular culture.

Reinventing Traditional Media: Radio
This week will examine the role of public radio in contemporary culture. It will examine the role of public radio in everyday life. It will also examine the changing face of public radio as it adapts to new platforms, including online radio and podcasts.

Reinventing Traditional Media: Television
This week we will examine the role of contemporary television. We will examine how television is attempting to ensure its survival alongside newer online media platforms. We will consider the changing face of television as it adopts new genres and adapts to new platforms. Topics will include the emergence of ‘Reality T.V.’, the impact of television on demand (ABC online and iView) and pay T.V., amongst other topics.

New Media: Online Culture
This week we will examine new media and the emergence of creative cultures online. We will examine the extent to which new media enable new forms of creativity, focusing on Blogs and Vlogs including examples from YouTube and Pinterest.

Creative Media Project
Students will commence discussions about themes and proposals for their Creative Media Project. A work in
progress seminar will be conducted.

Social Media 1: Searching and Sharing
This will be the first week on the role that social media plays in creating online communities. We will examine social medias like Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram. We will examine the role of these media in opening up new forms of searching and sharing and we will examine some of the threats posed to these online communities.

Social Media 2: Influential Social Media
This week will examine the extent to which informal social media take on the role of the mainstream media in breaking news and shaping public opinion. We will examine key instances where social media have
played a decisive role in informing the public. Examples include the role of Facebook in investigating the case of Jill Meagher’s murder.

New Media Developments: Advertising/Marketing/PR
This week will examine new directions in advertising, as traditional forms of embedded advertising cease to have the impact they once had. We will consider the role of social media in contributing to advertising, marketing and PR.

New Media Developments: Cinema
This week will examine the role of new media in generating new forms of independent filmmaking outside of the dominant Hollywood industry. It will consider the extent to which Hollywood controls the production and distribution of the majority of film-making, and it will examine the extent to which independent forms of media are likely to emerge in the new media environment.

Future for media
This week we will summarise some key topics from the unit and discuss a potential future for media studies.

Presentation of Creative Media Projects
Students will take turns presenting their media projects to the class in a conference-style proceeding.