P1: News

 Monday 11th September 2023

L/O: to explore printed news and theoretical framework

Industry

1. Ownership of news will often ensure that the newstation is biased towards the owner's political and social belief.
2. News is now often distributed online via a subscription model in which articles are read on a website, most often on mobile phones.
3. Basically no one reads newspapers anymore, therefore less money from physical
4. The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) 

Audience

1. The audience for a newspaper such as the Sun maybe less educated than the audience for a newspaper like the Guardian. 
2. 
3. Simple headlines for less wellread newspapers and often a lot of images. 

Representation

1. A lot of different groups and a lot of different perspectives across various newspapers.
2. 
3. 
4. 

Media Language

1. Common features of newspapers are mastheads, headlines and main cover images, though more often than not every single newspaper has a "house style" which gives them a distinct look, feel and attracts their target audience. 
2. More often than not, newspapers will take a left, central or right stance on an issue according to the values of the producer or owner of the company.
3. Article headlines 

Tabloid

Simple lexis
Bright colours
Soft news
One or two headlines
Advertisements

Broadsheet

Complex lexis
Muted colours
Longer articles
Hard news
3 or more stories on the front
Maybe one cover image 

Tuesday 12th September 2023

L/O: to explore the purpose and the process of the printed news industry

Production entails the writing of articles and the printing of the newspapers
Distribution is expensive as they need to be distributed across the country overnight, this cost is lessened if they are printed locally or posted online as it keeps costs down.

The Scott Trust owns The Guardian. Leftwing Stance.
DMG Media owns The Daily Mail. Rightwing Stance. 

1980s: Computers, printers & DTP - People could become journalists from home
1990s: The Internet - Articles could be published online, increasing audience reach and reducing production costs
2000s: Smartphones, Broadband, Web 2.0 - It's never been easier than ever to share articles all over the globe, increasing reach of the news organisation. 

Monday 18th September 2023

L/O: To explore the news value of printed news

Daily Mail tries to blame the left for not being more skeptical.

The Guardian is fairly impartial.

Gatekeeping - In news term, Gatekeeping is where certain information is chosen to be published whilst other information is discarded. This responsibility is placed on the editor.
Protective Coverage - The responsibility to only cover things that are not dangerous to the public, powerful people or have the capacity to impede a legal investigation.

News Values: Guidelines used to identify which news is considered to be valuable, appealing and newsworthy to audiences. 

1. Frequency
2. Threshold (Certain magnitude or intensity that will produce a widespread reaction)
3. Unambiguity
4. Meaningfulness
5. Consonance with audience
6. Unexpectedness
7. Continuity
8. Composition
9. Reference to elite nations
10. Reference to elite persons
11. Personality
12. Negativity

Frequency - 
Threshold & Elite Persons - Rape Allegations regarding Russell Brand
Meaningfulness - Sensitive topic
Consonance with audience - More impartial in the Guardian, attacking Russell Brand in the Daily Mail. 

Barthes

Guardian discusses misophonia, a brain based disorder. This connotes that it's a more leftwing newspaper, as rightwing newspapers may not discuss things like that as mental wellbeing is a more liberal idea. 

Tuesday 19th September 2023

L/O: to explore the political bias of printed news

The UK News industry is considered a free press because it acts independently and it can express whichever opinions it wishes. 

The Fourth Estate: News has a role in safeguarding the public from the wealthy and politicians. 

Most daily papers support right wing values, meaning we have a homogenous view of our news. 
Plurality means that more than one viewpoint must be maintained in our news.

The right wing paper the Daily Mail states that "Boris Stares Down The Mutiny" in their headline, rallying support for the Prime Minister who is a conservative. The idea that he is facing a mutiny makes him seem like an honourable captain of a ship who is being betrayed by his cabinet. In stark contrast, the Left Wing Paper The Guardian refers to him as 'desperate and deluded', which connotes that he isn't thinking rationally about the decisions for his country and is instead only thinking of himself. The lexis' connotations fit Barthes theory of semiology, as the connotations of the words have deeper meanings than the words themselves. The lexis also supports the idea of Levi Strauss' Structuralism or "Binary Oppositions" (Where there is day, there is night. Where there is good there is evil. Absence of one thing can reinforce meaning of the opposite), as the Daily Mail defends Boris Johnson, supporting the idea that to them the Right Wing is good. Where as the Guardian goes on the offensive with it's lexis, and as such this supports the idea that the Left Wing are better than Right Wing. Both of these create the impression that the other side of the political debate is in the wrong. whilst also clearly displaying the respective papers' political bias. 

Regulation

L/O: To explore issues of regulation of printed news

Regulation is the act of controlling content within the news. 

People for regulation argue that it should be there to protect people from misinformation and offensive content.

People against regulation argue that a press should be free as it prevents the news from being controlled entirely by one entity. 

The British Press is self regulated, which brings into question it's authenticity but also protects it's freedom to report on government agencies, celebrity figures etc. Regulation at current is concerned with protecting the function of the Fourth Estate to protect democracy and it's people. A breach of regulation could lead to a fine and a printed apology. 

The Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO) and the Independent Monitor for the Press (IMPRESS) were created as a result of the Leveson Inquiry. 

The IPSO does not have official regulatory status.

Curran and Seaton
Hesmondhalgh
Livingstone and Lunt

L/O: To explore how and which economic factors influence Print news. 

The Guardian is owned by the Scott Trust, and relies on newspaper sales and donations to stay afloat. 

Daily Mail is owned by DMG Media, sole purpose is to turnover a profit. 

Explain how economic factors effect the distribution of newspapers.

The Guardian has changed over the past few years to adapt to a changing news climate, for example, it has reduced the size of it's traditional broadsheet paper in order to reduce production costs, as less people read physical newspapers now compared to the 20th century. While the Guardian is not for profit, it still has to maintain a certain level of revenue to pay it's staff members and pay it's production costs. The Guardian has also shifted online, where it's articles are free for all readers. However, they do ask for donations in order to maintain their income so they can continue to provide news. This goes against the ideas of Curran and Seaton, Industry theorists who stated that profit would come at the expense of creativity and innovation within the media sector. The Guardian stands as a shining example against this pessimistic theory, as they do not pursue profit, instead trying to ensure that everyone has a voice to discuss and debate the topics within their articles both physically and online. This has all been affected by the non-for-profit funding structure that the Scott Trust has been providing the Guardian. 

The Daily Mail has been owned by the Rothermere family for generations, and it's frontmost goal has always been to make money. It has maximised profits in several ways over the past few years, one example of this is that they have closed a printing factory that was not needed, this was due to the fact that they are printing less newspapers as they have moved their format to be more online based with the Mail Online. The articles are free to read but are often clickbait headlines and feature a large amount of ads. This goes with Curran and Seaton's ideas of Ownership as Profit does come before the qualities of the varying stories in the case of the Daily Mail and DMG Media. This has all been affected by the economic needs of DMG Media as they are a company who's main goal is to make money.  

L/O: to investigate the ownership, funding, regulation, values and ideologies of the set products. TO apply critical theory to the set texts.

Case Study

Audience Profiling

Demographics

Psychometrics

Type: Mass or niche

Social Demographic Scale

A - Upper Middle Class - Higher managerial, administrative or professional 

B - Middle Class - Intermediate Managerial, administrative or professional
C1 - Lower Middle Class - Supervisory or clerical, junior managerial, adminstrative or professional 
C2 - Skilled Working Class - Skilled Manual Workers
D - Working class - Semi and unskilled manual workers

E - Those at lowest level of subsistence - State pensioners or widows

Harcup and O'Neil (2001) 

Stories Selected: 

Whilst stories featured in a paper reflect the views of the owner and editor, they must also reinforce the values and interests of the target audience. 

1. Powerful Elite

2. Celebrity

3. Entertainment 

4. Surprise

5. Bad News

6. Good News

7. Magnitude 

8. Relevance 

9. Follow-up

10. Newspaper Agenda

Celebrity News - Simon Cowell
Powerful Elite - Vladimir Putin mentioned in Lexis 

Good News - "Son saved his life"

Bad News - "My return has been a disaster"
Relevance and Magnitude - World Cup

Bad news - Suella Braverman, Crisis, bad political landscape, le lexis bad. 

Powerful Elite - Suella Braverman mentioned in Lexis

Celebrity - Actress for Princess Diana is main cover image. 

Bandura and Gerbner

The Guardian has leftist values and reinforces more empathetic ideals. Headlines are "The Morrocan village where death came in the night". Bandura says that the media influences people directly, the main cover image of this paper is women at a funeral crying over the loss of a loved one due to an earthquake, which creates empathy in the reader.

Bandura: Daily Mail

People who like the Daily Mail like conservative values so they are easily directly influenced by the Daily Mail. 

Genre Codes and Conventions
Codes: 

A complex system of signs that create meaning. 
Can be divided into two categories: 
- Technical: Camerawork, editing and Mise-en-scene choices that require technical equipment/skills

Tabloids & Broadsheets

B  - Size - 28 inches by 22 3/4 inches

T - Size - 11 inches by 17 inches

B - Lexis - Complex lexis intended for upper class readers

T - Lexis - Simple lexis intended for lower class readers 

B - Mode of Address - More sophisticated

T - Mode of Address - Less sophisticated

B - Headline size - Big headlines but they do not take up the entire paper
T - Headline size - Massive headlines to draw in readers

B - Image to text ratio - Main cover image often only takes up about a 1/4th of the page
T - Image to text ratio - Main cover image takes up most of the page, alongside the massive headline, rest of the space is filled with images for other stories. Text is barebones and minimum. 

'Cancelling Christmas' - Cancelling a deep rooted British Tradition such as Christmas, negative implications which imply that the people striking are bad people who ruin British Tradition. Also expresses traditional values of the telegraph. Mean world syndrome 

Dual Convergence: When genres steal the conventions of another genre in the context of media language and start to resemble one another. 

The Guardian: Neale

The Guardian has reduced it's paper sizes in order to adapt to the changing economic climate, becoming a hybrid of tabloid and broadsheet. This is because newspapers have waned in popularity over the years.

Daily Mail: Neale

The Daily Mail's newspapers have reduced in popularity over the years, and the MailOnline has become a substitute to adapt to a changing cultural climate where newspapers are consumed less, thus adapting to a different genre. 

Daily Mail

The Daily Mail contains a mix of soft and hard news which makes it a hybrid of both Broadsheet and Tabloid, this enables it to appeal to a wider audience than a paper like the Guardian, in which it's only appeal is that it's a traditional broadsheet which often covers hard news.

The Masthead's font connotes traditional values through it's ornate lettering, in combination with the coat of arms separating Daily and Mail which matches the UK's coat of arms. 

Furthermore, the headlines further reinforce the ideals of the Daily Mail as "Class War on Private Schools" connotes the idea that Starmer is trying to price families out of private schools. This makes the Labour Party seem evil compared to the tories.

Baudrillard helps with this cover as it creates a hyperreality of Matt Hancock's appearance on I'm A Celebrity, the idea of I'm A Celeb places Celebrities on a pedestal that ignores their real lives (Matt Hancock was fired in disgrace for having an affair with his secretary, after failing to navigate to COVID-19 pandemic). 

This reshapes perception of Matt Hancock in the public sphere, thus creating a hyperrealistic representation of him.

The Guardian uses a more muted colour palette than most tabloids, which implies it's broadsheet status.

George Takei, an Asian actor is featured on the front cover and uplifted, which shows the liberal values of the Guardian.

The Guardian uses Brexit as a hyper-realistic event that has exploded from the actual political event. Everything that has occurred since Brexit has been constructed as being directly related to Brexit to serve a political agenda, in this case, the Guardian chooses to display the negative effects of Brexit as opposed to potential positive ones, and thus constructs a negative hyperrealistic presentation of Brexit.  

Question 2

The British Newspaper Industry can be categorised in 3 main genres. The Tabloid is aimed at an uneducated audience of a lower class. The Broadsheet is aimed at those with a university education. The Middle-market tabloid is a "Hybrid" of the other two, aimed at an audience that is perhaps partially educated and high-end lower-class. The Daily Mirror falls under a tabloid newspaper due to its conventions, it has fewer stories as well as focusing on soft news. In comparison, the Daily Mail is a middle-market tabloid, and as such combines conventions from both Tabloid and Broadsheet, thus making it a hybrid. The Daily Mail, because of this, often features only one main story as opposed to a broadsheet like the Times or the Guardian which will often feature multiple full articles on it's front page. The Daily Mail is focused on providing news to a slightly more educated audience than that of the mirror, and as such it uses slightly more complicated lexis as well as utilising the conventions of a broadsheet. 

Opposing genre conventions, the Mirror is focusing on hard news ('Lies, damned lies and Theresa May') for this article, which highlights the importance of the article in pushing their viewpoint as more often than not tabloids focus on soft, celebrity news in order to draw in their potential readers. In comparison, the hybrid nature of the Mail allows it to cover the same story without risking their potential reader base. What this means is that the Mail has an easier time constructing it's pro-conservative viewpoint than the Mirror does constructing it's anti-conservative viewpoint. To not scare away potential readers, the Mirror uses a comical main cover image in order to construct negative representations of the Conservative Party. Theresa May (Conservative PM at the time) is shown with a less than favourable close up shot of her face, this face connotes the idea that May is unfit to lead whilst also maintaining a 'soft' and comical stance on the main topic of the paper, which keeps to Tabloid conventions. In comparison, the main cover image of the Mail is positive, with a mid shot of May in which the background displays many placards which say "Vote Conservative", this achieves the Mail's goal of creating a positive impression of Theresa as a leader who can 'rally the people'. Both papers use Barthes theory of Semiology in order to construct their viewpoints successfully using technical conventions of a tabloid newspaper. 

Both papers feature skyboxes which keep to the genre conventions of their respective papers genres. The Mirror's skybox simply features a ballot box with large caption 'For the many and for the few: VOTE LABOUR'. This simple phrase reflects the target audience who are less educated than the audience of a mid-market tabloid like the Mail. Tabloids aim to have a reading age of 9 to 11. 

Tuesday 28th November 2023

L/O: to explore the constructions of representations in papers and the impact of contexts on these representations

The Hegemonic Group within our society holds the following characteristic: 
- Middle-aged
- Male
- Middle-class
- White
- Capitalist 
- Christian 
- Heterosexual
- Able-bodied
- Western
- University Educated

It can be argued that because the dominant group control the means of communication, they control the ways in which other social groups are seen and understood.

King and Queen - White, Christian, Heterosexual, Upper Class

 William and Harry - White, Christian, Heterosexual, Upper Class.

Ownership

Economic Factors

News Values & Political Bias

Regulation

L/O: 

Blue Backdrop contains tools, connotes "Men" and "manly" qualities. 
Pink Backdrop contains things that enhance appearance, connoting femininity.

Class: Broadsheet and middle market tabloids are far less likely to represent the working class on them. Tabloids occasionally feature the lower-class but often feature celebrity news. The absence of lower class representation creates the impression within the media that they hold little importance, reinforcing the importance of the dominant middle and upper classes. 

Age: Middle aged people are the dominant social group in both tabloids and broadsheets, very little to no youth representation. 

Gender: The majority of representation in the news is of males, as they are the dominant social group. The only women represented are usually politicians/celebrities.

Constructed Realism

The news picks and chooses what aspects to represent. It is not the true reality. It's hyperrealistic/simulacra.

Hall says meanings are created by representation, isn't just what is present but also what is absent. Representations create meanings, all of which are different interpretations.

Gauntlett says that the media have an important but complex relationship with identities.

Van Zoonen says that ideas of femininity and masculinity are constructed in our performance of these roles
Bell Hooks says that intersectionality 

Print News: Representation and Case Studies - Daily Mail

Owner - White, Male, Rich, Christian, Able-bodied, Middle-aged
Conservative values, Economic - Middle Class, Political news and celebs.

"OUTRAGE AS ROYALS IN SCOBIE BOOK RACE ROW NAMED ON TV" Sensationalised journalism.

Absence of minority group representation, not direct but undertone of anti-muslim sentiment "Children skip school for pro-palestinian rallies". 

Women are represented on the cover for their appearance rather than any other qualities. "Julia's a pretty chilly woman in sub-zero London"

Vegans are a minority group that are represented on the Guardian. 
Conservatives are compared to "tribes" which indicates that they are barbaric as they are similar to earlier humans/uncivilised natives. 
White writers, minority writers underrepresented. Gilroy - Mourning of the British Empire, absence of minority writers.

Annette Benning 'You're too loud, they said. And you put on 10lbs.', mocks naysayers, empowers Bening

Online News

L/O: To explore the industry, regulation and ownership of online, social and participatory news

1. Increased access to the the internet in the form of smartphones

2. Owners monetise online news content through adverts and paid sponsorships

3. The development of technology has impacted the production  

MailOnline

The MailOnline or dailymail.co.uk, was launched in 2003 and rebranded as a separate site in 2006. Combined with its print paper, DMGT has a 20.1% share of the market. 

DMGT has adapted their paper to consumer preferences and has been successful in capitalising on new income revenues through their digital content. 

They offer MailOnline content on four different platforms: 
- Desktop 
- Mobile
- Tablet formats
- Social media

These are also different advertising platforms 

Unlike some papers, digital advertising is profitable for the MailOnline. In 2017, the MailOnline's combined revenue was £119 million, an increase of £93 million from 2016. 

This shows the success of the online brand. Because of this, they can remain competitive and have not had to introduce a paywall for it's online readers. 

The move to a seperately managed site in 2006 had a number of advantages for the owners in relation to production, distribution and circulation of the Mail's content and values, helping them to cut costs, increase revenue and reach a wider audience. 

Production: 

- The content on the website is exclusively for the MailOnline and is not published in the print version. 

- The MailOnline employs over 800 people who post over 1,500 articles and 560 videos a day. 

- Although seperate with a different editor, it retains the same conservative news values. 

- Content features a broad mix on international news and mainly UK-focused coverage of sports, finance and travel. 

- Entertainment, celebrity and lifestyle news is a major component and the site is dominated by images. 

 

Distribution:

- The MailOnline is digitally distributed across digitally converged platforms (website, apps and social media). 

- Also has Snapchat content.

- This reduces distribution costs and enhances profit from advertising. 

- Enables a global reach for the brand through their online content in the UK, USA, Australia and India. 

- Allows the brand to attract younger audiences than the print newspaper.

Circulation: 

- Since 2015, the MailOnline is considered to be the most visited English language news website in the world. 

- Approximately one third of its daily traffic comes from the USA & Australia. 

- The MailOnline has 15 million users accessing its content daily. 

- It has 10 million Snapchat readers daily. 

- The Facebook page has 1 billion monthly video views. 

Regulation: 
- As a member of IPSO, readers can complain regarding content written by the MailOnline on any of its online platforms. 

- Since 2015, IPSO has received 39 complaints against the MailOnline. Only 2 of these were upheld. 

- IPSO can only regulate content produced by the MailOnline journalists - given the participatory nature of the platforms, much content isn't regulated. 

- The MailOnline journalists are tasked with filtering, editing and/or removing content deemed offensive on their platforms, but the volume of user-generated content makes this difficult to do sucessfully. 

- This suggests a conflict between the impact of online news on the regulation of the MailOnline content: 
   - Minimal Impact: although there is more room for invading privacy or publishing inaccurate information, given the gossipy nature of the news site, this can be regulated if it is posted by their journalists. 

   - Significant impact: Sharing, commenting and often anonymous participation on content is encouraged. This is largely self-regulated and the success is debatable.

Tasks

1. The impact that digital convergence has had on the daily mail is an increase in profit as well as an increase in readership, especially among the younger generation. The MailOnline has over 10 million readers on Snapchat. 

2. 

3. 

User generated content, it is unmoderated, and as such features the opinions of less savoury members of the public. 

Online News

L/O: To explore audience appeal and the use of online, social and participatory news in The Guardian

TheGuardian.com, formally TheGuardian.co.uk, was launched in 2008, developing the earlier news website GuardianUnlimited which began in 1999. 
Combined with their print paper and The Observer, GMG have risen to become the third largest newspaper in the world. 

This indicates that, despite dramatically falling print sales, theguardian.com is highly successful. theguardian.com has roughly 35 million monthly global users and country specific versions in the Australia and the USA.
GMG offer theguardian.com content on four different platforms: 

- Desktop
- Mobile
- Tablet Formats

- Social Media

These are also platforms that market The Guardian Brand.

2017 digital revenues demonstrates success of the online model. 

- Digital revenue of £108.6 million
- An increase of 15% in 2017
- 50% of GMG revenue

To further supplement the income from advertising, readers can subscribe to the digital editions of £11.99 a month with additional options to access further content. 

The Guardian has a long history of developing its digital content since 1994. However, GMG obviously sees the benefit of adapting to digital convergence. 

PRODUCTION: 

- The online version of the paper retains the liberal progressive values as the print version. 
- The website offers additional features, such as the Opinion section and Soulmates, which enable a greater range of content than the print version. 

- theguardian.com is a core news site made up of niche sections covering subjects like business, entertainment, technology, arts, sports and media. 

- There is a rolling news service that is constantly updated by journalists. 

DISTRIBUTION: 

- theguardian.com is digitally distributed across digitally converged platforms (website, apps and social media) 

- This reduces distribution costs and enhances profit from advertising. 

- theguardian.com has a global reach and has country specific versions in the USA and Australia. 

- theguardian.com content is also distributed through a partnership deal with Yahoo with users from the UK, USA, Australia, India and Singapore accessing.

CIRCULATION: 

- Since 2015, theguardian.com has increased circulation by 25%

- It has 34.7 million global monthly users.

- 1.15 million users access theguardian.com by mobile or tablet. 

REGULATION: 
- As a self-regulating publication, it is the role of the Readers' Editor to regulate both print and online content. 

- theguardian.com has a global reach of 140m online users. Therefore regulating and responding to all isn't possible. 

In deciding which complaints to prioritise, they use the following criteria: 

- How serious the complaint is
- The likelihood that harm could occur
- The potential the content has to mislead
- The proximity of the person to the issue raised and whether it directly affects them

- How many have complained about the same feature
- The risk to the reputation of GMG and their brands

Tasks

1. The impact of digital convergence has allowed the Guardian to go global, circulating to roughly 34.7 million users a month all across the world, with country specific versions in the USA and Australia. Furthermore, articles can be released as they are written instead of when the newspaper rolls out in the morning, allowing for more up to date and current news then ever before. Finally, distribution costs have been reduced due to the lack of need 

Explain how the global cultural context in which online news is produced influences the content offered to audiences. Refer to the MailOnline and theguardian.com to support your answer.

The landscape in which online news is produced encourages the existence of instant, understandable and consumable news. Both the MailOnline and theguardian.com do this in differing ways. 

L/O: To explore audience appeal and use of online, social and participatory news in the MailOnline

Ad-like: Is liking or slicing onto an advert on a website

Click-stream: Tracking of what users click on and how long they spend on an article. 

Echo chambers: Encounters beliefs and values consistent with their own, reinforcing reinforcing existing values. 

Front-door traffic: Encouraging users to view nespapers content on their website rather than another site e.g. Facebook, it encourages advertisers. 

Audience Reach

New technologies and digital convergence enables owners to reach different segments of the market and at different times of the day. This allows them to extend their market reach globally and demographically. 

UK News brands culmatively reach: 
84% of men and women
88% of 18-34 year olds

Owners are able to reach a millennial audience who normally wouldn't engage with print news. Combined with their print reach they are able to reach a much broader cross-section of the population.

This can also be sold to advertisers as online news readers engage differently with advertising. So, although not as lucrative as print advertising, digital advertising is still successful.

Desktop - 20% read news brand content weekly, 4 million access news content daily, Men aged 35-54 consume most on Desktop. 843,000 daily browsers, 6.5 million monthly browsers. 

Mobile & Tablet - 27 million adults access news content on this platform, 18-34 make up one third of this, 56% are women. Mainly consumed between 6am and 10am. 3.6 million mobile phone daily reach. Tablet reach is 775,000. 

Social Media - 75% read news outlets on SM weekly, SM news brand content is mostly consumed between 5pm and 10pm.  SM news outlets have accumulated over 920 million interactions, Facebook is the most popular social network with online news brand readers. FB page is the most successful news brand on Face

News brands reach different audiences through the utilisation of online algorithms which tracks audience preferences, feeding them content that they wish to see as opposed to content that is necessarily in the public interest. The algorithms create echo chambers which reinforces previously established values rather than challenging them, leading to a less educated general audience. 

MailOnline

MailOnline content is accessed by almost 13 million daily browsers across it's platforms. Their readers can be identified by the following demographics: 
- 73.3% aged 35+ 
- 26.8% aged 15-25 (print is 9.5%)

- Most visits from ABC1 Group. 

DMGT argue their success is due to a consistent application of core principles, defined as: 
- 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, scalable video that tells stories originally.

- Content to drive direct traffic to desktop and mobile homepages
- Discount codes

They use click streaming to analyse audience preferences. This can be seen through Editor's Six of the Best and Most Shared Right Now. These show the range of stories that appeal to their audience. 

L/O: To explore audience appeal and use of online, social and participatory news in the theguardian.com

theguardian.com content is accessed by over 4 million daily browsers across it's platforms

Their readers can be identified by the following demographics:
- 67% aged 35+
- 33% aged 15-25 (print is 9.5%)
- Majority of visits from ABC1 group 

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: 
- 34.7 million monthly global unique users.
- 24.2 million UK monthly cross-platform users. 

They are the market leader in providing online news content across desktop and twitter platforms. They use click streaming to analyse audience preferences. This can be seen through the Most Viewed section and shows readers are most interested in stories ranging from culture, sports, politics and economics.

 

Worldwide news which reflects the codes and conventions of a sophisticated broadsheet but in online form.

Live updates reflective of the online format. 

Multiple full length articles about one topic, keeps people up to date and informed on the most important news at a particular time. 

"Iran denies involvement in deadly drone attack on US base"

Never a lot of copy in Instagram posts, "click to find out more"

Baudrillard is reflected in Online News as the news stories are constructed from a pool of facts to form a hyperrealistic representation. 

Within their social media, The Guardian utilise various codes and conventions by focusing on headlines and clickbait titles in order to draw the attention of readers to read the whole article and find out more. On their website, theguardian.com utilises the format in order to provide live updates from the Guardian's journalist as opposed to waiting for the daily paper to be available.

Online News and Representation

L/O: To analyse representations in online, social and participatory news in the MailOnline. Explore and apply representation theory to the case study.

Individualism - A theory which emphasises the individual over the group. Selfishness. Capitalism.

Globalisation - A process in which the world's societies become interconnected in trade and cultural exchanges. Companies becoming multinational.

Consumerism - People need more and more and more. 

MailOnline

Advertisement displays consumerism

The story regarding the police officer focuses on an individual officer as opposed to the systemic issues within the police, placing responsibility on the individual and minimising damage to the wider institution

Israeli special ops places focus on the individual squad members rather than the state, also focuses on world affairs (Globalised news) 

"Diet regime loved by Rishi Sunak could help" Individualist culture focusing on right wing Prime Minister, supports ideology of the MailOnline.

Celebrity news is individualist and supports middle-market tabloid stories being mainly soft news. 

Representation Areas
Events - The conflict in Gaza, represents Israel positively through the fact they plan to kill 3 'terrorists', lexis reinforces Israel's 'moral high ground'. 

Issues - Social issue of police power abuse is isolated to an individual rather than a systemic one, displays individualism. Connoted through 'Police launch investigation into special constable' rather than saying something like 'police failure' 

Social Groups - Upper-class celebrities shown all over the covers, names like Claudia Winkleman and Kyle Walker reinforces individualistic values which focus on status being an important thing rather than wellbeing. 

Individuals - See above.

5/2/24

MailOnline: Ideologies

Consumerism - Prime Minister gambles with Piers Morgan, bet reinforces consumerist values that money is important.

Globalisation - Global issues like refugees, mentions Rwanda. 

Individualism - Names Prime Minister and Piers Morgan, makes them seem more important than everyone else. Emphasis on the individual name.

Individualism - Celeb culture. Mentions Ed Sheeran, Taylor Swift and Kylie Minogue.

Globalisation - Grammys are American, shows the importance of an American event to British people reinforcing society's ongoing globalisation. 

Dominant Group

Consumerism - When to sell forever home. Implies that downsizing is something everyone who owns a home should do. Older readers own a home as younger readers cannot afford to buy one, reinforces target audience. 

Individualism - Look out for yourself. Get as much money as you can. 

Preferred reading: Consumerism is good, home-owners should consider downsizing in order to 'release the most cash'

The Guardian

Impact of Industry Contexts

Extend the values from the print version but also must appeal to a global audience for the website to have global reach and maximise profit.

Balanced liberal journalism
Prioritising public interest stories that represent the following issues: 
- Politics and current affairs

- Social welfare
- The arts, culture sports and life style
- Global western cultural values
- Representative diversity of social groups
- A centre-left political ideology

Biggest stories are related to current affairs and politics. The King has cancer, reassuring the public that it was 'caught early', reinforces the importance of the Monarchy. 

Stories about Gaza, only about the war, still reinforces westernised values. 

Still predominantly upper-class subject and authorship.
Keir Starmer

King Charles
Rishi Sunak
Liz Truss and Jacob Rees-Mogg

Teenager trapped in Gaza isn't named in the headline, suggests that they are not as important as a political figure such as Keir Starmer. Reinforces the importance of the westernised focus on consumerism and status. 

Context for News

L/O: To explore the contexts of the news industry

Historical
Newspapers are one of 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 vote, the increase in consumption and the growth of urban pop culture.
The print press has been shaped by developments in tech which has impacted the ways in which the news is produced, distributed 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 news industry contributes significantly to the British economy.

Newspapers in the free market capitalist societies are commodities which are sold for profit. 

Tech advances have impacted the circulation of print news with the rise of online news.
The economic structure and funding of the production and distribution of newspapers relies on circulation sales and advertising revenue from print; this relies on a consumerist economy. 

The 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 global reach and a 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 reflect political bias and have a poltiical agenda which will increase 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 for political influence.
Politicians will test the reaction of the press to policies before continuing with them. 
Reporting on government and opposition 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. 
Government can intervene to prevent mergers/deals if news owners have a majority market share of print news. 

Social - Reflection of how actions and attitudes are affected by events occurring at the time.

Gatekeeping the production, distribution and circulation of news means it is a socially constructed product by owners and journalists.

The news industry is a social institution, highly visible in our daily lives and run by owners in dominant social positions. 

The news reflects contemporary society, shows what's happening in the world and reflects current social concerns and anxieties, including those caused by social change. 

The news reinforces and comments on other social institutions such as law, government, finance, family, religion, education and media.
New productions report on social issues such as current affairs, the economy, crime, employment, poverty, health, lifestyles and entertainment. 
News productions choose which individuals and social groups to including, reflecting and adding to their visibility in society. 
Production and circulation of news socialises us into learning what is important and how we think about different events, issues, individuals and social groups. 

News ownership and production shapes our social consciousness. 

Cultural - Expectations and attitudes that are considered normal for the time.

Concentrated news ownership in the UK supports a one-dimensional, conservative view of British culture which reinforces cultural norms. 
Postmodern mixing of genres and 'implosion' is reflected in changing newspaper conventions and greater representation of diversity. 
News stories feature cultural events, traditions and behaviours that are considered important by audiences in their lived experience. 

Reading news content daily is a cultural trend embedded in the behaviours of the British public.
Increasing consumerism means that audiences expect more entertainment from newspapers and accept more marketing in newspapers. 

Recent trends in audience behaviour demonstrates a cultural preference for online media; this has led to a change in the consumption of print news and will impact the future of printed news as a cultural product. 

Historical - Daily Mail has the Coat of Arms which signifies it's traditional presence 

Economic - Cheaper to subscribers which inspires brand loyalty. Positivity regarding Taylor Swift who is rich and powerful.

Political - 'High-risk' aircraft carrying immigrants. Reinforces right wing values.

Social - Less tolerance, us and them with immigrants. Exes being trashed accepted by peers. 

Cultural - 

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 in your answer.

The political context in which the Guardian and Daily Mail are produced influences both their ownership and regulation. The news is owned by 3 groups: Media Corporation, Trusts and Media Barons. The Guardian is owned by the Scott Trust and has very centre-left views. The Daily Mail has very right wing views as it is owned by DMG, which is owned by Lord Rothermere, the Rothermere family have very right wing views and as such push them in their newspaper. 

Regulation was effected by the Leveson inquiry, in which it was found that Newspapers are incapable of regulating themselves, the Independent Press Standards Organisation was created as a result of this inquiry to preserve the lack of government regulation that preserves the Fourth Estate and democracy whilst also ensuring some regulation for the newspapers. The Guardian is not part of the IPSO, as it chooses to regulate itself, this leads to questions of it's authenticity but does preserve it's freedom. In contrast, the Daily Mail is part of the IPSO, and as such complaints are filed to the organisation and the organisation investigates them themselves. 

Explain how historical contexts of newspapers have evolved in the ways audiences interact with news. Refer to The Guardian and The Daily Mail in your answer?

When Newspapers were first created in the 17th Century they were a niche industry often enjoyed by educated people. Mass readership arose in the late 19th century due to the extension of education and the vote, mass consumption increased as well as the advent of urban pop culture due to the industrial revolution. The print news has been shaped by technological developments which has impacted the ways in which news is produced, distributed and circulated.

One example of this is the advent of online news thanks to the digital age. The Daily Mail has created the MailOnline, a news website which is updated constantly and utilises the 'clickbait' nature of internet culture in order to maximise profits, within this new format they make money through subscriptions to the Daily Mail+ as well as advertising space on their website. For advertising to be desirable they need to drive up metrics within the algorithm and do this with outrageous headlines such as 'I had sex with a ghost for 20 years'. In contrast, while the Guardian has theguardian.com, it does not rely solely on advertising. The Guardian in it's entirety is free to read on their website, however, at the bottom of every article there is a call for donations which they use to cover production costs. Distribution and circulation are markably improved for both papers due to ease of access as well as the globalisation of their newspapers, the digital age makes distribution costs far cheaper as they do not need to manufacture and transport physical copies across the UK and the world, it is all accessible from the internet. This means that the news is far more accessible for audiences across the world.

Another example of this is the interactive elements allowed by the digital age. Articles can be shared to friends and family with a couple of taps, and this creates both a more educated audience and fuels discussion within it. Jenkins suggested the idea of the prosumer, and the audiences of online news often share articles and add their own opinions on top of what has been said. They are also allowed to comment directly on articles and the newspapers' social media. Both the MailOnline and the Guardian have social media accounts on places like Twitter and Instagram which fosters this interactivity from audiences. 

Analyse the representations in Sources A & B. Use Van Zoonen's concept of Patriarchy within your answer.

Both Source A (The Sun) and Source B (The Times) use the concept of patriarchy to attack David Cameron within their front page articles, making him out to be more feminine which makes him seem weak and untrustworthy, suggesting he is resigning in disgrace.

The Sun achieves this with a variety of techniques, for example referring to David Cameron as "Cam" ("Exclusive: REASON CAM QUIT') which makes him seem childish. The headline 'Why should I do the hard s**t?' displays a sense of weakness alongside the almost satirical close up of his teary face. This shock news is typical of a Tabloid newspaper as it is simple and to the point, lacking nuance and thus reinforcing the idea that The Sun is attacking Cameron for not fitting in with Patriarchal values. Butler's idea of gender performativity would suggest that he is not performing the stereotypical actions of his gender, and this makes him seem negative within the media. What this does is reinforce Van Zoonen's idea of patriarchy, as Cameron is seen to be weak he does not fit within the stereotypical patriarchal depiction of masculinity. What both theories suggest is that this reinforces the idea that the Sun is attacking David Cameron as he does not fit within the stereotypical patriarchal values of society. Him leaving over Brexit also raises questions about his masculinity as the Vote Leave campaign was spearheaded by 2 men, Boris Johnson and Dominic Cummings. Their ability to cause Cameron 'Brexit Grief' suggests that they are more within the stereotypical masculine values that both Butler and Van Zoonen suggest are an inherent part of British society.  

Similarly, the Times also achieves this negative representation of Cameron. They describe a 'Brexit Earthquake' in their headline which suggests that Cameron's incompetence has brought the country into chaos, reinforced further by 'Vote to leave threatens break-up of UK'. This reinforces the Broadsheet convention of talking about far more serious issues than that of Tabloids. Cameron's expression is sorrowful like the Sun, though the image, unlike the Sun, features Cameron's wife seeming more happy than he is. This reinforces Van Zoonen's idea of patriarchy in a number of ways. For one, Cameron's wife is seen to be stupid, as she is smiling which implies a lack of understanding of the gravity of the issue of voting to leave. Cameron's sorrowful expression, like his expression in the Sun, suggests that he does not fit the stereotypical ideas of masculinity as he shows weakness, which stereotypical masculinity suggests is wrong. The Times uses this to make Cameron seem incompetent, thus reinforcing the idea of patriarchy in Van Zoonen's theory that society is dominated by masculine ideals.

In conclusion, both papers use the idea of patriarchy to undermine Cameron and suggest that he has resigned in disgrace, though both do so within the conventions of their newspapers' genre to target their respective audiences.  

Question 2

15 marks = 25 mins

How far has genre influenced the media language in Sources A&B? 

Genre conventions have heavily influenced both Sources A and B and the media language they have utilised. The media language present in The Sun (Source A) is vastly different than that presented in the Times (Source B), and this is because their genres also differ. 

For example, within The Sun, it fits the stereotypical genre conventions of a tabloid. This is due to the fact that it lacks a significant body for it's article on the front page, instead opting for a main cover image of David Cameron looking sad. This is due to tabloids relying on main cover images and shock value in their headlines in order to draw in a less educated audience which may not wish to read a large of body of text as it frustrates them. 

In conclusion, the media language used in both The Sun and The Times is vastly different and reflects the genres and the ways in which newspaper genres attract their different audiences.

The Guardian's Values

Supporting and fostering an open culture as well as honesty, integrity, courage, fairness, and a sense of duty to the reader and community. 

Tuesday 12th March 2024

Question 3 Example Analysis

Paragraph 1: Introduces the point and provides some examples from both Case Studies.
Paragraph 2: Political context introduced
Paragraph 3: Introduces more political context as well as understanding of the history of both case studies. Ownership.
Paragraph 4: Regulation.

Question 4 Example Analysis

Paragraph 1: Introduces the theory and its intricacies 
Paragraph 2: Talks about the Guardian and the way it uses online news.
Paragraph 3: Compares the two
Paragraph 4: Elaborates on theorist more. 
Paragraph 5: Shows limitations of Shirky.

Monday 25th March 2024

News Theory and Theory Questions

L/O: vn21qwdfgbmnhjrewqefghmfgdfgf

Question 3

History of Ownership and Values and how those values reflect their particular audiences.