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Media Studies · Media Studies: Reading, Questioning and Creating Media

Planning a Media Text: Topic, Purpose, Audience, Challenges and Choosing a Form

3.1 3.2About 70 minutes
Learning goals
  • I can describe the topic, purpose and audience of a media text I plan to create, with evidence about the audience.
  • I can identify significant challenges I may face and plan solutions.
  • I can select a media form that suits my topic, purpose and audience, and explain why it is appropriate.

Words to know

planning brief
A short plan that names a media text's topic, purpose, audience, message, challenges and form.
purpose statement
A sentence that says, with a verb, what a text should do and for whom.
anthology
A collection of texts, such as poems or stories, gathered together.
decision matrix
A table that scores options against criteria to support a decision.
justification
An explanation of why a choice is appropriate, often comparing it with alternatives.
alt text
A short written description of an image, read aloud by screen readers.

Remember from Grade 9

In Grade 9 you planned media and multimodal texts such as podcasts, slides, infographics and videos, and you used storyboards and two-column scripts. In Grade 10 you'll plan more deliberately: you'll write a planning brief that names the topic, purpose and audience, predict significant challenges, and justify your choice of form against alternatives.

Hook: the project that went sideways

Two students both decide to share winter poems with their class. One immediately starts filming a video at night. After three cold evenings, the footage is too dark, the wind drowns out the voice-over, and the video runs 9 minutes. Nobody watches past minute two.

The other student spends 20 minutes planning first. She realizes classmates mostly browse on phones between classes, and that some poems need to be read slowly. She builds a simple web page. It takes less time and people actually read it.

Planning isn't extra work. It's how you avoid the extra work.

Part 1: Topic, purpose and audience (expectation 3.1)

A planning brief answers:

  • Topic: what is it about? Narrow it. Winter is a topic; a personal anthology of my poems about winter in my neighbourhood is a focused topic.
  • Purpose: what should it do? Inform, entertain, persuade, express, build community. Write it as a verb: to share my poems and invite classmates to respond with their own winter memories.
  • Audience: who exactly, with evidence about them: age, interests, where they'll see it, what they already know, what they need (for example captions, larger text, short sections).
  • Message: the one idea you want the audience to take away.

The curriculum gives an example of exactly this kind of project: a web page presenting a personal anthology of poetry to your peers. We'll use it as our running example.

Part 2: Predicting significant challenges

Expectation 3.1 also asks you to identify significant challenges you may face in achieving your purpose. Think in categories:

  • Audience challenges: short attention spans, competing content, readers who need accessibility features, readers who don't usually like poetry.
  • Skill and tool challenges: unfamiliar software, no microphone, limited editing skills.
  • Time challenges: deadlines, how long recording and editing really take.
  • Content challenges: poems that look different on a phone screen, images you don't have rights to.
  • Ethical challenges: permission to use photos of people, privacy (no personal details), copyright for music and images.

For each challenge, plan a solution. A challenge without a plan is just a worry.

TOPICwinter poemsPURPOSEshare + engageAUDIENCEGrade 10 peersMESSAGEone main ideaCHALLENGES+ solutionsFORMwith reasonsA media planning brief, step by stepCheck back: does the form still suit the topic, purpose and audience?
A planning brief moves from topic to form, and then loops back to check that every choice still fits.

Part 3: Selecting a form (expectation 3.2)

Choose your form by testing several against your topic, purpose and audience. A decision matrix helps: list possible forms, choose criteria, score each from 1 to 5, and write a reason for every score. The highest total isn't automatically the answer, but it makes your thinking visible.

Then write a justification: I chose [form] because [it suits the topic/purpose/audience in these ways]. I considered [alternative], but [reason it fits less well].

Worked example

Let's plan a poetry anthology web page

Write a planning brief and select a form for this project: sharing a personal anthology of six poems about winter with Grade 10 classmates.

  1. Topic: six of my poems about winter in my neighbourhood: first snow, shovelling with my neighbour, the outdoor rink, a bus stop at dawn, a snow day, and the spring thaw.
  2. Purpose: to share my poems and invite classmates to respond with their own winter memories (express + build community).
  3. Audience: Grade 10 classmates, 15 to 16 years old. Evidence: most read on phones between classes; some don't usually enjoy poetry; at least one classmate uses a screen reader.
  4. Message: small winter moments are worth noticing.
  5. Challenges and solutions: (1) Poems may wrap badly on phones → keep lines short and test on a phone. (2) Classmates who don't like poetry → add one photo and a short "behind the poem" note to each. (3) Screen reader → add alt text to images and use real headings. (4) Images → use my own photos; no faces without permission.
  6. Decision matrix: criteria are reaches peers where they are, shows the poems well, my skills and tools, lets readers explore and respond, accessibility. Scores: web page 5, 5, 4, 5, 4 = 23; slideshow video 4, 4, 4, 1, 4 = 17; podcast 4, 3, 4, 2, 3 = 16; printed zine 2, 4, 5, 1, 3 = 15.
  7. Justification: I chose a web page because classmates can read it on their phones at their own pace, each poem gets its own section with a photo, and a comment form lets them share memories. I considered a podcast, which would let readers hear my voice, but listeners can't see the line breaks, which matter in my poems.

The brief names a focused topic, a purpose written as verbs, an audience with evidence, challenges with solutions, and a justified form with an alternative considered. That covers expectations 3.1 and 3.2.

Decision matrix totals (out of 25)web page23slideshow video17podcast16printed zine1525 (max)
Totals from the decision matrix in the worked example. The web page scores highest, but the numbers only help because each score has a reason behind it.
Criterion (1 to 5)Web pageSlideshow videoPodcastPrinted zine
Reaches peers where they are5442
Shows the poems well5434
My skills and tools4445
Lets readers explore and respond5121
Accessibility4433
Total (out of 25)23171615
The full decision matrix from the worked example. Each total is the sum of its column.
Just for fun

A planning brief is like a GPS for your project. Without it, you'll still get somewhere, just possibly a frozen parking lot at 11 p.m. with 9 minutes of very dark footage.

Hands-on activity

Write your own planning brief

You need: paper or a document, and an idea for a media text you would like to make (it can be the one you'll create over the next lessons). Ideas: a web page anthology of your poems, stories or photos; a 60-second PSA for your school; a podcast episode about a local winter tradition; an infographic about a community issue.

  1. Write your topic, then narrow it twice.
  2. Write your purpose using verbs.
  3. Describe your audience with at least three pieces of evidence. If you can, ask two people from that audience one question about how they would like to receive it.
  4. List four challenges from different categories, each with a solution.
  5. Make a decision matrix with at least three forms and four criteria. Write a reason for each score.
  6. Write a justification paragraph that mentions an alternative.

What to look for: a focused topic, a clear purpose, audience evidence, realistic challenges with solutions, honest scoring with reasons, and a justification that compares forms.

Your turn

1

Narrow this topic twice: sports.

2

Write a purpose statement for a PSA about lending winter coats to families who need them.

3

Why should an audience description include evidence?

4

Name three categories of challenges in media projects.

5

In the worked example, what solution was planned for a classmate who uses a screen reader?

6

Why did the podcast score lower on shows the poems well?

More practice: warm-up

1

What does expectation 3.1 ask you to describe?

2

What is a decision matrix?

3

What total did the printed zine get?

4

Name one ethical challenge in creating media.

5

True or false: the highest score in a decision matrix must always win.

More practice: on your own

1

Check the web page's total: 5 + 5 + 4 + 5 + 4.

2

A student plans a 10-minute video for classmates who will watch on their phones on the bus. Identify a significant challenge and a solution.

3

Write a justification for choosing a podcast for a project interviewing grandparents about winters when they were young.

4

Why is everyone a weak audience description?

5

Add a sixth criterion to the matrix that might change the result, and explain.

Challenge

1

Write a complete planning brief for a media text promoting a winter festival to newcomer families in your community, including at least two forms in a decision matrix and a justification.

2

Explain how one challenge in a plan might force you to change your form. Give an example.

3

A classmate says, "Planning is boring. I'll just figure it out as I go." Write a persuasive reply using the two students in the hook as evidence.

Check your understanding

Quiz

1.

Which is the most focused topic?

2.

Which is a strong purpose statement?

3.

Expectation 3.2 asks you to...

4.

A challenge plus a plan to deal with it is...

5.

In the matrix, which form scored lowest on lets readers explore and respond?

6.

Why is audience evidence useful when planning?

For parents and teachers

What this lesson teaches: expectations 3.1 (describing the topic, purpose and audience for a planned media text and identifying significant challenges) and 3.2 (selecting a form and explaining why it is appropriate). The running example, a web page presenting a personal anthology of poetry to peers, is the example the curriculum itself gives.

How to help at home:

  • Be a test audience: answer your teen's audience questions honestly.
  • Ask "What could go wrong?" and "What's your backup?"
  • Ask them to explain why they didn't choose another form.

Common difficulties:

  • Topics that are too broad. Narrow twice.
  • Skipping challenges. Push for realistic ones (time is usually the biggest).
  • Scores without reasons in the matrix.

Facts used: the anthology project, student scenarios and scores are invented examples.