The era of the Press Barons saw newspapers grow subject to the erratic decisions of their owners, ruling their empires as a region of influence. That particular era is often seen as an unorthodox pause in the development of the Press. For most Press Barons their newspapers were merely seen as ‘Engines of propaganda’, which they utilised to further their political objectives. In 1931 Stanley Baldwin’s control of the Conservative Party was threatened by the newspapers of Lord Rothermere and Lord Beaverbrook, two wealthy press barons of the time, to which he declared ‘ What proprietorship is aiming at is power, and power without responsibility’. (Baldwin, 1931:38)
James Curran (Curran, 2003) Claims the reign of the press barons didn’t introduce anything that hadn’t already been incited, despite being said to be innovators; they didn’t break with tradition by infusing political propaganda into their publications but instead demoted propaganda for entertainment and detached the commercial press from political parties. The Large empires created by the press barons emerged due to three trends. Chain ownership, expanding locally and regionally meant multiple papers and proved profitable. Expanding markets, by removing tax laws and market domination.
By 1921 the Harmsworth brothers, Lords Northcliff and Rothermere controlled newspapers with collective circulation of over 6 million. Between the wars press ownership entered a new period with the mergence of regional chains, and the percentage of evening titles owned by the five big chains grew from 8% to 40% between 1921 and 1939 with morning titles also increasing 32%, further elimination of local competition prolonged the barons power (Curran, 2003:39)
The principle pioneers in the ex...
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...J and Seaton, J. (2003). The Era of the Press Barons. In: Power Witout Responsibility . 6th ed. London: Routledge . 38-40.
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The mass media has an essential role in today’s society as a channel of valuable information. Lots of people rely on media as the epicenter of information and as the yardstick on which they form their decisions and opinions (Agner, 1999). Any selection of messages in the mass media would have a profound impact on the entire society, this is according to Cultural selection theory. In the short story “Gray Noise”, Rojo uses this story to express his annoyance toward technology, but more specifically his most effective critic is on how society has overpowered valuable news with “dramaturgically crafted news” (Vettehen) and competition while desensitizing their viewers. Since competition has also stiffened up in are of mass media as the attention of readers, TV-viewers and listeners are fought for by every journalist. For this reason, every news media has turned to other strategies such as scandal-mongering and entertainment as tools of making a profit since a large audience is assured of such news even if they are not correct. Rojo’s views on critics of technology are widely shared among many people including the authors of the following studies, “Research Note: Sensationalism in Dutch Current Affairs Programmes by Paul Hendriks Vettehen
With France going through a period of rapid changes from a monarchy to a democracy to a dictatorship, their literature and media were slower to develop and spread than Britain’s. Britain experienced a huge growth in the number of newspapers, especially daily publications, and it even began to have some established news outlets while France was still...
The two key terms “agenda setting” and “gotcha” journalism are going to be used within this paper to show you how politicians and news organizations try to persuade the public. The “agenda setting” is a term that “involves using the news to influence what the public regards as important for them to think about in society and politics.” (Bennett, Lance pg. 23) This is a major tool for news organizations or politicians to seek a public relation toward a certain aspect that they’re addressing their agenda and framing it to formulate their partisan viewpoints. Now for “gotcha” jour...
Bonila, Denise M., and Levy, Beth, Eds. The Power of the Press. H. W. Wilson, 1999.
The news media rejects the fact that they are biased. They claim that they are the “middle of the road,” and are neutral on the stories that they cover. Publishers also claim that they are the watchdog for the political system, and they make sure that the system is free of any corruption, or wrongdoing. Th...
The industrial revolution, as it transformed all aspects of American life and society, dramatically affected newspapers. Both the numbers of papers and their paid circulations continued to rise and by1850 there were over 2,500 titles. It was during the Civil War the unprecedented demand for timely, accurate news reporting transformed American journalism into a force in the national life. Newspaper growth continued unabated in the postwar years, with over 11,000 different papers in 1880.
During the early 1900’s and late 1800’s precipitated the first true form of American media. The daily newspapers have been a part of the United States for some time, but during 1880’s and 1890’s reports such as Joseph Pulitzer and William Randolph Hearst began to transform the newspaper in order for it to become the first major stepping stone in mass media. These publishers, especially Hearst, took advantage of the American involvement in foreign affairs. Hearst convinced his audience that sinking of a U.S ship during the Spanish-American War obliged a military response. Although Hearst was not the initial cause of the war, there was proof that he had the power to distort information, images and options. By World War 1, the media involvement increase by a tremendous amount.
The media was an institution that had hegemonic power to create and distribute dominant meanings onto the mainstream media (Louw & Carah, 2015). Hegemonic power links directly to the ideology which aims to provide a
...phere as the “sphere of private people who join together to form a ‘public’” and through the celebrification of politicians, the public sphere has been widened. We live in a world where anyone in the news, a politician, a footballer, a reality TV star, is a celebrity. Although we do not need to know the behind-the-scenes of each of their lives, it is of interest to the public and stories that are interesting to the public, sell the most newspapers. But because people buy newspapers because of celebrity gossip etc, the public sphere widens as a result. This stark fact was candidly recognised by Rupert Murdoch and as the head of News International, he described his company as being “in the entertainment business” (Shawcross, 1992: 261) and for this reason, the celeberification of politicians will neither cease, nor damage democratical debate within the public sphere.
Voices That Must Be Heard! 2003. The 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the 'Secondary' of the Independent Press Association. 14 September 2003 <http://www.indypressny.org>.
Damrosch, David, et al., ed. The Longman Anthology of British Literature: Vol. B. Compact ed. New York: Longman - Addison Wesley Longman, 2000.
The meaning of Lord Northcliffe’s (1865-1922) quote: “News is what people do not want you to print. All the rest is advertising,” varies depending on the individual’s interpretation of the word ‘advertising’. However, all discrepancies aside, this quote simply implies that all published items that should be considered news retain some form of ethical issue in the context. After critical investigation, however, this quote may be deemed false, as it does not account for all aspects of a story which are currently considered news worthy. The newsworthiness of particular stories varies throughout time as the interests of the consumer alter, however the chief news values have remained constant for generations (Harcup 2009).
First, lets define the “news” which we will be exploring. Sensationalism is defined by Webster’s Dictionary as “subject matter that is calculated to excite and please vulgar tastes. Also, as the journalistic use of subject matter that appears to vulgar tastes. This can be applied to a variety of news-gathering media. Print: be it newspapers, tabloids, or magazines, audio and visual: be it TV specials, daily and weekly shows, or through the radio with shows such as Howard Stern, or even electronic: through the World Wide Web, can all involve “the journalistic use of vulgar subject matter”. It is nearly impossible to avoid “journalistic sensationalism”.
The journey a journalist traveled has a long and bumpy history. Newspapers have been around since the 1500's (McNair, 2007, p. 27). The advent of the first daily newspaper in 1702 called the Daily Courant would be one of many news tools (Horrie, 2008, p.148)...
Journalism: a profession under pressure? Journal of Media Business Studies, 6, 37-59. Scannell, P. (1995). The 'Secondary'. Social aspects of media history, Unit 9 of the MA in Mass. Communications (By Distance Learning).