Mass Media

Influences and Impressions from MediaBias in Media

Influence and Control of Media

Different Types of Media

PRESS: Newspapers, Magazines, BooksTELEVISION: International, National, LocalRADIO: Various Radio Channels FILMSADVERTISEMENTSINTERNETMUSIC

How do papers report the news?

• http://www.frontpagestoday.co.uk/

• Compare the headlines on todays national papers. Are all of them really “news” or are some headlines more ‘gossip’.

• Do some papers MAKE the news?

Influence on and of Media• Interactive Media - Reality shows• Internet - modern day journalists get instant

input from readers or viewers through emails and ‘blogging’

• News can come from people’s ‘blogs’ or posts - Anyone can make news if they want to

• Wheelie Bin Cat Lady?• http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-coven

try-warwickshire-11068063

Influence on Media

• Internet – Swift sharing of information and a channel for a direct response to and individual / group

• EG David Cameron and Mumsnet..• http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/660

8334/David-Cameron-gets-mauling-from-mothers.html

• When more than a million people signed a petition against road pricing on the Prime Minister’s 10 Downing Street website, the government changed the policy.

Influence on Media

• Media funding is also crucial in a free society. If the state alone funded the media there would be dangers of corruption and bias. USSR – PRAVDA

• If one person owns many newspapers and television stations this could dominate public debate and opinion.

• News Corp/Rupert Murdoch – The Times/Sunday Times, The Sun, Sky, Fox.

• OFCOM - maintaining the impartiality of the media• BBC – Funded by public money and follow a Charter that

should ensure no political or social bias exists.

How can we avoid Bias in Media?

Censorship

• What is Censorship?

• Give two examples of censorship

• What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Censorship?

Censorship and Constraint• Censorship • Preventing Publication

• Defamation • Lowering the reputation of an individual in the

eyes of right thinking members of society • Libel • Defamation in permanent form — book, article,

tape, etc

Censorship and Constraint

• Slander • Defamation in the form of speech • News Blackouts • Authorities silence the media during a criminal

investigation....

• Human Rights Act 1998 - Right to privacy