Solved: 16LLP415 – Key Topics in Media and Creative Industries

Essay assignments
Assessment date: January
Here are 10 essay assignments referenced on page 3 of the syllabus. Each question is separated by a bullet point [•]. Choose ONE question to answer and write a 3,500-word (10- 12 typed pages) essay on it. Your essay should be submitted to Turnitin and is due no later than 3:00 p.m. on the above-referenced assessment date. Note that under university regulations, late essays will not be graded and will receive a zero score.
• The present-day media system, both on and off line, is increasingly dominated by a diminishing number of mega communications corporations. Drawing on examples from at least TWO of these corporations explain how the strategies they pursue helps organize contemporary cultural and social life?
• Briefly describe the three approaches to media, communication and development put forward by Manyozo (2012). Explore one of them in more detail, drawing on additional literature and examples. What are some of the key ideas, concepts or theories behind your chosen approach and how do you think your examples illustrate them?
• The advent of the internet has proliferated opportunities for sexual intimacy, politics and means of forming communities- What role can social and digital media play within sexuality politics and activism? Use examples and case studies alongside critical reading to make your argument.
• ‘Our cell phones give us instant communication, break down frontiers, break down political control and censorship, and enable markets to work effectively. They are an unmitigated marvel.’ Provide a critique of this position, based on the environmental and occupational-health impact of these devices on those who make and recycle them.
• Propose and argue for one change to copyright laws in one country of your choice • Describe how media culture can be distinct and different in the Global South, by focusing on one of the areas of discussion a) infrastructure, b) political tensions, c) class disparities.
• Describe the relationship between social movements and media, by focusing on one of the following contemporary revolts: Hong Kong (umbrella) uprising, Arab Spring, Gezi, Occupy.
• For the last decade, the media industry has increasingly relied on interns as a key part of their workforce. Please choose a corporation or an industry in the field of media, and investigate how interns are deployed and the nature of their work, and critically analyze the corporation/industry’s labor practices within the current debates surrounding internships.
• Discuss the challenges that new communication technologies and new ways of consuming entertainment media pose for ratings analysis companies; what they do to overcome these challenges; and the ethical concerns of gathering census data of media consumption. Support your essay by drawing from our assigned chapters, additional research articles as well as case studies from current industry practices.
• Analyze the representation of one or more group(s) of people in media using elements of textual analysis developed in class. Choose a specific example of a media product.

Examples might include national cinema, television, magazines, advertisements, among others. Topics might include ethnic identities, sexuality and gender, representations of youth and youth culture, or absence/presence of people with disability in media.

Ask yourself:
How do the contemporary media represent nations, regions and ethnic/social/collective groups of people in different ways?
How does contemporary representation compare to previous time periods?
What are the social and political implications of different media
representations of groups of people?
To what extent is human identity increasingly ‘mediated’?