Three media industries are studied – newspapers, television and radio.
Three key texts from each industry are selected. Among the topics covered are:

1. Audience debates surrounding the texts.
2. How the texts represent people, places, events and issues.
3. How the narrative of each text is structured.
4. How the texts are produced and exhibited.
5. How the media industries that produce the texts are each regulated
6. The genre(s) to which each text belongs.

Unit MS4 assessment
The examination lasts for two and a half hours. Students are required to answer three questions. They will answer one question on radio, one on television, and one on newspapers, referring in their answers to the specific texts they have studied in class.

The response of students who have taken Media Studies have been very positive.

The Media Studies Department uses the Welsh Joint Education Committee (WJEC) specification at AS/A2, and has done so since the subject was first offered (at GCSE level) over fifteen yeas ago. This Examining Board was chosen because it provides now and has always provided a good mix of theoretical and practical work. The Department’s research found that this particular balance was highly regarded by the country’s universities. Given that nearly all the students who take Media Studies have Higher Education aspirations (both to take Media-related and non Media-related courses), it was and is important to the Department that the course content is approved by many Higher Education institutions and that it helps prepare the students for the rigours involved at that level, regardless of the degree subject taken.

There are three pieces of linked work:

1. A research investigation into, for example, the magazine industry, focusing upon the concepts of genre, narrative and representation. 2. A production piece, for example the front cover and contents page of a ‘new’ magazine, using the Desktop Publisher software. This production follows on from the research undertaken
3. An evaluation of how the research led to the production

These pieces of coursework are internally marked and then externally moderated by the WJEC.

Unit MS4
This Unit focuses on four areas:

1. Developing the knowledge students have gained in other areas of the course.
2. Their understanding of the links between texts.
3. The industries that have produced them.
4. The different audiences that respond to them.

The A2 Specification
This also combines theory and practice, this time building upon the knowledge, understanding and skills gained during AS.
Unit MS3
This unit is designed to enable the students to demonstrate the importance of research when planning a media production and to develop the skills acquired in
Unit 2. Students are required to demonstrate:

1. Individual and independent research skills.
2. The ability to use their research to inform a media product.
3. Technical and creative skills.
4. The ability to evaluate the product, exploring the validity of the research undertaken.