MCH8008 Assessment 2

Individual Essay (60% of total grade)

• An individual essay of 2500 words (+/-5%). Students are asked to produce a critical examination contextualizing and analysing a public relations/promotional culture issue.
• You must assess the strengths and weaknesses of approaches and theories in the study of the media and promotional culture. This assessment will allow you to familiarise yourself with theories, problems and issues raised in the module and to develop a critical understanding of the intersection of media, society and promotional culture.

• Academic Essay: 2,500 words
• Deadline: 4pm on Thursday, 09 January 2025
• Submit anonymously via Canvas i.e. do not put your name on your script

Choose ONE of the following questions:

1. Critically evaluate the roles of agenda-setting and gatekeeping and the media’s influence on public discourse and opinion formation. Discuss how these processes are applied in contemporary media practices, particularly in the context of digital platforms and social media, where traditional gatekeeping roles are disrupted.

Explore ethical considerations and use real-world examples to illustrate your argument.

• Analyse how the role of celebrities and influencers in advertising and promotional culture has evolved and grown in significance with the rise of social and digital media.

Discuss this influencer marketing role using relevant theories and models, UK law and regulatory frameworks, and draw on real-life examples to illustrate your argument.

• Examine how global brands shape and influence local cultures through their promotional activities, while considering how cultural contexts impact the strategies and success of these brands. Consider the ethical dilemmas associated with the cultural transformations brought about by global promotional practices.

Your answer should engage with relevant theories and critically assess their strengths and limitations. Use practical examples to illustrate your arguments.

• Using theories from the module and your own contextual examples, critically evaluate the effectiveness of contemporary advertising promotion strategies (i.e., from the last 1-2 years) that employ one of the following:
• Humour
• Shock
• Branded/native content

You will be assessed against the following criteria:

• Quality of definition of a contemporary media issue, informed by engagement with and understanding of appropriate research;
• A balanced and clear discussion of the weaknesses and strengths of methodological and theoretical approaches pertinent to the issue at hand;
• A critical and analytical discussion of intersections between media and promotional culture and consequences;
• Coherence and written structure of the research essay, including appropriate academic tone at postgraduate level and effective display of media text and analysis.

Assessment Guidance Notes

• You should use recent case studies in support of your arguments. Recent or contemporary is understood to mean from 2022 onwards. You may of course use historical examples as context for comparison, but your essay must include recent examples as the main context.
• You must source and Harvard reference all quotations that you use. Try to include the different theories and definitions that we have discussed in the module that are relevant to your question.
• Remember that the essay questions are designed to check your understanding of the material covered in the MCH8008 module. You may draw upon resources from other modules you are studying, but you are encouraged to independently research materials beyond the module.
• This is a Master’s level essay, so we expect to Analyse, Evaluate and Critically Engage with the different theories and NOT just describe.
• Your work should be in 12-point type on 1.5 or 2.0 line spacing. Please use an English UK spellcheck (e.g. behaviour; programme; specialise etc).
• The word limit for this assessment (excluding the bibliography) is 2500 words. You are allowed to write between 2325 and 2625 words without penalty and your word count MUST be included on the cover page.
• If you go under or over the word count above, you will lose 5 marks.
• Please see the clear guidance within the MCH8008 Module Handbook for information about how to submit your assessment and assessment penalties.
• There is also information about submission procedures on Canvas – see: Style Guide for Academic Writing
• A discussion forum will be set up where you can post queries about the assessment. Please use this forum first before emailing tutors. The discussion forum will open at 9am on Friday, 29 November 2024 and will close at 6pm on Friday, 20 December 2024. Between 23 December 2024 – 6 January 2025 the Discussion Forum will not be monitored.
• The deadline for this essay, which comprises 60% of the total grade for this module, is 4pm on Thursday, January 09, 2025, and you must submit an electronic copy via Canvas.

Deadlines and Return of Marks

Submit your work for all assessment before or on the day of the deadline, before 4pm. Do not aim to submit at 4pm.

Submission Procedure

Assessments must be submitted electronically through Canvas before 4pm on the day of the deadline. As the submission process can take some time, leave plenty of time for this; aim to submit no later than 3.50. Submission works as follows:

• Title your document with the module code and your student number as follows: MCH8008_123456789. If you are writing your work using the Pages software, please save it as a pdf file.
• Go to the module’s Canvas site and find the ‘Assignments’ area.
• Select the appropriate assignment. You will notice that if the deadline has passed, the ‘on-time’ submission point for the assignment has been replaced with a ‘late submissions’ point for the same assignment. Submitting here does not automatically incur a mark penalty – our programme secretaries will take into account whether you have an extension when recording students’ marks.
• Click ‘Start Assignment’.
• In the resulting dialogue box, use the ‘Choose file’ and ‘Add another file’ buttons to select the file/s you wish to submit. Canvas has a 5GB file size limit, so it is unlikely that your file/s will be too big to upload. There will no opportunity to preview your files before submission, so be very careful at this stage that you have selected the right file/s. If you find that you have made a mistake, just use the Cancel button.
• There is usually no need for you to provide use the Comments box. Avoid providing any information in the Comments box that might identify you.
• Click ‘Submit Assignment’. The larger your file, the longer it will take for the submission process to occur.
• If you have successfully submitted your assignment, the submission page will change to display a ‘Submission’ column of text on the right showing the word ‘Submitted!’ and the date and time submitted. If you have successfully submitted, the ‘Submit Assignment’ button will have changed to a ‘New attempt’ button. If this has not happened, you have not submitted your work and should try again. If you need to provide evidence that you have submitted, simply re-visit the relevant submission page and take a screenshot so as to include the ‘Submitted!’ etc. text.

Extensions and Other Adjustments

Students with legitimate reasons for being unable to submit assessed work by the published deadline (e.g. personal illness, serious illness of a close relative or bereavement) should submit a Personal Extenuating Circumstances (PEC) Form, together with supporting evidence, electronically via the Student Self-Service Portal, to request an extension, a deferral to the next normal round of assessment, or one of a range of other adjustments. PEC forms should be submitted in advance of the original deadline if possible, but can be accepted after the deadline if the extenuating circumstances do not permit it to be submitted beforehand. Decisions on extensions and other adjustments are made by Senior Tutor, and cannot be made by module leaders, seminar leaders or personal tutors. Students will usually be notified of the decision (or status of the PEC request) within 5 working days.

Note: The guidance notes under ‘Assessment’ (above) will also be taken into consideration.

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