NEWS PRACTICE QUESTIONS

Explain how cultural contexts influence the ways audiences interact with print and/or online news. Refer to The Guardian and Daily Mail to support your answer.                                                  (10)

Cultural contexts influence the way that audiences interact with print and online news due to the fact that they shape people’s viewpoints and beliefs. Both the Guardian and the Daily Mail affect the way that people view and interact with news, as they are both newspapers that push different ideas. These ideas can reflect how the audience perceives the content, and therefore shape their opinion. The news industry is constantly growing, and the fact that online news is becoming more popular proves this.

The Daily Mail is part of the DMGT, whereas The Guardian is ran by the Scott Trust. These two different ownerships shape the type of content that is produced, and therefore the audience’s opinions. Newspapers are part of our common cultural life. This means that within newspapers, there is reputation and history behind British news industry. Therefore, people’s beliefs may be altered depending on how they interpret this information. Since the 1980s, the news industry has been migrating online. Online news can be interpreted in significantly different ways to print news. For example, an audience’s opinion may change on a certain news story based on other people’s opinions. Online news companies such as The Guardian and the Daily Mail have comment sections available on posts. This allows users to comment their opinions. Therefore, an audience’s opinions may be influenced by comments and what other people believe. This wouldn’t happen with print newspaper, as other people’s opinions can’t be seen. Cultural shift means that audiences prefer online media and have expectations of entertainment. This influences how news is consumed. Many people’s attention spans are also lowering. This means that they might not want to read detailed newspapers with heavy copy, such as The Guardian. The Daily Mail has a high image to copy ratio, which may make people more likely to choose that newspaper over another, such as The Guardian.

Many news brands are struggling to compete due to 24 hour news. News can be accessed and updated at any point, whereas when print copies are purchased, the news is old. Therefore, people often lean towards online news. Another benefit of online news is that it is free. However, companies such as the Daily Mail try to push subscriptions onto users through pop ups and don’t let users read on without purchasing. Due to the fact that news is generally free, there is an expectation that news should be free, and people often don’t want to pay for it. Another impact of cultural contexts is that The Guardian has a progressive liberal view, so therefore there is no cultural awareness. This means that people may not see different opinions, and the things they read may be biased. Finally, consumerism can influence the ways that audiences interact with news because the things that are attractive to customers aren’t necessarily the most important. Therefore, news companies may post more news on topics such as celebrity gossip, as opposed to political views, because this is what the audience is likely to interact with the most. 

In conclusion, cultural contexts influence the ways audiences interact with print and online news through the way that news is presented and how the audience interprets it. The Guardian and the Daily Mail both show this in different ways.

CULTURAL

• British cultural tradition- reputation and history behind British news industry. Newspapers are part of our common cultural life
• Since 1980s the industry has been migrating online in historic shift
• Cultural shift means audiences prefer online media and have expectations of entertainment and acceptance of marketing and self-promotion. This influencing how news is consumed.
• With 24hour news, print news brands are struggling to compete
• Ownership concentrated in a few hands means newspapers support one-dimensional view of British culture and can enforce cultural norms and viewpoints
• The social and cultural expectation that new should be free
• Consumerism- the things that are attractive to consumers aren't necessarily more important
• Audiences have shorter attention spans so more soft news than hard
• The guardian has a progressive liberal view so no cultural awareness. 

Q2: How far are media representations in these two sources influenced by social, political, and historical circumstances?

• Explain how social, political, and historical contexts are represented
• Analyse representations and how far they are influenced by social, political, and historical circumstances
• Make judgements and conclusions