Tuesday, 2 December 2025

OSP assessment learner response

 1. Type up your feedback in full (you don't need to write the mark and grade if you want to keep this confidential).

WWW: q2 clear logical constructed argument of how digital convergence impacted our OSP CSPs - lots of focus + examples 

EBI: Q1 not enough focus on industry behind the OSP CSPs. 
More analysis needed - felt rushed  

Q2 synoptic question - mention other CSPs 

2. Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully (posted on your Google Classroom). Identify three specific aspects from Figure 1 (the Bioshock Infinite game cover) that you could have mentioned in your answer (e.g. selection of images, colour scheme, text etc).

Burning American flag, title, Zeppelin 

3. Now use the mark scheme to identify three potential points that you could have made in your essay for Question 2 (Jenkins - participatory culture or Curran and Seaton's - concentration of ownership).

Music videos structured around layered meanings demonstrate Barthes' theory of polysemy,
encouraging multiple interpretations.

Fans’ reinterpretations of symbols and clues reflect Hall’s encoding/decoding, as audiences generate negotiated and oppositional readings. For example, at the Woman of the Decade award ceremony) her marketing material for the Tortured Poets Department (which is plastered across her website and social media)

4. Write down two other CSPs from across the course that you could have referenced in your essay which link to digital convergence in relation to production, distribution and consumption and how they have impacted their products.

Old town road - social media built popularity post release through yeehaw movement 

Sephora - social media outrage due to sza situation 

5. Use your exam response, the mark scheme and any other resources you wish to use to write a detailed essay plan for Question 2. Make sure you are planning at least three well-developed paragraphs in addition to an introduction (thesis statement) and conclusion.

Production Taylor Swift
  • Music videos structured around layered meanings demonstrate Barthes' theory of polysemy, encouraging multiple interpretations.

  • Digital-first video design reflects Jenkins’ convergence culture, where content is created with multi-platform distribution in mind (YouTube, TikTok, Instagram).

  • Viral trends and short clips show Shirky’s prosumer theory, as content is produced with the expectation that audiences will remix and share.

Production The Voice
  • Search engine optimisation-driven headlines and thumbnail optimisation show digital convergence shaping production, supporting Van Zoonen’s view of digital media as data-driven and responsive to online structures.

  • Multimedia storytelling (video, hyperlinks, interactives) reflects Jenkins’ convergence culture, as news content is produced to move fluidly across platforms.

  • Features such as the first black photographer to shoot the cover picture of Vogue magazine (December 2018) and campaigns such as the Black Pound campaign encouraging readers to spend their money with Black businesses (also seen in the suggestion to ‘Buy Black on Black Friday’) both reflect this agenda.

Distribution Taylor Swift
  • Re-recordings of her albums demonstrate Hesmondhalgh’s analysis of artists resisting media conglomerate control, reclaiming ownership through digital distribution.

  • Simultaneous global releases across platforms reflect Curran & Seaton’s theory of concentration of ownership, but Swift subverts this by maintaining strong individual power.

  • Direct communication with fans exemplifies Livingstone & Lunt — digital convergence creates tensions between user empowerment and corporate control.

Distribution The Voice
  • Heavy reliance on online advertising reflects Curran & Seaton’s media power theory, where market pressures shape production more than diversity or plurality.

  • The Voice’s ability to publish continuously and cheaply online reflects Hesmondhalgh’s view of media industries minimising risk through flexible production models.

  • Targeting diaspora audiences through social platforms illustrates globalised digital distribution, central to Jenkins’ ideas about networked societies.

Consumption Taylor Swift
  • Highly participatory fan culture reflects Jenkins’ participatory culture & collective intelligence, where audiences co-create meaning and circulate content.

  • Streaming as the dominant mode of consumption embodies Shirky’s idea of the end of traditional gatekeeping, with users controlling when and how they listen.

  • Fan community behaviour (challenge videos, interpretations) reflects Bandura’s social learning theory, where audiences model behaviours presented in convergent media.

  • Fans’ reinterpretations of symbols and clues reflect Hall’s encoding/decoding

Consumption The Voice
  • Consumption through social media feeds instead of homepages shows Shirky’s shift from passive to active audiences in convergent media environments.

  • Audiences who share and comment contribute to Jenkins’ collective intelligence, shaping which stories circulate.

  • Analytics-driven editorial strategy reflects Livingstone & Lunt’s concerns about digital regulation, as the drive for clicks may outweigh public-interest journalism.

  • The poor construction of the website and social media presence (poorly worded polls, cluttered design, low-quality photography, lack of fresh content, poor video production values, weak sponsored content) means it is not the powerful voice in British media it should be.


6. Finally, identify three key areas you plan to revise from the OSP unit before the January mock exams (e.g. CSP elements of media theories) having looked at your feedback from this assessment.

Synoptic question exam practice 
Denotation, connotaion and myth 
Unseen practice questions 

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