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