Women’s Magazines – Pre War

The first publications solely aimed at a female audience are believed to have appeared towards the end of the 17^th Century.  The primary periodical of any note was ‘The Ladies’ Mercury’ which was published in February 1693 by bookseller John Dunton. This was a double sided sheet which promised to respond to ‘all the most nice and curious questions concerning love, marriage, behaviour and humour of the female sex’. It was only printed for four weeks but was perhaps the first real acknowledgment of the need to produce publications designed for women alone.

The term ‘magazine’ itself was not actually used until 1731 and therefore the pioneering women’s magazine was technically ‘The Lady’s Magazine’, brought out in 1770. Though the magazine featured the fashion, educational and domestic advice that we might expect from this period, its main concern was for the ‘adornment of its readers’ minds’. It introduced visual elements and contained amusing, often scandalous, fiction or autobiography, full of stories concerning adultery, suicide and heroic men – not dissimilar to the shocking stories found in today’s ‘real life’ women’s magazines. ‘The Lady’s Magazine’ was aimed at filling the leisured days of upper-class women and ran monthly for seventy-seven years.

By the mid-nineteenth century, however, changes in the position of women and of society itself had a major impact on women’s publications. The rise of industrial capitalism from the 1780’s onwards created clear distinctions between the working class, the now sizeable middle class professionals and the upper class aristocrats. Janice Winship states that ‘the workplace became completely separate from the home’, with women now associated with domesticity and childcare. As a result of this the content of women’s magazines changed.

Recognising the new market of domestic, middle class housewives, Samuel Beeton created the ‘English Woman’s Domestic Magazine’ in 1852. This publication contained much more practical information than its predecessors, regularly featuring articles on treating illness, gardening and cooking good family meals, highlighting the need for ‘domestic virtues’.

The ‘English Woman’s Domestic Magazine’ laid out a blueprint for the modern magazine industry. It marked the beginning for publications aimed specifically at different groups and classes of women and its rapid rise in circulation, from 25,000 in 1854 to over 50,000 in 1860, proved that there was much wealth to be gained from the female niche. This increased circulation also led to higher levels of literacy amongst working class women as well as great improvement in the mass publishing of magazines. The rise in production costs led to such magazines needing to find further sources of revenue and consequently more and more magazines began to turn to advertising. The other notable female magazine of the time that benefited from advertising was ‘The Lady’, which was described by The Times journalist Rupert Morris as an ‘Exchange and Mart for nannies’.

By the twentieth century the number of magazines available had more than doubled. Up until this point however, women’s magazines had been reasonably formal. The magazines ‘My Weekly’ and ‘Woman’s Weekly’ of 1910 and 1911 respectively, established a much more personal touch, which we now see in most modern publications. Journalist Mary Grieve believed that before the war women’s magazines were the ‘Cinderella of the British publishing industry’. It was the World Wars however, that led to an explosion in their reputation.   

Defamation

Defamatory statements are those published or spoken which affect the reputation of a person, company or organisation. Such statements will often; expose the claimant to hatred, ridicule or contempt, cause the claimant to be shunned or avoided, lower the person in the estimation of 'right thinking' society or disparage the person in their particular profession. 
Defamatory  court cases usually involve a Jury, however a Judge does have the power to decide against this if they feel that the case is too complex (particularly in terms of legal laws, regulations and exceptions - of which there seem many!) to explain to them in a short space of time.
When publishing or writing an article Journalists must be very careful about what they say. Even using inferences (statements with secondary meanings that would be understood by someone with reasonable worldly knowledge) and innuendos (statements that may seem innocuous to some but defamatory to those with special knowledge) can be very dangerous as if a claimant can show that the article is clearly about them and that most readers would understand this was the case, they most certainly have a case for defamation. In an attempt to entice a reader to a story even if untrue many Journalists use the 'bane and antidote' method. This is where a potentially defamatory headline is used (e.g. Beckham hooker scandal) but the article itself actually reports the story to be false. This is also very risky as a claimant could suggest that many readers would only view the headline and therefore issues such as the layout of the article are used as evidence.
Media organisations must choose very carefully when deciding to publish a potentially defamatory statement. As well as the dangers listed above they must also take into account how a jury may interpret meanings, the fact that they would have to prove the story true in court, the potentially huge damages awarded if they lose and the large legal costs involved in a defamation case.
Although all these hazards may suggest that a media organisation would be foolish to publish potential defamation there is some evidence in recent developments to suggest that freedom of expression is beginning to tilt in the journalists favour. Legislation passed such as the UK’s adoption of the Human Rights Act 2000 and The 1996 Defamation Act provide journalists with some defence against the seemingly endless swarms of groups and individuals just waiting to sue! 

WINOL

WINOL is the online news channel run by the students studying Journalism at Winchester University. The most recent bulletin contained matters including the expected rise in student fees, problems foreign students have had with identification, the local sport news and the recent commendation the students themselves have had for their efforts.
The first thing that struck me about WINOL was the professionalism of the two presenters. If I had shut my eyes I could have easily been listening to the BBC or Sky News as both readers had the exact tone and consistency of voice that we expect from news presenters. As well as this highly polished competency the two presenters also finished with a personal touch, proudly showing off the recent BJTC award for Innovation in Journalism. I thought that this was a good idea to fit this story in as it gives physical proof to the viewer that the channel is of a high standard and this deters them from considering looking for other sites.
As I have a keen interest in Sport, and aspire to be a Sports Journalist myself, I was pleased that WINOL featured an in depth sports report. Featuring local sports ensures that the content is relevant to the viewer and I was impressed by the excellent highlights footage of the local football in particular. Having such footage showed a determination to fully report the stories rather than simply reeling off the results and also made the report more entertaining.
The bulletin did contain a couple of spelling errors in the report however and this is something that brought the production down slightly as that is something you very rarely (if ever) see on a BBC or Sky News report. The reporters lumbered with the more tedious roles of commenting on issues such as the housing development plans in Winchester could also perhaps have used a bit more expression in their voices to keep the viewer hooked on the story as had I been watching at home I would have probably flicked over at that point.
On the whole though I was really impressed with the WINOL channel and they clearly work very hard and deserve their recent accolades, I'm looking forward to getting involved with the channel myself in the next two years.http://www.winol.co.uk/

Reporting the courts

I was pleased to hear that as part of the Media Law section of my Journalism course, we will soon have the opportunity to sit in and report from Winchester Crown Court. Studying the court system in Britain actually turned out to be surprisingly interesting, particularly from a journalistic point of view as it is vital to realise what you can and cannot report, especially as I have no intention myself of ending up in court accused of malice or slander!
UK journalists have something of a 'free press', although there are certain limitations. Journalists cannot, for example, reveal the name, address, school or picture of a juvenile involved in a youth court case under Section 49, whilst there are also limitations on what questions or information can be published regarding military or police matters under the 2008 Counter - Terrorism Act. Journalists must also presume a defendant is innocent until they are proven guilty and must be careful to show no prejudice during the court stage so as not to influence the jury. Creating contempt of court in this way is a strict liability offence - and there is NO defence for influencing a jury. Deliberately reporting lies or information you know to be false is considered malice and also carries strict punishments (as 'Touch' magazine will no doubt find out to their cost over the recent David Beckham affair).

 In the main, however, UK journalists have a reasonably high license of freedom. They are considered the 'eyes and ears' of the public and as such have a duty to provide stories that are considered within the 'public interest', and therefore important for society - rather than simply scandalising for impact. Justice must seen to be done in the court and cases must be proved beyond reasonable doubt for a jury to convict someone. Journalists also have access to certain material held by the police or prosecutors such as maps and photos, images of the crime scene and CCTV footage to help the media report court cases.

So now I have a better understanding of what I should and shouldn't do when reporting a court I can look forward to my visit in a week or two. Lets hope I get a nice, juicy case I can really cut my court reporting teeth with!

Machiavelli (1469-1527)

My recent study of the history and context of Journalism around the Renaissance time has thrown up many interesting personalities and pioneers. Those that particularly interested me included the philosopher Descartes and the scientific genius of Newton and Galileo.
One character that especially stood out to me though was Niccolo Machiavelli. Machiavelli was born in Florence Italy, the city that was synonymous with the Italian Renaissance. After serving in various minor posts in the local government Machiavelli was arrested and sent to retirement in the Florence countryside by the newly restored Medici family upon their return to power. The Medici's were enormously rich and power having made their fortune by giving loans out but demanding their repayment in differing currencies in order to be able to charge interest on top - as doing so was forbidden by the Catholic Church.
Machiavelli's banishment, however, led to his most famous, and greatest work. He became an author simply because he had nothing else to do, and wrote 'The Prince' in 1513. He dedicated the book to the Medici family in order to win their favour however this was in vain. The Prince was a pragmatic guide of how to win and keep power. Machiavelli approaches the subject of gaining power as something of a science. He gives little or no comment on God, or takes morality into account in any of his lessons. He acknowledges the requirement for physical brutality particularly in the acquisition of power  and states that 'it is better to be feared than loved' but makes the observation that popular governments do tend to be less cruel and unscrupulous than tyrants. He also places a certain degree of emphasis on the need for the people to have a certain degree of power in order to maintain stability in a regime, as opposed to the constant upheaval created by continuous revolutions.
Machiavelli's realistic approach to politics was very representative of the period as a whole. The art of this time was also very humanistic with religious paintings now depicting much more human characters, displaying very real emotions, as opposed to the bland, generic subject of Dark Age works. This approach appears to highly justify Machiavelli's reputation as the founder of Political Science and I believe that the fact that he was able to produce a work that appeared to disregard his own desire for a unified Italy or any other beliefs he may have harboured certainly suggest a very precise and measured technician at work.
Machiavelli's influence is still very much clear in the more modern day. Pragmatic leaders that spring to my mind such as Hitler and Lenin appear to show some reference to the 'Machiavellian' mindset particularly in their acquisition of power. Although we still use the term Machiavellian today to describe a politician of ambition and cunning, having looked deeper into Machiavelli, I cant help but feel that this phrase is somewhat incorrectly used. Machiavelli's ability to separate his own views or morals particularly in 'The Prince' from the required 'art' of politics perhaps suggest that the term 'Princian' would be more accurate. That his great work was only published 5 years after his death may well suggest that Machiavelli was not influential in the Renaissance time he lived, but his clear influence in politics since then, be it in the meticulous planning that now goes into democratic election campaigns or the ruthless way in which dictators maintain power, in addition to the way his works reflect the humanistic age of the Renaissance means that Machiavelli should certainly be considered one of the key players of the Southern Renaissance.