The era of press barons and its harmful effects on British's domestic politics
Member rating: No Rating | Words: | Submitted: Thu Oct 28 2004
On the left is an image preview of every page of this document, and below are the first 150 words with formatting removed:
THE ERA OF PRESS BARONS AND ITS HARMFUL EFFECTS ON BRITISH'S DOMESTIC POLITICS In a British film, "James Bond: Tomorrow Never Dies", the villain, Elliot Carver, a press baron wanting to take over the world, declared that "Words are the new weapons... Caesar had his legions, Napoleon had armies, and I have my division, TV, news, magazines." The statement, though made in a fictitious setting, has its roots in reality. In recent decades, the competitive nature of the press industry had seen unprofitable press firms being forced out of business, and an oligopolistic situation emerged with three leading press groups accounting for 75% of newspaper readership in Britain.1 This had led to the narrowing of viewpoints presented in the papers and press barons, hungry for profits, pushed the concern for democratic pluralism off their agenda.2 Pluralists see the press, by disseminating information and safeguarding...


