Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882-2004 | Edexcel A-Level History (9HI0)

Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882-2004

180 questions
19 subtopics
Paper 3: themes in breadth with aspects in depth, one option of sixteen
Paper 3

A Paper 3 option combining aspects in breadth on the changing lives of women and on leisure with aspects in depth on the press barons, wartime broadcasting, the satire boom and permissive society, and the confrontations between government and media from the Falklands to the Hutton Inquiry..

It covers changes to women’s personal lives, 1882–2004, reasons for changes in women's working lives, change and continuity in leisure, 1882–2004, reasons for change in leisure patterns, beaverbrook and Northcliffe, rothermere, the Daily Herald and George Lansbury, reporting the war, broadcasting to the home front, propaganda broadcasts and Lord Haw Haw, satire and attitudes to authority, film, television and social issues, the ‘Swinging Sixties’ media image, thatcher government policies and the media, the promotion of competition in broadcasting, control and compliance, the dossier claims and the February 2003 briefing, the government, the BBC and the death of Dr Kelly and the Hutton Enquiry and its implications.

Sample questions from Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882-2004

Answer each one closed book first, then open the answer.

Changes to women’s personal lives, 1882–2004

What became available from 1961 that gave women more control over fertility?

Show the answer
The contraceptive pill.
Change and continuity in leisure, 1882–2004

What was home entertainment like in 1882?

Show the answer
The piano, parlour games, reading aloud and music hall outings; commercial mass entertainment in the home did not yet exist.
Beaverbrook and Northcliffe

What was Northcliffe's stance during the First World War?

Show the answer
He pressed for compulsory service and attacked the running of the war, notably over the shortage of shells.
The Daily Herald and George Lansbury

Where did the paper stand on the war?

Show the answer
It opposed the war and conscription and defended conscientious objectors, which cost it circulation and brought it into conflict with the censor.
Broadcasting to the home front

What was the BBC's remit under Reith?

Show the answer
To inform, educate and entertain, with a public service monopoly funded by licence fee and insulated from advertising and from direct government control.
Satire and attitudes to authority

What was Beyond the Fringe?

Show the answer
The 1960 revue by Peter Cook, Dudley Moore, Jonathan Miller and Alan Bennett, first staged at the Edinburgh Festival, which mocked Macmillan and the establishment.
The ‘Swinging Sixties’ media image

Who were the icons of the period?

Show the answer
The Beatles and Rolling Stones, Twiggy, Mary Quant, David Bailey, Michael Caine and Vidal Sassoon, most from outside the traditional elite.
The promotion of competition in broadcasting

Why was the publisher-broadcaster model significant?

Show the answer
It created the independent production sector, which grew into a major industry and was later extended to the BBC and ITV by quota.

The 19 subtopics

One subtopic is one session. Work down the list.

Subtopic	What it covers	Questions
Changes to women’s personal lives, 1882–2004	Recall questions on coverture and the 1882 Act, changing divorce law, Marie Stopes, the NHS, the contraceptive pill, the Abortion Act, and falling family size.	10
Reasons for changes in women's working lives	Recall questions on the matchgirls' strike, the effect of the two wars, the marriage bar, the Dagenham strike and the Equal Pay Act, and the persistence of the pay gap.	10
Change and continuity in leisure, 1882–2004	Recall questions on home entertainment before broadcasting, radio and then television, the seaside resorts, holiday camps, package holidays, and what stayed the same.	10
Reasons for change in leisure patterns	Recall questions on the safety bicycle and the railway, rising car ownership, paid holidays and shorter hours, rising incomes, and the early effect of the internet.	10
Beaverbrook and Northcliffe	Recall questions on Northcliffe and the Daily Mail, what made it different, his wartime influence and the shell scandal, Beaverbrook and the Express, and the limits of press power.	10
Rothermere	Recall questions on his newspaper empire, the circulation war of 1928 to 1929 and its methods, his support for Mussolini and the Blackshirts, and Baldwin's attack of 1931.	9
The Daily Herald and George Lansbury	Recall questions on the paper's origins, Lansbury's editorship and its pacifist line, the Zinoviev letter, Kamenev's telegram, and what became of the Herald.	8
Reporting the war	Recall questions on broadcasts from the front, Richard Dimbleby and the Belsen despatch, Churchill's relationship with the BBC, and why the corporation was trusted abroad.	10
Broadcasting to the home front	Recall questions on Reith's remit, the Forces Programme, the advice programmes, the Ministry of Information, and how news was controlled.	9
Propaganda broadcasts and Lord Haw Haw	Recall questions on William Joyce and how effective he was, his trial and execution, Sefton Delmer's black propaganda, and the ethical debate about it.	8
Satire and attitudes to authority	Recall questions on Beyond the Fringe and Private Eye, That Was The Week That Was, why the boom happened when it did, the Profumo affair, and the effect on monarchy and church.	10
Film, television and social issues	Recall questions on Cathy Come Home, television's treatment of race and sexuality, Mary Whitehouse and the NVALA, and how the BBC responded to her.	9
The ‘Swinging Sixties’ media image	Recall questions on what created the image, its icons, the economic and social reality behind it, and why the media constructed it.	10
Thatcher government policies and the media	Recall questions on her view of the BBC, the Peacock Committee, the Wapping dispute, the Broadcasting Act 1990, satellite television, and media concentration.	10
The promotion of competition in broadcasting	Recall questions on Channel 4's remit and funding, the publisher-broadcaster model, the growth of commercial radio, cable and satellite, and the landscape by 2004.	10
Control and compliance	Recall questions on Bernard Ingham and the lobby, Falklands reporting, the Zircon affair, the broadcasting ban of 1988, Spycatcher, and coverage of the miners' strike.	9
The dossier claims and the February 2003 briefing	Recall questions on the September dossier and the 45-minute claim, the plagiarised February dossier, the Channel 4 investigation, and how the press reported the case for war.	10
The government, the BBC and the death of Dr Kelly	Recall questions on what Gilligan alleged, Campbell's complaint, the BBC governors' refusal to apologise, how Kelly was named, and his death.	9
The Hutton Enquiry and its implications	Recall questions on what Hutton concluded, the resignations that followed, how the report was received, the Butler Review, and the changes the BBC then made.	9

Mass Media and Social Change in Britain, 1882-2004 is 180 of the 6,832 questions in the guide.Get the guide, £9

How the guide is worked

Answering a question from memory stores it far better than reading the answer again. The guide runs that as a fixed procedure on one subtopic at a time, about twenty minutes a session.

Step 1 · Closed book
Cover the answers. Work through one subtopic and write down what you can. Leave blanks where you have nothing.
Step 2 · Open book
Go back to the top. Read each printed answer and write it out in full, including the ones you had right.
Step 3 · Closed book again
Same questions, same order, from memory. The gap between pass one and pass three is the session result.

Read the full method, the return schedule and the research behind it.