Newspapers assessment learner response
Create a new blog post on your Media 1 Exam blog called 'Newspapers assessment learner response' and complete the following tasks:
WWW: Clear, balanced answer, mostly focused on question.
EBI: More detailed examples needed from CSP texts.
2) Read the whole mark scheme for this assessment carefully. Identify three potential points that you could have made in your Question 3 answer - the i newspaper standing for "quality, clarity and independence".
- Successful on its own terms – providing a print product that has remarkably succeeded in
the digital age since launch in 2010. It remains profitable now it is owned by Johnston Press
(although it may be soon sold so this may jeopardise its mission statement).
- Selection of news emphasises quality – largely hard news (politics, economics etc.)
includes analysis column acknowledging the difficulty of her job.
3) Now use the mark scheme to identify three potential points that you could have made in your Question 4 answer - arguments against statutory regulation of the newspaper industry.
As an example, the Daily Mail is famous for its ‘Murderers’ headline, naming those accused
of the racist murder of Stephen Lawrence – and challenging the accused to sue them for libel
if they wished.
IPSO is more powerful than the PCC and can fine newspapers and order them to print
corrections or apologies on the front page. The Daily Mail has been forced to do this on
several occasions, for example following a story regarding an Iraqi man’s compensation
claim.
The i already stands for “quality, clarity and independence” – if it is failing to do this, the
pluralist media marketplace will see audiences go elsewhere. Government regulation should
not be required.
4) Now use the mark scheme to identify three potential points that you could have made in your Question 5 answer - whether the pluralist model allows the newspaper industry to operate effectively.
- Generally, newspaper ownership and control is limited to a small number of super-rich
individuals (e.g. Alexander Lebedev who started the i before selling it to Johnston Press and
the Rothermere family owning the Daily Mail. Jonathan Harmsworth, 4 th Viscount
Rothermere, is estimated to be worth £700m). This would suggest the newspaper industry is
controlled by the elite (a more Marxist perspective).
-Clay Shirky has discussed the ‘End of audience’ and the rise in ‘mass amateurisation’. This
may be an example of the rise of pluralism but it is arguably destroying trust in news and the
ability for traditional news institutions to make money (Shirky describes the internet leading
to “an abundance of content and a scarcity of profit”). Citizen journalism may have
influenced the news agenda in places (overruling traditional editors broadly following
Galtung and Ruge’s News Values) but it is also poor quality, difficult to verify and often soft
news ‘clickbait’ rather than important for society.
5) Finally, look over your mark, teacher comments and the mark scheme - plus your answers to the task above - to write a complete essay plan for Question 5.
Intro: Theoretically, the newspaper industry supports the pluralist model – success or failure of newspapers is driven by audience demand and the staggering decline in UK print newspaper sales demonstrates this (30m in 2003 to 12m in 2017 – Ofcom).
1st para: The i bucked this trend by launching in the digital age and yet remaining profitable – clearly offering audiences something they couldn’t get elsewhere. Curran and Seaton argue that audiences need to be empowered if media industries are to operate effectively. This is questionable in the newspaper industry. MailOnline is driven by audience clicks rather than professional editors (gatekeepers). This arguably does significant harm to the industry, reducing news to ‘clickbait’, celebrity gossip and the ‘sidebar of shame’ that MailOnline is infamous for.
2nd para: Clay Shirky has discussed the ‘End of audience’ and the rise in ‘mass amateurisation’. This may be an example of the rise of pluralism but it is arguably destroying trust in news and the ability for traditional news institutions to make money (Shirky describes the internet leading to “an abundance of content and a scarcity of profit”). Citizen journalism may have influenced the news agenda in places (overruling traditional editors broadly following Galtung and Ruge’s News Values) but it is also poor quality, difficult to verify and often soft news ‘clickbait’ rather than important for society.
3rd para: The i newspaper, in contrast, presents the summit (21 September edition) as ‘The Salzburg disaster’ and gives prominent space on its double-page spread (also p6-7) to French President Macron criticising leading Brexiteers. This arguably supports Curran and Seaton’s view that the newspaper industry offers a pluralist approach with a variety of values and ideologies available to audiences.
Then conclude it with a balanced view on the pluralist model but end with a certain extent.
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