News Agenda - Peter Cole

During our first News Agenda session we were told that it might be worth our while reading Peter Cole's four part series on the national press that was published in The Guardian.

There were some points made that I found quite interesting. For example, the idea that journalists struggle to talk about 'the life of newspapers' in opposition to 'the death of newspapers', simply because we read too many. The articles themselves are therefore not strictly aimed at journalists, although we can gain much from reading them, but they are for the benefit of 'ordinary readers'. The articles are on the subject of the national press, starting mid-market with the Daily Express and the Daily Mail. It makes quite interesting but also humorous points on the obsession of the Express with Diana and Madeleine McCann. It reasons that the real Express obsession is Diana because they have such exceptional Paris contacts. This means the paper can continuously run headlines such as 'Diana: new sensation' or 'Scandal of Diana cover-up' with very little comment or following up of the stories. "The conspiracy theories build without trace. And nobody really knows why". The Mail is an interesting case study as its views are so strong and these views are intended to reflect the prejudices of their readers, not the contemporary world. The Mail also takes 'proper note of [its] demographics rather than pandering to the advertisers' preoccupation with young consumers'. The reason the Mail is doing so much better than the express comes down to two things: Confidence, the Mail's dominant quality and the fact that it knows its 'middle England' audience.

His next article starts with a bold statement, (and one that fortunately would appeal to the readers of the Guardian, he knows his own demographics), claiming that 'the tabloids are another country to readers of this and other serious newspapers'. He notes that the Red top market is dominated by the Sun on weekdays but by the News of the World on Sundays, the tabloids do still hold such influence even with the decline in circulation (however, the Sun is still the highest selling daily). Journalists on national newspapers - even editors of serious newspapers - can't get enough of the tabloids, the stories are followed up in their own columns with little excuse needed to refer back to them. The golden age of the tabloids was when "society was more stratified, when manual work was dominant, when politicians commanded respect, when education was driving social mobility and when stars were glitzy, (Peter Cole's words not mine). Most tabloids tend to feature stories on infidelity by the famous and not so much or drug addictions of the same. The way they get this information has been called into question however after the News of the World were found to have paid for illegally obtained phone intercepts and the Mirror was found to have phoney photos to back allegations of abuse by British troops. Tabloid journalists are the least trusted of all journalists which Cole finds unfair, "some of the best journalists work for tabloids and the techniques of tabloid journalism are the hardest to acquire". The agenda is what has gone 'awry'. The Sun's views on crime and punishment, Europe, asylum and the nanny state still reflect a strong vein of opinion (when they are present).

Whether you call them 'broadsheets' or use the official Audit Bureau of Circulations term, 'qualities', the more correct term would probably be 'serious'. Although it surprised me to learn that the four 'qualities' - Guardian, Telegraph, Times and Independent - have a combined circulation smaller than the Daily Mail's, it did not surprise me to learn they are punching well above their weight, even if the decisions made by our leaders after reading them, can often be wrong. Cole finds the 'serious sector' the most interesting in recent times due to its compact revolution, its engagement with online publishing, the changes in ownership, management and editors, the growth in the importance of Saturday and the huge investment made in giveaway CDs and DVDs. The article also had some interesting points especially for me, considering my news agenda presentation, on the subject of the Independent. He says the Independent is more like a pressure group than a political party, concentrating on the issues it believes its readers care about, carving a niche for itself on a daily fix of war, climate change, Heathrow protests, Darfur and university clearing.

In Cole's final essay on the press, he enthuses on the subject of the thriving multi section supplement paper. Although they are more expensive and often have a lot of waffle in their different sections, we as consumers actually purchase more Sunday newspapers than weekday newspapers. Market research suggests that readers prefer a more manageable product whilst the market demonstrates the complete opposite. Sunday papers have become 'embedded in our culture' even though Sundays have changed completely in society. The serious Sundays have not suffered the drop in circulation of the tabloids and so they are in reasonable health.

Long may this continue and we'll hope that 'the death of the newspaper' is a little over zealous. Perhaps it is 'too soon for obits'.