Introduction to the British Isles

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Introduction to the British Isles

• Media

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Newspapers

• Quiz. Complete the following with the help of the
  textbook and your own background knowledge
• What proportion of British people read
  newspapers?
• Where and when do British people buy newspapers?
• Match up the pairs of opposite types of
  newspaper a. broadsheet i. Sunday b.
  national ii. tabloid
• c. daily iii. Regional
• 4. What are the differences between quality and
  popular newspapers?
• 5. One recent change has been the introduction of
  compact newspapers. These are quality papers in
  tabloid format, such as the Independent and the
  Times. What do you think was the most likely
  reason for this development
• a reduction in production costs
• the quality papers hope to drive tabloids out of
  the market
• c. the smaller format is more popular with busy
  modern readers

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Newspapers

• Quiz. Complete the following with the help of the
  textbook and your own background knowledge
• What proportion of British people read
  newspapers? About 80 (according to ODriscoll
  it is now considerably lower in terms of copies
  purchased but this is the figure for the test!)
• Where and when do British people buy newspapers?
  Typically in the morning, at newsagents
  letterbox delivery organised by the newsagents
  on the streets in larger cities later in the day
  (evening papers late editions)
• Match up the pairs of opposite types of
  newspaper a. broadsheet i. Sunday b.
  national ii. tabloid
• c. daily iii. Regional

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Newspapers
4. What are the differences between quality and
popular newspapers? Generally difference in
topics (more scandal/celebrity-oriented stories
in popular press) difference in language (more
formal in quality papers) much less coverage of
politics and national/international news in
popular newspapers.
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Newspapers

• 5. One recent change has been the introduction of
  compact newspapers. These are quality papers in
  tabloid format, such as the Independent and the
  Times. What do you think was the most likely
  reason for this development?
• a reduction in production costs
• b. the quality papers hope to drive tabloids out
  of the market
• c. the smaller format is more popular with busy
  modern readers
• c is the correct answer here although
  ultimately the production costs may be lower, the
  inital outlay on expensive equipment means that
  costs would take a long time to recoup the
  qualities know that they have no hope of driving
  tabloids out of the market, though they may hope
  to attract some of the middle class readers of
  the Mail and the Express.

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Newspapers

• Which newspapers have the highest circulation
  figures?
• 8. Who is Rupert Murdoch? It is rumoured that he
  managed to persuade Tony Blair to promise the
  British people a referendum on the European
  constitution, even though Blair had previously
  ruled this out. How do you think he is able to be
  so influential?

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Newspapers

• 7. Which newspapers have the highest circulation
  figures?
• The Sun (ca. 3.8 million copies sold daily) and
  its sister (Sunday) paper, the News of the World
  (ca. 5 million sold each Sunday).
• The highest circulation for a quality is the
  Daily Telegraph. ca. 700 000 daily.

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Newspapers

• Other newspapers
• Tabloids Daily Mail, Daily Mirror, Daily
  Express
• Compact qualitiy newspapers the Times, the
  Independent
• The Guardian and Observer Berliner format
• Broadsheets Daily Telegraph, Financial Times,
  Sunday Telegraph, Sunday Times

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Newspapers
News magazines Private Eye (satiriical
magazine) circulation ca. 250 000 The Economist
- circulationca. 160 000 Prospect, New
Statesman, Spectator (ca. 25 000 each) The Week
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Newspapers

• Who is Rupert Murdoch?A media magnate owner of,
  among other things, Fox TV, News International
  (publishers of the Sun, News of the World, the
  Times and the Sunday Times), Random House
  publishers. (He is Australian but his interests
  are worldwide.)
• It is rumoured that he managed to
  persuade Tony Blair to promise the British people
  a referendum on the European constitution, even
  though Blair had previously ruled this out. How
  do you think he is able to be so influential?
  Anyone, like Murdoch, with so much influence on
  the media can inevitably influence politicians.
  In the case of Blair and the referendum, Murdoch
  had supported Blair in the general election (the
  first time the Sun had encouraged its voters to
  vote Labour) and Blair did not wish to lose this
  support.

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Newspapers

• 9. In the 1990s newspapers were criticised for
  intruding into the private lives of celebrities.
  What was the most famous instance? (It was widely
  debated in 1997)
• Diana, Princess of Wales. The fact that
  paparazzi were trying to photograph her with Dodi
  Fayed at the time of their deaths (though it
  later emerged that the driver of the car had been
  drunk and that Diana, Fayed and the driver had
  not been wearing seatbelts Dianas bodyguard,
  who had been wearing a seatbelt, survived), led
  to calls for curbs on press freedom.

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Television and Radio

• What does BBC stand for?
• How is it funded?
• What is the reputation of the BBC?
• What role does the government play in the
  regulation of the BBC?
• One example of government censorship of the BBC
  involved, for example, TV interviews with Gerry
  Adams in the late 1980s. What happened?
• What other TV channels exist apart from BBC TV
  and how are they funded?
• What are some of the most popular TV programmes
  in Britain?

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Television and Radio

• What does BBC stand for? British Broadcasting
  Corporation
• How is it funded? Directly, by the government
  indirectly through the television licence fee.
• What is the reputation of the BBC? Generally
  positive it has a reputation for producing
  quality programmes, unbiased journalism, and, as
  part of its charter, fulfils an educational
  remit. As well as two national tv channels, 5
  national radio channels (plus digital offerings),
  regional tv and radio and a comprehensive online
  presence (www.bbc.co.uk), it runs the annual
  Proms (Promenade concerts) music festival and a
  number of orchestras, both symphony and light
  orchestras.
• What role does the government play in the
  regulation of the BBC? The government is
  responsible for the BBC Charter (new charter came
  into effect on 1st January 2007) which outlines
  the rights and responsibilities of the BBC
  (including how much money it receives and how it
  should be spent) it also is responsible for
  appointing the Board of Governors who are
  responsible for the direct oversight of the BBC.

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Television and Radio

• One example of government censorship of the BBC
  involved, for example, TV interviews with Gerry
  Adams in the late 1980s. What happened?
• The government outlawed the transmission of
  interviews on television. The BBC got round this
  by showing Adams but dubbing his voice with that
  of an actor whose accent was as close to Adams
  as the BBC could find. A caption beneath stated
  that, due to government regulations, the voice of
  an actor was being used but that the words spoken
  were those originally spoken by Adams.

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• 6. What other TV channels exist apart from BBC TV
  and how are they funded? ITV (made up of a
  number of different independent companies)
  Channel 4, Channel 5. Funded by advertisements.
  However, news on the independent terrestial
  channels is produced by one company, ITN
  (Independent Television News), owned jointly by
  the various companies. In addition, satellite,
  and, to a lesser extent, cable channels are also
  available. As in Germany, some of these are free
  to view, some are subscription channels The
  largest of the companies is Sky another of
  Rupert Murdochs holdings.

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• 7. What are some of the most popular TV
  programmes in Britain? Coronation Street (ITV
  soap), Eastenders (BBC soap), Casualty (BBC drama
  series), various reality tv shows such as Big
  Brother and Im a Celebrity, Get Me Out of Here!
  Makeover shows such as Groundforce, What Not to
  Wear

Trinny and Susannah from What Not to Wear
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Focus Media and the Government

• Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
• September 2002 Government produces dossier about
  alleged Iraqi weapons of mass destruction,
  including claim they could be deployed within 45
  minutes
• May 2003 BBC Today programme's Andrew Gilligan
  broadcasts report of claims that Downing Street
  "sexed up" dossier, with 45 mins claim included
  against intelligence agencies' wishes
• 10 July 2003Dr David Kelly named as suspected
  source of report as government continues to deny
  the story
• 17 July 2003 Dr Kelly found dead
• August 2003 Lord Hutton begins six weeks of
  hearings about the circumstances around Dr
  Kelly's death

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Media and the Government

• Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
• Huttons conclusions
• Dr Kelly probably killed himself because of
  extreme loss of self-esteem and would have seen
  himself as being publicly disgraced
• Dr Kelly would have felt his job was at risk and
  that his life's work could be undermined
• Andrew Gilligan's report that Downing Street
  "probably knew" the 45-minute claim in its Iraq
  dossier was wrong was a grave allegation and
  attacked the integrity of the government and the
  Joint Intelligence Committee (JIC)
• It is not possible to reach a definite conclusion
  as to what Dr Kelly said to Mr Gilligan
• Satisfied Dr Kelly did not say to Mr Gilligan
  that the government knew the 45-minute claim was
  wrong or that intelligence agencies did not
  believe it was necessarily true

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Media and the Government

• Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
• Huttons conclusions
• Editorial system at BBC was defective in allowing
  Mr Gilligan's report to go to air without editors
  seeing a script
• BBC management failed to make an examination of
  Mr Gilligan's notes of the interview with Dr
  Kelly
• There was a defect in the BBC's management system
  relating to the way complaints were investigated
• BBC governors failed to investigate Mr Gilligan's
  actions properly

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Media and the Government

• Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
• Huttons conclusions
• The Prime Minister's desire to have as compelling
  a dossier as possible may have subconsciously
  influenced the JIC to make the language of the
  dossier stronger than they would otherwise have
  done
• The JIC and its chairman, John Scarlett, were
  concerned to ensure that the contents of the
  dossier were consistent with the intelligence
  available to the JIC
• The dossier could be said to be "sexed up" if
  this term is taken to mean it was drafted to make
  the case against Saddam as strong as intelligence
  permitted
• But in the context of Mr Gilligan's report,
  "sexed up" would be understood to mean the
  dossier was embellished with items of
  intelligence known or believed to be false or
  unreliable. This allegation is unfounded

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Media and the Government

• Gilligan, Kelly and the Hutton Report
• Huttons conclusions
• There was no underhand government strategy to
  name Dr Kelly
• It was necessary to have Dr Kelly before the
  foreign affairs committee The MoD was at fault in
  the way it dealt with Dr Kelly once his name was
  made public
• MoD failed to tell Dr Kelly his name would be
  made public
• Dr Kelly's exposure to press interest was only
  one of the issues putting him under stress

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The Guardian, September 19, 2003
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Media and the Government

• Further fallout
• resignation of Gavyn Davies, the Chairman of the
  BBC Board of Governors the BBC Director-General
  Greg Dyke (whose resignation was greeted by mass
  protests by BBC staff) the journalist at the
  centre of the dispute, Andrew Gilligan
• Hands off the Beeb! campaign
• Widespread claims that political interviewers
  were being forced to dumb down and be less
  aggressive when dealing with members of the
  government
• Review of the BBC Charter (at that time in
  progress)
• New Charter came into effect on 1st January, 2007
  Board of Governors abolished and replaced by
  BBC Trust which is independent of BBC Management.
  Main other change the BBC must demonstrate
  public value for everything (including online
  offerings) it produces
• Hutton widely regarded as a whitewash
  immediately followed by Butler inquiry on
  intelligence leading up to Iraq war

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Leisure activities

• Gardening, DIY
• Sports football
• rugby
• cricket
• golf
• fitness centres

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Leisure activities

• Theatres
• Concerts
• Museums
• Art galleries

Barbican Arts Centre, London
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Tate Britain (formerly the Tate Gallery)
Tate Modern opened 2000 Formerly Bankside Power
Station
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Festivals

• Proms
• BBC Promenade Concerts
• Founded by Sir Henry Wood
• 2006 73 concerts from July 14th September 9th

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Festivals

• Edinburgh Festival
• International Arts Festival founded 1947
• Tattoo
• Fringe festival
• Jazz festival
• Film festival
• Book festival

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Festivals

• Hay-on-Wye Guardian Hay Festival May/June
• Largest literature festival in Europe
• Town population ca. 1900
• Number of bookshops 39

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Notting Hill Carnival

• Largest street festival in the world, apart from
  Mardi Gras in Rio
• August Bank Holiday Weekend

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Holidays
Traditional seaside holidays Brighton (Prince
Regent) Blackpool Scotland Glasgow Fair -
Doon the Water to Helensburgh, Largs
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