NDM institution case study: News Corporation

News Corp is one of the world's largest media conglomerates.  

In the UK (under two subsidiary companies, News International and BSKYB), its news interests include The Times, The Sunday Times, The Sun & The Sun on Sunday (plus their online versions) in addition to Sky News & Sky Sports News.

News Corp is a cross-platform, vertically integrated multi-media company.

Some of the ideas we have discussed in class regarding the impact of new and digital media on News Corp include:

• Online subscriptions/paywalls
• Price promotions for newspapers
• Impact on institution content and its appeal
• Paid subscriptions for TV content
• Quality of journalism
• User generated content
• Social media/online news providers (Huff Post, Ampp3d etc.)

Tasks

1) Research News Corporation’s response to the growth of new and digital media by listing each of the institution’s brands (Sky News, Times etc.) Have any closed, changed or been in the news in the last 10 years for any reason?

News corp owns many brands including: 

-The Times 

-Sunday Times 

-The Sun

-News international

-The Telegraph

-Fox Entertainment

2) Develop examples of the impact that new and digital media has had on News Corp’s brands (paywalls, readership figures, audience share etc.)

New and digital media has had a somewhat negative impact on Newscorp brands. This is because due to the rise in online news, there has been a decline in the newspaper industry. An impact of this has been seen with The Sun, who recently had to get rid of their paywalls. 

3) Use what you have found out about News Corp to answer the following question:

Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the challenge posed by new/digital media?

New and digital media has now become the more dominant and more preferred platform from which audiences prefer to get their news due to which traditional media institutions are being forced to adapt to the more popular platform. This rise of online news has caused significant losses for the newspaper industry as audiences have other means of getting news more easily and money-free too. An example of this is through citizen journalism, which has been growing among readers where non-professionals are able to record the news and post it on social media such as Facebook and Twitter where other people can access this uncensored material and gain another view to the news. Something which cannot be done through the usual newspapers. Many Traditional news institutions have adapted to this change in technology and put up online news websites where the news is more accessible for its audiences. The Times and The sun had put in place a paywall from which they could regain some finances but seeing the readership drop due to this, The Sun scrapped its paywall. This shows how audiences have more power and how Traditional media institutions are not having much success even having adapted to the new and digital media.

NDM: The key concepts of audience and institution

Media Magazine 52 has a good feature on the changing relationship between audiences and institutions in the digital age. Today you need to go to our Media Magazine archive, click on MM52 and scroll to page 9. Read the article and complete the following tasks:

1) What was the relationship between audience and institution in the pre-digital age?

- In the last century, media products were produced by economically powerful organisations which packaged and sold them to carefully defined audiences. In the pre-digital era, audiences were seen to have less freedom and choice in how and when they would be able to access media products. There is a power relationship between the audiences and institutions from which the institutions had the most power in the pre-digital era, being able to control the audience through their media. 

2) The article gives a lot of examples of major media institutions. Choose three examples from the article and summarise what the writer is saying about each of them.

- BBC: is funded by a licencing fee.

- ITV: the income comes from advertisers. Institutions appeal to much bigger audiences.

- Sky One Income is generated by subscription fees and advertising revenue.

3) The article ends with a section on the digital age. Summarise this section in 50 words.

- In the digital era, the balance of power between the institutions and audiences has shifted. Audiences now have more freedom to access media products when they choose, rather than when they are told. Audiences from the modern generation are now able to communicate directly with institutions, and are also able to construct their own media products for themselves.

4) How do YOU see the relationship between audience and institution in the future? Will audiences gain increasing power or will the major global media institutions hold sway?

I believe that in the future the relationship between audience and institutions would continue to change and the audiences would have the most power. Institution's economic success will become even more dependent on the behaviour and preferences of the audiences as they would become reliant on them to make their money.  

NDM case study: News on the Tweet

Read the report and answer the questions on your blog. Include the News on the Tweet infographic above in your blogpost. 


Why are respected news brands good news for Twitter? 
- 39% of twitter users use to be aware of what is going on in the world and 38% use it to be connected to people they are interested in. They like to follow the news as it happens and like to see it breaking on twitter. These twitter users enjoy the combination of Twitter and news content. They also enjoy the personalisation, debate and finding communities of like-minded people, which are all elements of their news experience.


Why in turn is Twitter good for respected news brands? 
- Twitter helps ensure that established newsbrands continue to resonate with new audiences. News brand are 60% more likely to visit on a daily basis and more than twice as likely to post on a daily basis. This provides excellent promotion for the newspaper brands, driving readership to both online and print. Twitter is helping to make newspapers more accessible, more influential and more connected than ever before.


The report suggests that old and new media “are not, in fact, in direct competition, but often work extremely well together to enhance both the media eco-system and the consumer experience”. What evidence do they provide to support this idea? Do you agree with it? 
- I agree that old and new media work well together. Together, Twitter and newsbrands provide immediate knowledge, insight and analysis of a story as it develops. The newsbrands provide the legitimacy and authority when news is breaking on Twitter. It also provides more instant updates to keep up to date with the stories. Together they also reflect opinion from friends, the general public and most importantly the tweeters they follow as well as access to the debate from a variety of sources. Newsbrands offer expert opinion pieces while individual journalists offer honest opinions, as well as engaging with follows. Working together also provides a sense of community as users are able to discover people with shared interests. Twitter gives them the chance to consume news within a community of like-minded people. The consumers are able to become more multi-dimensional. 


On page 24/25 of the report, the focus turns to 'gossip' or 'banter'. What example tweets from journalists are used to illustrate this?
- Gossip and banter about celebrities, sports or political scandals are all part of the entertainment and are often turned to when newsbrand followers want to relax. It allows the users 'backstage access' into the lives of people and things they are interested in. 

Do you think the increasing amount of 'gossip' or 'banter' is harming the reputation of news and journalists?What does the report say about trust in Twitter and journalists (look at pages 34-39)?
- When it comes to news content, trust is an important part of the process. Almost half of all Twitter users, and almost two thirds of newsbrand users, say it is important that news on Twitter is verified by a respected brand. This helps build trust in the content. 39% twitter users say that Journalists on Twitter are a trustworthy and faster source of news.

Finally, do you think new and digital media developments such as Twitter have had a positive or negative impact on traditional newspapers?

- I believe that new and digital media developments such as twitter have had a positive impact on traditional newspapers by giving an extra platform to access news stories. They allow the audiences to connect and share a wide range of opinions through social media and also they have a more immediate access due to the instant updates of the news stories. However, this could be seen as a negative thing as people may disregard traditional forms of news in exchange for a more convenient way of getting the news. Therefore, although in my opinion there is a positive impact to a certain extent, the use of new and digital media does have some limitations to the traditional newspaper industry.

2 Article Summaries (13)

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/09/independent-blog-site-ransomware-hackers-viruses
The Independent’s blog site hit by ransomware attack.

Summary
The Independent’s blog-hosting site has fallen foul of hackers who are using ads to target visitors with virus software that encrypts files and demands a ransom. As a precaution all ads have been removed from the website.

Key Data

• ESI said that visitors to the legacy site amounted to less than 0.2% of those who visited the Independent during the whole month of November.
• Based on the Independent’s most recent published traffic statistics, which cover October, fewer than 5,000 people a day are likely to have visited the site.

My View

In my opinion I believe that it is bad for the independent that they have been hacked as it could affect their readership. 

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/10/uk-and-france-get-best-deals-for-tv-mobile-and-internet
UK and France get best deals for TV, mobile and internet.

Summary
UK and French consumers are getting some of the best deals for TV, internet and mobile services, while those in the US are paying the most, according to research from ofcom. The UK and France consistently came out cheaper on both the lowest available options and average prices for households taking on each service individually or signing up to discounted bundles.

Key Data

• If a household wanted to have a fixed broadband internet connection, then it was almost always cheaper to buy services as a bundle, with consumers in the UK saving an average of 18%.

My view

The UK and France have more privileges and In my opinion that is lucky and good for us UK residents. 

Globalisation and the media: wider issues

We have already explored globalisation with relation to news, cultural imperialism and the impact on audiences and institutions.

Now we need to explore some of the wider issues linked to globalisation and media - including privacy, 'big data', and techno-panics. These are crucial issues that are likely to come up in Section A of your MEST3 exam - as well as being relevant to your case studies for Section B.

Go to our Media Magazine archive and click on MM47 - the case study issue. You need to find page 31 and the Google Glass feature: a case study in Globalisation.

Read the article and answer the following questions:

1) Why was Google Glass controversial?- Google glass was controversial because it created a moral and techno panic which could start creating a sense of alienation in society due to the fact that people would start become less engaged in conversations as they would be too heavily focused on surfing the net.

2) What are the positive elements to Globalisation that the article highlights?- Project Loon – large balloons fitted with radio antenna devices which were  released into the air to float above rural areas of New Zealand without access to the internet, thus offering the people living there the ability to do this for the first time. 
- The world becomes more accessible, and people are enriched by getting to know and understand it better.

- Increased choice and opportunities empower people, while access to information can enhance not only the ability to make informed decisions but even the democratic process.

3) What are potential negatives to Globalisation?- Due to the concentration of ownership, there is a possibility that smaller companies would have little or no hope of staking a claim on the global market as they won’t be able to compete. 


4) What is a techno-panic? How does it link to moral panics?
techno panics relate to the technology and causes people to be alienated because people would be less engaged in real life conversations as they would be too focused on their smartphone.

5) What is your opinion on the privacy debate and major corporations being able to access large quantities of personal data?

I believe that major corporations should not be able to access our personal details as it is invading our privacy, the only time it may be acceptable is if they have the permission of the individual otherwise they should not be allowed to do so. 

2 Article Summaries (12)

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2015/dec/03/uk-national-press-airs-reservations-about-camerons-syrian-mission

UK national press airs reservations about Cameron's Syrian mission

summary

David Cameron may have secured a large majority in the Commons to go to war in Syria, but the UK national newspapers are anything but convinced about this decision.

key data

• Mr Cameron failed to convince that his all-too-vague war aims are achievable by the means he proposes.

my view

I believe it is wrong to bomb Syria as many innocent lives will be affected and David Cameron doesn't know what he's doing. I'm not ready for WW3.

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/06/news-corp-first-quarter-2015-earnings-fall-15-as-advertising-revenue-tumbles
News Corp first quarter 2015 earnings fall 15% as advertising revenue tumbles

summary

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has suffered a 15% slide in first quarter earnings as advertisers continue to shy away from newspaper offerings. News Corp’s mastheads include the Australian, the Daily Telegraph and Herald Sun in Australia, as well as the Sun and the Times in the UK and the Wall Street Journal and New York Post in the US.

Key data

•  business fell 11% in the three months to 30 September.
• Advertising revenue in the segment was down 13% during the quarter, despite an increase in digital advertising sales.
• “In fact, News Corp revenues, excluding the effect of currency, grew four per cent this quarter, underscoring the value of our shift to higher growth businesses and our prudent reinvestment strategy.”

My view

in my view i think that this is very bad for rupert murdoch

NDM News: Globalisation

Today's topic is Globalisation - the handout is here if you need an electronic copy.

Having discussed these in class, you now need to answer the following questions on your blog:

1) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What examples can you think of?
I believe our news is becoming increasingly influenced by American cultural imperialism. An example would be the CNN news which is an American news channel which operates 24/7. Due to this many audiences had the chance to catch up on the news any time they wanted as the news was on all day. On the other hand, Sky news did not have their news streaming for 24/7 however by seeing how CNN 24/7 hour news attracted many audiences they also changed their news to 24/7. Therefore this shows how our news is influenced by American cultural imperialism news.



2) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? How? Why?
Yes. The audiences are able to view live footage and experience it more so real. For an example, they are able to witness the disasters that are happening around the world. This improves the way audiences identify things. Moreover, the news generate at a much faster speed. With a great amount of choice to choose from for the audiences. However, the negative element to this is globalisation means that it’s less likely to make it local. It can also bias the audience’s views and choices. However, the choices may disappoint some of the audiences as they may not want to consistently see the news as a mainstream element. With wanting to know what Is happening in a local perspective.



3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions? How? Why?
 Yes. It has both damaged and benefited major news institutions. Firstly, it has benefited it as with different institutions there are a wide range of journalists in every inch of the country. Therefore, it makes it easier for institutions and less costly as they wouldn’t need journalists worldwide as it’s globalised on a big scale. It’s damaged due to the fact that News organisations at time plagiarize sites. Also, for news institutions its harder to sand out in a global market.