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Teaching the Role of the Media in Higher Media
Rick Instrell13 June 2015Version 2.1
Association for Media Education in Scotland
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Role of Media in H MediaMeeting needs: entertain, educate, inform
Meeting particular purposes: profit, self-interest/promotion, public service
Influencing attitudes and behaviours: intentional, unintentional.
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Examination questions
Role of the Media question requires pupils to discuss:
• communicate ideas and info on a subject
• offer opinions, arguments or conclusions backed up with evidence.
SQP Q2. The Role of MediaThe media is consistently criticised as being intrusive, out of control or problematic in some other way. Often, the response from the media is that it is simply fulfilling its role of meeting the needs of its audiences.Discuss this with reference to media content you have studied. In your response you must:(a) give detailed information or ideas about the role of media referenced above, and discuss this by giving some opinions, arguments or conclusions about it (10)(b) give specific examples from media content which illustrate the information, ideas or discussion. (10)
Issues arising from media useMedia use
by state, companies, organisations, groups &
individuals
Issues
Content• ‘Effects’• Offensive or
inflammatory content
• Commercialisation• ‘Dumbing down’• Accuracy/bias• Spin/propaganda• Secrecy• …
Conduct• Invasion of privacy• Misuse of
information• Source-reporter
relationships• Journalistic ethics• Concentration of
media in a few hands
• …
User concerns• Equal access• Overload• Online conduct• Online privacy• Online safety• Content quality• Diversity of content • …
Media concerns• Copyright• Monetisation of
content• Decline of traditional
media• Regulatory/ legal
compliance• State/corporate
interference• …
AKOAKO AKO
AKO
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Three perspectives on mediaTraditionalist Free market
(neoliberal)Public service
• Media should uphold traditional values
• Media should uphold law and order
• Media should uphold of ‘family values’
• Media should reflect traditional views of identity (e.g. gender, ethnicity, sexuality, cultural)
• Media can have a harmful effect on society
• Media need to be censored in respect of sex and violence
• Media are responsible for ‘dumbing down’ society
• This viewpoint is supported by older people and some Conservative politicians.
• Media have responsibility to owners and shareholders
• Media can use free market to deliver global wealth, democracy and diversity to consumers
• Public service media should be privatised (e.g. universal BBC license should be replaced by subscription)
• Media should be deregulated• There should be no barriers to
concentrated media ownership• This viewpoint is supported by
neoliberals and some Conservative politicians.
• Media have a democratic responsibility towards society• Media must fulfil social functions of transmission of
information, equal access and creation of a public forum for different viewpoints
• Media collectively should represent diverse social groups and reflect diversity through a range of viewpoints
• Media should allow access to diverse social groups• Media should be independent from interference from
business and government• Media should apply self-regulation with regard to
content and conduct• Media markets should be regulated to prevent
domination by a single or a few large corporations• Media should set and meet standards with regards to
conduct and the truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance of their reporting
• Media should avoid publicising content that can offend or lead to disorder
• Society entitled to high standards and intervention justifiable if the media fail to meet these standards
• This viewpoint is supported by those with left/liberal views as well as progressive Conservatives.
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Perspectives on role of the media
Media companies with purposes• profit• promotion• public service
Audience with needs• entertainment• education• information
Media content
Attitudes (thoughts, beliefs, feelings) and behaviours (actions)• intentional• unintentional
influence
influence
TraditionalistPublic service Free Market
produce use/interact
State, companies, organisations, groups & individuals
access
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Types of influence
• Influence on knowledge, attitude, behaviour• Social or individual• Intentional or unintentional• Content-relative or content-irrelevant• Short-term or long-term• Reinforcing or changing knowledge, attitude,
behaviour• …
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Media effects
• Research studies seem to show that media have small or moderate effects• Research studies which show no effect are not
likely to be published• Strongest effects seen in laboratory settings which
are unlike the everyday settings in which we use media• Other variables such as the social context may be
more important• …
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Intentional effects of media• Of ads on purchase• Of political campaign on voting• Of public service ads on attitudes and behaviour• Of propaganda on ideology• Of media rituals on social cohesion• Socialization to social norms• Knowledge gain throughout society• Adaptation to social, institutional, technological change• …
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Unintentional effects of media• Of media content (e.g. violence, sex, drugs) on
attitudes and behaviour• Of media images on the social construction of
reality• Of media images on self-image• Of media use on learning ability, health and
wellbeing• Of media content and use on our culture• …
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INTENTION
Intentional
Unintentional
Long-termShort-term
TIME
•Agenda Setting
•Social integration
•Social/cultural change
•Propaganda•Propaganda
• Indvidual emotional or behavioural reaction
•Collective emotional or behavioural reaction
•Campaigns
•Dominant and oppositional ideologies
•Leisure-time activity• Institutional adaptation to media
•Reality defining
•Framing
•Effects of events on state/corporate policy
• Individual response• Informing
•Campaigns
•Awareness/knowledge•Technology takeup
•Digital divide
• Individual/collective feelings, values, attitudes
•Socialization into norms and values
•Agenda Setting (long-term)•Framing (long-term)
•Moral panic •Moral panic (persistent)
Typology of effects
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Perspective 1Media as public service
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Media freedom in a democracy• Genuine democracy consists of the sovereignty of the people and thus
government by, for, and of the people.
• A democratic social order requires
• a separation of powers so that no one institution or social force dominates the society and polity
• an informed electorate that can participate in public debate, elections, and political activity
• freedom of the press/broadcast media to ensure they would be free from domination by any political force so that it could criticize the government and promote vigorous debate on issues of public concern
• Broadcasting is seen as a public utility subject to regulation to ensure that broadcasting serves democracy
• These ideals are expressed in the NUJ code of conduct, TV News regulation and the aims of some commercial media companies e.g. The Guardian
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NUJ Code of Conduct 1
The National Union of Journalists has a code of ethics which expresses this idea of media freedom:
A journalist:
1. At all times upholds and defends the principle of media freedom, the right of freedom of expression and the right of the public to be informed.
2. Strives to ensure that information disseminated is honestly conveyed, accurate and fair.
3. Does her/his utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies.
4. Differentiates between fact and opinion.
5. Obtains material by honest, straightforward and open means, with the exception of investigations that are both overwhelmingly in the public interest and which involve evidence that cannot be obtained by straightforward means.
6. Does nothing to intrude into anybody’s private life, grief or distress unless justified by overriding consideration of the public interest.
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NUJ Code of Conduct 2
A journalist:
7. Protects the identity of sources who supply information in confidence and material gathered in the course of her/his work.
8. Resists threats or any other inducements to influence, distort or suppress information, and takes no unfair personal advantage of information gained in the course of her/his duties before the information is public knowledge.
9. Produces no material likely to lead to hatred or discrimination on the grounds of a person’s age, gender, race, colour, creed, legal status, disability, marital status, or sexual orientation.
10. Does not by way of statement, voice or appearance endorse by advertisement any commercial product or service save for the promotion of her/his own work or of the medium by which she/he is employed.
11. Shall normally seek the consent of an appropriate adult when interviewing or photographing a child for a story about her/his welfare.
12. Avoids plagiarism.
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Regulation of UK broadcast news• BBC news is regulated by the BBC Trust to ensure that
“controversial subjects are treated with due accuracy and impartiality” (editorial guidelines)• Broadcast news is regulated by Ofcom (
broadcasting codes). Regulation covers commercial media (ITV, C4, Five, Sky and commercial radio)• Ofcom requires that news, in whatever form, is reported
“with due accuracy and presented with due impartiality”• TV news journalists:
1. should ensure that fact and opinion are distinguished2. should not editorialize i.e. offer own opinion.
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Regulation of UK press• From 1995-2014 press and magazines were
regulated by the Press Complaints Commission (PCC)• Self-regulation by the industry• Leveson inquiry heavily critical of PCC• Government has not yet intervened to impose
more independent regulation• Since September 2014 PCC replaced by
Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO)• IPSO is PCC with same code of practice except
that it has a few retired judges and civil servants on the board to give an impression of greater independence
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Leveson findings on PCC
PCC:
• Is a self-regulatory system run for the benefit of the press not of the public
• Is aligned with the interests of the press and has a profound lack of independence from the industry
• Its appointment process appears to be neither transparent nor impartial
• Is restricted by the limited resources which the industry supplied
• Is in reality a complaints handling body and not actually a regulator at all
• Is at the mercy of what it is newspaper editors tell them in response to a complaint
• Has not properly monitored press compliance with the Code
• Code Committee which sets the rules is wholly made up of serving editors allowing them to protect each others’ interests.
• Treats privacy cases as complaints, thereby preventing them from going before the courts.
• Has sought to mediate far too many complaints rather than reach simple findings, so allowing newspapers to wear down members of the public through ‘complaint fatigue’.
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• 90% of newspapers and magazines have signed up to IPSO• Publishers have to agree to comply with IPSO rulings on complaints• May be fined up to 1% turnover up to a maximum of £1m• IPSO dictates the terms of an apology and the placement of apology
(PCC did not control this so apologies about a front page story were usually ‘buried’ at the back of the newspaper)
• Provides a whistleblowing hotline for journalists and protects them from disciplinary action when they refuse to breach the code of practice
• Able to launch own investigations• Governed by a board of nine white corporate males chaired by a judge• Editors are in the minority on the board and committees• Critics doubt that it is very different to PCC but we will have to wait and
see
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IPSO Code of Practice
• Code of practice covers:
Exceptions may occur when in the public interest e.g.• Detecting or exposing crime or serious impropriety• Protecting public health and safety• Preventing the public from being misled by an action or statement of an
individual or organisation• Public interest in freedom of expression itself.
Accuracy Children in sex cases* Financial journalism
Opportunity to reply Hospitals* Confidential sources
Privacy* Reporting of crime* Witness payments
Harassment* Hidden devices/subterfuge* Payment to criminals*
Intrusion into grief/shock Victims of sexual assault There may be exceptions to the clauses marked * where they can be demonstrated to be in the public interestChildren* Discrimination
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Public interest
• Difficult term to define• Obviously related to some sense of whether news
coverage serves the public good• But often newspapers will deliberately confuse such
a sense with public interest as ‘what interests the public’ in order to justify stories which intrude into the private life of individuals in the news and sell newspapers through sensationalism and titillation
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The Guardian
• The Guardian is owned by the Guardian Media Group a trust which exists to secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian in perpetuity• Journalists are free to present truth as they see its
without interference by shareholders, a proprietor or a political party• It promotes left/liberal values and questions all forms of
authority• Collaborated with WikiLeaks on US National Security
Agency surveillance programmes story • Broke the phone hacking story
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Perspective 2Media as free market
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Free marketeers (neoliberals)•Media have responsibility to owners and shareholders•Media can use free market to deliver global wealth,
democracy and diversity to consumers•Public service media should be privatised so that they
are subject to same market pressures as commercial media (e.g. universal BBC license should be replaced by subscription)•Media should be deregulated•There should be no barriers to concentrated media
ownership
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Media conglomerates
• Concentration of media companies in fewer and fewer hands• Vertical integration: owning the means of production and distribution in
a sector e.g. 21st Century Fox producing films which are shown in Fox cinemas and on its own tv channels
• Horizontal integration: where a single corporation has interests across media e.g. film, tv, books, press, internet; this allows synergies across companies within the corporation as well as cross-promotion of products
• Leads to oligopolies where a few companies dominated the market and control prices
• Murdoch creates/buys ‘media triangles’ in the countries in which he operates. These triangles are a popular newspaper, a quality paper and a TV network; in the UK this means ‘The Sun’, ‘The Times’ and major interest in BSkyB. Each of these triangles in a source of great wealth and power.
Cross-promotion
• Horizontal integration means that Murdoch companies can promote each other e.g. Sky channels can advertise other Sky channels and The Sun can advertise Sky TV• For example. The Sun usually carries at least 2-3
pages of advertising for Sky TV, The Sun and The Sun on Sunday and carries greater listings of more Sky channels than any other newspaper (e.g. around 50 channels)
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News Corporation 2012
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Splitting of News CorporationIn 2013 News Corporation split into 21st Century Fox (film, tv) and News Corp (newspapers, books)
News Corp logo in Rupert Murdoch’s handwriting
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Power of media moguls
• Overwhelming concentration of power in the hands of corporate groups that now own powerful media empires, which they use to promote their own interests and agendas• The media loses its critical watchdog function against
excessive government and corporate power and questionable government policies and corporate actions• Instead it its own partisan and commercial interests
(media as self-interest rather than public interest)• Corrupts democracy and journalistic ethics and helped
create a crisis of democracy
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Deregulation
• In 1980s, during both the Reagan administration in USA and the Thatcher government in UK, much of this regulatory apparatus was dismantled or softened to ‘light touch’ regulation• Giant corporations took over the major broadcast
media, including television networks and the technological-institutional apparatus of cable and satellite broadcasting• Greatly expanded the reach of powerful cable news
channels and gave entrepreneurs who owned and controlled them tremendous media power
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USA: Fairness Doctrine
• Fairness Doctrine (1949-1987) was a policy of the United States media regulator FCC (Federal Communications Commission), that required the holders of broadcast licenses to both present controversial issues of public importance and to do so in a manner that was, in the Commission's view, honest, equitable and balanced• During the Reagan administration FCC eliminated
the Doctrine
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Example: Deregulation of US TV News• In 1987 the FCC (Federal Communications
Communication) abolished the Fairness Doctrine which required balanced news coverage• This was intended to give greater freedom of
speech and deliver investigative journalism• In fact it led to more opinionated journalism with
highly partisan right-wing radio hosts and tv news presenters (e.g. Fox News)• Such opinions serve the self-interest of the
Murdoch media empire
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Outfoxed
• The documentary Outfoxed examines the global growth of Murdoch's media enterprise in the context of concentration of media ownership considerations
• It evaluates the effect of having one person in control of a large media conglomerate and its effect on media freedom
• Commentators intimidate guests with whom they disagree• More airtime and coverage is consistently given to Republican politicians
rather than to Democrats.• Stories and issues are covered from an aggressive conservative
perspective • Disciplines/fires reporters/producers who don’t promote the channel's
political point of view.• Fox News picks strong, confident, conservatives and weak-looking,
complacent liberals.
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Criminality at the NOTW 1
• In 2007 NOTW journalist Clive Goodman and hacker Glenn Mulcaire were jailed for hacking mobile phones of the Royal Family• Murdoch empire claimed these were the work of a
single rogue reporter• In 2014 Rebekah Brooks told the court that she had
not realised when editor of NOTW that phone hacking was illegal!
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Criminality at the NOTW 2
• In 2011 Guardian reporters broke the news that in 2002 NOTW had hacked the cell phone messages of a missing 13 y-o girl Milly Dowler• They accessed her messages and deleted messages
making her family and police think she was still alive• NOTW journalists used the material to write stories
about her• The Guardian revealed that London police had 4000
allegations of phone hacking of celebrities, politicians, Royals, ordinary public (these were gleaned from convicted hacker Glenn Mulcaire’s notebook)
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Criminality at the NOTW 3
• In 2007 NOTW editor Andrew Coulson resigned after the case over the hacking of the Royals• He was later employed as Director of
Communications from 2010-2011 by Conservative PM David Cameron• More stories appeared about hacking, paying police
for tips and information, the use of private eyes• In 2011 Coulson was arrested and charged with
hacking and other illegal activities along with former NOTW editor Rebekah Brooks.
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Criminality at the NOTW 4
• Advertisers then began to refuse to place ads in NOTW• On 7 July 2011 James Murdoch announced that the 168 y-o NOTW
would be shut down• At the time Murdoch was trying to gain full control of BSkyB
cable/satellite company• Ofcom questioned whether James Murdoch was a fit person to be
in charge of a major media corporation• On 13 July 2011 Rupert Murdoch announced he was abandoning
the BSkyB takeover• The same day PM David Cameron announced the setting up of the
Leveson enquiry• High ranking police chiefs resigned when it was revealed that they
socialized with Murdoch employees.
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Parliamentary Inquiry
• Concluded that Rupert Murdoch exhibited a wilful blindness to phone hacking and that he is “not a fit person” to run a global media empire• Under the Broadcasting Act 1990, Ofcom has to ensure
holders of broadcasting licences are "fit and proper"• Amid allegations that senior executives at News
International, Rupert Murdoch's newspaper arm, knew the extent of the phone hacking, Ofcom stated:
“We consider James Murdoch's conduct, including his failure to initiate action on his own account on a number of occasions, to be both difficult to comprehend and ill-judged”.
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Leveson Inquiry mandate
Mandate was to look at:• Claims about NOTW phone hacking• The police investigation and allegations of
payments to the police• The general culture and ethics of UK media.
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Leveson Inquiry
• Inquiry heard from stars/celebrities such as Hugh Grant and Steve Coogan, Sienna Miller, JK Rowling as well as ordinary people affected by intrusion (Dowlers, McCanns)• Inquiry heard stories of being hacked, followed and
intimidated as well as lies being published• The self-regulatory PCC (Press Complaints Commission)
was seen to be useless when people complained about press lies• It also heard about the close relationship between
Rebekah Brooks and the PM (emails, visits, horse-riding).
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Leveson Inquiry Proposals
Broad recommendations for regulating the press:
• Newspapers should continue to be self-regulated
• The government should have no power over what they publish
• There should be a new press standards body created by the industry, with a new code of conduct
• That body should be backed by legislation, which would create a means to ensure the regulation was independent and effective
• The arrangement would provide the public with confidence that their complaints would be seriously dealt with - and ensure the press are protected from interference.
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Response of press
• Emphasising the importance of a free press in our democracy• Emphasising their achievements in their
investigative and campaigning journalism• Equating independent regulation with state control
(‘slippery slope’)• Downplaying the issue• a ‘few rogue reporters’• press regulation is not as important an issue as the
economy or terrorism.
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Media reform pressure groups
MRC is a coalition of civil society groups, academics and media campaigners.MRC is committed to:• supporting media pluralism• defending ethical journalism• protecting investigative and local journalism.
Hacked Off is a campaigning group which also represents victims of hacking.
CPBF campaigns for a diverse democratic and accountable media. Publishes Free Press.
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CPBF Media Manifesto for 2015Controls on media ownershipTo strengthen media diversity we need regulations to limit how much companies can own and require those with significant market shares to meet agreed standards.Independent, trusted and effective self-regulation of the pressImplementation of the arrangements for press self-regulation put forward by the Leveson Inquiry in 2012. We need an effective right of reply to media inaccuracies, operated by a regulator that represents both the working journalists and the public.Well-funded, independent public service mediaA charter renewal settlement in 2016 that results in a strong, independent BBC that is able to support the central role of public service media and its expansion across platforms, local neighbourhoods, and communities of interest. Action to strengthen the governance and democratisation of public service media.Protection for communication rightsAfter phone-hacking the new scandal is the State's snooping on a far larger scale – on journalists' communications and everyone else's. Government wants to legalise it and weaken the UK's human rights framework. This is an issue for media and the whole of society.
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Live Football TV Rights• Sky and BT are rivals in the ‘quad play’
market for tv, internet, landline and mobile services
• In Feb 2015 a blind bidding process for English Premier League live tv rights led to Sky and BT offering a total of £5.1 billion for 3 years of rights (£11m per game for Sky and £7.6m for BT)
• Live EPL football is seen as the key attraction for subscribers
• Sky and BT hope to get money back through increased numbers of subscribers and through charging top rates for advertising
• Could lead to losses if strategy fails (e.g. failure of Setanta)
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Opinions
• Sky and BT say that they are giving their customers the top class entertainment they want (in addition to the latest film/tv dramas and documentaries)
• EPL chief executive: “this is a success story … a great UK export … generates positive attitudes to the UK … £1bn in tax taken from players …not a charity”
• EPL clubs are able to pay massive salaries and attract top players from all over the world• Leads to less opportunity for UK players with poor results for national teams• Widespread criticism of the fact that most of the money goes to shareholders, players, managers
and agents and that clubs do not pay the living wage to their poorest employees• EPL clubs still charge high prices for season tickets and admission• Changed top football from something which belonged to the local community into a massive
corporate business with a global reach• None of the money comes back to Scotland even though 10% of subscribers are in Scotland• SPL cannot attract top players so standard is poor and cannot attract sponsors or high rates for
live football• Little of the money goes rest of the clubs or for better sports facilities which support women’s
football or football in general in schools and the community• Need for European or UK or Scottish regulation to ensure vast sums contribute to the public as
well.
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Resources
Books
• Davies, N. (2014) Hack Attack: How the truth caught up with Rupert Murdoch. London: Chatto and Windus.
• Perse, E.M. (2001) Media Effects and Society. London: Routledge.
DVD
• Outfoxed: Rupert Murdoch's War on Journalism. USA, dir. Robert Greenwald, 2004.
Television
• Power, Corruption and Lies. BBC, Panorama, 2014.
• Mazher Mahmood: the Fake Sheikh Exposed. BBC, Panorama, 2014.
Radio
• The Sun Newspaper. BBC Radio 4, The Reunion, 2014.
