A2 Media Newspaper

1. BULMER AND KATZ

2. USES AND GRATIFICATIONS THEORY
• Bulmer and Katz’s theory suggested that people use the media to satisfy their
needs. The media can range from music, film and print.
• The theory splits these needs into four parts:
• Escape and Diversion
• Surveillance and Information
• Personal Identity
• Personal Relationships

3. HOW NEWSPAPERS OFFER ESCAPE AND
DIVERSION
• Newspapers offer escape from an individual’s everyday life because it allows the
reader to get involved in different news stories. An individual would then be
expected to get involved with the dramas and tragedies of the news stories
forgetting about the problems of their own lives.

4. HOW NEWSPAPERS OFFER SURVEILLANCE AND
INFORMATION
• The role of a newspaper is to provide information about the world to those who
red their newspaper. What they publish in the newspaper will allow the audience
to learn things about what is happening in the world.

5. HOW NEWSPAPERS OFFER PERSONAL IDENTITY.
• Newspapers allow personal identities to form between readers because
individuals would identify themselves with a newspaper allowing them to
describe themselves a ‘sun reader’ if they only read The Sun.
• They also build a personal identity by putting themselves in the situation of those
in the news and imagining how they’d then react if they were in that situation.

6. HOW NEWSPAPERS OFFER PERSONAL
RELATIONSHIPS
• As the readers create an identity by relating themselves to a newspaper they can
then build relationships with others who have also created that same identity.
• Newspapers will also allow individuals to chat with one another regarding the
events that are published.