The Times Section B

Who publishes the Times?

News UK which is a subsidiary of News Corp.

What other newspapers besides the Times does News UK publish?

The Sun, The Sunday Times and TLS

Into what sectors has News UK diversified into?

Into dating sites, currency services, betting and bingo, and radio.

What is a media conglomerate?

A large, powerful organisations that own a number of companies and have interests that span across different businesses and industries.

What are some of the subsidiaries owned by News Corp?

Harper Collins, Move Inc, Storyful

How is News Corp horizontally integrated?

It has acquired companies such as Harlequin enterprises in 2014 which now operates as a subsidiary to stregnthen its on hold on the different sectors in which it operates.

What type of content is featured on Times Radio?

Politics

Current Affairs

International News

What is the name of News UK’s printing and distribution company?

News Printers

Besides The Times, what newspapers does News Printers print and distribute?

Daily Mail and Sunday Telegraph.

How is News UK vertically integrated?

They own their own printing and distribution company. - News Printers

They have their own fully-integrated communications agency - Pulse Creations

What is the name of News UK’s communications agency?

Pulse Creations

What services to Pulse Creations offer?

Content creation

Brand strategy

Account holding

Media planning

How does The Times support Curran and Seaton’s idea that the media is controlled by a small numbers of companies driven by profit and power?

News Corp is own of the small number of companies that form the oligopoly that control the British newspaper industry. The Times is part of what C+S refer to as the “Murdoch press”, as News Corp is owned by the Murdoch family.

How does The Times support Curran and Seaton’s theory that concentration of media leads to products lacking variety?

The Times tends to cover similar news stories to other newspapers e.g. about the two main political parties and celebrities.

It’s layout and design are quite traditional.

How does the Times challenge Curran and Seaton’s idea that media concentration leads to lack of quality in media products?

The stories in The Times are often serious and in-depth and accompanied by high-quality photo-journalism.

What was the name of the campaign Pulse Creatives launched to promote The Times?

“Know Your Times” Campaign in 2021

Who developed the “Know Your Times” campaign in 2021?

Pulse creatives - The Time’s communcations agency

What was included in the “Know your times” campaign in 2021?

Set to Jake Bugg’s “All I Need”, the work shows a series of pivotal moments from recents years over a range of different topics, with The Times logo altered to “The News”, “The Interviews” and “The analysis” etc.

Why did The Times launch the “Know Your Times” campaign in 2021?

As lockdown restrictions eased, The Times needed an integrated campaign across TV, Radio, Cinema and Socials to make people aware of their digital subscriptions

What is the name of the set article we look at in The Times?

Blaming the Blob

What side of the political spectrum does The Times sit on?

Centre-left. However it switched allegiance on a number of occasions. Although it generally tends to support the Conservative Party, it has previously supported Labour.

What does the Blaming The Blob article discuss?

The article argues that Conservatives have turned "the Blob"—originally a term for bureaucratic resistance—into a vague conspiracy theory used to deflect blame for their own policy failures. This mindset reflects a retreat from responsibility and leadership, portraying ministers as powerless victims of the very institutions they are meant to lead.

How does the Blaming The Blob article position us to view Micheal Gove?

Michael Gove is portrayed as a more serious and policy-focused figure who originally used "the Blob" metaphor to describe genuine institutional resistance to education reform. Unlike current Conservative ministers, he took responsibility for advancing specific policies and worked within the system to achieve change.

How does the Blaming The Blob article position socialist thinking?

It mocks certain socialist ideas as paranoid and conspiratorial, consistent with The Time’s centre-right rejection of far-left ideology.

How does the Blaming The Blob article position us to view Conservative policies?

It’s critical of recent Tory policy failures, blaming the poor leadership rather than conservatism itself - a call for a better governance not ideology change.

How does the Blaming The Blob article position us to view Right-wing Tory politicians?

Figures like Rees-Mogg and Raab are ridiculed for scapegoating “The Blob”, showing The Times’ distance from the hard right and preference for competence over ideology.

How does The Times website differ from the print version?

More visuals-images and interactive audio-visual content.

More of a range of news stories.

Interactive puzzles.

Is constantly updated

Has subscription choices

What is a pay wall?

Users have to pay a subscription fee in order to access content / full articles

In addition to full articles, what do digital subscribers of The Times get?

Exclusive subscriber rewards with Times +, exclusive newsletters and can save, share and comment on articles.

How does an online article differ from a print one?

Digital convergence - the online article includes video links and hyperlinks embedded within editorial.

Interactivity - the online article has tabs identifying recommended/ related content, advertising and competitions.

The online article has links to their social media.

What is The Times a member of?

IPSO

By being a member of IPSO, what has The Times agreed to?

To abide by the Editor’s code of practice.

What is the set regulation issue for The Times?

Ashley and Sports Direct VS The Times

What was the nature of the Ashley and Sport’s Direct vs The Times complaint?

It was about an article in 2017 that was highly critical as Ashley’s role as CEO of sports direct and argued some of it was exaggerated or incorrect.

What relevant aspects of the Editors Code was breached in Ashely and Sport Direct vs The Times?

A breach of clause 1 - accuracy. This mandates that the press must take care not to publish inaccurate, misleading or distorted information and must correct significant inaccuracues.

What were the findings of the Ashley and Sports Direct vs The Times case?

That it was incorrect of the Times to attribute the descriptions of the warehous as a “Victorian warehouse with gulag conditions”. This breached clause 1 - accuracy of the Editor’s Code of Practice

What actions were taken by The Times following the Ashley and Sports Direct complaint?

The Times published a footnote stating its errors on the article and offered to amend the article.

How does the Times support Livingstone and Lunt’s idea that there is an underlying struggle between the need to further the interests of citizens and that of consumers?

For the interests of consumers - you have to pay to access the Times, making it a personal choice to purchase the product and enable its quality.

BUT this against the free access to benefit the citizens for information and democracy.

How does The Times support Livingstone and Lunt’s idea that the increasing power of global media corporations have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk?

To ensure success, News Corp are creating products which cater for digital convergence. This is disrupting traditional media forms and the effectiveness of regulation as the internet isn’t regulated. As the news industry is an oligopoly, consumers may have less choice in terms of the opinions they receive.

How does The Times support Livingstone and Lunt’s idea that the increasing power of technologies have placed traditional approaches to media regulation at risk?

Online media products like online newspapers are difficult to regulate as regulatory bodies no longer regulate by media form but instead by problem and not by one corporation. There are inconsistencies with world-wide regulation of the internet and digitally convergent products as different countries have different policies to regulation.

What is the main age demographic of the Times?

65+ make up 37% of the readers

What are the social demographics of The Times readers?

ABC1 make up 87% of them

How is does the Blaming the Blob article support Gerbner’s cultivation theory?

This article could be part of a broader media pattern where The Times - and other mainstream outlets - challenge political scapegoating and call for accountability in leadership. If readers are regularly exposed to such critiques, they may begin to perceive populist blame tactics as absurd, shaping public skeptism towards this kind of political messaging

What views does the Blaming The Blob article cultivate?

Leaders should take responsibility

Competent, pragmatic governance is preferable to ideological rhetoric.

Hard-right populism is ineffective and damaging.

Over time this could lead readers to value moderation, institutional respect and realism in politics,

Which dominant British views does the Blaming the Blob article reinforce?

It reinforces centre-right mainstream values and effective leadership

What is the preferred reading of the Blaming The Blob article?

That real leadership involves responsibility, pragmatism and working through institutions. Blaming the “blob” is a paranoid, defeatist excuse for political failure. It also suggests that hard/right wing of the Tory party is damaging its own credibility.

Who is likely to take the preferred reading of the Blaming The Blob article?

Moderate conservatives who value responsible governance are frustrated by the parties recent direction

Centrists or politically engaged readers who reject conspiracy-style thinking

Regular readers of the Times who align with its centre-right but pragmatic editorial stance.

Who may take an oppositional reading to the Blaming The Blob article?

Conservatives who may reject the article as elitist or out of touch, arguing that the Blob does exist. They could see the article and undermining ministers to make a real change.

Anti-establishment readers may see it as silencing legitimate concerns about government obstruction

Left wing critics may argue that The Times is hypocritical - it helped cultivate the very ideologies it now criticises

How may having a high cultural capital influence the way “Blaming the Blob” is read?

Likely to recognise references and understand the satirical tone and political critique. They are thus more likely to adopt a preferred reading as they can appreciate the articles argument.

How may readers with a low cultural capital influence the way they read the “Blaming the Blob” article?

They may miss key references and not fully grasp the political context. They are thus more likely to adopt an oppositional reading as they may misinterpret the article to be elitist.

How does The Times support Shirkey’s idea that media provided audiences with way to “speak back” to the media?

The Times have a “Letter to the Editor” page that appears in every edition of their newspaper. Can also comment on articles.

How does the Times support Shirky’s idea that the internet and digital technologies have had a significant effect on the relationship between media producers and audiences?

Newspaper websites and social media platforms have made it easier for readers to contact The Times.

What are some examples of comments on the “Blaming the Blob” article?

“I think this if DF’s best article”

“Daniel, it is rare that I agree with your articles, but here you knocked it out the park”

What does commenting enable readers to do?

Reply features enable readers to enter into debate/discussion with each other - creating a more participatory culture.

Also enables readers to moderate each others views creating plurality rather than hegemony