Newspaper Ownership in the UK

News UK, Trinity Mirror and DMGT are believed to own 71% of national newspapers.

Lord Rothermere owns 27% of newspapers (The Mail/Mail on Sunday/Metro) which are the second and third most read newspapers in the UK with over 20 million readers.

Rupert Murdoch owns 24% of newspapers (The Sun/The Sun on Sunday/The Times/ The Sunday Times) which are the first and the seventh most read newspapers in the UK with over 18 million readers.

Trinity Mirror Plc. owns 13% of UK Newspapers (The Mirror/The Mirror on Sunday/The People/The Daily Record/The Sunday Mail) with over 9 million readers.

Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev own 10% of national newspapers (The Independent/i/Independent on Sunday/London Evening Standard) with over 7 million readers.

Richard Desmond owns 8% of newspapers (The Daily Express/Sunday Express/Daily Star/Daily Star Sunday) with over 6 millions readers.

Scott Trust owns 7% of newspapers (The Guardian/The Observer) with a readership of over 5 million.

Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev (2016) backed the Conservatives, especially the Tory/Lib-Dem coalition.

Lord Rothermere backed the Conservative party (2016) , especially the Tory/Lib Dem Coalition.

Rupert Murdoch backed the Conservative party (2016).

Scott Trust backed the labour party (2016).

Trinity Mirror backed Labour (2016).

Richard Desmond backed UKIP (2016).

Not only are fewer interests represented but there are fewer opportunities for 'press barons' to be held properly to account.
Media ownership has long been an area of political controversy - particularly when it involves Rupert Murdoch.
The idea of one man or company controlling a large proportion of the nation's newspaper and broadcasting interests is an issue of public concern - particularly when that person takes a close interest in the political agenda of his newspapers and one of them claims to influence general elections.
The famous headline "It's The Sun Wot Won It" appeared on the front page of The Sun on 11 April 1992 after it supported the Conservatives in the lead-up to their election victory.

If newspapers are owned by a minority of people, biases and prejudices wont be challenged or cancel out.

If cultivation theory is correct, the way we vote in elections/referendums may all depend on the newspapers we are exposed to, which somewhat challenging the idea of a democracy.

The audience will have much less of a choice when it comes to what they read and the biases they hold, due to the fact most of them hold the same ideologies as they are owned by the same person/people.

It may create a society where a majority of people's ideas and beliefs will be the same.

News Ownership in the UK

News ownership within the UK is limited already, and seems to be getting more and more limited as time goes on; Trinity Mirror buying out Northern and Shell is an example of this. The fact that News UK, Trinity Mirror and DMGT own 71% of UK newspapers, is something which does seem to be

Steve Neal: Genre Theory

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to see how The Guardian has evolved over time.

Steve Neale's genre theory states that a media product use generic codes and conventions which are will be similar among most products, which forms a genre. He then argues that genres are not something which will remain consistent and that they will evolve over time with the audiences.

This theory could be proven due to the fact that newspapers all have the same conventions (masthead, a headline, photographs etc.). However, these different conventions will change over time to fit the audience which is consuming the paper. An example of newspaper evolution could be with The Guardian, and their article as they are looking back on how their paper has changed over the years it has been running. It showed that in the 1890's, when The Guardian first started as a paper, the conventions used within it were much different to those used within it now. This could all be due to the fact that technology is constantly being reformed, with new elements of technology being discovered all the time, therefore, readers will expect to see different things on media texts. For example, the first edition of The Guardian which was released in the 1890's, didn't include things like colour or photographs in it, which is something that we expect to see in a newspaper today. However, that is all due to the fact technology has reformed, and therefore, set new standards of what we expect to see. Therefore, this proves Neale's theory correct as although The Guardian fits into the quality press, broadsheet genre, it has changes along with its audience. 

Media Ownership in The UK National Market

The Ownership of UK Newspapers:

• News UK, Trinity Mirror and DMGT are believed to own 71% of national newspapers.
• Lord Rothermere owns 27% of newspapers (The Mail/Mail on Sunday/Metro) which are the second and third most read newspapers in the UK with over 20 million readers.
• Rupert Murdoch owns 24% of newspapers (The Sun/The Sun on Sunday/The Times/ The Sunday Times) which are the first and the seventh most read newspapers in the UK with over 18 million readers.
• Trinity Mirror Plc. owns 13% of UK Newspapers (The Mirror/The Mirror on Sunday/The People/The Daily Record/The Sunday Mail) with over 9 million readers.
• Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev own 10% of national newspapers (The Independent/i/Independent on Sunday/London Evening Standard) with over 7 million readers.
• Richard Desmond owns 8% of newspapers (The Daily Express/Sunday Express/Daily Star/Daily Star Sunday) with over 6 millions readers.
• Scott Trust owns 7% of newspapers (The Guardian/The Observer) with a readership of over 5 million.
• Alexander and Evgeny Lebedev (2016) backed the Conservatives, especially the Tory/Lib-Dem coalition.
• Lord Rothermere backed the Conservative party (2016) , especially the Tory/Lib Dem Coalition.
• Rupert Murdoch backed the Conservative party (2016).
• Scott Trust backed the labour party (2016).
• Trinity Mirror backed Labour (2016).
• Richard Desmond backed UKIP (2016).

Consequences:

• If newspapers are owned by a minority of people, biases and prejudices wont be challenged or cancel out.
• If cultivation theory is correct, the way we vote in elections/referendums may all depend on the newspapers we are exposed to, which somewhat challenging the idea of a democracy.
• The audience will have much less of a choice when it comes to what they read and the biases they hold, due to the fact most of them hold the same ideologies as they are owned by the same person/people.
• It may create a society where a majority of people's ideas and beliefs will be the same.

Advantages and Disadvantages of Online News

Online news does have some clear advantages over print newspapers. One of these advantages may be that the news website is updated as events happen, therefore, the news can reach the audience quicker than the news in a newspaper due to the fact it cannot be updated. However, this does come with a disadvantage due to the fact that a newspaper will always stay the same therefore, it will be easier to navigate a story you that you have previously read.

Online news websites also allow you to interact with it, as it grants you the ability to share it to your social media account or comment on the article itself. The ability to do this makes it more convenient to talk about with friends and family, rather than having to show them a newspaper, and it also allows you publish your comments and views. However, a disadvantage which may come with this is that, there may or not be a sufficient monitoring system, therefore, there could be offensive comments made which will not be rectified.

Images and videos are also more prominent within the news website. This could be seen as an advantage as photographs and videos allow the news to be followed quicker and it actually shows people key evidence within the news.

Another advantage with online news is that, in most cases, it is completely free. The Daily Mail and the Guardian for example, are newspapers whose websites are free; however, the newspapers are not, and you have to travel to a shop and spend money on them everyday.

However, there are disadvantages which come with online news. One key disadvantage could be that, the news online is produced so fast, therefore, in some cases it may not be edited as meticulously as news in an actual paper. This could often give people the impression that online news cannot be trusted, as there is a greater chance that it is inaccurate.

Another disadvantage could be that in order to access news online you have to have Wi-Fi and a device to access the news from; for some people this may be near impossible. Therefore, having a physical copy may be more practical and reliable.

In my opinion I believe that for me online news is more practical; it is easier to get a hold of than a paper and is much more navigable.

News and Online Media 2

Moral Panics Part 2

Moral Panics