Текст Лекции (изначальный) (Lectures of The Linguistic Culture), страница 6

Inevitable-неизбежный to be targeted at-нацелена на

Restraint-ограничение fierce competition-яростная конкуренция

broadband connection-широполосная передача Circulation-тираж

To benefit-получать выгоду Expanded-расширенный

To find a gap-найти нишу To be merged- связаны

The term “media” may include any communication system by which people are informed, educated or entertained. In Britain it generally refers to the print industries (the press or newspapers and magazines) and broadcasting (terrestrial or earth-based television, cable and satellite television, radio and video). These systems overlap to some extent with each other and with books, film and the Internet, are profitable businesses; and are tied to advertising, sponsorship, commerce and industry.

The media have evolved from simple methods of production, distribution and communication to their present sophisticated technologies. Their growth and variety have greatly improved information dispersal, news availability and entertainment opportunities. They cover homes, places of business and leisure activities and their influence is very powerful and en inevitable part of daily life.

But the media provoke debates about what is socially and morally permissible in their content and methods. Questions are asked about the role of advertising and sponsorship, the quality of services provided the alleged danger of the concentrated ownership of media resources, influence on politics, restraint about “free expression” and the ethical responsibility of the media to individuals and society.

The print media

The print media (newspapers and magazines) began to develop in the 18P^thP century. Initially, a wide circulation was hindered by transportation and distribution problems, illiteracy and government licensing or censorship restrictions. But over the last two hundred years, an expended educational system, abolition of governmental control, new print inventions and Britain’s small area have eliminated these difficulties and created allegedly free print media.

The growth of literacy after 1870 provided the owners of the print media with an increased market. Newspapers and magazines, which had previously been limited to the middle and upper classes, were popularized.

They were used for news and information, but also for profit and entertainment. Ownership, new types of print media and financially rewarding advertising increased in the competitive atmosphere of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Owners also realized that political and social influence could be achieved through control of the means of communication.

National newspapers

National newspapers are those which are mostly published from London (with some regional versions) and are available in all parts of Britain on the same day, including Sundays. Many are delivered direct to the home from local newsagents by newsboys and girls. The good internal distribution systems of a compact country enabled a national press to develop, and Internet online copies now offer updated and immediate availability.The first British newspapers with a limited national circulation appeared in the early eighteenth century and were followed by others, such as The Times (1785), the Observer (1791) and the Sunday Times (1822).

But most were so-called ‘quality’ papers, catering for a relatively small, educated market.

In the nineteenth century, the growth and composition of the population conditioned the types of newspaper which were produced. The first popular national papers were deliberately printed on Sundays, such as the News of the World (1843) and the People (1881). They were inexpensive and aimed at the expanding and increasingly literate working class. In 1896, Alfred Harmsworth produced the Daily Mail, which was targeted at the lower-middle class as an alternative to the ‘quality’ dailies. Harmsworth then published the Daily Mirror in 1903 for the working-class popular market. Both the Mail and the Mirror were soon selling more than a million copies a day.

The early twentieth century was the era of mass-circulation papers and of owners such as Harmsworth and Arthur Pearson. There was fierce competition between them as they fought for bigger shares of the market. Pearson’s Morning Herald (later the Daily Express) was created in 1900 to compete with the Daily Mail for lower-middle-class readers.

The Daily Mirror was the largest-selling national daily in the early twentieth century. It supported the Labour Party and was designed for quick and easy reading by the industrial and increasingly politicized working class. The Daily Herald (1911) also supported the Labour Party, until it was sold in 1964, renamed the Sun and developed different political and news emphases. The competition between the Sun and Mirror continues today, with each aiming for a bigger share of the mass daily market. Battles are still fought between owners, since newspaper-ownership is concentrated in a few large publishing groups, such as Rupert Murdoch’s News International (which has large media holdings in Britain, Australia and the USA) and Trinity Mirror .

The success of the early popular press was due to growing literacy; a desire for knowledge and information by the working class; and political awareness among workers caused by the rise of the Labour Party. Newspaper owners profited by the huge market, but they also satisfied demand. The price and content of mass papers reflected lower-middle- and working-class readerships. This emphasis attracted large consumer advertising, and owners were able to produce cheaply by using modern printing methods and a nationwide distribution network.

The circulation of national papers rose rapidly, with 5.5 million daily sales by 1920. By 1973 these had increased to 17 million. But newspapers had to cope first with the competition of radio and films and later with television. Although they have survived, there has, since the 1970s, been a decline in sales and in the number of national and other newspapers.

Surveys find that Britons buy more papers than any other Europeans. Some 50 per cent of people over fifteen read a national daily paper and 70per cent read a national Sunday newspaper. National newspapers have sales of 13.5 million on weekdays and 14.8 million on Sundays, but on average two people read each paper.

The national press in Britain today consists of ten daily morning papers and nine Sunday papers. It is in effect a London press, because most national newspapers have their bases and printing facilities in the capital, although editions of some nationals are now published outside London, in Europe and the USA. Most of them used to be located in Fleet Street in central London. But all have now left the street and moved to other parts of the capital. The reasons for these moves were high property rents, fierce competition and opposition from trade unions to the introduction of new printing technology. Newspapers and magazines have also had to face the expense of newsprint and rising production and labour costs. Heavy labour costs were due to the overstaffing and restrictive practices of the trade unions. Owners were forced into new ways of increasing productivity while cutting costs. Regional owners outside London had in fact pioneered the movement of newspapers and magazines into new print technology and London newspapers had to follow in order to survive.

New technology meant that journalists’ ‘copy’ could be printed directly through computers, without having to use the intermediate ‘hotmetal’ typesetting by printers. This gave owners flexibility in their printing and distribution methods and cheaper production costs. It allowed them toescape from trade-union dominance and the concentration of the industry in London. But it also resulted in job reductions, trade union opposition and bitter industrial action such as picketing.

New technology, improved distribution methods and cuts in labour and production costs have increased the profitability of print industries. Despite the attraction of other media, they still have a considerable presence, although sales are declining. The business is very competitive and papers can suffer from a variety of problems. However, the high risks involved have not stopped the introduction of new newspapers.

The ‘quality’ national daily The Independent was published in October 1986 and survives despite circulation losses. Sunday nationals, such as The Independent on Sunday (1990), have also appeared. But other dailies have been lost.

National papers are usually termed ‘quality’ or ‘popular’ depending on their differences in content and format (tabloid or broadsheet). Others are called ‘mid-market’, fall between these two extremes and are tabloids.

The ‘qualities’ (such as The Times) are broadsheets (large-sheet), report national and international news in depth and analyse current events and the arts in editorials and articles. The populars (such as the Sun) are mostly tabloid (small-sheet), deal with relatively few ‘hard news’stories, tend to be superficial in the material is sensationalized and trivialized. It cannot be said that the down-market populars are instructive, or concerned with raising the critical consciousness of readers. But owners and editors argue that their readership demands particular styles, interests and attitudes. ‘Mid-market’ papers, such as the Mail and Express, cater for intermediate groups. ‘Qualities’ are more expensive than populars and carry up-market advertising that generates essential finance. Populars carry less advertising and cater for more down-market material. However, the press takes much of the finance spent on total advertising in Britain.

There is no state control or censorship of the British press, although it is subject to laws of publication and expression and there are forms of self-censorship, by which it regulates its own conduct. The press is also financially independent of the political parties and receives no funding from government (except for Welsh-language community papers).

It is argued that most newspapers are politically right-of-centre and sympathize with the Conservative Party. But their positions are usually driven by readers’ opinions and political slants in fact can vary considerably over time and under the influence of events. For example, the small-circulation Morning Star has varied between Stalinist, Euro-Communist and Democratic Left views. Papers may have a political bias and support a specific party, particularly at election times, although this can change. A few, such as those of the Trinity Mirror group, support the Labour Party, some such as The Times and The Independent consider themselves to be independent, while others, such as The Guardian, favour a left-of-centre position. It appears that the British public receive a reasonable variety of political views from their newspapers.

The press is dependent for its survival upon circulation figures; upon the advertising that it can attract; and upon financial help from its owners. A paper may face difficulties and fail if advertisers remove their business.

In fact all the media are currently experiencing a downturn in advertising revenue. A high circulation does not necessarily guarantee the required advertising and consequent survival, because advertisers now tend to place their mass-appeal consumer products on television, where they will benefit from a larger audience. Most popular papers are in constant competition with their rivals to increase their sales. They attempt to do this by gimmicks such as bingo games and competitions, or by calculated editorial policies which are intended to catch the mass readership. Owners may refuse to rescue those papers which make continuous losses. A number of newspapers in the twentieth century ceased publication because of reduced circulation, loss of advertising revenue, refusals of further financial aid, or a combination of all three factors.

However, despite a fall in hard-copy circulation, most national newspapers now have online Internet publication. This provides an additional medium for information and communication, as well as continuously updated news.

Regional newspapers

Some 1,300 regional newspapers are published in towns and cities throughout Britain. They contain a mixture of local and national news; are supported financially by regional advertising; and may be daily morning or evening papers, Sundays or weekly. Some nine out of ten adults read a regional or local paper every week and 75 per cent of local and regional newspapers also operate an Internet website.

Excluding its national newspaper industry, London has one paper (the Evening Standard) with daily sales of 440,000. But there are also about a hundred local weeklies, dailies and evening papers which appear in the Greater London districts.

‘Quality’ daily regional (and national) papers, such as The Scotsman (Edinburgh) and the Glasgow Herald, the Western Mail (Cardiff), and the Yorkshire Post (Leeds), have good reputations and sales outside their regions. But the best-selling papers are in Scotland, such as the Daily Record and the Sunday Mail (Glasgow) and the Sunday Post (Dundee).

There has also been a growth of ‘free newspapers’ in the regions, such as the London Metro (now available throughout the country with a circulation of 1.2 million), which are often delivered direct to homes and for which the consumer does not pay. Some 800 are published weekly on a local basis and are financed by local advertising, to such an extent that news is outweighed by the advertisements. It is estimated that they have a weekly circulation of some 35 million.

Britain’s ethnic communities also produce their own newspapers and magazines, which are increasing in numbers, are available nationally in the larger cities and are improving in quality. There is a wide range of publications for Jewish, Asian, Afro-Caribbean, Chinese and Arabic readers, published on a daily or (more commonly) periodic basis.

Periodicals and magazines

T here are 9,000 different periodicals and magazines in Britain, which are of a weekly, monthly or quarterly nature and are dependent upon sales and advertising to survive. They are aimed at different markets and levels of sophistication and either cover trades, professions and business (read by 95per cent of occupational groups) or are consumer titles dealing with sports, hobbies and interests (read by 80 per cent of adults).

Although the number of periodicals has expanded, it is still difficult to break into the established consumer market with a new product. Some attempts, which manage to find a gap in the market, succeed, but most usually fail.

The teenage and youth magazine market is fiercely fought for, but has suffered large sales losses recently. This is attributed to greater Internet and mobile phone usage. The men’s general interest magazine market is similarly volatile. Women’s periodicals, such as Take a Break, Woman and Woman’s Own, have large and wide circulations. But the bestselling publications are the weekly Radio Times and What’s on TV, which contain feature stories and scheduled programmes for BBC and independent television. Other magazines cover interests such as computers, rural pastimes, gardening, railways, cooking, architecture, do-it-yourself skills and sports.

Among the serious weekly journals are the New Statesman and Society (a left-wing political and social affairs magazine); the Economist (dealing with economic and political matters); the Spectator (a conservative journal); and New Scientist. The Times publishes influential weekly magazines, such as the Educational Supplement, the Higher (Education Supplement) and the Literary Supplement. The lighter side of the market is catered for by periodicals such as Private Eye, which satirizes the short- comings of British society.