Social, cultural, historical and political contexts — AQA GCSE Media Studies 8572
AQA GCSE Media Studies · 8572
Social, cultural, historical and political contexts
Contexts of the media
What you need to know
The four contexts and what each means for a media product: social, cultural, historical and political.
How products reflect the contexts in which they were made and received, from products of the 1950s and 1960s (the OMO advert, Doctor Who and the launch of Radio 1) to contemporary ones.
Writing about context as an influence on the product and its representations, tied to the product itself rather than to general history.
Not every question asks about all four contexts, but any of them can appear.
The Close Study Products for 2027 and 2028 exams are His Dark Materials ('The City of Magpies') and Doctor Who ('An Unearthly Child'); the Daily Mirror and The Times; Marcus Rashford's and Kim Kardashian's online presence; Lara Croft Go, with Blackpink The Game for 2027 exams and Lego Fortnite for 2028 exams; the Galaxy, Represent and OMO adverts; the Tatler and Heat covers; Black Widow and I, Daniel Blake; the Arctic Monkeys and Blackpink videos; and Radio 1's launch and Kiss Breakfast. Kim Kardashian: Hollywood was set only for 2025, so past questions on it are practice only.
