Media Diaries

As outlined in the course handbook, you are expected to keep a Media Diary which records your use of the media outside of college work.

You must spend one hour a week compiling this - you will post your entries here on the Blog.

There are lots of reasons why you should keep a media diary - here are just some of the key ones...

• Practice your analysis skills
• Use your experience of the media to understand new theories and concepts
• Raise your own awareness of the different types of media you consume (and that you don't!)
• Gives you a 'bank' of examples you may end up using in the exam
• Shows me and others what you are interested in and may spark conversation/debate

Until we have started getting into some serious textual analysis and before we begin learning any key terms or concepts your Media Diary entries will be more similar to reviews.

This is fine - the main thing is that we get away from some old cliches and describing media texts as simply:

• Good
• Funny
• Crap
• Boring
• Boss

Here is a simple guide to what needs to be in a review...

Review toolkit pdf from sssfcmedia

Reviews can be involved and engaging - here's one of my favourite film critics discussing the summer blockbuster The Dark Knight Rises...

What elements from the 'toolkit' are in the review?


Before you write your own review of a media text read some others...

• Vaccines album review from NME magazine
• Mutant Mudds game review from Guardian technology website
• Accused TV review from Telegraph website
• Choose any film you like from notorious film reviewing website Rotten Tomatoes

Once you have got a good feel for reviews then you should be able to write your own.

You can choose any kind of media, you can choose any text, it can be something you like or something you hate, the choice is yours...