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 and the Daily Mail attempt to establish a distinctive identity within this free market. To what extent has this been successful? Refer to the specific edition of your case study – for both papers – as well as, on-line versions of these publications
General points:
· The significance of economic factors, including commercial and not-for-profit public funding, to media industries and their products.
· How media organisations maintain, including through marketing, varieties of audiences nationally.
· How media producers target, attract, reach, address and potentially construct audiences.
· How media industries target audiences through the content and appeal of media products and through the ways in which they are marketed, distributed and circulated. The Liberal theory of press freedom (eg summarised by Curran & Seaton)
· In this view of freedom of expression, it is the interests of the press, not of its readers nor of the subjects of its coverage, which are fundamental. (‘Free enterprise is a pre-requisite of a free press’)
· Based on the assumption that democracy is best served by the free exchange of ideas, for which freedom of expression is vital. (‘the best test of truth is the power of the thought to get itself accepted in the competition of the market’)
· In the case of the press, with certain limited exceptions, no legal restriction is placed on the right to buy or launch a newspaper. (This ensures, in liberal theory, that the press is free, diverse and representative (Curran and Seaton 2003: 346-7).
· ‘the United Kingdom regards press freedom as an absolute freedom.’ The government leaves it to the market forces to decide which press products survive’ (1992: 53).
· ‘press freedom is a property right exercised by publishers on behalf of society.’ Any other form of regulation simply distorts the market, operates against the interests of both producers and consumers, and violates the private property rights on which this whole edifice rests.
The i newspaper
· The i launched to pose a challenge to existing ‘quality’ newspapers with low cover price and tabloid format.
· In the context of declining newspaper sales, it made a bold statement: “condense, re-format, repurpose – and produce a terse, intelligent summation of the day’s news that busy commuters can enjoy” (Peter Preston).
· It has battled to remain ‘cheap’ or at least ‘cheaper’: the weekday edition rising from 20p to 50p.
· Historical lineage going back to a much-missed ‘parent’ paper, the Independent, now defunct in print form: A significant number of staff joined the team from The Independent.
· It has maintained a reputation: named National Newspaper of the Year in 2015.
· Actually this link was broken when it was purchased by regional publisher Johnston Press (this has not affected its identity).
· It has a distinct ‘independent’ register, crisply edited: aimed at “readers and lapsed readers” of all ages and commuters with limited time: you don’t have to ‘identify’ yourself as a reader of a newspaper.
· Appearance is vital: USP: inside and out: compact, “matrices” for news, business and sports— small paragraphs of information which are expanded upon in full articles further on in the paper”.
· Its title reaches back to ‘independence’ but also forward to internet: i-pad, i-phone, i-player, i!
· The paper is active on social media, reinforcing its youthful feel: there is also a discounted student subscription that lasts for one academic year
- . Show your knowledge and understanding of Curran and Seaton
the freedom to publish in the free market ensures that the press reflects a wide range of opinions and interests in society.
the free market makes the press a representative institution.
- Show your knowledge and understanding of the theory of the liberal press
- Show any knowledge and understanding you have of any related theoretical ideas (eg Habermas – transformation of the public sphere, Althusser, ISA/interpellation, Chomsky, 5 filters, Gramsci, hegemony). Make sure this section coherently links to the last.
- Show your knowledge and understanding of the distinctive identity of your case studies (Daily Mail & The i) in terms of patterns of institutional ownership in the culture industries. As illustrated by:
- statistics, names and dates related to your case studies.
- key terminology related to ownership (media as public good, capitalist media, vertical, horizontal, transnational, conglomerate, subsidiaries, concentration of ownership, diversification, production/distribution etc etc)
- Show your knowledge and understanding of the distinctive identity of your case studies by examining their audience profile & reach (eg ABC, psychographic profiles, readership, circulation, profit, costs, size)
- Show your knowledge and understanding of the distinctive identity of your case studies by looking in detail at some key stories, which help you to illustrate the political stance and point of views presented in your case studies. Make sure you refer to both print and digital (and be clear about what differences and similarities you find).
- Evaluate the success of each of your case studies in terms of:
- quantitative / statistical analysis
- qualitative analysis (think about the stories that you are talking about, how can they be measured as successful?)
- Show your knowledge of audience theory to both support and criticise the way in which you can suggest qualitative success (point above). In other words, how does audience theory link to the particular identity (ie political and/or social stance) of your case study? (So you could reference Lasswell, 2 Step Flow / Lazarfeld, Skinner, U & G theory, Gerbner, Hall, Shirky, Zuboff)
- Make some astute judgements and draw some conclusions from what you have written in your essay
- Summarise (what you have presented as) your argument and try to end with a 2 sentence final thought.