Critical Analysis 7-International Media

Japan and Britain can be seen to be similar in many ways, industrial, literate and democratic. But if we dig a little deeper there are a multitude of differences in the structure of the cultures, which directly affects the way the separate medias work.

Japan is regarded as the most literate nation in the world, a staggering 99% literacy rate, and the circulation of its’ five major newspapers reaching 40 million per day. Unfortunately Japanese media has huge failings in its’ role as the watchdog of the state, being referred to as becoming the lapdog instead.

There is an element of corruption in the relationship between government and press in Japan. Many offices the papers occupy are rented from the government at rock bottom prices, so if the papers were to criticise the government they would effectively also be criticising their landlords.

Only journalists from the main newspapers are invited to be members of the ‘kisha’ or press clubs, gaining exclusive access to the people who make the news, such as government officials etc. Many instances of journalists, and in turn the papers they work for, ignoring major scandals and events that put bad light on the government are reported, as doing so will mean they will be removed from the kisha and then be out of the loop, so to speak.

The Japanese writing style is objective to the point of erasing any personality from the articles, which are usually written anonymously without bylines, completely different to the western world. As is Japanese business. Businessmen are far more concerned with security and stability, as opposed to the profit driven westerners ideal of minimum input, maximum return.

Critical Analysis 6-Characteristics of the Tabloid Press

The British press is dominated by national newspapers, which are divided into tabloid and broadsheet. They are positioned as quality, middle market and down market on the media landscape.Tabloid newspapers are deemed to be down market, but why is this? The Sun, the biggest tabloid, has a readership pushing 3 billion.

Many techniques are used in tabloid writing to invoke shock, awe or emotion in the readers, the most obvious being sensationalism, use of verbal or graphic media in order to be shocking, personification, a person or thing typifying a certain quality or idea, and pictorial focus, basically a picture is worth 1000 words. Many ‘qualities’ are now using certain tabloid techniques to try and grab a slice of the pie, such as the Guardian dedicating it’s centre pages to a photograph.

Tabloid newspapers came about with changes to industrialisation, urbanisation and economics. They also, rather surprisingly, gained a large female readership, due to the tabloids having a lighter focus on politics and international issues, and having a higher concentration on celebrity and gossip, along with intertextuality with other media forms the readers were involved in.

These tabloid characteristics allow alternative cultures, often those disdained by classic liberalism. But if the public sphere is what we aspire to, shouldn’t we reject the idea of a tabloid press?

Critical Analysis 5-Technologies of Journalism

Do we live in an information age? Do we control technology or does technology control us? With the industrialisation of the printing press audiences were thrust into an information age, and with further advancements such as the telegraph in the 1830s and Morse code (1844) people were able to communicate internationally with each other quicker and more effectively than ever before, which led to information being passed around more frequently.

A good example of us controlling technology is the advent of the web, revolutionising journalism especially. With more and more of the younger generations logging on, companies are battling for audiences, using newer and newer technology (downloads, podcasts etc) to attract readers to their pages.

Marx predicted technological, economic, occupational, spatial and cultural changes in peoples’ lives. For example with the growth of technology people have to adapt to the shift towards industries using more technological machinery for their occupations. Also the revolution in the drop in cost of home computing has caused a massive cultural change.

A major problem with the web is quality control, or possible lack of. With the growth of ‘blogging’, people have a much easier outlet for their writings, musings and thoughts. Although the possibilities of opinion creeping into their ‘journalism’, or lack of or misguided research is far higher, leading to information without content, this can distort the stories news values. As in printed journalism we should never blindly believe what we read, constantly questioning its accuracy, relevance and proactively deconstructing it.

Critical Analysis 4-Gatekeeping

The gatekeeper is essentially the quality controller, the one who chooses what we know, who tells us what we think we know about the world around us. The one with the power.

In journalism the gatekeeper filters news through to the masses. But who is responsible for this filtration? Who actually gets to choose what constitutes as news? ‘The Gatekeeper’ by David Manning White, suggests that gatekeeping is affected by the gatekeepers characteristics, life experiences, attitudes and expectations of what the news is. White suggests he is a middle aged man with 25 years of journalistic experience.

Organisationally, news is constructed by a certain criteria given to the gatekeeper, but ‘what is news’ is ultimately shaped by the gatekeepers perception of this question, along with questions such as; Who is your audience and what is their perception of news? Does the story attract attention? Or even provide entertainment? Does the story fit in with the current organisational or governmental ideologies?
The power wielded by the gatekeeper can go as far as having a major handle on social control. Governments can use the this gatekeeping to suit their own ends, fabricating or distorting the news to influence social conscience.

A good example of this is (again) the Fox news networks’ coverage of the early days of the Iraq conflict. It presented the war as a continuing success, showing footage of Iraqi teenagers ‘training for the Olympics’ in order to persuade viewers of the good America was doing in the region. This would lead to Fox viewers having a distorted view of the Americans activities and the actual international feelings towards the occupation.

Critical Analysis 3-Journalism in the 20th Century

The invention of the printing press revolutionised media in the nineteenth century, although it was an expensive item it allowed for broader distribution, which in turn led to increased sales and more money for the media organization.

The introduction of advertising brought about an economic determinism, as the power of mass advertising was realised after the abolition of advertising duty in 1853. This meant more ‘glamorous’ adverts could be used without any tax being paid. It was cheaper for advertisers but also meant more business for the publication.

Soon a dependency on advertising emerged, by 1907 advertising revenue stood at £20m. The power advertising had was had also grown so much it could be used to put publications out of business, for example advertisers boycotted left wing publications for obvious reasons and the number decreased rapidly.

Politicians quickly realised the potential. With this mass advertising reaching most of the population and the political parties’ hunger for exposure and votes, the mass media proved a perfect format.

With this mass media, being fed by mass advertising, reaching the majority of the population, a mass society was established, leading to the development of the consumerism state we now live in.

In modern society journalism has swayed towards lifestyle writing. This may have come about with the changing nature of employment, allowing for more leisure time, thus appealing to people with hobbies or sports interests. It allows readers to feel their identity is being targeted and explored, as well as allowing them to search for how their image within their lifestyle choice should be.

Critical Analysis 2-Institutions of Mass Media

The media, in all its forms, is more prevalent in society today than it has ever been. With the rise of the internet the traditional media forms such as newspapers and magazines are expanding in order to reach out to more people. With this more and more people are using it as an outlet for the ‘alternative’ news, rejecting the facts presented by the traditional mass institutions.

Many believe that these institutions of mass media use their output as a form of control, such as censorship, telling the public only what they want the public to know and propaganda, bending or distorting the facts to suit their own agendas.

A prime example of this is the Fox news network and it’s coverage of the early days of the Iraq conflict. It presented the war as a continuing success, showing footage of Iraqi teenagers ‘training for the Olympics’ in order to persuade viewers of the good America was doing in the region. Further evidence of this can be seen on Outfoxed, available on youtube.com.

The anchorman of Fox news, Bill O’Reilly, openly criticises anyone who questions the methods of the Americans, bullying and personally attacking guests leaves viewers in little doubt that, at least in Foxs’ eyes, these people are the enemy.

This leads to a distortion of how Fox viewers view the world and even their political stance on certain topics. For example, in 2003, a survey carried out by PIPA/The Knowledge networks, showed that 67% of Fox viewers believe that there are links between Al-Qaeda and Iraq, compared to 16% of PBS-NPR viewers.

Clearly with the case of Fox there is evidence to suggest that the American government is being supported in it’s policies by certain aspects of its media, extending to actually misleading viewers with distorted news. This proves the Mass Manipulative model can be applied to modern day media institutions.

News Writing Exercise-Radioactive Leak in Vandrem

An accident involving a nuclear powered submarine and a tug boat occurred at Vandrem dockyard at around 3am last night.

Emergency services were called to deal with a release of fission products from the submarines fuel, which is a serious radiation hazard.

No radioactive material has been released into the atmosphere and the river Musse has not been contaminated, although engineers on site say that there may be a radiation hazard in the immediate vicinity of the submarine.

The dockyard and naval base have been evacuated and an immediate investigation into the cause of the accident is being carried out.

Residents within two kilometers of the site have been advised to stay indoors, close all doors, windows and ventilators and to damp down open fires. Potassium iodate tablets have been handed out which protect against the risk of radioactive iodine, one of the radioactive materials, being absorbed into the body.

Mandovia Naval Commander Simeon Gadd, who is coordinating the emergency operation, said: ‘the leak is restricted to a small area within the submarine itself and the measures are purely precautionary. There is no danger whatsoever of a nuclear explosion but people should stay in their homes.’

It is believed that a tug boat collided with the submarine at the north end of the naval base, damaging the submarines nuclear reactor. The radioactive materials released are fission products that consist of gases and fine particles mixed with steam, although the concentration and radiation emitted from them decreases rapidly the further from the reactor they are.

For further information residents of Vandrem should listen to further broadcasts on the TV and radio or alternatively log on to the city council website, www.vandremcitycouncil.com.



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Critical Analysis 1-Emergence of the Public Sphere

Habermas’ theory of the public sphere, which is the idea that anyone or anything affects the masses, has changed and developed throughout the 17th, 18th and 19th centuries.

When considering this idea it is important to understand the main approaches to political economy, which include; Liberal, Marxist, Realistic/Pragmatic and the Constructivist.

The Liberal approach is divided between the legislative and the executive, and points out that power seems to reside with the upper classes.

Marxism emphasises the class based struggle and states that whoever controls production has power.

The Realistic/Pragmatic approach is essentially an anarchy of self-interest in pursuit of resources.

Constructivist is a critique of ‘realpolitik’, which refers to politics or diplomacy based primarily on practical considerations, rather than ideological notions.

These ideas, amongst others, came about alongside European revolutions. People became richer through trading abroad, and whilst having more money to spend, needed information and advice on how their stock was doing. This is how news sheets came about as gossip went from word of mouth to print. Fashion news and other subjects started to emerge in these news sheets, and with these richer people (soon to become the middle classes) came the emergence of newspapers and magazines. From this came the birth of the term ‘the fourth estate’.

Through this emergence of the public sphere came the rise of the radical press. In 1791, Thomas Paine published ‘The Rights of Man’ in response to the French Revolution; it started the up rise of the radical press, effectively an alternative to the official (parliamentary) sources of information. As economic sanctions, such as stamp duty rising 266% between 1789 and 1815, became overtly politically repressive, it became counterproductive in the long term. When the libel act was introduced in 1843 the authorities relied much more on taxation and bonds but the radical press continued to expand.

Guest Speaker-Paul Lashmar-Investigative Journalist

Paul Lashmar gave a talk to level one journalism students at UCF on Monday in order to illustrate what it take to be a successful investigative journalist.

He explained that he feels journalism has become to much of a process, writing about the facts presented and so investigative journalism is necessary to provide a balance in society which is having it's civil liberties ground down.

His advice was to ask 'why is this lying bastard lying to me?', illustrating that some in depth research must be carried out, rather than just accepting things at face value.

An example of this research is the lack of transparency he found when looking into the activities of SOCA (Serious Organised Crime Agency) the UK equivalant of the FBI. When SOCA announced it had seized 73 tonnes of drugs abroad it failed to mention how much it was directly responsible for. When he asked questions, SOCA simply replied 'we are not willing to discuss this.'

Many newspapers lack sufficient funding to allow journalists free reign to dig so deep, but it is necessary to show the initiative and willingness in order to build a reputation as being the one who will look at the finer details.

Lashmar began his career as an investigative researcher for the Observer in 1978, and became a staff reporter in 1980. During his time there he teamed up with a fellow reporter, David Leigh. Working together for eight years they covered many of the biggest stories of the time, winning the Reporter of the Year award in 1986 for their story on MI5 vetting staff at the BBC.

He left the Observer for Granda TV’s World in Action series in 1989 where he worked for three years, breaking stories on Brazilian child killers and the Queens failure to pay income tax.

In the years that followed he has worked in a number of freelance roles, including as a print journalist and a TV producer.

Guest Speaker-Kirsty Newton-Cornwall Today

Kirsty Newton of Cornwall Today was the seventh in the series of guest speakers to talk to level one journalism students at UCF.

Kirsty has worked for Cornwall Today for over a year and in that time has made many changes and added an array of new features. One of the main changes was increasing the magazine by 40 pages to 216. This has 'allowed for a broader range of advertising,' which has increased the magazines income per issue.


Amongst the new features added to the magazine is a property and leisure section in a bid to attract a younger audience. These run alongside regular features in the magazine which include a home and gardens section, a food and drinks section and a wildlife section, as well as various articles on village life in Cornwall.

The magazine is targeting the 'ABC1' demographic, otherwise known as the upper middle classes. On average 16000 copies of the magazine are printed each month, a 1/3 of which are subscribers who live outside of Cornwall.

Cornwall Today also has around half a dozen competitors in the South West that rival the magazine on a monthly basis, these include; Inside Cornwall, Taste of Cornwall and Devon Today.

Before taking up the role of Editor of Cornwall Today, Kirsty worked as a trainee for the Western Morning News in Plymouth, before moving on to Deputy Editor for Devon Today.

Guest Speaker- Nick Mazur-PPA

Nick Mazur, Deputy Chief Executive of the Periodical Publishers Association was the sixth guest speaker at UCF, introducing students to the PPA and their work. The PPA's role is to promote and protect the interests of professional media publishers, in particular it's almost four hundred member companies who publish more than 2,260 consumer, business and professional magazines.

He explained that the industry has an annual turnover of around £7 billion, with the majority of this coming from circulation and advertising.

He went on to explain that the majority of consumer magazines gain around 65% of their revenue from circulation, with only around 35% coming from selling advertising space, whereas business publications rely more on advertising, as much as 80%, and only 20% of revenue coming from circulation.

'Ten years ago this was a different picture, as both consumer and business magazines relied equally on advertising and circulation revenue,' he said.

There has been a 52% rise in consumers expenditure on magazines and a 22% increase in the number of magazine titles in the last decade, when there was around 8,500 magazines in publication every year, about 5,100 business and 3,400 consumer magazines. This is the 'changing landscape of the magazine industry,' according to Mr.Mazur.

Mintel International Group Ltd, a specialist in consumer, media and market research, expect a turnover of £531 million within the consumer magazine sector by 2009.