The role of the media Flashcards
What is ‘old media’?
- newspaper, magazines, etc (aka the ‘print media’ or ‘the press’)
- TV, radio (“the broadcast media”)
What is ‘new media’?
- internet/websites
- social media
Describe the definition of media
- media is the plural of the word ‘medium’
- medium literally means in the middle
Define media (in detail)
- politicians say something
- they want people to hear it
- but unless the politician calls a public meeting to tell them they will not know, however, even if they did, the numbers who would hear the message would be very small
- so, how do the people know what politicians are doing/saying?
- because there is an institution ‘in the middle’ - between - politicians & the media that tells the people what politicians are up to
- this institution is the media; this makes the media very powerful - what do they choose to report, not report, how to report it, etc (& why)
- arguably, they control the flow of information on which people make political decisions or form political opinions
What are the UK rules for TV & radio (broadcast media)? Is it allowed a balance or bias? What does this mean?
- balanced
- cannot take sides politically e.g. on the TV news - & regulated by OFCOM i.e. the broadcaster RT backed by the Kremlin was fined £200k by OFCOM because of its biased reporting of the Salisbury poisonings
What are the UK rules for newspapers, magazines, etc (print media/the press)? Is it allowed a balance or bias? What does this mean?
- no requirement for balance
- can take sides politically (& they take full advantage of this)
- rules about how they behave i.e. the Levenson Report
Briefly describe the Levenson Report
- it is an independent regulatory body for how the press should be established
- it takes an active role in promoting high standards, including having the power to investigate serious breaches & sanction newspapers
- it is backed by legislation; this legislation is designed to assess whether it is doing its job properly
- the legislation would have the opportunity to enshrine (set out) a legal duty on the government to protect the freedom of the press
What are the UK rules for new media (internet based media & social media)? Is it allowed a balance or bias? What does this mean?
no requirement for balance
What are the ‘broadsheets’?
- they cost more to buy & are low in circulation
- e.g. The Times (pro-con), Daily Telegraph (pro-con), The Guardian (anti-con but sometimes pro-Lab & sometimes pro-Lib Dem)
What are the ‘quality tabloids’?
- Daily Mail - pro-Con
- Daily Express - pro-Con
- London Evening Standard - pro-Con
What are the ‘tabloids’?
- also known as ‘the red-tops’ as they often have red headlines
- The Sun (owned by Rupert Murdoch) - pro-Con
- The Daily Star - pro-Con
- Daily Mirror - pro-Lab
What is the main similarity between all the daily newspapers?
most of the papers have a special Sunday edition - The Observer is the Sunday version of The Guardian; The Sun on Sunday used to be called The News of the World but shut down after a phone-hacking scandal
In what way is the media’s impact on politics ‘remarkable’?
- remarkable, in the sense of neither good or bad
- it can easily (but not always) destroy his or her career, depending on the popularity of said politician with a group of people
- however, if the media likes one politician it can take his or her career to new heights
In what way does the media’s impact make an impact of perception on politics?
the impact is not only of politicians but events, responses to events, elections & referendum campaigns
State examples of effects of the media
- more traditional media, such as the printed press have seen a significant decline in readership in recent years, particularly readership amongst young people
- conversely, newspapers do still have plenty of influence: for example setting the agenda for the day’s news
- however new forms of communication such as social media have become more important: it is argued that young people & many non-young people now primarily consume their political news through mediums such as Facebook & Twitter; this has led to concerns over the number of fake news stories appearing in users news feeds stories that appear genuine but are actually completely made-up
What are the main effects of fake news?
- it has had an effect on voter choices for sure: in elections, TV broadcasters are expected to maintain impartiality & balance in political broadcasting
- however, newspapers & internet website are under no such obligation: it is known that most national newspapers generally support the Conservative Party
- frustratingly, this means that most newspaper readers therefore read conservative newspapers even if they buy them for non-political purposes; the impact of this may be that people have their political views shaped almost unknowingly during election campaigns
Historically, how do newspapers effect elections?
newspapers often openly endorsed particular political parties & spend time supporting & praising that party whilst attacking the opposition
Comparatively, what shows that the media has less influence?
it could definitely be the case that newspaper readers choose a particular paper due to its support rather than the influence (rather than it working the other way round)
How may the UK media come across as incompetent?
- the media is sometimes accused of having quite a negative impact on the perception of UK politics & politicians; the tabloid press, for example, focuses more on political scandals & allegations of incompetence & failure
- quite obviously, this is because it sells more papers as a result of increasing role of the media
