Section B: Institutions and Audiences
Candidates should be prepared to understand and discuss the processes of production,
distribution, marketing and exchange as they relate to contemporary media institutions, as well as
the nature of audience consumption and the relationships between audiences and institutions. In
addition, candidates should be familiar with:
• the issues raised by media ownership in contemporary media practice;
• the importance of cross media convergence and synergy in production, distribution and
marketing;
• the technologies that have been introduced in recent years at the levels of production,
distribution, marketing and exchange;
• the significance of proliferation in hardware and content for institutions and audiences;
• the importance of technological convergence for institutions and audiences;
• the issues raised in the targeting of national and local audiences (specifically, British) by
international or global institutions;
• the ways in which the candidates’ own experiences of media consumption illustrate wider
patterns and trends of audience behaviour.
This unit should be approached through contemporary examples in the form of case studies based
upon one of the specified media areas.
