Session 5 Assessments
A commodity analysis (2,000 words) and a corporation profile (1,000 words)


1. Commodity Analysis (2,000 words)
For this assessment you will select a particular media commodity and explore how it fits within a
broader system of production. For example, you may be interested in Star Wars and you will explore
the franchise, these are questions that you will need to answer in relation to your chosen
commodity (please note that it is not always possible to answer all these questions or they may be
others that you will want to include):
Historical/contextual information for the commodity.
Who or what company holds the copyright or patent for the commodity?
What company or companies produced the commodity? Who owns that company?
How was/is the commodity distributed?
What company or companies distribute the commodity? Who owns that company?
How much does the commodity cost to produce?
How/where is the commodity consumed?
What is the role of advertising in this commodity’s chain?
Is the commodity available in other forms?
Is this commodity distributed locally, regionally, nationally, and/or internationally?
Please note that you will be expected to make some references to the readings/discussion that we
have on this course, for example, in relation to the role of advertising or globalization.

2. Corporation Profile (1,000 words)
For this assessment you need to research a corporation, company or other organization associated
with communications or media/cultural industries. You should gather as much information as possible
about your chosen organization and analyze it in light of the readings and discussions that we have
done.
Your profile should include (if available):
brief history or background information
discussion of organization, operations, policies
basic financial information (revenues, assets, income, number of stockholders, stockholder equity,
share of industry revenue, etc.)
internationalization
an outline, map, or other visual representation of the organization's structure (its parent
company, divisions, subsidiaries, and any major partnerships). This will be discussed further in
class.
At the end of your analysis, you should be able to answer the question, “what is the primary
business of this organization?”
Your profile should include the written account (1,000 words) and appendices that provide an
illustration of your organization's structure and relationships with other organizations (possibly
also outside the fields of media/communications/cultural industries). Please note that you need to
provide references and while you can use Wikipedia and company websites as your starting point, you
should also use other sources.

Sources
lWikipedia – ok but corroborate what it says
lhttp://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/wikipedia/6250515/Wikipedia-20-articles-earmarked-for-deleti
on.html
lMagazines, newspapers – established ones with a good reputation
lAnnual reports, corporate information
lUniversities – studies, reports, analyses

Examples
lThe New York Times
lHulu, Prime, Now TV
lAdele's album 25
lBBC
lStudio Ghibli
lWPP
lHarlequin romances