In 2022, we know the newspaper industry will come up. We also know that it will come up in component one section b, and the questions will be related to media industries.
What does this mean?
Media industry questions are all about HARD FACTS.
It's a part of the exam, perhaps the only part of the exam, which does NOT rely on media language to show knowledge and understanding. Any references you make to the newspapers should be simple, straightforward, and should be related to key terms.
You can find more information about the newspaper industry for 2022 by clicking here.
And you can find the section b case studies that we used by clicking here.
Past paper walkthrough
3. (a) Briefly explain what is meant by horizontal integration. [2]
Where one company owns other companies in the same media form/in the same sector. For example, Reach PLC specialise in publishing newspapers, in particular local newspapers, for example Cambridge news, and national newspapers, for example The Daily mirror.
(b) Briefly explain the function of the IPSO in the newspaper industry. [2]
IPSO stands for the independent press standards organisation, and IPSO regulates the newspaper industry in the UK. IPSO are an independent regulator. IPSO is a voluntary code of conduct, which makes it ineffective.
(c) Explain the role of regulation in the distribution of newspapers. The Daily Mirror [9]
- Regulations are rules that media products must follow. Digital convergence has made online regulation of newspapers much more ineffective. In order to explore this, I will be looking at The Daily Mirror.
- One rule set out by IPSO seeks to prevent libellous or invasive information being published by newspapers. An excellent example of an article which almost breaks this rule is the double page spread article on 'Putin's secret family'. This article releases private information on alleged family members of the dictator. This could have the effect of invading the privacy of the alleged family of Putin, which has ethical issues. However, the newspaper does not technically break any rules, as the word 'daughter' is included in quotation marks. Therefore it can be argued that IPSO is ineffective at regulating newspapers and protecting the privacy of private citizens.
- Scandalous, invasive soft news story targeting a working class audience
- Simon Cowell on e-bike: invasion of privacy. However, it's in a public space/in the public interest
- Clickbait articles/adverts, manipulative of the audience
- Barely moderated comment section
In Question 3(d) you will be rewarded for drawing together knowledge and understanding from across your full course of study, including different areas of the theoretical framework and media contexts.
(d) Explain the ways in which social and political contexts may influence broadsheet newspapers. Make reference to The Times to support your answers [12]
- The Times is owned by News UK, a subsidiary of a vast corporation.
- This conglomerate is owned by the oligarch Rupert Murdoch
- Murdoch has far right ideologies
- Therefore Murdoch will promote and cultivate right wing ideologies in order to promote right wing ideologies to his working class and middle class audiences. This will in turn manipulate audiences in to voting for right wing parties
- News Corp owns a vast amount of subsidiaries, including Fox and Sky
- Publish a vast amount of newspapers, including The Sun
- Times is completely different from the Sun in order to keep the two brands sperate. This allows a completely different audience to be targeted
- Brand identity
- Times appeals to a right wing, middle class audience
- Sophisticated lexis
- Dense copy
- Representation of Nazanin: clearly middle class and with a white husband, which reinforces hegemonic norms
- Selection of stories appeal to a middle class audience, for example taxation of expensive cars
- News story about Johnson breaking covid laws buried on page 20: clear example of bias
- Focus on hard news stories suggests that only middle class audiences can understand sophisticated political debates. This also suggests that the readers of the working class sun, cannot, and this reinforces hegemonic norms
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| I came up with these questions by going on the past papers tab on the blog, finding a bunch of industry questions |