Birth of the BBC

Birth of the BBC In 1920 the first true radio station (KDKA) began regular broadcasting in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Within two years the number of stations in America reached into the hundreds, concerts were being broadcast regularly in Europe from The Hague, and in Britain, Marconi stations broadcast from Chelmsford, Essex, and then London. It was in Britain that fears over the "chaos of the ether" led to the Post Office and leading radio manufacturers setting up the British Broadcasting Company (BBC). The first programmes by the BBC were broadcast in November 1922. In 1926 it changed from a company into a public corporation, with a monopoly of broadcasting in the country. By this time, radio manufacturing in America had for a brief period been growing faster than the car-making industry, and the number of listeners on both sides of the Atlantic ran into many millions. Radio had moved rapidly from being an attic experiment to a household utility.1 History In the last quarter of the 19th century many scientists were attempting to transmit messages over distances without wires. They were not searching for a means of mass-communication, but simply exploring the possibility of using electromagnetic waves in order to communicate between two fixed points. Nevertheless, the history of "wireless" communication eventually became largely the history of

  • Word count: 1647
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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The advent of television revolutionized the way information was sent and received.

THE ADVENT OF TELEVISION REVOLUTIONIZED THE WAY INFORMATION WAS SENT AND RECEIVED. ITS INFLUENCE ON SOCIETY IS GREAT DUE TO THE FACT THAT IT COMBINES THE TWO MOST CONSPICUOUS AND VITAL FORMS OF COMMUNICATION: SIGHT AND SOUND. THE APPEARANCE OF CABLE TELEVISION FURTHER ENHANCED THE GROWING TELEVISION INDUSTRY, BY PROVIDING MORE T.V. STATIONS FROM DIFFERENT PARTS OF THE COUNTRY, ALLOWING VIEWERS TO SEE WHAT IS BEING SHOWN IN OTHER AREAS WITH CLEAR RECEPTION. CABLE TELEVISION HAS IMPACTED SOCIETY CONSIDERABLY IN ALMOST EVERY FACET OF OUR LIVES. THE AMOUNT OF INFLUENCE IT PLAYS IN THE POLITICAL PROCESS IS QUITE EMINENT AND CAN BE SEEN BY THE PRESIDENTIAL DEBATES BETWEEN NIXON AND KENNEDY FROM THE SIXTIES. ITS POWER TO SWAY PUBLIC OPINION HAS BECOME A CRUCIAL ELEMENT AND IS USED WITH UTMOST PRECISION. THE INITIAL CONCEPT OF THE CABLE TELEVISION APPEARED IN THE LATE FORTIES AND EARLY FIFTIES. ITS APPEARANCE WAS CAUSED DUE TO THE FACT THAT PEOPLE LIVING IN MOUNTAINOUS REGIONS HAD VIRTUALLY NO SIGNAL COMING THROUGH, DEEMING THE TELEVISION SETS USELESS1. IN A SMALL TOWN IN THE MOUNTAINS OF PENNSYLVANIA, A T.V. STORE OWNER BY THE NAME OF JOHN WALSON RESOLVED THE RECEPTION BY MOUNTING AN ANTENNA TO THE TOP OF A LARGE UTILITY POLE ON TOP OF A NEARBY MOUNTAIN. SIGNALS WERE THEN RECEIVED AND TRANSPORTED TO HIS STORE WHERE THEY WERE SPREAD OUT BY WIRE TO THE COMMUNITY. THIS WAS THE BIRTH

  • Word count: 1496
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Explain the functions, trends and nature of ownership and control in the British Mass Media

Press & Broadcasting In The UK "Explain the functions, trends and nature of ownership and control in the British Mass Media" Outcome 1 David John Golding In this piece of writing I will attempt to explain the functions, trends and nature of ownership and control in the British Mass Media. At the end I will describe the features of a Mass Media conglomerate. The Mass media is basically any style of text or image that is viewed by a lot of people. For example T.V, radio, newspapers, books, magazines, billboards, etc are all forms of mass media. Some of these can reach millions of people like T.V, where as newspapers usually reach hundreds of thousands and so on. The media gives us things like, news, entertainment, advertising etc. TELEVISION: Television is the biggest form of media in the UK and in most countries in the world. There are two main types of T.V in the UK, public funded and independent. The BBC is publicly funded by T.V licence fees of around £100 that cover all BBC related audio & visual broadcasting. The government does not have any direct influence over what is shown on T.V although there are regulators who decide what is acceptable and what is not. The BBC is controlled by their board of governors of which there are twelve who are appointed by the Crown to ensure that the BBC fulfils its obligations. Among them are National Governors for

  • Word count: 2755
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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The Simpsons coursework

THE SIMPSONS COURSEWORK! "The Simpsons" is an example of an American sitcom. A sitcom is situation comedy, which is when the same setting and same characters appear in every episode. Examples of sitcoms are programmes such as "The Crosby Show" and more recent sitcoms such as "Friends". Sitcoms surfaced in the 1950's in America showing the "ideal" family. Slowly sitcoms started to show the reality of life and dealt with social issues such as divorce and unemployment. Sitcoms have become very popular because people could relate to the programme and sitcoms show problems, which happen in every day life in a light-hearted way. These are some of the reasons why "The Simpsons" is very successful and popular. In this essay I am going to use the example of "The Simpsons" and evaluate to see how it follows the conventions of the sitcom genre. The opening sequence of "The Simpsons" introduces us to the main characters and we can see the stereotypes, which are used in the programme. In the opening sequence we see Homer at work. This is what a stereotypical father's role is. We are also shown how Homer goes against the stereotype because he takes some radioactive waste with him showing that he is careless. Marge is shown doing the shopping and looking after the baby Maggie. Marge fits the stereotypical role of a mother in the sense that she is a housewife and takes care of the house.

  • Word count: 1396
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Describe popular culture in Britain at the beginning of the 1960's (1960 - 1965) There was a vast change in popular culture from the 1950's to the 1960's. The changes

Describe popular culture in Britain at the beginning of the 1960's (1960 - 1965) There was a vast change in popular culture from the 1950's to the 1960's. The changes of culture in Britain began to occur in the late 1950's, when everything was still seen as adult and outrageous behaviour. This change can be seen through the statement of one lady: "In the 1950's, daughters tried to look like their mothers, in the 1960's, mothers tried to look like their daughters," taken from the information booklet. This dramatic change in culture, from fashion, radio and TV to going out, art & architecture and peoples opinions, had a massive impact on Britain. The changes in were enormously down to the increase in employment and money that people were receiving. One very important aspect of the sixties, which became extremely clear, was a total lack of respect for the traditional ideas and values. Fashion in the 1950's was extremely different to what it was soon going to become. The 50's saw figure hugging clothes, with very little skin being revealed to the world, with women's essentials being headscarfs, turbans, basic military style suits and the sturdy wedge shoe of wartime Britain. At the beginning of the 1960's there were only a few signs of the major developments that were to take place in Britain. Fashion in the 1960's became more short skirts and straight dresses, showing off the

  • Word count: 2152
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Comparison between House and Lie to Me

Comparison between House and Lie to Me Lie to Me is an American television series that premiered on the Fox network on January 21, 2009. In the show, Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth) and his colleagues in The Lightman Group accept assignments from third parties (commonly local and federal law enforcement), and assist in investigations, reaching the truth through applied psychology: interpreting micro-expressions, through the Facial Action Coding System, and body language. In May 2009, the show was renewed for a second season consisting of 13 episodes, Season 2 premiered on September 28, 2009. On November 24, 2009, Fox ordered an extra nine episodes for season 2, bringing the season order to 22 episodes. On May 12, 2010, Entertainment Weekly reported that Lie to Me received a 13-episode third season pick-up to start November 10, 2010. Lie to Me is recognised as a Crime, Drama, Mystery, Thriller TV drama. Each episode in the Lie to Me series contain numerous plot lines that end up interweaving and coming together as one, with Dr. Cal Lightman and occasionally Dr. Gillian Foster jumping between multiple plots. In Lie to Me there are six main characters that appear in almost every episode and are key to the Lie to Me plots. Dr. Cal Lightman (Tim Roth), is a genius psychologist with an expertise in body language and predominantly microexpressions and founder of The Lightman Group.

  • Word count: 1003
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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What is a soap opera?

What is a soap opera? The soap opera genre originated from the soap powder boxes, which contained a short comic strip which always ended a cliff-hanger. They were then made in to radio serials in the USA, before becoming the soaps we all know & love. Television soap operas are long-running serials concerned with everyday life. In a serial at least one storyline is carried over from one episode to the next. A series is advertised as having a specific number of episodes, but serials are virtually endless. Successful soaps may continue for many years: so new viewers have to be able to join in at any stage in the serial. In serials, the passage of time also appears to reflect 'real time' for the viewers: in long-running soaps the characters age as the viewers do. Mark Fowler for example has been in the show even before I was born; it's only recently that he left for good. Soaps compared with other genres One related genre is the melodrama, with which it shares such features as strong emotions, female orientation, unlikely coincidences, and excess. Another related genre is the literary romance, with which it shares features such as simplified characters, female orientation and the same narrative in each episode. However, soaps do not share with these forms the happy ending or the idealized characters. Some people in the media distinguish between styles of TV programmes which

  • Word count: 2032
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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What does mise-en-scene contribute to our understanding of character and plot in the chosen sequence of All That Heaven Allows? Discuss how far this use is typical of Classical Narrative Cinema.

A LEVEL FILM STUDIES, EVENINGS ESSAY What does mise-en-scene contribute to our understanding of character and plot in the chosen sequence of All That Heaven Allows? Discuss how far this use is typical of Classical Narrative Cinema. Chosen sequence: Golden Rain Tree/Cary's bedroom scene. Before the emergence of 'auteur theory' the director Douglas Sirk was a renowned exponent of classical Hollywood narrative, particularly in the genre of romantic melodrama, of which his film All That Heaven Allows is a classic example. However, he is now regarded as a master of mise-en-scene, one of the few tools left to a director working within the constraints of the Hollywood studio/institutional system who is now thought to have been highly critical of American mainstream culture and society in this prosperous era. 1, 2 The 'Golden Rain Tree' sequence occurs early on in the film after the opening panoramic, establishing shot - showing the scene of the action, a small middle-class New England town in autumn. The main protagonists are soon introduced of which the prime causal agent is an unsettled woman, Cary Scott (Jane Wyman), in keeping with romantic melodrama. As a widow, she is a victim of circumstance who is eager to change her life. Her friend visits (Mona) and hopes to persuade Cary to take a conventional route out of widowhood but, by chance, she meets the gardener, Ron

  • Word count: 1857
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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radio station analysis

Research - Analysis of Radio Stations and Shows In this assignment I will look at a range of radio stations and programmes looking at various logistics making them what they are. I will initially look at a range of radio stations and analyse them, breaking them down into target audience, age range of audience, demographics and the social status of the listeners. I will choose two stations from the BBC and one commercial station. I have chosen to analyse only one commercial station as two commercial stations within the same region will be fairly similar in style and speech content et cetera. I have chosen Trent FM due to it being Nottingham's oldest commercial station whereas other commercial stations in Nottingham such as Heart FM are owned by corporate companies running other stations around the country such as Capital Radio and FXM. I will also choose three radio programmes, one from a local BBC station, one from a nationwide BBC station and a radio show from a pirate station. I will look at presentation of the show, speech content of the presenters, target audience and the overall style. For the analysis of radio stations I have chosen BBC Radio One and Four. This way I will have looked at each end of the scale-Radio One being quite upbeat and geared towards a younger audience and Radio Four being partly political and partly artistic-but not in a modern arts way.

  • Word count: 3143
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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Essay on television news

Essay on television news Television news and current affair programs have become an essential part of our everyday lives in this cutting edge society today. Nine Network's A Current Affair program is a 30-minute long current affairs program covering politics, crime, human rights, science, technology and many other areas. It is an example of a consumer-oriented program, which seeks to appeal to viewers to get the ratings and thereby generate revenue through advertising for the Nine Network. I will use this current affairs program broadcast on the 2nd November to discuss how the codes of television reinforce the narrative elements in one of the stories presented on the television screen. The current affair story I have chosen which runs for five minutes and eight seconds is about an out-of-control 15-year old Stacey who has been locked in a "wire cage" for her past seven years. She is severely intellectually handicapped and her mother is forced to lock her up for her own safety reasons. She claims that the Government does not provide sufficient disabilities services and resources in areas such as rural South Australia. Throughout the story, viewers are positioned to sympathize with Stacey's mother, Kerry. She is portrayed as a victim of the lack of disabilities services, desperately pleading the government to take action. The different camera angles and movement, selection

  • Word count: 1041
  • Level: AS and A Level
  • Subject: Media Studies
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