Media Influence esay

Ever since Johann Gutenburg (1400-1468) invented and developed the printing press in 1457, mass media has played an increasingly important role in the development, form and struggle over ideas and social issues. Luther Martin (1483-1546) and his followers were the first to use any mass media technology in 1517. Luther’s demands that were nailed on the door of the cathedral in Wittenberg were promptly reproduced on posters and within weeks had appeared throughout Germany and France. By 1815 the power of the media was widely acknowledged by the ruling elite, Napoleon had stated that, “four hostile Newspapers are more to be feared than a thousand bayonets.”

During this essay I intend to look at different areas of the media, mainly newspapers and televised news, and discuss how they present and air their views on industrial disputes. I will discuss how they use different techniques, wording and angles to manipulate and influence the public into believing only one aspect or perspective with regards to industrial disputes. I will look at cases from the 1970’s and discuss how the media exploit the public’s perspective of industrial deb

A similar distortion was displayed when assessing all strike coverage from the same period. Shipbuilding and engineering, with a high incidence of strikes, received negligible coverage. Mining, construction and chemical industries received no coverage at all. Of the twenty principal disputes singled out by the Department of Employment as being significantly bad on the economy, nine were not mentioned at all on television news.

In general, the major newspapers display a systematic and crude bias against the trade union movement. Strikes, if reported at all, are often given negative coverage by the media. Very rarely have they been given sympathetic or even reasonable treatment. In most cases the cause of the strike is totally ignored, with the focus being on the possible consequences and effects. The mass circulation daily newspapers are all dependant upon commercial advertising from big business corporations, and as a result, it is unlikely that they would be critical of their paymasters. The notion of free communication is an ideal to be aimed for most newspapers; however, financial constraints mean that in reality the ‘free press’ is a myth.

Some topics in this essay:
Department Employment, Germany France, Harold Evans, Daily Mail, Conservative Government, Luther Martin, Johann Gutenburg, Rupert Murdoch, , industrial disputes, Margaret Thatcher’s, post war strike, unions workers, trade union, mass media, coverage industrial, industrial debates, received coverage, workers interviewed, coverage industrial disputes, air views, focus primarily,