james –
2The struggle for a free pressThe remarkably resilient Whig interpretation of press history is sustained by focusing attention upon mainstream commercial newspapers, while ignoring or downplaying the development of the radical press. Only if this selective perspective is maintained does the conventional view of the rise of a free pressappear plausible
Curran and Seaton present the view that a free press relies on a free market where individual newspapers can compete through their political stances and points of view.
Analyse the ways that the i attempts to establish a distinctive identity within this free market. To what extent has this been successful?
Free press can be defined as open communication and expression in both printed and electronic forms of media, being available to the public without government censorship. Similarly, a ‘Free Market’ can be defined as an economic system based on supply and demand with little or no government control or a decentralised order of arrangements through which individuals make economic decisions. Curran and Seaton present the view that a free press relies on a free market, as without a free market, whereby consumers impact the products ideas and production, the government would have control and therefore influence and manipulate what the press publish.
However, as presented by Curran through the title – “The struggle for a free press” and by Noam Chomsky’s theory of the ‘Manufacturing of Consent‘; it is evident that the libertarian idea of a ‘Free Press’ is hard to obtain due to gatekeepers and strong government jurisdiction. For example, “focusing attention upon mainstream commercial newspapers, while ignoring or downplaying the development of the radical press.” is an idea presented by Curran and used by multiple media conglomerates, such as the DMGT (Owners of the i and the daily mail), in order to maintain support in order to gain profit.
In the i newspaper, the political right-winged conservative party, the ‘Tories” are somewhat disgraced on the front page via the large sans-serif font stating – “Tories braced for drubbing this week from fed-up voters“. By using the harsh noun “drubbing” the newspaper implies a slightly more left-winged ideology as they are discrediting the right-winged conservative party. However, in order to maintain support by the public the i doesn’t present a radical view and therefore contradicts the previous comment by also commenting on other political parties such as the Labour Party and the Scottish National Party. For example, “We’ve never been so divided, so let’s unite against hatred” a statement made by Jo Cox’s (Labour Party MP) sister. As well as, “Sturgeon launches new push for independence”. By having stories based on three different political parties, the i newspaper doesn’t directly show or support any political side, placing them central.
This allows the i to successfully establish a distinctive identity within this free market as it contains many political views, as well as more entertainment such as ‘sport’ which acts as a form of escapism for the viewers. In contrast to having a radical newspaper that purely supports one party, the i presents many ideas allowing more of a broader audience to be interested in their newspaper. Even though a true free press is hard to maintain, the idea that Curran and Seaton present where a free press relies on a free market can be applied to the i as it is allowed to convey multiple political stances which many audiences would support as it isn’t biased to one party.