KS4 Media Studies: A History of News

Objectives

• To understand the development and factors affecting the rise and decline of the print media

• To build skills to decode the mastheads of a variety of newspapers.

• To study the current consumption of newspapers.

“Daily sales of the major UK newspapers dropped nearly

10% between 1988 and 2001.”

Eileen Lewis (2002)

Key Question

• What factors have led to this decline in newspaper sales in 21st century Britain?

Cost of newsprint (paper) up

Rise of the internet

Rise of 24 hour TV news channels

As interest in product decreases, so does advertising revenue

IDEAS

History of News

- Print Media was around long before Audio-Visual Media and ICT-based Media.

- The Chinese produced the first newspapers (only for the rich and powerful!) in the 8th century.

- In Europe, most news was carried by word of mouth through travelling people and town criers until the 18th century.

- In 1474, William Caxton invented the first printing press, producing books and printed texts for the ruling classes only.

- Why do you think the wealthy, ruling classes might want to have prevented the the lower classes from accessing these texts.

Wittgenstein (1922): “The limits of my language indicate the limits of my world!”

History (continued...)

Weekly news pamphlets were produced in the English Civil War in 1642-49 which sided with one side or the order which overthrew Charles I.

The Anti-Royalist Parliament then tried to control what was published in Britain through the licensing of all printing presses in 1644.

This could be the first example of government attempting to control the media – something that is commonplace across the world today.

The Birth of the Radical Press

• In 1802, the fight for press freedom entered a new phase with William Cobett’s Political Register .

• This was a radical (anti-establishment) newspaper for the working classes who didn’t have a vote.

• These papers carried revolutionary ideas, arguing for a free press and they were seen as threatening by the government who tried to close them down.

• Some newspapers avoided paying Stamp Duty and went underground.

• Do you think there is an ‘underground’ press in Britain today?

Key Event – Peterloo Massacre

• In 1819, a peaceful trade union, which campaigned for better rights for workers, was meeting in Manchester and was broken up by mounted police who killed and injured over 400 people.

• This terrible event was reported by the radical press and, significantly, The Times with an eyewitness report that damaged the reputation of the government.

• This resulted in the government tightening the laws on libel and increasing newspaper taxes.

• Consequently, this made newspapers very expensive but people still used to read them by sharing them.

Growth of the Popular Press• In the second half of the 19th century many more

people learned to read.• The invention of the steam driven press and the

abolition of stamp duty made it easier and cheaper to produce newspapers.

• Many more newspapers appeared, featuring crime, sport and fashion, appealing to a new audience.

• ‘Human interest’ stories became commonplace and many of today’s news values (criteria used to decide which stories and photos are worth using) can be traced back to this period.

- Paulo Freire (1985)

“Literacy is about reading the world, liberation and helping the

powerless challenge the dominant assumptions.”

Decoding Mastheads – Media Messages

• Let’s look at some of the mastheads of current UK print media.

• What image does each name conjure up in our minds?• Think of some key words associated with the title.• For example: The Sun conjures up ideas of being at the

centre of the galaxy, something we need to survive. Might that give us a hint as to why they chose this name for the newspaper. Think about who this newspaper’s audience is!

• How does this affect how you view this newspaper (or how THEY want you to view this newspaper)?

Newspaper Consumption Survey

Name Age Job Newspaper(s) Bought Reason for buying

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

8

9

10

The Independent

The Mirror

The Times

The SunThe Daily ExpressThe Daily MailThe Star

Left Wing Centre-Left Centre-Right Right-Wing

Liberal-DemocratsGreen Party

Old/New Labour

Conservatives BNP, UKIP

The GuardianThe Observer

-Tolerant of others- Environmentally conscious- Concerned about individual rights and political freedom

-Intolerant of others that are different- Conscious of celebrity culture (to an extent), patriotic- Concerned about traditional, cultural values being eroded

Politics and Print News

Tabloids

Broadsheets