Q3


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. [10 marks]
The press in the UK is free and it is generally accepted that this is fundamental to a democratic society. That means that newsmakers should seek out and circulate news, information, ideas, comment and opinion to hold those in authority to account. The press provides the platform for a multiplicity of voices to be heard. This also means that newspapers are allowed to express opinions, as well as political views. In both newspapers' cases, as any press out there, they have a political bias, which of course affects the news they put out as well as their stand on social and ethical issues.
After the 2011 phone hacking scandals involving a range of newspapers a major report was published, by Lord Leveson. As a result, a new press regulator, IPSO, was set up. The aim was to ensure the press was more tightly regulated, which might have meant less freedom than under the previous system, where the press regulated itself. IPSO stands for Independent Press Standards, and the Editor's Code sets out rules that newspapers and magazines regulated by IPSO have agreed to follow. Generally speaking the Code aims to protect people involved in the news and their privacy , especially vulnerable people who might be victims of assault.
Ownership plays a very important role in what type of news is put out. The ownership model of The Guardian is quite strict in terms of what news is being produced. It has been indicated that its owner is the Scott Trust and there are people part of it with a wide range of ethnic background including men and women as well. The trust appoints an editor, but otherwise does not interfere.On the other hand The Daily Mail is quite the opposite, being owned by the billionaire Lord Rothermere.
It is not a secret that newspapers support political parties of their own. Whenever elections come, it is common for newspapers to express their support/opposition towards certain parties. In this case, The Daily Mail is known to show its explicit support for the Conservative Party. Additionally according to a 2004 survey 54% of the Daily Mail readers voted for the Conservative Party as opposed to 21% for Labour and 17% for the Liberal Democrats. On the other hand The Guardian stands on the left in terms of the political spectrum. The Scott Trust which owns the Guardian, stated a very clear purpose when it was established in 1936: “to secure the financial and editorial independence of the Guardian in perpetuity and to safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values of the Guardian free from commercial or political interference.”
In conclusion the political context newspapers are produced in affects everything from the news that are put out to the way they are regulated.



Comments

  1. media7 May 2019 at 03:23

    Excellent on context- the Free Press, political support of the two newspapers; and ownership. You could have explained how Rothermere is a press baron / owner of a conglomerate and how this business model differs from the trust model used by The Guardian. You also need to add some examples of stories covered by the papers to illustrate. V

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old Spice Bahamas Ad Analysis

How are viewpoints and ideologies communicated? Draw on a range of examples to illustrate your analysis: Old Spice is an American brand of male grooming products such as deodorants, shampoos, body washes, soaps etc. Initially, first targeted to women with men's products being released only before Christmas at the end of the year. However, over time as the men's products found more success it began to focus exclusively on those. The model used in this ad is Isaiah Mustafa, same model used in the extremely popular video advertisement of old spice called ''The Man You Can Smell Like''. The reference to that video is the ideological message it carries,which is essentially that if you use this body wash you become more masculine and therefore become more appealing to women. The Old Spice Man promotes this unrealistic idea by depicting the ''ideal man''. A lot of postmodern and non-traditional elements have been used in the ad as well. The surr...
Read more

Minecraft Article

1. Because of how simplistic and open-ended the game is. In order to play Minecraft you need collect certain resources. A bed, for example, requires you to combine wood and wool, while a longbol is made from a stick and some string. There's no story, no mission, just you and a world of possibilities. In a nutshell it teaches you basic skills and it's easy to understand. 2. Some features to the  educational version of minecraft are the things you learn through playing it such as geography, architecture, agriculture and physics. I would say it is a good idea since it is an interactive way of teaching students. 3. Copy cat versions usually have ''better'' graphics and some other modifiactions, which usually would mean a good thing. However minecraft's charm is in its simplistic graphics that make the gameplay so much more interesting. 4. It is the community that creates all the different mods of the game, in other words the community that add even more...
Read more