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CHAPTER TWO more intelligent, more in-depth popular paper. It

THE BRITISH MASS MEDIA is right-of-centre politically, uses new printing
technology, and has some colour pages, which
Lecture One (summary)
most papers do not have. It began publication in
Introduction April 1986 with a claimed circulation of 873.000
The British mass media incorporate elements readers per day, and increased this figure to
such as the press (newspapers), periodicals, 1.284.000 by May 1986, before falling to
magazines, radio, and television. These features 400.000 in August 1986. it suffered from
have evolved from simple methods of production problems, the quality of its colour
production, distribution, and communication, to sheets, and distribution difficulties. The lack of
the present sophisticated and technological profit forced its owner, Eddy Shah, to give up
complexities. The mass media have now control and sell out to a larger commercial
expanded into homes and places of business, so group, Lonrho. The circulation figures continued
that their influence is very powerful and an to drop to around 300.000 in June 1987, when
inevitable part of daily life. Today, it is estimated Lonrho sold out o Rupert Murdoch. But these
that some 61 per cent of people obtain their news considerable risks have not stopped the
and views of current affairs from television, 20 introduction of new newspapers.
per cent from newspapers, and 15 per cent from England’s first national newspapers appeared
radio. in the early eighteenth century, and were
The growth of media services in the twentieth followed by others, such as The Times (1785),
century has clearly improved information the Observer (1791), and the Sunday Times
dispersal and news availability. But it has also (1822). Most of them were quality papers, which
led to a range of problems. Among these are the catered for a relatively small, educated, and
rising costs of newspaper production; circulation London-based market.
difficulties; the expense of new equipment in all The early twentieth century marked the years
branches of the media; trade-union opposition to of the mass-circulation newspapers and the
new developments; the loss of jobs in the newspaper-owning dynasties, such as those
traditional trades; the scarcity of capital controlled by Harmsworth and Arthur Pearson.
investment; the controversial position of There was fierce competition between them as
advertising in the media; the question of they fought for bigger shares of the various
concentrated ownership of media sources; the markets. Pearson’s Morning Herald, which later
legal restraints upon free media expression; the became the Daily Express, was created in 1900
quality of the various services; and arguments to compete with the Daily Mail for the
concerning the influ ence of the media. lower-middle-class readership. The Daily
Newspapers Express later changed direction in the 1950s, and
was then aimed at the working class in order to
National newspapers attract higher sales.
National newspapers in Britain are those which The Daily Mirror became the largest-selling
are available in all parts of the country on the national daily in the early twentieth century. It
same day, including Sundays. Many of them are actively supported the Labour Party, and was
directly delivered to the home from local specifically designed for quick and easy reading
newsagents by newsboys and girls. by the working class. The competition between
The national press in Britain is the London the Express, Sun, and Mirror continues today,
press, because most of the national papers have with each aiming for a bigger share of the mass
their headquarters and printing facilities in the daily market.
capital. The majority of them used to be based in The difference between today and the early
Fleet Street, which was the centre of the national twentieth century lies perhaps in the quality of
newspaper industry. the mass papers. The success of the early popular
The newspaper business is very competitive, press was due partly to growing rates of literacy,
and suffers from a variety of problems. The partly to a genuine desire for knowledge on the
tabloid Today for example is an attempt at a part of the working class, and partly to an
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increased political awareness among workers government ministers. The daily operation of the
generated by the rise of the Labour Party the corporation is controlled by the Director-
newspaper owners obviously capitalized on this General, who is chosen by the board of
huge market. governors in consultation with the Prime
Minister.
The national newspapers are usually termed
‘quality’ or ‘popular’ depending on their The BBC is financed by a grant from
differences in content and format (broadsheet or Parliament, which comes largely from the
tabloid). The quality nationals are broadsheets, revenue received from the sale of television
report national and international news in depth, licences. These are payable by anyone who owns
and analyses current events in editorials are a television set.
articles. The popular nationals are usually The BBC is not a state service, in the sense
tabloid, deal with relatively few ‘hard news’
that it is controlled by the government. But it is
stories, and tend to be superficial in their not as independent of political pressures as many
treatment of events. in Britain and overseas assume. Its charter has to
The British national press is often accused of be renewed by Parliament, and by its terms the
being conformist and reflecting similar views. Home Secretary can, and does, intervene in the
But it does in fact cater for a wide range of showing of programmes which are alleged to be
interests and attitudes. Newspapers are controversial or against the public interest.
financially independent of the political parties, The BBC today is fighting for its existence as a
and are obliged to follow any specific political traditional public service broadcaster, funded by
line. However, most of the papers do have a the licence fee. It does try to be neutral in
political bias, and tend to support a particular political matters, to such an extent that all
political party. It is often argued that the majority political parties have periodically complained
of British newspapers are right-of-centre that the BBC is prejudiced against them.
politically, and to tend to sympathize in general
terms with the Conservative Party. A few like The IBA
those of the Mirror group, support the Labour The IBA controls the activities of the
Party, some like The Times, are considered to be independent television companies and forty-four
independent, while others, like the Guardian, independent local radio stations. The IBA
favour a left-of-centre position. It appears in consists of a chairman and ten other members,
practice that the British public receives a who are appointed by the Minister of Posts and
reasonable variety of political views from their Telecommunications. The IBA does not produce
newspapers. There is no state control or programmes itself, but issues licences to
censorship of the press today, although it is regulates, the transmitting companies, who are
subject to stringent laws of publication and responsible for programme-making.
expression. There are also certain unofficial
forms of self-censorship, by which the media It is often argued that the IBA has not always
regulate themselves and their conduct. kept a close eye on independent broadcasting
developments, that it lacks sufficient regulatory
Lecture Two (summary) powers and consistent policies, and has
Radio and television sometimes acted arbitrarily in the granting of
licences and franchises. There has also been
The BBC considerable concern at the rapid expansion and
The BBC is based at Broadcasting House in quality of independent broadcasting as a whole.
London, but has studios and local facilities all Television
over the country. It controls two national
television channels, four national radio channels, Television is a very influential and dominant
and some thirty-two local radio stations. It has a force in modern Britain. It is also a very popular
board of governors who, under a chairman, are leisure activity. It is estimated that over 98 per
responsible for supervising its programme cent of the population have television sets in
structures and suitability. The governors are their homes. Some 84 per cent of these are
appointed by the Crown on the advice of colour sets, and 50 per cent of homes have two
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sets or more. Many people prefer to rent their A further concern about limitations on media
sets instead of owning them, partly because freedom has been the extent to which advertisers
rented sets are repaired and maintained free of might dictate policy and content when they place
charge. their products. The question of advertisers'
influence is complex, and might more applicable
Although British television has a high
to radio television than the press, because these
reputation abroad, it does attract substantial
are involved in reaching a mass-consumer
criticism in Britain, either because of the
market.
standard of the programmes, or because
programmes are frequently repeated. News It is difficult to evaluate absolutely whether the
reports, documentaries, and current-affairs media play a dominant part in the shaping of
analyses are generally of a very high quality, as public attitudes on a range of political and other
are dramatic, educational, sporting, natural matters. Left-wing opinion assumes that they do,
history, and cultural productions. But there is and consequently disapproves of the alleged
also a wide selection of series, films, quizzes, right-wing bias in the British media. But, while
and variety shows, which are sometimes of some people may be directly affected in these
doubtful quality. ways, the general lack of serious news stories in
the popular press might indicate that the majority
Lecture Three (summary)
of readers do not require indoctrination. Many
Freedom of speech readers learn to read between the lines of the
The question of free expression in the media newspapers, and are conditioned early in life
continues to be a central concern in Britain. "not to believe everything you read in the
There are frequent protests that the media do not newspapers." Since television and radio are also
have sufficient freedom to comment on matters accused of being right-wing or left-wing,
of public interest. But, in Britain, the freedom of depending on which government is in power, it
the media, as of individuals, to express would seem that the British are receiving enough
themselves, is not absolute. Restrictions are information from all angles of the political
placed upon the general freedom in order to, spectrum. In practice, most people seem to
safeguard the legitimate interests of other object to having politics "thrust down their
individuals, organizations, and the state, so that a throats."
balance between competing interests may be
achieved.
There are several legal restraints upon media
freedom of expression. The sub judice rule
means that the media may not publish comments
on court proceedings while these are continuing.
The obtaining and publishing of state and
official information is governed by the Official
Secrets Acts and by D-notices (information to
the media concerning information which should
not be divulged).
The media are also liable to court proceedings
for libel and obscenity offences.
It is also argued that the concentrated
ownership patterns of the media might limit
freedom of expression by allowing owners undue
influence over what is included in their products.
On the other hand, editors and journalists can be
very independent-minded people, who will
usually strongly object to any attempts at
interference.