P1: News

Wednesday 11th September 2024
Print News

1.) Language

2.) Representation

3.) Industry

4.) Audience

5.) Historical, social, political, cultural, economic

Some papers are more formal and take a stance on the news that is entirely political and informative, such as the Guardian and "i". other papers like Mirror and Daily star focus on things such as celebrity news and gossip also, which makes them much more lighthearted.

The layout of these papers also correspond with this, with the more formal papers lacking images and colour and being almost all strictly text, and the more informal papers being colourful, bold and full of images. These design choices tailor the papers to their target audiences.

Tabloid newspaper : type of newspaper that has smaller pages, many pictures, and short reports. Big pictures, puns, celebrity gossip, colour, little text.

Mid-market tabloid : They may include some conventions of both tabloid or broadsheet and tend to reflect a mid-point between the two genres. Big pictures, but less informal and also not enough text to be a broadsheet.

Broadsheet newspaper : the broadsheets are generally believed to be more serious than the tabloids. Almost entirely text, political, not much colour, factual.

Audience - Older, right wing people.

Almost uses fear-mongering to create propaganda against the left wing party, taking their acts and decisions and demonising them, particularly against older people and the concerns they would have.

Thursday 12th September 2024
LO: to explore the purpose and process of the printed news industry

1.) Small informal newspaper with little text and large images
2.) Mixes features and designs of tabloid and broadsheet
3.) Formal newspaper with lots of text and few images
4.) Barthes - semiology
5.) Neal genre theory - continuity and repeating images/themes within genres

Production

- Requires a large amount of material

- Employ highly trained staff

Technology has changed the production : prints are coloured, and the internet means that stories are now free and accessible.

Distribution

- Needs to be distributed overnight

- Expensive to be physically transported

Local printing, or using online alternatives would be cheaper

Marketing

- Newspaper stands show the paper covers clearly

- Advertising through TV, social media, "sister" papers

- Exclusives

- Synergy deals with other companies 

Circulation

- Number of copies distributed, not sold

Ownership

Daily Mail - Jonathan Harmsworth

the Guardian - Scott Trust

The 3 types of newspaper ownership models are; Media Barons, Trusts, Cross-media converged conglomerates.

How do you think newspaper make money?

- Advertising spaces

- Public power

Wednesday 18th September 2024

Print News

LO: to explore the values of printed news

1.) Lord Rothermere 

2.) Scott Trust

3.) Trusts

4.) Barons

5.) Social, Political, Cultural, Historical, Economic

Gatekeeper - Someone who filters, selects or omits stories based on importance and appeal.

     Protective Coverage - Withholding information on the grounds that it would be harmful to           the public or a powerful person.

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

The description of Boris Johnson being a "desperate and deluded" man emphasises and denotes the idea of him being on his "last stand" as a politician and having to take desperate measures to "cling to power" as the headline emphasises. 

Thursday 19th September 2024

LO: To explore the political bias of printed news

What is a press agency?

A company that gathers news to sell to newspapers

Name a news value (x2)

Frequency and negativity!!!

Name one type of ownership model

Trusts

What are the contextual areas we study?

Historical, political, social

POLITICAL BIAS

Homogenous - singular/similar and undistinguishable

How is political allegiance evident in the newspaper front covers?

(Refer to Barthes theory of semiology and Strauss' structuralism in your analysis)

The Denotations and connotations that have been created from these covers create ideologies that present each newspapers political bias. For example, in the Daily Mirror, a left-wing paper, they have intentionally chosen an unflattering image of Theresa May in order to mock and criticise her. The text also repeatedly refers to "lies" and "broken tory promises", creating an ideology that the conservative party are unreliable and fraudulent, and deterring readers from voting for them.

On the opposing hand, the Daily Mail, a right-wing newspaper, creates positive connotations. They choose a much more flattering image of Theresa where she is smiling and has a cheering crowd around her. This makes her seem much more trustworthy and well-liked. The Daily Mail is a very traditional and old-fashioned newspaper, and its political bias shows this through their mention of "REIGNITING BRITISH SPIRIT" through the conservative party, saying that voting for them is a "tactical" move.

Overall, the way that these two newspapers portray the same event/person so differently emphasises the binary opposition between the two, since there cannot be one political party/bias without one to oppose it.

Wednesday 25th September 2025

Historical context - context surrounding when media is set/created

Political context - context surrounding the political state of the world/political bias of creators

Economic context - context surrounding economic state of the world/media budget/funding

Social context - context surrounding social context/social factors/bias of creators

Cultural context - context surrounding culture at time, pop-culture, culture of a particular country, etc

Barthes' semiology theory can be applied to the media language shown in both of these covers. In the Daily Mail, the imagery of Theresa May surrounded by a supportive crowd immediately creates connotations and ideologies of her being trustworthy, whereas the one of her frowning with harsh lighting and an "ugly" expression makes her seem more villainous. This opposition between "good" and "evil" as the papers present her helps to emphasise the structuralism of politics, and emphasise one another.

Print News Regulation
LO: to explore issues of regulation of printed news

What is regulation?

The monitoring/censorship of graphic or inappropriate content within public media.

Arguments for regulation of the news?

Protects citizens and younger audiences from seeing harmful and upsetting content.

Arguments against regulation of the news?

Censoring graphic and upsetting incidents creates naivety and hinders social awareness. Easy to create propaganda.

Regulation in the UK focuses on:

- News content and information printed by the press

- Ownership and competition laws

FOURTH ESTATE!

PROTECTS THE PEOPLE AND DEMOCRACY!!!

As a result of this, TWO NEW REGULATORY BODIES WERE ESTA\BLISHED:

Independent Press Standards Organisation

- Held newspapers to account

- Protects the right of the individual

- Upholds standards of journalism 

- Maintains freedom of expression for the press

- Funded by its members

Independent Monitor for the Press

- Became a Levinson compliant regulator in 2016

- Funded by the IPRT, commercially independent from news industry (Unlike IPSO)

- First of its kind for UK

- Editors didn't like it, (seen as an attempt to control freedom of the press)

Ownership and competition laws 

- Regulated by the Communications Act 2003

- Enterprise Act 2002 enables intervention if a CMC raises concerns

Curran and Seaton - Media industries are capitalist and aim to increase concentration of ownership. Owners pursue profits at the expense of creativity/quality. 

Hesmondhalgh - 

Livingstone and Lunt - REGULATION, needs of citizens vs consumer

Thursday 16th September 2024

Regulation and Theory

1.)  IPSO

2.) IMPRESS

3.) Levison enquiry

4.) Semiology

5.) 

CURRAN AND SEATON -

- Media industries are capitalist and aim to increase concentration of ownership

- Options and representation are narrowed, which decreases plurality in the press

- Profit > Quality and creativity

DAILY MAIL, PRINT NEWS -

- Rothermere family owned paper since 1896

- Market share of DMG reinforces right-wing agenda

DAILY MAIL, ONLINE NEWS - 

- Increased revenue of 93 mil in 2017 (achieved via celebrity entertainment)

-DMGT becomes UK leading news outlet through MailOnline

GUARDIAN, PRINT NEWS -

- Owned by Scott Trust, (ownership doesn't affect values)

- Provides voice for different perspectives

- Changes in format and move online SHOWS NEED TO ADAPT TO SURVIVE

GUARDIAN, ONLINE NEWS -

- GMG need to separate the journalism arm from the commercial arm (values not forgotten)

- Internet has allowed the market share to increase, differing political voice from Daily Mail, etc

HESMONDHALGH -

- Risk is high in cultural industries

- Difficulty predicting success/production costs

- Rely on "big hits" to cover costs of failure

- Repetition through use of stars, genres, franchises

LIVINGSTONE AND LUNT -

- Citizen vs Consumer

- REGULATION

- Social and seek information vs requiring regulation in the publics interest

DAILY MAIL PRINT -

- Member of IPSO, cases against them about invasion of privacy, inaccuracy and intrusion

DAILY MAIL ONLINE -

- Gossip-driven news lead to individuals needing more protection

- Online news adheres to codes of conduct - user generated content can not be regulated

THE GUARDIAN PRINT - 

- Self regulates 

- Both regulatory bodies are "unethical and ineffective"

THE GUARDIAN ONLINE -

- Self regulates 

- Both regulatory bodies are "unethical and ineffective"

Evaluate the effectiveness of one of the following theories in understanding regulation in news.

1.) Summarise the theory

2.) Point A of theory applied to TDM/Guardian

3.) Point B of theory applied to TDM/Guardian

4.) Point C of theory applied to TDM/Guardian

5.) Conclusion - limitations, EVALUATE - is the theory any good?

The theory of regulation from Livingstone and Lunt essentially states that within media, the needs of the consumer vs the needs of the citizen are always conflicting. The consumer seeks out unfiltered information in the press and papers, whereas the citizen needs to be protected, and this information needs to be censored or changed in a way that makes it less harmful. In regards to the regulation of media in newspapers, this theory is very applicable.

When looking at the needs of the consumer, many papers provide the information that the audience would seek out. For example, potentially upsetting or harmful topics are reported and publicised daily. An example of this is through The Daily Mail. The Daily Mail is a member of the IPSO regulatory body, which has had a number of cases against it for invasion of privacy, inaccurate information and intrusive methods of receiving their stories. Since The Daily Mail is so celebrity-gossip driven, much more regulation is needed, not only for the audiences sake, but for privacy's sake of the people whom these stories are written about. However, since news is now being moved predominantly to the internet, regulating content is much harder, since user-generated stories don't go through a regulatory body like IPSO that filter out the harmful content that the consumers seek. The Guardian newspaper is a self-regulating paper that follows a much more moral code of conduct, since it believes that many regulatory bodies are unethical and ineffective.

However, when regarding the needs of the citizen, e.g the need to be protected from harmful media, both as an audience and as an individual being written/spoken about, 

Wednesday 2nd October 2024

Print News

LO: to explore the economic factors which influence print news

1.) small number of people own media (white straight men) capitalism etc etc

2.) quantity>quality, using big names and series' to ensure profit

3.) regulation needed to protect people, citizen vs consumer

4.) Levinson enqiury

5.) ISPO, IMPRESS

10 marks - 17 minutes

- Economic context

- Commercial and not-for-profit funding

-Distribution of newspapers

- The Guardian and the Daily Mail

- Ownership 

- Prof vs non-prof?

- Funding

- Profit made

- Where it is accessible from

- Online versions

- Readers

     - How they cut costs

     - How they make profit

     - GIVE EXAMPLES OF DM + G

     - Statistics

ANSWER - 

In the modern economic industry, physical prints of newspaper are becoming less and less popular following the movement of the news onto more easily accessible sites and articles on the internet. Despite this, newspapers such as the Daily Mail are still read by huge numbers. The Daily Mail is a commercial newspaper that is owned by the DMGT and the Rothermere family. This paper receives its funding through circulation and advertising, with advertisements making them 3,000-3,000,000 GBP on average. However, despite it being 25% of the market share and having 1,264,810, its physical prints are still decreasing in readership. To compensate for this lack of popularity, and therefore lack of profit, the Daily Mail has made many decisions to combat the current economic state of Britain, changing how they distribute their papers. They have increased their advertisement costs, particularly online where in which their papers are read more, have increased the price of their physical paper, and have closed their printing factory in Didcot which was giving them unnecessary extra costs. These decisions have all driven the readers in the direction of the online version of the paper rather than the physical one, and due to this, they have had a massive increase in online readers, with 7.7 million reading online and 22.7 million reading through their mobiles. The popularity of the online version of the paper shows how the economy is effecting the distribution of physical newspapers, and running it out of business.

Similarly, the distribution of non-profit papers such as The Guardian have also been affected by these recent economic changes. The Guardian is owned by the Scotts Trust, where all of their profits are invested into GMG. They, similarly, have faced a massive decline in circulation and readers of their physical paper, due to rising free and accessible alternatives online. Due to the Guardian having a much smaller market share than the Daily Mail, their advertising costs are also much lower, ranging from 5000-32,400. However, since The Guardian is a not-for-profit organisation, they rely more so on donations from readers and philanthropists such as Bill Gates.  To battle the rapid decline in circulation and readership, The Guardian has also made decisions to cut costs on the production of their printed papers, and to improve the distribution of them. They have physically reduced the size of the newspaper, increased the cover price, all while receiving NO dividends from their shareholders as the Daily Mail does. Following these decisions, their online presence has massively increased too, with 7.8 million readers on desktop, 3.1 million readers on tablets, and 15.8 million readers on mobile.

In conclusion, the context of the economy has massively impacted the distribution of newspapers, due to the (NOT FINISHED CONCLUSION)

I feel I would be working at Level 2, mark band 5

Thursday 3rd October 2024

Case Studies

LO: to investigate the ownership, funding, regulation, values and ideologies of the set 

products / to apply critical theory to the set texts.

1.) What is commercial funding?

Aim to make profit (capitalism)

2.) What is not-for-profit funding?

Aim is journalism, not profit

3.) How is the Daily Mail funded?

DMGT and advertising

4.) How is the Guardian funded?

Scotts Trust

5.) Economic

Daily Mail -

Summary of history of paper : Originated from Hull Packet in 1787

Owners/Trusts/Funding model : DMGT / Rothermere family

Circulation figures : 1,264,810

Advertising costs : 3000 - 3,000,000

Sales figures for last 5 years : 77 million

Online options : Daily Mail Online, MailOnline

Changes in last 10 years :

Mission statement/principles : "to deliver bright, invigorating, news into millions of homes."

New values it prioritises :

Political bias : right-wing

Ideologies conveyed :

Reporting style :

Which body it's regulated by :

Examples of complaints/breaches :

The Guardian -

Summary of history of paper : Founded by John Edward Taylor in 1821

Owners/Trusts/Funding model : GMG / the Scott Trust

Circulation figures : 986,872

Advertising costs : 5000-32,400

Sales figures for last 5 years : 

Online options : The Guardian Online

Changes in last 10 years :

Mission statement/principles : "the mission of the Guardian has been to use clarity and imagination to build hope."              

New values it prioritises :

Political bias : left-wing

Ideologies conveyed :

Reporting style :

Which body it's regulated by :

Examples of complaints/breaches :

Wednesday 9th October 2024
Case Studies 

1.) DMGT

2.) SCOTT TRUST

3.) Shutting down print factories, smaller papers, etc

4.) Mobile, desktop

5.) the guardian circulation figures - 986,872

The Guardian -

Ownership : 

Funding and revenue :

Tech developments :

News values and bias :

Regulation : 

The Guardian 

The Daily Mail -

Ownership :

Funding and revenue :

Tech developments :

News values and bias :

This paper emphasises the right-wing nature of the Daily Mail, since the main headline discourages people to "stop sneering at blue passports" and reinstate the "traditional" colour of the passports. The issuing of the blue coloured passports was a decision made by the right-wing party, and therefore the Daily Mail is defensive of it, and preaches the traditionalist ideology behind it

Regulation : 

Thursday 10th October 2024

1.) DM Market Share - 25%

2.) Guardian Market Share - 3%

3.) DM News Values - negativity, threshold, meaningfulness

4.) Guardian News Values - composition over negativity, liberal progressive

5.) Who regulates DM and Guardian - IPSO

Explain how the cultural context of how the news is produced influences the content offered to audiences.

Around the world, there are a number of topics that are circulated in the news. However, with regards to culture, these topics can be perceived as more or less new-worthy depending on which audience perceives it. For example, in Britain, news surrounding conflict from other countries is typically reliable and unbiased, since there is no personal involvement within it, and therefore the news owners and producers don't feel the need to filter it or change it. However, in a country that is involved with the conflict, the story might be changed due to patriotism, or the need to reassure its audience. An example of this is in Russia, where in which all news is firmly controlled and social media is sometimes even banned, so that Russian citizens only receive a very filtered, restrained, or even fabricated version of actual events happening in the countries around them. This can happen due to the concentrated and small amount of people that actually have news ownership and control the media around the world, e.g conglomerates like the DMGT - views are very one-dimensional and sometimes even prejudice, which means that the content offered to different audiences is impacted massively. This is even relevant to British papers, where in which certain groups are demonised or glorified, and public view is altered by this. Particularly in traditional, right-wing papers such as the Daily Mail, immigrants and left-wing politicians are shown in a negative light, which means it appeals to people with similar viewpoints, or people that are very "patriotic" regarding their country.

However, due to things such as the mixing of genres, newspaper conventions have changed over the recent years. There is more representation and diversity than there initially was, and audiences can now interact with and consume content from all over the world, rather than just from their own country. This is also assisted by the development of online news, where in which a wide range of articles and unfiltered information is now accessible to people, instead of only being able to access the printed news that is produced and targeted towards their own country or area. Typically, people have an inherent preference to news from their own country, or to topics relevant to them and their culture, e.g British people caring more about British football than other countries would - however, with the use of online news, people can still access content from other countries should they want to, rather than having a limited number of topics chosen and provided for them. 

1. Concentrated news ownership supports a one dimensional view of British Culture through news. Mail supports this cultural context through its ownership model DMG, Guardian however critiques this cultural context as it reveals a wider less influenced model of news through the Scotts Trust. Theory: Curran and Seaton Media industries are capitalist & aim to increase concentration of ownership; leads to narrowing of opinions represented in the press, affecting plurality.

Target Audience

Wednesday 16th October 2024

1.) Hesmondhalgh

2.) Curran and seaton

3.) Livingstone and Lunt

4.) Context in media regarding different cultures

5.) Online news > printed news

Demographics -

TDMs demographic is 54% female and 46% male. The average age of the reader 56. 63% are upper class.

The Guardians demographic is 52% male and 48% female. The average age is 42. 47% are upper class.

Psychometrics (VALs) -

Hobbies/Interests -

Issues they would be aware of - 

- Celebrity (Simon Cowell)

- Entertainment (human interest)

- Surprise (Simon cowells life at risk)

- Good news/bad news (simon cowells life saved)

Power elite - mentions of Russia, a powerful and militant nation

Celebrity - Phil and Holly

Entertainment - showbizz, human interest

Bad news - Russia danger, alcohol bad, "Phil's lost the plot"

Relevance - Phil controversy, Russia danger

Power elite - Israel and Palestine

Surprise - Shock factor

Bad news - Hamas attack, many deaths

Relevance - Issues that are still occurring

Follow up - updates on an ongoing war

Magnitude - regarding whole countries

Agenda - fits The Guardians agenda of delivering news and honesty from an unbiased pov

Good news/entertainment - smaller boxes about things such as celebrity news and Olympics

Thursday 17th October 2024

Target Audience

1.) The age/gender/location of the readers

2.) The interests, lifestyle and personalities of the readers

3.) Celebrity - Involves a well-known person

4.) Magnitude - Involves a mass of people, e.g a whole country

5.) Power Elite - Involves a person of power (political, business, etc)

Bandura - Media affects us directly and indirectly, whether through news, social media, etc. 

Gerbner - Mean world syndrome, media cultivates and influences opinions

Bandura - advertisement of online version of paper at the top ; even if someone doesn't read the physical newspaper, they are still being exposed to the right-wing views of TDM via the internet/ social media

Gerbner - "Mean world syndrome" and fear is created through repeated articles regarding the "migrant crisis", which would eventually start to cultivate and influence negative, right-wing viewpoints within the audience.

Dominant reading - Refugees are in awful living conditions and it needs to change

Negotiated reading - The conditions should change but being kept in the camps is necessary

Oppositional reading - Nothing should change, it is the only way to "process" refugees 

Bandura - 

advertisement of online version of paper; even if someone doesn't read the physical newspaper, they are still being exposed to the right-wing views of TDM via the internet/ social media

Gerbner -

"Mean world syndrome" and general fear-mongering, "many loved ones will die" next to an image of boris johnson almosts suggests that the politician is responsible for this, and further creates distrust regarding politicians

Hall -  

Wednesday 6th November 2024

1.) Bandura - audiences imitate behaviour they have seen

2.) Gerbner - mean world syndrome

3.) Hall's readings - Dominant, negotiated, oppositional

4.) Daily Mail Audience - Right wing, older

5.) The Guardian Audience- Left wing

Gerbner's "mean world syndrome" theory is essential to understanding audiences and the way they perceive news and media. Gerbner's theory states that after consuming amounts of "bad news", its creates a sense of paranoia or the perception that the world, or certain individuals or groups, are more dangerous than they actually are. This fact can sometimes be used to manipulate people within media, particularly in politically biased newspapers, where in which they can fear-monger or indirectly shape prejudiced viewpoints.

This is particularly evident in The Daily Mail. The newspaper is right-wing, and using particular covers, taglines and language surrounding political and social news, this sense of "mean world syndrome" can be instilled within their audience. For example, surrounding the US Elections, language is used such as "basically a toin coss", and "civil unrest", which creates a feeling that there is a lack of control or civility within the election and America. This perception immediately influences the audiences into

6/11- Great start on point 1. T: 1. You need to ensure that you then cover the other elements of the theory.

2. You need to apply the element of the theory you are covering to both newspapers.

Media Language

Codes -

Technical - Camerawork, editting, MES, layout, etc

Symbolic - the meaning communicated through technical elements

Convention - The generally accepted way of doing something

Size -

T -  11 x 17 inches

B - 15 x 22.75 inches

Lexis -

T - informal, brief, slang

B - formal, sophisticated

Mode of address -

T - Direct address

B - Formal

Headline size -

T - Very large, takes up most of page

B - Small, detailed

Image to text ratio -

T - More images and larger images

B - Typically one small image compared to text

Barthes -

denotations signify connotations

myths and associated meaning

In left-wing papers such as The Guardian, text and images are used massively to create connotations and emphasise political bias. For example, an image of Kamala Harris is used where in which she looks confident on the phone, with other people in the room blurred out and her as the focus. The attention being drawn to her on her own with a positive expression is likely to connote ideas of the Liberal party doing well in the elections, since she doesn't look worried or unsettled. Similarly, in right-wing papers such as The Daily Mail, 

Soft news - gossipy celeb entertainment

Hard news - informative and formal political/social news

Thursday 7th November 2024

1.) Tabloid is a smaller, typically more informal newspaper (SOFT NEWS)

2.) Broadsheet is a larger, usually more formal/informative newspaper (HARD NEWS)

3.) Camerawork, MES, etc

4.) Meaning conveyed through technical elements

5.) Genre and repeated symbolism

Tabloidisation - The distinctions between the two genres are getting increasingly blurred between tabloid and broadsheets

Dual Convergence - when genres borrow conventions from another in the use of media language, and so increasingly resemble one another 

Theory summarisation -

Neale - Genre theory 

• Genres change or decline in popularity
• There is a process through which generic codes and conventions are shared by producers and audiences, through the repetition of conventions in media products
• Genres aren't fixed but are constantly evolving : they can become hybrids, playing with genre codes and conventions from other genres.

Media Language -

LO: to explore the terminology of media language and codes & conventions in print news

Masthead - "The Mirror", connotes self-reflection and contemplation, which is what it might encourage within its audience. 

Layout - Due to it being a tabloid, the main feature of the cover is an image and a large, bold headline. There are two other articles, but the cover has very few detail, which draws more focus to the main image

Plug - Tesco and national trust, very british, contrasts the main cover that surrounds U.S. politics

Sub-heading - "uncertainty and fear as world rocked by staggering US election result", shows displeasure and resentment towards trump and the results and uses mean-world syndrome to encourage a similar stance towards him. Shows left-wing views

Headline - "What have they done... again?" emphasises the fact that trump was president for a term before, and shows the disparity at people voting for him AGAIN considering the damage that was done last time he was president

Main image - an image of trump after winning, looking smug. Colours have been saturated to emphasise the unnatural colour of his skin, which mocks him and proves resentment towards him

Thursday 14th November 2024

Media language & case studies

LO : to analyse the IMPACT of media language and codes & conventions in set products.

1.) What is a newspaper puff?

Circle shape sticker on the cover

2.) What is newspaper stand-first?

First paragraph of the article

3.) What is the skybox?

The large section at the top of the box

4.) What is the masthead?

The title of the newspaper

5.) What is the main headline?

Title of the main news story

How does the Daily Mail hybridise the two genres?

The Daily Mail hybridises the genres by keeping aspects of their usual formal, broadsheet newspaper and combining it with aspects of tabloid papers. For example, the lexis in the stand-first remains the same, since it is formal and informative, along with the subject revolving hard-news and politics rather than celebrity gossip or entertainment. However, it also uses qualities of soft-news, such as a short and unserious headline, and more usage of large images on the front cover rather than extensive text.

The Daily Mail uses a variety of media language to show its viewpoints and ideologies. The masthead for the Daily Mail is a cursive and traditional font, followed by the logo being very traditional and "British" imagery. Both of these reinforce the Daily Mails old-fashioned and conservative ideologies, and ties into the genre of broadsheets being "proper" and formal. The main image and headline both show the paper's support regarding the royal family and monarchy, with a flattering and cheerful image of the King, and the headline emphasising that he "knows how to get Britain's economy booming". This support and admiration for Britain's monarch show's the orthodox, old-fashioned audience and producers of The Daily Mail. The colours are the usual black and white text of a broadsheet, and the stand-first is detailed, formal and political, following the usual conventions of hard-news papers.

LEFT WING/LIBERAL - relating to or denoting a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

RIGHT WING/ DEMOCRATIC - advocating or taking measures to promote free enterprise and private ownership, and typically favouring socially traditional ideas; conservative.

Masthead - genre follows broadsheet

Serif font - tradition

Block colour - more tabloid style in the skybox, blue is contrast to tabloid

Blue & White - modern age of colour reflect modern liberal views of equality

Traditional font - trustworthy views, reliable and based on the 4th Estate

Colour NOT traditional - progressive new liberal.

Wednesday 20th November 2024

Media Language Q2 Practice 

LO: to analyse the use of media language and codes & conventions in set products

1.) Camera angle

2.) Low camera angle used to represent authority, etc

3.)  Soft news - informal, hard news - formal, hybrid - inbetween

4.) Hyperreality

5.) postmodernism

Baudrillard : Postmodernism -

- Postmodernism has moved beyond the art and culture of a modernist society

- Postmodern societies revolve around simulation and creating images and signs rather than the actual production of goods

- Hyperreality has become more than real and impacts how people think and perceive, social distinctions become less relevant as identities and concepts can be created

The conventions differ between each newspaper. For example, within a newspaper such as The Mirror, it meets the conventions of a usual tabloid, with a red masthead in a casual font, large images and minimal text on the cover, and the Daily Mail carries traits of both broadsheet, such as the black and white font, classic masthead and moderate amount of text, and the tabloid, making it a mid-market paper. The use of these repetitive conventions are used to convey the 3 main genres of newspapers in the UK, and through these conventions and genres, it is usually easy to identify what kind of viewpoints and ideologies each newspaper might convey. For example, the more traditional features of the Daily Mail such as the logo, old-fashioned font and minimal colour could tell you that the paper might be more conservative, whereas the bright, saturated colours of the Mirror and the large, popping text and image might tell you it is more casual and liberal due to it breaking the traditional conventions of a newspaper. 

The use of the main image in both newspapers is the same, but uses of other conventions and media language create the widely differing ideologies that we see on each cover. For example, the Mirror follows its usual genre convention of satirical news, by saturating the image to emphasise the unnatural orange colour of Trump's skin, and also criticising republican voters with its rhetorical, patronising headline "What have they done... again?", reminding the audience of the last time that Trump was elected. These features emphasise the liberal ideologies of the Mirror, and many tabloids in general. Alternatively, the Daily Mail uses media language to present a differing ideology and political stance, covering the image of Trump with a text that states "A comeback to Trump all comebacks!" The pun in the title not only emphasises the satire that also occurs in hybrid papers, but seems to glorify the extent of Trump's victory, with smaller subheadings claiming it was a "thumping win", and that the election was a "nightmare for Starmer." These both significantly emphasise the conservative and anti-liberal views of the Daily Mail, by praising a republican politician and degrading Lib-Dem leader Kier Starmer in the cover. 

The fact that the same image is used, but that such different viewpoints and news values are conveyed through other uses of media language in each paper, show the extent to which media conventions construct viewpoints within the news.

Wednesday 27th November 2024

Print News : Representation 

LO: to explore the construction of representations in papers

1.)  BULLET POINTS IN QUESTION

2.) Baudrillard

3.) A simulation that is more "real" than real life

4.) A representation 

5.) Tabloid/Broadsheet/Hybrid

Dominant group - sociological term to refer to the group that has the most social, political or economic power in a society

Because the dominant group has access to power and means of communication, they have control and influence over the way other social groups are seen and perceived.

Individuals that don't fit the characteristics of the dominant group would be from a subordinate group. People can be made up of subordinate AND dominant factors, e.g white but female.

This cover reinforces the dominant group due to its representation of the subordinate groups. Woman at top represented as "extreme", and its suggested that she has forced her husband into having a vasectomy due to her beliefs. This supports the notion of women being more emotional and controlling than men. The news article on the left also represents men as the dominant group, 

CONTEXT -

Ownership - context is massively influenced by the media barons that own newspaper companies, and by the journalists and reporters that receive the stories for the news. This is due to everyone having a political bias, and whether intentionally or not, it ends up impacting how the stories are presented or written, and personal bias usually shows

Economic factors - Things like economic factors may influence context, since newspaper barons and writers might favour stories and articles that will benefit them financially and receive the most interest, rather than choosing original perspectives and topic. This can make many newspapers repetitive.

No of stories - 2

Issues covered - Celebrity death and landslide/natural disaster

Social groups represented/absent - Women/girls represented, very few men represented apart from the actor in the TV advert and he doesn't fit all dominant group sociologies

How groups, individuals, issues presented - White woman represented in a very positive light upon her death, glorified and praised. Little girl represented in an empathetic light, muddy and working hard to clean up her town, tragic and encourages viewers to want to help

No of stories - 5?? Plus

Issues covered - Politics, taxes, economy

Social groups represented/absent - women, varied ethnicity, seldom men apart from Elon and Charles small at the top

How groups, individuals, issues presented - Women glamorised, shown in full makeup and nice outfits with an award of some kind, men represented comically, defies dominant groups

The differences between these two papers are mainly the subjects covered, with TDG using more serious articles about political and financial achievements. The Mirror also represents white women positively, but both are missing a representation of more ethnic diversity, disabilities, etc.

Thursday 28th October 2024

Representation and Theory

LO: to explore the use of stereotypes in representations in papers and to explore relevant representation theory.

1.)  White, middle aged, capitalist, straight. able bodied men

2.) Newspaper barons/ journalists (BIAS)

3.) Information being shaped or concealed to promote bias

4.) The opinions and concepts made by individuals

5.) Expectations of content and layout

Class - Upper class, politicians and monarchs usually. Reinforces the idea of lower class being inferior due to their lack of representation.

Age - Older, middle-aged. Usually due to the fact that they are usually politicians or celebrities. Emphasises outdated tory views and rejection of modernisation.

Gender - Male-dominant typically, however in this instance the woman on the cover is referred to as "wife", as if she is centred around nothing but her husband. Another woman mentioned on the cover is Kemi, the new conservative politician, who juxtaposes and hypocrisies typical conservative values and old-fashioned ideologies due to the fact that she is a woman leading the tory party.

Ethnicity - White-dominant typically, but similarly, Kemi juxtaposes the anti-immigrant and prejudice values of the party with the fact that she is a woman of colour that supports them.

Disability -  Lack of representation, inferior.

REALISM -

Constructed realism - 

Class - Variety of class, typically focusing on politicians or accomplishments of lower-class. This could be seen as patronising, however, as if lower class are to be pitied and have a massive disadvantage in society.

Age - Varied

Gender - Varied, however many of the topics about women are often regarding things like domestic abuse cases or rape cases, where in which women could be perceived as weak and vulnerable

Ethnicity - Varied, but representations of ethnic minorities are usually surrounding the current war and again, invoke empathy and the perception of them being helpless and incapable without white countries help

Disability - Lack of representation, inferior. (despite being a more liberal paper)

Van Zoonen - FEMINISM, feminine and masculine roles are constructed through traits and the performance of these traits. It can be a spectrum, and individuals may have a blend of qualities that are both stereotypically masculine AND feminine. Women are sexualised and objectified in patriarchal culture and media. Gender is WHAT WE DO rather than WHAT WE ARE.

Wednesday 11th December 2024

Representation in case study newspaper Daily Mail

LO : To explore the use of representations in papers and explore relevant representation theory

1.) Intersexuality

2.) Class, Age, Gender, Ethnicity, Disability

3.) Representation through presence and absence

4.) Identity in media isn't fixed

5.) Gender performativity/ Objectification

Negative representation of minority groups, rep as violent, aggressive

"Fleeing", "rebels", "vulnerable", personal emotive journalism

Woman with glass of wine and criticism or Christmas drinking, shows women as main demographic of binge drinking

Demonising Syria, negative rep of minority group

Positive representations of the DG (MP standing up for women and women's rights)

Positive rep of right-wing political ideology, capitalism 

"Hot assassin", "like many women", generalises women as shallow and naive

Absence of minority groups

In the Daily Mail cover, the assassination of the healthcare CEO is discussed. The story is written by a women who states that she is "conflicted" about the assassination, "like many women", due to the culprit being attractive. This being the only mention of the assassination, while also being lighthearted and a massive generalisation of women, represents the Daily Mails right-wing stances, due to its glorification of the "hot assassin" who is an able-bodied man who mainly fits the dominant group, and its derogatory representation of women as a social group. Another instance of the Daily Mail glorifying the dominant group is its positive representation of the MP on the cover line

Butler Theory -

Gender is created through performance of masculine/feminine roles and traits. Individuals learn these performances through repetition and it eventually becomes ritual. This, however, excludes other forms of gender and sexuality, and people that don't perform these binary, heterosexual norms create "gender trouble".

Gilroy Theory -

Black Atlantic, where in which black cultures such as Africa, American, Caribbean and European are generalised and blended into one representation by white western culture. It creates a "superiority" of white western culture and influences attitudes towards ethnicity. Post colonialism, where in which colonial ideologies are continued.

Both of these theories are applicable to the Daily Mail covers, where in which there is either an absence or demonisation of minority groups such as Syrians, and how that continues to glorify white western culture and represent it as superior. Butler is also applicable, due to The Daily Mail's reinforcement of binary norms and stereotypical gender roles, with women being "naive" and "shallow", and male figures such as the MP having to "stand up for" them.

Thursday 12th December 2024

Print News : Representation & Case Studies

1.) Positive rep of DG

2.) Negative/lack of rep of minority groups

3.) Positive rep of UK

4.) Gender performativity

5.) Postcolonialism

International news - Topics of Syria and Ministers axing more than 10,000 civil service jobs. Negative rep of Minister, creates rep of apathy. Syrian rebel leaders are almost glorified, however, as they are "vowing to pursue torturers", which might create audience emopthy.

National news - Sara Sharifs 

International - Israel conflict continuation, demonised as it represents how they "seize" Syria territory with no other side of the story featured in the headline.

International - Health boss killing, doesn't refer to killer as "hot assassin" like other papers do, emphasises the viewpoint that he is a killer and shouldn't be glorified. It also presents a picture of the killer shouting, and the words "angry outburst" in the tagline, which represents him negatively.

ANALYSIS -  

The first cover of the Daily Mail massively represents its usual political bias of left-wing, through the mentions of International topics such as Syrian rebels. This topic is described with a fairly neutral take, however, it emphasises the point that the rebels are "pursuing their torturers", which represents the Syrian rebel groups more as victims and creates audience empathy toward them. Similarly, it demonises the Minister and presents the axing of 10,00 civil service jobs as a negative and potentially "greedy" decision from the Minister, which reinforces the Guardians anti-capitalist approach.

Butler - Butler's theory is represented through the gender performance of Sara Sharif, where in which despite being 10, she is seen wearing a dress, earrings, long hair and makeup. A factor that defies these heteronormative roles is the representation of the movie "Queer", where in which the homosexual characters defy stereotypes by being middle aged men that seemingly fit the DG

(ABSENT)

Representations in the news covers have been created to represent the papers political alignment and viewpoint in reference to current political context. 

The Guardian cover utilises denotations of Rishi Sunak to create a negative viewpoint of the conservative party that criticise their leadership and almost mocks their current state. As stated by Barthes in his theory of semiology myths are created through signs (connotations) that are created by what is present, within the cover the main image proposes an eye level shot that creates. an illusion of a high angle through choosing an image of Sunak staring down, the solemn expression across his face paired with desaturated backdrop and muted lighting creates the perfect representation of weakness an loss.  This depiction of Sunak the current PM as he calls for a general election elevates the Guardians myth of tory failure and pursues their liberal agenda in critiquing conservatives even at their lowest in order to better the country with new political leadership that falls less right wing, being indicative of the political context at the time, in which conservative leadership had evidently failed to make Britain greater and harsh criticism fell upon all tory MPs. 

The Daily Express utilises a powerful image of Sunak that serves the opposite purpose of The Guardian, with their allegiance being to the right wing leadership that they deny failed despite the political landscape. The connotations created are those of power and leadership alongside bravery, with these being created through both the image and lexis of the cover, with the image being a mid shot of Sunak in the rain which highlights the wetness of his clothes to connote his willingness to do anything for the sake of the country,  alongside the fact the image has him speaking with a stern face that further connotes the view of him leading the country to a better place and shutting down the opposition. As seen Barthes is clear here through the positive myths about conservative leadership created through the powerful depiction of Sunak and the connotations of conservative leadership. This mirrors the political contexts of the covers inception, with the oncoming general election meaning media such as the papers shave to portray their allegiances well in order to try and influence voters for their side, and the powerful depiction of Sunak polarises the frequent mocking and shameful depictions of him at the time. 

Representations of the conservative party are created clearly through the denotations used in The Guardians lexis, dubbing his event as a 'big gamble,' being implicative of the fact it is unlikely he will win this election due to the leadership he has displayed, alongside the new far right party of reform emerging and labour having high popularity due to the countries desperation for change. Comparatively the Daily Express uses a lexis in a bold typography of a sans serif font to connote Rishi as a great leader, when paired with the image the text of 'I am fighting for our nations future' creates a heroic outlook on the PM despite his previous failings in leadership that have led him to call a general election.  This reflects the fact hat they need to build up their political figurehead for the election due to the political context at the time being very negative towards conservatives for their poor leadership, whilst the Guardian is able to openly represent conservatives as disappointing due to their political allegiance being more liberal. 

Overall papers use representations constructed through denotations and the use of myths in order to reflect their political contexts, Barthes serves to help understand representations and how they are used whilst the connotations themselves allow insight in a newspapers political ideology. 

Thursday 19th December 2024

LO: To analyse the use of genre conventions in Newspapers

1.)

2.) Case study and non case study

3.) Semiology - connotations and denotations

4.) Media language, representation, audience theory

5.) Decide which part you agree with, assert points with each side

Genre conventions are dynamic and change over time to stay relevant -

How far do the sources demonstrate this?

Agree -

• Colour images - technology
• Compact/tabloid size
• Guardian masthead changed
• Political allegiance has developed - negative lexis, but shows value of paper
• Skybox pun - tabloid style liberal viewpoint
• Colour masthead - subheading development of cover design
• Celebrity news included

Disagree -

• Financial Times - size remains and adverts are traditional convention
• Both feature hard news
• Masthead and Headline traditional serif font
• Text to image ratio - more text - traditional

I believe that these sources fully prove the fact that genre conventions within Broadsheet newspapers change over time in order to stay relevant. For example, in both The Guardian and Financial Times, we can see that they take on a multitude of tabloid genre traits, the first of which being colour. Colour is used in the masthead and also the images on the cover of both of these newspapers, which also emphasises the advancements in technology since the early days of printed broadsheets where in which they were in black and white. The political allegiance has developed and also become much more prominent, whether it is left-wing like The Guardian or right-wing like Financial Times, and political bias is shown much more clearly through the choice of headlines or images or the ways in which an event is described, such as "Sunak's big gamble" which emphasises The Guardians resentment towards the conservative politician, and whereas a majority of broadsheet papers are right-wing and targeted to a conservative class demographic, papers like The Guardian defy this with their liberal political stance. Particularly in The Guardian, also, puns or comedic skyboxes and headlines are used to draw the attention of the viewers and show off these political allegiances, such as "Soak the Rishi" featured in the Guardian, which is a stereotypical trait of tabloid papers, and defies the usual formal and factual lexis of a broadsheet. The Guardian has also taken on a more compact and tabloid size, and featured celebrity news, rather than only hard-news, politics or business. These factors all contribute to the development of broadsheet newspapers as they change typical conventions.

Some factors remain the same, however, and maintain their broadsheet genre conventions. For example, the Financial Times has maintained it's broadsheet size, and still features front-cover advertisement that is aimed at a wealthier, middle-upper class demographic. Both papers still regularly revolve around topics of hard-news, such as Rishi Sunak and the election. The Masthead, headline and articles all use the same traditional serif font, and the front cover has a much larger text ratio in comparison to the featured images, maintaining the propriety and informative nature of broadsheet newspapers.

In conclusion, however, I believe that these sources massively prove how papers develop and change their genre conventions over time, and how Broadsheet papers, particularly The Guardian, have adapted to society as it evolves, and taken traits of soft-news papers in order to maintain audience retention and interest in a modernising society, while still keeping some traits such as the large text-to-image ratio and hard-news topics that distinguish and separate broadsheets from tabloids.