Thursday 20 April 2023

To what extent have recent technological changes affected the newspaper industry? Make reference to The Daily Mirror to support your answer [15]


Circulation - refers to how many ‘copies’ of a media product are distributed to the audience. The measurement of circulation depends on whether a product is physically or digitally distributed


Daily Mirror fact finding mission


  • Circulation (the most recent figure and a figure from around the turn of the century) - circa 2023 277,550. Circa 2020 451,466. Website c2021 - “32 million monthly readers”

  • Distribution - A print edition and also a digitally convergent website 

  • Producer - Reach PLC, a UK company that produces and distributes newspapers. Reach PLC specialises in producing a number of regional and local newspapers, adopting a pluralistic approach to media distribution 

  • Reach PLC are a horizontally integrated and specialised industry

  • Target demographic - working class, British and left leaning, and supporting the labour party

  • Regulatory body - IPSO (replaced the PCC after the phone hacking scandal),. IPSO is fundamentally identical to the PCC, and operates at an advisory level. 

  • Controversies - in 2019 they ran a headline controversially humanising a white far right mass murderer, constructing a very different representation to other representations of terrorists






Underline the key terms


For this question, 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.


To what extent have recent technological changes affected the newspaper industry? Make reference to The Daily Mirror to support your answer


Knee jerk reaction


Recent technological changes have significantly affected the newspaper industry by directly affecting the circulation and distribution of print newspapers


Plan


Font

Regulation theory - Livingstone & Lunt

Ineffective regulation

Pull quote

Postmodernism? A shift from traditional political beliefs to populism 

Digitally convergent media 

Website

Shirky - end of audience 

Online commenting

Digital technologies 

Power and profit

Reception theory - Stuart hall

Piers Morgan - ex editor 

Ideology

Audience manipulation 

Tabloid 

Working class 

Declining sales

Reach PLC 

Horizontal integration

Diversification 



Introduction


DAC - definition, argument, context


In recent years, digitally convergent technologies have completely shaped the ways in which we consume media. DCT refers to how computers and associated technology can bring together previously separate industries. While this produces many opportunities it also leads to significant hardships for legacy media industries. I shall argue the newspaper industry has been particularly affected by changes in technology. To explore this I shall refer to the British left leaning tabloid the daily mirror.  


Paragraphs


PEA - Point, evidence, argument 


Paragraph examples/discussion/etc here




  • Digital technologies have led to the decline of print media circulation. Mirror Circulation has fallen by more than 30% in three years

  • The availability of online media and the move to websites

  • The hypermodality of the website provides and exciting mode of address/user experience, involving a selection of different stories in a variety of different topics 

  • The website offers audiences an interactive experience, and encourages them to become producers. The comments section allows audiences to share their own ideological perspective. However many comments are irreverent, unpleasant, misogynistic and disruptive, including comments that openly support outlandish conspiracy. This may be highly inappropriate and even illegal. Many comments are intrusive and defamatory. Yet ultimately Reach PLC profits off of this as these outlandish opinions create higher user engagement 

  • Website funded exclusively through advertising and sponsorship which leads to a slow and clunky user experience

  • Newspaper websites present an agile experience for the target audience, and allow only the most up to date news to be quickly and easily shared

  • Digital technology has lead to a shift from traditional political ideologies to more populist ideologies. The amount of conspiracy theories shared during the covid 19 pandemic represented a huge shift in public opinion and a massive distrust in governments

  • The Mirror website appeals to a working class audience through being free to access, something made possible through digitally convergent technology. However, a range of highly manipulative and confusing pop up adverts now fund this business

  • Selection of scandalous stories combined with a simple straightforward lexis allows the mirror website to cynically target a working class audience. This is made easier than ever through digitally convergent technology

  • Anonymous posting of comments leads to impossible to regulate media