Media Revision Bundle (for A-level Sociology)

A-Level Sociology The Media Revision Bundle

Everything you need to revise the Media for AQA A-level sociology Paper 2 (7192/2), with notes at two depths so you can start early and finish fast.

Two sets of notes

• Mid-depth notes, 50 pages. Every topic on the specification, with the key theories, the studies and the evaluation.
• At a Glance sheets, 15 in colour. One sheet per area. For the final weeks, and for printing and sticking on a wall.

Both are new for 2026.

The 15 topics

1. New media and who uses them
2. Neophiliacs and cultural pessimists
3. Concentration of media ownership
4. The pluralist theory of the media
5. Marxist theories of ownership and control
6. Media, globalisation and popular culture
7. The social construction of the news
8. Marxism, the news and moral panics
9. Representations of social class and age
10. Representations of gender
11. Representations of ethnicity
12. Representations of sexuality and disability
13. Passive audience models
14. Active audience models
15. Reception analysis and the postmodern audience

Also inside

19 mind maps: an overview of the whole module, the neophiliac and cultural pessimist views of new media, the pluralist, instrumentalist Marxist and neo-Marxist theories of ownership and control, the postmodern and cultural imperialist perspectives on globalisation and popular culture, the social construction of the news, organisational routines, the Marxist perspective on the news, moral panics, media representations of social class, and the two-step flow, uses and gratifications, selective filter, reception analysis, cultural effects and postmodernist models of audience effects.

The nine exam questions, with model answers

All are taken from AQA past papers, with the answers derived from the mark schemes. Items are included and used where appropriate.

• Outline and explain two ways in which ownership of the media may affect audiences (10)
• Outline and explain two ways in which the new media may be creating a global popular culture (10)
• Outline and explain two reasons why the news may portray young people negatively (10)
• Applying material from the item, analyse two factors that influence which stories are selected for inclusion in the news (10)
• Applying material from the item, analyse two reasons why the media often portray minority ethnic groups negatively (10)
• Applying material from the item, analyse two ways in which the new media may affect the political process (10)
• Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the media portray women in a stereotypical way (20)
• Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate the pluralist view of the ownership and control of the media (20)
• Applying material from the item and your knowledge, evaluate the view that the media have a direct and immediate effect on their audiences (20)

Written by someone who marked the paper

Karl Thompson taught A-level sociology for eighteen years and spent twelve as an AQA examiner, marking all three papers on the current specification. The notes are written to what the mark schemes actually reward: AO1 for knowledge, AO2 for application and AO3 for evaluation, which is where most marks are lost.

For teachers

The At a Glance sheets work as revision lessons and cover work, and the model answers as marking practice. For class or department use, please get in touch first.

A full rewrite is coming

The notes and sheets above are the current edition. A fully rewritten edition is in progress. Buy before the end of March 2027 and you will get it free when it is released.

PDFs in a single zip file, for your personal study. Pay what you like, from £5.99. Instant download.