KEY MOMENTS IN THE GUARDIAN’S HISTORY- TIMELINE

1836

Reductions in taxes and stamp duty allow the Manchester Guardian to publish twice-weekly; it begins to appear on Wednesdays as well as Saturdays.

1959

On 24 August the newspaper changes its title from the Manchester Guardian to the Guardian, to reflect the growing importance of national and international affairs in the newspaper.

1972

The name of the company is changed to The Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd (GMEN).

1988

The Guardian has a radical redesign, splitting the newspaper into two sections and introducing a new masthead. An international edition is launched in Europe.

1997

The Guardian’s investigation into Conservative MP Neil Hamilton wins the Team Reporting Award at the British Press Awards and the Guardian is named Newspaper of the Year by What the Papers Say – an award it also wins in 1998 and 1999.

The Guardian is the first national newspaper to appoint a readers’ editor and publish a daily Corrections and Clarifications column.

The Guardian and Observer election website goes live in February and football.co.uk launches in August.

Guardian Politics summary:

The newspaper is considered as part of a group called the “quality press”. This is a group of national papers that focus on hard news rather than journalism. Its “analysis” promotes the ideologies of British politics. The paper declared support for the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 election. It then switches back to the Labour Party for the 2015 election.

1836

Reductions in taxes and stamp duty allow the Manchester Guardian to publish twice-weekly; it begins to appear on Wednesdays as well as Saturdays.

1959

On 24 August the newspaper changes its title from the Manchester Guardian to the Guardian, to reflect the growing importance of national and international affairs in the newspaper.

1972

The name of the company is changed to The Guardian and Manchester Evening News Ltd (GMEN).

1988

The Guardian has a radical redesign, splitting the newspaper into two sections and introducing a new masthead. An international edition is launched in Europe.

1997

The Guardian’s investigation into Conservative MP Neil Hamilton wins the Team Reporting Award at the British Press Awards and the Guardian is named Newspaper of the Year by What the Papers Say – an award it also wins in 1998 and 1999.

The Guardian is the first national newspaper to appoint a readers’ editor and publish a daily Corrections and Clarifications column.

The Guardian and Observer election website goes live in February and football.co.uk launches in August.

Guardian Politics summary:

The newspaper is considered as part of a group called the “quality press”. This is a group of national papers that focus on hard news rather than journalism. Its “analysis” promotes the ideologies of British politics. The paper declared support for the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 election. It then switches back to the Labour Party for the 2015 election.

Liberal theory of the press

This theory basically states that the press should have a freedom of speech and be able to scrutinize the government.

This is because they would not be funded by the government or any other large industries, allowing them not to be held by bias opinions.

This type of press is regulated on a consumer basis, meaning they will take in opinions from the public, and change accordingly. They also act as a mouthpiece for the public too, with the public tribune, taking in public opinions about people in power, and stating those in their newspapers. This also means they’re not regulated by the government and have more freedom to speak about them.

Watchdogs

Watchdogs are a function within the media that protect the public from power. This is done by journalists who speak up about wrongdoings done by the government and other power figures without being restricted on what they’re allowed to say.

examples:

Consumer based approach:

• diversifies the media to a wide range of consumers.
• audience have to trust their own judgment more.
• content is made for specific benefits of the consumer, e.g. news and education.

Citizen based approach:

• consistent standards must be met, and issues are dealt with fairly and objectively.
• critical and accusational of government actions

The Guardian watchdog article example:

The Daily Mail watchdog article example:

This theory assumes that the audience chooses what it wants to watch for 5 different reasons.

• Information and and Education
• Entertainment
• Personal Identity
• Integration and Social interaction
• Escapism

Understanding why people use certain types of media and what needs do they use, and what gratifications they get from using them.

The strengths of the uses and gratifications theory include its focus on individual motivations and its ability to explain media consumption. Weaknesses include its reliance on self-report data and its limited ability to predict behaviour.