In the last lecture on Quadrophenia, we saw the construction of media. As shown in today's lecture, media plays an important role within popular culture.
The change in newspapers from 1830 till today is drastic. In the 1830s front pages of newspapers were black and white, contained no pictures, and had serious headlines. Thus, these newspapers were targeting older generations. Now, we have colour pictures throughout newspapers, minimal text and headlines contain puns, aiming more at younger generations. This leads us to the question: Does image triumph over stories?
We now look more on trivial news than serious headlines by putting trivial headlines on front pages and serious ones further into the newspaper. An example of this is 'The Sun'. This newspaper prioritises shallow over serious news stories. This is because they try to relate to the masses by showing a demotic voice. Another example was the New York Sun (“it shines for all”), where they made a joke about the length a new telescope could view, in the same week that slavery was abolished.
Over time, newspapers and magazines have become more entertaining in order to sell, and so have become commercialised. When the Daily Mail started in 1896, it wrote that is was “a compact reader friendly newspaper”, and was aimed at lower middle class people (such as office workers). This was a way to sell to the masses and become commercialised.
Commercialisation of newspapers creates people who resist, and people who are dominated. There is a constant ebb and flow between people and dominant ideas. Finally, popular newspapers use a popular folk voice as a way of backing up a view. For example, The Sun portrays a conservative view within the popular voice.
In conclusion, the press have started to address ordinary readers in a voice they can understand.
John Storey: 'Newspapers and Magazines': page 87
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