The Prophet for Profit: Motivation of Mainstream Media in the Harry Potter Series The Harry Potter series tells an enchanting story about the magical world with the theme of love and death. Though Hogwarts, the school of magic, has been the dream place for millions of readers alike, not all the elements of the wizarding society are desirable. The power-loving Minister of Magic—Cornelius Fudge, leads the Ministry of Magic until the end of the fifth book, the Order of the Phoenix. Though the Ministry is supposed to govern and maintain the order in the wizarding world, Fudge denies the revival of the Dark Lord, Voldemort—the main antagonist of the series. His act of denying and disguising the truth hampers the collective action to prepare
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This is shown through their reports on Umbridge’s reform of Hogwarts and through the defaming comments towards Harry and Dumbledore. However, by suggesting to garner more revenue, the Prophet always crafts news that fits the Ministry’s agenda, Proffitt and Cortese have overlooked the media’s constantly negative portrayals of the Ministry, which also reveal that Ministry does not have as much influence and the Prophet has more agency in deciding the contents. Hence, in this essay, I further the argument of Proffitt and Cortese by proposing that the consumer-seeking nature of the Prophet is the most crucial motivation that can even explain the times when the Prophet is critical of the Ministry. Based on evidence from the series, and drawing on psychological studies explaining the readers’ mindset, I suggest that the Prophet has portrayed the Ministry in a negative frame and spread rumors to gain readership regardless of whether it hurts the Ministry’s interest. In addition, the use of negative depiction is not only targeted at the government alone but is also used whenever it draws readers’ attention. By reinforcing stereotypes to cater to the readers’ opinions, the Prophet gains their agreement and increases sales. It is important to understand how the mainstream …show more content…
They claim that, “commercial and government pressures often combine to influence the type of news audiences receive.” To illustrate the pressure from the Ministry, Proffitt and Cortese bring up that the Prophet is silenced regarding Cedric’s death and serves as the Ministry’s lapdog by discrediting Harry and Dumbledore. To analyze the Prophet’s consumer-seeking nature, Proffitt and Cortese point out that the media focuses on celebrity news as reflected from Gilderoy Lockhart’s rise to fame in the Chamber of Secrets. By further breaking down Rita Skeeter’s articles on Harry’s unreal love story, and by suggesting that the titles of the news are often exaggerated to interest the readers and increase sales, Proffitt and Cortese show that the Prophet has been consistently distorting the truth and sensationalizing the stories. The scholars suggest that reporting sensationalized stories helps to garner more profit, stating, “in order to increase profit margins and reduce risk, sensational stories, celebrity watching and conflict become more prominent.” As the readers are interested in celebrity news, and as following celebrity is not as costly for the media as actual investigation, it becomes an easy way of gaining
This is shown through their reports on Umbridge’s reform of Hogwarts and through the defaming comments towards Harry and Dumbledore. However, by suggesting to garner more revenue, the Prophet always crafts news that fits the Ministry’s agenda, Proffitt and Cortese have overlooked the media’s constantly negative portrayals of the Ministry, which also reveal that Ministry does not have as much influence and the Prophet has more agency in deciding the contents. Hence, in this essay, I further the argument of Proffitt and Cortese by proposing that the consumer-seeking nature of the Prophet is the most crucial motivation that can even explain the times when the Prophet is critical of the Ministry. Based on evidence from the series, and drawing on psychological studies explaining the readers’ mindset, I suggest that the Prophet has portrayed the Ministry in a negative frame and spread rumors to gain readership regardless of whether it hurts the Ministry’s interest. In addition, the use of negative depiction is not only targeted at the government alone but is also used whenever it draws readers’ attention. By reinforcing stereotypes to cater to the readers’ opinions, the Prophet gains their agreement and increases sales. It is important to understand how the mainstream …show more content…
They claim that, “commercial and government pressures often combine to influence the type of news audiences receive.” To illustrate the pressure from the Ministry, Proffitt and Cortese bring up that the Prophet is silenced regarding Cedric’s death and serves as the Ministry’s lapdog by discrediting Harry and Dumbledore. To analyze the Prophet’s consumer-seeking nature, Proffitt and Cortese point out that the media focuses on celebrity news as reflected from Gilderoy Lockhart’s rise to fame in the Chamber of Secrets. By further breaking down Rita Skeeter’s articles on Harry’s unreal love story, and by suggesting that the titles of the news are often exaggerated to interest the readers and increase sales, Proffitt and Cortese show that the Prophet has been consistently distorting the truth and sensationalizing the stories. The scholars suggest that reporting sensationalized stories helps to garner more profit, stating, “in order to increase profit margins and reduce risk, sensational stories, celebrity watching and conflict become more prominent.” As the readers are interested in celebrity news, and as following celebrity is not as costly for the media as actual investigation, it becomes an easy way of gaining