Pluralism Flashcards
(13 cards)
Examples of 2 right and left-wing newspapers.
Left-wing: The Guardian, Daily Mirror.
Right-wing: The Sun, The Daily Mail.
Define pluralism.
There is no ruling class, but different social groups with conflicting interests.
How does the audience control the media?
The owners don’t have full control over the media, but it is driven by the needs of audiences. If people aren’t interested in something, they wont watch it (Boycotts, complaint letters, buy others).
How does the media link to democracy and politics?
Having media that provides a wide range of political ideas is essential for democracy, as most people get their political knowledge from the media. Media owners are impartial and objectives.
How does a free market lead to?
Competition between publications- they want to draw in a large audience, so appeal to diverse interests.
Whale.
Media owners are wholly impartial, as they are too busy running their business. They don’t consider the day-to-day running of the business.
1) Media diversity.
All points of view are accounted for, meaning that the media is not biased towards a certain idea.
There are multiple sources of media in each category (streaming services- Netflix, Disney, Prime). There are many social groups being represented. Globalisation means that content from around the world is available.
2) Public service broadcasting.
A large amount of British media is owned by the state, for example, the BBC. This limits media bias.
However, some would argue that they are not always impartial, as seen in the case of Jimmy Savile being protected by the BBC.
3) State controls.
Media is restricted by the state- some ban certain media to limit dominant viewpoints. The UK has OFCOM, preventing media bias. Eg Russia banning media representation of LGBT people and China censoring critical viewpoints of the government.
4) Media professionalism.
Journalists and editors wouldn’t sacrifice their integrity and independence to create biased content.
However, Media professionalism has been disregarded on many occasions: Megan Markle being presented differently to Kate Middleton, bias on the Iraq war, News of the World phone hacking.
How does investigative journalism disprove media bias towards the ‘ruling class’?
It often targets the rich and powerful, exposing their wrongdoings. The audience is active and question everything that is presented in the media. Eg Dominic Cummings driving north during lockdown.
Marxist criticism.
The means of production is owned by the bourgeoisie, so they promote ideas that protect their interests, thus shaping the ideas of the proletariat. This fallacy of choice makes people think that all viewpoints are accounted for, when Marxist voices are supressed.
Concentration of media ownership.
Very few people own the media, giving the illusion that there are many choices eg Newscorp, which owns Fox, The Sun, Harper Collins.
