GCSE Media Studies, Television News, Guidance Notes

1. GCSE MEDIA
Television News:
Controlled Test - Guidance Tips

2. General Points
•The exam will be 1hour and 30 minutes long
•The exam will be held on Monday, June 15th
•Each question is worth 15 marks and you should
spend approximately 20 minutes on each question.
•You should bring design equipment such as drawing
and colouring pencils, a ruler and an eraser in order
to answer question 4.
NOTE: These notes are not designed to be
comprehensive; they are merely designed to start you
off and provoke some ideas.

3. Audience
Name of
Television News
Channel- consider
the font/logo used
Suggests a Q.
that will ask
you to pitch
your idea
about the
format and
style
Q on knowledge and
understanding of news
values and news
agendas
Respond in
role: Email
Scheduling: Around
6pm-ish
Consider the aesthetic
design (style) and
what will be included
(content). You may
need to explain and
design this!
Name of Show:
News Burst
Imagination:
suggests this
maybe your
practical task

4. The Scenario
The scenario you are provided with gives you a situation that requires your
expertise. In reality, it is a reminder that you are expected to respond to the
questions in role; in other words, you are the young person contributing ideas to
the launch of this new show and should write your answers in an appropriate
style.
The scenario also provides with useful bits of information that will help you, such
as:
• The News Network are excited to announce the launch of an early evening
news programmes targeted at 16-24 year olds.
• News Burst is planned to broadcast in the new year
• suggestions from young people for the format of the news programme, news
agenda and style
• pilot to be used on a focus group
• take advantage of our e-media platform and think more imaginatively

5. Possible Question 1 -
Knowledge and Understanding
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
For your knowledge and understanding
question you will need to remember to use
case studies to support your response.
‘Our research shows that young people are
not watching television news’
It is likely you will need to include:
• Influence of rolling news, e-media;
websites, apps, social media
• Convergence, Synergy
• Different platforms suiting different
audience needs
Q.1 will test your ability of recall,
select and communicate knowledge
and understanding (AO1)
It will test the ability to demonstrate
research, planning and presentation
skills (AO3)

6. Possible Question 2 -
Pitching your idea
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
For your pitch you will need to remember to
remain in role, using persuasive and exciting
language. You need to show the examiner that
YOUR news programme and bulletin is the BEST
THING EVER!
It is likely you will need to include:
• Format (Credit sequence, headlines, hard
news, soft news, back to studio, sports,
weather, sign off, end credits)
• Running Order - Length of Stories
• News Agenda - Order of Importance
• Style (Mise en Scene, Studio Design, Presenters)
Q.2 will test your ability of recall,
select and communicate knowledge
and understanding (AO1)
It will test the ability to demonstrate
research, planning and presentation
skills (AO3)
It will also test the ability to
construct and evaluate your own
products (AO4)

7. Possible Question 2
Pick 1 breaking story and 2 to follow
that’s appropriate for the audience
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
Q.2 will test your ability of recall,
select and communicate knowledge
and understanding (AO1)
It will test the ability to demonstrate
research, planning and presentation
skills (AO3)
It will also test the ability to
construct and evaluate your own
products (AO4)
Consider news agendas and values when choosing
your three stories!
- What is happening in the world/ Most important
event of the day?
- Which stories have good visuals?
- Kind of news the bulletin favours?
- Provide you with a balance of stories
Remember to move from most important to least
important

8. Question 3: Creative Task
(Storyboard)
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
You will be supplied with a 10 frame storyboard sheet to
produce your design.
Your content needs to be appropriate to the brand values.
The ideas you came up with for Question 2 will be a good
starting point... we need news stories they will care about in a
style that will appeal to them. This must be evident
immediately as the opening title sequence rolls.’
Consider how you might include conventional elements such
as the title, presenters, studio design, colour, font, images,
videos to link in with the overall aesthetic appeal to the target
audience 16-24 year olds.
Q.3 will test your ability of
recall, select and
communicate knowledge
and understanding (AO1)
It will also test the ability to
construct and evaluate
your own products (AO4)

9. Question 3: Creative Task
(Website)
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
You will be supplied with an A3 sheet of paper or a storyboard to produce your
design. If it’s would be a good idea to draw your webpage leaving room to
write annotations around the perimeter of your design. These would explain the
decisions that you have made to the examiner.
Your content needs to be appropriate to the brand values. The ideas you came
up with for Question 2 will be a good starting point... we need to take
advantage of our e-media platform and think more imaginatively’
Consider how you might include conventional elements such as the title, colour,
font, images, videos to link in with the overall aesthetic appeal to the target
audience 16-24 year olds.
You must observe the conventions of a webpage - consider how your reader
will navigate the page with hyperlinks and where these hyperlinks should be
placed. How should your content be arranged on the website? Research
existing sites for ideas and good practice.
Consider the advantages of the webpage format - interactive elements like
moving image footage, animations, sound, music, links to other sites - and how
these could be used to attract your target audience. You should also explain
how these techniques could be used to present information effectively
Link to social networking sites - how could these be used? You might also
consider how to use forums or microsites (blogs) to develop relationship
between the text and audience
Q.3 will test your ability of
recall, select and
communicate knowledge
and understanding (AO1)
It will also test the ability to
construct and evaluate
your own products (AO4)

10. Search engine
Similar layout/
typography/
colour schemes to the
show. Why?
Hyperlinks easy
navigation
Embedde
d video
clips/Strea
ms/Podca
sts
Sign in/ Register
links/Subscriptions
Synergy,
social
media,
cross
media
Appropriate
style of writing
Graphics
/Logo
design
in
header
oting Polls -
Audience
nteractivity

11. Question 4
PLEASE REMEMBER THE ORDER CAN CHANGE
It is likely you will need to explain
your e-media or opening
sequence ideas and how you
plan to use it to target the 16-24
year old demographic
• Cross Promotion
• Convergence
• Interactivity
Q.4 will test your ability of
recall, select and
communicate knowledge
and understanding (AO1)
It will test the ability to
demonstrate research,
planning and presentation
skills (AO3)

12. Remember...
NOTE: These notes are not designed to
be comprehensive; they are merely
designed to start you off and provoke
some ideas.