Moral Panic

Identity

1. Mainstream media is a powerful influence on the construction of an individual’s identity. Use your case study to explore the impact of the media in the construction of identities.
2. ‘We are defined by the media we use.’ How does your case study suggest audiences use the media to construct their own identity?
3. ‘Social media has only served to reinforce existing values and ideologies’. Does your case study suggest social media has played a positive or negative role in the construction of identities?
4. ‘The variety of media available encourages us to create many different identities for ourselves’. How far do you agree with this statement?
5. How are constructions of identity used by media producers and why are they so popular?
6. Audiences are now too sophisticated to be taken in by negative and stereotypical constructions of identity. Do you agree?
7. There are a wide range of constructions of identity in the media and audiences are free to choose how they interpret them. Do you agree?
8. How and why do alternative constructions of identity challenge mainstream values and ideology?

New digital Media

1. The world first heard about the resignation of Jeremy Clarkson from the Twitter.
2. How has new/digital media changed the ways in which information reaches audiences and what are the implications
3. “New and digital media offers media producers different ways of reaching audiences". Consider how and why media producers are using these techniques.
4. ‘New and digital media erodes the dividing line between reporters and reported, between active producers and passive audiences: people are enabled to speak for themselves.’ (www.indymedia.org.uk)
5. Have such developments made the media more democratic, with more equal participation by more people
6. Although new and digital media may promise audiences more freedom, it does not necessarily give them more power. Discuss.
7. New and digital media is creating one global culture. Do you think that this is true?