The news outlet I have chosen to analyze is the internet version of “The Daily Mail “, a newspaper based in the United Kingdom, very famous especially in England. It includes the daily version of this newspaper as well as “The Mail on Sunday”, its week-end's edition. Gate keeping can be defined as the “process through which news items pass on their way from discovery to transmission”. Thus, newspapers' producers are the gatekeepers, which mean they enable the public to be aware of the events happening worldwide. When referring to Siebert's “Four Theories of the press”, England can be defined as a mix between the liberal model – like the United States – and the Social responsibility model – like in Europe. Thus, it means that Government has no control over the Press and that news can be published without any censorship, but it the same time journalists have an obligation of informativeness, truth, accuracy, objectivity and balance towards the public.
[...] This means that even if some mistakes have been made by America since the war has had terrible consequences for the local population most part of which had nothing to deal directly with Saddam Hussein and Al Qaeda the view of the Daily Mail always shows the United States as defending democracy against In this case, the total objectivity of the articles can be discussed. Furthermore, the Daily Mail doesn't use a lot of experts' views when relating the events about this war, even if the views of some researchers from American universities are sometimes mentioned; but it obviously relates many quotations of President Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair. [...]
[...] We will discuss this point again later, but in short the United Kingdom have always been a “special” member of the European Union, as it has a well-established position in Europe while being in the same time very close to the United States. That is why gatekeepers in England have a particularly difficult task, as they have to conform to the European as well as the American requirements when editing news. Agenda setting Agenda setting refers to the ability of gatekeepers to influence the salience of topics on the public agenda. [...]
[...] One refers to Al Qaeda plotter Zacarias Moussaoui, who escaped the death penalty, after a jury decided he should instead spend life in prison for his role in the September 11 attacks. The next ones deals directly with another very important media company in Britain; the BBC has in fact been condemned for giving convicted paedophile Gary Glitter a prime-time platform to deny his crimes against young girls. Then, there is another story about the injury of the famous English football player Rooney, whose involvement in the next World Cup remains uncertain. [...]
[...] As we discussed this point already, agenda setting in the United Kingdom is a difficult task due to the position of the country in the “Western World”. It therefore has to meet the requirements of the European Union but in the same time it should stay relatively close to the American approach. Besides, as a member of the Commonwealth, it also has to meet the expectations of this alliance when editing news. Gate keeping in Britain corresponds thus to what the public desire to appear in the media, but it must undoubtedly take into account the diplomatic relations of the country with the rest of the world. [...]
[...] The relevance of the War on Terror for the United Kingdom is large, as described in the article “Britain made terror target by Iraq war”. The London suicide bombings that happened last year may also be linked to the important role played by Britain in this conflict. "The UK is at particular risk because it is the closest ally of the United States," stated Frank Gregory, of the University of Southampton and terrorism expert Professor Paul Wilkinson, of the University of St Andrews. [...]
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