COM3702
ASSIGNMENT 3 SEMESTER 2 2025
UNIQUE NO. 199498
DUE DATE: 27 OCTOBER 2025
, Media Studies: Institutions, Theories and Issues
1. INTRODUCTION
This portfolio explores key themes in media studies, focusing on how media
organisations, messages, and audiences interact within social, political, and cultural
contexts. The assignment begins by examining strategic media management in a
corporate communication setting, analysing EcoTrend’s use of SWOT analysis to
improve its media strategy. It then discusses representation and identity, exploring
how race and culture are portrayed in a controversial South African advertisement.
Next, it analyses media, violence and society, considering how viral videos of school
bullying shape public discourse and influence social attitudes. The following section
focuses on media and the environment, evaluating how news coverage of the
KwaZulu-Natal floods used news values to raise awareness about climate change.
Finally, a critical essay on violence in South African media analyses how gender-
based violence (GBV) is represented in news coverage.
The portfolio concludes with reflections on what has been learned through
completing this assignment, including key insights about media power, ethics, and
representation.
2. STRATEGIC MEDIA MANAGEMENT
2.1.1 Internal and External Assessments
An internal assessment evaluates the organisation’s internal environment—its
structure, resources, capabilities, and culture (McQuail, 2020). This includes
analysing communication strategies, employee skills, and organisational strengths
and weaknesses. For EcoTrend, internal assessment would focus on its brand
identity, marketing team competence, and existing digital communication platforms.
An external assessment, on the other hand, examines outside forces that influence
an organisation’s performance, such as market competition, consumer behaviour,
economic conditions, and technological changes (Kotler & Keller, 2019). For
ASSIGNMENT 3 SEMESTER 2 2025
UNIQUE NO. 199498
DUE DATE: 27 OCTOBER 2025
, Media Studies: Institutions, Theories and Issues
1. INTRODUCTION
This portfolio explores key themes in media studies, focusing on how media
organisations, messages, and audiences interact within social, political, and cultural
contexts. The assignment begins by examining strategic media management in a
corporate communication setting, analysing EcoTrend’s use of SWOT analysis to
improve its media strategy. It then discusses representation and identity, exploring
how race and culture are portrayed in a controversial South African advertisement.
Next, it analyses media, violence and society, considering how viral videos of school
bullying shape public discourse and influence social attitudes. The following section
focuses on media and the environment, evaluating how news coverage of the
KwaZulu-Natal floods used news values to raise awareness about climate change.
Finally, a critical essay on violence in South African media analyses how gender-
based violence (GBV) is represented in news coverage.
The portfolio concludes with reflections on what has been learned through
completing this assignment, including key insights about media power, ethics, and
representation.
2. STRATEGIC MEDIA MANAGEMENT
2.1.1 Internal and External Assessments
An internal assessment evaluates the organisation’s internal environment—its
structure, resources, capabilities, and culture (McQuail, 2020). This includes
analysing communication strategies, employee skills, and organisational strengths
and weaknesses. For EcoTrend, internal assessment would focus on its brand
identity, marketing team competence, and existing digital communication platforms.
An external assessment, on the other hand, examines outside forces that influence
an organisation’s performance, such as market competition, consumer behaviour,
economic conditions, and technological changes (Kotler & Keller, 2019). For
