Welcome to Close Study Products (CSPs) and Media Contexts
Welcome to your study notes for Close Study Products (CSPs) in AQA A-Level Media Studies (7572). If you have ever wondered why exam boards assign specific TV shows, magazines, or advertisements rather than letting you write about your personal favourites, this chapter has the answer.
Think of CSPs not as a list of trivia facts to memorise, but as test vehicles or scientific lab samples. You will use these specific products to demonstrate your mastery of the four core pillars of media: Media Language, Media Representation, Media Industries, and Media Audiences.
Don't worry if this seems like a lot to juggle at first! Once you understand the selection rules and how the five media contexts work, you will be able to tackle any CSP exam question with confidence.
1. What Exactly is a Close Study Product (CSP)?
A Close Study Product (CSP) is a set media text chosen and published by AQA in the official CSP Booklet (released via Centre Services on 1 June preceding the academic cycle). These products are reviewed annually by the exam board to keep the specification fresh and relevant.
The Golden Rule of CSPs: AQA explicitly states that CSPs are "a vehicle for the delivery of the specification, rather than products to be 'learned' in detail." In an exam, you will never get marks just for retelling the plot or listing the names of actors. You get marks for using the CSP to analyse media language, representations, industry patterns, and audience responses.
The 9 Media Forms Studied
Your CSPs cover a wide range of nine distinct media forms across your A-Level course:
• 1. Television: In-depth study of high-end, long-form broadcast and streaming narratives.
• 2. Film: Studied exclusively from the perspective of film industries and cross-media convergence (film is not studied as a textual media language form here to avoid overlap with Film Studies).
• 3. Radio: Audio broadcasting, public service remits, commercial stations, and digital podcasts.
• 4. Newspapers: Print and online editions, exploring political allegiance and changing readership.
• 5. Magazines: In-depth study of niche and mainstream publications, print conventions, and representations.
• 6. Advertising and Marketing: Print adverts, charity campaigns, and cross-platform marketing.
• 7. Online, Social and Participatory Media: Content creators, interactive websites, and digital communities.
• 8. Video Games: Interactive media, production values, regulation, and player demographics.
• 9. Music Video: Visual storytelling, star image branding, and artistic media language.
AQA's Criteria for Choosing CSPs
AQA does not pick media products at random. Every CSP must meet strict criteria:
• Cultural, Social, and Historical Significance: Products that reflect major moments, artistic breakthroughs, or shifts in society.
• Theoretical Alignment: Products that clearly illustrate core media theories and academic perspectives.
• Historical Breadth: The selection must include at least one product produced before 1970.
• Global Perspective: The selection must include at least one product produced for a non-English speaking audience.
• Future & Emerging Platforms: Products that show cutting-edge technological shifts that students might not normally encounter in daily life.
• In-Depth Study Balance: Requires detailed study across at least one audio-visual form, one print form, and one online/social/participatory form.
Quick Review: CSPs are case studies that allow you to apply theories across 9 media forms. AQA requires historical variety (pre-1970) and global variety (non-English speaking).
2. The Five Media Contexts (Specification 3.2)
Media texts do not exist in a vacuum. Every TV show, magazine cover, or advert is shaped by the world around it when it was made, and reshaped by the world that views it today. AQA classifies these influences into Five Media Contexts.
Memory Trick: Remember the acronym S.C.H.E.P. (Social, Cultural, Historical, Economic, Political).
1. Social Context
• What it means: How a media product reflects, reinforces, or challenges societal values, family structures, gender roles, demographic shifts, and community standards.
• Guiding Question: What was happening in society when this was made, and how are social groups (like women, working-class people, or minority communities) represented?
2. Cultural Context
• What it means: How a product engages with popular culture, art movements, national identity, subcultures, philosophies, and shared traditions.
• Guiding Question: What cultural trends, artistic styles, or national values are embedded in this product?
3. Historical Context
• What it means: The specific historical era in which the product was created, including historical events (e.g. post-war reconstruction, the Cold War) and technological capabilities of the time.
• Guiding Question: How do the historical events and available technology of that specific decade shape how the text looks and behaves?
4. Economic Context
• What it means: The financial engine behind the product: production budgets, commercial sponsorship, advertising revenue, subscription models, or public funding (like the BBC Licence Fee).
• Guiding Question: Who paid for this to be made, how does it generate profit or fulfil a public remit, and how did budget constraints affect the final product?
5. Political Context
• What it means: How government policies, political ideologies (left-wing vs right-wing), regulatory bodies (such as Ofcom, BBFC, IPSO/IMPRESS), and international political events shape media output.
• Guiding Question: Does this product carry an ideological or political viewpoint, and what legal/regulatory rules governed its release?
Production vs Reception: The Two Sides of Context
Context works in two directions:
• Context of Production (Encoding): The social, historical, and economic climate when the creators made the text.
• Context of Reception (Decoding): How audiences read the text today. An advert from the 1950s that was accepted as normal when produced might be viewed critically or with an oppositional reading by a contemporary audience in the 2020s.
Key Takeaway: Always consider both when a product was made and when/how it is consumed.
3. The Context Matrix & Exam Structure
How Contexts are Examined (The Context Matrix)
In the official AQA CSP Booklet, you will find a Context Matrix (a grid). This grid specifies exact contexts that are examinable for each CSP. You do not need to invent an economic argument for a product if AQA has only flagged it for social and historical analysis. Stick strictly to the matrix provided in your course materials.
How CSPs and Contexts are Assessed across Papers
Your knowledge is assessed across two written examination papers, testing two Assessment Objectives (AO1: Knowledge and understanding of the theoretical framework and contexts; AO2: Application of knowledge to analyse, evaluate, and reach conclusions):
Media One (Paper 1 – 7572/1)
• Length & Weighting: 2 hours, 84 marks (35% of A-level).
• Section A: Focuses on Media Language and Media Representation in Advertising/Marketing and Music Video.
• Section B: Focuses on Media Industries and Media Audiences in Radio, Newspapers, and Film (industries).
• Question Types: Mix of short, medium, and 20-mark extended-response questions using CSPs and unseen sources.
Media Two (Paper 2 – 7572/2)
• Length & Weighting: 2 hours, 84 marks (35% of A-level).
• Focus Areas: In-depth study forms: Television, Magazines, and Online, Social and Participatory Media and Video Games.
• Question Types: In-depth unseen analysis and 25-mark synoptic essay questions that require you to link CSPs directly to contexts and theoretical frameworks.
4. Pitfalls and Examiner Warnings
Examiner reports consistently highlight several common mistakes made by students studying CSPs. Being aware of these will instantly put your answers into higher mark bands:
• Trap 1: "Context Dumping":
What it is: Writing two paragraphs explaining everything you know about 1960s history or post-war Britain without connecting it to the text.
How to fix it: Never state a historical or political fact without immediately explaining how it influenced the media language or representation on the page/screen.
• Trap 2: Treating CSPs like Trivia:
What it is: Memorising obscure behind-the-scenes facts about directors, actors, or release dates.
How to fix it: Focus on how and why the product communicates meaning using the theoretical framework.
• Trap 3: Forcing All Five Contexts:
What it is: Trying to write about political regulation when the question only asks about cultural representation.
How to fix it: Follow the Context Matrix and answer the exact prompt in the question.
• Trap 4: Forgetting Modern Audience Readings:
What it is: Assuming historical products are only judged by past standards.
How to fix it: Demonstrate sophisticated thinking by comparing how an audience in the 1960s decoded the message versus how modern 21st-century audiences view it today.
5. Quick Chapter Summary Checklist
Use this checklist to confirm you understand the foundations of CSPs and Contexts:
• Definition: I know that CSPs are exam-board set case studies across 9 media forms used to test the theoretical framework.
• Selection Criteria: I remember that CSPs must include at least one pre-1970 product, at least one non-English speaking product, and balance print, audio-visual, and online forms.
• The 5 Contexts: I can define Social, Cultural, Historical, Economic, and Political contexts (S.C.H.E.P.).
• Production vs Reception: I can explain how context affects both how a text was made (encoded) and how modern audiences view it (decoded).
• Assessment Structure: I know that Media One covers Advertising, Music Video, Radio, Newspapers, and Film, while Media Two covers in-depth studies of Television, Magazines, Video Games, and Online Media.