The British Press

by Temple, Mick

• ISBN13: 9780335222988
• ISBN10: 0335222986
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2008-09-01
• Publisher: Open University Press

Summary

This exciting book offers a practical introduction to the history, theory, politics and potential future of British newspapers. Focussing on the relationship between the press and political history, it examines their social and political impact, assessing the press's contribution to enlarging and informing the public sphere.

Author Biography

Mick Temple is Professor of Politics and Journalism, at Staffordshire University, UK.

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements	p. xi
Introduction	p. 1
From Gutenberg to mass medium	p. 3
Introduction: early news	p. 3
The birth of print	p. 4
The Civil War and Glorious Revolution	p. 6
The beginning of 'the public sphere'	p. 9
The development of a national press	p. 11
The slow rise and sharp fall of the radical press	p. 15
The triumph of a free press? The 'fourth estate' myth	p. 19
Conclusion	p. 20
Further reading	p. 20
The shock of the new: the rise of the 'popular press'	p. 22
Introduction: the birth of the popular daily press	p. 22
The rise of 'new journalism'	p. 24
Political parties and the press	p. 25
A crisis in the public sphere	p. 27
Alfred Harmsworth, Lord Northcliffe	p. 28
The press and the First World War	p. 31
The era of the press barons: the interwar years	p. 33
Politics and the press barons	p. 34
The press and fascism	p. 36
A mass readership	p. 37
Conclusion	p. 38
Further reading	p. 40
The press and the Second World War: the triumph of radio	p. 41
Introduction: the press's road to war	p. 41
War is declared	p. 43
Wartime media regulation	p. 44
The Dunkirk spirit	p. 47
A radicalised and mass public sphere	p. 49
The press and the 1945 general election	p. 51
Conclusion	p. 52
Further reading	p. 54
The post-war press and the decline of deference...and sales	p. 55
Introduction: press freedom in a centralised state	p. 55
The party's over: the long fall in circulation and titles	p. 57
The Suez crisis and the press	p. 59
The television age arrives	p. 60
The decline of deference	p. 61
Murdoch arrives: the Sun also rises	p. 63
Changes in the public sphere	p. 68
Conclusion	p. 70
Further reading	p. 72
New technology: Wapping and beyond	p. 73
Introduction	p. 73
The lead-up to Wapping	p. 73
The battle begins	p. 76
The post-Wapping bonanza-an enhanced public sphere?	p. 80
The post-Wapping landscape	p. 83
Today's newspapers	p. 87
The 'quality' press	p. 87
The mid-market duo	p. 90
The redtops	p. 91
Conclusion	p. 92
Further reading	p. 93
The local press	p. 94
Introduction	p. 94
A brief history	p. 95
The local press today	p. 98
Control and regulation	p. 100
The 'regional' press	p. 101
Challenges for the local press	p. 104
Advertising and the local press	p. 105
Local politicians, the local press and the public sphere	p. 106
Power in the local	p. 108
The digital future for local papers?	p. 111
Conclusion	p. 112
Further reading	p. 112
Theories of news production and news values	p. 114
Introduction	p. 114
A pluralist environment?	p. 115
Elitist perspective	p. 116
Marxist perspective	p. 116
Manufacturing consent? The press as propaganda	p. 116
From control to chaos?	p. 119
The nature of media influence	p. 120
News values	p. 122
The pluralistic assumptions of journalists	p. 123
Conclusion	p. 127
Further reading	p. 128
Censorship	p. 130
Introduction	p. 130
What is censorship? And why does it matter?	p. 131
Government 'censorship'	p. 132
Censorship by owners	p. 135
The role of advertisers	p. 137
Censorship by journalists	p. 138
Other controls	p. 140
The abdication crisis: King Edward VIII and 'that woman'	p. 140
Modern war and modern media: censorship rules	p. 142
A right to privacy?	p. 145
The Net: the end of censorship?	p. 147
Conclusion	p. 149
Further reading	p. 149
Spin, public relations and the press	p. 151
Introduction	p. 151
Spin and the art of 'spin doctoring'	p. 152
A brief history of political spin	p. 154
Spinning a web of deceit? Alastair Campbell and the Iraq War	p. 159
The increasing necessity of spin	p. 162
The non-political spin doctors: the rise of public relations	p. 164
A crisis of independent journalism?	p. 165
The impact of spin and PR on the public sphere	p. 168
Conclusion	p. 169
Further reading	p. 171
Newspapers and 'dumbing down'	p. 172
Introduction	p. 172
The dumbing down debate	p. 173
Newspapers and dumbing down: a new culture of celebrity?	p. 175
The dumbing down of the 'quality' press	p. 178
Have quality newspapers really dumbed down?	p. 178
In defence of dumbing down: the need for an informed public	p. 180
The local press and dumbing down	p. 181
Dumbing down and the public sphere	p. 184
Conclusion	p. 186
Further reading	p. 187
The press and democracy: speaking for the public?	p. 188
Introduction	p. 188
Tribunes of the people?	p. 188
Newspapers and the invocation of public opinion	p. 193
A well informed public?	p. 196
Do newspapers provide a forum - or the illusion of a forum?	p. 197
Newspaper influence over the public	p. 200
Conclusion: a new space for public opinion?	p. 204
Further reading	p. 205
Future imperfect?	p. 206
Introduction	p. 206
Optimism or pessimism: the future for print	p. 207
The press under attack: failing the public sphere	p. 208
The online future: the importance of trust	p. 211
Are we all journalists now?	p. 212
The future of political journalism	p. 213
Conclusion: put your faith in journalists	p. 214
Bibliography	p. 218
Index	p. 245
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