Rules
- You can do these questions in ANY ORDER
- You might do a few in significant detail, or you might complete them all in brief detail
- There are no 'right answers' to these questions, but you should all use examples from the print edition of these newspapers
- For each and every heading, you must find EXPLICIT EXAMPLES from the print editions of The Mirror and The Times you have been set. Basically, you could get a question like
(b) Explain how social and cultural circumstances affect audience interpretations of newspaper content. Refer to a print edition of the Daily Mirror to support your points. [10]
or
a) Explore how newspapers are shaped by the financial implications that surround the producer. Refer to a print edition of the Times to support your points. [12]
You can find the print editions by clicking here.
Questions and study prompts
Bias through selection, bias through omission
- Outline examples of bias in the two newspapers.
- How does the selection or omission of stories reflect the ideological perspective of the producer?
- And why?
Specialised forms of production
- Newspapers are a specialised medium. They do one thing, and they do it differently to every other media product.
- So find examples of how this newspaper is most definitely a newspaper, and not, for example, a magazine!
- HINT: check out the layout...
The Mirror is a product of a horizontally integrated organisation
- What are some examples of The Mirror being produced and published by an organisation that essentially just makes loads and loads of newspapers?
The Times is a product of a vertically and horizontally integrated conglomerate
- Same question again, but The Times is also vertically integrated.
- Any examples?
Issues with regulation
IPSO specifically STRONGLY SUGGEST that newspapers should not do the following:
- intrude in to the private lives of private citizens
- intrude in to grief
- cause harm and/or offense through their reporting
what examples can you find which might go against IPSO's guidelines?
Aspects of digital convergence
- If print is dead, no one told the newspaper industry.
- However, what references to digital media are their in these newspapers?
- How and why could they get the audience to explore the website, for example?
How does the Mirror appeal to a working class, left leaning audience?
- Remember: left wing BROADLY means collectivistic policies such as higher taxation, a focus on public ownership, the support of a welfare state etc.
- However, remember that these ideas might be very broadly or vaguely alluded to in the newspaper you are studying!
How does the Times appeal to a middle class, right wing audience?
- Remember: right wing BROADLY means individualistic policies that favour personal freedoms, lower taxation, a focus on private ownership, and less government intervention etc.
- However, remember that these ideas might be very broadly or vaguely alluded to in the newspaper you are studying!
Ideologies, and how they are encoded and cultivated
- Ideologies are the messages and values of the producer.
- So what are the beliefs of the newspapers in front of you?
- And how do you know?
- Here's a TOP TIP: if in doubt, just guess! This entire subject (and, by extension, life) is all about educated guesses!
Uses and gratifications
How do audiences use or take pleasure form the news stories in front of you? Here are some suggestions:
- SOCIAL INTERACTION - audience can use the newspaper to make friends 'in real life', for example having a chat at the office (so-called 'watercooler moments'...)
- INFORMATION - the newspaper tells us things we didn't know about previously. We can then use this information in a variety of circumstances
- PERSONAL IDENTITY - we identify a viewpoint we already have. For example, you may find right leaning ideologies in the Times, which may reinforce the audience's viewpoints, and make them feel safe. Or angry. This is pretty similar to Gauntlet's theory of identity
- SEXUAL GRATIFICATION - we find people attractive. This is a creepier way of saying 'sex sells'
- SIMILAR LIFESTYLE - We identify with people who are just like us, FR. For example, what working class identities do we see in The Mirror?
Bonus - alternatives to mainstream news
- Clearly, physical print newspapers are not how a lot of people get their news. In fact, you lot get your news in an increasingly digitally convergent hodgepodge of different sources.
- Find and research some 'alternative news' sources. This is really broad, and given that you may be using social media, it can be accomplished on your phone, maybe
- What issues and complications are bought up by using digitally convergent distribution practices to distribute news media?