Explain how the political context in which newspapers are produced, influences their ownership

and regulation. Refer to the Guardian and Daily Mail newspapers (10).

Intro:

In the UK we are entitled to free press. A free press is the idea /right in which journalists and
newspapers are free print whatever they want, linking to the idea of ‘press freedom’. They
are not restricted by government censorship in ideological or political matters. This is
important in a democracy as this allows everyone with their unique views to all be
represented. This is emphasised by how in a democratic society anyone is free to express
their own opinion and therefore in theory set up their own newspaper, granting that they
have sufficient funds.

Paragraph 1: Who owns these 2 newspapers? Short biography and background + what are the
owner’s political connections and beliefs?

Two widely circulated newspapers in the UK are The Guardian and The Daily Mail. The Guardian,
formerly known as The Manchester Guardian began in 1821, it is a tabloid newspaper;
owned by the Guardian Media Group, with their CEO being David Pemsel. The Guardian is
considered a left-wing newspaper, with the majority of their audience being voters for the
Labour political party. The Daily Mail began in 1896 and is owned by the Daily Mail and
General Trust, with their majority shareholder and chairman being Jonathan Harmsworth,
4th Viscount Rothermere. The Daily Mail’s political stance is very much right wing, with the
majority of conservative voters making this their newspaper of choice.

Paragraph 2: Who is the target audience (readership) for each paper?

Both newspapers have a very distinct and different audience in comparison to one another. The
Guardian, typically being Labour voters, are typically people who live within a city environment. They
are referred to as being ‘cosmopolitan’ – meaning they are living in areas with a wide range of
ethnicities, backgrounds and religious ideals. The Daily Mail, usually catered towards Conservative
voters, are people who live in a completely opposite environment for the most part, they live in rural
or suburban areas and are commonly of a higher class, for example ‘middle class’.

Paragraph 3: Give an example of a recent and controversial headline story in each paper. Was the
paper biased in its reporting?

A controversial headline story in recent news is that of Brexit. The Daily Mail’s headline stated, ‘TAKE
A BOW, BRITAIN!’ upon finding out the news that the UK had in fact broken off from the European
Union. Whereas The Guardian had their headline as ‘Over. And Out’. It can therefore be argued that
these two headlines are in a stark contrast to one another and this can explained through each
newspapers political bias. For example, The Daily Mail’s headline is perceived as a celebration and
that Britain should be praised for their efforts that resulted in the leaving of the EU. Whereas The
Guardian’s headline suggests that that fact we have left is a loss, or a failure and much more solemn
in comparison to the Daily Mail. Again, a political context can be the explanation for this as
conservatives were pushing to Vote Leave and the labour party were pushing for Remain.
Paragraph 4: How are papers regulated in the UK to limit or avoid controversy and political bias?

Due to the investigation and findings brought about by the Leveson Inquiry newspapers are now
regulated through IPSO, or the Independent Press Standards Organisation whereas beforehand they
were regulated by the PCC, or Press Complaints Commission. The Leveson Inquiry was put into place
due to the scandals of past newspaper ‘News of the World’ upon the hacking of many celebrities
phones as well as the hacking of a murdered schoolgirl, Milly Dowler. This clearly brought about
controversy and therefore new ways in order to prevent this from happening needed to take place.
As well as this regulation is put into place in order to prevent discrimination in any form, whether
that be through race, religion and so on – therefore it is necessary for the protection of others. All
newspaper editors must follow a strict set of guidelines known as the Editors Code of Practice and
therefore if there are any complaints referring to a breaking of these guidelines IPSO is now
responsible to look into the matter.