Other exam concepts and preparation

 

GATEKEEPING

Gatekeeping is the process of deciding what information gets selected, prioritised, changed or excluded before reaching an audience.

OLD MEDIA

Journalist
↓
Editor
↓
News organisation
↓
Audience

DIGITAL MEDIA

User
↓
Platform
↓
Algorithm
↓
Audience

But also:

Audience
↓
shares/comments
↓
algorithm
↓
more users

So the audience becomes part of the gatekeeping process.

Who is the gatekeeper now?

Who is the gatekeeper now?

Students can discuss:

• journalists
• editors
• media owners
• governments
• regulators
• algorithms
• platforms
• influencers
• audiences

This links well to:

Curran & Seaton → ownership

McCombs & Shaw → agenda-setting

Livingstone & Lund → regulation

Shirky → audience power

Hall → reception

3. ALGORITHMIC POWER

You have touched this several times, particularly in your Clancy/true-crime work and public discourse material, but I would turn it into a proper examinable concept.

Your September material already identifies algorithmic power as useful terminology and discusses how short-form platforms can reward sensational content and engagement. 

Give them this chain:

Algorithmic power = the ability of platforms' automated systems to influence what users encounter, engage with and potentially ignore.

Then:

Algorithm

→ selects content

→ increases visibility

→ influences engagement

→ shapes audience experience

→ potentially influences discourse.

But immediately teach the counterargument:

Algorithms do not necessarily determine what audiences believe.

Audiences can:

• scroll
• reject
• search elsewhere
• follow alternative sources
• create their own content
• challenge dominant narratives.

Theory connections

Shirky

Audience becomes producer.

Hall

Audiences decode differently.

Agenda-setting

Visibility influences what receives attention.

Gatekeeping

Algorithms become new gatekeepers.

Hegemony

Repeated messages can normalise particular ideas.

That gives them a fantastic theoretical chain.

4. POST-TRUTH + MISINFORMATION

This is the biggest Power & Media / Regulation crossover that I think would strengthen the final preparation.

Your blog has touched this through Trump/social media, true crime, algorithms and regulation, but I would formalise it.

Teach these distinctions:

Misinformation

False information shared without necessarily intending to deceive.

Disinformation

False information deliberately created or distributed to deceive.

Malinformation

Genuine information used in a misleading or harmful context.

Then connect this to:

• social media
• algorithms
• political communication
• citizen journalism
• AI
• deepfakes
• clickbait
• sensationalism
• echo chambers
• confirmation bias.

Excellent debate

Does digital media democratise information or undermine reliable information?

That single question can generate material for:

• Power & Media
• Media Regulation
• Media Ecology

5. PLATFORM CAPITALISM

This is probably the most useful newer concept for your students.

Your blog already lists platform capitalism in the September terminology bank. 

But I would actually teach it.

Simple definition

Platform capitalism describes the economic model in which digital platforms generate value by controlling digital infrastructure, data, attention and interaction.

Students can then understand:

Users

create content

↓

Platforms

collect data / attention

↓

Algorithms

organise content

↓

Advertising

monetises attention

↓

Platforms

gain economic and cultural power.

This is a much more sophisticated way of talking about TikTok, YouTube, Facebook, Netflix etc. than simply saying:

"Technology has changed media."

6. CONVERGENCE

You've used convergence throughout the year, but I'd make students explicitly understand it as a synoptic concept.

Technological convergence

One device performs multiple media functions.

Media convergence

Different media forms/platforms overlap.

Industrial convergence

Companies operate across multiple media industries.

Cultural convergence

Audiences participate across multiple media platforms.

Then give them:

Black Panther

Film
↓
Disney
↓
cinema
↓
streaming
↓
social media
↓
YouTube
↓
fan communities
↓
merchandise
↓
global audience

Suddenly one case study can answer multiple questions.