Friday, 13 November 2015

2 Article Summaries (9)

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/10/week-off-facebook-denmark-likes-this-happiness-friends
A week off from Facebook? Participants in Danish experiment like this
People taking pictures under blooming cherry blossoms at the cemetery of Bispebjerg in Copenhagen, Denmark.
Summary

This article is about a research in denmark who split 1,095 daily Facebook users into two groups, half given access to the site as normal and the remainder forced to quit. Participants aged between 16 and 76 were quizzed before the experiment began on how satisfied they felt, how active their social life was, how much they compared themselves to others, and how easy they found it to concentrate. The group was then split, with half behaving as normal and half agreeing to abstain from Facebook for seven days.
Key Data

  • they found that after a week those on a break from the social network felt 55% less stressed.
  • “We look at a lot of data on happiness and one of the things that often comes up is that comparing ourselves to our peers can increase dissatisfaction,” said Meik Wiking, CEO of the Happiness Research Institute in Copenhagen.
  • “Facebook’s been a huge part of life since I was a teenager and lots of social activities are organised around it.”
  • “When I woke up, even before getting out of bed, I’d open Facebook on my phone just to check if something exciting or important had happened during the night. I worried I’d end up on Facebook just out of habit.”

My View
in my opinion i believe that too many people rely to heavily on social media and base their whole lives around it. therefore i believe this research was a good way to test how it would make people feel and in this case people felt less stressed while being away from social media which shows how much of an impact it actually has in people's lives.




http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/12/sun-most-men-newsroom-study-suggests
Sun has most male newsroom of national newspapers, study suggests
Sun has most male newsroom of national newspapers
Summary
The Sun has the highest proportion of male journalists out of the UK’s main daily national newspapers, research has suggested. “The Sun is always seeking to increase diversity and gender balance within its staff. We particularly seek to support women returning to work after maternity leave by offering job share and part time options. Of course, more can always – and should – be done to get greater representation of women in the newsroom.”
Key Data

  • The Sun’s fellow tabloid, the Mirror, was the next most male-dominated newsroom, the research suggested, with men making up seven in 10 of those listed on Gorkana.
  • 72% of Sun journalists listed were male, compared with an average of 60% across the Daily Mail, Telegraph, Guardian, Sun, Mirror, Independent, Times and the Financial Times.
  • The Telegraph and the Mail had the highest proportion of women, accounting for 46% of Telegraph journalists and 44% of those at the Mail, which has a higher proportion of female readers than other papers.
  • Just over 40% of journalists at the Guardian and the Financial Times were women, while the figures were 35% at the Times and 32% at the Independent, the research found.

My view
in my opinion i think there should be women should be more involved












Monday, 9 November 2015

Media Magazine Conference Notes


Bill Thompson:
What has the internet done for me?

  • open to innovation 
  • network is becoming seamless and very fast and accessible 
  • internet is commissive 
  • put in contract of other people - active citizenship
  • UK = negatively ; egypt = nut - access is not easy 
  • internet is valuable for free speech but not safe

Little brother - Cory Doctoron
  • internet delivers freedom of speech 
  • major way of communicating 
  • much of a space as a medium 
Internet replacing many things e.g. newspapers

ways we use the internet:
  • connection
  • information
  • political action
  • financial reward
  • games
  • learning
  • friendship
  • lantas and campaign (to make the world better)
  • gives us voices in our heads
Downsides:
  • Bullying - pornography (unwanted)
  • Images of child sexual abuse - extremism
  • Abuse - (content collapse) 
  • the dark web
  • open to diversity
  • digital info is hard to control
Lawrence lessig- code: (cyber space) online code is law
  • unless you understand there is no control
Danah Boyd - Its complicated
  • privacy


Natalie Fenton - Media, public's, protest, powers
  • 2011 - news of the world - Ruppert Murdock
  • Phone hacking scandal
  • newspaper = closed
  • many jobs lost 
Never simply about journalists behaving badly - is is about power - Nick Davis

Media power

power over:                                                                                
  • media content: audience                              
  • Journalists: goverment
power to:
  • censor: mislead
  • set the agenda
-------------------------------------------------------------------
  • Media & Democracy
  • Media= life blood of democracy diversity & plurality
  • giving is the ability to make informed choices 
  • hold powerful to account - hold platform for debate
--------------------------------------------------------------------

Last few decades:
  • rolling online news - free newspapers 
  • cut+paste journalism - ' cut + paste from daily mail ' 
  • chasing audience number - journalists
Internet gives power to audience

Hackgate - Corruption of power 


Chris Jeffness - Documentary 
  • Entanglement of media & political ethics 
  • Relationsjip between governments and media "the sun not won it"
  • Over 50% of national UK papers sold are controlled by billionaires - Rupert Murdock
On Media Representation:
  • Shsan Hall - role of media 'common sense' definitions of majority and minority
  • group of clearance + normality 

Rob Warson & Pete Frusel - Film Production masterclass

Producer = overall control






Friday, 6 November 2015

NDM: Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

Read the Media Magazine article ‘Web 2.0: Participation or Hegemony?'. Go to our archive of Media Magazine issues and click on MM39 - the article you need is on page 58. Answer the following questions:


1) Research the Ian Tomlinson case. What would the traditional, hegemonic view of the police be in a case like this? How did new and digital media create a different story? What does the police officer's subsequent aquittal suggest about the power of new and digital media?
 - The traditional, hegemonic view of the police would be that they thought they would be able to control what the audience through just a statement that would be published on traditional media (newspaper), this would show the police as just helping out and they put the blame on the protesting people which sounds like it could be true so this would be controlling the audience in a consenting way. However, new and digital media created a different story as due to having more user-generated content has allowed audiences to produce their own stories, this changed the case as a new york lawyer recorded the incident and sent it to the guardian. This clearly showed that the statement made by the police was false and that they were clearly at fault. This all shows that the power of new and digital media is increasing as audiences can themselves find out what is true and can create their own blogs and news by the use of citizen journalism which is becoming increasingly popular and important to see a more accurate and true side of stories. This puts professional journalism at risk as people are less convinced of those stories unless they have some real proof to see it which citizen journalism actually provides.


2) What does the author argue regarding whether hegemony is being challenged by Web 2.0? 
- the author argues that although the audience has the power to create these stories and blogs by using their creative efforts, the media power remains within the celebrity native and is controlled by the mass media
3) In your opinion, does new and digital media reinforce dominant hegemonic views or give the audience a platform to challenge them?
- in my opinion I believe that the developments in new and digital media have created many changes and given the audience a lot of freedom of speech to be able to question things and create their own views on things.







News Article Index.

1) 16/09/15 - Facebook is working on a 'dislike' button
2) 16/09/15 - Social media is harming the mental health of teenagers.
3) 24/09/15 - Emojis and quizzes led the way at Social Media Week 2015
4) 17/09/15 - TV must push back against Apple and Netflix, says Discovery boss
5) 29/09/15 - Twitter considers allowing posts longer than 140 characters
6) 23/09/15 - E-book sales suffer record slump
7) 28/09/15 - Facebook down for second time in a week..
8) 08/10/15 - Mobile ad spend hits new high as consumers remain glued to smartphones
9) 14/10/15 - Ofcom to take on regulation of video-on-demand services
10) 14/10/15 - The Weekly Beast: tough questions for News Corp hacks going for ABC job
11) 20/10/15 - Sony to pay staff $8m over 'The Interview' hack.
12) 28/09/15 - Jeremy Corbyn just gave his first big interview – and people loved it.
13) 05/11/15 - BBC says public back its online journalism even if it hurts papers
14) 04/11/15 - Facebook reveals 1.5bn people use the site every month
15) 05/11/15 - News Corp first quarter 2015 earnings fall 15% as advertising revenue tumbles
16) 05/11/15 - Parents, is it OK to spy on your child's online search history?

2 Article Summaries (8)

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
News Corp’s headquarters in New York. The company’s newspaper division reported further declines in revenue in the first quarter.
Summary
Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp has suffered a 15% slide in first quarter earnings as advertisers continue to shy away from newspaper offerings.

Key data

  • Business earnings fell 11% in the three months to 30 September, mainly on account of a weak print advertising market in Australia
  • Advertising revenue in the segment was down 13% during the quarter, despite an increase in digital advertising sales.
  • News Corp’s overall earnings, before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) fell to US$165m in the three months to 30 September, while revenues declined four per cent to US$2.01bn.
My View
In my opinion I believe news corp have suffered quite a lot recently as it is becoming increasingly harder to earn advertising revenues when most audiences are not interested in advertisement.




Parents, is it OK to spy on your child's online search history? 
teenage girl in her bedroom reading Facebook page on laptop computer UK
Summary
This article is about giving parents detailed activity reports of their child's online search history and arguing whether or not it would be harmful or useful to young people if they were constantly monitored about what they were viewing online With a young generation more internet-savvy than their parents, ensuring online safety for minors surfing an ever-expanding web becomes a hard task. Today’s parents don’t have an older generation to turn to for tech advice, so many turn to parental control software instead.

Key data
  • Microsoft this summer launched its new Windows 10 feature that lets parents see what their children get up to online
  • The UN convention on the rights of the child stipulates that children have a right to privacy and a right to information. They also have a right to protection from all types of violence and exploitation – and there lies the rub.
My view
I believe that it would be harmful if young children were constantly monitored on everything they did as this would be a risk to them gaining knowledge and being unaware on things they may not be able to discuss or find out in reality. it may cause rifts and arguments and they may simply find another way to find out more information therefore they should be left alone. 








Thursday, 5 November 2015

2 Article Summaries (7)

Survey claims 95% think it is important for it to publish written news on its apps and website as director general says there’s room for both
BBC News website

The BBC has hit back at critics who say it should stop publishing written journalism online, claiming the vast majority of the public support its digital news coverage even if it makes it more difficult for newspapers to make money.
Last month culture secretary John Whittingdale said newspapers were “entitled” to be concerned if the BBC continued to “provide news content that looks like newspaper content” and suggested the corporation should consider reining in its online operation.
  • BBC has found that 95% of the public think it is important that the BBC publish written news on its apps and website
  •  83% said the BBC should continue its current approach to putting news online.
  • BBC said it was reviewing its news content online to ensure it was distinctive.
My view on the story is that this increasingly brings it into direct competition with published media’s online platforms. The BBC itself has recognised that from now on it needs to be more distinctive, and the impact of its operations on the commercial sector should be the subject of careful and considered assessment.


http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/facebook/11976299/Facebook-reveals-1.5bn-people-use-the-site-every-month.html

Facebook reveals 1.5bn people use the site every month

For the first time, more than 1bn people logged on to Facebook every day








A woman uses her phone at the Facebook stand during the three day Web Summit which opens at the RDS in Dublin
Almost 900m people used Facebook from mobile phones every day


Facebook has passed 1.5bn monthly users for the first time in its history, the world’s biggest social network said, as it smashed Wall Street expectations to post an 11pc increase in profits.
The social network, which now counts half the world’s internet users as members, grew revenues by 40pc in the three months to September. For the first time, more than 1bn people logged on to Facebook every day, it said, and monthly active users reached 1.55bn, a 14pc increase on a year ago.
  • huge increase in sales meant profits rose 11pc to $896m
  • Around 78pc of its advertising revenues during the period came from mobile
  • 1bn people logged on to Facebook every day
My view on this article is that facebook is focused on innovating and investing for the long term to serve our community and connect the entire world. Specially as Facebook has passed 1.5bn monthly users for the first time in its history, the world’s biggest social network said, as it smashed Wall Street expectations to post an 11pc increase in profits.

Friday, 23 October 2015

NDM: news values.

Galtung and Ruge (1981) defined a set of news values to explain how journalists and editors decided that certain stories and photographs were accepted as newsworthy, while others were not. 


The following list is adapted from their work:

Immediacy: has it happened recently?
Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?
Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?
Frequency: does the event happen fairly regularly?
Unambiguity: is it clear and definite?
Predictability: did we expect it to happen?
Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?
Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?
Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?
Negativity: is it bad news?
Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.

Classwork/Homework

How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?

How would you update them for 2015?

In a blog post, write how EACH news value has been affected by the growth of new and digital technology.

Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on Twitter or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken so different angles might be required. Newspapers now contain more comment or opinion rather than the breaking story.

Familiarity: The internet isn't just exposed in Britain. There are many stories and many ways to access it around the world. As the internet is accessed anywhere we can get stories from around the world, we can see and hear the stories and the people around the world can read the stories from Britain.

Amplitude: News stories about protests or riots generally create a lot of media attention and are widely talked about therefore reporting these stories is likely to appeal to the audience as it is always an interesting topic. 

Frequency: Some stories from a specific category are always in the news as they generate a lot of attention from the audience because people are interested in this type of content. For example rape or murder cases are always a major news story when they occur as they are seen as inhumane and typically create the same response every time but still manage to remain popular.

Unambiguity: Unambiguity is important because more and more people want clear and definite news. People want to make sure that they news that they're reading is accurate and usually through citizen journalism videos that are published on-line, do people believe in the news that they see.


Predictability: New and digital media has made news stories a lot more predictable as they tend to post similar stories to the past. It is predictable that Google will take over advertising as they are such a huge institution however it is much easier to piece parts of this story together using different news providers than it would be by using a physical newspaper.

Surprise: Having news stories that are unpredictable tends to create a social media uproar especially on Twitter which wouldn't be possible without the developments in technology. It allows various users to share their views on unexpected events and for this news to travel very quickly worldwide. 

Continuity: 
Additionally continuity is affected as social media platforms do not have a certain agenda backing them up, it is usually stories that people find interesting and may differ and not always be the same. This can be interlinked with balance, as they don't need to alter the order  on news being presented social media. 

Elite nations and people: Social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook allow elite people to portray themselves in the way they want but the things they post and tweet can form a news story if it is significant. This is less possible with printed newspapers as the articles are formed by these people's actions rather than words meaning social media allows scope for these "elite" people to be judged.

Negativity: Bad news is the easiest kind of news to deliver whether it is online or paper based as audiences seem to be majorly interested in it- it creates a topic for discussion. It can be easily delivered on a channels main news bulletin or online and create a worldwide response much faster for example the Madeline Macann case.

Balance: It is easier to balance out negative stories with a positive one through television or for tabloid newspapers as they can compliment the person  for broadsheet it is much harder unless something significantly important happens such a female MP is elected or running.

Update for 2015:
I would get rid of unambiguity as nobody tries to figure out what a news story means if it doesn't make proper sense and I would add in a positive news value as positive news stories aren't only used to balance out the bad news, they deliver information to the audience too.