OCR A Level Newspapers Intro
A complete OCR A-Level Media Studies newspaper lesson introducing News & Online, tabloid/broadsheet conventions and political bias.
This fully editable PowerPoint (.pptx) lesson introduces students to the OCR A-Level Media Studies Newspapers / News & Online topic for Paper 1 Section A.
The lesson is designed as an introductory A-Level lesson for students beginning the newspaper unit, but it could also be used as a revision or recap lesson before applying knowledge to set newspaper texts such as The Guardian, The Daily Mail and The Observer.
Students are introduced to key newspaper forms, including red-top tabloids, mid-market tabloids, quality tabloids and quality broadsheets, before developing their understanding of political bias, newspaper regulation, the decline of print circulation and the shift towards online news.
The resource includes a clear sequence of timed classroom tasks, teacher feedback slides and model answers to support discussion, questioning and student understanding. Students are encouraged to analyse how the form and political stance of a newspaper can influence the selection, construction and representation of news stories.
This lesson covers:
OCR A-Level Media Studies
Paper 1 Section A: News & Online
Newspaper types
Tabloid and broadsheet conventions
Red-top tabloids
Mid-market tabloids
Quality newspapers
Political bias and ideology
Left-leaning, centre/neutral and right-leaning newspapers
Newspaper regulation
IPSO
Leveson Inquiry
Decline of print newspapers
Online news
Media language
Representation
Audience
Industry contexts
Political contexts
What is included:
Fully editable PowerPoint (.pptx) lesson
Do Now starter on newspaper types
Teacher feedback/model answer slides
Lesson objectives
OCR Paper 1 Section A: News & Online introduction
Key terminology task
Definitions of red-top tabloids, mid-market tabloids, quality tabloids and quality broadsheets
Tabloid vs broadsheet classification activity
Model answers on tabloid and broadsheet conventions
Discussion task on the historical role and influence of newspapers
Context task on regulation, IPSO, the Leveson Inquiry and online news
Political affiliation definitions
Newspaper political stance research task
Main newspaper front cover analysis activity
Analytical prompts linked to media language, representation, audience, ideology and industry
Mini plenary on political positioning
This resource can be used as:
An introductory A-Level lesson on Newspapers / News & Online
A revision lesson before analysing OCR set newspaper texts
A bridge into The Guardian, The Daily Mail or The Observer
A lesson preparing students for ideological and political analysis
A cover lesson for Year 12 or Year 13 Media Studies
A discussion-based lesson on news values, political stance and representation
This resource is provided as a fully editable PowerPoint (.pptx) file.
*This resource is independently created and is not endorsed by OCR.



