political contexts and regulation

the guardian is a daily newspaper published by the guardian group and owned by the Scott trust

the observer is the Sunday newspaper published by the guardian group. It's basically the guardian but released on a Sunday with more focus on investigative, log term journalism. But it will still report on immediate news. Its the oldest running Sunday newspaper and dates back to 1791 

(FYI The guardian weekly is a weekly summary of the week published by the guardian group which complies articles and pieces from the previous seven days into a weekly summary) 

the guardian/observer follow 5 principles

1. develop ideas that help to improve the world, not just critique it

2. collaborate with readers and others to have greater impact 

3. diversify, to have richer reporting from a representative newsroom

4. be meaningful in all our work

5. report fairly on people as well as power and find things out. This underpins all of the above 

how powerful are newspapers?

newspapers and reporters are supposed to provide their readers with:

-objective information = this means it should be free from prejudice caused by personal feelings 

-unbiased - represent people, events and ideas fairly 

-reliable information = from trusted sources

-however the news presents itself as an objective (non biased) form of media, like any other media text it has its own agenda 

-newspapers are owned by indviduals with their own political and social agendas and these ideologies are reflected in the editorial content of the papers

-the daily express are clearly far more in favour of farage. The newspaper gives farage a platform to prove those who don't like him wrong - as evidenced by the line 'farage wants to silence remoaners' 

-contrasting to this, the daily mirror are potentially less in favour of farage as they 

-through the headline 'i stand to fight' the daily mail presents may as a strong resolute leader who is able to fight through adversity. The close up on May (with her facial expressions looking suggesting she is ready to ague or fight) potentially is used to further paint her as a good, strong figure that the public can and should get behind

IPSO - regulates newspapers 

freedom of the press - is the right to circulate opinions in print without censorship by the government 

-some people may argue that we need more regulation of the press in the UK.

-e.g princess diana = she was bombarded and harassed by the press. 

Leveson Inquiry 

-many journalists abused their power and used unethical means to find stories about many people including both celebrities and normal people such as listening on voicemails which has often 'wrecked havoc with the lives of innocent people'

-politicians and the press have become too close with many of the said politicians exploiting their relationships in order to further their political cause

-it was recommended that a mew regulatory body should be set up to prevent this sort of thing happening again

IPSO

-independent press standards organisation = regulate magazines, newspapers and their online counterparts 

-people in the industry 'mark their own homework' 

-it is funded by magazines and newspaper companies 

-any member of the public can make a complaint to the IPSO 

OFCOM

-this is the broadcasting regulator

-if a person sees something on TV that they believe should not have been broadcast, they can make a complaint to them

-it could be about advertising, something that was said or something that was offensive 

-broadcasters are regulated by OFCOM, which is backed by law

-other people publishing on the internet, such as bloggers and tweeters, are not regulated as such but are covered by laws on issues such as libel and contempt of court

-some including MPs and peers have questioned the wisdom of bringing more regulation to the press and not the wider internet

-lord justice Leveson himself referred to material on the internet as 'the elephant in the room' 

explain 2 reasons why online media are hard to regulate [4 marks]

One reason why online media is hard to regulate is because of the speed that posts are created or shared, making it difficult for regulators. Many individuals who post or are content creators keep themselves anonymous making furthering the difficulty to identify who is accountable for content that is posted. As well as this, new apps and websites are constantly being made on social media. 

Another reason why online media is hard to regulate is because of freedom of speech meaning that users can say whatever they would like including a persons opinions on social media which can be harmful. It can also be quite difficult to find a balance between what is harmful and what isn’t. 

key terms and defenitions

censorship - suppression of materials, publications and thought

mass media - communication to a large audience at the same point in time e.g TV, radio, newspapers and websites

new media - internet = related means of communicating 

social media - takes many forms e.g internet forums, weblogs, social blogs, podcasts, vlogs, etc

freedom of the press - a concept that states that for a free, open and democratic society to exist the press should be free from political or judicial interference 

ofcom - office of the regulator for communications. This is a government established independent regulator and competition authority for the UK communication industry