To what extent is the British newspaper market is a pluralist market?

Résumé du document

According to former MP William Hague, Britain 'has a great and vibrant tradition of a free and pluralist press and media, rich in its diversity and opinions.'(Hague; 2000). It is true that in the past decades, the British newspaper market has always been referred to as being effervescent and a model of what the press should be like, if it is to match the idea of pluralism, or the view that society is complex and formed of competing groups of interest, though none of which have constant predominance or influence on the others. This view, adapted to the press industry, would induce that the British newspaper market is autonomous and independent from the state. However, it should be contrasted, as it ignores certain relationships that can exist between the media and centers of influence as well as interest groups in the British society. This is why we need to study in what aspects can the British newspaper market be seen as pluralist, regarding its structure in the industry, the process in which it is produced and its effect on the audience. In a second argument, however, we will contrast this view of the press market and the pluralist assumption that British newspapers are free from influence in a capitalist society such as Britain, according to the radical or Marxist approach of the British newspaper industry, in order to determine how the extent to which it corresponds to the model of a free press is limited, in terms of its structure as a market, the line of attack it embeds in the production of its papers and the effects such a prejudiced market can have on the economical, social and political aspects of the press and the society as a whole.

Extraits

[...] http://www.ukeditors.com/articles/2000/October/Conference306.html. History of the Observer, The Guardian, Thursday 6 June 2002. http://www.guardian.co.uk/newsroom/story/0,11718,728445,00.html Hoyer, S., Hadenius, S. and Weibull, L. (1975) The Politics and economics of the press: a development perspective, Beverly Hills, CA: Sage. Kaniss, P Making the News, Chicago: Chicago University Press. Koss, S. 1981/1984 The Rise and fall of the political press in Britain, 2Vols, London: Hamish Hamilton. [...]

[...] This brings us back to the overall question of pluralism in the British Press Market and to the assertion that Britain enjoys a ‘free and pluralist press' (Hague, 2000). Indeed, can a country where of the eight major Fleet Street dailies more or less support the Conservative Party' (Sheridan, G., Gardner, 1979: 122) and where the overall political spectrum doesn't go beyond centre Labour claim its press to enjoy exceptional freedom and pluralism? Consequently and in conclusion, we can say that although the press has claimed itself to be free of state authorities and autonomous in all aspects of its production, it has always more or less been under control or influence by the state. [...]

[...] What is more, a communist newspaper has never been able to emerge in Britain. Thus, it seems appropriate to question the alleged diversity of the British press and its effect on the audience. Martin Newland, The Daily telegraph's newly appointed editor makes the following remark in Brown's article in The Guardian newspaper: ‘Human interest stories unite people-and it is good business. It's a key battleground. And it has the happy effect of transcending partisan politics.'(Brown; 2003:3). This draws upon the idea that the audience is passive, thus becoming an easily influenced target. [...]

[...] As far as the press market in its own economy is concerned, it can be verified that both advertising and corporate ownership drown the smallest and least-read newspapers. In effect, advertisements in Conservative newspapers are mainly provided by major companies, some of them owned by the global corporation. Moreover, it has further consequences as papers which took a particular editorial policy, often left wing, have had to close down for they lacked advertising revenue, despite a massive circulation. Thus, The Daily Herald had a circulation five times that of The Times when it folded in 1964. [...]

[...] Indeed, the French daily newspaper market fails to offer social stories that would be qualified as tabloid material under other forms than that of weekly magazines such as France Dimanche, Voici or Paris Match. This results in more expensive reading material with no exposure of truly ‘fresh' gossip. Another feature of the press in a capitalist society such as Britain is that it is dependent on advertising revenue, thus invariably affecting the way in which a newspaper is produced. Indeed, advertising can be a way of keeping the state out of the paper's production. [...]