ndm case study : news on the Tweet

NDM case study: News on the Tweet

1.) As the article states, respected brands as helpful for Twitter as they create a circulation and mutual support for each other. Statistically as quoted in the article, '64% of newspaper followers say Twitter helps ensure that established newsbrands continue to resonate with new audiences, while 62% think it’s important that news on Twitter is verified by a respected brand.' And that they're "stronger together".

2.) Mentioned earlier, these respected brands help Twitter improve their image and the connection that it has with these brands as a result. These results include things such as the fact that Twitter brings new readers, and statistically '60% of UK news brand followers say they follow newspaper brands that normally they wouldn’t read in print.'

3.) In my sole subjective opinion, I would disagree to the statement that the old and new media 'are not, in fact, in direct competition, but often work extremely well together', given the fact that old media such as newspapers are constantly in the struggle of maintaining their place in the market both financially and for the sake of people's news consumption. However, objectively the article seems to hint that they instead actually help each other.

4.) "gossip" and "banter" examples in the article

• "I reveal the shocking truth behind Jennifer Aniston’s new hair"
• "The most amazing thing about the story of President Hollande having an affair is that he apparently only has one pair of shoes."
• "Excellent: a University has spent £20,000 building a mock pub for students to investigate why people get drunk"

5.) "Banter" and "gossip" may harm journalists in the sense that hard news and just useless gossip may merge together, making journalism a harder job to hinder. As a result, the industry may not even be taken seriously given sometimes their immature approach to news that might not be in every consumer's favour. 

6.) Page 34 in the article states 'It is important that news on Twitter is verified by a respected brand', so that there can be a definitive distinction between fake news and the genuine news. 

Page 36 presents statistics, such as 39% of Journalists on Twitter area trustworthy and faster source of news, 48% feel that they have a morepersonal connection with journalists I follow, and 69% feel Twitter gives them access

to journalists that they wouldn’t otherwise connect with.

7.) New and digital developments like Twitter may have an impact on the newspaper industry, given that Twitter also gives news, plus is more convenient and free, and little things like these can be enough to separate and change people's preference in how they consume news. So as a result, Twitter does in fact have a negative impact on traditional newspapers as they're replacing the once unique place they had on the market.

8.) I think its fair to say that fake news needs to be dealt with, and dealt with in a way that ensures that everyone is aware of what is going on with the issue at hand. Particularly audiences of Facebook need to acknolwedge this, as the social network is seen to be the mother load of the mix between fake news and news in general.

crossing the digital divide

http://www.thinkadvisor.com/2016/12/22/crossing-the-digital-divide

"Crossing the Digital Divide"

As the article states, 'The digital disruption is creating ‘massive opportunities’ for new ways of working; advisors just need to jump on board'. In other words and more familiarly, the new and digital media is what is being mentioned here and it's influence in the ethos of the working world. Joe Duran of United Capital describes in modern to be that everyone is feverishly focused on the millennials as the tech-savvy generation, and claiming that "the old ways of working no longer work, which means there are massive opportunities for new ways of working". 

The millennials and their digital "nativeness" in the modern age could develop and have a more understanding of opportunities that may arise in the future, and some that actually may change the world simply from convenience. This as a result too however, means that jobs involving modular and serial processes (from computers) may be replaced or obsolete from technical advances. 

newspaper groups hit by rising print costs

https://www.ft.com/content/228cd9de-bca8-11e6-8b45-b8b81dd5d080

"Newspaper groups hit by rising print costs"

The article discusses the problem newspapers face, particularly already after it's decline in advertising and circulation that adds to the burden. Certain influences such as the Brexit vote, driven by the Europeans, had a huge impact on the rise of newspaper printing costs apparently. With analysts and industry executives predicting double-digit price rises in 2017 and a further deterioration of the print advertising market, traditional newspaper businesses are bracing themselves for another difficult year.

• since Britain opted to leave the European Union in June, the cost of newsprint has jumped more than 8 per cent — from £330 per tonne to £360 per tonne
• In the UK, suppliers are aiming to raise prices to £400 per tonne or more
• Trinity Mirror, publisher of the Daily Mirror as well as more than 200 local and regional papers, has targeted £20m in savings this year, while The Guardian announced 250 redundancies
• With newspaper sales continuing to fall at an alarming rate — sales of national daily newspapers have almost halved to fewer than 8m since 2000

With even more burden on the newspaper industry, it won't be a surprise if it does shutdown any time soon, given the financial and circulation struggles that it has gone through through the decade. The new and digital media obviously had an influence in this and replaced the newspaper industry's unique place in the market they once had. 

social media ad spending is expected to passnewspapers by 2020

http://fortune.com/2016/12/05/social-media-ad-spending-newspapers-zenith-2020/

"Social Media Ad Spending Is Expected to Pass Newspapers by 2020"

The article addresses how the amount of money spent on advertising on social media is set to catch up with newspaper ad revenues by 2020, as leading forecaster said. There is discussion about how the rapid expansion of the digital age has lead to a huge change in the way how consumers get their news through more convenience via the world wide web. 

• global advertising expenditure on social media will account for 20% of all internet advertising in 2019, hitting $50 billion and coming in just one percent smaller than newspaper ads
•  It expects social media to overtake newspapers comfortably by 2020
• global advertising expenditure will grow 4.4% in 2017, the same rate as in 2016, which it said would be a strong performance given that big events like the Olympic Games, Britain's EU referendum and the U.S. presidential election boosted advertising this year
• Online video advertising is also rapidly growing and set to total $35.4 billion across the world by 2019

fake news - why people believe it and what can be done to counter it

http://theconversation.com/fake-news-why-people-believe-it-and-what-can-be-done-to-counter-it-70013

‘Fake news’ – why people believe it and what can be done to counter it

The article discusses the influence that fake news has on consumers, inputting opinions from figures such as Obama where he views fake news to be 'a threat to democracy'. He quotes that "active misinformation” can be “packaged very well”, and that "If we are not serious about facts and what’s true and what’s not, if we can’t discriminate between serious arguments and propaganda, then we have problems." With this being said, the article discusses how these kind of encounters with fake news can be avoided. Some of these measurements include things such as the 'matter of trust', where 'An argument could be made that as the “mainstream” media have become seen as less trustworthy (rightly or wrongly) in the eyes of their audiences, it makes it hard to distinguish between those who have supposedly got a vested interest in telling the truth and those that don’t necessarily share the same ethical foundation.'

The article also discusses things such as 'bubbles and echo chambers', where there is the resonating question whether social media makes these fake news worse or sheds light on them for what they are. This brings back into focus older models of media effects such as the two-step flow model where key “opinion leaders” – influential nodes in our social networks – have an impact on our consumption of media. 

denzel washington calls out media

http://www.justjared.com/2016/12/21/denzel-washington-calls-out-media-if-you-read-the-newspaper-youre-misinformed/

"Denzel Washington Calls Out Media: If You Read The Newspaper, You're Misinformed"

The article discusses how Denzel Washington, an American actor, director, and producer, 'called out' the media for producing false information. The 61-year old actor claims "If you don’t read the newspaper, you’re uninformed. If you do read it, you’re misinformed,”, insinuating that the consumption in media is inconsistent on whether what is being presented is true or false. With this being said, he states “To tell the truth. Not just to be first. But to tell the truth. We live in a society now where its just be first, who cares just get it out, we don’t care who it hurts, we don’t care who we destroy, we don’t care if it’s true. Just say it, sell it. Anything you practice, you will get good at, including B.S.”

It is without a doubt that media consumption is being provided by the consumers themselves sometimes, examples including Facebook posts where information can easily be twisted by any user. This as a result blinds the distinction between genuine news and made up stories that confuses consumers. It also creates a distortion in people's reality as they are unable to make sense of things due to how much a certain event or situation has been medelled with.

hoaxy visualizes fake news

https://www.engadget.com/2016/12/21/hoaxy-visualizes-how-fake-news-spreads-across-social-media/

"Hoaxy visualizes how fake news spreads across social media"

The article discusses how fake news has 'extreme offline consequences', and that it's effects can be damaging and blinding to what is true and what is fake. There are also mentions of Google and Facebook, and how as a result of bringing attention to this issue, Facebook has asked its users to rate headlines for truthfulness in stories being posted. Other methods have also been introduced to the issue, where 'Hoaxy', a project from IU's Center for Complex Networks and System Research, is a search engine that tracks the spread of fake news stories, visually.

• 132 sites responsible for writing fake news stories 

I think this whole movement of this investigation is well thought out, given that there is now objective and concrete evidence of how fake stories are derived of, and how the audience has to now acknowledge this issue, and how they can try to avoid it in the future and spot fake news.

ndm news: end of unit index

NDM News: end of unit index

1) Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry
2) Ofcom report: how news consumption has changed
3) The future of newspapers: Build The Wall analysis
4) The decline of newspapers: the effect of online technology
5) The future of journalism: John Oliver and Clay Shirky
6) The decline of newspapers: Media Magazine case studies
7) Citizen journalism and hyper-reality: Media Magazine article and questions
8) News Values: theory and updating them for digital media landcape
9) Marxism & Pluralism: Media Magazine article and questions
10) Alain de Botton on the News: lecture and questions
11) Full NDM essay including paragraphs on Marxism and Pluralism
12) Globalisation and news: cultural imperialism
13) Globalisation: taking it further (Google Glass case study and capitalism)
14) Fake news and globalisation - Guardian and New York Times articles
15) News on the Tweet

globalisation - fake news

NDM News: Globalisation and fake news

Fake news: blog tasks

The Guardian & the global problem of fake new

1.) ...

2.) As insinuated in the article, the main goal and similarity shared between countries is their aim to "curve" certain events, politics, and general news, and instead perhaps try to influence by changing or reinforcing certain ideas to the audience by creating fake news. Also noted, revenue and monetary value is disregarded when they make fake news too, and shows the priority of the messages being created.

3.) I think regardless of the freedom of speech, access to the Internet alone opens roots to fake news, where anyone can be the consumer and anyone can be the supplier of information - there is simply no passiveness in the modern digital age anymore.  With this being said, social apps such as Facebook and Twitter catalyze this spreading of information, where the audience can be easily manipulated due to the fact that users can spread information anywhere and at anytime, and at any given topic.

New York Times and the creation of fake news

1.) ...

2.) Successful stories for Beqa Latsabidze, 22, from Georgia landed a successful fake stories, one about Trump releasing information that could 'destroy Obama'.

3.) Without a doubt, Google and Facebook, particularly Facebook as people use it specifically to consume news regardless of its authenticity, will be consumed and will be believed, and this is dangerous especially if it is for example, spreads propaganda and spreads false information that affects people greatly on a pandemic level. Google on the other hand is a less passive search for information, where the user has to seek information on their own will about a particular subject, as opposed to Facebook as mentioned earlier, where people are being 'fed' news. So in result, Facebook is definitely more blamed than Google, however also cannot be entirely blamed as their users have in a sense "owned" the app they're using themselves, turning the dynamics of what the app seemed like before to what they've made of it now.

thrasher and print media

http://www.konbini.com/us/inspiration/could-thrasher-help-keep-print-media-alive-in-skateboarding/

"Could Thrasher Help Keep Print Media Alive In Skateboarding?"

Apart from the print industry regarding politics and general news, the skateboarding scene in print media also has huge influences and could possibly have an impact on aiding the dying situation it is in as of now. The article discusses how skateboard media has changed exponentially over the years. People used to wait months to see a tre-flip picture sequence or an editorial on their favorite skater in print magazines. Much more recently however people tend to turn to Instagram to see what their skater-of-choice is up to, and YouTube to see all the latest video parts. But beneath this multimedia landscape there are still pockets of collectors who value the importance of skateboard media in all its printed glory.

Looking back at print history, skateboarding has had an underrated and underlooked influence in the print media. Lucas Beaufort, a skateboard fan that has collected every single skateboard magazine since he could read, writes “I’ve always been a huge fan of print,”  and that, “skateboard magazines were the only way to get news from the world, it meant so much to me before internet.” Obviously, with the new and digital media it is yet again to blame for the crashing of print media, however still has opened up other platforms such as streetwear clothing that is owned by skateboard companies such as Supreme and Palace.

what does the future of publishing look like?

"What does the future of publishing look like?"

The article discusses the future of publishing in the newspaper industry, and whether it really is sustainable, given the introduction to the new and digital media that has taken popular methods of news consumption, and where it is an alternative method to a more informative and free information, however may obviously lack credibility, reliance and professionalism. Trinity Mirror boss Simon Fox, Guardian columnist Roy Greenslade and former Elle editor Lorraine Candy were asked to share their views about this topic. Lorrain Candy expressed that "I think the demise of print is a myth. There is enough evidence to prove that there will be print, and it will continue to be in many forms and be available in many places." While Simon Fox states "I continue to hope there will be a role for print in 10 or maybe even 20 years, but the challenge is, will the generation that has not grown up with papers migrate to print?" 

In my opinion, the reactions to the given question is not surprising. It is undoubtedly true that print media is dying, however the incertitude about the deeper answers that respond the question is whether it will completely die and be left. Evident, given the mix of black and white answers by people specifically in the print industry, surely perhaps print will live on longer, however cannot be sure to put a definitive answer on whether the younger generation will actually migrate to print again or completely ignore it.

globalisation - taking it further

Globalisation: taking it further

Media Magazine: Globalisation case study

1.) Google Glass was controversial due to the fact that it invaded and violated people's privacy in a sense, given that the tech is able to take pictures and videos, anywhere, anytime, as long as you're equipped with it, and this level of accessibility threatened people.

2.) As the article states, globalisation has helped people to Google everything that they'd need to know, as with the umbrella term "I'll Google it" or in other words to look it up online. As a result, globalisation has given users the benefit to rightfully consume and acknowledge any information that is posted on the world wide web. 

3.) Globalisation may come to a negative effect, given that for example a pioneering and leading company may dominate a specific market, leaving no opportunity and a gap in the market for their competitors. Examples include Microsoft for example in the computer market. 

4.) Techno-panic defines by which the development of technology causes a moral panic and mass hysteria to the audience, which is similar to the definition of a moral panic, except techno-panic is influenced by specifically technology, while a moral panic is a universal and general definition of the situation.

5.) If major corporations have access to people's personal data on a large quantity, subjectively judging whether it is wrong or right depends more on whether the data is being held with or without the subject's consent, and also depends on the type of data they are holding. Other factors also constitute this judgement on areas such as privacy and how they are going to use this data. However, I think looking at this from a plain lens would obviously come to an agreement that it is a violation of privacy when big cooperations have access to personal data without consent. 

Media Factsheet: Globalisation and capitalism

1.) The phrase 'a global village' originated when theorist Marshall McLuhan used it to describe that the world that has been “shrunk” by modern advances in communications.

2.) Slavoj Zizek argues that while globalisation of capitalism helps developing countries on a financial level, this may effectively blind people from other issues at hand such as the gap between a very poor country and a very rich country, so there isn't a resolution being meet where there is equality. This is perhaps a link to a Marxist point of view, where the belief is that there is a social class of elites who depict the outcome of a less social class, less monetary value state, and is put under full control by them.

3.) The term 'capitalism with a conscience' as Zizek describes, the article writes "He argues that the media reinforces and naturalises
the ideology that making money is the right way of conducting
businesses, but at the same time allows people to feel less guilty
about how these goods are produced."

4.) As their official websites states, (RED) has a simple mission, 
to make it easy for people and businesses to join the fight against the deadly virus called AIDS. Descriptions of the virus, such statistics such as death victim to 35 million people since 1981 have been presented on their website.

5.) It is very hard to put a definitive judgement on whether RED campaign is just purely profit-driven or for ethical reasons, but based purely on the media facsheet article's insight, it seems that RED 'has spent more on its advertising than it has donated to AIDS charities and there has been a backlash about the lack of progress that the campaign has made.' 

freedom of speech

"WORLD MEDIA NEEDS TO TAKE NOTE OF FREEDOM OF PRESS BEING CURBED IN PAKISTAN: RAHUL JALALI"

Rahul Jalali, a journalist, said the placing of a journalist of the Dawn newspaper on the Exit Control List on the instructions of the Prime Minister’s Office is a direct attack on freedom of press in Pakistan and needs to be condemned by the global media. The newspaper asserted that it stands by the report and accused the government of “scape-goating the newspaper in a malicious campaign.” As a result, it is said that the President of Pakistan and the Army was upset about whatever Jalali wrote, despite stressing that "the report had not suggested anything untoward". 

The issue of blocking the freedom of speech in certain countries, such as Pakistan for secular reasons or not, is a perfect demonstration of something similar to the digital divide that some countries still are subject to. That they might have access to computers and Internet to comment whatever and whenever, but they're so restricted by their own government that it might get removed and victims of an illiberal and injustice system as a result. Perhaps some people do have access to the Internet, but they cannot experience the full extent of it.

website labelled fake news

http://www.wnd.com/2016/12/website-labeled-fake-news-threatens-to-sue-major-u-s-newspaper/

WEBSITE LABELED 'FAKE NEWS' THREATENS TO SUE MAJOR U.S. NEWSPAPER

The article discusses how one of the websites The Washington Post labeled “fake news” in a November story demanded a retraction and threatened the paper with a defamation lawsuit in a demand letter Sunday. Accused of supplying fake news by a lawyer for 'Naked Capitalism', both the company's brand image and their company as a whole to potentially be sued is at risk. 

• Naked Capitalism is a finance and economics blog started in December, 2006, with a stated goal of “shedding light on the dark and seamy corners of finance.”
• Naked Capitalism accuses WaPo to be provoking fake Russian propaganda news

Fake news is a perfect demonstration of why it is not always a good idea to consume information on the world wide web on everything you see, even if it is presented by a trusted and credible institution, as the understanding of how manipulative of the media is, is always true to some extents. As a result, this then allows consumers to acknowledge and be cautious of how they are to tackle this problem in the future, and to not be "fed" information.

gone too far review

Gone Too Far, in short, is a film about the embarrassment and a goofy "yoyo" of emotions that two brothers go through - one native to South London and the other foreign with a funnily Nigerian tongue, who go through more things on the way than to simply pick up some grocery at a corner store for their mum... Their journey revolves around when the pair are forced to spend the day together on their Peckham estate Yemi is forced to confront local bullies, the unattainable girl of his dreams and his own African heritage, eventually teaching both of them the values of family and self-respect.

This journey, which then had the opportunity to demonstrate certain stereotypes of black minorities involved in certain anti-social behaviour such as being gang affiliated was definitely pushed in by the writer Bola Agbaje, who had discussed the ethos of her writing in this film. Perhaps this is an introduction into the influences life offers someone, juggling between a person's love life, sports, work, essentially what constitutes their stress and frustration, and this is perhaps what Agbaje wanted to subjectively express too, as said in her Q&A session. The fact that Yemi refused his foreign brother, and that his stroked ego couldn't afford to be lost in front of other characters presents us the social norms of London life, especially in a "ghetto-ish" area, where reputation is valued. The characters are generally good; they have chemistry and are relatable, purposely more to a viewer that is from London, specifically the south, and all adds up to make a more engaging and less passive viewership. However, in vice versa there is the exception of the London slang, whom presumably cannot be understood by foreign viewers to London, and as a result could remain a bit confused. 

This then comes to the conclusion that ethnic minorities should have the right to represent anyone, as it is a subjective representation view, and instead should create to express and not impress. It is also however objectively true that movies should be made regardless of the subjective opinions that disagree with it, as it is undoubtedly made for monetary reasons more than for the ethos of film making, as with mainstream Hollywood nowadays, example, Fast and Furious franchises. In other examples however, there is the slightly deragotry representation of certain groups such as the Muslim community, who is subject to discrimination and prejudicism, predominantly set catalyst by events such as the Twin Tower 9/11 bombings. Films such as American Sniper, United-93, create a sense of moral panic as people have been "fed" this kind of information although they may not necessarily be true. The realism aspect to it is what is the most affecting, hence the audience can relate more to it. Example, a south-east Londoner may feel more attached and have a significant impact simply because they're able to relate more, just as the relation between an American audience and American Sniper, United-93, audiences that feel that they're in the category. 

NDM News: Globalisation

NDM News: Globalisation

Globalisation and news: blog task

1.) I definitely do think that America has a huge influence in other countries' news, given for example, the presidential election of 2016 between Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton, which has concerned people on a global scale, even though they're not subject and being affected by the result. On a lower scale however, would be the EU referendum would also be another example, however wasn't necessarily as anent.  

2.) With ever increasing and faster access to the Internet, twinned with the unstoppable explosion of the Web, a global platform has been created. A platform that has nurtured traditional media and introduced a variety of new media, including media created by the audience itself. This platform is available to anyone with connection to the Internet and creates a 'surveillance' for consumers. It is also a demonstration of freedom of speech, where users have the right to acknowledge any information that is posted on the Internet.

3.) Globalisation has both benefited and put news institutions at a disadvantage sometimes close level, and sometimes at a huge level. A disadvantage would obviously be the sourcing in how institutions are presenting them in, and whether if it has been presented by another institution already, etc. Essentially, point is that the news industry is a competitive industry.

islamphobia plan

Islamophobia/xenophobia and the media

Introduction:

Will discuss the impact on the Muslim community and the result of their retaliation due to it, such as even more cases of terrorism.

Will introduce media texts such as films like mainly American Sniper and how a soldier is seen as a hero, but may be seen as a terrorist to Islam and vice versa. Will introduce United 93 as a sub text and Historical text to reinforce and support my ideas on the stereotypes and prejudice/discrimination which Islam is victim to.

Main text:

American Sniper, a film based off a real occurrence, is about a top sniper sent to protect his comrades in the battlefield, and is seen to be a hero at least from the eyes of an American. In the film the typical representations of Islamists/Militants/Radicals/Extremists are presented as the bad guys, often always seem to be holding some kind of weapon in the film, even though from a neutral standpoint, they're just retaliating to the attack, just like Americans are terrorists to Islam, and Islam are stereotypically terrorists to the common American. Main point to discuss is the “one sided” and “black and white” binary representations between good and bad, even though they might not have been necessarily true.

Also as the title suggests, "American" Sniper, we see the picture through American lenses, supported by their cultural style and political language. Where the strongly Native American believes all Muslims are a threat and are mostly portrayed as the bad guys. Even in reviews by respected institutions, it is said I’m not going to fault Kyle’s view of his enemies as representing a “savage, despicable evil,” but I do fault Eastwood for making what is, essentially, a propaganda film. Clint Eastwood cleverly tries to attract a mainstream cinema audience and get them to engage with the politics behind it, and as a result catalyses the topic of Islamophobia. I will discuss perhaps there are some influences to this such as a business decision.

Theories:

·         Binary opposition between good (America) and bad (Islam)

·         Hypodermic needle model of marginalizing the whole of Islam

·         Tessa Perkin’s theory of stereotypes

·         Hegemonic views

Key scenes and textual analysis of American Sniper:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hy9GIOE3Ba8

RPG Kid scene –

The scene demonstrates a quite controversial and propaganda sparking idea by Clint Eastwood, as several other film reviews have said, where a kid is almost predisposed to pick up the nearest weapon and fire anything on site - they are that brainwashed, and I will discuss this in further detail with theories and analysis.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o70G8oZBkHU

RKG Grenade scene –

A Muslim mother sends her martyr child to bomb American soldiers, but the child is sniped by Chris Kyle, and as a result the mother risks her own life to fulfil the deed. I will discuss the implications and controversy that surrounds this scene like similarly like the one before, and will use film reviews from institutions to back up my subjective ideas about this.

Quotes:

“Words such as ‘fundamentalist’, ‘extremist’ and ‘radical’ are regularly used in

Apocalyptic headlines across all sectors of the British press. They create the impression

of a mounting universal conspiracy directed against British society by an organised

and coherent army of bloodthirsty agents. It is evidence of a tendency to view all

Islamic movements as originating from the same root and as being equally hostile to

Britain.” With this quote I will discuss the definitions and their associations with the media, such as purposely using these words that speak controversy to simply make headline views, etc, and how this has a negative impact from something cynical.

“There are 175 mosques in NYC. There are 6000 churches in NYC. And there are about 1000 synagogues in NYC.” I will discuss the impact derogatory stereotypes have had on American citizens who follow Islam and how they’re almost feeling “unwelcomed”.

“The leading cause for Islamophobia is usually misinformation or total lack of information based on the religion. Islamophobic people are not likely to be willing to educate themselves about their fears or spend time around any Islamic people.” I will be discussing the demonstration of some media theories such as stereotypes and the hypodermic needle model where the media is responsible for this, “feeding” viewers a bad image.

Issues and debates:

Sam Harris on a podcast, expressing objective statements on Islam and Political Correctness

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qui3aW0Lv3Y

Christopher Hitchens’ talks about Islamphobia – “Is fear of Islam racist?”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mQhwMdjoUPU

marxism vs pluralism

"The development of new/digital media means the audience is more powerful in terms of consumption and production." 
Discuss the arguments for and against this view.

If a pluralist were to answer this statement, then it would mean that audiences are in fact more empowered by the new/digital media, given that there are extensions in which communication technology has enabled these audiences to no longer be passive, and is more supportive of the statements that pluralism makes, such as the ways in which they consume news. Some of these methods include UGC, where there is a distinct view from what sometimes the media may be hiding, and therefore gives more meaning and significance to this 'freedom of speech' movement. An example includes the death of Ian Tomlinson, a newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London after being struck by a police officer during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. The shocking part is that Ian Tomlinson was innocent, had no influence in retaliation against police officers, and ultimately wasn't one of the protesters. The video recording that shed bright lights to his death has as a result given and challenged hegemonic views of police forces that were designed to protect and serve, but obviously this is quite the opposite as evident with the seen video footage.

On the other hand, a Marxist's approach would disagree with this, and instead would insist that the audience are not being empowered enough given that their ideologies share the hegemonic view that certain social classes, specifically the 'elite', who control dominant views set in the media. This is as of course suggested by the theorist Gramsci. Similarly, theorist Alain de Botton also quotes something parallel to this, explaining that "News corrupts us", therefore instigating the core opinion of why Marxism views do not think that new/digital media empowers the audience. Factors such as the 'gatekeepers' have an influence in this, where there is believed to be a figure that controls the process through which information is filtered for dissemination, therefore inputting more dominant ideologies and "feeding" the audience targeted information, and keeping a constant and similar status quo. 

However, pluralists disagree to this sustained status quo and instead, as quoted by theorist Gurevitch the audience are enabled to "conform, accommodate, challenge or reject", meaning that the audience are yet again not passive, and in fact "manipulate" the media in some sense if they're willing to do so. Examples include social media plateforms, such as social networking sites like Facebook and Twitter, where the "culture of freedom" is more pronounced as users can express their subjective opinions on anything by tweeting, re-tweeting, pinning a post, and simply using the app's special features. As a result, pluralists would yet again agree that new/digital media empowers them, as opinions shared on the Internet can be seen by anyone and can also in a sense be unremoved, as a theorist once stated, "Trying to take information out of the Internet is like trying to take piss out of a pool...". An example of this "stained information" on the Internet would be the Arab Spring protests, where protests took place both in states with a very high level of Internet usage (such as Bahrain with 88% of its population online in 2011).

In result, a Marxism would probably be more criticized for the ideologies in modern day, as the dynamics of information and structures have completely changed within time, almost in a sense making some of their beliefs obsolete. 

social media passiveness, - echo chambers

http://www.thedrum.com/opinion/2016/11/20/what-happened-social-media-being-conversation-platform-instead-echo-chamber

What happened to social media being a conversation platform instead of an echo chamber?

The article describes social media to currently be that "Curated and personalised news feeds are driving us into holes we might not be able to dig ourselves out of", meaning, we’re becoming more and more self-absorbed with those that share our own views. The article presents other influences on this, including Facebook where in 2013 the 'unfollow' feature was introduced. It gave users the ability to quietly unsubscribe from a friend’s feed without their friend knowing – hiding your friend's right wing views and pictures of their cats from your feed, for example – but to anyone else you're still friends.

• nearly one-third of social media users (31%) say they have changed their settings in order to see fewer posts from someone in their feed because of something related to politics
• while 27% have blocked or unfriended someone for that reason
• taken together, this amounts to 39% of social media users – and 60% of them indicate that they took this step because someone was posting political content that they found offensive.

As lastly stated by the article: "Did social media contribute to putting Trump into the White House or voting us out of the EU? Yes, but it isn't social media's fault; it's ours for not challenging the rhetoric and abandoning the debate." Which basically comments on how sometimes the audience in social media is passive and lets a dominating opinion that one would agree with, control their core beliefs, and this belief simply spreads with a snowball effect.

new zealand media merger and clickbait

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2016/nov/26/new-zealand-media-merger-risks-growth-of-glib-click-bait-coverage-say-editors

New Zealand media merger risks growth of 'glib, click-bait' coverage, say editors

The article discusses how the merging of two media companies, 'Farifax Media' and 'NZME', would be a threat to democracy in a country like New Zealand, where already  it is suffering a dearth of serious content, as commented by former editors of the two companies. Three of the editors, Suzanne Chetwin, former Dominion chief Richard Long and ex-New Zealand Herald editor Gavin Ellis, criticise the trend towards “click-bait stories” at a time when television has “all but abandoned current affairs and our public discourse is increasingly glib”. As a result, the merger was sold as an attempt by both companies to stem revenue losses and drastic staff and budget cuts, particularly to rural and regional newsrooms.

• The merger would see one organisation controlling nearly 90% of the country’s print media market (and associated websites), the greatest level of concentration in the OECD and one that is exceeded only by China

News institutions have now as a result taken an unethical approach to news consumption, where they have no disregard for the quality of news they're presenting but instead putting up with 'clickbait' titles, purposely trying to grab users' attention in order to sustain revenue.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-us-canada-38064854

Trump wages war on 'dishonest' media 'but will now meet NY Times'

The article discuses how president elect Donald Trump is being put in a worse image than he already is by the New York Times, where he accused the news company of giving him "unfair" media coverage. Throughout his campaign to consult this issue, Mr Trump accused the media of dishonesty, sometimes targeting individual journalists at his rallies and even denying some outlets accreditation to his events.

He feuded with Fox News anchor Megyn Kelly, who later alleged that he had offered her gifts, including hotel stays, in an attempt to influence coverage. In short, this just emphasizes the extent to how much power the media has.

As said before, the media has a huge hegemonic influence on how the audience views a certain figure or event, and this is most affecting people in politics or in an important 'hard news' field like Donald Trump. The fact that Donald Trump is trying to bribe his way into making his image positive says enough about the influence the media has.

Obama is worried about fake news

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/20/barack-obama-facebook-fake-news-problem

Obama is worried about fake news on social media – and we should be too

The article discusses how Obama states that we live "In an age where there’s so much active misinformation, and it’s packaged very well...", introducing influences such as Facebook, television, or in other words, the media to have been the embodiment of misinformation by presenting rumours and wrong information to people. Simply, he states that “everything is true and nothing is true” as a way of saying that information on the Internet is hard to distinct between genuine and true, against lies and false.

The fact that a significant figure such as Barack Obama has commented and shed light into this topic, surely the outcome will be that audiences will now be more skeptic, but as a result may also damage their reliance and trust as a whole in the sense that news institutions will now feel less confident in the information they present.

marxism and pluralism: alain de botton

Marxism & Pluralism: Alain de Botton on the news

1.) Alain de Botton's statement, explaining how new and digital media, and technology, has had a huge influence on news is without a doubt something to agree with. He raises questions like: How come disaster stories are often so uplifting? What makes the love lives of celebrities so interesting? Why do we enjoy politicians being brought down? Why are upheavals in far off lands often so… boring? In short, he is trying to insinuate the passiveness the audience in modern society are subject to by the media, where they're sort of being fed.

2.) Hegemonic views and Marxism give news a sense of a dominant ideology being fed towards their passive audiences, where they've only seen and have been 'forcefully' given information to be consumed, and to not be questioned. As a result, they're blindsighted by a more real and honest approach, such as other views from UGC, where users share their perspective of the situation, and instead where the media may not always show this perspective to cover up the story for specific reasons.

3.) Alain's 'pathology' in which news institutions are sort of the only source to some people's news consumption, and as a result are only being fed to one side of an event, is somewhat true. However, as stated with the use of technology earlier, audiences are now in more control of what type and how they consume news on a much more vast range of levels with the use of technology and the world wide web. 

4.) http://www.campaignlive.co.uk/article/so-brand-victim-fake-news-what/1416180

"Last week, the proliferation of fake news on social media ignited a debate over its influence on the election. And two global brands, Pepsi and New Balance, got caught in the online vitriol when top company executives were misquoted in fabricated articles that went viral, and consumers called for boycotts of their products."

https://techcrunch.com/2016/11/03/youtube-upgrades-its-comments-system-to-give-creators-more-control/

"YouTube upgrades its comments system to give creators more control. YouTube today is rolling out an upgrade to its comments system, with the goal of putting creators more in control of which comments get featured in the feed, as well as the ability to better interact with their viewers and fans."

marxism, pluralism and hegemony

NDM: Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1.) In summary, Ian Thompson, an elderly man, was beaten on the leg with a baton by police during  a protest while being suspected to be one of the protesters, while the end result being his death, and while he was innocent, minding his own business, which has caused a lot of controversy regarding the topic of police brutality. 

The preferred hegemonic view of this incident would be to blandly defend the police force as they're thought to protect citizens that do no wrong, and vice versa to criminals. However, any sane person would agree that Thompson was a victim of unnecessary police brutality, and clearly seen from the UGC video Thompson was not apart of the protest and was simply minding his business, to which then the police officer unprofessionally couldn't compose himself with. The new and digital media as a result then challenges this cover up that the media would have bought to defend the police force's image, while UGC clearly says otherwise, presenting objective evidence.

2.) The author, Nick Lacey, explores whether Web 2.0 has really democratised our access to the media, and switched the power from producers to audiences, or whether it has simply become absorbed into the values of 'old media'. In short, Lacey believes that hegemonic values can be challenged by the new and digital media, where social networking apps to spread UGC, therefore we are not this passive audience that simply is subject to being fed news, and that media is no longer 'gatekeepers' anymore.

3.) I think any rational user on the Internet would look one step further, therefore challenge any situation that is happening based on the objective information they see, and this happens to be UGC that seems to be the catalyst to these challenges. Of course too, the media is much less like the 'old media' now, where there is a constant switch between the black and white side of news, and is very hard to give a definitive judgement purely based on what information you're being presented with. As a result, consumers can turn to other alternative news consumption, for example, social networking apps such as Twitter to share your opinions as well as acknowledge other people's opinions.

4.) The hegemonic values of political events, especially concerning presidential candidates have taken their influence and their effect to the point other countries feel as if they're being affected as a result too. Obviously, people would challenge the dominant ideology between their opinion on who should've rightfully been the president of United States, and whether the outcome was the right judgement or not, based on their subjective opinions. This is the same case of Brexit, where people have accused the voters of the winning opposition to have been 'racist'.