Eduqas GCSE Media Studies key terms

The way genres change and develop over time rather than remaining fixed.

A hidden reference or clue in a media product that rewards audiences who recognise or decode it.

Freedom to make journalistic decisions without interference from owners, commercial interests or political authorities.

Professional rules enforced by IPSO for subscribing publishers’ printed and online editorial material, covering matters including accuracy, privacy and harassment.

Gaining confidence, agency or the ability to influence one’s own life and wider society.

An unanswered question within a narrative that encourages the audience to seek an explanation.

A detail that creates a question or mystery and encourages an audience to seek an answer.

A group of central performers whose characters share the narrative focus, rather than one star dominating the programme.

Using media for enjoyment, relaxation or diversion from everyday life.

A state of balance or stability within a narrative.

Using media to divert attention temporarily from everyday routines or worries.

A shared cultural identity associated with factors such as heritage, traditions, language and history. White British is an ethnic identity; ethnicity is not the same as religion or nationality.

The screening or showing of a film to audiences, for example in cinemas.

An artistic approach that uses stylised or abstract imagery to convey inner emotions rather than simply reproduce external reality.

In Propp’s narrative theory, a character who appears to occupy the hero’s position but is exposed as undeserving of it.

A community and its activities centred on shared enthusiasm for an artist or media product.

Qualities and behaviours that a society associates with being feminine; these associations can change across cultures and over time.

An approach which examines gender inequalities and supports equal rights, opportunities and power for women.

A feminist way of analysing unequal power between genders and how media representations may reinforce or challenge it.

An approach which examines how representations construct gender and power, including whether women are empowered, subordinated or objectified.

Information an organisation collects directly through its relationship with users, which can help it understand and categorise its audience.

A prominent programme that helps represent an organisation’s identity, reputation and quality.

A series of related media products sharing an established identity, characters or fictional world, such as the James Bond films.

A model in which players can access a game without an initial purchase, while optional purchases or other income sources fund it.

A way of financing media production and distribution, such as commercial income, government funding or a not-for-profit model.

A person, such as an editor, owner or senior journalist, who influences which stories are selected for publication.

Socially constructed expectations about people's roles, behaviour and identities in relation to gender.