A Level Media Studies Fact Sheet

Have You Heard

George’s Podcast?
– BBC Radio 5 Live podcast

Image from https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p09w1xd4

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 A Level Media Studies Fact Sheet

AS Component 1: commissioning content that “authentically and

Investigating the Media accurately represents diversity in the UK”.

• Part of this strategy is to have a 50:20:12 target,

A level Component 1:
i.e. 50% of the workforce to be women, 20%
Media Products, Industries and people of colour and 12% disabled.
Audiences
Consider the specialised and
Core study areas: institutionalised nature of media production
and the significance of economic factors to
• Media Industries media industries and their products:
• Audiences
• Explore issues relating to Public Service
• Media Contexts Broadcasting (PSB) and consider the extent
to which Have You Heard George’s Podcast?
PRODUCT CONTEXT
meets the BBC remit to inform, educate and
• Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is a podcast entertain. Consider whether the podcast is
recorded by award-winning rapper and spoken typical of products created for the BBC and
word artist, George the Poet, for BBC Radio 5 explore the hallmarks of productions made for
Live. this institution.

• Have You Heard George’s Podcast? is not a • Consider the significance of licence fee funding
conventionally scheduled radio show. It is and compare this to the financial considerations
recorded in ‘chapters’ (like seasons) and released of commercial radio, e.g. would this podcast
on BBC Sounds. The show is hosted by George be too “niche” for commercial radio? The
the Poet and produced by Benbrick, with show has an unconventional structure, often
guest contributions. Each episode focuses on a jumping from topic to topic and genre to genre
particular theme relevant to its young, diverse, (e.g. in ‘Flying the Flag’ George moves from a
educated audience, e.g. ‘Flying the Flag’ (about discussion of celebrity and audience performed
celebrity, and US history) and ‘Sabrina’s Boy’ as a couples’ argument, to a potted history of
(about exploring trauma through Black art). the American economy). He also often uses
specialised vocabulary that mixes ‘highbrow’
• The podcast is acclaimed for its engaging mix of terms with the street dialect of London.
drama, music, poetry and intelligent discussion Learners might discuss why purely commercial
of social issues. After winning numerous UK institutions would be less likely to produce
podcast awards, in 2019 it won the prestigious similar products.
Peabody Award, the first podcast outside the
USA to win the award. • How significant is the difference between radio
broadcast and podcast? How does the podcast
PART 1: STARTING POINTS – Media format enable George to experiment with the
Industries conventions of radio? What could this tell us
about the changes in the media forms the BBC is
Historical contexts: producing and the way they distribute them?
• The BBC is often accused by its critics of being • Think about the backgrounds and voices
too white and middle-class. In 2017, an Ofcom of the people featured on Have You Heard
report stated that there was too little diversity at George’s Podcast? Now consider the themes,
the corporation, both on and off-screen. It also content and style. In what ways could this be
reported that young people and ethnic minorities seen as the BBC trying to meet their diversity
felt particularly alienated from BBC content. targets? In what ways do the stories George
tells “accurately and authentically represent
• In 2021, the BBC launched a Diversity and
diversity in the UK”?
Inclusion Plan, overhauling recruitment and

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 A Level Media Studies Fact Sheet

Consider recent technological change to analyse the community George is creating,

and media production, distribution and and in his portrayal of fandom itself within
circulation and the impact of digitally the podcast especially the episode about Jay-Z
convergent media platforms: (Episode 20 ‘Young’).
• The podcast format offers several ways to Consider how media producers maintain
explore recent changes to the radio industry varieties of audiences:
in relation to digital technology such as the
profound changes that have been brought about • The BBC’s Charter requires that content reflect
by on-demand downloading and streaming. the diverse nature of British culture, including
minority groups and niche audiences. Before
• A brief history of radio before the mid- on-demand services via iPlayer or Sounds, this
1990s should allow learners to appreciate the content was usually scheduled late at night and
significance of podcasting and listening to on a less mainstream channel such as BBC Two
episodes on digitally convergent platforms such or Radio 1Xtra. The on-demand nature of the
as computers and smartphones. podcast means it can reach a wider audience.

• In November 2018, the BBC launched its • George is given complete creative control of
BBC Sounds streaming service, featuring live the podcast’s content. This means he can mix
broadcasting, audio on-demand and podcasts. styles (storytelling, poetry, full radio drama,
This a good example of technological music, etc.) and discuss serious social issues,
convergence as Sounds is available on PCs, particularly offering space for marginalised
laptops, tablets and phones. voices. Chapter 1 Episode 3, ‘A Grenfell Story’,
offers a narrative about a teacher and her role in
• Podcasts have soared in popularity in the past the local community who dies in the disaster.
decade, with many, like This American Life,
becoming cultural events. Minority groups • Students should consider how the podcast
who have traditionally been excluded from presents unusual perspectives on modern, urban
mainstream radio have used podcasts to find UK life especially for younger people. How does
a voice. George’s unique and experimental this attract a diverse audience?
approach and his evocation of young Black Consider theoretical approaches:
British life might never have found a slot in a
conventional radio schedule. Power and media industries – Curran and
Seaton:
• One element missing from podcasts compared
• It could be argued that Have You Heard George’s
to live radio is the interactive audience element
Podcast? challenges the idea that media is
in the shape of call-ins, song requests, emails,
controlled by a small number of companies
etc. To add this dimension of interactivity and
driven by the logic of profit and power.
audience engagement, George has launched a
social media/forum called Common Ground • Whilst the BBC is inarguably a large, significant
(https://gtpcg.com/). After signing up, the user company, the nature of PSB (discussed above)
can listen to episodes then answer discussion and the content of the broadcast is at odds
questions after. They can also enter the with the “logic of profit and power”. Consider
‘Commons’ area to read others’ responses the funding of the BBC in comparison with
and share audio, video, art and music that the commercial organisations. Candidates might
episode has inspired. explore the extent to which the licence fee frees
BBC producers from the pressure to generate
• Students may wish to consider how this
profit and the way in which this impacts content.
interactive community element links with Clay
Shirky’s ideas about active, creative audiences. • The unique and fluid format of Have You Heard
In addition, they could look at how Henry George’s Podcast? might also be used to support
Jenkins’ ideas about fandom could be used Curran and Seaton’s idea that socially diverse

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 A Level Media Studies Fact Sheet

patterns of ownership help create conditions 2005 New Orleans disaster that exposed class
for varied and adventurous productions. division and economic disparity in the USA.

• Candidates might consider the proliferation • Have You Heard George’s Podcast? dedicated
of podcasts across a wide range of topics and two episodes in the first chapter to exploring
genres in recent years. How does the relative the lives of people in the community and how
low production costs of this medium and the disaster affected them. Other episodes have
the inexpensive hosting/digital distribution looked at economic disparity, lack of opportunity
costs, offer producers (and often prosumers) and the impact of drug crime on Black, Asian
opportunities to take risks and develop and other minority communities.
adventurous content? In what ways do they still
Consider how audiences are grouped and
manage to reach diverse, often international
categorised by media industries, including
audiences? by age, gender, and social class, as well as by
Regulation – Livingston and Lunt: lifestyle and taste:

• As a PSB, the BBC has quite strict guidelines • Have You Heard George’s Podcast? offers clear
about what content can be broadcast or examples of audience grouping and content
published. BBC One, for instance, rarely being developed for specific (possibly niche)
features sex, nudity or swearing and all the audiences.
broadcast channels (TV and radio) follow the
• Radio 5 Live’s target audience are middle-aged
‘watershed’.
ABC1/C2DE. The majority are male, over 40
• As an unscheduled podcast, Have You and affluent. What in the content/style of Have
Heard George’s Podcast? does not follow You Heard George’s Podcast? might appeal to
the watershed. It also has written and verbal this audience?
warnings that there may be adult language and
• Consider how the podcast might be an attempt
other mature content.
to diversify Radio 5 Live’s audience and attract
• This challenges Livingston and Lunt’s younger listeners.
assumption that ‘new media’ is harder to
• Students should also consider the similarities
regulate. The BBC has considered the access
and differences of Have You Heard George’s
of potential audiences and regulated within the
Podcast? and other Radio 5 Live content,
institution.
especially the ‘talk radio’ elements.
PART 2: STARTING POINTS – Consider how audiences interpret the
Audiences media, including how and why audiences
may interpret the same media in different
Social and cultural contexts: ways:
• Issues of diversity and inclusion have become • Have You Heard George’s Podcast?
significant in recent years, especially after the offers several ways to explore audience
Black Lives Matter protests of 2020. interpretation. What do you think might
be the response of the typical Radio 5 Live
• There have been numerous investigations into demographic: white, male, mid-40s and affluent?
racial discrimination in a range of institutions
from the Metropolitan Police to UK schools. • Candidates could use Stuart Hall’s reception
theory (see below) to analyse interpretations.
• The Grenfell Tower disaster of 2017 became a
focal point for debates about how society treats • Consider the Common Ground website and the
vulnerable and under-privileged social groups. way it invites audiences to record and share
Some referred to the disaster as a “Hurricane their personal responses to each episode. How
Katrina moment”, comparing Grenfell to the does it encourage audiences to form their own

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 A Level Media Studies Fact Sheet

interpretation? How does it attempt to inspire • How does the Common Ground website
further creativity from the audience, e.g. encourage audiences to express themselves
producing and sharing music, video and art? creatively?
Consider how media organisations reflect
the diverse needs of mass and specialised
audiences, including through targeting:

• A return to the remit of PSB here could invite

discussion about the BBC and attempts to
produce content for all audience demographics.
Candidates might ask whether the broadcast
has been designed to explicitly appeal to a
specialised (under-30, urban, minority groups)
audience as part of the remit of the organisation
itself.

• An extension of this discussion might explore

whether there are any other media products that
appeal to this specific target audience on the
radio (BBC or otherwise).

• To what extent do you feel the BBC is meeting

its targets as set out in their 2021 Diversity and
Inclusion Plan?
Consider theoretical approaches:
Reception theory – Stuart Hall:

• Discuss possible different readings of the

podcast. What is the intended meaning? What
might be a negotiated meaning (e.g. from a
white, middle-class audience member)? What
might be an oppositional response (e.g. from a
conservative, right-wing or even racist listener)?
Feminist theory – Van Zoonen:

• To what extent does Have You Heard George’s

Podcast? achieve Van Zoonen’s suggestion that
gender and racial stereotypes in the media can
only change if there is more diversity in media
institutions and their products. How does the
podcast challenge stereotype? What alternative
voices does it offer?
Fandom – Henry Jenkins:

• Consider how Have You Heard George’s

Podcast? encourages audiences to creatively
engage with the content. How does some
of the content reflect on the importance of
entertainment stars and the way they inspire
under-privileged communities?