Ideology can be defined as a collection of values and beliefs. To what extent do media products target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world?
You should refer to your newspaper Close Study Products, The i and The Daily Mail.
First paragraph basis: The purpose of papers is to inform us. Discussion
- One the media becomes subject to public regulation, it will lose its bite as a watchdog and may even be transformed into a snarling Rottweiler in the service of the state
- Habermas argues that the development of early modern capitalism brought into being an autonomous arena of public debate.
- arena of public debate
- …the critical reflection fostered by letters and novels, the flowering of discussion in coffee houses and salons and, above all, the emergence of an independent, market-based press.
- a new public engaged in critical political discussion
- …was restricted to the propertied class (i.e., the class of the owners)
Some Quotes from both Newspapers:
Daily mail – right-wing:
Page 18: Boris Johnson is by a country mile the best person to lead the Tory Government.
Page 2: “Tory rebels ‘are plotting course to catastrophe’.
The I – Left-wing:
Page 20: “Thank you for saying what needed to be said about the isralian state”
Page 20: “How long before Priti Patek makes it illegal to boo at someone we find offensive?”
Nick clegg, a deputy prime minister (libertarian) sided and said he is a reader of ‘The I’
Didn’t side with a political party in the 2017 and 2019 election.
Habermas and the public sphere:
Starting para:
All products and services have a purpose, if it is to entertain or educate, they all have a reason to provide a function to people. Newspapers have a primary purpose to inform, but how can there be different newspapers if they all serve the the same function? The difference is, is that each newspaper supports different ideologies and uphold different values and beliefs of the world, there is no way everyone in the world can hold the exact same values and beliefs, which is why multiple different newspapers all around the world serves a reasonable value. Habermas says that there is an arena of public debate as in form of a public sphere, when applying these ideas, newspapers have an important obligation to inform with veracity. The issue with this is that with modern regulations, entire and vastly different views from person to person, in their own private spheres, modern newspapers lose their “bite as a watchdog” as said by Haberman and will bend to the “service of the state”. When looking at Noam Chomsky’s filters of the mass media machine, it is said that mass media companies and firms as parts of even bigger conglomerates, have a sole function for profit. It’s in their interest to push what ever increases that profit. This is relevant because knowing that the Daily Mail owns The i, they try to reach as vast audiences as possible to sell as many newspapers as possible. The more newspapers that become a part of the Daily Mail, DMG Media, General Trust conglomerate, the larger the public sphere becomes and the larger control they have on public views and ideas, controlling their ideologies of the world. The Daily Mail is the United Kingdom’s second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun and to maintain this status they target audiences by constructing an ideological view of the world, this is done by having a priority for entertainment over news on their news website and also their newspapers, but also reporting on news that suit their traditionally right-wing tabloid, conservative party views, proven by the quote on a recent issue that the ‘Comment’ ie the editorial or voice of the paper says ‘Only Starmer gains from this clueless plot’ – ie Labour will gain from Conservative divisions over Boris Johnson, showing their views on Conservative party clearly and steering their audiences into their own philosophies and ideologies of country issues.
Facts about the Daily Mail
- Publisher: DMG Media
- First issue date: 1896
- Owner: DMG Media, Daily Mail and General Trust
- Editor: Paul Dacre, Stewart Steven, R. D. Blumenfeld, W. G. Fish, Tom Clarke
- It is the United Kingdom’s second biggest-selling daily newspaper after The Sun.
- Morning daily newspaper published in London, long noted for its foreign reporting, it was one of the first British papers to popularize its coverage to appeal to a mass readership.
- The Daily Mail’s main target audience is lower-middle-class British women. It was the first newspaper in the UK to write articles targeted at women.
- Support of fascism: 1930–1934
- Lord Rothermere was a friend of Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler, and directed the Mail’s editorial stance towards them in the early 1930s
- As a right-wing tabloid, the Mail is traditionally a supporter of the Conservative Party. It has endorsed the party in every UK general election since 1945, with the one exception of the October 1974 UK general election, where it endorsed a Liberal and Conservative coalition.
- Priority of entertainment over news
Facts about The i
- Owner: Daily Mail and General Trust
- Editor: Oliver Duff
- Founded: 26 October 2010
- Headquarters: Northcliffe House; London, England, UK
- It is aimed at “readers and lapsed readers” of all ages and commuters with limited time
- Published in London by Daily Mail and General Trust
11 - During an interview for the i in December 2017, then Labour leader, Jeremy Corbyn declared himself to be a dedicated reader of the i, saying that its compact size and concise articles suited his busy lifestyle as Leader of Her Majesty’s Opposition
Libertarians:
Seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state’s violation of individual liberties; emphasizing free association, freedom of choice, individualism and voluntary association.
Libertarianism – Libertarians seek freedom away from regulation and the government. Libertarians seek to maximize autonomy and political freedom, and minimize the state’s violation of individual liberties; emphasizing free association, freedom of choice, individualism and voluntary association – Wikipedia
THREE TYPES OF MEDIA OWNERSHIP
- Capitalist Media
corporations content that addresses humans in various social roles and results in meaning-making. - Public service media
state-related institutions
Content that addresses humans in various social roles and results in meaning-making. - Civil society media
Citizen-control
The 5 Filters of Mass Media Machine
The five filters are:
(1) ownership; (2) advertising; (3) official sources; (4) flak; and (5) marginalizing dissent.
The author discusses the applicability of Herman’s and Chomsky’s propaganda model today.
- Ownership: Mass media companies and firms as parts of even bigger conglomerates, as a sole function for profit. In their interest to push what ever increases that profit.
- Advertising money: Advertisers are paying for audiences. So their role is to be at the use of mass media conglomerates as a tool to increase profits.
- The media Elite: Make themselves crucial to the process of advertising. They are used as a tool to help the processes of media consumption. You cannot challenge power.
- Flak machine: discrediting, distorting, challenging and undermining stories.
- The common enemy: Helps crowd public opinion, points the finger at the common enemy as a tactic to control the masses.