Digital Media Cultures Essay

Now that the majority of the lectures for this module have been given it's time to set the questions for the essay and pick one... Scary.


Here's the list we have to choose from:

1. How are public service broadcasters responding to the challenges of the contemporary media industry?
2. 'Developments in digital technology are democratising the media industry' discuss.
3. Choose one area of the cultural industry and assess the impact that the Internet has had on the way that particular industry operates.
4. Outline and discuss the shifts in the relationship between producer, text and audience. Your work should acknowledge recent theoretical shifts in audience studies.
5. Analyse the impact of formats on the TV industry. Your essay should also analyse debates that relate to the potential social and cultural impact of formats on audiences.
6. Analyse the relationship between developments in media and the processes of globalisation.
7. 'The pursuit of profit has become the driving force in the development of media and has ultimately ha a negative impact upon culture' discuss.
8. Outline and discuss the impact Apple have had on the contemporary media industry.
9. Choose one area of the media industry and assess how the shift from analogue to digital has impacted upon the industry.

As I've said before I'm such an indecisive person, I can never make my mind up and when I do I worry if I've chosen wrong, and picking an essay topic was not something I wanted to do wrong! I didn't want to pick a question that I had little interest in because I would struggle to come up with 2000 words and would get bored doing so, the choice was tough.

I narrowed the ones I liked the best down to question 1,2 and 5. 

Question 1 appealed to me because well as cheesy as it sounds I love Public Services Broadcasters like the BBC, the fact that unlike so many other companies and people in the world they have to do whats best for the people in the country, they have to comply with their remit.. And they do, they produce some amazingly good pieces of TV. Think of how innovatively crazy Doctor Who is or how captivating series such as Frozen Planet are, especially when you compare them to such shows as TOWIE. I think it would be a real shame if this country lost PSB. Answering that question would be something I would actually enjoy researching into.. And that's saying a lot because research is something I dislike.... That said, I'm really gravitating towards looking into PSB for my dissertation and so I thought it was best to leave that, rather than repeat myself this year and the next!

Question 2 has so much to talk about with the fact that anyone can be a film-maker or a journalist nowadays. Apps allow ordinary people to create things that we're possible before and there's a genuine shift in how the worlds working. But while there is a lot to talk about, there's not much in this question to keep me interested.

Question 5 however is a subject that until recently I wouldn't have even thought about, I'm not sure what it is but I have a genuine fascination with Formats and why they're so popular with people (not just broadcasters) over gripping dramas. It's a subject I would look into regardless of having to do an essay but what perfect reasoning than to write about it as well.

So there it is, question 5 is the winner... Time to start researching.