I have created this Sample Paper for those who really want to challenge themselves with a potentially difficult, out of the box curveball when it comes to the Unseen Text in Section A.
You should absolutely channel the kind of thinking we used when looking at Jullian Assange and WikiLeaks...
MEDIA
PRODUCT 1:
Channel 4
live broadcast of Edward Snowden’s alternative Christmas Speech
Channel 4
News is the name of the flagship evening news programme. Channel 4 News
is noted for its extensive coverage of international news and good background
reports on current affairs. Channel 4 News is among the highest rated
television programmes in the United Kingdom, winning a record five Royal
Television Society Television Awards in 2006 and daily news programme of the
year in 2013. These included TV Journalist of the Year for Jon Snow. It won the
News Coverage British Academy Television Award in 2004 and the 2004
International Emmy for the best news programme produced and aired outside the
United States. Jon Snow won the Richard Dimbleby British Academy Television
Award in 2005 for outstanding contribution to the world of news and current
affairs.
Ex-National
Security Agency contractor Edward Snowden has delivered an
"alternative" UK Christmas 2013
message, urging an end to mass surveillance.The broadcast was carried on
Channel 4 as an alternative to the Queen's traditional Christmas message.Mr
Snowden focused on privacy, saying: "A child born today will grow up with
no conception of privacy at all."The 30-year-old has temporary asylum in
Russia after leaking details of US electronic surveillance programmes.
Mr
Snowden opened his two-minute message, recorded in Russia, with a reference to
novelist George Orwell, author of 1984, saying the surveillance technology
described in his works was "nothing compared to what we have
today".He said: "A child born today will grow up with no conception
of privacy at all. They'll never know what it means to have a private moment to
themselves, an unrecorded, unanalysed thought.
Channel
4's alternative Christmas message has in the past featured Iran's
then-President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad and fictional characters Ali G and Marge
Simpson. Most News Outlets banned worldwide banned the broadcast but it became
available on Youtube.
MEDIA
PRODUCT 2:
Video excerpt from BBC Question Time
Question Time is a topical debate BBC television programme in the United
Kingdom, based on Any Questions? The show typically features politicians
from at least the three major political parties as well as other public figures
who answer pre-selected questions put to them by a carefully selected audience.
The independent production company Mentorn has made the programme for the BBC
since 1998. Question Time is presented by David
Dimbleby.It is usually recorded about two hours prior to transmission, but has
been broadcast live.
The chairman sits in the middle and chairs the debate, deciding who can speak on the panel and bringing audience members into the discussion. Questions are submitted by the audience before the programme goes on air. The programme makers select some to put to the panel, who never know the questions before recording begins. During the programme, the presenter calls on the relevant members of the audience to put their question to the panel and gives each member an opportunity to answer the question and respond to each other's points. Every audience member is asked to bring a question and those chosen are informed immediately prior to filming.
Question 1:
Evaluate how Snowden and (the concept of) whistleblowers are represented
in the media products.
(8 marks)
Question 2:
Why is the issue of censorship so important
for media institutions? You may also refer to other media texts to support
your answer.
Question 3:
Multiplatform media can allow access to a wider range of views, including
extreme ones. Should the internet be more regulated? You should refer to other
media products to support your answer.
(12 marks)
