News

Friday 6th March 2020

What is news?

L/O: to explore the nature and ownership of the news industry.

The purpose of the news:

• Inform
• Entertain
• Educate
• Profit
• Influence/persuade

1. "News was not a spectator sport" - what does Stephens mean by this?

- Stephens meant that before there was any type of technology and before news became a business. He meant that people would pass on news to each other rather than technology and social media.

2. What developments 150 years ago made it possible for people to make a business selling news?

- The printing press came around because this was an easy way of getting news around to people all over. A telegram enabled journalists and news writers to get information from other parts of the world quickly and easily.

3. We can now access news anywhere, form out own ideas and opinions and even contribute ourselves. Stephen says this is "mostly a wonderful thing". Why? Do you agree?

- This is because there is a lot of fake news.

Newspaper Ownership

• Newspapers aren't public service broadcasters. They are commercial publications. 
• Over 3/4 of the British press is owned by a handful of billionaires.
• Newspapers and their online publications are not legally obliged to provide an un-bias public information service.
• There are ethical and moral codes of press conduct but the printed press is self regulatory industry.

Newspaper Funding

• In the UK there are 3 ownership models:
• 1. Media Barons - owned by wealthy individuals or proprietors e.g. Rupert Murdoch 
• 2. Trusts - a legal arrangement that transfers funds from the owner to a 'trustee' to manage and control the running of the paper e.g. Scott Trust (GMG) The Guardian.
• 3. Cross-Media converged conglomerates - global institutions that own numerous media outlets. These may be owned by Media Barons e.g. DMG & Lord Rothermere.

1. Write a brief definition of what news is.

- An industry that is designed to inform, entertain, educate and influence/persuade the public. It is also designed to make a profit.

2. What are the disadvantages to news being a commercial industry?

- The news and media may over exaggerate stories and perhaps give out false news to try to make a profit out of a boring story - therefore the news may not always be 100% accurate.

3. What are the advantages to news being a commercial industry?

- They will always make it so that it is interesting to the public and also always entertain.

4. What are the disadvantages of newspapers/online newspapers being self-regulatory?

- It gives them more power to print what they want as there is no one checking what they are printing and telling on the news. There is more likelihood of it being biased and not accurate.

5. What are the advantages of newspapers being self-regulatory?

- Freedom of the press so there is no influence from the government.

6. Why is ownership important?

- Power and influence

1. What is fake news?

- 'News' that has been made to look real in order to scare the public and/or to make a huge profit from.

2. How can you spot/check fake news? 

- Read past the headline and check for any names or job titles to make it a stronger source of information.

3. Why is there more fake news now than there was 30 years ago?

- This is because technology has developed so people are able to photoshop pictures to make fake news look more accurate. Also, due to social media and people believing the fake news they share it on social media platforms such as Facebook and twitter.

4. Find 3 examples of recent fake news stories - screenshot them.

Friday 13th March 2020

Newspaper Ownership, Funding & Regulation

L/O: To explore the impact of newspaper ownership, funding and regulation on the printed press.

Tabloid newspapers:

• Daily Mirror
• The Sun

Broadsheet newspapers:

• The Daily Telegraph
• The Independent
• The Guardian
• The Times
• The Financial Times
• The Observer

Hybrid newspapers:

• The Daily Mail
• The Daily Express
• The I

What are the main differences between a tabloid and a broadsheet?

The main difference is that a tabloid newspaper contains soft news such as human interest stories and stories about celebrities etc, it uses much less formal language and the pages are dominated by headlines and images rather than text. They also target a more downmarket audience and their news is offered as a source of entertainment. A broadsheet newspaper contains much harder news such as politics, finance and international news, uses a much more formal language register. The pages are mostly dominated by text and copy. It targets  more upmarket audience and the information is offered as news, rather than entertainment.

How do newspapers make money?

• Circulation sales
• Advertisements
• Subscriptions
• Donations
• Pay walls and memberships
• Events and other sales
• Sponsored content

Media Ownership and Printed Press in the UK

• Rupert Murdoch: Sun, Times, Sunday Times, Sun on Sunday
• DMGT: Mail, Mail on Sunday
• Reach PLC: Express, Express on Sunday, Star, Mirror, Sunday Mirror, Sunday People, Daily Record
• Barclay Brothers: Daily Telegraph, Sunday Telegraph 
• Scott Trust: Guardian, Observer
• Nikkei, Inc: Financial Times

Newspaper outlets are usually owned by one of three types of owner:

• Media Barons
• Media Conglomerates
• Trusts

How does media ownership contribute to new bias?

• Profit: newspapers are not PSB - news isn't 'non-fiction' it is stories designed to sell.
• Business interests of owners/friends.
• Political opinion of owner.
• Commercial advertising ties.

The Guardian and Observer are owned by a trust set up in the 1930s to protect the editorial independence of the Guardian newspaper and to safeguard journalistic freedom and the newspaper's liberal values. These liberal values have meant support from the Guardian for both the Labour Party and the Liberal Democrats, with the newspaper trying to express a range of views from slightly right of centre to left wing.

Political bias:

• The Guardian: fairly left wing
• The Mirror: fairly left wing
• The Independent: centre
• The Times: fairly right wing
• The Telegraph: fairly right wing
• The Sun: fairly right wing
• The Daily Express: right wing
• The Daily Mail: right wing