Media Markets Academic Essay: Assessment Guidelines

Assessment Type:Academic Essay (Assignment 2)

 

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Submission: Electronically, via Turnitin (Blackboard).Turnitin is a plagiarism-detecting software. Please submit your document as MS Word file

 

Weighting (% of overall module mark): 50%

 

Word Limit:2,500 words (+/-10%; thereference list is NOT included in the word count)

 

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Assignment description:

This assessment requires you to write an essay that combines a review of the academic literature on a topic area that relates to the module content (approx. 1,000 words) with a brief case-study analysis (approx. 1,000 words).

 

You will choose ONE topic area from the list below (if you would like to write your essay on a different topic, you must agree the topic with the module leader):

 

  1. As media devices and technologies multiply and audiences fragment, media companies across sectors have increasingly adopted multiplatform distribution strategies. This raises a number of managerial and economic issues. Discuss.
  2. Increasingly, the rights to content in an original work created for one medium are exploited in another. Common examples include best-selling novels being exploited as films or TV dramas or stage musicals; or hit plays being exploited as films; or popular comics or films being exploited as console games. Engaging with the academic literature and using a real-world case study as an example, what do you think are the necessary conditions for such exploitation to be successful; and what are some of the common business strategies being adopted?
  3. The growing popularity of social media platforms is changing how people consume and engage with news, music and other media. Understanding media user behaviour in the age of social media has become a central focus of scholarly enquiry. Media management scholars are particularly interested in the implications for business strategy. Discuss.
  4. The audience measurement systemsusedin the industry are struggling to remain fit-for-purpose given how profoundly new technology platforms have changed consumer media consumption habits in recent years. Discuss.
  5. Dissemination of content over the Internet is making it more difficult to monetise legacy media through traditional business models such as advertising or direct consumer payment. Why is this? Engaging with the academic literature and using a real-world case-study, discuss how traditional media are addressing this challenge by locating new sources of revenue or through the adoption of new types of funding models.
  6. Changing media consumption patterns are shifting advertising budgets online and new technologiesare profoundly changing advertising practices (e.g., data-driven tracking of consumer behaviour). Presented with new challenges, advertising-funded media organisations are adopting a number of strategic responses. Discuss.
  7. Google, Facebook and a handful of other ‘digital intermediaries’ are now positioned as essential gateways between digital media content produced by news and other media organisations and their audience. This situation raises serious questions for public policy as well as a number of strategic and economic issues. Discuss.

 

 

PART I: LITERATURE REVIEW (approx. 1,000 words)

In the first part of your assignment you will provide an account of the academic literature related to your topic. You will identify and discuss the main issues, problems, debates and research questions addressed in the relevant literature. You can narrow down your literature review to focus on a specific issue within the given topic area. So youwill move from the general to the specific. You will also summarise key findings emerging from empirical research. In this part of the assignment you will draw primarily on academicwork, namely research papers published in peer-reviewed journal articles and academic books or edited collections. For this section of the assignment you are required to use English-language academic sources only. You are also strongly advised to start your research of the academic literature with the core and additional readings recommended for this module. Going beyond the recommended texts is evidence of wider reading and research, which is one of the marking criteria for this assignment. One (recommended) way in which you can expand your research is by consulting the reference lists of the texts in the reading list.

 

PART II: CASE-STUDY ANALYSIS (approx. 1,000 words)

In the second part of the assignment, you will undertake a brief case-study. Depending on the issue that you are addressing, a case could be a media product (e.g., a feature film, a TV format, or a news website), a media service (e.g., a video distribution platform or a new technology formeasuring audiences), a media company, a media business deal, and even an entire media sector or a country. In this part, you are likely to draw on non-academic as well as academic sources (e.g., company financial statements, trade press, market reports). Ideally, yourshould undertake an originalcase-study, meaning a case that has not already been analysed by others from exactly the same angle from which you are considering it. The purpose of your case-study is either to provide support and illustrate some of the claims made in the literature in relation to your topic or (more challengingly, but more interestingly!) to provide counter-evidence that disprove a claim or hypothesis that you have encountered in your literature review.

 

CONCLUSION: Your essay will have a short conclusion where you will provide a brief summary of your essay and link the findings of your case-study to the literature reviewed in the first part.

 

 

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Important things to note:

 

  • On the cover page, please provide the module title and code, the assignment title, your name and student ID, and the chosen topic area.

 

  • Please also give your essay atitle(not included in the word count). This should summarise the main focus of your essay. You are advised to use a main title and a sub-title.

 

  • Please addpage numbersto your document.

 

  • The reading list for the module provides a good starting point for engaging with the academic literature related to the given topic areas.

 

 

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Marking Criteria(please read carefully):

 

Category Total possible mark
Review of the literature (Part I): Reading–Evidence of extensive reading of relevant academicsources. 20
Review of the literature (Part I): Analysis – Evidence of understanding of the topic area; ability toidentify key issues, debates, controversies, and findings; ability to develop a clear thread of analysis and a smooth narrative; evidence of critical thinking. 30
Case-study analysis (Part II) –Appropriate and original choice of case-study; Use of case-study to prove or disprove claims reviewed in the literature; evidence of extensive research drawing on non-academic as well as academic sources. 30
Writing –Clear, articulate writing with good sentence structure; appropriate academic style. 10
Presentation and referencing – Cover page provides all required information; a title is provided; clear format and layout; accurate and full referencing that conforms to the University guidelines 10
Total 100