curran and seaton present the view that a free press relies on a free market where induvidual newspapers can compete through their political points of views.

Analyse the way 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. As well as online versions.

Curran & Seaton’s theory is called the Liberal Theory and this is the freedom to publish in the free market to “ensure that the press reflects a wide range of options& interests in society” a quote taken from ‘the liberal theory of press freedom’ written by curran. This is the idea that anyone can publish whatever they choose, therefore creating diversification within the media for the audience to encode, decode or negotiate. Although the cost of publishing used to be high (making it difficult to publish) the advances of technology means that it is possible for almost anyone to publish whatever they like for a smaller sum of money. Curran & Seatons theory is that there is not enough diversification and this is proved as in the 80’s new technology was developed, and it should have increased the number of newspapers being produced however it didn’t. This relates to both newspapers and current American election as the press can impact who the people vote for. For example on the front page of the Daily Mail the headline reads on Thursday the 5th of November ” Trump calls results a ‘frued’ and sends in his lawyers.” By making this the headline on the front page it may have an impact on who the people vote for. This idea thinks to Althusser’s theory of interpellation, the idea that individualsare influenced by others around them.(For example the media, family,friends and education.) This theory relates to the Daily Mail as it is owned by The Daily General Trust & owns many other meaning the editor(George Greig) has control of different platforms and can create a dominant idea among the audience. By continuously creating the same dominant idea this allows the newspapers to establish themselves a distinctive identity in which reader become aware of. An example of this is on page 7 of the Daily Mail it shows a cartoon of both Donald Trump and the Statue of Liberty stating ‘ which part of go away don’t you understand’. This implies that American does not want Trump as their leader as the statue struggles to get out of his grasp. This cartoon was drawn by Justin Webb may play a role in who the Americans vote for. The press is important when it comes to the ISA aa it informs the public and is the ‘peoples watchdog, scrutinising the actions of the government” Again an example of this is the daily mail on the online version on thursday 5th november “The View host Sunny Hostin slams 69 million ‘un-American’ voters for ‘looking the other way’ and backing ‘racist, homophobic and misogynistic’ Donald Trump” showing that the Daily Mail is informing its readers and acting as a watchdog.

Another theorist that can be linked to this is Habermas and his theory of the public sphere and can be applied to the i as it allows for the spread of information between the public without the government interfering. The public sphere is the idea that the public opinions can be shared among a society and individuals and can come together to form a ‘public’.

Demographic classifications in the UK refer to the social grade definitions, which are used to describe, measure and classify people of different social grade and income. The Daily Mail has an average daily circulation of 1,134,184 copies (February 2020) most of these being middle classed females, the newspaper uses this information of the circulation to develop the content they feed into the media as they know who is most likely to read the paper. The Daily Mail is also a tabloid format making it easier to read when people are commuting to and from work in the morning, this is because the tabloid formate is more compact and smaller than the average size newspaper making it more appealing. However is is known that Lord Rothermere was the chairman of daily mail and was also friends with Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. He was known for using the newspaper for propaganda his political statue was far right, this could have been carried down and throughout the newspaper. This could explain why the newspaper has been deemed unreliable for sources of information after providing ‘fake news’ to manipulate and influence the audience.

The idea of uses and gratifications was developed by the theorists Gurevitch, Haas and Katz. This is an approach to understanding why people seek out specific media to satisfy their needs. They created the media order of preference for satisfying needs, including A: personal needs (understanding self, enjoyment and escapism) and B: Social Needs (Knowledge about the world, self-confidence, stability etc.) The daily mails shows both knowledge about the world and enjoyment and escapism. The newspaper swings more towards the right wing and helps them to establish an identity within the free market.

Both newspaper can be seen as successful as both newspapers as they both have such high circulation numbers, and the Daily Mail have won multiple awards including the National Newspaper of the Year award from the The Press Awards eight times since 1995. However the circulation numbers only mean how many people have purchased the physical newspaper there is a theory of the 2- step flow theory( by Paul Lazarfel) of communication meaning messages are not directly injected into the audience, but while also subject to noise, error, feedback etc, they are also filtered through opinion leaders, those who interpret media messages first and then relay them back to a bigger audience.

The daily mail bought the i for 49.6 million pounds, although the Daily mail is seen to be right wing police, the i is seen to have a more balanced view on things it is known to be more informational and to give straight facts rather than mocking or judging. There is a section on the Daily Mail called ‘female’ which talks about the stereotypically ‘female thing’ like hair, nails and beauty this backs the idea that the newspaper is sexist and stereotypical, however is acting on the fact that its readers are mostly female and is trying to cater for that specific gender.

Therefore to conclude both newspapers are successful in which they establish themselves within the free market however the daily mail as a higher circulation than the i as it is known to be the highest circulated newspaper in the UK. Both papers have established themselves in different ways and the i has a more neutral perspective whereas the Daily Mil is more right wing.

Althusser- The Daily General Trust owns the Daily Mail and many others meaning the editor has control over many different platforms, this links to Althusser’s theory of ISA ( ideological status apparatus.) as the editor can create a dominant idea among the audience.

Habermas (public sphere)- Habermas’ theory can be applied to The I as it allows for the spread of information between the public without the government interfering. The public sphere is the idea of public opinions being shared among a society, where individuals can come together to form a ‘public’. For example

the daily mail is a A middle-market newspaper, a newspaper that caters to readers who like entertainment as well as the coverage of important news events

-has more than 218 million unique visitors per month

target audience – women making up 52–55% of its readers

 daily mail has been criticized for its unreliability ( fake news)

 won multiple awards including the National Newspaper of the Year award from the The Press Awards eight times since 1995.

tabloid format- compact smaller size than a broadsheet.

the average daily circulation(the average number of newspapers distributed) of 1,134,184 copies in February 2020.

Lord rothermere- chairman of daily mail also friends with Adolf Hitler and Mussolini. Used the newspaper ans propaganda. Far right

The daily mail was the first newspaper to used the tern suffragettes.

Known to be homophobic- “abortion hope after ‘gay genes’ finding.”

1993 The murder of Steven Lawrence – the daily’s headlined ‘MURDERS’ and ‘if we are wrong, let them sue us’ after black British teenager was racially attacked, they published a photo of the 5 men allegedly attacked him . – was praised by parents and political figures for taking the financial risk after 2 of the five men were found guilty.

Liberal theory is the freedom to to publish in the free market to “ensure that the press reflects a wide range of options and interests in society.”- quote taken from ‘th liberal theory of press freedom by Curran.

“the press is the peoples watchdog, scrutinizing the actions of the government and holding the countries rulers to account.” – basically explaining that the press is the way of providing information to the public about what is happening in the world and to give flack to the government. – curran

Costs to publish used to be high however the advances of technology means that nearly anyone is free to publish whatever they like for a smaller amount of money.

In the 80’s new technologies came out and therefore should have increased the number of newspapers being produced however it didn’t, there are still the same amount of papers. This proves his theory that there is not enough diversification in the press. This can effect the American election as it may impact who people vote for. The press can do this by showing a candidate in a certain light.

Sinclair-owned tv channels- all say the same thing pushing trump. Eg fox

CAPITALIST MEDIA- CONGLOMERATES- AIM IS CAPITAL PROFITS (murdoc)

Public service media- in public interest- tax pays for public service broadcast- money goes back into the business for the public.

civil society media- really independent services- eg jersey hospital radio. Parish news letters (niche)

tension between the 3, fear that the PBC will be lost and the capital media will win.

‘Oh Comely’ is part of a development in lifestyle and environmental movements of the early twenty first century which re-brand consumerism as an ethical movement.

Is a contrast to Men’s Health magazine

Independent magazine published by Iceberg Press

New technology mean that small companies can also use the internet to communicate and target audiences.

Oh is trying to keeping print popular and relevant.

The key areas of representation suggested by the magazine are to do with gender, primarily femininity

Used to understood in how this affects the representation of men

Oh magazine constructs a representation of femininity with its focus on creativity and quirkiness.

The focus is on women as artists, entrepreneurs, athletes and musicians and female empowerment is a major theme. There is an absence of men in the magazine.

Stuart Hall can be used for representation as a key theorist.

Bell Hooks- feminist who believes that race, class, and sex is involved. Feminism is wanting females to be equal to men however in the 1980’s not all men were considered to be equal.

cultural industries-

“there must be serious concerns about the extent to which this business-driven, economic agenda is compatible with the quality of working life and of human well-being in the creative industries.“this talks about weather a business money driven,power driven or pleasure driven.

” the promise of future and fame is is often instrumental in ensuring compliance with the sometimes invidious demands of managers, organisations and the industry.”- Eg bombshell Roger Ailes promising fame and fortune at a price (sexual harassment)

Should be about luck and connections, should all have an equal chance.

KEY WORDS

• media concentration/globalization-  a pattern of ownership whereby fewer and fewer hands own more and more of the assets of that industry. This increasing concentration is a result of buyouts and mergers.
• conglomerates- is a company that owns numerous companies involved in mass media enterprises, such as television, radio, publishing, motion pictures,

Horizontal integration is when a business grows by acquiring a similar company in their industry at the same point of the supply chain. 

Vertical integration is when a business expands by acquiring another company that operates before or after them in the supply chain.

gatkeeper- filteres and processes what comes in and out. Eg; washington dc scene “i just wanna see the inside of your hotel room” she says no scene cuts to her getting sacked.

regulation- set of laws put in place by government.

deregulation- taling away laws.

1. Pastiche- work of art,drama,literature,music or architecture that imitates another artist
2. Parody- work or performance that imitates another piece of work with irony or ridicule.
3. Bricolage – lots of things put together 
4. Intertextuality- deliberate inclusion of another text(surface signs,gestures and play)
5. Metanarrative- overarching ideas,attitudes,values and beliefs are now questioned,people now have there own perspectives and stories about history,science,religious beliefs.
6. Hyper reality- the inability to distinguish reality from a simulation of reality.
7. Simulacrum- is an image or a representation of something or someone.
8. Consumerist Society- towns/villages/cities have high desires of consumption. They are no longer producing just constantly consuming.
9. Fragmentary Identities- disconnecting and recreating an identity.(eg-profile pictures,Facebook accounts)
10. Implosion- links to simulacra- simulations of reality, not judt a representation of the real but the real itself.
11. cultural appropriation- the adoption of elements or an element of one culture or members of a culture.
12. Reflexivity

def: postmodernism is a way of seeing the world/ideas.(philosophy)

Music videos is a good recognition of postmodernism.

characterised by: re-imagining , pastiche, parody,copy,bricolage.

copy- other peoples work is use to create something.

Postmodernism is fragmentary and complicated, not everyone see’s it in the same way.

pastiche- is a work of art, drama,literature,music or architecture that imitates the work of a previous artist.

parody- is a work or performance that imitated another piece of work with irony or a ridicule.( to mock/make fun of) An example of this is ‘The Simpsons’ ‘Rear window’ Simpsons recreated a scene out of the movie, a diliberate copy of the photos hanging on the wall from ‘Rear Window’ are used in the Simpsons.(intertextuality)

intertextuality- deliberately weaving in a link or reference to another text.

Shuker- “their preoccupation with visual style”- no narrative structure of music videos(no conflict, resolution) eg Art of noise, there is no meaning. surface and style over substance.

If the priority is play then the emphasis is on the surface. The focus is shallow, superficial,lacking depth.

The Art Of Noise- experimental musicians from 1980’s who presented themselves through abstract videos.

In the postmodern world surfaces and style becomes the most important defining features of the mass media and popular culture.

Postmodernism- frivolous, trite,casual,surface,throw-away.

Music videos are about the visuals rather than the ‘substance’ the music itself.

Slavoj Zizek- talks about kinder egg “do you buy it for the wrapping, chocolate or the toy inside?” if only focusing on the surface we may loose sight on what’s on the inside. Aim for the centre piece ( the toy) and enjoy the surface rather than aiming for less and just hoping for more.

1959-Richard Hoggart- a shift in modern societies, ‘neighbourhood lives’ to know everybody locally, in which everything is near.

John Urry- no longer make and consume we only consume now.’ now cities towns, villages and houses all became high-consuming energy centres.” this has altered the nature of societies and individuals living in them.(Jersey is different as it can be seen as ‘ old fashioned’ as we are a small island and everything is local’

Postmodernism- huge cities/towns/villages have high desires of consumption. Desire to desire- eg coca cola , ‘everything must be enjoyable’.

Key characteristics – the development of fragmented, alienated individuals living in fragmented societies.

Fragmentary consumption= fragmentary identities – Example mobile phones; constantly consuming images, sounds,stories and messages.

Off shoring- 5 large Garbage patches in the world, floating waste islands trapped in ‘gyros’ constant currents keep the waste in one certain place.

off shoring- Illegal things like torture, poor treatment of work staff ect… all this stuff happens secretly and is missed by people as they only look as far as the surface. Eg- apple phones, seen as a luxury, popular needed, however the labour is pushed aside.(the inside)

The loss of a metanarrattive- those overarching ideas, attitudes,values and beliefs tat have held us together are now questioned. No one seemed to agree on what was real and had their own perspectives and stories. Zizek- there is no ‘other’ aka GOD then there is a sudden realisation that we are alone (lacan)

Simulacra- simulations of reality (real but not real). Not just a representation of the real, but the real itself. Hyperreality.

Example- DUBAI- 45 degrees however can go skiing on slopes in the summer. Also dubai built a ‘larger and better’ Taj Mahal, for tourists to visit for cheaper.

Example- DISNEYLAND – all over the world and a new one to be built in London in 2024 for those in britian , making it cheaper to visit rather than flying to America,paris, or any other countries.

Habermas- the decline in public sphere through a range of societal shifts;

• increased globalisation of economic trade
• the transformation from citizens to consumers
• insures in digital communication technologies
• the dominance of a small economic elite over global economic, political and cultural exchange.

Can we trust the media? – An event happens and the way the media portrays it can effect the way the consumers see the event.