The Guardian CSP
The Guardian newspaper and website analysis
Use your own purchased copy plus the notable front pages above to answer the following questions - bullet points/note form is fine.
1) What are the most significant front page headlines seen in the Guardian in recent years?
- Brexit Day - 31 January 2020
- Phone hacking Scandal - leading to the closure of News of the World
- Biden Election
- Boris Johnson Partygate verdict and Migrant Shipwreck
2) Ideology and audience: What ideologies are present in the Guardian? Is the audience positioned to respond to stories in a certain way?
I feel like the audiences can respond or interpret things in whatever way they want to, I also feel like the Guardian allows for speculation and theory to run rampant.
3) How do the Guardian editions/stories you have studied reflect British culture and society?
They target big British ideas on institutions such as the government or big British corporations.
Now visit the Guardian newspaper website and look at a few stories before answering these questions:
1) What are the top stories? Are they examples of soft news or hard news?
2) To what extent do the stories you have found on the website reflect the values and ideologies of the Guardian?
To a high extent.
3) Think about audience appeal and gratifications: what would an audience enjoy about the Guardian newspaper website?
The ability to hit all angles of news, regardless of where its coming from.
The Guardian newspaper Factsheet
Read Media Factsheet #257 The Guardian Newspaper. You can access it from our Media Factsheet archive on the Media Shared drive or download it here via Google using your school login details. Answer the following questions:
1) Who owns the Guardian and what is their ownership designed to achieve?
The Guardian is now owned by The Guardian Media Group (GMG), which also owns The Guardian Weekly, The Observer, and other media businesses. GMG is a global media company whose parent company is the Scott Trust Limited. The trust was originally created in 1936 to “secure the financial and editorial independence of The Guardian” and to “safeguard the journalistic freedom and liberal values” of the paper from “commercial or political interference.” The Guardian’s ownership pattern was designed so that no individual could benefit from the profits of the newspaper or have total control over it.
2) How is the Guardian regulated? Note its very unusual regulatory approach and give examples where you can.
Each newspaper has its own institutional biases, values, and political persuasions. This is part of a free press in Britain. Each news institution is “free” to write stories that put forth their views on any given subject, but they must not print lies or fabrications
because they may be sued or referred to a regulator. In The Guardian’s case, they have formed their own regulatory board with The Financial Times and are not regulated by IPSO. They are the only British national daily to conduct an annual social, ethical, and environmental audit since 2003, in which they examine, under the scrutiny of an independent external auditor, their own behaviour as a company. For example, they have been criticised for their coverage of the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, for which they commissioned an audit.
3) Pick out some key statistics on the Guardian's audience (see beginning of page 2).
The Guardian is a centre-left, quality, British broadsheet, national UK newspaper. The demographic of the readership is 86% ABC1. Fifty-four percent of The Guardian readers are male, and the average age of the print reader is 54. The people who read the newspaper and online are interested in left-leaning politics and social issues, mainly social progressives [reformers] psychographic. The circulation for the newspaper is 3.2 million monthly, and the digital readership is 18.4 million. This compares favourably to other quality newspapers in the UK.
The Guardian is also online and is now the 3rd largest individual newspaper website in the world, delivering news to over 62 million unique browsers worldwide every month, with almost two-thirds of these coming from outside of the UK. The Guardian has a global reach; therefore, its content reflects this.
Both the newspaper and the website aim to follow the institutional values of the newspaper, which are as follows:
Guardian Media Group is a global news organisation that delivers fearless, investigative journalism – giving a voice to the powerless and holding power to account. Our independent ownership structure means we are entirely free from political
and commercial influence. Our values determine the stories we choose to cover – relentlessly and courageously.
The Guardian’s tone, style, and content are shaped by their values. They are a quality newspaper that adopts a formal tone. In the past, their final manual typesetting editing was not as sharp as other newspapers, which led to it being called The Grauniad, a mocking joke on its name. Nowadays, The Guardian is a highly respected global newspaper that has had some major journalistic scoops, such as investigating Uber for breaking laws, playing a role in the BBC documentary that accused Tim Westwood, a famous DJ, of sexual misconduct, and covering stories about cyberstalking and equipment shortages in Ukraine during the war.
The Guardian adopts a “critical friend” approach to political parties that share their centre-left political values, such as The Labour Party, The Liberal Democrats, and The Green Party.
However, to maintain integrity, they stop short of fully endorsing any one party. Although the paper declared its support for the Liberal Democrats in the 2010 general election and their desire for electoral reform, it then switched back to the Labour Party for the 2015 election. That endorsement continued for the elections in 2017 and 2019 when Jeremy Corbyn was the leader of the party. The Guardian provides opposition to more right-wing political papers, such as The Daily Mail, The Telegraph, and The Times.
5) How is the Guardian's international audience described? See the end of page 2 and pick out some more useful statistics here about their audience .
6) Now look at page 3 of the factsheet and the Guardian online. Select a few examples of the different sections of the website and copy them here.
7) What different international editions of the Guardian's website are available and what example stories are provided as examples of this?
The UK edition on April 29th leads with a story about the resignation of the BBC Chair Richard Sharp, who allegedly provided a “secret” £800,000 loan to former Prime Minister Boris Johnson. This is a hard news story because the BBC is expected to maintain impartiality and remain free from government influence, suggesting a failure to fulfil this role. Stories that expose corruption are appealing to The Guardian’s audience and position them to question the legitimacy of the BBC.
The BBC’s free news model directly competes with The Guardian’s business model, and stories like this could undermine trust in the BBC, potentially leading people to be more inclined to pay for the quality journalism offered by The Guardian.
The April 29th US edition leads with a story about Florida’s Republican Governor Ron DeSantis and his time as a lawyer for the state in Guantanamo Bay, the prison for suspected terrorists. The article presents accounts from researchers and individuals
who were there, creating bias against him without making direct accusations. This story would appeal to the audience because it investigates a centre-right politician, which opposes the political ideologies of the readership and aligns with their viewpoint.
8) What is the Guardian's funding model? Do you think it is sustainable?
In a struggling economic climate, news institutions are finding it hard to adequately fund quality journalism. However, The Guardian has several ways in which it funds its journalism. The site delivers free news with no paywall:
- The sale of the print newspaper – although it is clear that print news is declining rapidly and the costs associated with print make it less profitable and attractive to advertisers.
- Digital subscriptions – the newspaper offers a range of packages to suit different economic groups.
- Patron support with exclusive offers.
- Traditional advertising.
- Philanthropic partnerships such as with The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.
Despite the decline in physical copy newspaper revenue, subscription to The Guardian makes up more than the advertising revenue. The Guardian’s digital edition has increased in readership to over a million recurring subscribers, and digital revenues account for two-thirds of total revenue. International revenues are at £79.9 million.
9) What is the Cotton Capital Commission and how does it link to the Guardian's values and ideologies?
One recent story The Guardian has run is a story about their newspaper’s founder, J. E. Taylor, and other businessmen, who financed the start of the paper. The Scott Trust commissioned research in the wake of the Black Lives Matter movement of 2020. The report found that their founder, John Edward Taylor, and others had links to the slave trade, and some of that money was used to found the paper. This, of course, did not
chime with their core values, so they have dedicated a whole series of articles to this matter.
As well as revealing the findings of their commission, the paper utilised a more magazine-style aesthetic in the telling of this story. The news site’s visual design has evolved over the years, with animations, font styles, infographics, and photojournalism. There is also interactive content, with “Have your say” areas on news stories.
“The Cotton Capital” is investigative journalism, coupled with what amounts to a historical autobiography of the newspaper. It is a fascinating read that utilises a range of literary techniques to tell the story of the newspaper’s past.
10) What audience and industry theories could be applied to the Guardian? How?
Both the newspaper and the online website provide the gratifications [Blumer and Katz] of information, surveillance, and entertainment. Some aspects of the opinion page could provide identification with similar groups, and shared values unite some of the online community. This could be seen in the letters that responded to the “Cotton Capital” story. The Guardian is also encouraging a model where subscribers get involved with news-making, and this breaks down the gatekeeping model that news institutions use. That is not to say that The Guardian does not employ traditional methods of news sourcing; they actively advertise for people to come forward with stories the paper might be interested in.
There can be pleasure in seeing the values reflected in the media products you consume, but this could also have a negative effect by creating an echo chamber of ideas. Of course, audiences are free to reject or negotiate what The Guardian writes about as well. Loyal readers are more likely to accept the preferred readings of articles without looking for other sources, and this could strengthen political leanings, as well as shape opinions around social issues.
The daily engagement with the newspaper could enhance a reader’s cultural capital [Bourdieu], giving them insight into the world beyond national borders. This reinforces both a national and global view of issues at any given time. The selection and mediation of news stories reflect The Guardian’s values of social progressiveness, and investigative journalism is something that Curran and Seaton would argue fulfils an important civic duty for people because the stories challenge power. The structure
of The Guardian has been designed so that not one person can benefit from editorial control. While ultimately the remit of the editor-in-chief, the content of The Guardian is a collaborative effort between trust members and journalists.
Media Magazine articles
Media Magazine has two excellent features on our newspaper CSPs - a focus on Guardian front pages and a comparison of how the Guardian and Daily Mail cover the same story in different ways. You need to read both articles - MM78 (page 12) and MM87 (page 20) - our Media Magazine archive is here. Answer the following questions:
MM78 - The Guardian
1) What are the Pandora Papers and how does the story fit with the Guardian's ethos, values and ideologies?
Dreariness here equates to seriousness. This, combined with the continuation in iconography, signals a big story, one with many strands that needs to be reported on over a period of time. It is now clearly badged with a name, giving it added status: the
Pandora Papers, bolded in eye-catching red. In Greek mythology Pandora opened a box that released the evils of humanity into the world. Here the name refers to secret documents about the financial dealings of the world’s rich and powerful. They’ve been uncovered and released through the collaborative efforts of over 150 news organisations from around the world, including The Guardian. These two front pages, then, demonstrate The Guardian’s desire to position itself as a serious news organisation speaking truth to global power (among others, the collages feature the leaders of Jordan, Ukraine, Kenya, Hungary and Russia). The front pages aren’t designed primarily to sell these two particular issues, but to remind loyal readers of the paper’s commitment to a form of investigative journalism that it wants them to buy into, both metaphorically and literally. This commitment is made possible by the paper’s increasingly successful online funding model and its innovative ownership structure.
2) Pick out all the key statistics and quotes from the section on the Guardian's funding model. In particular, the fall in paper readership, the rise in digital readership and the number of contributors paying to support the journalism.
The Guardian still sells paper copies, but in nowhere near sufficient numbers to sustain its global operations. July 2021 sales averaged 105,135 copies per day (down from 248,775 10 years previously). Its online readership, though, is huge. In the same period,
it had 3.5 million readers per day online and 129 million monthly visits. The Guardian is free to read online, but at the end of many articles a text box urges readers to contribute either one-off or regular monthly payments. It frames this as a philanthropic act. Those who pay are supporting a free press and making information available on a global scale to those who cannot pay. The approach has been phenomenally successful. The Guardian now operates in profit, after over a decade of extensive losses. It has ongoing financial support from almost 1 million readers: 401,000 took digital subscriptions in 2020/21 (daily download to an app, etc.) and 506,000 made a recurring payment simply to support what they could read for free. Additionally, 508,000 made one-off payments. Over half of these online contributions were from readers overseas. The Pandora Papers investigation was very much pitched at these digital contributors.
3) What does it mean when it says the Guardian frames regular payments from readers as a "philanthropic act".
The Guardian is free to read online, but at the end of many articles a text box urges readers to contribute either one-off or regular monthly payments. It frames this as a philanthropic act.
4) What is the Scott Trust and do you think it is a sustainable model for newspaper ownership in the future?
It maintained this standpoint for over 100 years, thriving in the early 20th century under the ownership of CP Scott, who asserted that ‘comment is free, but facts are sacred’ and that newspapers have ‘a moral as well as a material existence’. When Scott and
one of his sons died within months of each other in 1932, the survival of the newspaper was threatened by having to pay death duties and inheritance tax. To avoid this, the surviving son gave up all financial interest in the newspaper, transferring all of the shares into what became known as the Scott Trust. The Trust operates for profit, but all money is ploughed back into the newspaper. It ensures that editorial interests remain free from commercial pressures. The paper’s journalists, under the terms of the trust, must strive to maintain the liberal traditions and investigative principles upon which it was founded. The paper flags up this ownership structure when appealing to readers.
5) Why is the Guardian criticised as hypocritical? Give some specific examples here.
Clearly not everyone will agree with The Guardian’s editorial line. It can be difficult, though, to understand the level of dislike that many people have for The Guardian. Global leaders and billionaires aside, who could possibly have a problem with exposing how money is secretly shuffled around the world for the benefit of an extremely powerful minority? The answer perhaps lies in charges of hypocrisy that are often levelled at The Guardian and other liberal institutions. Liberalism is entirely compatible with capitalism and so allows its supporters to accrue wealth and power. In calling for a fairer, more equal society, within capitalist structures, it also gets to hold the moral high-ground – a form of power in its own right, and one that can be particularly galling for people on middle or low incomes, forced to engage with some of the more unsavoury elements of life in a capitalist society in order to earn a living.
MM87 - The Daily Mail and the Guardian front page analysis
1) What are the stories featured on the Guardian and Daily Mail on November 10, 2023?
2) How do they reflect the values and ideologies of the two newspapers?
3) Why does the writer suggest the front-page images on both papers might be exploitative? Do you agree?
Looking at the front page picture with these questions in mind, it’s difficult not to conclude that The Guardian is exploiting the very gender stereotypes it is supposed to challenge Of course, it is possible to view this image very differently. It could easily be read as a proclamation of female empowerment and humanity in the face of the male war-machine. Yes, the woman in the placard being held up might be a victim, but the victim of very real patriarchal structures. And the woman holding the placard appears to be anything but a victim. Instead, she has a face of grim determination. The two women beside her are grief-stricken but hold each other in an act of intergenerational solidarity. This isn’t hypocrisy, it’s feminism in action. In many ways I prefer this second, positive reading. But set it beside The Daily Mail front page and it becomes harder to justify. Is the image of murder-victim Ashling Murphy used any differently than that of kidnap victim, Doren Steinbrecher? Perhaps all we can really say is that at least The Mail is more honest in putting a young female victim on its front page. The Guardian does it by stealth. The blue-eyed smiling face is on a poster within the photograph: it’s as if they have to pretend that the victim is on the front page as an afterthought. In contrast, The Mail actively draws attention to how it is using Ashling Murphy to make money.
4) What else does the writer suggest regarding the Daily Mail's front-page image of murdered teacher Ashling Murphy?
Is the image of murder-victim Ashling Murphy used any differently than that of kidnap victim, Doren Steinbrecher? Perhaps all we can really say is that at least The Mail is more honest in putting a young female victim on its front page.
When you interrogate The Mail front page further, it really is shamefully exploitative. The murdered teacher lived and died in the Republic of Ireland, where the paper isn’t sold. It’s a curious editorial decision to feature a non-British murder story in the first place, so presumably its inclusion can only be because of the age and appearance of Ashling Murphy. It’s feeding into a voyeuristic interest in female victimhood that sells copies and feeds into the general sense that women should be aware of the dangers out there and so know their place.
5) How does the rest of the Guardian's front page (features on Yoko Ono and Todd Haynes) reflect the values and ideologies of Guardian readers?
The Guardian’s top banner, promoting stories in other sections, has a similar playfulness. In Yoko Ono and Todd Haynes, they are featuring two artists associated with, respectively, peace movements and gender politics. Is it possible that Ono is there because she is linked to anti-war protests? After all, can anyone of any age recall a single Yoko Ono song, let alone rank them? (I can’t and I’m old enough to remember the murder of her husband, John Lennon, in 1980.) Haynes, meanwhile, specialises in films that explore gender identity, particularly female identity. These two figures, perhaps much more than the paper’s approach to news, identify its demographic, one which is interested in identity politics, not in knee-jerk inflexible ways (sorry, Daily Mail, that’s you) but complex, ambiguous ones. It’s a readership quite able to deal with the cognitive dissonance that comes with reading a paper that simultaneously promotes
feminism while giving prominence to an image of female victimhood on its front page. Is this indicative of woke phoniness or a rational representation of the world as it is today? That’s for you to decide. Do you go for mildly compromised integrity, or full-on jingoistic chauvinism?
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