Case Studies

Learning the theories is of course vitally important to your success in the exam. However, if you haven't got any case studies to explore in relation to these theories you will not achieve a good grade! A key area for debate is whether online has revolutionised the media and the way audiences consumer media. You should have at least two case studies that you can refer to. There are plenty of YouTube video links here to media practitioners such as David Gauntlett so use these as a starting point. Some examples of case studies could be:

• YouTube


• Wikileaks


• Twitter


• China


• Libya


• Haiti


• Iran's Twitter Revolution

Remember, your focus should be on the way news media has changed due to Web 2.0 as well as ways that it hasn't changed! 'Digital Utopians' would argue that web 2.0 has allowed citizens freedoms never experienced before. You should explore this claim but also explore counter arguments.

You may also be asked about the way the internet has impacted traditional media production and distribution so make sure that you know how this has been changing in the last 5 years particularly.