Steve Neale : Genre Theory

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to see how The Guardian has evolved over time.

We have learnt there is evidence to support Steve Neals theory that genre is a process by which generic codes and conventions are share by producers through the repetition in media products. This example can be seen in a range of ways; firstly all newspapers use the similar conventions to highlight what the audience will expect to see, meaning mastheads, skyline, headlines, body text etc. These conventions are usually repeated in all newspaper but may adapted to fit the environment they are placed in, for e.g tabloids may consist of numerous advertorials and graphic contest whilst broadsheets may not. 

Films are other examples of how genre is a process shared by producers and audiences.

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Media Ownership in The UK Newspaper Market

Summary of the ownership~
Statistics have shown that the ownership of national newspapers remains concentrated in just a few large companies: 70% of the UK national market is controlled by just three companies (News UK, Daily Mail and General Trust, and Trinity Mirror), with Rupert Murdoch’s News UK fully holding a third of the entire market share. Furthermore, just two companies, Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp UK and Lord Rothermere’s Daily Mail Group, control nearly 60% of national newspaper circulation If you include online and mobile readers, the situation isn’t that much better with five companies accounting for 80% of all consumption, online and offline.
In terms of local news six companies account for over 80% of local newspaper titles – more than four times the combined number of titles published by the remaining 56 publishers – and 85% of revenue.

Issues created from these ownership models~

The problem that arises from this is the fact newspapers exercise power and influence in a number of ways as well as having privileged access to politicians. One of their most powerful forms of influence is the ability to effectively set the political agenda for the other media and more widely, in parliament, the workplace in households and even in social gatherings. The nature of a paper is set by its owner which creates anomalies in the system; press barons wield far more power and influence a majority of MPs have, and use it to further their own interests. Ultimately this means, corporations run our government and the 5 billionaires who run our media have huge power in our democracy, forcing our political parties to prioritize their wishes over the wishes of the British public. They dominate and monopolise the British culture and that is a disaster for democracy as it means the wishes of the super wealthy 0.1% dominates our governments actions.

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Online Vs Print

Online and print newspapers all have their advantages as well as flaws. In the following paragraphs I will be discussing why online newspapers outdo the print versions as well as the reasons why people prefer print versions.

There are many reasons why online newspapers are considered better, the first one being the fact update on trending stories provides the reader with the latest information regarding that topic and if the reader wants to view stories that happened about 5 years ago, they can simply search for the story name or go through the news outlet's data base to find it.
Another advantage online ones have over the print version is that is it very portable, quick and easy to access. Commuters normally struggle carrying and reading newspapers whilst on transport due to cramped spaces which is burden out of personal experiences. The online version gets rid of the problem by allowing you access to the latest news on a small device so deals with these problems which I believe is great especially for people without seats.
Again, online newspapers tend to be free this means that commuters can be informed of the same news that other pay to access. Not only is this great to the public but the news outlet due to the fact more people will have access to their news this means more publicity for their company and therefore more news.
Another great thing about the online newspapers that people prefer over the print version is the fact that it revolves around interactive news. This means views and followers have the ability to interact with the company through watching videos, liking articles and sharing content; all things that viewers cannot do in in the print newspapers. This is a major pull factor especially to the younger generations whose lifestyle revolve around technology which I believe is its greatest strength. It’s also environmentally friendly which is always great.

On the other hand, there are some disadvantages of online newspapers, one being the fact it cannot be accessed in some parts of the world who do not have appropriate technology to do so. In addition to this people with no access to Wi-Fi or mobile data cannot access online newspapers which is the most important part of viewing them. It is useless to have the app without internet.
Another disadvantage which i agree with is the fact that the page may appear cramped despite the infinite space they have so there is no sense of organisation making it very difficult to navigate the page. This is a burden to many due to the fact they may struggle finding particular stories and with all that appears on a page this can be a major eyesore.
Lastly, viewers may be faced with some rude, racist and controversial comments that may slip past administrators of the website. This brings me to my second point which is the fact that administrators struggle to check the website is quality assured with all that has to be posted so face problem from groups of people when they slip up.

In my opinion the online newspaper is better than the print version because not only that is match my preferences due to many of the reasons above but is also the best alternative to go to especially in this era where technology thrives allowing the news to come directly to you.