UNIVERSITA’ DEGLI STUDI DI PAVIA FACOLTÀ DI LETTERE E FILOSOFIA,

SCIENZE POLITICHE, GIURISPRUDENZA, INGEGNERIA, ECONOMIA 

CORSO DI LAUREA SPECIALISTICA IN EDITORIA E COMUNICAZIONE MULTIMEDIALE

EFFECTS OF REALITY.

THE CASE OF MURDOCH

AND THE CHANGE IN PUBLISHING

Relatore: Tesi di laurea di: Chiar. mo Prof. Marco Dotti Daniela Balzani

Correlatore: Chiar. mo Prof. Fabio Muzzio

Post Narrative Media Vs Reportage • A reportage is written to let us know what has happened in the world. Its purpose is to inform people.

VSVSVS

• Post narrative media doesn't want to tell us only news. It prefers talking about everything that is connected with what happened: people, things and behaviours. Post narrative media creates a story in order to make people interested and influence their comprehension ability.

VS

The Past.........today

• In the past, watching news reports over a screen was an activity to make together with other people in a common location like a movie theatre.

• After the end of World War II, television sets began to change the way the world and its news were viewed. In today's times viewing is often done in loneliness everywhere and at any time. There are no more obstacles. A non stop flow

of information, sounds, and pictures which require all of our constant attention.

Important Question

How will all of these changes affect communication and its ethics, morals

and codes ?

Rupert Murdoch

• One of the most influential people in the media world is Rupert Murdoch.

• During his life he has built a media empire that is boundless.

• Updated studies show how his group, News Corporation, can daily reach through its 'arms', specialized in every communication field, two thirds of the world's population.

His empire

Ben Bagdikian Research

• This study shows how the number of companies specialized in producing information in the USA has drastically decreased during the last 20 years.

• Today, only 5 groups hold all of the communication power.

• This can be a menace to information being objective since it cannot be properly compared

between sources.

Why News of the World ?

• It is an unusual case since the roles have been reversed • An actor, Hugh Grant, decides to become a detective in order to investigate English press.

This allows him to understand how the mass media system works, how it is corrupt and its relationship with police and politicians.

The case of the young Milly Dowler

• The Group hired a detective to record the messages on her phone. Since they were not sufficient, they deleted

some of them in order to publish more information. By doing this they mislead police investigations.

Media systems can be powerful intruders in the life of non famous people.

The real outrage at this point is …• …that the place of news has been taken by the profession of the

reporter . • In the past there have been cases of wrong use of communication:

o Outfoxed documentary;

o Never Buy the Sun – this campaign was organized by Liverpool Support after the Hillsborough disaster. The Sun decided to blame the supporters for the accident. Billy Brag, a reporter of the Guardian, composed a song last summer to tell people the Sun's line of conduct.

Eavesdropping is not a recent activity

• This method was largely used even in the past. We can find a lot of references in ancient

and famous books.

Influential people have quickly understood the power of this method

It is used for:

• Controlling and supervising people;

• Create a common enemy;

• One of the famous historical examples is the OVRA case during the fascist;

Today there are more methods of supervision

• Personal information about people is easily accessible through the internet and via web applications.

• Echelon is a world wide system of global supervision.

ConclusionsI decided to choose the British media scandal world and specifically the case of News of the World to make a portrait of the mass media situation today.

The investigative reporter's profession is now in deep crisis and something must be done in order to overcome this situation.

The moral codes must be quickly redefined. All systems like the one in England should try to find a new balance between the respect of personal privacy and the right for the masses to be informed.