The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account? Flashcards
What instances are there of heavily partisan media headlines during Brexit? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
The Daily Mail suggested that Theresa May should ‘crush the saboteurs’ who opposed her Brexit deal, while it also branded judges that ruled Parliament had to vote for the invoking of Article 50 as ‘Enemies of the People’.
What instances are there of media portraying political leaders/parties in a poor light, perhaps damaging their campaigns? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
In 1992, The Sun were heavily critical of Neil Kinnock and the Labour Party as polling suggested they would win the next election. Furthermore, in 2015, Ed Miliband was photographed unflatteringly with a bacon sandwich and portrayed as being an SNP puppet.
When have newspapers claimed that their endorsements for particular parties have impacted election outcomes? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
In 1992, the Sun claimed their endorsement of the Conservatives meant ‘it’s the Sun wot won it!’ Furthermore, their endorsement of Labour in 1997 was seen as significantly influential.
Why is media ownership problematic in the UK? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
80% of the British media is owned by right wing figures, such as Rupert Murdoch and the Barclay Brothers, creating a significant bias in some of their output.
What was the Leveson Inquiry? Why was it commissioned? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
The Leveson Inquiry was a Parliamentary investigation into the phone hacking scandal. This eventually led to Parliamentary questioning of Rupert Murdoch, and resulted in the News of the World being decommissioned.
Describe the landscape of press regulation in the UK today (broadcast and print) - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Broadcast - meant to remain impartial and without political bias, overseen by OFCOM to ensure that this is the case.
Print - less regulated, Independent Press Standards Organisation can field whistleblowing complaints, however seen as being largely ineffective.
What is the aim of critical media literature? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Critical media literature seeks to challenge the centrist, liberal view that the press holds the powerful to account. It analyses the media landscape, ownership, mainstream output and suggests that media is either subordinate to or complicit with the powerful in maintaining their positions and existing structures of power.
What examples are there of critical media literature? - The Fourth Estate: Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Media Lens, Declassified UK, Glasgow University Media Group, Tom Mills, Edward Snowden, WikiLeaks.
Explain Lippmann and McCombs’ media theory of agenda setting - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Lippmann and McCombs pioneered the concept of agenda setting in the media, the idea that the media cannot tell its consumers what to think, but instead what to think about. It can do this through prioritising of issues and the scope of coverage they are provided, but cannot actively influence the views of the public.
Explain Russell Newton’s views on the influence of online media. Why does he believe this? - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Russell Newton argues that, despite the attention paid to online media in shaping views, in actual fact, it has little influence on opinions in the UK. He believes this owing to the low trust in such sources in the UK, arguing that to be influential, a source must be trusted. In the absence of this, therefore, online media has little influence on public opinion in the UK.
Explain the Propaganda Model of Chomsky and Herman (from their text, Manufacturing Consent) - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
The Propaganda Model is a critical-marxist view of media operation, based around media ownership and the power that this has over media messaging. It is created by the ‘working of market forces’, forcing the media into becoming the propaganda arm of liberal-democratic societies, rather than holding the powerful to account in the public interest.
Explain the philosophy of liberal-pluralist media studies and the philosophy of critical-marxist media studies - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Liberal-pluralist: rely on media discussion being a ‘market place of ideas’ in which opinions are exchanged and challenged. The media behaves in the public interest, scrutinising the powerful.
Critical-Marxist: media operates in the interest of dominant classes, marginalising opinions that challenge governing elites.
Explain Richard Campbell’s views on ‘balance’ within media - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Richard Campbell identified the striving for ‘balance’ in media not to be an attempt to show both sides, rather that this appeals to the values of ‘middle America’ (US Context). These values are embedded in media output, supporting prevailing liberal-democratic capitalist hegemony and governments.
Explain Stuart Hall’s theory of Encoding/Decoding - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Encoding/Decoding is Stuart Hall’s idea that media is produced with a particular message embedded within it by its producer. This, however, does not mean that it will be decoded in this way by the consumer. This representation may be accepted, opposed or compromised upon.
Explain Stuart Hall’s theory of representation - Does the Media Still Hold Britain’s Democracy to Account?
Representation theory argues that within a media text, there cannot be a single ‘true’ meaning due to the subjectivity of so many parts of media representations. However, this has resulted in the dominant representations of events in media being that which supports existing hierarchies, privilege, power and the status quo, rather than challenging this.
