Alevel Links: Mass Media

A-Level Links	Mass Media

About Face		Media History Project
The basic rationale behind this American site is the promotion of "positive self-esteem in girls and women..." and the site contains a range of interesting information to this particular end. In terms of Media Sociology, however, the most-useful parts of the site are the galleries of adverts relating to the different ways female bodies are used positively and negatively in advertising. If you dig around on the site you'll also find some interesting research into areas like body image, the media and eating disorders that could be used to supplement / stimulate further discussion.		The general rationale here is to "promote the study of media history" and while much of the information, links and resources focuses on North American media history there's a useful Timeline of media developments available for those who want to locate the development of "the media" in its historical context. There's nothing here that's going to blow your socks off, but it's definitely worthy, a labour of some love and helpful in slightly-nerdy sort of way...

Media Guardian		Young Media Australia
Another in the long line of (really quite good) Guardian spin-off sites. If you're familiar with either The Guardian web site or the print version of Media Guardian you'll know what to expect from this site - all the latest media related stories mixed in with a variety of special reports (and just a little bit of gossip from the wild 'n' wacky world of the meeja). As you would expect, the site has an extensive search capability (including an archive section), making it relatively easy to find articles.		There's some interesting material in the "Information About Media and Children" section of the site (mainly from a psychological / child development perspective) on general media effects (violence and advertising, for example) as they relate to children. The general tone of the site is "Advice for Parents" about how to bring up children, but if you can get past this the material (while not likely to make you gasp in surprise) could form the background to debates about how and why the media affects behaviour.

Theory.org		TheoryHead
Subtitled "The Media Theory site", this is a seriously attractive site designed by a seriously ironic guy (David Gauntlett). If you don't like the sound of axes being sharpened, my advice is to steer well clear. If you do ("Hello"), then you'll find a range of "theory, gender and media resources" aimed, primarily, at undergraduates. However, any serious A-level Media Sociology student or teacher will find some interesting material here (and on it's companion site "New Media Studies" which deals more-specifically with cultural theory). There's not a massive amount of material on-line at present, but check-out the "Random Communication Studies Module Generator" (so painfully true it ought to be banned) and the article "Ten things wrong with the ‘effects model’ (which should be required reading for Media and Communications teachers...). There's also a few interesting articles on the concept of Role Models and Masculinity that repay repeated viewing.		Another part of David Gauntlett's burgeoning empire, this particular site supports his "bestselling book" Media, Gender and Identity and contains a fair bit of useful stuff offered as "bonus features" to complement the text. This, in the main, consists of various articles, interviews and discussion-pieces on the general theme of gender and the media (it probably won't surprise you to learn). There's not a great deal here, but what there is should prove useful to both students (especially those doing coursework in this general area) and teachers wanting to keep abreast of the latest developments.

Effects Theory		Media Awareness Network
This "On-line paper" provides a brief overview of different types of "media effects" theory and looks at the implications of such theories for our understanding of advertising and its effects. The focus is mainly on Communications theory / modelling but there's enough here to contribute something to the sociological debate surrounding media effects.		This is a fabulous (Canadian) media resource for teachers and students that contains far too much information to describe or do justice to in a few words. The site has loads of resources, lesson plans and information about media issues (stereotyping, ethnicity, class, gender and so forth) amongst many other things - it's probably easier if you just see for yourself...

Learning Web		Mick Underwood's Home Page
I'm not sure how frequently this site is updated (of even if it's still active - the fact that some sections are dated September 2000 and content will be "added shortly" isn't a good sign) but it does contain one useful section - a glossary of "Key Media Terms". Although each concept only has, at most, a one-line description it does seem to be pretty comprehensive - and probably useful if you're unsure of the meaning of ideas like "semiotics", "discourse" and the like.		An interesting site devoted to communications, cultural and media studies resources. There is, however, a load of stuff here that's potentially useful for media sociology (effects models, media ownership and so forth). Aside from the resources (and a useful glossary), it's also a very nice-looking site, full (as in "no more room whatsoever") of JavaScript goodies (boxes, buttons, menus - you name it...). The site also has a chat room and message board ("Need some help with an essay? Place your cry for help at the message forum and call back later for all the answers") whose optimism seems somewhat at odds with the generally downbeat (as in "not taking itself too seriously") site style. If you're studying any of the above areas you could do worse than check-out this site for some clear, well-presented, information.

Studymedia		Media Watch
Although this is a Media Studies site, there's plenty of material here to interest Media Sociology students - mainly in the form of on-line notes relating to topics such as Audience theories (including media effects) and Representations. An interesting and helpful feature of the site is a News section that identifies "Big media stories" (such as, at the time of writing, the new Band Aid single) and briefly analyses them from a media studies perspective (in this particular instance, Stuart Hall's notion of encoding and decoding). Overall, the site's mainly text-based with a few pictures and links, but it's pitched at an appropriate level for A-level students.		Although it's necessary to look past the slightly- paranoid obsession with "the media" and its (supposed) effects, once you do this is a useful little site containing a range of interesting bits-and-bobs. These range from current news stories / events, to lecture tours and videos to buy. There's also an archive section that might prove useful from research purposes..

Mediaknowall		MCS
Although aimed at Media Studies students, there's enough good stuff here to satisfy Sociology students (and their teachers). You'll find notes on a range of general (Postmodernism, Representation) and specific (Ideology, Institution, etc.) topics which are both snappy and informative. Each set of notes is liberally sprinkled with hyperlinked references that have been well-integrated into the text - guiding the student to explore new areas in ways that build on the presented information. Well worth a visit.		"The Media and Communications Studies" site, to give it its full title, is a fabulous media site packed with all kinds of useful materials, information and references. Although clearly aimed at an undergraduate audience, there's a great deal here that will be useful for both Media Sociology teachers and students. An essential first port-of-call for anyone interested in, or studying, the mass media...

Bowling For Columbine		Farenheit 9/11
Based around the Michael Moore film, the Teacher's Guide section of the site offers a range of materials on a variety of topics (family, education, media and so forth) related to the film. A full Teacher's Guide can be downloaded from the site (or by clicking the picture on this page).		More from Moore (as it were) can be found here (like the Columbine site, an extension of his Home Page). There are various goodies on offer to support the film - the main one being the free "Teacher's Guide" that includes information and exercises based around the issues raised in the film.

AS Guru		Artlab
Part of the BBC General Studies site, this particular section examines various aspects of advertising - from how audiences are classified through different types of advertising media (television and newspapers) to a discussion of political advertising.		Part of the Bournemouth University "Centre for Excellence in Media Practice", Artlab "...explores new forms of research which engage participants on a creative, artistic and/or visual level". In other words, it features research projects based around the use of visual media as a means of gathering data - and very good it is too. It's well worth a visit for both the media content and and insight into a slightly-different type of research methodology.

The Bill Douglas Centre		The A Level Media Studies Page
Bill Douglas' site ("The History of Cinema and Popular Culture") is a virtual off-shoot of an actual Centre (situated in the School of English at Exeter University). The site features both a Tour and a number of "virtual exhibitions" (both permanent and temporary) which consist of neatly-designed (hyper) text and graphics.		This site "went missing" a few months back and I thought we'd lost it - but no, it's back again with a new URL. I'm glad I've found it again because, even though it's aimed at Media Studies students it contains a lot of material that's useful for Media Sociology. In particular, there's a range of free booklets (covering things like media representations, audience and so forth) that contain useful notes. There's also some stuff on study skills (essay-writing, for example) and a range of worksheets and links.

General Sociology Links	Mass Media

Media Matters		Ad Graveyard
Media Matters is a company that specialises in both designing curriculum materials and in-service courses for teachers. However, their site includes a range of useful sections related to media teaching and resources (links to media institutions and media education sites in particular). It also provides a range of on-line activities and resources for teachers and students.		An interesting site to browse, but probably only of use for Media Sociology teachers. In basic terms, the site consists of a series of real adverts that, for a variety of reasons, never made it into the public domain. The site's potentially useful as a source of data for media analysis, but a lot of preparation work would have to be done to exploit its potential for classroom use...

TV Cream		The Advertising Association
This is one great site to browse, whether you're looking for evidence of some long-forgotten "TV Gem" (just to prove you really were alive in 1965) or you want to engage in some (semi-) serious Media Sociology archive research. In basic terms, a site that reviews just about every TV programme there may ever have been (and probably some that were made up - you'd have to, wouldn't you?). Also includes Newspaper resumes (acerbic) and some (mainly teen) magazines. A labour of luv (as they used to write) that probably serves no useful purpose at all (Discuss).		Any site that advertises itself as "Promoting and Protecting the Rights, Responsibilities and Role of Advertising" is probably not going to win any awards for objectivity, but once you appreciate this there's a reasonable amount of information available here on various aspects of advertising. In addition, there are links to "Member Sites" and the Food Advertising Unit (which, admittedly, doesn't sound too exciting but actually contains some reasonable articles / information).

Queens College		Dumbentia
The Sociology Department of this New York college has been involved with the development of a Multimedia project, based around Hollywood films / directors. Some basic outlines are available and, while the project looks promising for Media Studies, there's not a great deal available at present. The site does, however, contain other bits and pieces (Gramsci Resources for example) that might be worth checking-out.		A similar site to Adbusters (but without the heavy-duty political mission and content), this is a "media site" specialising in advertising parodies of every shape and description (check-out the "seven deadly motivational posters" - guaranteed to brighten even the most depressed of staffrooms...). Many of the materials can be downloaded in Adobe .pdf format and the site is an inspirational resource for media sociology teachers who want to liven-up their classes.

Good Logo		New Statesman
Not a site that's going to be much direct use to A-level students (unless they're doing coursework specifically related to logos) but one that might serve teachers well as a source of ideas and references when talking about globalisation, for example.		Long-standing UK (left-of-centre) political magazine. Loads of articles plus free supplements to browse / download (although there are restrictions for non-subscribers).

Anti-Mass Media		Moving History
A whole bunch of interesting (and not-so-interesting) links to sites / info relating to subliminal messages / advertising.		"The Moving History web site is a research guide to the United Kingdom’s twelve public sector film archives and provides a showcase for their collections. Moving History's role is to show, describe and provide links to these key collections located around the UK". In other words, a massive library of films to browse and view online dealing with various aspects of UK social history.