P1: News

Wednesday 11th September 2024

Print News:

L/O: to explore printed news and the theoretical framework

Do Now:

1. Language

2. Industry

3. Audience

4. Representation

5. Historical, Political, Social, Economic, Cultural

10/10

https://www.tomorrowspapers.co.uk/ 

Newspapers notes:

usually contains one large main image with smaller image in advertisements.

Main heading is large and takes up majority of the page

Masthead at the top of the page

Most people in images are white, male and usually quite in shape.

tends to discuss politics, celebrities and TV shows - a mix of hard and soft news

text is smaller and in columns

usually only has colour in advertisements and the main image

advertisements are usually at the top of the page.

Lots of mentions of Ukraine - lack of mentions of other wars/genocides.

Tabloid: a type of newspaper that has smaller pages, many pictures, and short reports

• many images with one large image
• less text
• smaller sized paper
• celebrity gossip - 'soft news'
• text is sans serif
• lower quality
• newspaper is usually a larger size - newer ones are smaller and more tabloid sized due to cost.
• The sun, The star etc.

Mid Market Tabloid: Mid market tabloids or middle market dailies are newspapers that include publications such as The Daily Express and The Daily Mail. They may include some conventions of both tabloid or broadsheet and tend to reflect a mid-point between the two genres.

• relatively even image to text ratio
• less text than broadsheet, more text than tabloid
• Daily Express, Daily Mail

Broadsheet: a newspaper with a large format, regarded as more serious and less sensationalist than tabloids.

• one large main image
• Less colour
• Large columns of text with sophisticated language
• discusses serious topics - 'hard news'
• text is serif
• higher quality
• Guardian, The Times, Daily Telegraph

Representation:

• represents serious news - Ukraine/Russia, Winter Fuel Cut, Job Losses
• White people - both male and female
• Labour - left wing opinion
• Holly Johnson - LGBTQ+

Thursday 12th September 2024

Purpose and Process

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

Do Now:

1. A newspaper that has more images and less text than a broadsheet. News surrounds celebrities and is less serious. Small size paper

2. Takes aspects from both tabloid and broadsheet

3. A newspaper that has more text and less images than a tabloid. News is serious and more political. Large size paper.

4. Barthes

5. Neale

5/5

Purpose:

Tabloid: more entertaining, celebrity news

broadsheet: to inform, more serious news, political

Production:

large amount of material - ink, paper

employing highly trained staff

technology has changed:

prints in colour

Satellite and internet - stories can be quickly wired from anywhere

Distribution:

expensive to physically transport

needs to arrive early in the morning

Lessen Cost:

print locally

Putting the news online

free papers - i.e. the metro

Marketing:

advertising - TV, social medias, sister papers

exclusives - i.e. interviews

synergy deals with other companies

Circulation:

number of copied distributed, not sold

Ownership:

Guardian - The Scott Trust

Daily Mail - DMGT = Daily Mail and General Trust

Both are trusts

Types of ownership:

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

3. 'Cross-Media converged conglomerates' - global institutions that own numerous media outlets. These may be owned by media barons. E.g. DMG & Lord Rothermere.

Newspaper ownership in the Uk is increasingly concentrated, and therefore less diverse, as the industry is run by just 7 companies. 60% of the market is owned by just 2 companies - News UK & DMG Media.

1. How do newspapers make money?

1. Advertisements, Sales, Subscriptions, Deals with companies, Paywalls.

2. What problems is the newspaper industry facing?

2. lack of people buying newspapers, all digital. Fake news.

3. How are they tackling this?

3. Convergence to digital, websites for each news outlet. Social Media, Cutting costs. Donations from readers, subscriptions

Circulation Sales:

14.3m people read daily

81% from print sales

daily costs 70p-£2.70

weekend costs 80p-£2.80

advertising:

full page colour ad costs 30,000

makes money from ads

print readers 75% more likely to read ads

Funding Strategies:

governement or public funding

greater focus on payment from online access

Technological Developments:

since the 1980's, rapid development of hardware, software and converged devices has significantly changed the relationship between owners and their audiences.

1980's - Computers. printers & DTP programs: 

easier to print newspapers. Process of writing copy & art direction was easier. Audiences have power to create their own print media, but can't distribute it.

1990's - Internet: 

easier access to news. more news, easy access to information. No cost for information

2000's - Broadband, Web 2.0, smartphones & tablets, HD Digital cameras, apps: 

people don't have to buy newspapers to access news, newspapers are bought less. Owners have no control over production and distribution or information. Audiences can access information anywhere.

Advantages:

audiences can interact with the news, owners can monitor story popularity. less cost.

Disadvantages:

Guardian has lost 200,00 readers.

Independant only available online.

Wednesday 18th September 2024

News Values:

L/O: to explore the news values of printed news

Do Now:

1) DMGT and Lord Rothermere DMG

2) The Scott Trust

3) Trust

4) Media Barons

5) Historical, Political, Cultural, Economic, Social

4/5

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/sep/18/hezbollah-pager-explosion-lebanon-israel-gold-apollo

https://www.dailystar.co.uk/news/world-news/hezbollahs-one-big-mistake-terror-33692154

- Daily star blame's Hezbollah for Israel's attack. "Hezbollah's mistake".

- The guardian name's Israel in the headline. Israel creating explosives

Editor acts a gatekeeper who is responsible for filtering selecting or omitting stories based on importance and appeal

Stories checked for accuracy

Editors can practise Protective Coverage: withholding information on the grounds it would be harmful to the public, powerful people or impede a legal investigation.

News Values:

Definition: guidelines used to identify which news is considered to be most valuable, appealing & newsworthy for audiences.

Indicates that the news is socially constructed.

Threshold

consonance

negativity

personalisation

unambiguity - provides lots of information 

frequency - Israel

negativity - death, Israel attacking countries

composition - image in the centre surrounded by text - the most important thing.

meaningfulness

references to elite persons - 'Starmer' UK Government

Barthes Semiology:

Large amount of text - creates meaning that it is important

Bold font for headline - Important,

Serif font -  connotation: serious

Image - centre of the page, blood - serious, important

Lexis - 'Exploding', 'wreak Havoc' - connotes danger, severity of the situation 

Thursday 19th September 2024

Political Bias

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

Do Now:

1) People/Companies who collect the facts from a scene of a story and sell it to news outlets.

2) Negativity

3) Consistency unambiguity

4) Media Baron

5) Historical, Economic, Political, Social, Cultural

4/5

1) Free Press = Anyone has the right to report anything in the news

2) 

Free Press: a news industry that isn't regulated or censored by the government in values or beliefs

The Fourth Estate: news has a role in safeguarding the public from decisions made by the wealthy or politicians who could influence policy or outcomes.

portraying labour in a negative light

Homogenous: of the same kind

Singular, Similar, Undistinguishable

News has a homogenous view

news is therefore reported in a singular view.

Plurality: more then one view point

Daily Mail: Right Wing - 

makes Boris seem powerful

The Guardian: Left Wing - 

makes Boris seem delusional

uplifting female euro's team

We can see political allegiance in the newspaper front covers through the use of media Language in the Daily Mirror and Daily Mail front covers.

In the Daily Mirror, we can see the Left leaning political allegiance through the use of Mise-En-Scene. The Mise-En-Scene of Theresa May's facial expression in the main image shows her pulling a funny face whilst doing a speech. The Daily Mirror have purposefully chosen this image as it makes her look highly unappealing and comedic. This will make her seem like a joke and cause people to not vote for her, as well as to entertain those who are already not in support of her. This use of mise-en-scene is paired with the camerawork. The use of a close-up shot further emphasises Theresa May's facial expression, portraying her in a negative light. Here, we can apply Barthes' theory of semiology, as the use of a bad image connotes that she herself is a bad person. This creates the myth that all Tory politicians are physically unappealing and are all bad people, which reinforces that ideological belief.

In contrast, in the Daily Mail, we can see the right leaning political allegiance through their use of mise-en-scene. The Mise-En-Scene of Theresa may standing with a smiling expression, whilst surrounded by many fans and signs in support of her creates connotations that she is powerful. We can see Barthes Theory in action here, as the denotation of her being surrounded by fans creates the connotation that she is well liked and powerful. This creates the myth that all tory politicians have a high amount of power and that they are well liked.

Comparing each cover, this use of mise-en-scene, reinforces Levi Strausses theory of structuralism. The binary opposition of Right Wing/Left Wing from the opposing opinions of each newspaper is used to present Theresa May in two separate ways. Right wing opinions from the daily mail represent her as a good candidate, whilst the left wing opinions from the daily mirror represents her as a bad one. These opinions are shown due to the political context of the coming election. Through representing the tories as either good or bad, it causes people's alliances towards either party to change. 

Furthermore, the use of typography in the Daily Mirror shows their left leaning views. The use of the lexis in the headline 'Lies, damned lies and Theresa May' shows that they believe that she and the tory party are a liars and not to be trusted. This is reinforced by the tagline 'Don't condemn britain to five more years of tory broken promises'. Here we can see barthes' theory in action. The use of the lexis 'Lies' and 'Broken Promises' creates the connotation that the tory party cannot be trusted, and that voting for them will have a negative effect on the country. This was used due to the political contexts of the upcoming election, and the Daily Mirror showing their left-wing political view which the audience would expect to see.

In contrast, the use of typography in the Daily Mail shows their right leaning views. The use of the lexis 'Reignite british spirit' creates feelings of patriotism and traditionalism. This links to the cultural contexts of britain being a patriotic country with traditional values.

19/9- Great response and application of theory to each cover and then comparing. T: 4. can you try to add some context to the analysis, in terms of audience expectations and news values, can you also try to use other elements of media language to back up your points above.

Wednesday 25th September 2024

Print News Regulation:

L/O: to explore the issues of regulation of printed news 

1) Context from History reflects a period of time in that location and region

2) Context surrounding politics at the time 

3) Context surrounding the economy at the time reflects economics through production - budget, distribution, use of stars

4) Context surrounding social norms/ideologies. how it influences views in society. Reinforces social institutions such as family, community

5) Context surrounding the culture of a place/group at the time cultural values

5/5

1) Regulation is the censoring of certain topics to protect people from seeing things that may potentially be harmful, such as a child seeing something violent.

2) An argument for the regulation of news is that the public needs to be protect from seeing news that could potentially be harmful to them.

3) An argument against regulation is that the regulators could censor information biasedly.

FOR:

News industry has too much political power over the British public.

AGAINST:

If press is controlled there is no freedom of speech or democracy. The news would no longer be in the public interest

Plurality: more than one viewpoint.

Regulation is concerned with maintaining the need for free press and the function of the Fourth Estate to protect the people and democracy. political influence of owners and the need for plurality is also a regulatory concern.

recent events habe put regulation at the top of the political agenda. In the light of recent debates, regulation in the UK focuses on:

- news content and information printed by the press

- ownership and competition laws

British press is self regulated

IPSO regulates the Daily Mail

funded by its. members

Allows the public to submit complaints without going through courts

Papers are allowed to opt out and self-regulate outside of IPSO

Funded by the IPRT (Independent Press Regulation Trust)

commercially independent from the news industry

was not received well be editors who see it as an attempt for the government to control free press.

Curran & Seaton:

Industry power- owners have control over the public view. Few conglomerates owning in the media industry - less representation in the media. patterns of ownership and control. Owners pursue profit at the expense of quality/creativity. Capitalism - increasing concentration of ownership to only a few conglomerates.

Hesmondhalgh:

Reducing risk through repeating conventions - use of star vehicles. Increase concentration and integration. production is owned and controlled by a few conglomerates. Relying on repetition - genres, stars, conventions.

Livingstone and Lunt:

Regulation - media is regulated to protect the audience

Consumers: individuals who seek private benefits from the media - regulation protects them

Citizens: social, seek public or social benefits - regulation promotes public interest.

Thursday 26th September 2024

Regulation and Theory:

L/O: to explore the theories of regulation of the printed news

Do Now:

1) IMPRESS IPSO

2) IPSO IMPRESS

3) Leveson Inquiry

4) Semiology

5) Daily Mail - Right, Guardian - Left

3/5

 News:

Daily Mail:

Curran & Seaton - media industries:

The Daily Mail has been owned by the Rothemere family since 1896 - this shows the increasing concentration of ownership in the news industry as it is only large, rich family owning teh newspaper. the ownership controls the opinions of the paper.

Current market share of DMG reinforces right wing political agenda to a large audience

Daily Mail's news values support populist reporting that relies on sensationalised and personalised stories.

criticising labour/left wing politicians

Philip Schofield - celebrity gossip

Daily Male Online:

revenue of £93 mil in 2017 - from celebrity & entertainment ( reinforces values of sensationalise & personalised news)

247 mil in 2023

leading news outlet - share of 20.1% in the industry

Guardian:

curran & seaton:

print-

historical ownership of the Scott trust - the ownership does not control the journalistic values - 

Provides a voice from different perspectives - allows for plurality

trust format guards against commercial pressure.

online -

needs to make a profit to survive.

Hesmondhalgh:

Daily Mail:

DMGT as a parent company

increasing outlet and reducing printing plants reduces risk

Guardian:

Struggled to survive in the competitive market

circulation dropped by 13.1% in 2018

Developed digital outlets and moved to compact form & identifying other revenue streams reduces risk:

Livingstone & Lunt - regulation:

Daily Mail:

Member of IPSO - because of Leveson inquiry

Had 17 cases brought against them in respect of claims of inaccuracy, invasion of privacy and intrusion.

online:

individuals need protection from celebrity driven gossipy news

The guardian:

Self-regulation as they believe that both regulatory bodies are unethical & ineffective.They will, for example, protect whistle blowers and run the stories if in public interest.

Online:

self regulates

editors deal with all complaints subject to a criteria

Q4.

Curran & Seaton's theory states that the pattern's in ownership and control are important in how the media functions. It also states that industries are run on capitalism and so will increase the concentration of ownership, therefore narrowing the range of representations/opinions in the media. These industries will place profit as more important then quality or creativity.

We can see the patterns of ownership and control in the Daily Mail. The Daily mail has been historically owned by DMGT/Lord Rothermere, a rich media baron, and then passed down to his family (his son). This controls how the media functions, as we can see the family's right wing opinions heavily influencing the articles found in the paper. In contrast, we cannot see the ownership in The Guardian. This is because the guardian is owned by the 'Scott Trust'. This means that the opinions will not get in the way of the journalism, allowing for news to be told from different perspectives. A problem with the ownership in the media, is that the DMGT holds a large share in the media industry (20.1%). whilst the Guardian has barely any. This means that the majority of opinions seen in the news are held by DMGT and Lord Rothermere's family. Because of this, regulatory laws have been put in place which means that media conglomerates can only hold approximately 20% of the industry. This allows for plurality and a wider range of news opinions. This contrast between these papers shows that Curran & Seaton's theory is effective for helping to understand regulation in news.

We can see the increasing concentration of ownership and the narrowing of opinions/representations in the Daily Mail 's Ownership. Due to DMGT holding the largest portion of the industry, the majority of opinions found in the news follow a right wing allegiance. Furthermore, due to the Daily Mail being tabloid, the industry also holds a large amount of celebrity culture and gossipy news. The guardian contrasts this, as it is owned by a trust. This means that political opinions have less control over the news that they put out. The content in the guardian follows the opinions of the left-wing groups, therefore representation is less narrow in the industry. Because of DMGT's hold over the industry, regulatory rules have been made that mean the owners can only hold a certain amount in the industry. This allows for other newspapers to share their opinions which allows for plurality.

To conclude, Curran & Seaton are very effective in helping us understand regulation in news, due to their focus on ownership in the media and the regulatory rules that have been put in place because of it.

26/9 Great evaluation and use of the theory application to newspapers. T: 2 You need to cover the other points that C&S state and apply each of these different points to both texts to evaluate the theory.

Wednesday 2nd October 2024

Economic contexts

L/O: to explore the economic factors which influence print news

1) Power & Media Industries. Losing Creativity & Quality over Profit.

2) Reducing Risk through repetition

3) Regulation for citizens and consumers

4) Leveson Inquiry

5) IPSO, IMPRESS

5/5

10 marks = 17 minutes

Key Points: 

Economic Contexts, Commercial & not-for-profit funding, Effect on distribution of newspapers

Ownership:

- Scott's Trust - Guardian

- DMGT/Rothemere - DM

Distribution:

- Lack of Buying physical copies

- Online transition impacting money

Commercial:

- dividends

- money goes back to rothemere family & the conglomerate

Not-for-profit:

- Trust means all money goes back to GMG to support the newspaper

- no dividends

Statistics:

- DMGT - 25% of shares

- Guardian - 2.8% of shares

3)

The effects of economic contexts on the distribution of newspapers varies between each newspaper.

Firstly, the ownership of the Daily Mail follows a capitalist scheme. The owner are DMGT (a large media conglomerate) and Lord Rothemere's family (Large Media Barons). This means that they are far more inclined to gaining profit. An example of this is the news that they put out. The Daily Mail share soft news, which means that their articles are far more personalised and sensationalised. This is done to appeal to their audience, who buy the paper to read about the latest celebrity gossip. By appealing to their audience in this way, they are increasing the likelihood of their paper being bought. Furthermore, they share news with a right-wing leaning opinion, as the Rothermere family are notably right wing. This is done through painting political leaders like Keir Starmer in a negative light, whilst uplifting leaders like Rishi Sunak. This political leaning is followed by their audience, which means that they will buy the newspaper. This leads to an increase in circulation. Here, we can see curran & seaton's theory of power in cultural industries, as they are following a capitalist method and are decreasing in creativity and quality in return for profit.

In contrast, The Guardian provide hard news, which is more serious and surrounds topics such as war and politics. They share this news as the Guardian believes in sharing the truth. In addition, their audience are more sophisticated and intelligent, and would be able to understand this kind of news. Because of this, they also follow a left leaning political opinion, and so their articles are more likely to paint the conservatives and Rishi Sunak in a negative light whilst presenting Labour and Keir Starmer in a positive light. The guardian are more focused on putting out the truth as they are owned by The Scott's Trust. This means that all the profits they earn go back to the newspaper in order to put out more news.

Due to modern advancements, both companies have experienced a lack of circulation from people buying physical copies of their papers, however the guardian's distribution has been more heavily affected. We can see this through the statistics of The Daily Mail having circulation figures of 1,264,810 compared to the guardian having only 986,872 In order to combat this, both papers have developed an online copy. This has impacted their sale of physical copies, as people can access the news straight from their phones, however in terms of circulation, it has allowed more people to access the news. This has also helped the papers to meet the online pressures from their consumers. The online success has allowed for consumers to recieve news instantly after it has happened, as opposed to the day after in the physical copies. We can see that this was successful, as THe Daily Mail has had an increase of online readers, with 7.7 mil online and 22.7 mil mobile readers. The guardian has also had an increase with online presence, having 7.8 mil desktop readers, 3.1 mil tablet reader and 15.8 mil mobile readers. This shows that the economic context of less physical copies circulating has had an effect on the papers, but has been combatted by online technological developments.

Both the guardian and the daily mail earn a profit through methods such as advertisements, holding shares in the industry and subscriptions. The Daily Mail holds 25% of the shares, whilst the guardian only holds 2.8%. Because they have subscriptions (and donations with the guardian), neither newspaper use paywalls. 

The final paragraph is structured a bit funky as i tried to follow a structure of DM, G and then comparing things that both has done, not sure if it has worked out in the end though.

2/10- It does work and you start with clear understanding of the industry and the newspapers. You need to try and focus then on economic areas, such as T: 

2. information on funding and figures
3. online pressure and changes.
4. online success.

level 2 - 5 marks

Thursday 3rd October 2024

on case study page

Do Now:

1. The newspaper is actively making profit

2. The newspaper does not make a profit, and any money is put back through to the paper.

3. THe daily mail is funded by commercial funding and through advertisements, circulation, subscriptions - DMGT

4. The guardian is funded by not-for-profit funding - Scott's Trust

5. Economic

3/5

Wednesday 9th october

on case study page

Do Now:

1. Media Baron - Rothemere/DMGT - commercial Conglomerate

2. Trust - Scott Trust, Not-for-profit

3. Reducing size, Online, closing printing factories, 

4. App, Website - mobile, tablet, desktop

5. Daily Mail - owns 25% of the industry, Guardian - 2.8%

4/5

Thursday 10th October

on case study page

Do Now:

1) 25%

2) 2.8%

3) Negativity, sensation 

4) composition, threshold, progressive

5) IPSO - DM, self-regulated - G

4/5

Q3)

The cultural contexts of news production heavily influences the content that audiences are offered. We can see this through the opinions and representations expressed in the news. The daily mail is owned by large media barons & conglomerates (DMG and The Rothermere family). This leads to a narrowed range of representations in the news, as the only news that will be shown is news that shares similar opinions to the owner. We can see this as the daily mail's political allegiance is right-wing. In contrast, the Guardian is owned by the Scotts trust. Because of this, the owner's opinions are not able to influence the news that is put out. We can see this as the Guardian's political allegiance is middle/left leaning. Here, we can apply Curran & Seaton's theory of power in the media industry, as the narrowing of ownership to large conglomerates is affecting the range of opinions & representations in the media.

Something that affects news is the culture of advertising. We can see this as both the Guardian and The Daily Mail contain advertisements in their newspapers. The guardian usually has smaller advertisements in the skybox near to their masthead, or will have a full page dedicated to an advertisement (such as a full page rolex advertisement) and the daily mail will usually have advertisements throughout the paper. Due to this culture, audiences are not only receiving news content, but are also receiving advertising content too. Because of this, it is common that audiences will just flick past/scroll past advertisements.

Another cultural context that affect news production is the culture of the current digital age. Due to the rise of the internet and technology, news outlets have had to make a change and offer audiences online content through apps and websites dedicated to their newspapers. This has clearly had a positive effect, as the daily mail has 22.7 million mobile readers and the guardian has 15.8 million.

A cultural context that affects news production is the news values that each paper follows, causing them to report on different types of culture. The guardian follows values of sharing the truth and equality. This means that the guardian reports news that will help them promote that freedom and equality for all. They do this by reporting about different cultures all over the world. However, The Daily Mail focuses on reporting personalized and sensationalized news that focuses on negativity. They choose to do this in order to adapt to the culture of readers consuming celebrity gossip/gossipy news. Here we are able to apply Livingstone and Lunt's theory of regulation. The Daily Mail's sensationalised news is not always 100% factual, which we can see through the 17 cases brought to IPSO. This shows that regulation is necessary to protect consumers and promote public benefit for citizens.

10/10- Great response with great examples used from both newspapers. T: you can choose to add one of the areas that you have not covered yet in your response. 2 Postmodern mixing of genres has resulted in change in newspaper conventions and greater diversity in representation. Guardian desire to show freedom and equality in their news values: report on different cultures, perspectives and community services. Mail has focused on personalised news values that value negativity and soft news stories that are sensationalised. Theory: Livingstone and Lunt- require regulation to protect reader- 17 cases brought to IPSO in 2 year period for Mail.
Or
3.Newspapers feature cultural events that are important to audiences in their lived experiences. Mail personalized news, refers to elite nations and people, Guardian- refers to stories in the public interest and community services. Theory: Curran and Seaton- one dimensional view of culture in news via lack of plurality.

Case Studies & Industry theory:

L/O: to explore how industry theory can be applied to the ownership, funding and regulation in the set products.

on 'case study' page

Wednesday 16th October 2024

Target Audience:

L/O: to investigate audiences of printed news and audience appeal.

audience profiling can be done with Demographics, Psychometrics (VALS) and Type: Mass or Niche.

Print News Audiences:

29.1 Million people read newspaper per month (UK) = Mass Audience

- Demographics:

51% male

55+ age

57% millennials

28% middle class

27% working class

- Psychometrics (VALs):

Aspirers, Mainstreamers, Reformers, the Resigned & succeeders.

THE DAILY MAIL:

Demographics:

The Daily Mail’s main target audience is lower-middle-class British women. It was the first newspaper in the UK to write articles targeted at women. As of April 2019, the Daily Mail had a circulation of almost 1.2 million newspapers, the second highest in the United Kingdom.

54% female to 46% male. Some 83% are said to be homeowners and 69% own their homes outright.
Some 63% are ABC1 (upper and middle class) and some 366,000 are said to have savings of more £100,000.

Psychometrics:

Mainstream, Aspirers, Succeeders

Hobbies/Interests:

Issues They would be aware of:

How they access media:

Types of media they like:

Types of stories that appeal to them:

THE GUARDIAN:

Demographics:

theguardian.com's audience is 51.02% male and 48.98% female. The largest age group of visitors are 25 - 34 year olds.

Readers of The Guardian were more likely to be women, with nearly 15 million monthly female readers in the United Kingdom from April 2019 to March 2020. Readership of The Guardian proved to be more popular among older adults than younger ones. Throughout the period observed, approximately 18.5 million individuals over 35 years old read The Guardian, either on print or online.

Psychometrics

Explorers,  Reformers, Succeeders.

Hobbies/Interests:

The Guardian’s target audience is diverse in terms of interests, but they generally tend to:

current events - informed about news, politics, international affairs, and value analysis and commentary.

feature articles and comment pieces - appreciate thoughtful, well-researched feature articles and opinion pieces on various topics, from culture to politics.

business and finance - The Guardian’s business and finance section is popular with readers who value expertise and analysis on the economy, markets, and industry trends.

cultural and lifestyle topics - The Guardian’s readers are interested in arts, music, film, and lifestyle topics, which are presented in a thoughtful, intelligent, and engaging manner.

Issues They would be aware of:

How they access media:

3.2m monthly print and an 18.4m monthly digital readership

Types of media they like:

Types of stories that appeal to them:

Celebrity + Good News - Simon Cowell's life is saved

Entertainment - Ronaldo

Power Elite - Liz, Putin, Simon Cowell

Bad news - disaster of Ronaldo's return

The Power Elite - referenced through the headline. lexis of mayhem implies danger & chaos.

Bad News - LExis of headline - Plotting, Mayhem

Celebrity, Surprise, Bad News - Coverline of Holly & Phil - Lexis of 'Phil's lost the plot' implies that he isn't safe. Encased in a large blue box - stands out. 

Layout - Russia in the middle - most important news, dangerous.

Power Elite, Bad News, Follow-up - Israel/Palestine - headline

Good news - Marina Abramovic - skybox

Newspaper agenda - Fits the guardian's views by showing both sides of the story.

Thursday 17th October 2024

Audience

Do Now:

1. Physical aspects of the audience - class, gender, age social grade to measure the audience

2. The type of person/people they are, hobbies, interests. 

3. Power Elite - people/countries/institutions/companies that hold a powerful influence over the world

4. Bad News - news that is bad/negative. (conflict, tragedies)

5. Follow-up - news that continues on/has been reported on before

Bandura:

short term effect on audience

audiences repeat/ are influenced by what they see online

Gerbner:

long term effect on audiences

people begin to fear the world after seeing negative/violent things

Bandura: Daily Mail is online (social media, websites). we are influenced by their stories & people talking about their stories.

Gerbner: Long term effect - negative views towards migrants. Lexis of Crisis and out of control

'Tax rises..." - distrust of politics, mean world syndrome

Hall:

Dominant: migrants are bad

Negotiated: Migrants are bad, but they could still need help

Oppositional: This is a humanitarian crisis.

Hall:

Dominant: accepts the preferred reading

Negotiated: accepts some parts

Oppositional: rejects everything

Hall:

Dominant: Refugees & Migrants are in need of support, want to be sympathetic towards them

Negotiated: They need support, but we can't just let everyone in

Oppositional: they don't need help.

Gerbner: Israel/Gaza - mean world syndrome. News is balanced

Bandura:

Hall:

Audience: offers - 50% off of the guardian

Gerbner: Assisted Dying - fear of death, sensationalised headlines

Bandura: Lexis - 'die', 'dying' - visceral,

'Scandal' placing labour & kier starmer in a negative light - right wing values

Hall:

Audience:

Wednesday 6th November 2024

Media Language:

L/O: to explore the genre codes & conventions in print news.

Do Now:

1. Media has a direct effect on audiences - short time - audience imitates what they see

2. Media has an indirect effect on audiences - long time - mean world

3. Preferred, Dominant, Oppositional, Negotiated

4. Right Wing, Female, ABC1, Older, Gossipy

5. Left Wing, Educated, Sophisticated, Male, 

evaluate usefulness of Bandura

4)

Bandura's theory states that the media has a direct effect on the audience, and that the audience will repeat what they see in the media.

We can see the direct effect and audience influence through the front pages of the daily mail and the guardian.

In the daily mail, the front cover suggests that America is bracing for 'Civil Unrest' and that is on a 'Knife Edge' regarding the coming election. This can be seen in the masthead and cover lines of their November 6th paper. This implies that they believe that Kamala would not be fit for president and that whilst they want trump to win, they aren't certain that he will. This affects the audience as they will also challenge Kamala's efficiency in office if she wins. This follows the daily mails right wing allegiance, as well as their audience's right wing political opinion and so influences them politically. This means that the audience will repeat what they see, and be more inclined to vote for Donald Trump if they are told that Kamala wouldn't make a good president as they would fear the changes Kamala would put in place.

In contrast, the guardians front cover seems hopeful that Kamala can take office, as seen in their November 6th masthead 'Hope... and fear". This reinforces their left wing political beliefs, and their audiences left wing political beliefs. 

A downside of this theory is that it assumes the audience are passive when consuming content.

Codes:

signs that can create meaning

can be split into two categories:

Technical: Camerawork, editing, MES, choices that require technical equipment/skills to produce E.g. shot type, layout etc.

Symbolic: communicated through the technical elements

Conventions:

The generally accepted way of doing something.

Codes & Conventions

Tabloid:

size: small

Lexis: informal, slang, censored swearing

Mode of Address: commonly has direct address

Headline Size: Extremely Large, majority of front cover

Image to Text ratio: Images are far larger with less writing.

Broadsheet:

Size: Large

Lexis: Sophisticated, serious, detailed

Mode of Address: Formal

Headline Size: usually smaller in size but with more text & detailed

Image to Text Ratio: more text, multiple images but are smaller. Text is in multiple columns.

Barthes:

Semiology

Denotations: the literal meaning

Connotations: implied meaning from denotations

Myths: ideological meanings, makes ideology natural.

DM

Denotations: 

red MAGA hat

wife in background

mid shot

Connotations: 

Red hat - red = right wing, red = warning sign,

Wife in background - connotes that she is not as important as trump, male as leader. needs support

mid shot - he is important, focuses on his face & had, expression

Myths: naturalises the idea that men are powerful and in charge

Follows codes and conventions of Tabloid papers having a large Masthead and small size paper

Converts conventions as image is smaller

G

Denotations:

Smug look on her face

suit 

mid shot

image is larger

connotations:

Smug look - implies that she has control and is confident

suit - formal, impressive, leader, wealthy

mid shot - she is important, focus on her face

large image - severity of the situation, important

Myths:

naturalises the idea that women are powerful and confident leaders. Women in leadership roles.

conventions of broadsheet: lots of text

Soft news: gossipy, entertainment, celebrities: Tabloid - DM

Hard news: Serious, political, war, power elite: Broadsheet: G

Neale:

Tabloid & Broadsheet - two genres have converged

Dual convergence is when genres borrow conventions from another in use of media language and so resemble on another.

Genres change or decline in popularity. Generic codes and conventions are shared by producers and audiences through the repetition of conventions. Genres constantly evolve and become hybrids. They take on codes * conventions from other genres.

Thursday 7th November 2024

Media Language:

L/O: to explore the terminology of media language and codes & conventions in print news.

Do now:

1. Tabloid: Newspaper that shares soft news,  is smaller in size, has more images than text, is informal in its lexis.

2. Broadsheet: Newspaper that shares hard news, is larger in size, has more text than images, formal lexis.

3.choices that require technical equipment or skills to produce.

4. meanings/signs that are communicated through the technical elements.

5. Genre: Genres change and develop over time, gaining or losing popularity. They develop and become hybrids. Codes & conventions are reinforced through repetition from audiences & producers.

Tabloid

Editing

Typography: Large text - emphasises importance, stereotypical of tabloid

Layout: trump to the side pointing at the reader - reference to old propaganda. 

Mode of address:  headline - use of a pun 'Trump all comebacks'. Image of trump directly addresses the reader.

Mise-En-Scene

Locations: outside - natural lighting.

Lighting: natural - can see trumps facial expression - smug grin. he is outside.

Camera

Shot type: Mid shot - focus is on trumps face and hand

Angle: eye level -looking him in the eyes.

Broadsheet:

Editing

Typography: 'American Dread' - large text, emphasises the danger and importance

Layout: Large image - converts stereotypes of broadsheet - emphasises importance

Mode of address: slightly more sophisticated lexis - 'Dread'

Mise-En-Scene

Locations: outside

Lighting: high key - emphasises his features, image is unflattering

Camera

Shot type: close-up: unflattering image, emphasises features.

Angle: 

Wednesday 14th November 2024

Media Language & Case Studies

L/O: to analyse the IMPACT of media language and codes & conventions in set products

Do Now:

1) Shape with text in, usually promoting something

2) Main stories first paragraph - first of article

3) Area at the top of the paper, commonly seen with advertisements in.

4) Name of the paper

5) Headline of the main story

The daily mail has hybridised the hard and soft news genres through their use of typography. The lexis of slang words such as 'Pomp' and 'Pygmy' in their headline creates an almost satirical, soft view of the serious, political news of the riots as well as the US President meeting with the Queen, as well as the riots. This reinforces Neale's theory of genre, as it shows the development and hybridisation of genres over time.

The Daily Mail uses Media Language to show genre, viewpoints & ideologies. The daily mail hybridises the genres of Tabloid and Broadsheet through its use of Text. We can see the inspiration of the broadsheet genre through the Masthead's typography. The Serif font and black text connotes that it is a serious paper, which is paired with the use of an Icon which shows a coat of arms with a lion, a unicorn, a shield and a crown. This promotes the British values and ideologies that The Daily Mail believe in. This is chosen because the target audience of the daily mail believe in traditional British values, and will be more likely to read the paper if it promotes it. We can see the inspiration of the Tabloid through the text to Image ratio. There is little text on the page, and one main image. 

We can see the reinforcing of viewpoints & ideologies from the use of colour. In the skybox, We can see an image of 'Samantha Brick' and a quote talking about her husband. This is placed in front of a large pink rectangle. This reinforces ideologies of women and femininity being associated with colours like pink. In addition, the main image of the royal family is surrounded by a purple text box. This matches the purple tie that Charles is seen to be wearing in the image. This is chosen because purple is a colour commonly associated with royalty. The Daily Mails target audience are lovers of the royal family.

Levi-Strauss:

Hidden rules that shape structure, communicates ideology, Binary opposites: Hot/Cold, Black/White, Men/Women.

LIBERAL:

adjective

1. 1.

   willing to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; open to new ideas.

   "they have liberal views on divorce"
2. 2.

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

noun

1. 1.

   a supporter of policies that are socially progressive and promote social welfare.
2. 2.

   a supporter of a political and social philosophy that promotes individual rights, civil liberties, democracy, and free enterprise.

Masthead:

Blue & white - progressive, stands out, new

Serif font - traditional, trustworthy.

takes up less space - room for more news

Colour:

Blue & White - liberal, progressive

Skyline & Puff:

Skyline - advertisments surrounding culture, moves - entertainment that is enjoyed by the audience

Splash/Lead Story:

Hard news - the guardian agrees that the spanish government did not do enough, standing up for the people

Harris & Trump - American Politics, Election, affects the UK

Byline:

Main Image:

Agreeing with the spanish people - standing up for them - spanish government did not help the people

shows the suffering, struggle and upset of the people who are suffering from the floods

Caption:

Headline:

Layout:

One large image for the main story - shows 

Wednesday November 20th 2024

Media Language Q2 Practise

L/O: to analyse the use of media language and codes & conventions in set products

Do Now:

1) Physical elements that can be seen: masthead, colour, text etc. (editing, camerawork, mise-en-scene)

2) meanings created by the technical elements

3) Tabloid: More image, less text, soft news, red-top

    Broadsheet: More text, less images, hard news, physically larger.

    Mid-Market: Takes elements from both broadsheet and tabloid: text & images, colour, formal, same size as tabloid

4) The fake real (representations) is becoming more real than our reality, i.e. amusement parks like disney (hyperreality)

5) Postmodern texts are aware that they are texts: includes intertextuality, loss of versimility, 

Baudrillard:

- postmodern society is dependant on the play of images & signs, which are simulations of our world.

- social distinctions are no longer important as individuals construct their identities in the simulation.

- Hyperreality - simulations are more real than our reality and now control us.

Signs: Masks, lockdown. 

Simulacra/Hyper-reality: The jungle, not a real place, 

Social Distinction: class

Mirror:

Masthead: Red, Sans Serif - Red is convention of tabloid genre. Sans Serif - Modern, Casual

Image: colour saturation - mocking, satirical

Headline: left wing ideologies, rhetorical question.

Daily Mail:

Masthead: Serif - serious, historic. Logo - British ideologies of patriotism, traditionalism, conservative

Headline: pun - 'Trump all comebacks". 'Thumping win' - positive

2)

The use of convention in newspaper ensures that each genre is easily identifiable. Tabloid newspapers are recognised for their Red-Top, large images, small size, and softer, gossipy news. In contrast, Broadsheet papers are recognised for their Lack of colour, large amount of text, larger physical newspaper size, and their hard, serious news. The hybrid genre of Mid-Market tabloid takes aspects from both of these genres, through the text to image ratio, colourless and large masthead and a mix of hard and soft news in their articles.

The Daily Mirror fits into the genre of Tabloid, as we can see its vibrant red top with its masthead. The use of the colour red is a genre convention of Tabloid papers, which makes them stand out and catch the eyes of their audience. In addition, the use of a sans serif font creates the idea of modernity and being casual - as reinforced by the use of soft news. Furthermore, the text to image ration is a genre convention of tabloids. We can see this through the large image taking up the majority of the paper, with a small amount of text: masthead, stand-first etc. This shows that the Mirror reinforces genre conventions of Tabloid newspapers. The Daily mail fits into the genre of mid-market tabloid, as we cam see the Broadsheet style masthead paired with the tabloid style text to image ratio. The Masthead of The Daily Mail is black and white, and uses a serif font. This combination creates connotations of seriousness and importance. In addition, we can see a logo in the middle of the words. In this logo is a coat of arms, lions and the England flag. This shows that the Daily Mail follows ideologies of British values such as patriotism and traditionalism.

The use of the main image in both newspapers is the same, but creates different viewpoints & ideologies.

In the Daily Mail, The image uses a slightly low angle, close up shot with high key lighting. This allows us to focus on Trumps smug expression. This high key lighting also literally places him in a positive light. This image is paired with the Main headline: "A comeback to Trump all comebacks". Furhtermore, the subheadings of 'Thumping Win', 'Liberals bewildered and fearful' and 'nightmare for starmer' use lexis that implies that the Daily mail are proud of Trumps win and unsympathetic to the left wing supporters who are unhappy because of it. The use of the Pun 'Trump' - relating to his name, paired with the image portraying him positively, and the anti-left wing subheadings shows that the Daily Mail's political viewpoints are aligned to the right wing.

In the Daily Mirror, The image is also close up and low angle. However the image has been edited to be a more saturated colour. This is done to ridicule and satirise Trump, as he is known for his Orange skin tone. This is paired with the main Headline "What have they done... Again?". This shows that

In these sources, media conventions are used to display the political viewpoints of each paper. Though certain aspects are used for similar effect, they each display different connotations which lead to different viewpoints.