Wednesday 9th September
Lesson 1: To explore the purpose and process of the printed news industry
The Difference Between Tabloid and Broadsheet
Tabloid newspaper are of smaller size, more informal and colourful with glorified stories. Broadsheet newspaper are of a larger size, formal with less colour compared to tabloids. The stories involved are also less glorified. Tabloid newspapers also tend to be cheaper compared to broadsheet newspapers making them more affordable.
The two also have differing audiences. Tabloids will target a more informal, and perhaps younger social group through crazy entertaining stories and wide range of colours. They could also target people with less disposable income due to being cheaper or less educated people. Broadsheet newspapers target a more formal group of people that are more educated and have higher disposable income.
Industries
Newspapers are expensive to produce, they require a large amount of material to make and most employ many highly trained staff. Technology has changed the traditional approach to printing newspapers, printing has become more efficient, they are now printed in colour and satellites and the internet have effected how we receive news nowadays. This has both a positive and negative effect on News, due to the efficiency of the industry it could be seen as more of a money making business. However the positive is that it readers could possibly be much more impressed by the quality and efficiency of the News that they receive.
Distribution
Distribution is expensive because newspapers have to be physically transported which costs a lot of money. They need to be in the outlets from the early morning, which people have to be paid for and costs for travelled covered. This cost can be lessened by printing locally and making them available online. Also giving out free papers can raise interest, for example The Metro are a free newspaper in London.
Promotion
Advertising can be through TV, social media and other sister papers. They can also have exclusive stories and synergise with other companies. Increasing the circulation can also help, meaning more papers are available. Circulation is the number of copies distributed, not sold.
Ownership
Ownership refers to who financially supports and produces the paper. In the UK there are 3 ownership models:
Funding and Economic Models
There are two main forms of funding for newspapers:
Layouts, cover lines and headlines
Newspaper Analysis
Tabloid covers
Again the banner contains the masthead, log in button, search bar and support buttons. There are again no social media bars. The sidebar contains live updates on the story, and an advert. The news content is available by scrolling down the website. The headline is a the top of the image, in a white font on a red background to allow it to standout. The colour palette is red, white, yellow and blue. You can comment on the article at the very bottom.
Lesson 1: To explore the purpose and process of the printed news industry
The Difference Between Tabloid and Broadsheet
Tabloid newspaper are of smaller size, more informal and colourful with glorified stories. Broadsheet newspaper are of a larger size, formal with less colour compared to tabloids. The stories involved are also less glorified. Tabloid newspapers also tend to be cheaper compared to broadsheet newspapers making them more affordable.
The two also have differing audiences. Tabloids will target a more informal, and perhaps younger social group through crazy entertaining stories and wide range of colours. They could also target people with less disposable income due to being cheaper or less educated people. Broadsheet newspapers target a more formal group of people that are more educated and have higher disposable income.
Industries
Newspapers are expensive to produce, they require a large amount of material to make and most employ many highly trained staff. Technology has changed the traditional approach to printing newspapers, printing has become more efficient, they are now printed in colour and satellites and the internet have effected how we receive news nowadays. This has both a positive and negative effect on News, due to the efficiency of the industry it could be seen as more of a money making business. However the positive is that it readers could possibly be much more impressed by the quality and efficiency of the News that they receive.
Distribution
Distribution is expensive because newspapers have to be physically transported which costs a lot of money. They need to be in the outlets from the early morning, which people have to be paid for and costs for travelled covered. This cost can be lessened by printing locally and making them available online. Also giving out free papers can raise interest, for example The Metro are a free newspaper in London.
Promotion
Advertising can be through TV, social media and other sister papers. They can also have exclusive stories and synergise with other companies. Increasing the circulation can also help, meaning more papers are available. Circulation is the number of copies distributed, not sold.
Ownership
Ownership refers to who financially supports and produces the paper. In the UK there are 3 ownership models:
- 'Media Barons' - owned by wealthy individuals or proprietors. For example, Rupert Murdoch.
- Trusts - a legal arrangement that transfers funds from the owner to a 'trustee' to manage and control the running of the paper. For example, Scott Trust (The Guardian)
- Cross Media converged conglomerates - global institutions that own numerous media outlets. These may be owned by Media Barons. For example, DMG and Lord Rothermore.
Newspaper ownership in the UK has become increasingly concentrated, the industry is run by just seven companies. Worryingly, 60% of the market share is owned by just two companies, News UK and DMG Media.
Funding and Economic Models
There are two main forms of funding for newspapers:
- Circulation Sales - 14.3 Million people read a newspaper in the UK daily. Most of the revenue comes from sales, they can anything between 70p - £2.70.
- Advertising - It costs £30,000 to have a full page colour ad in the Daily Mail, both online and offline
An alternative methods could include subscriptions (online), memberships and reader donations. Other possible funding or strategies could be government or public funding, philanthropy, payment for online news, pooled reporting and greater use of freelance agencies.
Case Study: Daily Mail
- Owner - The DMG and Jonathan Hamsworth. They are funded through the conglomerate it is owned by (DMGT). Hamsworth is 4th Viscount Rothermere, the great grandson of the founder of the Daily Mail. He is an aristocrat who inherited the Mail from his father. This aligns with Hesmondhalgh's theory that cultural industries follow a Capitalist pattern. The Daily Mail is solely commercial, owned in an oligarchic manner.
- History - The Daily Mail was founded in 1896, and has now become the UK's biggest newspaper. By 1902, it's circulation sales were already over 1 Million. The newspaper has been criticised heavily for war mongering in both world wars and by 1946 had already celebrated 50 years of printing.
- Circulation Figures - 1.1 Million copies daily
- Advertising Costs - £32,000 pounds for a full page colour advert.
- Sales Figures - On average 900,000 to 1 Million. The newspaper costs 80p, which has increased from 75p over the last 5 years.
- Online Website - Their website has one average 218 million visitors per month.
- Online revenue - DMGT reported a 25% year on year increase in ad revenues to £76 Million.
- Values - They prioritise negativity, threshold, personalisation, references to elite nations and people, meaningfulness and consonance.
- Political Bias - Right wing conservative
- Ideologies - The newspaper believe in very right wing views due to their Conservative bias. They are against Labour.
- Reporting Style - The newspaper appear to be very exaggerative, they make already newsworthy stories more newsworthy by exaggerating the stories.
Which body it's regulated by - The Daily Mail are regulated by the IPSO.- Examples of any breaches - There are various examples of The Daily Mail being criticised. Throughout the 2010s, there have been various accusations of racism, homophobia, sexism and their reliability. They have also been accused of sensationalism. They have had 17 breaches between 2016 and 2018, mostly for their breaches of accuracy, privacy, intrusion and their use of hyperbole.
- Owner - The Guardian is part of the Guardian Media Group which is owned by the Scott Trust. It is a British based mass media company which also owns The Observer. They are responsible for appointing editors of each newspaper they own. They are solely not for profit, so every penny they make goes back into the Newspaper. The trust also claim that their journalism has no commercial or political interference. This completely goes against both Curran and Seaton's/Hesmondhalgh's theories. The Guardian is solely for producing news with the aim of being not for profit and not owned in an oligarchic manner.
- History - The Guardian was founded in 1821 as the Manchester Guardian but has since changed it's name. The newspaper only switched to a tabloid format in 2018, in an attempt to fit with current economic contexts. Currently, the Guardian are also self regulated through the Scott Trust.
- Circulation Figures - 126,870 copies daily.
- Advertising Costs - £18,000 for a full page colour advert.
- Online Website - The Guardian averages roughly 8.2 Million visitors per month.
- Revenue - The Guardian's total revenue is £218 Million, which is from both their online website and print copies of the newspaper.
- Mission - The Scott Trust describes the Guardian's mission as to "to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity: as a quality national newspaper without party affiliation; remaining faithful to its liberal tradition"
- Values - Likely to prioritise composition over negativity, threshold, personalisation to reflect liberal, progressive and balanced approach. Stories are prioritised if they are in public interest and reflect equality and freedom.
- Political Bias - Left wing labour bias.
- Ideologies - They appear to give honest news, due to their very centrist bias. They are fair in most of their stories.
- Reporting Style - The Guardian's reporting style is very formal, they are very minimalistic with their headline's. Their purpose is to distribute news and give a fair and honest viewpoint from each side of a story.
- Which body it's regulated by - The Guardian are solely self regulated by the Scott Trust, opting our of being regulated by either IPSO or IMPRESS. They claim that both impact the freedom of the press and investigate journalism, facing government prosecution for this in the past.
- Examples of any breaches - In December 2003, the newspaper was accused of antisemitism and bias in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. In January 2017 they were also accused of promoting misleading stories, breaching their values.
Wednesday 16th September
Lesson 2: To explore the news values, bias and regulation of printed new
News gatherings
- Newspapers usually have groups of reporters who gather news at locally or through Press Agencies, these agencies identify key facts or major events.
- These Press Agencies usually report the news without and can reshape the story.
- DMG Media are shareholders in PA.
Gatekeeping
- The editor acts as a gatekeeper, responsible for filtering and selecting stories. They must be checked for accuracy.
- As part of this, editors can practice protective coverage: withholding information on the grounds it would harmful.
News Values
- News Values: guidelines used to identify which news is most valuable. This indicates news is a socially constructed product.
- There are 12 values which editors and journalists use:
- Frequency - Events that occur suddenly and fit well with news organization's schedule are more likely to be reported.
- Timeliness - Events that have only just happened are more likely to be reported.
- Familiarity - To do with people or places close to the target audience.
- Negativity - Bad news is more newsworthy than good news.
- Positivity - It is only used for certain news stories, like sports news for example.
- Conflict - Opposing opinions of people or forces results in dramatic effect.
- Unexpectedness - Events that are surprising and out of the blue are more newsworthy.
- Unambiguity - Stories where the implications are clear make for better news stories.
- Personalization - Events that can be portrayed through the actions of individuals are more newsworthy.
- Meaningfulness - This relates to the sense of identification the audience has with the story.
- Relation to Elite Nations or People - This is two values in one, any references to Elite nations or people will make a story more newsworthy.
The values applied in this front cover are meaningfulness, the story is about sexual assault so it very controversial. The continuity, the story went on for a long time. There were both references to Elite Nations and Persons, the UK and Assange himself. The frequency of stories released. They've also personalised the story, by attacking him within the first Headline.
One of the values used here is the continuity, the story is based around the UK General Election, so will be covered for some time. What will be covered is the campaigns for each party for some months before. Another one is personalisation, rather than claiming the Conservatives say they should be backed, Boris is claims he should be backed.
The first value used here is personalization, rather than the story being about the Labour party, it is about Corbyn and his requests. Another one is reference to elite person, the reference to Corbyn will make the story more newsworthy. The story will also have meaning to most of the audience, due to The Guardian being slightly left wing, the audience will most likely share similar views and will want to support Corbyn.
The first value used here is familiarity, most people would have used the NHS at some point in their life, so will be familiar with the story. Another one used is unambiguity, the headline is clear and precise and the audience can make a clear judgement. The story is also fairly negative, which helps to make a more negative news story.
The first one used here is the reference to Elite Nations, the UK is a massive nation and a dramatic story involving them will be more newsworthy. The story will also result in a range of conflicting opinions, creating a larger dramatic effect. Whether or not the story is true, the story is extremely unexpected, which results in a shocking story leading to a more newsworthy story.
Political Bias
A newspaper's political bias can be see to influence thinking and political outcomes, and therefore democracy.
- The majority of the public see the Mail as very right wing (conservative) and The Guardian as fairly left wing (liberal).
- Many newspapers share the same political bias, extremely influencing our views on society and politics. Over half of the national daily papers support right wing values providing of homogenous (singular/similar) view of our news.
Newspaper 1 (Daily Mirror)
- The Daily Mirror is clearly a left wing supportive paper, the Headline claims Theresa May, PM of the UK at the time and Conservative Party leader, is a liar: "Lies, damned lies and Theresa May".
- The image used of Theresa May is also insulting, she is pulling an ugly facial expression and the camera is angled to suggest she is looking up at something with fear.
- The rest of the lexis is very blunt and opinionated supporting Left Wing views. The subheading reads: "Don't condemn Britain to five more years of Tory broken promises" leading to suggest that the newspaper believes that the Conservative are corrupt and liars.
Newspaper 2 (Daily Mail)
- They Daily Mail, is almost a polar opposite to the Daily Mirror, it a Right Wing supportive newspaper. The Headline is very spiritual: "Let's reignite British Spirit", "Your tactical guide to boost the Tories and Brexit". The lexis is very supportive of Theresa May and the conservative party, clearly stating they support right wing ideologies.
- Again, the image used of Theresa May and the way it is composed also shows this viewpoint. She is smiling with pride, with supporters behind her in the background.
Wednesday 23rd September
Lesson 3: To explore the regulation of printed news
Theory
Barthes: Semiology
- Denotations are the literal meaning, it is fact.
- Denotations and connotations are organised into myths.
- Myths create an ideological meaning and help ideology feel natural, real and acceptable.
E.g. How is the media language used as signs to connote a message?
Levi-Strauss: Structuralism
- This is the study of hidden rules that shape a structure to communicate ideologies and myths.
- We understand the world and our place within it based on binary oppositions.
E.g. Hero and Villain in politics, Good vs Bad
Curran and Seaton: Power and media industries
- Patterns of ownership and control are important in how the media functions.
- Media industries are capitalist and aim to increase concentration of ownership. This lead to a narrowing of opinions represented in the press.
- Owners pursue profits at the expense of creativity or quality.
- Even after the impact of the internet on the ownership of news, it is still controlled by an oligarchy.
How does this apply to the Daily Mail?
- Historical ownership of paper by Rothermere family since 1896 repeats ownership patterns.
- Current market share of DMG reinforces right wing political agenda to a large audience.
- News values support populist reporting that relies on sensationalised or personalised stories.
How does this apply to the Guardian?
- Historical ownership of paper by Scott Trust ensures ownership and control do not affect journalistic values.
- Aims to provide a voice for different perspectives; alternative to narrowed opinions presented by controlling outlets.
- Aim to guard against this, changes in format and move to online show need to adapt to survive.
Hesmondhalgh: Cultural Industries
- Cultural Industries follow a capitalist pattern of increasing concentration and integration so production is owned and controlled by a few conglomerates.
- Risk is seen in terms of loss of money. Risk is high because production costs are high.
- Companies rely on repetition to minimise risk and cover failure. Repeated formats are easily recognisable to audience and use copyright laws to protect products from reproduction and piracy.
How does this apply to the Daily Mail?
- DMGT as parent company to DMG media (news subsidiary), allows Rothermere family to integrate a number of outlets and services, reducing competition.
- Increasing digital outlets and reducing printing plants helps reduce risk.
How does this apply to the Guardian?
- Has struggled to survive in a competitive market dominated by a few global conglomerates, circulation dropped by 13.1% in 2018.
- Developing digital outlets, moving to compact format and identifying other revenue streams helps reduce risk.
Livingston and Lunt: Regulation
- Consumers are individuals who seek private benefits from the media and require regulation to protect them. Citizens are social, seek public or social benefits from the media and require regulation to promote public interest.
How does this apply to the Daily Mail?
- Member of IPSO. 17 cases brought against them in respect of claims of inaccuracy, invasion of privacy and intrusion.
How does this apply to the Guardian?
- Self regulates as believes both regulatory bodies are unethical and ineffective. In return, they will protect whistle blowers and run the stories if in the public interest.
Regulation
- There are both arguments for and against the regulation of printed news. The argument for it is that the news industry has too much political power and influence over the British public. The argument against is that who would control the regulation if it were to be in place, the Government could possibly influence the news to benefit them.
- The function of the Fourth Estate is what regulation is concerned with, it is also concerned with the news content being produced and ownership and competition laws.
- The British Press is self regulated. The problems with this is that it may not be trustworthy.
- In 2011, two news regulatory bodies were established out of the Leveson Enquiry: Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS)
- The public can complain to IPSO about a newspaper, however newspapers can opt out and self regulate outside of IPSO. The way IPSO is funded is by the newspapers it regulates.
- IMPRESS became a regulator in 2016 and is funded by the IPRT meaning it is independent from the newspaper industry. However editors do not receive it well and some see it as an attempt from the government to control the press, which the Leveson Inquiry stated should not happen.
- Currently, plurality and competition is regulated by the 20/20 rule which prevents anyone who runs a newspaper group with a national market share of 20% or more from controlling licenses to provide ITV or C5 TV news.
Mock Q3 Dirt: Explain how economic contexts, including commercial and not-for-profit funding, affect the distribution of newspapers. Refer to The Guardian and the Daily Mail to support your answer.
Throughout the industry behind both the Daily Mail and The Guardian, economic contexts are affecting the distribution of newspapers.
Firstly, the Daily Mail, who are funded by DMG Media and the General Trust, are seeing a lower distribution in newspapers due current economic contexts. The funding of the Daily Mail is solely commercial, and entirely for profit being owned by the Rothmere family. They are seeing a huge decrease in print sales due to the use of the Internet and Mobile Phones to access news and have had to adapt to fit this climate. They have shut an entire printing factory, increased the price of newspapers and made a big shift towards their online website/app. This is to reduce costs and keep profit exactly as it was. Not only has it worked, it has in fact turned the Daily Mail into the biggest UK Newspaper, with a share of 20.1% in the market. They have roughly 7.7 Million regular online readers and 22 Million regular mobile readers. In return this has affected the distribution of the newspapers as circulation figures have decreased, the demand for it to be printed has decreased due to a big shift towards online news instead of actual newspapers.The Daily Mail are a great example of current economic contexts in the news industry. Ownership models are moving away from trust funds to conglomerates with a global reach and focus on profit. The conglomerate in the Daily Mail's case is DMG. The shift in focus of the Daily Mail to keep profits as high as possible fits into the power and media industries theory by Curran and Seaton.Curran and Seaton believe that conglomerates are starting to sacrifice creativity and quality for more profits, which the Daily Mail have done. They have shut down one of their printing companies, making possibly creative and efficient workers redundant in the hope of making more profit.
Furthermore, the Guardian are a newspapers who have also had their distribution of newspapers affected by current economic contexts. The Guardian are funded in a not for profit manner as they part of the Scott Trust. All money that is made is funded straight back into the newspaper. As well as the Daily Mail, they are experiencing a huge decrease in print sales due to the use of the Internet and Mobile Phones to access news. To help adapt to this climate, The Guardian have also gone online, their website averages 8.2 Million regular visitors a month. They have increased the price of their newspaper as well as this. The Guardian have also had Bill Gates act as a philanthropist, he directly supported the newspaper with funding aid. Due to this, the circulation of the newspaper has decreased from roughly 350,000 since 2010 from 390,000 to 140,000 meaning the demand for the print version has decreased drastically, less newspapers need to be distributed. So unlike the Daily Mail, they do not convey current economic contexts 100% as they are still owned by Trust fund, but they have had to adapt to a decrease in print circulation. In opposition, the Guardian prove Curran and Seaton's power and media industry theory wrong. They have adapted to current economic climates solely by shifting a focus online and through philanthropist support. They have not sacrificed creativity or quality, and due to the Scott Trust being non for profit, they owners have made no money in the process.
Target: Cover Guardian and add a little more detail to the theory, explain how it fits.
Wednesday 30th September
Lesson 4: To investigate the ownership, funding, regulation, values and ideologies of the set products
*See Case Study notes from Lesson 1*
Cultural Contexts
- Concentrated news ownership supports a one dimensional view of British news through news.
- Postmodernism mixing of genres has resulted in change in newspaper conventions and greater diversity in representations.
- Newspapers feature cultural events that are important to audiences in their lived experiences.
- Increasing consumerism means that marketing in online news is more accepted.
- Cultural preference to online news.
Wednesday 7th October
Lesson 5
Explain how the cultural context in how the news is produced influences the content offered to audiences
The cultural contexts in the production of news effect the content we read or see.
Firstly, for the Daily Mail, the way in which the British population receive or read our news directly effects the news they put our. A large population still read a newspaper daily, and even more read news regularly online. This results in a wide range of stories offered they offer, as newspapers need enough content to fill a newspaper daily. The way the company is owned in an oligarchic manner effects the news they put out. The newspaper has been owned by the same family since it's foundation, the Rothermere family, resulting in a concentrated range of opinions in the newspaper. They also have a share of just over 20% in the market, meaning they have a large effect on the UK market. They believe in sensationalised news over composed news, personalised stories and criticising people directly. They also have a right wing bias. This therefore means the Daily Mail put out stories which reflect their beliefs and bias a lot more than stories that don't, exposing their audience to this belief. This links to Curran and Seaton's power and media industries theory, the Daily Mail have aimed to increase the concentration of their ownership, only ever having been owned by one family. This has lead to this narrowing of opinions and beliefs in the news they put out, exactly like Curran and Seation suggested. In addition, the UK population are interested in gossip and fake news. The Daily Mail take advantage of this, especially with through the MailOnline. They put out clickbait and sensationalised stories, which the UK population love to read.
Furthermore, the cultural contexts in news also effect the news the Guardian put out. Firstly, the way postmodernism has directly effected certain mixing of genres had resulted in change for the conventions of certain newspaper. There is now a greater diversity in representation in news, for example we have hard news tied in with celebrity news. The Guardian show their desire to express these values, by expressing freedom and equality in the news they put out. Rather than showing one side of the story to appeal to the target audience, they express the viewpoints and thoughts of everyone involved equally. This helps to oppose Livingston and Lunt's regulation theory, they believe that newspapers require regulation to protect the readers The Guardian is focused on giving a fair and honest view of the story for all rather than exposing their audience to sensationalised and possibly fake stories, in addition choosing to opt out of being regulated by Impress or IPSO. The other way the Guardian are effected by cultural contexts is the populations preference to online news. The Guardian have succeeded massively in the online market, they are now 3rd in the market after only having a 2.8% share in the printed market. This now means there is more money to fund the newspaper and produce better quality content for their audience, as they are owned by the not for profit Scotts Trust, who invest all the money made back into the newspaper.
Target Number: 2, 3 and 5.
Target for next time: Write answer in a more organised structure.
Wednesday 14th October
Lesson 6: DIRT
Refer to Lesson 5
Target Audience
Wednesday 21st October
Lesson 7: To investigate audiences of printed news and audience appeal
Audience profiling can be done with:
- Demographics
- Psychometrics
- Type: Mass or niche
Print News Audiences
29.1 Million people a month still read UK newspapers. It is a mass audience
Demographics
- 51% male
- 55+ most likely
- 57% millennials
- Middle class (28%) and working class (27%)
Psychometrics
- Aspirers, Mainstreamers, Reformers, the Resigned and Succeders.
Target Audience Research
The Daily Mail
- Demographics - Roughly 2/3 of the audience are ABC1, with the other third being C2DE. Average age of 59. The paper has to biggest percentage gap for gender, with the paper having a considerably larger female audience than male. Majority live in SE, with an average savings of £39,000
- Psychometrics - The typical Daily Mail readers tends to have more old fashioned values/opinions. They tend to have more prejudice views of society. They are Mainstream, Resigned and Succeeders.
- Hobbies/Interests -
- Issues they would be aware of -
- What they do with their disposable income -
- How they access media -
- Films/Docs/Magazines/Music/Sites they like -
- Types of stories that would appeal to them -
The Guardian
- Demographics - The Guardian has a higher proportion of ABC1 readers compared to C2DE. There an almost equal split of males and females that read the Guardian. Readers tend to be aged over 55. They tend to be more educated.
- Psychometrics - The Guardian have an audience that are more free thinking compared to the Daily Mail. They are left leaning. Explorers, Reformers and Succeeders.
- Hobbies/Interests - Culture and travel
- Issues they would be aware of -
- What they do with their disposable income -
- How they access media -
- Films/Docs/Magazines/Music/Sites they like -
- Types of stories that would appeal to them -
Harcup and O'Neil (2001)
Harcup and O'Neil values example
- The Power Elite - There are several powerful people referenced in this cover: Theresa May, Boris Johnson (was Mayor of London) and Kate Middleton.
- Celebrity - Reference to Kate Middleton and the christening of her child.
- Entertainment - Use of puff stating you can 'win a holiday' from £9.50
- Surprise - Hunt getting foreign sec job and Boris quitting.
- Good news - Kate Middleton and the christening of her child.
- Magnitude - Brexit effects everyone.
- Relevance - Use of a football reference.
- Follow up - Follow up on certain Brexit topics.
Case Study - The Daily Mail
Layout, cover lines and headlines
The layout is very packed, there is a lot of information on the front cover for the reader to receive. There is only one over cover line on the newspaper, a story about Ant from Ant and dec. The headline is very big and bald, suggesting the issue is very important and people should be aware of it.
Colour and fonts
The use of a light blue colour in the puff for 'mouthwatering' recipes makes it stand out, which will grab the interest of the reader and convince them to read the paper. The use of a serif font throughout the headline, subheading and the start of the story suggest wisdom and knowledge. It almost suggests that the readers should read the paper because the Daily Mail are aware of major issues in British society. The use of a sans serif font in the cover line for Ant's story conveys that the story is less important and perhaps less serious compared to the main headline. At the very top of the page there is the use of a red and white in another cover line to show the colours of England, suggesting that the audience may be very patriotic, supporting England in the football.
Mode of address
The way the paper addresses the audience is very sensationalised. The use of large and bald headlines to address the audience at first and the combined use of lower case and upper case letters in the cover lines support this. They are trying to grab the reader's attention by exaggerating the story at the face of it. There is also the use of certain lexis.
Lexis
The lexis the Daily Mail use helps to sensationlise their stories. For example the use of 'War' in the headline and 'Agony' in the cover line about Ant and Dec. They convey the stories to be dramatic and threatening problems, whereas in reality NHS waste is just a problem that can be tackled in the long run and Ant's relationship affairs are personal problems.
The different values from Harcup and O'neil that we can apply here include here are:
- The power elite - The reference to the NHS in the headline
- Celebrity - The reference to Ant from Ant and Dec in the coverline
- Entertainment - They have include the page numbers for 'mouthwatering' recipes in the puff
- Surprise - The reference to Ant's relationships affairs are surprising for the problems
- Bad news - The reference to NHS waste is a very negative story
- Good news - The subheading states that the PM has announced a 20 Billion Health Service Boost. This would have been good for the general population but not for the target audience, as the Daily Mail claim it is being payed for by 'Middle Class Taxes' which they would be against due to right wing views.
- Magnitude - Anything to do with the NHS will effect a lot of the British population
- Relevance - The reference to England at the 2018 World Cup which was being played at the time
- Follow up - The NHS is always a popular topic in British news
- Newspaper agenda - The negative story for the target audience that Middle Class taxes were being used for healthcare would fit the newspapers agenda.
Case Study - The Guardian
The way the Guardian have laid out this cover is very formal, all of the text is very organised and the two cover lines are at the top of the front cover. The headline is not as big as the headline in the Daily Mail, it still stands out but it is more to give a brief explanation of the story rather than grab a readers attention. This all conveys that the Guardian is very honest and fair, they want to produce high quality news to inform, rather than solely to make money.
Colour and fonts
The use a neutral dark blue colour is to not make the paper stand out, rather to help differ between the cover lines and main article. The use white for the masthead also creates a calm aura, the colour white suggest neutralism and peace, just like their news values.
Mode of address
They way they address the reader is very neutral. There is the use of a lower case headline to address the audience at first and non exaggerated lexis. Their purpose is to create fair and honest news rather than sensationlised.
Lexis
The lexis is almost opposite to the Daily Mail. The headlines are lot simpler and to the point, with the use of 'loses' and 'faces' to describe a story rather than dramatic words like 'war' and 'agony'. They show the real severity of a story rather than use a hyperbole like the Daily Mail.
The different values from Harcup and O'neil that we can apply here include here are:
- The power elite - References to Theresa May and Boris Johnson.
- Celebrity - The use Gareth Southgate in one of the cover lines.
- Entertainment - The use of referring to the 2018 World Cup which was happening at the time.
- Surprise - It was a surprise that Boris Johnson quit, which is featured in the headline.
- Bad news - The use of Brexit going badly so far.
- Good news - The story about Gareth Southgate, and how the nation has fell in love with him.
- Magnitude - Brexit is a story with a large magnitude, it effects everyone in the UK.
- Follow up - Brexit was a massive story at the time of the issue's release
- Newspaper agenda - Brexit would have been a topic every major news outlet in the UK would have been following, the Guardian may not support it but will definitely report on it.
Wednesday 4th November
Lesson 8: To explore how newspapers attract their audiences. To apply audience theory to Newspapers.
Audience Theory
Bandura:
- The media influence people directly.
- The media can influence directly or indirectly through related platforms such as social media so we can become influenced by the media without being exposed to them.
Gerber: Cultivation theory
- Exposure to particular media forms, genres or content over long periods of time can cultivate and shape our behaviour (Video games causing violence).
- Repetition of negative media messages and values are likely to create "mean world syndrome" which leads to the mistrust and fear of other within our society.
Hall: Audience
- Media producers encode with a preferred meaning.
- Audiences can decode in one of 3 ways:
- Dominant reading - The audience accepts the preferred meaning.
- Negotiated reading - The audience accept some of the message but disagrees with part of it, so changes it to fit their views.
- Oppositional reading - Both the preferred meaning and ideological assumptions are rejected.
Theory Application
Bandura
- This cover by the Daily Mail directly influences the audience through the the lexis. They are exposing the audience to this opinion that the NHS is producing extreme amounts of waste, which is essentially being 'paid for' by Brexit dividend and middle class taxes. The lexis suggests we need to 'Go to war on NHS waste'. This possibly influenced the audiences opinion on the NHS.
- This may not even directly influence the audience, as they may just read the headline, or see an article online about it a start to believe in this negative opinion of the NHS.
Gerber
- Gerber's theory applies to the cover as over time with similar stories being released, the audiences' behaviour and opinions towards the NHS may change off of the back of it. The other way it applies is through the negative story, surrounding Ant. As an audience we eventually become interested celebrities' life.
- This helps contribute to this 'mean world syndrome' Gerber talked about. they are creating this negative stance on the NHS through releasing negative stories about them.
Hall
- The Daily Mail have encoded this negative message about the NHS into this article, will most likely agree with will be the dominant opinion among the audience. This is due to the lexis in the subheading reading that the middle class taxes are paying for the NHS, the Daily Mail have a very middle class and conservative dominated audience.
Theory Application
Hall's Encoding/Decoding Model
The message encoded into the main article is around Theresa May losing faith from certain members of the government. The lexis suggests that her party and the government is losing faith in her: "May loses Johnson". The Guardian believes in producing fair and honest news showing both sides of the story (Negative - She has lost Johnson) (Positive - She faced down the Brexit 'rebels'). The typical Guardian reader is well educated, left wing with a forward thinking mentality, so their reading would more than likely be a mixture of negotiated or oppositional reading. The audience would have this reading as they would not have faith in Theresa May and the Guardian are showing positive and negative viewpoints for Theresa May.
Targeting Audiences
The Daily Mail
- Price - The Daily Mail costs 65p, this is cheap and affordable for the audience due to being largely made up by the middle class.
- Cross-platform advertising - On the MailOnline, they are promoting other forms of their news. For example 'DailyMailTV'.
- Promotional offers - With different subscriptions to the Daily Mail, you can receive certain gift vouchers when you first join.
- Subscriptions - They have a £10.99 a month subscription, along with an 'ultimate pack' and a home delivery pack with £26.80 a month.
- Partnership marketing - Offer many savings with Global Savings Group in various retailers.
The Guardian
- Price - Affordable to ABC.
- Cross platform advertising.
- Promotional offers - range of offers linked to supplements, 30% off books at bookshop.
- Subscriptions - Range of subscriptions packages and donations.
- Sponsorship deals - Deals with UNICEF and they sponsored Glastonbury Festival.
- Partnership marketing - Contract with Yahoo for global reach.
Theory Application
Bandura
- This links to Bandura's theory suggesting about how the media influences people. The use of the lexis in the headline: "Tories turn on Theresa" will influence the audience's opinion on Theresa May, due to their belief in the conservative party this will more than likely be negative. Therefore eventually, over a period of time, the audience's opinion's and behaviours towards Theresa May will change because of it.
Gerber
- Any negative news stories released by the Daily Mail will help contribute to this 'mean world syndrome' Gerber discussed. In this example, the use of negative lexis like in the headline: "Tories turn on Theresa" and in the subheading "dump her advisers NOW". The fact "now" is written in a bald black font emphasises the hyperbole the Daily Mail have used. There is this negative attitude towards Theresa May throughout the front cover.
Hall
- The editors of this newspaper have constructed this newspaper to encode the message that conservatives have lost faith in May, exactly like how Hall suggested. This could result in any of the three readings Hall discussed. Due to the audience's right wing bias, they may have a dominant reading in accepting the story supporting the Tory party.
Media Language
Wednesday 11th November
Lesson 9: To explore the use of media language and codes and conventions in print news
Two categories of codes
- Technical - Camerawork, editing and MES choices that require technical equipment/skills to produce. E.g. shot type, layout etc.
- Symbolic - The meaning communicated through the technical elements.
Conventions
- The generally accepted way of doing something
Tabloid
- The size of a tabloid smaller than a broadsheet.
- The lexis tends to be less complicated for a less educated audience. There are however exceptions to this.
- The mode of address is very direct, with more personalised stories about certain individuals rather than general news.
- The headline size is larger compared to a broadsheet newspaper.
- The amount of images on a tabloid newspaper is much larger compared to a broadsheet.
Broadsheet
- The size of broadsheet newspapers is much bigger compared to tabloid newspapers.
- The lexis tends to be more complicated for a more educated audience, again however there are exceptions.
- The mode of address for broadsheet newspapers is less direct, with more focus on the actual news story itself rather than personalising the news stories.
- The headline size on broadsheet newspapers is much smaller.
- Broadsheet newspapers tend to have less images compared to a tabloid newspaper.
Extension:
The newspaper above uses the certain codes and conventions to appeal to the target audience. The size of the actual newspaper would be much smaller and therefore cheaper, which means it appeals to a wide range of audience members. The lexis is very basic, they haven't even used the word 'pound' in headline and choosing the symbol instead. This basic use would appeal to a much more less educated audience.
Media language theory
Barthes
- Denotations can signify connotations associated meanings for the same sign.
- Denotations and connotations are organised into myths.
- Myths create and ideological meaning and help ideology feel natural, real and acceptable.
- Rose = Romance.
Neale: Genre theory
- The Daily Mail and the Guardian's print editions have both decreased in popularity.
- The audience expect the same codes and conventions on every single newspaper.
- Broadsheet newspapers have started taking conventions from tabloid newspapers
Soft and Hard news
Soft news tends to be less hard hitting stories, like celebrity or sports news. They deal with emotions of certain groups and people more as well. Hard news stories features stories of widespread importance. These could include stories about politics or foreign affairs. Hard news tends to be the feature stories.
Soft news can be seen as news that tabloids would write about, it is also known as 'tabloid journalism'. Hard news known for being written about more by broadsheet newspapers, it is also known as 'quality journalism'.
The distinctions between the two genres of tabloid and broadsheet are becoming more blurred. Dual convergence is when genres borrow conventions form another. An example of a hybrid paper is the Daily Mail.
Newspaper Analysis
Masthead - The lexis in the masthead: "Mail" connotes that the paper can be reliable, like a daily mail service. The use of a bald font, and it being large on the page allows it to stand out, and easier for the audience to gather what newspaper it is.
Logo - The logo is situated in the masthead. It is a picture of the royal coat of arms connoting the newspaper's patriotism.
Plug - The use of plug connotes that the newspaper values it's readers, offering them free stuff to win in a competition.
Puff - A puff is used to help highlight how much worth the stuff the Daily Mail are offering has, again connoting that they are valuing the audience.
Layout - Separated into three sections. The top third helps identify the brand and show that the audience are being valued, containing the masthead and the plug
Sub heading - There are two sub headings for two stories, they are both dramatic and possibly sensationalised stories, used to attract the reader.
Headline - The use of a reference to an elite group of people in 'Christians' and the use of an exclamation mark and the dramatic word 'insult' in the lexis helps to attract a reader. The references also help to personalise the story, which the target audience would be interested in.
Main Image - The main image is of the girl who was 'killed by tourist possessed by the devil' connoting that the newspaper are in support of the girl and are portraying a negative view of tourists.
Minor images - Close up shot of the flowers that the readers could possibly win, connoting that the Daily Mail like to give back to their audience.
Byline - Jason Groves is the political editor of the Daily Mail, a white man who has a powerful voice writing stories for the Daily Mail.
Font - A large, bald and serif font for the headline and masthead allow it to stand out, and reinforce the Daily Mail's traditional ideologies on certain viewpoints. A smaller font with a mixture of serif and sans serif fonts for the subheadings, as these stories have less importance. The use a dark black contrasts the blue and red colours used for the plugs, helping each other stand out more for the reader.
Wednesday 18th November
Lesson 10: To analyse the use of media language and codes and conventions in set products
The Daily Mail
- It is considered to be the first UK tabloid in terms of its journalism.
- It is considered to be a mid market tabloid.
- A newspaper that offers a mix of both soft and hard news content in its coverage of news to appeal to its target audience.
Using your knowledge of the conventions of both tabloid and broadsheet papers, explain how the Mail has hybridised these two genres. Look at content and layout.
The Daily Mail has hybridised the two genres of tabloid and broadsheet newspapers through the use of the content and layout.
Firstly, they have mixed soft and hard news into one newspaper. Soft news is usually associated with tabloid newspapers, news like celebrity and sport news. Hard news is usually associated with broadsheet newspapers, 'quality journalism' like political news and coverage of foreign affairs. In the example given, the Daily Mail have published a story on foreign affairs, with the main image being of Trump and the Queen. It suggests that the UK and US have a good relationship. It also discusses political news, labelling Jeremy Corbyn through the lexis as a 'pigmy' in the headline, with the cover being laid out for it to be next to a minor image of Jeremy Corbyn, with an angry facial expression. n addition, it has also taken influence from the font of many broadsheet newspapers, the serif font being used connotes the papers traditional and nationalistic views, giving the newspaper a sense of authority. It also suggests that the newspaper is reliable.
Media language theory
Levi-Strauss: Structuralism
- This is the study of hidden rules that shape a structure to communicate ideology or myths
- We understand the world and our place within it based on binary oppositions. For example: Night and day. We know it is not night if it is day.
Baudrillard: Postmodernism
- Postmodern society is concerned with hyper real simulations, play of signs and images.
- Social distinctions are no longer rigid; difference in class, gender, politics and culture become simulations.
Cover Analysis
The Daily Mail
The Guardian
Wednesday 25th November
Lesson 11: To explore the constructions of representations in papers and the impact of contexts on these representations
Dominant Group's Characteristics
- Middle aged
- Male
- Middle class
- White
- Capitalist
- Christian
- Heterosexual
- Able-bodied
- Western
- University educated
Dominant Ideology: The social experience, values and beliefs of the dominant group. If there is a dominant group there is a subordinate group.
Contexts
Ownership
- Media barons will want to represent the dominant group, those of a similar class or higher to them. This may not be the same with journalists, as they might not conform to this dominant ideology and rebel against it.
Economic factors
- If the newspaper itself is capitalist, it will want to protect it's dominant characteristics.
- If the newspaper is tabloid, it will more than likely use a sensationalised representations. Broadsheet newspapers will likely use more formal representations.
News values and political bias
- The target audience will heavily influence representations. If the audience fit into the majority of the dominant group, the newspaper will represent the dominant group in a positive light.
- The political agenda will also have a major effect. If the newspaper is right wing, they will represent the right wing in a positive light. If the newspaper if left wing, the will represent the left wing in a positive light.
Regulation
- If the newspaper is self regulated, they will more than likely have a care free attitude to how they represent certain groups, individuals or stories in their newspaper.
Examples:
- On the MailOnline website, they have represented Boris Johnson and Priti Patel in a positive light. This is due to their right wing bias.
Combination
- May focus on a range of stories represented in a similar way
- Usually reinforces common representations of the DG, through celebrity or popular culture
- Tend to repeat representations from edition to edition so that it becomes expected
Broadsheet
- May focus on a range of stories represented in different ways
- May question common representations
- Combination of content may aim to provide a range of perspectives
Selection and combination
Paper 1
Number of stories: 2
Issues Covered: 2
Groups represented: Males, females, older generation and foreign people
Groups absent: BAME, homosexuals, disabled people, young people and other religions
Representations:
Males and females are represented as equal, with the older generation being represented in a positive light. Foreign people are being represented in a negative light. Groups that are not represented at all included black people and ethnic minorities, homosexuals and people with disabilities. There is also a lack of religious people mentioned in the cover. This is because forward thinking views challenge the newspaper's ideologies, protecting the dominant ideology.
Paper 2
Number of stories: 7
Issues covered: 5-7 (cannot read the bottom stories)
Groups represented: Males, females, foreign people and BAME
Groups absent: Older generation, younger generation, disabled people, homosexuals and other religions
Representations:
Males and females are represented as equal, yet foreign people and ethnic minorities are represented negatively. There is a lack of a range of generations, disabled people, homosexuals represented suggesting the newspaper stabilises this dominant ideology.
Stereotypes
Class
- Working class people are represented in an extremely negative light, they are shown to be effortless, unintelligent and 'tax avoiders'.
- This negative stereotype is due to the fact a positive representation challenges the dominant ideology. A working class person could not be in a position of power as they are seen a not fit to be in this position.
Age
- Young people are represented in a negative light, they are seen reckless and lazy.
- In reality, this is because they challenge the dominant ideology. Young people are most likely to be the biggest advocates for change.
Gender
- Women tend to be represented in a negative manner. They are sometimes shown to be objects, or represented to show a lack of strength
Realism
Realism is the presentation of something as if it were real and what we would expect to see in real life.
Theory
Hall (representation) application: In the cover from The Daily Express, there is a lack of representation of black people and other ethnic minorities. There is a negative representation of foreign people and the use of stereotyping: "German declare war on our £". This connotes that the Daily Express are protecting this dominant ideology, a positive representation of foreign people would challenge this. This is exactly what Hall talked about in his representation theory. The Daily Express' negative representation of foreigners and lack of representations of ethnic minorities conveys their ideology.
Gauntlett (identity) application: In the cover from the Daily Express, they have represented heterosexual relationships in a complex manner. They have shown a ruined relationship in the cover line, with he husband being blamed for the death of the wife. In the plug however, they have shown a relationship between two old people where they are both happy, having won some money.
Van Zoonen (feminist) application: In the cover from the Daily Express, the only representation of women by themselves is in the plug, where she has got a free umbrella from buying the newspaper. It suggests that women are very materialistic and are there just to be models, rather than actually being involved in the stories.
Bell Hooks (feminist) application: In the cover from the Times, there is a lack of women and different races represented in a positive manner. There is a famous actor in the main image, yet has the same amount of power as the male. Chinese people have been represented in a negative manner, there is suggestions that they are installing a cyber attack. This reinforces this dominant ideology that there a white supremacist and capitalist patriarchy in place.
Wednesday 2nd December
Lesson 12: To analyse the constructions of representations in case studies and the impact of contexts on these representations
Contexts
Daily Mail Case Study
Owner, former and current editors all part of the dominant group. This will impact the choices in the way events, social issues and groups are represented.
- Economic and social contexts are all represented from a traditional perspective to reinforce their conservative value.
- As a mid market tabloid, it has a focus on reporting national current affairs alongside celebrity or entertainment news.
- These representations rely on:
- Sensationalised, personal and emotive journalism
- Prioritising positive representations of individuals in the DG, traditional family values, British culture/nationalism, right wing political ideology and the Conservative party.
- Potential negative representations of minority groups, not just through the reporting of these groups, but also by their absence.
Case Study application
How are events, issues, individuals and social groups represented on this cover through processes of selection and combination?
The Daily Mail have represented different events, issues, individuals and social groups in different manner through processes of selection and combination.
Firstly, they have represented certain events differently through combining two different stories on this cover. From the top of the cover to the bottom, we read the start of the headline: "The Pomp" and the main image, of Trump meeting the Queen with his wife. Further down the cover, we read the rest of the headline: "... and the Pygmy" combined with a minor image of a protest. This combination of image and lexis, along with the stories, represents the first story in a positive manner compared to the negative representation of the second one. Trump meeting the Queen is represented as a formal event, with significant importance, however a protest in London is represented as disgraceful, as if it is causing trouble. We can apply Levi-Strauss' structuralism theory to this. The use of binary oppositions helps create the meaning of this front cover. It is comparing a formal event to a troublesome one, helping to reinforce that the protest is out of order. Alongside the theory, it is an example of political contexts in the news industry. Owners will reflect their news bias through the content they produce for their audiences, and in this example, the Daily Mail are reflecting their right wing bias.
Next, the Daily Mail have represented individuals in two different manners on this cover. This is through the selection of two major images on the front cover. In the main image, we see a very formal image of the Queen, Trump and his wife. They are all stood up with Trump and his wife with great posture, looking happy. In the minor image however, we see an image of a protest which Jeremy Corbyn is at the centre of, looking extremely angry. This selection of images represents the three in the main image as very important, sensible individuals who should be looked up to. However it represents Corbyn as an individual who is out of order. This fits into Bell Hooks' theory, the Daily Mail have represented anything other than dominant group in a negative light, reinforcing the positive representation of this dominant group. We can also apply more political contexts here. Newspapers will support and dislike certain key political figures which is expressed through the content they produce. Here the Daily Mail are representing Jeremy Corbyn in a negative light, due to their dislike towards him.
As well as this, these, there is an absence of variety in the representations of different CAGED (class, age, gender, ethnicity, disability) the front cover. This suggests that the Daily Mail is looking down most of the people outside of the dominant group, reinforcing traditional values. The exception is the representation of Melania and the Queen, yet they are still white and middle class. These representations could be due to the Daily Mail's traditional right wing capitalist values, they are giving a positive representation of the dominant group as anything else will challenge the dominant group. Here we can apply Hall's theory, as the Daily Mail have left out any representation of a variety of CAGED, as representing them in a positive light would challenge the dominant group expressing their dominant ideologies. Here we can apply social context as well. News reflects society t the time it has been produced, and a lack of representation of people outside the dominant group suggests their is still inequality in society today.
How does the Mail construct stereotypes to communicate ideology and position audiences?
The Daily Mail have constructed stereotypes to help communicate their ideologies and position their audience in a place where they have similar values and ideologies.
Firstly, they have constructed a stereotype about the working class which conveys them as reckless and troublesome. In the minor image, there is a group of protesters with Jeremy Corbyn at the front. There is also the second half of the headline positioned to the left of it: "... and the Pygmy". This represents the middle class in this way as they are being seen as trouble makers, protesting for the opposite of what the Daily Mail and their audience believe in. This is the reason they Daily Mail have represented them this manner. They believe that any positive representation of protesters would challenge the dominant group, who make up the majority of the audience and journalists and editors at the Daily Mail. Here we can apply
Furthermore, the Daily Mail have constructed a negative stereotype about Jeremy Corbyn and the left wing agenda. This is again through the minor image and the rest of the headline, as the group of protesters is being lead by Jeremy Corbyn. As well as this, they have positioned the image below an image of Trump, his wife and the Queen when they met, which was a very formal event. This comparison represents right wing people of power as more formal than left wing people of power, who are out protesting. This stereotype is influenced by the Daily Mail's right wing agenda, they will be more biased towards Trump as the newspaper and him will share similar views.
Lastly, they have constructed a negative stereotype towards people of different races, homosexuals and people of with disabilities. This simply through the absence of these social groups in the front cover. These stories and the negative representation of Corbyn and the left wing is of more importance. This is because any representation of these social groups challenges the dominant group which most the Daily Mail's target audience fit into. Here we can apply Gilroy's ethnicity and post colonialism theory. The Daily Mail have left out representations of different races expressing their right wing agenda against people not of white ethnicity, inherently suggesting they are inferior.
The Guardian Case Study
Despite being owned by a trust which aims to support diversity, the members are largely white, British and middle class. Therefore, representations from a perspective of white middle class. The editor invites columnists from a range of social groups to provide diversity. So they provide opportunity for minority groups but reflect values from a liberal middle class viewpoint.
- As a broadsheet, it has a focus on reporting national and global current affairs and civic issues that are of public interest. Suggests objective representations, however, news values will still be applied by the editor.
- As they have a centre left political bias, they will look to choose positive representations that support this and be critical to the dominant political group.
- Guardian staff and target audience are largely white, middle class, British and University educated. So, although it aims to construct positive representations of a range of events, issues and individuals, the perspective will always be with some bias from the DG.
How are events, issues, individuals and social groups represented on this cover through processes of selection and combination?
The Guardian have used processes of selection and combination to represent certain events, issues, individuals and social groups.
Firstly, they have represented people with disabilities as less able bodied as people with disabilities. They have used a minor image in the plug which is of famous footballers, very able bodied athletes who a lot of people will recognise. However, there is a lack of representation of people with disabilities on the cover, suggesting that they are stereotyping people with disabilities as less abled, they are not on the same level as these 'able bodied' high profile athletes. Despite being owned by a trust, the Guardian is still ran by members of the dominant group: white, male, middle class and university educated people which could help influence this stereotype throughout the front cover. We can apply Baudrillard's Postmodernism theory, there is almost this assumption that people with disabilities are less abled than any other people, becoming a simulation in society.
Furthermore, the Guardian have represented an individual in a negative manner. Donald Trump, is represented as a bad leader and liar, criticising other individuals without reason. The headline reads: "I didn't criticise PM. That is fake news, says Trump". The lexis suggests that the only evidence for this is Trump himself: "says Trump", suggesting that he may be a liar. This is also combined with the main image, which shows Trump speaking to something or someone with an angry facial expression, suggesting that he may be getting annoyed at a whatever he is speaking to, expressing bad leadership qualities. This representation may be influenced by the Guardian's left wing agenda, meaning they will have a more negative opinion towards Trump. This disprove's Bell Hook's theory, the Guardian are representing Trump, a capitalist white male, in a negative light. Subsequently, this opposes this capitalist society Hooks suggested has been created.
Lastly, the Guardian have represented certain events in a negative light as well. They have represented the meeting of Donald Trump and Theresa May as un-successful. Firstly, the headline references that Trump has been accused of criticising Theresa May, although he is claiming this to be fake news. The main image is also really awkward, with Trump looking like he is shouting at something or someone, and Theresa May is walking extremely awkwardly. They are representing the events in this manner due to the newspaper's centre/left bias. They will have a negative opinion on Trump and Theresa May, due to her being leader of the Conservative Party at the time. Van Zoonen's theory can be applied here, the main picture shows Trump facing the criticism and Theresa May looking away conveying the gender roles in society that have been constructed.
How does the Guardian construct stereotypes to communicate ideology and position audiences?
The Guardian constructed stereotypes to communicate their ideologies and position their audience in a place where they are exposed to and believe in the same ideologies.
Firstly, they have create a stereotype around people with disabilities. This stereotype is that they are less able bodied than other people. They have included a minor image in the plug of notable footballers, who are extremely abled bodied people. There is then an absence of representation of people with disabilities across the cover, suggesting that they are less abled bodied than any other people across the cover. They do not deserve the opportunity to be represented. Despite being owned by a trust, the Guardian is still ran by members of the dominant group, which may influence this stereotype. This exposes the audience to this belief, which they will more than likely believe in, as the target audience of the Guardian is also made up of members of the dominant group.
Furthermore, the Guardian have constructed a stereotype about people of right wing agendas. They are representing them as not fit for these roles in power. The main story is about how Trump has been criticised, and the only evidence to disprove this is his own word: "I didn't criticise PM. That is fake news, says Trump". The Guardian is suggesting that Trump is not a convincing leader, he it not providing substantial evidence for what he is saying. This stereotype could be influenced by the Guardian left wing/centrist agenda, they will more than likely have a negative opinion towards Trump due to his right wing agenda, values and ideologies. This will position the audience in a position where they will be exposed to this stereotype, which they will more than likely believe in as the majority share similar ideologies with the Guardian.
Lastly, the Guardian have constructed a negative stereotype towards BAMEs and members of the LGBT community. This is through the absence of representation of these social groups on the front cover. There are white people represented throughout the whole cover, with images of white people of power on the major image. The exception is Dele Alli, a black footballer for England, yet he is only in the minor image and his image is smaller than the other footballers. This representation may be influenced by the fact that the Guardian is ran by members of the dominant group. Although is it owned by a trust, it is still ran by a dominant group majority. This exposes the audience to this belief, which they will more than likely believe in, as the target audience of the Guardian is also made up of members of the dominant group.
Theory
Online News
Wednesday 9th December
Lesson 13: To explore the industry, regulation and ownership of print an online, social and participatory news
Industry
Which factors have led to the increase in online news?
The increase in the use of technology and a decrease in the demand for print news.
How do owners monetise news content?
Through subscriptions, donations and advertisements.
How has the development of technology and digital convergence impacted the production, distribution and circulation of online news?
The whole process is much quicker due to development in technology and digital convergence. We are now able to produce an online news article much quicker through digital convergence. It also means we can distribute is quicker and circulates easier and further.
How is online news regulated and why is than an ongoing issue?
It is regulated by the newspaper themselves. For example the Guardian are solely self regulated and any issues are reported to them. This is an ongoing issue as any newspapers can release fake news online with far less consequences than if in printed format.
Theorists can that we can already apply are Bandura from the audience theories. Audience's are indirectly influenced by the news, in particular social media, where news can be found within a notification. Also, you may not even have to see the news to be influenced by it. other can spread the news to you which could be from either online or print news.
The MailOnline
- It was launched in 2003 and rebranded as a separate site in 2006. It has constantly been adapted to fit with consumer preferences.
- Combined with the print paper, it has a 20.1% share in the market.
- They offer the MailOnline in for different forms:
- Desktop
- Mobile
- Tablet Forms
- Social Media
- Unlike some papers, advertising in profitable for the MailOnline. In 2017, it's revenue was £119 Million. This shows the success of the brand and because of this remain as the number one competitor.
- The move to a separate site in 2006 had benefit for the following categories.
Production
- The content online is exclusive to the MailOnline.
- Although it has a separate editor, it's news values remain the same.
- Content features a broad mix of international news as well as UK sports, finance and travel. The site is heavily dominated by images.
Distribution
- The MailOnline is distributed through several platforms (website, apps and social media).
- This reduces distribution costs.
- Enables a global reach to countries such as India, USA and Australia.
- It also attracts a younger audience.
Circulation
- Since 2015, it is the most visited English news website in the world.
- One third of it's daily traffic comes from the USA and Australia.
- The website has 15 million visits daily, there are 10 million readers on Snapchat and the Facebook page has 1 billion monthly video views.
Regulation
- As a member of the IPSO, readers can complain about the MailOnline to any of its online platforms.
- Since 2015, there have been 39 complaints made with only 2 upheld. Much content isn't regulated due to the participatory nature.
- The MailOnline journalists are tasked with filtering content that can possibly cause harm.
Tasks
- Production has been affected as DMGT have shut a printing factory due to digitalisation of news. Distribution has been affected as they now distribute news in desktop and mobile form. Circulation has been affected as they can now reach a global audience instantly.
The Guardian
- It was launched in 2008, developing the earlier news website GuardianUnlimited.
- Combined with the print newspaper and the Observer, they are now the third largest newspaper in the world. This shows that theguardian.com is highly successful.
- It has roughly 34.7 million monthly users with versions for Australia and the USA.
- It is offered in four different forms:
- Desktop
- Mobile
- Tablet formats
- Social Media
- In 2017 it had a digital revenue of £108 million, an increase of 15% and 50% of GMG revenue.
- It has developed digital content since 1994, however digital convergence has benefits for them in these categories:
Production
- The online version retains the same values, offering additional features such as the opinion section.
- It also covers niche section sections such as business and entertainment.
- There is a rolling news service that is constantly being updated.
Distribution
- It is digitally distributed across several platforms (desktop, mobile etc). This reduces any distribution costs.
- It has a global reach with specific versions for Australia and the USA.
- It is also distributed through a partnership with Yahoo with global audiences having access.
Circulation
- Since 2015, the online version's circulation has increased by 25%.
- It had 34.7 million monthly users, with 1.15 million users by mobile or tablet.
Regulation
- As a self regulator, it is the role of the Reader's Editor to regulate both the online and print version.
- It can reach up to 140 million users, so regulating isn't easy.
- In deciding which complaints to investigate, they use a criteria which determines how serious the complaint is and the risk it poses to the audience and the reputation of GMG.
Explain how the global cultural context in which online news us produced influences the content offered to audiences. Refer to the MailOnline and theguardian.com to support your answer
1. How the internet has encouraged the globalisation of news
2. Link of the points from the cultural context slide to global and appeal and change in content, find a relevant point for the newspaper
3. How the MailOnline has reached a global audience
4. Find and example to support this
5. Hoe the Guardian has reached a global audience
6. Find an example to support this
7. How do the online versions encourage readers to participate
Wednesday 6th January
Lesson 14: To explore audience appeal and use of print, online, social and participatory news
- Ad-like - Online advertisements
- Click stream - A sequence of links an internet user follows.
- Echo chambers - An online environment where individuals only encounter opinions or beliefs that reinforce their own.
- Front door traffic - Online traffic where the audience have directly visited the website.
Audience Reach
- New technologies and digital convergence means owners can reach different sectors of the market at any time of the day.
- This allows them to extend their market, meaning they reach 84% of men and women and 88% of 18-34 year olds.
- Owners are able to reach a millennial audience who normally wouldn't read print news. They achieve a much broader reach across generations, which can appeal to advertisers. Although not as effective as print advertising, online advertising is just as successful due to it's reach.
- Owners reach audiences by identifying and providing content that appeals to them. Online news has this advantage due to click streaming.
- Usual recommendations are the most popular or similar stories, creating an echo chamber for the reader.
How do news brands reach audiences using online platforms?
News brands can reach audiences extremely easier through the use of online platforms rather than print news. For example, digital convergence has allowed for news to be easily accessible on mobile devices. This means audiences can simply access any news they want after a few clicks on their phone. News apps on mobile phones can also notify the reader of any news stories just in. Rather than having to go out and buy a newspaper, or just previously having to use a computer to access the news, we can access it when we want and where we want.
What questions are raised?
This can be concerning in two ways. Readers can start to be influenced by possibly fake or sensationlised news much easier. Online, it is much easier to put out fake news. Audiences tend to be less concerned by fake news online, as most readers simply scroll past it. However for those who are more susceptible to fake news are more at risk from being influenced. This is due to the ability to being able to access it extremely easily. As well as this, click streaming is likely to create echo chambers for the reader where articles only about their interests and opinions are recommended. Readers are then more susceptible to fake news due to it possibly supporting their opinions or being of interest to them.
MailOnline - Audience
The mail online content is accessed by 13 million daily users.
- 73.3% are aged 35+
- 26.7% aged between 15-25
- Most visits are from the ABC1 group
DMGT says that their success is due to a 'consistent application of of core principles' which are:
- Creating addictive and timely content.
- Using data and analytics effectively.
- Making front door traffic and engagement a priority.
- Reinforcing the 'Daily Mail' brand.
They also use:
- Cheap video that tells stories originally.
- Content to drive direct traffic to desktop and mobile homepages.
- Discount codes.
- Click streaming to analyse audience preferences.
Harcup and O'Neil application:
- Celebrity - There is a story about Love Island star Zara Holland and her complications due to breaking Covid restrictions.
- Entertainment - There is a story about the death of a Coronation Street star.
- Surprise - Multiple articles about Kim Kardashian's possible divorce.
- Bad News - There is article with the headline: "1.1 Million Britons have Covid"
- Good News - One of the stories is about how happy a doctor felt after receiving the Covid vaccine.
- Relevance - The main story is about the UK's third lockdown.
- Follow up - Many stories about the new Covid vaccine, after it was the main headline news last month and still extremely relevant.
- News agenda - There is a story about China and how they did not let the WHO investigate, representing the country in a negative light.
Media Language:
- Layout - The website has the most relevant stories at the top, meaning that the reader is more likely to click it. Less relevant stories to the target audience are further down the page.
- Colours - Blue, white and splashes of red, conveying their nationalistic views. There is also red used in the subheading: "Lockdown: Day 289" to help sensationlise the fact we are in lockdown, whereas for most of it there hasn't been one.
- Font - Aggressive, large capitals, bald and serif used for the headline, and bald and sans serif font mixed with capitals for emphasis in the stand firsts for each story.
- Mode of address - Some articles have direct address: "We need another Dunkirk - not disaster" to again sensationlise the story for the reader, in reality most of the stories cannot be changed.
- Lexis - Long paragraphs for each stand first, appeals more to the target audience due to ABC1 category and likelihood of higher eduction.
Uses and gratifications:
- Personal Identity - Stories about lockdown which the audience will definitely be able to relate to.
- Information - Every story informs the reader about something happening in society.
- Entertainment - Stories about ex Coronation Street stars and Piers Morgan.
- Social interaction - Each story provides a topic which can be discussed through word of mouth or social media.
theguardian.com - Audience
theguardian.com content is accessed by 4 million users daily
- 67% are aged 35+
- 33% are aged between 15-25
- Majority ABC1
Digital news provision is highly successful and they believe their audience to be very much consumers of content. Their audience can be broken down into the following groups:
- 34.7 million monthly global unique users
- 24.2 million UK monthly cross platform users
They lead the market when it comes to providing news on Twitter and desktop, using click streaming analyse audience preferences.
Harcup and O'neil application:
- The Power Elite - Stories about the education secretary headline the site, as well as Boris Johnson.
- Celebrity - There is a headlining article about Julian Assange being refused bail.
- Entertainment - One of the sections on the main page is sport, full of sport news.
- Surprise - A headlining story is about the Democrats taking control in Georgia, after Trump called for extra votes to be found.
- Bad news - There is a section on the main page dedicated to Covid data, showcasing the high number of cases.
- Good news - Along with this is a section dedicated to Covid news, where there is an article about a new vaccine being approved.
- Magnitude - The headlining story is about exams, stating that grades will be teacher assessed, which effect many across the UK.
- Relevance - All of the headlining stories are of great relevance.
- Follow up - Articles about a new Covid vaccine, which was massive in the news a month ago.
- News agenda - Most of the article are not opinionated, with there being a section dedicated to opinions. This fits into the Guardian's value of producing honest and fair news.
Media Language:
- Layout - Headlining stories are at the top of the main page to attract the audience. There are dedicated sections further down depending on your interests.
- Colours - The use of yellow and red for the lexis and main headline helps it stand out for the audience. There is also the use of blue, white and red mixed together, connoting that the newspaper is British.
- Font - No use of capital letters, use of serif font with a bald font used for the headlines of the stories. Lack of capitals letters results in less sensationalised stories, connoting the Guardian's fair and honest news values.
- Mode of address - Indirect mode of address, again connoting that the news is fair and honest.
- Lexis - Longer paragraphs mixed with some complicated words, appeals more to the Guardian's target audience due their ABC1 status and their likelihood of a university education.
Uses and Gratifications:
- Personal Identity - A lot of the stories are about Covid, which a reader can relate to.
- Information - All news stories provide information for the reader.
- Entertainment - The website has a dedicated section to sport.
- Social interaction - A lot of the stories provide information which can be discussed or debated. there is also the ability to comment and reply to other comments on articles.
Theory application
Bandura:
For both of online versions, we can be directly influenced by visiting and reading the media online. we can also be indirectly influenced through both of their apps. For example: notifications about news stories, we don't even have to be reading the media to be notified about it.
Gerber:
Exposure to certain opinions on the news stories will start to influence our opinions, especially if an echo chamber is created. Both the MailOnline and theguardian.com take advantage of this, recommending stories for the reader. Negative news stories can also put us in a bad mood.
Hall:
Certain readers will either have a dominant, negotiated or oppositional reading of stories on each platform, with the reader being recommended stories about it.
Jenkins:
On both platforms, audiences can choose whether they click or not on certain stories, influencing how there feed looks. They can participate in interaction with others through comments on certain articles.
Shirky:
Similarly, on both platforms, users can shape their own feed through the creation of echo chambers due to click streaming. They can pick and choose what stories they read rather than just being offered a range like in print news.
Wednesday 13th January
LO: To explore the use of media language in online, social and participatory news.
Conventions (Online News)
- Online news shares many conventions with print news, but they have been adapted.
- For example, more headlines on the homepage compared to a front page. Breaking news can easily be updated.
- They will also merge different communication elements from print, audio and video onto the webpage.
- Key differences include greater use of subheadings, and audience interaction elements such as social media links, comments and share options.
Conventions (Social Media)
- While Twitter and Facebook borrow media language elements , their news content looks very different to print news.
- These platforms use conventions to engage the audience and amplify the concept of belonging to an online community and participating through the media form.
- The difference between Facebook and Twitter is that Twitter does not have a direct comment sections, yet you can comment by retweeting the tweet with a reply.
Analysis Task
- Banner - Contains the news logo for the BBC. It is easily recognisable for the audience.
- Navigation Bar - Provides various information for the audience, allows them to interact with and shape their own content. This is the same for the sidebar, sign in link and search bar.
- Adverts - No adverts due to it being the BBC.
- Headline - Bald to distinctively convey it is the headline. Basic lexis with good grammar to connote their fair news values.
- Font and typeface - Very basic fonts, with a bald font to help certain parts standout, again conveying their fair and honest news.
- Masthead - In the top left of the screen, fairly large which helps it connect the online version to the TV version.
- Colour Palette - Red, black and white. Basic colours to oppose sensationlised news, conveying their honesty.
MailOnline Websites/Social Media
Used here is a banner containing the masthead and a live ticker of days we have been in lockdown. There is packed navigation bar and search bar further down the page. There is a link to their Facebook in the top left, and you can find their other social media links further down the page. The sidebar is littered with ads and video ads pop up on the screen. News articles and images are found in the centre of the screen. Headlines appear above the articles with the main headline at the very top of the page. The colour palette is red, white and blue matching the Union Jack. Comments sections are on the actual article.
The headline is right at the top of the article. It is bald, large and in capital letters.The banner contains the masthead and the logo which is the royal coat of arms. Again there are adverts in the sidebars and and video ads pop up. The colour palette is the same as the homepage. Social media links are available under the headline. All of the article is available by scrolling down the centre of the page. Also, the comment section is right at the bottom
Both of the banners contain pictures of high profile people. The usernames and profile pictures help the audience connect the accounts to the print and desktop versions. The Twitter account has a caption with a link to the desktop versions. The Twitter account also has 2.5 Millions followers.
- Both print and online/social media have headlines, images and both online and print uses masthead. There is also the ability to include captions in both print and online/social media. As well as this bylines. Mainly layout media language can be used in both.
- There is the ability to comment on articles on both social media and desktop versions, as well as the ability to share articles. As well, links to other accounts and different versions. This is not the case for print versions.
- Use of the the profile picture, username and banner helps the audience to connect the social media account to the print or desktop versions.
- The use of comment buttons, links and comment sections conveys to the audience they can interact with the article or posts.
The MailOnline Analysis
- Headline - The headline is at the top of the article. It is bald and large, containing lexis like 'furious standoff'. They are sensationalising the story to gain cliks on the article. Connoting that they are pursuing profits.
- Main image - The main image is of the man in this 'furious standoff'. They are personalising the story, putting the blame onto one person being annoyed. This is again to sensationalise the story, their target audience would be much more interested in this, than a story about a delayed plane.
- Caption - Again, it personalises the story in a similar way. It gives a description of the man who was involved in the incident.
- Comments Button - It gives the reader the ability to discuss the story and shape their own content. They can give their own opinions and possibly be influenced by someone else.
The Guardian Websites/Social Media
The banner is organised, containing the masthead , log in button, search bar and support buttons. There are no social media links throughout the whole page. The sidebars contain the weather and date.There is a pop up advert when you click onto the page, however this can be removed. All news content can be found by scrolling down the page or exploring the navigation bar at the top. Headlines are found either below or to the side of a preview image of the article. The colour palette is red, blue, white and yellow. There is also the ability to comment on each article.
The banner is the same on both social media accounts.The masthead/username along with the profile picture helps the audience to connect the account with the desktop/print versions. The caption on Twitter contains a link to help support the Guardian. The Twitter account has 9.4 million followers and the Facebook has 8.4 Million likes.
- The similarities to media language in print is mainly in layout aspects. Headlines, subheadings, banners, mastheads, bylines and images can be used on both.
- Differences include the lack of interaction media language in print. Online and on social media takes advantage of comment sections, buttons and the ability to share articles online.
- The profile picture, banner and usernames help connect social media accounts and the online version to the print version.
- Comments sections, buttons and share links online and on social media gives the audience the opportunity to share articles and participate online.
The Guardian Analysis
- Headline - The headline is at the top of the article, giving a summary of the article. It is fair and honest, connoting the Guardian's news values.
- Images - The image gives the audience insight into the Prison itself, yet it doesn't prove or disprove the article. It simply helps the audience to understand the article better rather than having to envision what the prison looks like.
- Byline - The Byline is in bald, to help it standout to the audience. It also contains some complicated lexis, appealing to the educated target audience.
- Comments - The comments sections gives the audience the ability to shape their own content, it also gives them the opportunity to possibly be influenced by other people's opinions.
Theory Application
- Barthes - The denotations used (the media language) helps to connote either the MailOnline or theguardian.com's values and ideologies. The denotations and connotations create myths about their ideologies, helping the ideologies feel natural.
- Todorov - Some of the articles online fit into Todorov's narrative structure.
- Neale - Genres of different news can change due to relevance, demand or whether it was breaking news. Journalists can easily update online news websites; the genres of news available or the breaking news can change at the click of button.
- Levi Strauss - Both websites express binary opposing opinions or news values. It can shape the audience's views on the world, expressing the newspaper's views and ideologies.
- Baudrillard - Both newspapers can adapt a story to create a 'hyper-real' situation (fake news). This can fit to the social distinctions at the time of release.
Wednesday 20th January
LO: To analyse representations in online. social and participatory news
Representations in online news tend to reinforce the values, ideologies and viewpoint of the owner and news brand. However, compared to print news, online representations:
- Have an immediate global reach.
- Use a greater combination of media language conventions, such as video image and text. They help construct and combine representations and ideological values.
- Are accessed differently by readers and can be discussed through social participation to identify alternative viewpoints that maybe counter the preferred meaning.
- Clearly reinforce ideologies of individualism, globalism and consumerism.
Individualism - A social theory that emphasises the worth of the individual over the social group. It is associated with capitalist ideals of free enterprise, the pursuit of profitand the right to self-realisation and freedom.
Globalisation - A process by which the world is becoming increasingly interconnected due to increased trade and cultural exchange. This has seen greater trade and free movement of capital goods and services, with the most successful companies being multi national.
Consumerism - Encourages the acquisition of goods and services in ever increasing amounts. Economic policies emphasise consumption and are linked to the idea of individualism with consumption as the free choice of the consumer. It cuts across social groups such as religion, age, gender and ethnicity in focusing on the interests of the consumer.
MailOnline - Representation
Representations offered in the MailOnline not only reflect the values and agenda if the DMGT, but must also appeal to a global audience to maximise profits. Representations rely on:
- Sensationlised and personal journalism.
- Positive representations of: Individuals in the family gorup, traditional family values, global and westernised cultural values, right wing political ideology and the values of consumerism and individualism.
- The possible prioritising of negative representations of minority groups, not only through news story but by their absence.
- Headline "Vaccine Blame Game" is very sensationalised and exaggerated. Involving Patel directly personalises the story.
- Priti Patel, who was born to a Ugandan-Indian family, has been represented negatively. She is directly blaming people other than the conservative party.
- The story aligns with traditional right wing ideologies, putting down left wing progressive ideologies. The article shows the American secretary of state is blaming liberals for blocking 'free speech'. A mass group of people have influenced this according to him, reinforcing individualism.
According to the MailMetroMedia, the MailOnline produces engaging and picture first content that is easily accessible. Online news platforms are commodities made for consumption, thus reinforcing globalisation, consumerism and individualism. The promotion of consumerism in this globalised context enables it to provide a specific type of online news that is distinct from its print version. This marketing decision indicates that the drive to pursue profit, along with media language conventions, can influence the choices made by the editor.
- Headline - In bald, consisting of positive lexis about Donald Trump: "Over and not out!". represents the individual of Donald Trump in a positive manner. He is being represented as determined to come back from his loss in the election.
- Image - Low angle shot of Donald Trump representing him as a powerful figure. Donald Trump is speaking whilst his wife is stood back, representing males as more powerful than females.
- Subheadings - Again consisting of positive lexis representing him in a positive manner.
- Font - Rather neutral, bald to stand out, no sensationlised capital letters. Represents Trump again in a positive light, he is not leaving with any issues and is dealing with the situation sensibly so there is no reason to sensationlise the story.
The MailOnline constructs representations through the use of positive and negative stereotypes, reinforcement of traditionalist values and wider ideological values. The key ideological messages created are:
- Dominant groups have social power.
- Individualism is important suggesting readers should prioritse individual needs.
- Globalisation benefits society.
- Consumerism is natural suggesting that readers' daily lives are structured around consumption.
Donald Trump is being represented to have more power than Melania Trump used in this image used by the Daily Mail. Reinforces that dominant groups have more social power.
Individuals have been focused on in this article, rather than the greater story of Trump leaving the Whitehouse and Biden being inaugurated. Suggests that individualism is important as stories about individuals is being prioritised.
Pfizer is a pharmaceutical company that is globalised. It has produced a vaccine against Covid 19 showing that globalisation has benefited society.
This article abut a company having to fill in extensive forms to send food to the UK is suggesting that consumerism is being affected by Brexit. It suggests that consumerism is important as without a demand for it companies would not send food to the certain countries.
Theory Application
Hall: Throughout the whole website, there are no major headings involving ethnic minorities. This absence connotes the DMGT's traditional values, as representation of ethnic minorities challenges the dominant group. There is an exception however, there is a story about Priti Patel, yet she is represented negatively fitting into their values.
Gauntlett: The main headline is a Priti Patel discussing the vaccine and loackdown. She is a big conservative figure yet is an ethnic minority. The MailOnline have decided to represent her negatively to not challenge the dominant group, although she is part of the right wing party.
Van Zoonen: There is a story about a female celebrity who is 'reminiscing on her svelte frame' after becoming pregnant. It is objectifying women, rather than the story focusing on her being pregnant, it is focusing on her previous figure.
Bell Hooks: There is an article with a headline discussing Trump's pardons of white, powerful males before he leaves power rather than focusing on the new progressive party in power, who have a black female as their vice president.
Butler: The main headline conveys Priti Patel in a negative light and that she is failing the task of distributing the vaccine. Suggests that as a woman she is unable to complete this task whereas if it was a male it would be a different case. Trump's inability to regain presidency has not be represented negatively, any news articles just show that he is making a new party.
Gilroy: An absence of representation of black, African, American and Caribbean people helps reinforce the superiority of the white western civilisation.
Wednesday 27th January
LO: To analyse representations in online, social and participatory news
theguardian.com - Representation
The representations offered in theguardian.com extend those from the print version but must also appeal to a global audience for the website to have global reach and maximise profit.
As an online tabloid, it would be expected to report global human interest stories featuring celebrities and entertainment - this is hard to see when compared to other online tabloids however. Its representation of these individual events and social groups rely on:
- Balanced and liberal journalism
- Prioritising public interest stories that represent the following issues: Politics and current affairs, social welfare, global and westernised values, diverse representations of social groups, centre-left political ideology alongside the arts, culture, sports and lifestyle.
- Here we can see examples of politics and current affairs and centre left political ideologies. Right eing Boris Johnson has been represented negatively, with left wing Keir Starmer being represented as intelligent.
- There is also a wide range of social groups represented here s well as social welfare. Different social groups being represented as equal, all with their certain upsetting stories. There is also a lifestyle tab for people to access news to certain cultures.
theguardian.com may offer a different viewpoint to other online news platforms, it is still made doe consumption, thus reinforcing globalisation, consumerism and individualism as ideologies.
- Consumerism allows GMG to extend the content from the Guardian across its online news platforms, building on its brand values via a loyal audience who are encouraged to continue consuming the brand. This had increased traffic to the site and improved revenue for GMG, suggesting the representations constructed are appealing to its audience and therefore advertisers.
- This indicates that the need to increase profit doesn't have to be at the expense of fidnding new readers with different news content.
- Headline - Large, bald and serif font. It represents climate change as an issue that needs to be addressed as soon as possible. It also represents Boris and the conservative government as the fault for this, they need to put in new laws to help combat climate change.
- Image and Caption - It represents climate change as an issue that the public can also address as well. The image contains a mass traffic jam, which can be avoided by people taking other modes of transport, and the caption contains lexis that will make us feel the need to as well.
- Subheading - Represents climate change as a horrible thing that needs to have a solution to the problem. It is bald and only just smaller than the headline suggesting it is important. The lexis is rather upsetting, as it discusses the death a young girl that is possibly linked to climate change.
theguardian,com constructs representations through the use of positive and negative stereotypes. These are:
- Dominant groups have social power - There is diversity in the social groups shown, however individual representations of white, middle aged, and middle class men dominate the stories selected.
- Individualism is complicated - Freedom of speech and self expression are celebrated and seen as important aspects of the human experience. But individualism favours the individual over the group.
- Globalisation benefits society - It is represented as enabling access to develop knowledge out the world, allowing readers interconnection with a wider community to share knowledge, ideas and values.
- Consumerism is a part of everyday life - Representations of consumerism are embedded within the consumption of news as knowledge that can develop readers individually and socially.
- The dominant group have social power here. Both Boris Johnson and Keir Starmer are white, middle aged men in positions of power.
- Again, individuals are being fore fronted in these various stories about Covid deaths. The individual voice is being put in front of the group voice.
- Globalisation is being represented as useful here. A global company that has produced a Covid vaccine is being represented in a positive light, they are against any claims about pulling out from talks with the EU.
- Consumerism here is being represented as useful and part of everyday life. Tattoos are now seen as more normal, not as ugly and books, film, food and music are part of everyday life, which can be seen as consumerism.
Theory Application
Hall: Applying Hall's representations theory, we can clearly see that the Guardian has left wing ideologies. The lexis in the headline of the main article is criticizing Boris Johnson, right wing conservative party leader: "makes Scotland trip despite concerns over whether an essential trip". However, they a lack of representation of disabled people helps to empower the dominant group.
Gauntlett: There is a story about the controversy behind the Covid vaccine produced by AstraZeneca, yet there is a section about UK Coronavirus data showing the positives behind the vaccine. It enforces the Guardian's values of giving fair and honest news shoeing different opinions on each side of the argument.
Van Zoonen: All of the headlining stories consist of males in important roles in society, rather than women. It reinforces the idea that the dominant group are powerful and that men are in the powerful positions in society.
Bell Hooks: A lack of representation of individuals outside of the dominant group reinforces the white supremacist capitalist patriarchy that Bell Hooks discussed.
Butler: In the sport section all of the headlining stories are about male sport and issues within them. There is little to no focus on women sports. This unfortunately contributes to certain gender roles that have been created.
Gilroy: There is an absence of representation of black African, American and Carribean races across the whole website. The under representation suggest reinforces the dominant group.
News Contexts
Wednesday 3rd February
LO: To explore the contexts of the industry
- Contexts will be required in answers. These include historical, economic, political, social and cultural.
Historical
- Newspapers are the oldest media forms, dating back to the 17th Century in the UK.
- Mass readership of newspapers arose in Britain in the late 19th Century with the extension of education and the and the vote. Also due to an increase in mass consumption and urban popular culture.
- The print press has been shaped by developments in technology, which has impacted the way in news is produced and circulated.
- Since the 1980s, the digital age has impacted the printed press to the extent that the industry has had to change in response.
Economic
- The British Industry contributes significantly to the British economy.
- Newspaper in Capitalist societies are produced to be sold for profit.
- Technological advances have impacted the circulation of print news with the rise of online news.
- The economic structure and funding of the production of and distribution of newspapers relies circulation sales and advertising.
- Current funding models in the UK must be reviewed if UK newspapers are to survive.
- Ownership models are moving from trust and proprietor companies to cross media converged companies with a global reach and focus on profit.
- Ownership of market shares has to be monitored to ensure competition and plurality in the news industry.
Political
- A free press, self regulation and The Fourth Estate are important in democratic societies.
- Protective coverage gives editors power over information that reaches mass audiences.
- Newspapers will reflect their political bias which increases in times of political conflict, e.g. Brexit.
- Owners and editors support key political figures and reflect their political values in their news reporting, often owning newspapers to gain political influence.
- Reporting on the government and the opposition will influence readers, so that when an election is held the result may benefit the political party that the newspaper supports.
- Government legislation, reviews and policy affect ownership, practice and the regulation of the news in the UK.
- Government can review the ownership of news titles every 4-5 years to ensure plurality in the market, they can also intervene to prevent merges/deals if news owners have a majority share in the market.
Social
- Gatekeeping the production. distribution and circulation of news means it is a socially constructed product by owners and journalists.
- The news industry is highly visible in our daily lives, run by owners in dominant positions.
- It also reflects society at the time the news is produced.
- It reinforces and comments on our social institutions. Examples include law, government, finance, religion and education.
- Frequent reports on current affairs, the economy, crime, employment, poverty, alongside health and entertainment.
- News productions chooses which individuals and social groups to include, reflecting their views on people in society.
- Overall, news shapes our social consciousness.
Cultural
- News in the UK supports a Conservative of British culture which reinforces cultural norms.
- Postmodern mixing of genres is reflected in changing newspaper conventions and greater representation of diversity.
- News stories feature cultural events, traditions and behaviors that are considered important by audiences.
- Reading news daily is a cultural tradition embedded in the British public.
- Increasing consumerism means that audiences expect more entertainment from newspapers and accept more marketing strategies.
- Recent trends in audience behavior shows a preference for online media.
Daily Mail Contexts
- Historical - It is a print newspaper from the modern era
- Economic - The Daily Mail is a newspaper owned by DMGT, a conglomerate which aims to make a profit. They rely on circulation sales and advertisements. The digital age has resulted in them adapting to a significant drop in circulation sales, they now have an online version called the 'MailOnline'. The DMGT have the largest share in the print market.
- Political - The Daily Mail have a right wing bias, in support of the Conservative party in British politics. We can see this on the cover through a negative representation of Jeremy Corbyn and a positive representation of a key figure of right wing politics, Donald Trump.
- Social - The Daily Mail are producing news that reflect issues and events present in society at the time. For example, Donald Trump meeting the Queen and Jeremy Corbyn attending a protest. The representation of these issues can shape our social consciousness and our opinions on certain key figures and social groups in society.
- Cultural - a newspaper everyday is embedded in British society. Newspapers reflect the culture they are made in as well as the newspaper's values and ideologies. For example, in this newspaper, the main story is about Trump meeting the Queen. The British public is concerned with that event due to it being the Queen. If it was any other nation's key figure, we would be less interested.
MailOnline
- Historical - The MailOnline is a website produced by DMGT as a result of adapting to a decrease circulation sales because of the dogital age.
- Economic - The MailOnline is a website created by DMGT. There had been a significant decrease in circulation sales leading to them needing t adapt. There is ow a preference fr Online news which they took advantage of. This contributes to the profits made by DMGT, which is their focus.
- Political - The MailOnline are expressing their right wing nationalistic views by supporting Brexit. "Loyalists threaten port staff for checking goods from Britain".
- Social - The MailOnine are reflecting issues in the present. The main headline here is abut how Brexit is dividing Ireland which is extremely relevant Their representation of issues can shape our social consciousness.
- Cultural - Reading news daily is embedded in British culture and we are concerned with topics like politics and current affairs which the Daily mail are reporting on in the main article.
The Guardian Contexts
- Historical - The Guardian is a newspaper which is owned by the GMG and Scott's Trust. It is not for profit and all profit made is invested back into the trust.
- Economic - The Guardian is a newspaper which has had to adapt to the digital age. They have made an online news website called theguardian.com which has around 15 million visits daily.
- Political - The Guardian has a left wing bias, in support of the Labour party in the UK. We can clearly see this on the covers as Theresa May, Conservative leader and PM of the UK alongside Donald Trump, right wing republican leader of the USA (at the time) are being represented negatively. They are being accused of conflicting which Trump is supposedly denying.
- Social - As a country Britain is concerned with key topics in the news. These include politics, which the Guardian are writing about here. They are discussing the relationship between Theresa May and Donald Trump.
- Cultural - As a nation it is embedded that we read the news most or every day. This means newspapers have to provide updates current news stories like foreign nations and politics, which is being discussed here.
theguardian.com Contexts
- Historical - theguardian.com is a online website created by the GMG and Scott; Trust as a result of a drop in circulation sales due to the digital age. It has successfully returned them profit to back into the Trust, receiving around 15 million visits daily.
- Econmic - The Scott's Trust is a not for profit orgnanisation. The aim of the Guardian is still to make profit however, but rather than benefiting the owners it is invested directly back into the trust.
- Political- theguardian.com have a left wing bias similar to it's print counterpart. we can see this on the website today, as the main article is presenting Boris Johnson, right wing conservative party leader and PK of the UK in a negative light. Shutting the borders due to Covid is in fact practical which many believe in.
- Social - Britain as a nation is concerned with politics especially, which we can see is the main article on their website today. The opinions reflected by the Guardian may help shape our social consciousness.
- Cultural - The Guardian's online version produces news to support the fact that as a nation we read the news everyday. The fact it is online as well means editors and journalists can easily update the website.
Exam Format
Wednesday 10th February
Lesson 16: To understand the exam format for the news unit
- You will be expected to know about print, online and participatory news.
- Also be expected to discuss the Guardian and Daily Mail in detail.
- The unit is worth 45 marks and consists of four essay style questions.
- 3 x 10 marks and 1 x 15 marks.
Question 1
- This question will ask you to analyse two sources (extracts from two newspapers, news websites or social media feeds).
- The sources will be from a tabloid and the quality press. Only one will be the set products.
- It may ask you to use a specific concept or theory in your analysis.
- You will need to reference the sources in detail, using accurate terminology.
- Example:
Analyse the representations in sources A and B. Use Van Zoonen's concept of patriarchy in your answer.
The two newspapers offer different representations of social groups and individuals. These representations are conveyed via use of media language. We can disprove Van Zoonen's concept of patriarchy theory to these representations.
In the cover by the Sun we see a representations of the individual David Cameron which disproves this theory. The main image is a close up of male PM David Cameron, with a concerned facial expression. This represents David Cameron as an incompetent PM. Rather than appearing as a confident PM, he is being represented as in a manner that suggests he is struggling in the role. The headline is large, bald, underlined and in white and the lexis reads "Why should I do the hard s**t?". This suggests that David Cameron is lazy. The lexis is as if it is David Cameron speaking on the front of the newspaper, asking why he should do all of the hard work, which suggests as a PM he is rather lazy. The subheading is smaller and below the headline. The lexis reads: "Teary PM didn't want Brexit grief". Again like the headline, this suggests that the PM is incompetent in his role. It is suggesting that he cannot deal with the stress from important issues, which is needed in a such a high position. Overall, the use of media language disproves Van Zoonen's patriarchy. It represents David Cameron, in a negative manner. He is a white, middle aged, upper class male in a position of power. Ultimately part of the dominant group, which opposes Zoonen's theory completely.
Furthermore, we can see a similar representation of David Cameron in source B, the front cover of the Times. Again this is through the use of the main image, headline and subheading. The main image is of Cameron and his wife leaving parliament after his resignation, Cameron has an upset facial expression. In a similar manner, this represents David Cameron as an incompetent PM. He is looking upset, as he leaves parliament after his resignation from PM. It suggests that he has failed as a PM. The headline is large, bald and in white and the lexis reads a dramatic: "Brexit earthquake". The dramatic use of language suggests that David Cameron has failed his role, he has left parliament a mess after resigning from his role. The subheading is smaller and not bald yet reads critical lexis: "Prime minister announces resignation - Vote to leave threatens break up of UK". Like before, it suggests that parliament is crumbling due the vote for Brexit started by David Cameron. It suggests he ignited a vote which failed in his favour and has now left parliament. The combination of media language used here disproves Van Zoonen's theory as well. The negative representation of David Cameron, a member of the dominant group, opposes the theory.
Question 2
- This question will ask you to show your understanding of the news industry through analysis, as well as asking you to make judgements and draw conclusions.
- The sources will be the same.
- There will be bullet points to show you what to include.
- You will need to show a developed line of reasoning, supporting your ideas with detailed references to the sources.
- Worth 15 marks.
- Example:
How far has genre influenced the media language in sources A and B?
In you answer you must:
- Outline genre conventions in British newspapers.
- Analyse the contrasting use of media language in the sources
- Make judgements and reach conclusions about how far genre has influenced the media language used.
There are two main genres of newspapers in British newspapers, these are tabloid and broadsheet. Tabloid newspapers are smaller than Broadsheet newspapers, and much less articulate. Broadsheet newspapers tend to cover hard news, whereas Tabloids cover more personal and celebrity stories and are associated with using a hyperboles. There is contrast in target audience as well, tabloids are aimed at a less educated, less formal and stereotypical working class audience audience. In contrast broadsheets are aimed towards people with a high level of education, who are more formal and well of audience. Source A, the Sun, is a tabloid newspaper and Source B, the Times, is a broadsheet newspaper. In both sources, there are clear example of the genre of the newspaper has significantly influencing differences in media language used.
In source A, the Sun, we can see how the genre of the newspaper, tabloid, has influenced the headline, font and images used. Firstly, the the headline is extremely emphasised, it is large, bald, underlined rather than in capitals, in a bright white colour and has a black outline. Also, the lexis contains swearing. The genre of the newspaper has influenced this as tabloid newspapers are usually associated with using sensationalism and hyperbole which is conveyed through the over emphasised headline. They are also less formal which is clear through the swearing. The font throughout the whole newspaper is a basic sans serif font, which is much less formal than a serif font. This is due to a tabloid's lack of formality compared to a broadsheet newspaper. Furthermore, the main image is a close up of David Cameron's disappointed face. There is also an image of a 5 pound off voucher at Iceland in the banner. This is influenced by the genre of the newspaper as the image of Cameron is very critical and personalised, it is only him in it. With the combination of the lexis in the headline: "Why should I do the hard s**t?", the newspaper is complying with a stereotypical trait of a broadsheet newspaper, personalising the stories, critical of the individual. The 5 pound off voucher is used due to tabloids stereotypically being associated with the working class, they are seen as needing it more than someone who is well off.
Comparing this to Source B, the Times, which is broadsheet newspaper, we can see the differences in media language due to the genre of the newspaper. Again three examples of the headline, font and images used. The headline is very large and stands out. It is a white colour on black background. However what males it much more formal than the Sun is the lexis. It is simply: "Brexit earthquake". There is no sensationlism or hyperbole used exactly like a standard broadsheet newspaper. The font throughout the whole newspaper is serif, which compared to the Sun is much more formal and less exaggerative. Again this is down to the higher standard of formality of a Broadsheet newspaper. In addition, the main image on the Times cover is a medium/long range shot, of David Cameron and his partner leaving Downing Street formally. It is less personalised, as it focuses in on Cameron leaving parliament, rather than Cameron's mistakes personally. Again, this a stereotypical trait of a Broadsheet newspaper, it is focused on the story, rather than the individual like tabloid newspapers.
In conclusion, in Sources A and B, we can clearly see that the genre of a newspapers significantly influences the media language used through it's front cover. The media language it effects massively is the headline, font and images used. Tabloid newspapers tend to be less formal and more personalised and critical of the individual compared to broadsheet newspapers.
Question 3
- This question will ask you to show your understanding of the news industry and the impact of influence of contexts.
- You will reference the set products as examples.
- Worth 10 marks.
- Example:
Explain how the political context in which newspapers are produced influences their ownership and regulation. Refer to the Guardian and the Daily Mail newspapers you have studied to support your answer.
There are a range of political contexts that influence the ownership and regulation of both the Daily Mail and the Guardian.
The Daily Mail are owned by the DMGT and right wing capitalist Rothermere family. They choose to be regulated by IPSO. This choice is more than less due news audiences being a mixture between consumers and citizens. Like Livingstone and Lunt stated, both require regulation, although consumers require it for protection and citizens public interest. However the negatives are that due to regulation, editors cannot publish every story and sometimes falsify the story for release purposes. We can see examples of this within the Daily Mail, 39 complaints have been made to IPSO with a vast majority due to false information. The ownership of the Daily Mail have also been influenced by political contexts. The owners in the Daily Mail have right wing capitalist values in support of the Conservative party. The opinions in their news are influenced by their right wing values. Ownership follows a capitalist pattern, they have a very concentrated ownership, with DMGT being owned by one member of the capitalist Rothermere family, Jonathan Rothermere, who is a white, middle class middle aged man. They also pursue profits at the expense of creativity. They shut an entire printing factory and increased the price of their newspaper to make more profits. They compliment Curran and Seaton's theory.
The Guardian is a newspaper owned by GMG and the Scott's trust. Opposing the Daily Mail, they have a centrisit/left wing bias in favour of the Labour party. They also have fair and honest news values. We can see this bias reflected in the ownership. Rather than pursuing profits like the Daily Mail, the Guardian is owned by a trust where all money made is put back into the newspaper. Solely not for profit. However unlike the Daily Mail, they are self regulated. They believe that news should not have any restrictions. They do not support the political involvement in news, particularly regulation. They are supporters of free press and the Fourth Estate. Reporting fair and honest news removes any political influence the newspaper could have as well
Question 4
- This question will ask you to evaluate on of the theories studied, in relation to understanding print and/or online news.
- You may be given a choice of theories or it might specify one.
- Discuss the usefulness and limitations of the theory
- You will be expected to reference the set products as examples.
- Worth 10 marks.
- Example:
Evaluate the usefulness of one of the following in understanding audiences for online newspapers such as the Guardian and the MailOnline. Either Gerber's Cultivation theory or Shirky's end of audience theory.
Shirky's 'end of audience theory' discusses how audience nowadays have moved away from having predictable behaviours and responses. Shirky believes that audiences are now prosumers who can shape their own content for their interests. This theory I believe can be useful. It allows for audiences to shape content for themselves, fitting their needs. However there are downsides, audiences can create 'echo chambers' the only content recommended is for their interests. They therefore eventually do not explore content that is new to them. Both of these cases can be applied to online news websites like the Guardian and MailOnline.
The MailOnline is an online news website that we can apply the uses and downsides of Shirky's end of audience theory to. It is extremely popular, particularly in the UK. It has 15 million visits daily. It is owned by DMGT. Similar to it's print version the Daily Mail, it has a right wing political bias aiming it's supporting to right wing UK political parties like the Conservatives. It values sensationalised news, that is typically critical of the individual rather than mass groups. Like most other online news websites, the MailOnline gives the audience the ability to make an account and then sign in. Once signed in, new stories that pop up on the website will be similar to previous articles visited. Already we can see a usefulness of Shirky's theory in the MailOnline, as the website provides articles that are of interest to the reader. However the negative side to this is that if the user uses the website consistently, only news stories based around their interests will pop up, preventing them from exploring new content. Also, by using the MailOnline you will only see articles in support of right wing values, opinions and politics. Regularly viewing articles like this as well will certify this, thus creating an 'echo chamber'.
In opposition, the Guardian is a newspaper that has a left wing/centrist bias, also valuing fair and honest news. It is owned by GMG and the Scott's Trust, so it is solely not for profit and all money made goes straight back into the newspaper. Like the MailOnline, it is very popular, it has 35 million active monthly readers. Despite this, we can still apply the uses and downsides of Shirky's audience theory. The websites allows readers to make an account, where the articles recommended will be of interest to you. This is based on articles previously viewed. The headlines will remain the same however. In addition, the Guardian also includes two more interactive features. The 'share a story' is literal, it allows registered users to share stories onto platforms like social media. They also have an opinion section, which is for opinionated news rather than fair and honest. These stories are not recommended on the main page, and users can access these at their own will. Like the MailOnline, this has the same uses and downsides. Content recommended will be of interest to you, which is a benefit. It means that the news you read you are genuinely interested in. However this can lead to an echo chamber being created. Due to being on the Guardian, you will see stories in support of /centrist/left wing politics and values. Having an echo chamber created consisting of this may not be beneficial, as you will not be exposed to stories with different opinions or content.
In conclusion, Shirky's end of audience theory has both a good use and a negative however. This can be proved by online news websites the MailOnline and the Guardian. Due to it's use and negative it is not a very useful theory, as it can be countered easily.
News Mock
Question 1
Source A, The Independent, and Source B, the Daily Mail, have opposing representation of ethnicity throughout their respective front covers. We can apply Gilroy’s ethnicity and post colonialism theory to both front covers to see whether they support the theory.
Throughout Source A, ethnic minorities, in particular black people, have been represented as mistreated. The cover raises awareness for their suffering. The main image is a close-up shot of a black migrant hugging someone as they leave the migrant camp. The background shows crowds of people. This clearly shows the poor conditions in the camp, showing that black and ethnic migrants have been mistreated by being forced to live in awful conditions. Furthermore, a subheading represents them in an equivalent manner. It is fairly large, black, in a serif font with non-sensationalised lexis which reads: “Farewell, Jungle. Hello, uncertain future”. It is providing an honest description of what living in a migrant camp is like. The poor conditions make it like living in a Jungle. It stands out compared to the rest of the lexis on the page, making sure that readers are aware how black and ethnic minority migrants have been mistreated. Lastly, the headline, by-line and standfirst placed at the bottom of the page also represent black and ethnic minorities in this way. The headline is large and bald, yet not in capitals with a serif font. It is an honest headline, with non-sensationalised lexis: “Teachers told to guess children’s race for new national database.” The by-line describes, the story as an exclusive, it is of high importance and the standfirst provides an introduction outlining the story. Through this combination of media language, black and ethnic minorities have been represented as mistreated as the story suggests that a child’s race is important to determine how they perform in school, rather than how good their work is. Representing black and ethnic minorities in this manner proves Gilroy’s ethnicity and post colonialism theory. The Independent are highlighting that ethnic minorities have been mistreated in society, like they are inferior to white people who are rarely seen in refugee camps.
On the other hand, in Source B, black and ethnic minorities have been represented as a nuisance to British society. Firstly, the headline is enormous, bald, in capitals and partly underlined. It also reads extremely sensationalised lexis: “You pay 36million for Calais clear out”. The Daily Mail are representing black and ethnic migrants in Calais as the reason British people are paying more taxes. They are suggesting that they are a nuisance to the British people. The clear out after damage caused in Calais by them is being paid for by the British public. Furthermore, the subheadings provide a similar representation. Rather than being large and sensationalised, the lexis provides exaggerated information about the story. For example, that the French are making the British pay for the chaos, and that it is tax payers' money being used, which then ultimately puts the black and ethnic migrants at fault, as they were in the migrant camp. Lastly, the standfirst also represents black and ethnic migrants in this manner. Again, similarly to the subheadings, the lexis provides an exaggerated outline of the story: “Britain will foot a 36million bill to clear out the Jungle migrant camp.” The newspaper suggests that the black and ethnic migrants in the camp are the reason why British people pay more taxes towards the camp being cleared out. Similar to the Independent, the representation of ethnicity proves Gilroy’s ethnicity and post colonialism theory. Representing black and ethnic migrants as nuisance to British society, which is predominantly white, conveys that there is general belief they are inferior.
Question 2
Sources A and B both cover the same news event as their main headline, how they represent the event in opposing manners. Also, both newspapers combine the representation certain news events, social groups in opposing manners to create meaning. For example women and middle-aged people. As well as these individual meanings, we can apply Hall’s representation theory and Van Zoonen’s feminist theory to each source respectively.
Firstly, in Source A, the Independent, several meanings have been constructed through the combined representation of events and social groups. Firstly, the headline represents black and ethnic migrants involved in the refugee crisis in Calais as mistreated. It is large, black, in a serif font and provides non-sensationalised lexis reading: “Farewell, Jungle. Hello, uncertain future”. The lexis is honest, and describes the mistreatment of black and ethnic migrants in the Calais migrant camp. They have had to live in jungle like conditions, and now the camp has been dismantled, are unsure of where their future takes them. This is due to the mistreatment of them when they arrived in Calais. Furthermore, women have been represented as powerful. At the top of newspaper, there are several subheadings describing opinions given by different columnists. Although there are 3 males and 1 female, each subheading is the same size, with their names in bald and an image provided of the columnist. However, where females have been empowered is within the lexis. While each male is talking about events in society, Grace Dent, the female columnist, is critical of males. The newspaper is providing a critical opinion of males written by a female, empowering women. Lastly, middle aged people have been represented as socially aware. Again, this is through the use of several subheadings providing opinion-based stories by columnists at the top of the page. Their names are in bald, and an image is provided of each person. They all appear to be middle aged or older. An example of a story is: “How Brexit skewed our view of refugees”. Each columnist provides a story critical of society which is a genuine issue. We can apply Hall’s representation theory here, as meaning has been created through the representation of certain social groups and events. We understand the newspaper’s values through the representations they have created, which is showcased here.
In source B, the Daily Mail, several meanings have been constructed through the combined representation of news events and social groups. It is through a similar manner to Source B, however opposing meanings have been created. Firstly, black and ethnic migrants and the refugee crisis in Calais have been represented negatively as a nuisance. The headline is enormous, bald, partially underlined and in capitals reading sensationalised lexis: “You pay 36million for Calais clear-out". As well as this, the subheadings, byline and standfirst provide more exaggerated information about the story. For example, the standfirst reads: “Britain will foot a 36million bill”. The sensationalised information and headings suggest that the black and ethnic migrants have caused British taxes to rise as Britain needs to pay of a debt to France because of the refugee camp in Calais. The newspaper is connoting that the migrants are a nuisance to the British public. Furthermore, women have objectified in the front cover, opposing the representation by the Independent. The main image is of female celebrity, looking attractive on a red carpet. There is a subheading over the top, in bald reading: “Radio waves that keep Kylie young at 48”. The newspaper is objectifying her, rather than being on a front cover for her work or being involved in a news story, she is simply there to look attractive. We can apply Van Zoonen’s feminist theory to this representation, the female celebrity is being represented in this manner because of society’s expectation of her to look a certain way. Lastly, middle aged people have been represented as not as abled bodied throughout the front over. This is through the combined representation due to the plug. main image and subheadings. The plus features a middle aged man, next to a caption containing lexis that reads: “My dream cure for insomnia”. The main image is of an attractive female middle aged celebrity which has a subheadings that reads: “Radio waves that keep Kylie young at 48”. The combination of media language suggests that to stay healthy and good looking, middle aged people need certain cures and radio wave therapy rather than just how every other person stays healthy. It is connoting that they are less able bodied simply due to their age.
In conclusion, I believe that the combination of certain media language elements heavily influences the meaning created by both newspapers. We can see this through how certain social groups and events have been represented. Combined use of media language creates this representation, which as stated in Hall’s representation theory, creates meaning.
Question 3
Current economic contexts of the news industry and technological advancements has resulted in many changes for the way audiences pay to access news. There has been a significant rise in online news over the past two decades due to the internet and devices to access it being much easier to use and access. Due to this, circulation figures of every newspaper have dropped significantly, meaning newspapers have had to adapt to this current economic context. Both the Daily Mail and the Guardian are great examples of this.
Firstly, the Daily Mail, who are funded and owned by the capitalist DMG Media and the General Trust, have had to adapt to current economic contexts of news and technological advancements. Due to its capitalist nature, the Daily Mail’s main purpose is to make profit. This meant that when circulation figures started to fall, they had to adapt and change the way that audience pay for to access news provided by them. The main way they have done this is shift a lot of their attention to developing the online version, the MailOnline. Audiences can access this on desktop and in app form, and don’t need to pay for it. Similar to the print counterpart, the main way they make money is through advertisements. This generates a lot of revenue, the MailOnline has 13 million daily users. The MailOnline also offers subscription services,where users can get free print versions and access ad free news online. As well as shifting attention online, they increased the price of the print version, meaning they generated more money from every sale to combat the fall in circulation sales. Overall, having more options for audiences to pay to access news will generate more revenue, and even when it can be accessed for free advertisements make sure revenue it is being generated. Not onlyas has this worked, but it has turned the Daily Mail into the largest UK newspaper, with a 20.1% share in the news market. They are a great example of a newspaper changing how audiences pay to access news to adapt to technological developments and current economic contexts. They also fit into Hesmondhalgh’s cultural industries theory. He stated that risk is seen in terms of loss of money, and that risk is high because production costs are high. Rather than finding an innovative way to combat the decrease in circulation sales, they have not risked losing money for it and taken an easier option of adapting to technological advancements.
Furthermore, the Guardian are a newspaper who are owned by GMG funded in a not for profit manner by the Scott’s Trust. Opposing the Daily Mail, all money that is made is invested directly back into the Trust. Although they are not capitalist, they still need to generate revenue to keep printing the newspaper and have had to adapt to a decrease in circulation sales due to technological advancements. Similar to the Daily Mail, they shifted attention to online news and created an online version of the Guardian. However, unlike the Daily Mail, there are no external advertisements and only promotions of the Guardian themselves. Their website averages 34.7 million monthly unique users. They offer a subscription service, and there is also the option to donate money if you regularly use the website. As well as the online focus, they have also increased the price of an individual print newspaper as well. Unlike the Daily Mail, the Guardian actually disprove an industry theory. Curran and Seaton stated in the Power and Media Industries theory that owners will pursue profits at the expense of creativity or quality. Rather than just filling their online version with adverts, they have kept the website to a high standard of quality and relied on support from their readers instead.
In conclusion, both newspapers have changed the way that their audiences can pay to access news to adapt to current economic contexts and technological advancements.
Question 4
Curran and Seaton’s Power and Media Industries theory discusses how the ownership of a newspaper influences the content produced by it. The main three talking points they discussed were that patterns in ownership are important, owners aim to increase the concentration of ownership and that they also pursue profits at the expense of creativity or quality. I believe that this theory can be useful when discussing capitalist news industries, like the Daily Mail. However, it can be disproved by other certain newspaper who are not capitalist, like the Guardian.
Firstly, the Daily Mail is a right wing capitalist newspaper in support of the Conservative party in the UK. It is owned by DMGT, who are owned by the Rothermere family. The current owner is Jonathan Hamsworth, 4th Viscount Rothermere, who inherited the position from his father. The aim of the Daily Mail is to make profit over anything else. The Daily Mail is a great example of proof of Curran and Seaton’s theory. There is a regular pattern in ownership, only 4 people have ever owned DMGT, they are all from the Rothermere family and inherited it from their fathers. This makes sure that capitalist news values and opinions are consistently kept within the DMGT. The DMGT have already increased ownership to as a concentrated as it can be, there is only 1 owner of the company and that is Hamsworth. Like Curran and Seaton stated, this narrows opinions as only one person is influencing the industry’s values and opinions. The Daily Mail also pursue profits over creativity or quality. When faced with changing economic contexts, they simply shut down an entire printing factory to save costs and keep profits at an all-time high at the expense of workers who could produce quality news.
On the other hand, the Guardian is a newspaper that disproves Curran and Seaton’s theory. The Guardian is a left wing newspaper in support of the Labour party in the UK. They are owned by GMG who are funded by the Scott’s Trust, a not-for-profit organisation. Firstly, there are no patterns in ownership in the slightest. The current editor of the Guardian is Katharine Viner, who was elected by the Scott’s Trust. Similar news values and opinions run through the company, however there is a constant plurality of opinions and editing styles will vary. Due to the elective nature, there is no increase of concentration in ownership as a new editor can be elected whenever, and the newspaper is owned by a trust and not and individual. In addition, an example of the Guardian producing quality news over pursuing profits is their online version. Rather than including advertisements, the Guardian produced an ad free news site that relies on donations and subscriptions from regular readers to make profit.
In conclusion, I believe Curran and Seaton’s Power and Media Industries theory can be useful when discussing a capitalist industry, but cannot be applied to any industry outside of this category.
Excellent notes, you have very thorough research here, well done. Now consider the implications for each answer you have provided. What impact could that have on the news?
ReplyDelete24/9/2020
ReplyDeleteVery well written
Target: Cover Guardian and add a little more detail to the theory, explain how it fits.
See DIRT starter to work through the improvements.
12/10/20
ReplyDeleteExcellent start:
Target areas: 2, 3, 5.
Ensure you cover both newspapers and link in your theory to point 4.
4/11/20
ReplyDeleteThorough notes on the theories.
Detailed and accurate analysis, remember to try and mention the theorist names in the your analysis so that you are practicing how to integrate this into an exam response by embedding the theory into analysis.
18/11/20
ReplyDeleteThorough notes, well done, brilliant annotations for home work. Extension to take further any analysis that we do, try to link in theory, even if not asked in the question, it will build you knowledge and application of theory ready for exam prep.
2/12/20
ReplyDeleteTarget: 3-Apply theory to case study examples where possible and make a mention to the context if you can.
11/1/21- Excellent notes, well done, keep it up.
ReplyDelete18/1/2021- thorough research examples and excellent notes.
ReplyDeleteTarget: You next move would be to use specific examples from the online articles you are referring to when discussing theory. You have a great understanding of the theory and application to news in general. Now zoom in by using specific examples and terminology when discussing these.
20/1/21- excellent notes here well done!
ReplyDelete27/1/21- Excellent notes, well done.
ReplyDelete3/2/21- Excellent analysis on contexts in particular examples, very thorough annotations.
ReplyDelete