Apologies, but I can't seem to put this images where I want!

Most newspapers sold in the United Kingdom are tabloids. Only one broadsheet features in the top six selling newspapers of January 2009 (Audit Bureau of Circulations 2009).
1. The Sun 3,146,000
2. The Daily Mail 2,200,398
3. The Daily Mirror 1,366,891
4. The Daily Telegraph 783,210
5. The Daily Star 768,534
6. The Daily Mirror 736,340

The most watched television programmes in the United Kingdom have limited history of dealing with serious issues!
/e 8 Nov 2009
000's
1
THE X FACTOR RESULTS (SUN 1959)
15,003
2
THE X FACTOR (SAT 2000)
13,051
3
CORONATION STREET (MON 1932)
10,851
4
CORONATION STREET (MON 2029)
10,542
5
DOC MARTIN (SUN 2102)
10,285
6
CORONATION STREET (FRI 2029)
9,459
7
CORONATION STREET (FRI 1932)
9,164
8
CORONATION STREET (THU 2031)
8,601
9
EMMERDALE (MON 1900)
7,456
10
EMMERDALE (THU 2000)
7,379
so....To what extent do the best selling UK newspapers cover stories related to serious issues? To what extent would you think that it is their role to do so? In your opinion does the tabloid media and 'low budget entertainment' (reality shows, soaps) have too much power and influence in this country?

Firstly - What is considered a serious issue? This is a highly opinionated question in itself. For my little foster sister a ‘serious issue’ would be the fact that ‘Iggly-Piggle & Upsy Daisy soft toys’ have been recalled and are off the shelves due to the health and safety concerns of the buttons on their outfits, so she won’t be getting that for Christmas! Whereas for my dad a serious issue may be the falling interests rates of HSBC bank. When reading my thoughts about UK newspapers, media coverage, tabloids and TV please consider whether you have the same perception as me, because this is a highly controversial and opinionated subject in study.

The media is highly influential and has gained more power as it has become more established. According to McQuail (1969:2)’mass communications comprise the institutions and techniques by which specialized groups employ technological devices (press, radio, films, etc.) to disseminate symbolic content to large, heterogeneous, and widely dispersed audiences’. The mass media – particularly television – have become ‘the cultural epicentre’ of our world (Castells, 1996:336, 333). It has become part of our daily rountine to encounter the media and media production is now one of the largest and most lucrative industrial sectors in the global economy. Connel (1988) says media, particularly the TV have been credited with ‘fabulous’ powers to change people and have been blamed for contributing to most social ills. This fact does not bode well especially as the most newspapers sold in the United Kingdom are tabloid, commonly know for not being compiled of intellectual discourse!


Below is a list of what Wikipedia claim to be Newspapers focused on serious journalism
Broadsheet format
Daily
The Daily Telegraph (est. 1855) – owned by David and Frederick Barclay – Conservative
Financial Times (est. 1888) – owned by Pearson PLC. A business-oriented daily. Economically liberal.
Sunday
The Sunday Telegraph (est. 1961) – owned by David and Frederick Barclay – Conservative
The Sunday Times (est. 1822) – owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Centre-Right.
Berliner format
Daily
The Guardian (est. 1821) — owned by the Scott Trust; The Guardian switched to Berliner size on 12 September 2005. Left-of-centre, socially liberal
Sunday
The Observer (est. 1791) — owned by the Scott Trust; switched to Berliner size on 8 January 2006. Left-of-centre, socially liberal
Compact format
Daily
The Independent (est. 1986) – Daily compact from May 2004. Centre-left, liberal views.
The Times (est. 1785) – Daily compact from November 2004. Owned by Rupert Murdoch's News Corporation. Centre-right, Conservative.
Sunday
Independent on Sunday (est. 1990) – Sunday paper compact from October 2005. Centre-left, liberal views.

But these papers are not the commonly read in the UK – tabloids are! The Sun itself even advertises its content as ‘Get the latest news and features at The Sun - Showbiz, TV, babes, celebrities, sport and racing, national and international news’ – in which news is mentioned last!

According to the Guardian – ‘Politicians should stop sucking up to the tabloids It makes them look unprincipled and probably won't help them win elections either’
– is this just bitterness and rivalry between newspapers?

In addition, analysis of the media power focuses on the growing popularity of the TV. The UK the average daily TV viewing time is 3 hours, according to OECD's “Communications Outlook 2007”, but this sounds a little unrealistic to me!- I double checked this with National statistics.gov.uk and they are coming up with complimentary figures, so I guess it must be right!

http://www.statistics.gov.uk/STATBASE/ssdataset.asp?vlnk=602

(sorry tried to include table from Office for National Statistics about Figures show the average time spent watching the television, video and DVD. but for some reason wouldn't let me copy and paste - if you are interested please find it on this website)

http://http//www.longcountdown.com/2008/05/24/tv-viewing-figures-vs-iq-ranking-by-country/

Looking at the graph (at top of blog entry!) – us Brits don’t seem as much as a ‘couch potato’ as the US!

Unfortunately a great proportion of viewing time is of ‘social’ programmes and not informative channels, such as documentaries. Which leads onto my next example:
X Factor viewing figures to top 12 million? The number of viewings reflects the popularity of the show, and then all the press afterwards shows its influence!

http://blogs.mirror.co.uk/shelleyvision/x-factor/

Tabloids and ‘low budget entertainment closely link their work, it could be considered collaborative media coverage. This way the public get ‘double wammy’ and both succeed in gaining greater power and influence of our society.

Here is more food for thought:
The tabloids are highly influential, but to want extent are they telling us the truth? Typically the media, any form of media have an agenda; some social commentators have an agenda and pursue their agendas regardless of facts. In her article Demonised by the tabloid media, Terence Grange discusses the true agenda’s behind tabloids. (http://www.esrcsocietytoday.ac.uk/ESRCInfoCentre/about/CI/CP/the_edge/issue24/demonised.aspx)
“The tabloid newspapers and tabloid television and the hunt across TV channels for ever more CCTV footage demonstrating the fecklessness, violence and anti-social attitudes which prevail are clear evidence of two things; firstly, these things are happening and secondly, the tabloids, both press and media, are only too willing to show them. Is what they show evidence that modern youth has a problem, the problem being that modern youth is as pictured by the press and TV? Or is it evidence that the tabloid media has an obsession and is pursuing that obsession regardless of overwhelming evidence that what they show is the exception rather than the rule?”
Her writing demonstrates the high influence such media has in our country, and how much of it do we take literally and how much should we take with a pinch of salt? In this circumstance I consider the content in discussion, (teenagers in society today) a rather serious issue, but nevertheless is it a justice account that she is anaylsing. When the tabloid do decide to cover more serious issues, I believe they do not do it well, this is probably because they rarely cover ‘serious issues’ (in my eyes) so when they do it is merely their own obscured taking on the matter!

Here are some opinions of the media, taken from Yahoo comments:‘Its never the truth in the media, only what u wanted to hear’
‘The media is just a load of B******KS’
‘I love the media, I love juicy gossip’

Books such as Tabloid Prodigy: Dishing the Dirt, Getting the Gossip, and Selling My Soul in the Cutthroat World of Hollywood Reporting illustrate the role in which Tabloids play and the coverage they consist of. Tabloid press have a lot of power.

Here is another thought and evidence how much influence and the extent to which tabloids will go to to influence us – the death of Princess Diana - at the time tabloids were getting bad press because Princess Diana’s death was as a result of a car accident involving the paparazzi.

To conclude, if tabloids wish to present themselves informing the public of juicy, gossip and latest celeb news then is it their role to cover serious issues? Is this not what broadsheet newspapers and documentaries set out to do. The tabloids are aiming for different markets and if they were to cover serious issues then I believe that respectively their sales would drop! (I know I am being stereotypical – you might have guessed I am not a Sun reader!). Lastly, unfortunately I do believe that the media in general to hold far to much power and influence in this country, and with tabloid and ‘low budget entertainment’ popularity being greatest, the influence is not beneficial in my view. We are educating the people of our country with jargon! And not serious issues at all. However, it is up to the individual to seek their own form of education, and enlight themselves of the news that they wish to receive. It could eb argued that it is for this reason why we live in such an unsustainable, un manageable hooliganism world. However, it is going to take more that tabloid and ‘low budget entertainment’ coverage to change the greater problems that we face.

One of the central themes underpinning sustainable development is equality and fairness. This is reflected in the concept of 'empowered citizenship'- in that we can all make a contribution to making our community (our local area, our region, our country, our planet) a better place now and in the future. Some important areas are quite difficult to understand. Science, economics, politics are often quite difficult to comprehend and yet are central to decisions that are made by others about our lives.

To what extent do you think that it is your duty as a citizen to be 'informed'? Are you informed? How do you get to be informed about serious issues? To what extent do you think that you should leave the complicated decisions up to others?

By definition, a 'citizen is an individual with certain rights and duties under a government and who, by birth or by choice, owes allegiance to that government.' Citizenship involves many duties and responsibilities, the basic is to contribute to the common good.

According to wilkipedia citizenship is the state of being a citizen of a particular social, political, or national community.
Citizenship status, under social contract theory, carries with it both rights and responsibilities. "Active citizenship" is the philosophy that citizens should work towards the betterment of their community through economic participation, public service, volunteer work, and other such efforts to improve life for all citizens.

In a more understable language, our responsibilities are governed and enforced upon us through our goverments. These legally enforced responsibilities or duties of citizenship vary depending on one's country. Examples include:

• paying taxes


• serving on a jury


• Voting


• serving in the country's armed forces when called upon


• obeying the criminal laws enacted by one's government, even while abroad

American citizens have First Amendment freedoms:•

• Religion—Government may not establish an official religion, nor endorse, or unduly interfere with the free exercise of religion.


• Speech—Individuals are free to express their opinions and beliefs.
  
• Press—The press has the right to gather and publish information, including that which criticizes the government.


• Assembly—Individuals may peacefully gather


• Petition—Individuals have the right to make their views known to public officials.
  
  http://civics.pwnet.org/CE/CE.4.html
  

Whereas in China, The Nationality Law of the People's Republic of China regulates how Chinese lead their lives.

I would therefore argue, that if we are dutifully bound to follow laws and regulations imposed by our country of residence, then in return we are at least owed the power of knowledge, learning and understanding. We as citizens have a right to be informed, and informed the truth.

To be informed means to communicate knowledge and there are many ways to inform people and for people to be informed. Here are just some examples:

• books


• magazines


• visual advertisements - e.g. posters, billboards


• media advertisement -e.g. radio broadcasts, TV programmes/documentaries


• through music and songs


• leaflets/handouts


• newspapers


• the internet


• through the spoken word - simply talking to one another

I would say that the internet has become one of the most popular sources for information - you have the whole world at your finger tips. However, it can be dangerous and often the information is not factual, you have to be very careful to find the source and appreciate that you can not believe everything you read.

As an individual it is the source of the information which is relevant and important to me, nearly as much as the information itself. The source must be reliable for me to act responsible to it. A poor/negative source can greatly infuence the outcome of the information. It is how this information is provided and commuicated which is also of importance.

Looking at a wider scale it is positive to see progress in informing citizens by local councils. In a document pubished by http://www.communities.gov/ (April 2006) councils are to develop new ways to keep their citizens better informed. It states:
'Everyone has the right to request information held by public sector organisations under the Freedom of Information Act 2000'

It is believed that improvements in public services and effective citizen empowermet rest on transparency of information. In the current climate we are turning to advanced technology to inform us and teach us. For example, companies such as Digital Engagement believe in empowering citizens & Government through Digital Innovation. It claims “Government has been actively exploring the key issues around the use of digital technologies in the public sector and determining how it can engage more effectively with citizens to increase social inclusion and efficiency whilst delivering better public services.” http://www.publictechnology.net/

In relation to my own life experiences, I believe I am very much an independent person when requiring information, in the sense that I shall often go actively in search of the information as in general it is not provided to an adequate level for my demand. It is very much dependant on the type and source from which such information is being requested. For example, if I merely wanted a bus timetable then I can just look at my local bus stop or if I required the telephone number for a pizza delivery service then I could turn to my local yellow pages - all of which the local government provide. However, when it comes to more serious issues or I require a greater depth of knowledge on more complicated topics, I feel as if I have to search a lot harder for the information I so wish for and then I also have to question the extent to which the information I have found provides me with a fair answer, or is it derived by somebody's opinion and not factual. For example, one topic I believe I have little knowledge on, due to the lack of appropriate information, is politics. I find it confusing what I read in the media or what I watch on the television (like in the Houses of Parliment). I tend to forget about politics because of my lack of understanding, however I would very much like a non-bias account about what is going on in the world of politics and why.

In addition, I also believe that some people are more informed than others, and this to me is unfair. It is not neccessarily those of a more previledged background (e.g. they can afford the internet or have 6 televisions and one in their own room!) I believe under the power of the present government some groups of people benefit more than others. For example, those of a working class background are more informed about the benefits that they can recieve, than someone of an upper-class knows what number to ring when they need specialist advice about a health condition. Please note this is only my opinion and I do not wish to offend anybody nor do I mean to be subjective to different classes of people, this is merely an example to try and explain my beliefs.
The information that one is presented with is very much governed and controlled by 'people in high places'. In terms of serious issues, I feel as if we are almost too sheltered from the reality due to the lack of information that we are provided with. Is this the intention? If we are taught little, then perhaps we as a nation will question less the success (or generally the unsuccess) of our leaders (by this I am referring to our government bodies and the 'people in high places').

I therefore would argue that we should not always leave the complicated serious decisions in life up to others because who is to say that they know best? In some circumstances it would be more appropriate to, e.g. a doctor would usually be best to diagnose treatment when presented with a certain health condition (invariable anyway) as they have obtained plenty of information to give them expertise with the situation. However, one must make their own judgement as to whether or not to leave questions and problems for others to find the answers to. I would just recommend that you should be aware of 'spin' on situations and never completely trust the outcome or believe everything you are presented with.