1. Question
Identify three processes sociologists have identified as influencing the content of the news

2. Answer the owners profit motive organisational restraints
agenda-setting
gate-keeping
norm-setting

3. Question
What do you understand by the term agenda setting in relation to journalism

4. Answer
Agenda setting is the idea the media have a powerful influence over the issues that people think about because the agenda is already set by journalists. This is because people can only discuss and form views about the issues they’ve been informed about.

5. Question
What do you understand by the term media stereotyping?

6. Answer
Is the way journalists construct a discourse about a particular issue. This constructs the way an issue is talked about in news items – for example welfare claimants as scroungers

7. Question
Identify and explain two characteristics of a pluralist view of the media

8. Answer owners do not have direct control over media content
there’s no dominant class but competing social groups
media content isn’t ideological neither does it reflect the interests of owners
media content is driven by media managers who give journalists the freedom to seek out any type of newsworthy story
media content is their to meet the needs of its audience as the audience choose the content they wish to read or watch
any bias is merely reflects audience interests as the audience ultimately has the final say it what he or she wishes to view

9. Question
Identify and explain two characteristics of the Marxist view of the media

10. Answer owners have direct control of media content
owners can and do interfere with media content
owners use the media to spread ideas (dominant ideology) which justify the position and power of the ruling-class
media managers have to follow the wishes of their owners
journalists depend on owners for their jobs so are unlikely to run stories which challenge the status and authority of the ruling-class

11. Question
Identify and explain two characteristics of the neo- Marxist view of the media

12. Answer
owners don’t get actively involved in controlling content on a day-to-day basis. Instead control and content is left in the hands of journalists and managers
as managers and journalists want to protect their jobs they seek to attract advertisers and audiences by publishing suitable content. Sometimes audiences are attracted by media criticism of ruling-class, but such criticism is never threatening or damaging
journalists and managers don’t tend to criticise dominant ideology because of their background. Journalists tend to be white, well-educated, middle-class and male therefore they’ve already been socialised to accept and value the ruling-class ideology, thus their media messages tend to support the established social consensus

13. Question Identify and explain the uses and gratification model
Identify which theoretical perspective best ties up with the uses and gratifications model

14. Answer
Audiences actively choose what they want to use the media for rather than audiences being used by the media
Pluralist