Newspapers: The Times - Representation and Industries

 Representation

1) What representation of private schools can be found on the main front page story of the Times?

Its for the rich Conservative families and that it is very expensive to get education. 

2) What representation of the Conservative Party can be found in the story at the top of the front page 'Calls for criminal enquiry as top ministers deny security leak'?

Criminal government leak is angled to defend the government and contains multiple denials of any wrongdoing. This supports the government and creates a representation of the Conservative Party as being law-abiding and open to scrutiny. This reinforces the fact that the Times usually supports the Conservative Party in British politics.

3) How are the Royal Family represented in the Times? (See front page 'Fitting tribute' - Duchess of Cambridge picture and the inside page 'Royal Anzac Day on both sides of the world'). 

They are always respecting them and showing how formal they are and they go with the Royal family. As is shares positivity about them only in a good way and good images of their smiles to show a good reputation of Harry and Kate in a goof friendship and NOT a relationship. 

4) How does the coverage of the Royal Family in the Times contrast with the reporting of the same events in the Daily Mirror?

The selection of particular news stories, images and text can create very different representations - as we can see in the same Royal Family story across the Daily Mirror and the Times.

5) How are British people and Muslims represented in the article and sidebar 'Sri Lanka tourists warned of more terror'?

They are still going against Muslims and showing racism against them by calling them out 'for more terror'  which is like calling them terrorists and saying that they are dangerous and can hurt people as well as the Sri Lanka tourists. 

Industries

1) Who owns the Times? Write the name of the company AND the billionaire who owns the company.

The Times is owned by News UK (a subsidiary of News Corporation). News Corporation is a conglomerate mostly owned by Rupert Murdoch, an Australian media mogul with many business interests worldwide such as the Fox network in the USA.  

2) What was the The Times's circulation in 2019? How many papers did the Times used to sell back in the 1990s?

The Times circulation in 2019 was 376,000, down 12% in a year and much lower than the high point of over 800,000 in the 1990s. Since 2020, The Sun and The Times have not published their circulation figures, perhaps to prevent knowledge of how many readers they have lost.

3) How has the Times reacted to the decline in print sales and the growth of the internet?

In response to the decline in print newspapers, the Times has:

-Moved towards a multi-platform landscape. This means that it publishes and synchronises across its print, desktop and mobile platforms. Some newspapers (e.g. The Times) have a paywall on their online content. The Times has had a hard paywall since 2010, but it often experiments with making content available for free. Last summer, it began free registrations and has been adding around 30,000 a week.

-Created a social media strategy in collaboration with the digital team to drive growth of their Twitter and Facebook profiles. 

-In 2018, Times and Sunday Times hit 500,000 subscribers as digital outnumbered print for first time at an initial cost of £1 per week for a digital subscription.

4) What does IPSO stand for and what is IPSO's job?

 Independent Press Standards Organisation and the role of IPSO is to:

 -Regulate 1500 print and 1100 online titles.                                                                                                 -Listen to complaints about press behaviour.                                                                                               -Help with unwanted press attention.                                                                                                           -Advise publication editors .                                                                                                                           -Provide information to the public.                                                                                                              -Provide a journalist whistleblowing hotline.

5) Why do some people want stronger regulation of British newspapers? 

 There is currently a heated debate in the media regarding whether the newspaper industry requires stronger regulation. Some people argue that the newspaper industry cannot be trusted to regulate itself using IPSO and that stronger, statutory regulation should be introduced instead. This would also implement the recommendations of the Leveson Inquiry which followed the phone-hacking scandal. There are links in the extension tasks below if you would like to read more about the newspaper regulation debate.