Media — AS & A Level Sociology (9699) questions by topic
Ownership, agenda setting, gatekeeping and audience power over new and traditional media anchor this topic, drawn from 32 real questions across four 35-mark evaluate essays set in 2023 to 2025 papers.
Because evaluate is the only command word tested, high marks come from directly contrasting Marxist or feminist theory with pluralist theory rather than describing media influence in isolation. This page benefits from drafting full essays and getting them marked immediately, since the reports repeatedly reward a helpful distinction between traditional and new media that many answers omit.
What examiners look for
- Strong answers demonstrate how the media may act as an agent of ideological control, using Marxist theory and feminist ideas about patriarchy, and evaluate by questioning the extent of control through pluralist theory and new-media counter-arguments.
- Reports praise responses that make a helpful distinction between traditional and new media before considering government control and citing reasons audiences may have more power than often assumed.
- Strong responses reference the mechanisms through which media owners control content, including power to hire and fire, agenda setting, gatekeeping and the global scale of media assets.
- Strong essays distinguish between types of media where ruling-class interests are more or less powerful, then evaluate through contrasting theories with pluralist theory frequently cited as the alternative to Marxism.
May–June 2025, Paper 41
'Owners of the media have little control over media content.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'Media representations of women no longer reflect gender stereotypes.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 42
'There is little evidence that the media influences the way people think and behave.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media is controlled by large media corporations.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2025, Paper 43
'The media is an instrument of ideological control.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media has given citizens more power to influence politics.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 41
'The media does not have a direct impact on human behaviour.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'Media content reflects the interests of the rich and powerful.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 42
'Postmodernists have exaggerated the influence of the media in people's lives today.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'Governments have no control over media content.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2024, Paper 43
'Media content is controlled by editors and journalists.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'Evidence clearly shows that media content has a direct impact on human behaviour.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 41
'The hypodermic syringe model provides the best explanation of how the media influences behaviour.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media has created more opportunities for individuals to challenge existing power structures.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 42
'Governments have no control over the new media.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The uses and gratifications model accurately describes how people are influenced by the media.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2024, Paper 43
'The hypodermic syringe model provides the best explanation of how the media influences behaviour.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media has created more opportunities for individuals to challenge existing power structures.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →February–March 2023, Paper 42
'There is no clear evidence that the media influences social behaviour.' Evaluate this view. [35] (Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. Section B: answer…
Answer this question and get it marked →'Media representations of women reflect gender stereotypes.' Evaluate this view. [35] (Answer two questions in total, each from a different section. Section B: answer either…
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 41
'The cultural effects model provides the best explanation of how the media influences behaviour.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The media is an agent of ideological control.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 42
'Media content is shaped by the interests of the ruling class.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The two-step flow model provides the best explanation of media influence.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →May–June 2023, Paper 43
'Audiences have no influence on the content of the media.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'Representations of women in the media reflect patriarchal values.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 41
'The media is able to shape the way people think and behave.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media is controlled by the rich and powerful.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 42
'Media content is controlled by the owners of the media.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media is a powerful tool through which people are able to challenge government authority.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →October–November 2023, Paper 43
'The media is able to shape the way people think and behave.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →'The new media is controlled by the rich and powerful.' Evaluate this view. [35]
Answer this question and get it marked →Other AS & A Level Sociology topics
- The family (80)
- Socialisation, identity and methods of research (78)
- Education (64)
- Religion (32)
- Globalisation (32)