Traditional News, Ownership and Platforms

 Traditional News: Journalists as Gatekeeper - to control, manage and transfer 

• The gatekeeper decides what information should move to group or individual and what information should no 

Features of a Traditional News Company:

• Owned by a large conglomerate 
• Has many new subsidiaries, often specialising in a specific audience or geographic area 
• Products available across a range of distribution platforms: radio, newspapers, television 
• Clear political ideology 

News Corp;

• Large conglomerate
• Has many subsidiaries, often specialising in a specific audience or geographical area
• Murdoch 
• Sky sports, the sun 
• Publishing, tv, newspaper 
• Politics 

News Platforms:

• TV
• Radio
• Website
• Social Media
• Print
• Apps

Political Ideology:

Left wing:

• Favours working class
• Favours social equality
• Favours social changes/progress
• Favours public owned public services 
• Favours high taxes and state involvement
• Favours peace 
• Inclusive 

Right wing:

• Favours the wealthy/upper class, including royals
• Favours survival of the fittest and capitalism (making lots of money)
• Favour maintains class status quo 
• Concerned over moral panic
• Favour private owned public services Favours
• Favours lower taxes and less state involvement 
• Favour war
• Exclusive 

Right wing tabloid - sun

Right wing broadsheet - the times / telegraph

Left wing tabloid - mirror

Left wing broadsheet - the observer

Press agency - organisation that gathers news reports and sells them to subscribing news institutions including papers, websites and broadcasters. Their news is as neutral and unbiased as possible- sticking to the facts. They are not publishers they just provide information and reassures for traditional news companies e.g. Reuters, press associations 

Here's a fact file on BBC News based on the task requirements:

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BBC News Fact File

• Description and Structure of Institution:

  • BBC (British Broadcasting Corporation) is the UK’s national broadcaster.

  • Founded in 1922; operates as a public service broadcaster.

  • Funded primarily through the UK television licence fee.

  • Governed by the BBC Board and regulated by Ofcom.

  • News division includes BBC News, BBC World News, and regional/local news services.

• Locations:

  • Headquarters: Broadcasting House, London, UK.

  • Major regional centers: Salford (MediaCityUK), Glasgow, Cardiff, Belfast.

  • Global bureaux: Washington D.C., Nairobi, Delhi, Beijing, and more.

• Subsidiaries:

  • BBC Studios (commercial production and distribution).

  • BBC World News (international news channel).

  • BBC News Arabic and BBC News Persian (foreign language services).

  • BBC Monitoring (monitors media around the world).

• Political Allegiance:

  • Officially maintains impartiality.

  • Sometimes accused by different political groups of bias (from both left and right), but no declared allegiance.

• Distribution Platforms for BBC News:

  • TV (BBC One, BBC News Channel, BBC World News).

  • Radio (BBC Radio 4, BBC World Service).

  • Online (BBC News website, BBC iPlayer, BBC Sounds).

  • Social media platforms (YouTube, Twitter/X, Facebook, Instagram).

• Audience:

  • Primarily UK-based but with a large international audience.

  • Appeals to a wide demographic with content ranging from current affairs to in-depth analysis.

  • BBC World News targets global audiences with international news coverage.