News

 DO NOW

1. What type of ownership does the Observer have? Scott's Trust

2. What type of ownership does the Sun have? Media Baron: Rupert Murdoch

3.What type of ownership does the Daily Mail have? Cross media conglomerate: DMG Media

4. 27.3% of the British press is owned by? Lord Rothermere

5. 3 billionaires own and control how much of the British press? 71%

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Newspaper Funding and Regulation                                                                      16/01/24
LO: to explore the impact of newspaper funding and regulation on the printed press

How does media ownership contribute to news bias?

- commercial advertising ties

- political opinion of owner

- business interests of owners/friends

- profits: newspapers are not PSB - news is 'non fiction' it is stories designed to sell

- Newspapers are not usually profitable, but are seen as a means of gaining political and social influence, so are often owned by rich individuals rather tan conglomerates so these businesses tend to specialised newspaper (and sometimes magazine) publishing rather than a range of media

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

- The Guardian Media Group bought The Observer in 1993 after a disastrous period in which it had been used by its new owner as a weapon in a vendetta against a business rival. This is an example of the sort of editorial interference that The Scott Trust was set up to avoid.

The Guardian - left wing

The Mirror - left wing

The Independent - centre

The Times - right wing

The Telegraph - right wing

The Sun - right wing

The Daily Express - right wing

The Daily Mail - right wing

How do newspapers make money?

- through selling newspapers

- advertising

- circulation (sales)

- paywalls and memberships

- vents and other sales

- sponsored content

Freedom - so no influence, actual news

Regulation - newspapers need checking

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DO NOW                                                                                                  30/01/24

1. Free press was seen as crucial to democracy - censorship was abolished and press freedom came to be seen as a precious ideal to be defended at all costs

2. The News of the World tapped into people's phones which lost trust for them

3. They created a regulatory body if they did not do so, the press set up their organisation to regulate press behaviour and enforce a code of practice

4. IPSO (independent press standards organisation)

5. Impress, it only covers a few local newspapers

For regulation

-newspapers can't be trusted e.g. phone hacking

-to protect the public

Against regulation

-communication for the public

-gives power to the regulation

-avoiding censorship

Audience - The Observer

Self regulated by the reader's editor 

1. Scott's Trust own The Guardian/Observer

2. They have a left wing political stance

3. They are self regulated

4. The Guardian/Observer makes money by subscriptions, donations, sales and advertising

5. Because they care about what they do

Mostly 35+, equal gender, upper middle class, educated and cultured, left wing, progressive

Demographics

Equally spread male and female

68% class AB

78% class ABC1

Mostly live in London and the south (53%)

One third of the audience is aged 15-34, the rest is 35+

Psychographics

These readers are sold to advertisers as progressive, forward looking people who are keen to try new things 

They are art culture lovers, and food and drink aficionados 

monthly UK viewers online are 55% male 45% female

left wing political view

Newspapers used to be bought in print on paper but now it can be read online using wifi and the internet, this is convergence (technological + cultural) because these two things have become interchangeable 

This applies to the observer as you can find it on multiple types of social media such as Instagram, twitter and the observer website, this appeals to a larger audience as more people can access it.

An online observer audience are active because they can choose what to read, comment, like , etc

06/02/23

DO NOW

One way that newspapers are funded is through subscriptions. There are certain newspaper that need subscriptions in order to receive them every month, where you pay a certain amount and then you will be set thew newspaper in the post every time there is a new issue. For example for newspapers such as  The Observer have a subscription possible.

Another way that newspapers are funded is through a pay wall. This is an online service where you can't read the newspaper without paying the amount stated. This will provide the newspaper with money as this is the only way that some people can read the news so it will have to gain the company money in some way.

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Media Language

LO: to investigate how print newspapers use media language to create meaning

Advantages for online news:

- more accessible for everyone 

- free for the audience 

- most people have an iPhone/internet to be able to read this at any point

- can be accessed anytime and anywhere

Disadvantages of online news

- free news makes the industry no money

- may not be as easy to use for older people

- may not have data or wifi available so can't access the news

- you can't read if you are homeless

- you need to have technology to access it

ideologies e.g. liberalism, internationalism, patriarchy/anti sexism, racism/anti-racism, expressed in the representations

liberalism - willingness to respect or accept behaviour or opinions different from one's own; openness to new ideas.

Internationalism - a political principle that advocates greater political or economic cooperation among states and nations

Patriarchy - a system of society or government in which men hold the power and women are largely excluded from it.

Anti-sexism -not biased or discriminating against persons on the basis of sex

Racism -  discrimination, or antagonism by an individual, community, or institution against a person or people on the basis of their membership of a particular racial or ethnic group 

Anti-racism - the policy or practice of opposing racism and promoting racial equality.

Context

consumerism - the protection or promotion of the interests of consumers. buying something because you want it not because you need it.

celebrity culture -a collection of individuals' desires for increased celebrity viewing.

multiculturalism  - the presence of, or support for the presence of, several distinct cultural or ethnic groups within a society.

changing attitudes to genders - much more equality than before

changing attitudes to sexuality - more accepted within society now, not perfect but better than it was

Masthead: The Observer's masthead is in a sans serif font suggesting traditional values and formality. "observer' suggests that the magazine watches over the world an reports back to the reader.

Date line: The date that the magazine was published

Byline: Written by two men and two women suggesting anti sexism and equality

Headline: "Labour draws up ultra-safe 'bombproof' manifesto" political policy

Subhead: Tells us more information about the different topics throughout the cover and the content of the newspaper

Stand first: Summaries what the article is about 

Main image: A politician walking down stairs to show her "stepping into history" very serious

Minor images: Not as serious images, making it seem fun and cultural

Columns: The text is split into columns to help organise the different topics throughout the cover

Skybox: Not being serious, having fun, appealing to their likes such as theatre, music and food

Pull quote: Talking about Rishi Sunak and his dieting, talking about his personal life yet staying professional

___________________________________________________________________________________

DO NOW

1. Typography -  the font, colour and size

2. Layout is referring to the structure and position of things

3. Lexis - the words used

4. Masthead - the title

5. Skybox - a box or banner with information about the contents of the magazine

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Historical Case Studies                                                                                      27/02/24

LO: to evaluate the impact of social, cultural, political and historic contexts on 1960s newspapers

3 main political parties:

Labour - socialist, main political belief are that the working class people ned more help and more opportunities to be supported and as their situations improve, that will support everyone going upwards. Linked to unions and strikes

Liberal Democrats - somewhere in between the two ideas

Conservatives - more traditional values and tend to base their political system on the idea that if you support big businesses, they will grow and then give more jobs to working class people. Capitalist 

Today the guardian's political bias has not changed.

___________________________________________________________________________________

DO NOW

1. Navigation bar - a link to appropriate sections/pages in a website that helps readers in traversing the online document 

2. Banner - a heading or advertisement appearing on a web page in the form of a bar, column, or box

3. Pull quote - made up of text that s pulled from the text that is, duplicated and presented on the page as an attention-grabbing visual element

4. Stand first - the first summary paragraph of a text in a newspaper article

5. Masthead - the title of the newspaper

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05/03/24

1960s   

-Lack of gender equality

-Fear of invasion - espionage 

-The Cold War - The Cold War was a period of geopolitical tension between the United States and the Soviet Union and their respective allies, the Western Bloc and the Eastern Bloc, that started in 1947 after the end of WW11 and lasted to 1991. 

-Secretive governments

-Vietnam War - protests to stop the war

-Civil rights - US + UK - Martin Luther King

-Protesting - racial equality

-A lot of racism in society 

-Labour in power - people

PATRIARCHY

SOCIAL CHANGE

___________________________________________________________________________________

DO NOW

1960S:

- lack of gender equality

- fear of invasion (espionage)

- the cold war

- secretive governments

- vietnam war

- protests to stop the war

- civil rights

- martin luther king

- protesting for racial equality

- lots of racism in society

- labour in power

- coloured tv news

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12/03/24

Explain how broadsheet newspapers reflect the time and historic contexts in which they were published. Refer to the Observer front page from 1960s that you have studied to support your answer.

[10 marks]

model answer

Broadsheet newspapers such as the observer reflect the time they were produced. The Observer from the 1960s reflects the racial inequality of the time. The article featuring the mixed race marriage highlights that this was uncommon in the 60s because it has made the front page and he quotes also acknowledge a racial issue in society at the time of production. This article reveals the issues in the 1960s are shown in newspapers.

The Observer cover from the 1960s reflects the fact that Britain was a much more patriarchal society in 1960s. An example of this is in the headline 'Jackie: we're very happy'. This clearly indicates that n society in the 1960s we saw the focus of women as that of a wife and the importance of who they marry not what they do. Which reinforces the fact that in the 1960s we had a patriarchal society as it was men who wrote the articles and chose to position women as inferior to men and only valued in their use to men. Therefore it is clear to see that the Observer embodies those representations and contextual influences in its news stories.

my answer

The Observer cover from the 1960s reflects the fact that Britain was a much more patriarchal society in 1960s. An example of this is in the advertisements which are of women's lingerie. This clearly indicates that in society in the 1960s, women were nit taken as seriously as men and this is evident due to the fact that the more serious headlines were about men and the only representation of women is through objectification. This reinforces the fact that the 1960s was a patriarchal society as we know that men were in charge of writing the articles an therefore had every intention to invalidate women by making them appear in underwear next to important stories. Adding to this, another article that proves the patriarchal society is through the headline 'lawyers will urge divorce by consent', this shows the patriarchal society as that shows that men were in charge of the marriage and could decide if there would be a divorce or not which again shows the inequality between genders. Therefore it is clear to see that The Observer embodies those representations and contextual influences in its news stories.

The Observer cover from the 1960s reflect the fact that Britain had a fear of invasion and espionage in the 1960s. An example of this is in the headline 'America accused of spy frame-up'. This clearly indicates a paranoid tone behind the headline as they are accusing a whole country of spying and framing a Soviet diplomat. This reinforces the idea that Britain were worried about the threat of being taken over and invaded, many countries were afraid of being taken over particularly by Russia and the Soviet Union. Spies and espionage were also featured in media to reference the fact that it was so prominent within the lives of people in the 1960s. Therefore it is clear to see that The Observer embodies those representations and contextual influences in its news stories.

DO NOW

1. Copy dominates the front page

2. The newspaper title and a logo

3.9+

4. In a column to the very right hand side of the cover

5. That men dominate the contents of news

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Exam Format                                                                                                     18/03/24

LO: to explore the exam format and contents for the News Unit

Question 6 - 1 mark

Owned by Scott Trust

Funded by issue price, advertising and subscriptions

Regulated by IPSO or IMPRESS

- Globalisation

- Broadsheet

Tabloid - more images than copy

Broadsheet - lots of writing and not many images

Question 7 - 4 marks

online diversification - advantages etc

use of social media

newspaper funding - print and online

hard vs soft news - print and online

An advantage for a newspaper only publishing in print is that it makes the newspaper industry more money as this will increase the amount of newspapers being sold. By printing the newspapers, the companies will sell more and therefore make more money. An advantage for a newspaper online publishing online is that people will get the news instantly and become more informed instead of having to wait for the newspaper to be printed.

Question 8 - 5 marks

representation or media language

Stereotype/ dominant group:

-middle aged

-male

-white

-Christian

-middle class

One social group that is underrepresented in the newspaper is women. We can see the Women's Belarus March on the front cover, the woman in this image is looking strong, in-control and determined through her serious facial expression and the use of the mid shot. However she is still looking feminine because of her pink make up and pink hair that is done nicely, this juxtaposes against the ugly situation that she is in of the inequality within genders. Another social group that is underrepresented in newspapers is the older generation. We can see Alan Davies in the skybox revealing his secrets and his emotional story. Through the use of a high angle shot we can tell that he is feeling vulnerable and through his facial expressions we can tell that he is reluctant to tell his story as he is looking away from the camera, this is because it is isn't stereotypical and unrepresented for men or older men to be emotional an vulnerable so publicly.

Question 9

It is clear to me that the front cover of the observer does reflect the genre conventions of a broadsheet newspaper.

DO NOW

1. Tabloid newspaper - less text, more images, for a less educated and younger audience, more gossip topics, soft news

2. Broadsheet newspaper - more text, less images, for a more educated and older audience, more serious topics, hard news

3. The Observer is a broadsheet newspaper

4.Broadsheet - 

Tabloid -

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26/03/23

Guided Practice 

LO: to explore the exam format for Q9 for the News Unit ad apply analysis skills and exam writing technique

Language

Industries

Audience

Representations

context

genre = type 

type = tabloid/broadsheet

The media language used in The Observer cover reflects the genre conventions of a broadsheet newspaper. 

- masthead (big, bold, black and white, serif font, capital letter shows its more traditional and sophisticated shows its for a more educated audience)

- text to image ratio 

- image (1 main image, mid shot, Rishi Sunak and Kamala Harris, staged image, press conference, shaking hands - friendship between 2 countries, this reinforces the historical friendship between the two countries since world war 1, makes them look powerful, politics are expected on the cover of The Observer, shows racial equality and progress liberal view point expected)

- colour 

The media language used in The Observer cover reflects the genre conventions of a broadsheet newspaper. For example, this is done through the masthead of The Observer, it is in a big, bold serif font with correct capital letters. This shows us that the magazine is more traditional through the sophisticated font and black colour, as well as this it tells us that the magazine is for a more educated audience and that is evident throughout the magazine's genre conventions. The correct capital letters imply that the audience are more educated and will appreciate a grammatically correct masthead in such an obvious way. As well as this the black on white colours used show another traditional and common value towards the magazine which reflects the audience reading that magazine.

Another example of how The Observer reflects the genre conventions of broadsheet newspaper is through the images used on the cover. There is one main image used and it shows Rishi Sunak shaking hands with Kamala Harris, this automatically tells us that a political story is being old which would be expected on a broadsheet newspaper as it has more serious and sophisticated topics. The hand shaking reinforces the friendship between America and the UK and the historical friendship between the two countries since world war one. This relationship makes them look powerful as there is a connection made and therefore the countries are stronger together as they're working together. It shows racial equality and progress through the relationship and the liberal view point which is expected in The Observer.

In conclusion, it is evident that The Observer cover reflects the genre conventions of a broadsheet newspaper through the sophisticated and formal masthead, as well as the lack of images paired with the contents of the main image used.

Langauge 

Industries

Audience

Representations

CONTEXT

DO NOW

1. theoretical framework 

L - language

I - industries

A - audience 

R - representations

2. 1960s - racial inequality, gender inequality, class division, fear of war, espionage, civil rights

3. Now - inflation, more gender equality, potential wars/wars, acceptance of different sexualities 

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PPE exam DIRT                                                                                                   16/04/24

LO: to reflect on the exam and identify areas to improve

Question 6

age, class, gender, socio-economic status, race and ethnicity, political affiliation

Question 7

where they are located , their platforms, no laws/central regulator, too complex, rapid sharing, data privacy

online media is updated quicker than a law can be put through parliament

one reason that online media is hard to regulate is because of the domino effect. This means that as soon as something is shared, multiple people ca then share it further and further until everyone has seen it and therefore it can't be stopped.

another reason that online media is hard to regulate is because online media is updated continuously and very quickly. this means that it is very difficult for regulators to keep up as online media is updated quicker than a law can be put through parliament.  

Question 8

high proportion of news copy on the front page, several news stories in multiple columns, the use of sentence case headlines in a serif font

One way in which extract 3 follows the conventions of a broadsheet newspaper is through the serif font of the masthead. this font is strategically chosen to reflect the contents of the magazine and show the educated and traditional audience that this magazine has, which further reinforces the idea of this being a broadsheet newspaper as conventionally thy have a higher educated audience. As well as this, the masthead is grammatically correct by not having unnecessary capital letters, this further proves the point of the audience being highly educated which implies that this is a broadsheet newspaper. Another way in which the extract follows the conventions of a broadsheet newspaper is through the fact that it has several news stories in multiple columns, this follows the conventions of a broadsheet newspaper as they clearly have a higher amount of text compared to tabloid newspapers and tend to have a much larger text to image ratio.

Question 9

judgment = introduction and conclusion

contexts

LIAR

analyse the images on the cover

representations of the observer:

broadsheet newspaper

left wing - liberal newspaper

progressive and accepting

supports equality

serious news

fights for those without power or voice

audience likes food and culture (music, books, film, theatre, art, etc)

multi cultural

The representations on the Observer newspaper are typical of that that we would expect on the newspaper, we can see this through their liberal values and focus on giving people, who can't speak up, a voice.

An example of how the Observer is typical with the representations is through the main headline of "Secret plan to use charities to help deport rough sleepers. This shows us that the magazine is typical with their representations as it is clear that this story is being used to give homeless people a voice, people who aren't usually listened to or taken seriously. But the fact that this topic has been written on a magazine that commonly speaks upon serious topics again shows the typicality of the observer's representations as they are speaking about serious subjects. This story is the main cover line which shows the liberal political stand that the magazine takes because their main headline is one that is trying to help others who need serious attention.

Another example of how the Observer is typical with representations is through the young boy in the sky box. The boy named "Jihadi Jack" appears to be innocent, young and happy due to the fact that he is smiling and looking like he is doing nothing wrong. In reality this boy is suspected of being a terrorist so this juxtaposes against the stereotypes of a terrorist and this further proves the typicality of the representations in the observer and this breaks boundaries and creates equality. The focus on terrorism in the skybox highlights that this is an ongoing situation in todays world that is shown via the news.

Question 10

for higher marks mention both representations and media language

DO NOW

1. Tabloid - red masthead, more images, less text, more gossip style topics, bright colours

2. Broadsheet - lots of text, less images, serious topics, politics, serif font, black and white, muted tones

3. Observer - serif font, few images, lots of text, serious topics, brightly coloured sky box with less serious topics in them, progressive and accepting

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Q10 Modern Analysis                                                                                         30/04/24

LO: to explore the contextual issues of news in a modern newspaper

The Observer newspaper cover reflects the generic conventions of a broadsheet newspaper through the topic of the main cover lines. For example the cover line "Tax cuts backfire, top communists warn Hunt", shows us that the Observer focuses on serious and political topics through talking about taxes and politicians. This reflects the modern context of today's newspapers as the topic of political and economical worries is common for modern times. In conclusion, we can see that The Observer clearly reflects the generic conventions of a broadsheet newspaper.

Today context:

1. Wars: Ukraine/ Russia, Palestine/ Israel

2. Celebrity culture

3. Gender equality - better but not perfect

4. Racial equality - better but not perfect / multiculturalism 

5. Consumerism - buying things you want but don't need

6. Attitudes towards different sexualities - progressive and accepting

7. Supporting positive mental health

1. Putin and Russian sniper victims in the hospital beds on the front cover and main image

2. Alan Davies family dark secrets

3. Gender equality is shown through a woman being the main image on a front cover, not being sexualised and looking determined

4. Black Lives Matter protests being the main image on the front cover reflects racial equality as it is clear that the observer are pushing for racial equality and supporting them by giving them a louder voice. Multicultural food in the skybox

5. Expensive food being shown in the sky box and non essential food

6. LGBTQ+ featured and supported in the skybox

7. Mental health mentioned in the skybox "take a hike, get on a bike, spring clean your soul"

The current contextual issues of the time can be evidently seen on the cover of The Observer which demonstrates how current contextual issues can influence newspaper content. The main image of the Observer featuring a woman protesting for equal rights clearly shows how the issue of gender inequality heavily influences todays newspaper contents. The woman is shown to be strong and determined, telling us that she is being taken seriously and isn't being sexualised s she is fully clothed and not being sown off. This indicates how the contextual issue of gender inequality has been greatly improved as a woman is seen to be centre stage and being taken seriously about what she is doing. As well as this there is a woman featured in the skybox of the Observer who is talking about her mental health and body appreciation, this tells us that mental health is also a large contextual issue that influences the contents of newspaper. Adding to this, the woman is a black woman which shows us that multiculturalism and racial equality is accepted more in modern times which is reflected through the contents of the newspaper that has been influenced by today's contextual issues. Therefore it is clear to see that contextual issues of today such as gender, race and mental health can be seen to influence the cover of The Observer newspaper.