News Question 3 Knowledge

Example of a question 3: Explain how the political context in which newspapers are produced, influences their ownership and regulation. Refer to The Guardian and Daily Mail. (10)

Tips

• This question focuses on the knowledge and understanding of contexts of newspaper production. There is no analysis needed such as media language of the paper- so you need to refer to the papers that you have studied. 
• These context questions can be either about social, cultural, political or economic contexts. 

Industry info

Market share

The top three companies own 80% of the UK newspaper market- this is an oligopoly:

Lord Rothermere (DMG media) owns: The mail, The daily mail, I, metro which generates £72.9 million and supports The conservatives and The Lib Dems 

Reach PLC owns: The star,  Daily Express, Daily Mirror which generates £61 million and supports the conservatives and Labour. 

Rupert Murdoch (News corporation) owns: The sun, The Sunday Times, The Times which generates 41.5 million and supports the conservatives. 

Scott Trust owns: The observer, The Guardian which generates £23.9 million and supports the labour party.

Barclay Brothers own: The Telegraph, The Sunday telegraph which generates £21.5 million and supports The conservative party. 

The Guardian owns only 10% of the newspaper market. 

Job of the press

The job of the press is to hold powerful institutions including politicians to account, to be the eyes and ears of the public in places the public cannot be.

Regulation

• The Leveson inquiry was launched to investigate the culture, practises and ethics of British press following the phone hacking scandal by News of the world. The newspaper hacked into celebrities, the Royal family and other members of the public's (such as murdered school girl Milly Dowler) voice mails. The inquiry explored links between press and police and politicians as well as tactics used to get stories. 
• As a result of this, two main regulators uphold standards that newspapers have to meet. The regulators are IMPRESS- government backed and IPSO- Industry accepted.
• Press and politicians have always had a close relationship and this was criticised by the Leveson inquiry which called for greater transparency. 
• Post Leveson, IPSO was set up- an industry body which upholds press standards and maintains editor's code of conduct. It doesn't fully comply to Leveson's regulations. 
• IMPRESS is the only other regulator and is state backed. Few national papers have signed up to this, it is normally local papers. It is funded by the government and Max Mosely. 
• The Guardian hasn't signed up to either as it said that they are flawed. Instead it has created its own regulatory body to hold The Guardian to account- Scott Trust. 

Economic Context 

• Economically, the newspaper industry is declining. It is facing competition from online news and the challenge of how to change content to meet the new digital age. 
• The Mail now makes more money digitally advertising than it does for print advertising. 
• Economically, they have had to invest and adapt to compete with changing expectations of audiences in the digital age such as having to create social media accounts.
• The Guardian has just reported its first operative profit in decades but at the expense of hundreds of editorial jobs. 

Political Context 

• Politically, our social system is a capitalist, free market economy ( sell as many papers as possible). This is why the newspaper industry is an oligopoly dominated by the right wing press. This is why the market needs to be regulated to ensure that there are multiple voices which is necessary for free press. 

Cultural/Historical Context

• British newspapers are a cultural tradition. 
• Since the 1980s, the industry has been migrating online. 
• Cultural shift means audiences prefer online media and expect content constantly. 
• Newspapers are part of our common cultural life.
• Ownership concentrated in a few hands means that newspapers support one-dimensional view of British culture and can enforce cultural norms and viewpoints (Gerbner cultivation theory).

Social Context

• The way that audiences consume, interact with and pay for news has changed.
• News reflects what is happening in society and reflects current social concerns i.e Brexit.