Politics of the Media

1. Politics of the Media ywfoo@lincoln.ac.uk

2. Growing Up • Political Socialization; how we acquire attitudes towards politics • Family • Peers • Religion

3. Education • Like the family, education is hierarchical in structure • As an obvious source of social control, the state watches over the school system with vigilance

4. Advertising • Although most of our advertisements promote a product, they generally subscribe to the ethos of free-market capitalism • Political parties are now investing enormous funds to sell themselves to voters

5. The Press • 13 million newspapers a week • Broadsheets • Tabloids • Serious weeklies • Major newspapers are national, providing uniformity of view and centre on London • Provincial dailies are in decline

6. Partisanship • Freedom of the press is held to be a major characteristic of the liberal state • Newspaper industry is part of ‘big business’ • Only in times of crisis does the state overtly demand that the press become its instrument

7. Partisanship • Our newspapers have a strong political bias • Traditionally they have favoured the Conservative Party and the right of the Labour Party

8. Profit • Maximise profit • Appeal to mass readership ensures stories featuring sensationalism, trivialisation • Racism • Jingoism (chauvinistic militarism) • Celebrity stories • Tabloid coverage focuses on immediate events rather than background analysis

9. Press Barons • The Press, a neo-liberal Establishment • Press Barons regularly recognised by elevation to the peerage • Newspaper owners exercise editorial control

10. Journalists • Usually from middle and upper-middle class backgrounds • Good journalists will get to know leading figures in business and politics • Few journalists would be willing to ‘bite the hands’ of those who can give them information

11. Television • We watch 21 hours of television each week • Television has become the organ of a truly mass culture and is the principal means of informing perceptions of the political world • Power of television is recognised both by politicians and the advertising industry

12. Regulatory Bodies • British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) • Independent Television Commission (ITC) • Class bias in news programmes • Points of view tend to fit within a consensus acceptable to the Establishment

13. Political Interference • Both the BBC and ITC boards of governors are appointed by the government • Each board delegates day to day operations to a Director General • Some journalists aim for a more robust style, but they can come under attack

14. Media/Internet Today we are looking at two competing forces in the evolution of a new society; neo-liberal globalization, and an information technology revolution

15. On-line • In mid-February, 2003, millions of people marched in cities across the world in protest of the war in Iraq • A stunning example of what networked global civil society is capable of: online organizing leading to massive offline direct action

16. Seminar • Look up information about Press Baron Rupert Murdoch • Discuss Murdoch’s upbringing and his political values • How do you think Murdoch has influenced the outcome of elections in Great Britain

17. Press Baron Profile • Rupert Murdoch, Born 1931 • Known to have conservative views, but strong supporter of Tony Blair – “Who Blairs Win” • Pomotes a free enterprise culture • Disapproves of Britain joining the euro