Study the theory of We Media and the ideas about Media Studies 2.0 by William Merrin and apply it to news media
Merrin is a Professor at Swansea University and author of Media Studies 2.0. Look at his Twitter fed to gain an idea of his role and his ideas about the media and how digital distribution and the global nature of new media has changed the industry and should also change the way students study the media.
The Daily Mail web-site has nearly 16million hits daily and nearly 250 million monthly.
News Media are planning for a digital future and have risked a lot to try and gain a foothold in the market. The Guardian which is owned by a trust has risked a great deal to establish itself as the leading left leaning global news media web-site, with a particular eye on the American market. News media is now global and advertising revenues are the key to a successful future.
Now that news media are concentrating on an online future how does this affect the way we receive news?
How do audiences consume the news?
How has 'We Media' affected the news we receive. Are we in a 'post-truth' era and an era of fake news or has that always been the case?
We will follow two major stories to see how they unfold;
Election of Donald Trump in the US
The UK leaving the European Union
Traditional media is still influential and we will study newspapers to see how far this claim can be asserted
Study the latest ABC figures and identify trends and issues in print media.
The Sun used to sell 4 million each day a decade ago. It now sells 1.6 million
The Daily Mail sell 1.5 million
The Daily Mirror sells 750.00 daily
The Guardian sells 150 million
Plot the political leaning of UK newspapers on a chart from right to left wing
Analyse these front pages about Brexit to identify political bias
This is the last thing that I shared. I think I shared because it is a shared experience which members of my family and friends will recognise. The essence of good observational comedy.
Virality is the key in the online age. Getting audiences to share content is the golden egg for advertisers. What is it that makes us share media texts? What texts do you share?
The Panama Papers and the revelations that ensued could have cost the Prime Minister and others their jobs. The Prime Minister of Iceland resigned as he had money in tax havens. Our PM has ridden the storm and although his reputation and integrity may have been harmed he is still in position and two weeks later the storm seems to have blown over. However, in the digital age we all leave a digital footprint so we must be careful how we represent ourselves in case our actions come back to haunt us. Is this indicative of modern society, politics and the media? Are we more careful about our representation in the digital age?
We will also look at the theories of William Merrin and how social media represented the Panama Papers to make comment about how the media operates in the online age.
We are what we pretend to be so we must be careful what we pretend to be. ( Kurt Vonnegut)
This is my favourite quote and reveals a lot about online safety and how we operate in the online age. It is a good maxim for living in the stream and harsh lessons ca be learned if you are not aware of the power of the internet and the dangers inherent in social media. We all create a sort of avatar or a persona that we would like to be, whether that is selecting certain photos or deleting links or posting things which show status. For example, footballer Joleon Lescott tweeted an image of a Mercedes after a 6 nil loss.At best it was insensitive but in claiming he sent it by mistake as the phone was in his pocket he made it worse. He has shown his naivety in the media world once again since then showing how media training is essential for high profile people.
Web 2.0 allows users and audiences to interact with the news in ways that could not before. This allows us to comment and feedback. Therefore politicians need to be increasingly careful about the way that they present themselves. Your Prime Minister worked in Public Relations so is adept at spinning his way out of trouble. There is a call amongst the public for less 'airbrushed' characters who seem more authentic. Does that explain the popularity of these two politicians;
In our post-modern age, ' no orthodoxy can be received without irony'. We are quite cynical as an audience and cannot take things at face value. We challenge and interrogate texts and do not readily accept the news as truth. This means we are now an 'active' audience using texts to gratify certain needs. Social media allows us to share media which illustrates how we feel about a news story in images or memes. They work in ways similar to cartoons in the past. These go viral in memes and therefore we are mediating the news through sharing memes and texts which represent our take on a story. It is often celebrities or people with a following who can set the news agenda through Twitter. Could we call these people the new 'gatekeepers' and who are they for you?
We have considered online responses to the news of the Panama Papers. Can you think of any other news stories that caused a reaction online?
News often comes to us first hand through live feeds or unmediated streams. For my generation the Twin Towers was a seminal moment. The attacks in Paris are a more recent example.
Can you identify examples of when this has happened?
As an introduction to this unit we are going to use some resources created by The Film Space. We are going to focus on film as our medium. Initially we will be looking at film exhibition.
Case study about two 'film companies' will allow you to compare a smaller British film company 'Working Title Films' with a huge international conglomerate 'Universal' to see how the relationship between the two has developed.
You can then use the knowledge and understanding gained to write a response to the 'audiences and institutions' section of the AS OCR exam paper.
Start with Working Title films and conduct wide research.
Look at the range of films produced to see if there are any similarities.
Note the key facts
Working Title films were founded in 1983
Many of the directors and actors have gone on to become household names and major stars
A string of commercial hits following a trusted formula appealing to specific audiences
Bought in 1999 by Universal for $600 million
Actors
Hugh Grant
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Rowan Atkinson
Cate Blanchett
Gary Oldman
Colin Firth
Directors
Stephen Daldry
Paul Greengrass
Richard Curtis
Edgar Wright
Coen Brothers
Types of film
Romantic Comedy
Royal family
Period drama
British comedy
First successes were heralded as important culturally as the British film industry was ailing and independent British cinema was weak. Also look at Channel4Films.
1983 - My Beautiful Launderette
This film was directed by Stephen Frears and starred a young Daniel Day Lewis. It represents themes of sexuality and racism in Thatcher's Britain that many young people could relate to providing a voice to those under-represented in mainstream cinema.
1986 - Sid and Nancy
Starring Gary Oldman as the punk Sid Vicious of the Sex Pistols mythologised as an icon of 1970's Britain.
1987 - Wish you Were Here
Emily Lloyd is my favourite early Working Title film. Highly recommended representing gender roles in 1950's Britain.
1994 - Four Weddings and a Funeral
This cost £6million to make and took nearly £2oo million at the box office. It was a global success and set the formula for the commercial success of Working Title films.
We will be analysing why and how this film succeeded in appealing to audiences
Richard Curtis is the man held up as the genius who created a string of successful comedies including;
Blackadder
Finely honed scripts allowed a generation of comedians to express their comic timig with relentless puns, wordplay, slapstick and situation comedy. Stephen Fry, Rowna Atkinson, Hugh Laurie, Robbie Coltrane, Tony Robinson have all gone on to disparate, successful careers. The final series situated Blackadder in the trenches for a poignant farewell which is often cited as a landmark in British television.
The Long Tail theory developed by Chris
Anderson in 2006 is interesting to discuss in the light of changes in 2015.What we thought would happen with the
internet and business models has not necessarily followed expectations. Big
corporations still hold alot of power
and are still making a lot of money. Despite fears of economic Armageddon many
have retained this control in the wild west of the internet and some such as
APPLE have made huge profits and dominated emerging markets.
The Long Tail theory would suggest that the old models
of distribution and consumption are changing so that rather than being force
fed media products by a narrow elite of corporations who dictate our tastes and
preferences, the internet will democratize production of media texts and their
consumption by audiences. This is because producers will find it easier to
reach an audience and cheaper and more accessible technology will allow more
people to create a wider range of media texts.Rather than listening to a narrow range of pop hits promoted by record
companies such as Sony Music or watching an endless slew of Hollywood action
films featuring heroes such as Tom Cruise and Schwarzenegger we will be able to
find ‘niche’ products which appeal to wider and more varied tastes.
The internet is supposed to have
democratized production of media and allowed for a wider variety of texts to be
consumed.
Different economic models are supposed to
have emerged challenging the old vertical model where an artist signed a
contract with a studio or a record company and in return had their music
promoted and distributed. We used the example of Micheal Jackson whose 1982 Thriller
album is the best selling album of all time.Epic records is part of Sony Music. Record companies would offer promising
artists a contract and in return they would use their established contacts and
resources to market and distribute their music to a wide audience.By making and distributing the products such
as CD's or vinyl to shops and then using the wider established media to promote
the brand this proved to be a symbiotic relationship benefiting each
partner.Warner Music could allow Madonna
to be creative and then they would sell the records, books, concerts,
merchandise, films, music videos and any other assorted elements of the
franchise through various wings of its multi-media global conglomerate that was
‘Time Warner AOL’ at this point. The name itself shows the need for these
companies to move with the times regarding technological advance. The challenge
these media giants faced was how to cope with the advance of the internet where
it looked like everything would be available for free. Somehow the long tail
has not been entirely successful in changing the economic model as these companies are still hugely successful and audiences are still paying for
products even if they don’tphysically
exist such as a digital download.
Radio and television were influential in the
old model. Top of the Pops was an institution along with the influential top 40 and the Billboard chart in the US.Music has moved online rather than consumers purchasing physical items and the choice is now huge in
terms of radio stations catering for every niche taste.However, with more
choice does the consumer crave less choice due to human nature, falling back on
the familiar and less challenging ?
Is the audience too afraid of this bright
new dawn or not as skilled in manipulating the internet as we like to think?
Have
these companies found ways to censor or stop sharing of copyrighted material such as ITUNES?
When confronted with a vast choice do we fall
back on the familiar or is it a generational thing that young digital natives have no issue with?
We then looked at a relatively new artist
Hozier.He appears to be a breakthrough
artist whose catchy song, ‘Take me to Church’ has propelled him to global success.
We looked at the music video for this song that deals with persecution of
homosexuality in Russia. We felt that some of the symbols and messages in the
video were clichéd and hackneyed in terms of their predictability and the
graphic representation of homosexuality was no longer shocking although the
issues remain relevant.We felt he had
relevant things to say about the Catholic church which have resonance in
Ireland and this take on religion may be controversial in America where his
marketing suggest he wants to have an impact.Whilst the video looked as if it could have been shot by a sixth form
student this may have been part of the idea in that production values are still
raw suggesting that this artist is doing it all himself and using the power of
the internet and social media to enure the song is shared widely. It is through
word of mouth that the song gains wider recognition and sharing of the video and
streaming allows it to gather momentum so that it increasingly saturates more
traditional media such as radio airplay and Music television.The internet allows a relatively unknown Irish
artist to gain international, notably American, exposure and find a wide
audience in a short period of time without an overt promotional campaign. The
strength of the song is the key to the success of the artist which suggests a
more pure from of creativity in that audiences are not being subjected to the
preferred content promoted by record companies but the best music rises to the
top dependent on its merit.
How much this is true is for you to decide.
A cynical view would be that once ‘discovered’ an artist is subjected to the
same process that has been the bedrock of the music industry for years and the
old economic model. The next ‘new’ thing is packaged and branded to an ever
hungry audience always on the look out for new talent. Maybe this is a
sociological need to gratify.To be seen
as the first to recognise talent, maybe the first to see them live.An Irish musician, playing American blues
goes viral on you-tube with an incredibly catchy and memorable tune; he plays
carefully selected US TV shows like Ellen and Letterman and these elements lead to sellout US
tours .He is signed to Columbia records
which is a subsidiary of Sony Music, part of Sony Corpoartion.
Maybe that the route to success is more
accessible for the right artist.If an
artist can use the long tail effectively to pick up a niche audience through viral
marketing, such as you-tube, of their hits this could be the quick route to riches and
success.Getting picked up by a record
company is still key to global success though suggesting that the old models are
still extant. One Direction are a good example of how an old fashioned model
like a boy band is still more successful than ever due to new media
technologies allowing users to share and interact making the whole experience
more involving. The record companies still manufacture artists and are quick to recognise and sign up new talent as it emerges so the old model is still dominant. Vested interest and years of contacts and a wealth of resources are hard to over-turn.
We then looked at Ed Sheeran to see how, through
the sheer force of will , an artist can use Web 2.0 to become a global star
despite the lack of looking like a pop star.
Here he is covering Hozier's hit, perhaps not his best idea showing how difficult the song is to cover.
We looked at the way he was branded when he began
and the way he has been branded for a global audience
We researched his history and made a timeline.
The task was to work in pairs and role play;
Imagine you are Ed Sheeran and apply the
Wikinomics theory to his work.
How do you feel about;
Peer Sharing
How has the sharing of material on the
internet helped or hindered you?
Free Creativity
Do you encourage the internet age of and do
you feel your intellectual property is protected
We Media
Has the internet made the music industry
more democratic
Thinking globally
Some say the internet is the world’s
biggest coffeehouse how has Thinking Globally helped you?
Perfect storm
How have you benefited from the perfect
storm of new technology, the internet, young ‘digital natives,’ and the global
knowledge and creative economy.
How does mass collaboration change
everything?
Here is an example of our own brave young pioneer and digital native Ed Speerman
This year it was Lady Ga-Ga's turn to put on a show and she did so without commenting on the political upheaval of the recent election. This is a key slot in television and proves that traditional media has not gone away. For global events such as this where the content is live then television still draws huge audiences. This means that advertising spend during the Superbowl is also huge with 30 second slots selling for $4million. Although advertising spend is greater on digital we cannot discount the presence of traditional media, particularly on such global events as the World Cup and the Superbowl. This makes the Superbowl a good case study, particularly as you are focusing on thee two artists as texts.
Pepsi Zero sponsored the half time show and this was the big event in its advertising campaign.
Lady Ga Ga is not paid but gets free publicity.
120 million people watch the Superbowl in the USA
Analysing the adverts that premiere each year is becoming a ritual in the media. Try the flagship Budweiser advert. Are there any political undertones?
Find another advert, de-construct it and present to the group.
Virality is the key to advertising in the online age. Explain how this works in relation to Lady Ga Ga and these adverts.
2016
I bet I was the only one of us to watch Beyonce steal the show at the Superbowl on Monday morning. The match was fascinating but not a spectacle that would keep most awake into the wee hours.
The half-time entertainment was upbeat and specatcular with Coldplay providing the feel good factor. Beyonce stole the show and has set the news agenda in the US, allowing us an insight into the way the media operates.
Firstly, see what you make of the show...
The discussion has focused on the choreography and meaning in Beyonce's performance of her new song 'Formation' which she released the day before. Released without warning on Jay-Z's troubled streaming site 'Tidal' is this cynical marketing or excellent business sense?
Beyonce has something to say in her new video and the blogosphere has been de-constructing the music video all week. What are the messages in the song and the music video?
Task
1) De-construct the video and the lyrics.
2) Read widely to inform your analysis
What has Beyonce got to say about the movement 'black lives matter'?
Is 'Formation' a Black consciousness masterpiece as indicated in this article ?
Has popular culture got the power to change political debate?
This article argues that her success has allowed, 'her to challenge cultural norms in becoming a symbol of independence, sex appeal, authenticity, achievement, blackness and femininity, within a racist society'.
Has the internet allowed artists to take control of the media?
What influence or power can popular culture figures like Beyonce have on society?
Are commercial concerns primary or is she a more important figure than a consumable 'pop' product?
Do popular culture artefacts have the power to change the news or political agenda ?
We will look at online advertising next and how the SuperBowl is an exception to the rule where most advertising spend has moved online. A 30 second slot cost $4million on US television suggesting it is too early to say television advertising is doomed.
We are going to discover the arguments for and against the internet. It ahs contributed to society in a number of positive ways and yet there is a dark side to the internet. We will explore arguments and theorists on both sides of this debate and develop our own opinions.
Begin by listing the pro's and cons of the internet.
Two issues from todays news to get us thinking...
We will start with a modern icon who foresaw the impact of the internet on the media and society. A visionary and a genius he is a good person to quote when contextualising your thesis.
We discussed how Bowie predicted that the internet would be an 'alien life form' 'exhilarating and terrifying' and that the potential was unimaginable. He stated that twenty years ago we were only seeing the 'tip of the iceberg'. his comments were very prophetic and his vision and hope that this could allow creativity to blossom shows the intuition and foresight of this artist. He talks about the internet being 'subversive, chaotic and that we are living in fran=gmentation and the internet can both bring us together and allow us to find our niche interstes and share with like minded people.
Collaboration is cited as a key positive of the internet and Bowie talks about the state of content changing and the user and provider working in a symbiotic relationship. User generated content has become common as we uploasd as well as download. In Web 1.0 we only watched or read, now we interact providing many outlets for cretaivity.
Bowie talks about this opportuity to interact and share and add your won interpretation being ' the grey space in the middle'. We can see this coming to fruition in Facebook and social media as well as trolling and memes. Mash-ups are a good example of this.
He does say that, 'monopolies do not have a monopoly,' with the internet. However, since the interview have new gatekeepers evolved who are controlling and manipulating users. Apple, Google and Facebook are the obvious new gatekeepers with power to monopolise the control of content and platforms. Do they abuse these positions of power?
We also discussed the need to contextualise the past and to understand how traditional media was consumed by audiences sin a very different way. The idea of television regularly reaching audiences of 15 million + is largely a thing of the past as channels proliferate and content can be accessed on demand. Bowie paints a picture of the 1970's when there was limited choice and society was more structured. Media was forced upon you by gatekeepers and studios. The internet has revolutionised the way we can access the media and choice is unlimited.
The first incarnation of the web was for passive audiences downloading information and reading web-sites.
Web 2.0 is where we are now with user generated content and mass interactivity and collaboration particularly with the advent of social media.
In 2016 the internet is a place of sharing and collaboration with a range motives driving this impulse to broadcast and create.
If you would believe GQ magazine then Instagram is the hot app at the moment and has its finger on the pulse, although be wary about who is stating 'what is cool' and why? Audiences are more aware of being manipulated and quickly move on to the next thing if they feel they are being conned. Instagram was bought by Facebook in 2012 when they recognised the potential of a tool that uploaded a photo and then allowed comment so that this visual medium tied in perfectly with new Apple technology such as the i-phone. It has proved incredibly successful and has made stars of a range of artists and random hipsters and has allowed a platform for access to followers/fans. A tool is created to fill the need as the web evolves (Clay Shirky) and social media becomes more widespread and sophisticated. Early adopters set the trends and the masses follow. These early adopters often have a reason for promoting the app in that they feel they may gain, money, fame, recognition or develop a career by using it. In the world of web 2.0 this is now a reality.
Is 'Big Media' (Apple, Facebook) trying to control our internet experience?
Social media and the cult of celebrity could be said to have entered the world of academia. Academics must publish research and contemporary articles to justify their positions and the world of media theory is no exception. British academic David Gauntlett has developed his own particular USP in using LEGO to make a point about creativity. It is your task to develop a critical perspective of the theories that these academics expound.
Gauntlett is concerned with the human drive to create which the internet and tools that social media has provided in the form of software and apps has unlocked this creativity. The fruits of this can be shared and an identity created online that can put your skills and accomplishments in the shop window in a myriad of forms.
He identifies five key principles in his book Making is Connecting (2010)
1 A new understanding of creativity as process, emotion and presence
2 The drive to make and share
3 Happiness through creativity and community
4 A middle layer of creativity as social glue
5 Making your mark and making the world your own
His latest book is Making Media Studies (2015) This is a positive message about using the media to make the world better through creativity and sharing. Creative spaces such as libraries as community hubs where people can meet to create are explored. In this clip he also refers to the darker side of the internet such as surveillance and the battle by big companies to control the web and web tools to make money and gain hegemony in new media industries.
It will allow you to build a response about the positive utopian vision of the internet and the dystopian vision of the dark side of the internet.
You have made your own moving image production showing creativity. Reflect on how this experience has affected you personally. Try to link this with Gauntlett's theories which are hopefully positive and inspirational.
This article is particularly interesting for us as he makes a valid point about theorists and the negative view of the internet age which often overshadows the positive aspects of our online age.
You will have to add your own critical perspective.
Research Twitter and Facebook as established web tools and also research new applications that are catching on.
Explore the world of the creators. Making and creating is maybe what separates humans from animals and is a higher order skill. You can apply this to your own production discussing how you analysed codes and conventions and then went further in creating your own media product. The desire to share and interact is also discussed by Gauntlett and can be seen in the new medium of internet vlogging.
You need to explore the world of vloggers and explain how this ties in with Gauntlett's theory and how it challenges the economic models of the media industry. Is this the future of the media on the internet?
Janoskians
Alfie Deyes
Zoella
Shaanxo
Joe Sugg
Caspar Lee
Examiners advice - Bring your own texts
There is obviously an audience for this media as some have 5 million subscribers. Who is the audience?
Audiences consume the media in different ways in the online age. Identify how consumer behaviour has changed.
Link to Wikinomics and how the internet has changed the economic model of the music industry over time
Use your case studies to show how the music industry is changing du to the possibilities afforedd by the internet.
How do these two artists use the internet?
Living in the stream
This is the new form of media reception. We are participants not audiences. Media is
flowing all the time, it is high volume, non stop. We can't possibly keep up with everything. For example all your friends tweets and posts.
There comes a point where you give up to the stream and find the current.
Join in and swim.
Digital Natives
Our attention spans get shorter as we need to be constantly entertained or our attention is focused on the next thing.
Fame notoriety 'clickbait'
Urban Explorers. James Kingston on the roofs
The concept of scheduling is gone. Everything is on demand
The economic model is defunct as content is free.
Your network is personalised around you. Like the film 'Minority Report' the
adverts read you. It is happening as they know your favourites and
your habits. If you read your phone you will see that the adverts becomes personalised.
Data collection is big business . This sounds futuristic but tech companies are the future of the global economy. It is a good industry to get involved with.
Mots of the transitions of the next century will happen through technology. We are constantly being digitally upgraded
Prince - saw the internet as a threat as artists would not make money from the internet
Bowie - saw the internet as a wonderful creative tool
Streaming - Spotify, Deezer, Tidal, Apple music
Explore TIDAL and explain how it fits in the market of other streaming services.
Two case studies of artists living in the stream and looking ahead, taking control, restricting access to pay per view.
Use of Tidal
New form - a 'visual' album
Full use of social media
Celebrity status
Making the personal the persona
Restricting access to pay per view or tied channels/ platforms (HBO,TIDAL)
Radiohead - Dawn Chorus
Release strategy
Took all other online sources down to direct pepople to the right plavce
Forbes magazine estimates that the VR industry will generate $150 billion by 2020 and it will have a huge impact on media industries.
Clouds over Sidra - a 12 year old Syrian living in a refuge camp in Jordan
Explore the technology by finding out about the following;
Oculus Rift
Google cardboard
Samsung Gear
HTC Vive
How will it affect the following areas/industries. Find an example of its use in the area that you choose;
Film
Music
Computer Games
Art
Documentary
News
Architecture
Is it 'the ultimate empathy machine' due to the level of immersion in the medium?
Is 'rectangle cinema' going to turn into 'spherical cinema'?
How will it aid activism and documentary making?
How will it aid teaching? For example history or geography?
What are the darker sides to this new technology?
Apply your theorists to the development of this new technology. Wider reading
Tan Pura - Jonny Greenwood of Radiohead and Mike Tucker
THe Displaced - documentary by the New york Times
Hunger in Los Angeles - waiting at a food bank
Raby - a military coup in Pinochet's 1973 Chile
Millions march - Spike Lee documents a day of protest linked to the 'Black Lives Matter' movement
Waves of Grace - A UN documentary about a Liberian Ebola survivor
First Life - Attenborough nature documentary
Chris Milk - TED lecture about spherical cinema
Article in Sight and Sound magazine in the library
Oculus Rift was a success of crowdsourcing - Clay Shirky, Wikinomics
The Future - some key points to engage with in any response about the future of media in the online age
Projecting a version of yourself
Internet safety
Rise of the new 'gatekeepers'
Activism e.g 'Black Lives Matter'. Bringing people together, providing a voice
Immersive experiences - learning a language, overcoming social challenges, Construction and building, holidays.
Social Media has changed the way that we receive the news. This is an example of Dan Gillmor's theory of 'We Media' which he wrote in 2004. We are now living in the stream and the 'gatekeepers' of Big Media have lost some of their power to control how news is mediated. We are going to gain a critical perspective as to how far 'We Media' has replaced the traditional model of mediation. The texts at the bottom of the post refer to the election last year and are still relevant. In fact you can quantify how important social media was compared to traditional media by looking at the election result. Did social media have the effect that lots of commentators thought it would have? If not why not ?
However, we are going to look at a more contemporary political story in the Panama Papers.
How has online media affected the mediation of political messages?
How has this impacted upon the power of Big Media?
Has web 2.0 changed the way media is used in campaigning?
Does the endorsement of celebrities or public figures have an impact on audiences?
Which audiences are they aimed at?
Has online media replaced traditional media at this election?
Are audiences engaging with politics more directly?
Is online media encouraging collaboration and community activism?
Steve Coogan backs Labour
Labour use the support of Ronnie O'Sullivan in a viral online campaign
Compare the following oppositions.
Traditional TV debates versus Vlogging and Blogging
Traditional posters versus Memes
PR Spin and press releases versus Mash-ups
Which do you think is more influential, newspapers or online media?
This advert for the Green Party has been noticed on social media after going viral. A different approach is taken to the traditional party political broadcast which chimes with the message that the Green Party are the only party who represent a different approach to the mainstream.
Study the following front pages of newspapers from recent weeks.
Study sales figures to see what trends you can discuss.
What do the front pages reveal about the British press ?
How influential do you think these newspapers will be in the election?
How does media ownership affect the news that we receive?
