Hello, everyone.

My name is Ms. Wyatt and I'm so happy that you could join us here for today's lesson.

Welcome to today's lesson on how does the media hold those in power to account from the unit How Does The Media Affect Us? By the end of today's lesson, you will be able to explain how the media holds people to account, and why those in power should be held accountable.

We have three keywords in today's lesson, and these are media, power, and accountable.

So media are the forms of communication like radio, television, newspapers, magazines, and the internet that reach or influence people.

We have power, which is having control or authority over something or someone.

And then we have accountable, required to explain, justify, and take responsibility for one's actions and to answer to someone such as a person with more authority.

So some of these keywords may be new for you today, but please don't worry as I'm here to guide you through the lesson.

Our lesson is broken up into two parts today.

The first part we're looking at how does the media hold people to account? And then finally, why should those in power be held accountable? So when you're ready, let's begin our lesson.

The media has three major roles in a democracy.

It is to set the agenda, to inform and educate, and to hold people to account.

What does hold people to account mean? Because it's one of the roles of the media, but what does it mean, hold people to account? Well, holding people to account means making sure that people, especially those in power, take responsibility for their actions and decisions.

It involves tracking if they are doing what they promised and following the rules.

So making sure that those in power are being held fully responsible for what they're saying, what they're doing, and their decisions.

What else does to hold people to account mean? If the media makes mistakes or does something wrong, they should face consequences or be made to explain their actions.

The journalist, editor, or media company should also be held accountable legally.

So not just the media holding people to account, but if the media makes mistakes or they do something wrong, they should also be held to account.

So what does hold people to account mean in a democracy? In a democracy, the media plays a big role in holding people in power like politicians and leaders to account by investigating and sharing the truth with the public.

This helps ensure fairness and trust in those who lead us because they are held accountable for their actions.

So let's fill in the missing words of this sentence.

So making sure that people, especially those in power, take responsibility for their actions and decisions is called blank, blank, blank, blank.

What are those blanks? Can we fill in the missing words to this sentence? Pause the video and have a go at this task.

Okay, well done, everyone.

So we should have said making sure that people, especially those in power, take responsibility for their actions and decisions is called holding people to account.

Well done if you remembered that.

Media plays an important role in demanding that people at all levels take responsibility for their actions.

This involves critically questioning people in positions of power.

So asking those questions, those questions that might be hard to answer.

The media hold people accountable in a variety of different ways.

So on television and radio, journalists may interview and question people in positions of power or hold debates between people with different views.

So sometimes the BBC holds a programme called "Question Time", and this enables people from the public to be able to ask politicians questions.

Newspapers often use stories on the front page of their newspaper to draw attention to politicians' decisions or celebrities' controversial actions.

Sometimes journalists may also take part in investigative journalism before publishing their findings.

This is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest such as a serious type of crime, like political corruption.

So a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest is called A, interrogation journalism, B, information journalism, C, international journalism, or D, investigative journalism.

Which form of journalism is it? Pause the video and have a think about this question and make your answer.

Okay, so we should have said D, investigative journalism is a form of journalism in which reporters deeply investigate a single topic of interest.

So well done if you got that correct.

Our task is to help Alex out with a report.

So Alex has been asked to write a report on how the media holds people in power to account.

So we need to write three to five bullet points to help him with his report.

So Alex says, "You could cover interviews, newspaper front pages, and investigative journalism." So Alex is going to write a report on how the media holds people in power to account, but we need to try and write three to five bullet points to help him get started.

I think we can do that and we might even be able to push ourselves to try and reach five bullet points.

Wouldn't that be amazing? So let's pause the video and have a go at writing three to five bullet points to help Alex with his report.

Okay, so Alex has been asked to write a report on how the media holds people power to account, and we should have written three to five bullet points to help him with that report.

Now our answers might have included some of the following.

So one, he could interview politicians and leaders.

So journalists ask direct and challenging questions to make sure people in power are held accountable.

Two, drawing attention with headlines.

So eye-catching front pages and headlines highlight important issues and grab the public's attention.

Three, investigative journalism.

The media conducts in-depth research to uncover the truth about actions taken by those in power.

Four, providing a platform for debate.

News programmes and articles allow for public and expert discussions on leaders' actions and decisions.

And five, encouraging public awareness.

By sharing information widely, the media helps citizens understand what is happening.

So hopefully we managed to get three to five bullet points, and this will really help Alex with his report on how the media holds people in power to account.

Well done on your efforts.

We have now explored the question of how does the media hold people to account, and we are onto the final part of the lesson, which is looking at why should those in power be held accountable? So people in power should be held accountable because their decisions affect everyone.

Affect everyone, including themselves.

In a democracy, the people in power can be held to account because they have a responsibility to act fairly and honestly.

For example, if a politician in power promises to improve education but doesn't deliver, the media can question them and demand answers on behalf of the public because they have laid out in their policy perhaps to improve education.

Being accountable is important because it keeps leaders from abusing their power and use it in ways that isn't so great.

It reminds them that they work for the people, they work for the public with the good of the public in their interest.

An example is when a company may pollute the environment and the media investigates this and encourages the government to take action.

This can force the company to face the consequences and change their behaviour.

So true or false, holding those in power to account is not in the public interest.

Is that statement true or is it false? Pause the video and have a think about this statement.

Is it true or was it false? Okay, time for answers.

Hopefully we knew that this was false.

It's false because it's very important that those in power are held accountable for their actions because their decisions affect everyone, which is why holding powerful people to account is in the public interest.

So that statement was false.

Well done if you recognise that and said it was false.

Good job.

Can you think of an example where the media has held those in power to account? Like, has there ever been anything perhaps on social media or in the news, like in newspapers, on the radio where the media has held those in power to account? Well, examples include the truth about the Cabinet's spending in their own lives in 2009.

Also from 2009, the cash secrets of the MPs.

And the phantom mortgage and the 1,600 pounds duck house.

So this was a big controversy that happened in 2009, and we're gonna look further into it now.

So the MP's expenses scandal in 2009 revealed that some MPs misused taxpayer money by claiming expenses for personal or unnecessary items like luxury goods and second homes.

Can you believe that? The public was outraged and the subsequent media coverage led to resignations, repayments, and even criminal charges for some MPs.

So this is why those in power should be held accountable because sometimes they misuse their power.

The scandal highlighted the need for greater accountability and brought reforms to how MPs' expenses are monitored.

So reforms just means changes.

So there was changes to how MPs' expenses are now monitored because of this huge scandal.

So what happened as a result? So the prime minister at the time, Gordon Brown, apologised on behalf of all MPs.

The opposition leader, David Cameron, set new rules for conservative MPs.

Michael Martin stepped down from his position as speaker of the house.

Six ministers resigned from their roles.

Five MPs and two lords were jailed for fraud or false accounting and a new organisation was set up to manage the expenses system.

So as a result, people resigned, people lost their jobs, and people were jailed because of this scandal.

So MPs' expenses scandal is a great example of being able to hold those in power accountable because of information we have been provided from the media.

If the media had not publicly published MPs' expenses, there might have been no action taken, which is quite a scary thought because this could have continued on and on and on.

The media saw this topic as being in the public interest and therefore, decided to report on it and take action.

Active citizenship encourages us to use the media as a tool for taking action on issues that matter to us.

So let's check our understanding.

The 2009 scandal brought changes into how MPs something were monitored.

What was it? What did the 2009 scandal bring changes to? Can you pause the video? Have a think about what the missing word is in this sentence? Have a go.

Okay, time for answers now.

So hopefully we remembered that the 2009 scandal brought changes into how MPs' expenses were monitored.

So how they were spending that money, the taxpayer's money.

For this task, we have been asked to explain to a younger pupil why it's important for people in power to be held accountable.

So we need to imagine that we're writing to someone younger than us now that might not understand why it's so important for people in power to be held accountable for their actions, decisions, words.

Sofia says try to include the examples that we have looked at.

So education, if someone says they're going to have a go at trying to make education little bit better, if they don't perform on that, why not? What happened? They need to be held accountable for that.

The environment, and the MPs' expense scandal to try to use these examples when explaining to a younger pupil to understand why it's important for people in power to be held accountable.

So pause the video and have a good go at this task.

Good luck and enjoy.

Okay, well done, everyone.

We had to explain to a younger pupil why it's important for people in power to be held accountable.

So some of our answers might have included some of the following.

So people in power need to be held accountable because their decisions affect everyone.

They must act fairly and honestly.

For example, if a leader promises to improve education but doesn't follow through, it's important to question them and ask for action.

Similarly, when companies harm the environment, they should face consequences and make changes.

Accountability helps ensure that the leaders don't misuse their power and reminds them that they are there to serve the people.

Without it, society could suffer from unfair decisions like when MPs were involved in the expenses scandal in 2009.

So maybe we included about the example of education.

So like if a leader says they're going to improve it, make it better, but that doesn't actually happen, well, it's important that we question them and we hold them accountable to why it wasn't made better.

And when companies harm the environment, maybe we included this example, well, they should face consequences also and try and make changes.

And accountability came in when we looked at the 2009 expenses scandal.

So you might have written about that as well.

Good job on our paragraph.

Hopefully a younger pupil would be able to understand now why it's so important for people in power to be held accountable.

We have now come to the end of our lesson on how does the media hold people to account.

I'm going to summarise our lesson into a few points for us.

So holding people to account means ensuring that individuals, particularly those in power, are held responsible for their actions.

The media hold people accountable by interviewing and questioning politicians and leaders using newspaper front pages to draw attention and investigative journalism to delve deeper into a story.

In a democracy, the people in power can be held to account because they have a responsibility to act with fairness.

For example, if a politician in power promises to improve education but doesn't deliver, the media can question them and demand answers on behalf of the public.

Holding people in power accountable is a crucial role of the media as it prevents leaders from misusing their power, reminding them that they serve the people.

So I think we've had a really interesting lesson on how does the media hold people to account.

And I hope you've took a lot from this lesson and learned a lot about it.

I've really enjoyed today and I've really appreciated your efforts with this lesson.

So well done.

I hope to see you in the next one.

And bye-bye.