Sunday 27 November 2016

Week 10-

Homecoming: a starstudded psychological thriller in podcast form


in the post-Serial world, drama podcasts have been upping their game and now Homecoming (iTunes, Gimlet Media) takes the format to another level.
It’s impossible not to become immersed in the opening episode of the psychological thriller. Catherine Keener stars as Heidi Bergman, a caseworker from an experimental facility who’s helping soldiers integrate back into the community. She’s focusing on Walter Cruz (Star Wars’ Oscar Isaac), who is trying to live a normal life and keep his inner darkness at bay. It’s not easy, as he reveals his thoughts about harming himself: “I saw the desk and I just imagine leaning way back and slamming my forehead into the corner as hard as I could, over and over, into my eye,” he tells her. “But that was an extreme. It’s not like that all the time.”
Bergman is keen to take a holistic approach, which is not good news for Colin Belfast, her take-no-prisoners boss, played by David Schwimmer. He is heard rushing through the airport, tripping over a little girl’s backpack as he instructs Bergman to “get really granular with all that shit”. He even provides a moment of light relief. “This is a walkway!” he rages, incredulously. “All right. Goodbye. Good talk.”

Here's the truth: 'fake news' is not social media's fault


Facebook’s founder Mark Zuckerberg, having initially denied that fake news was problematic, now wants us to believe that “we’ve been working on this problem for a long time.” Really? So it is a problem after all?
As for Google, its chiefs seem to think fake news will be strangled to death by removing advertising tools that enable sites to make money by spreading lies. 
But the fake news phenomenon is not only driven by shysters seeking profit. Some of it is propagandistic (as was clear during the US presidential election) and some of it is simply mischievous.
Politicians have no right to complain. Down the years so many of them have played fast and loose with the truth. Their spin doctors turned lying into an art form.
This year’s elections on either side of the Atlantic confirmed that we may, sadly, be living in a post-truth society.
Americans have elected a lying president in Donald Trump. Britons have voted to leave the European Union in a campaign noted for abundant lies.
Mainstream media has been blindsided by the lying phenomenon. Cynics will surely say that its chiefs are upset by the rise of competing liars who appear to do the job so much better than them.
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Friday 18 November 2016

NDM News case study: index


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
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Marxism & Pluralism: Alain de Botton on the news


1) To what extent do you agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News?

Alain de Botton believes that the news is a tool that can numb you, as it gives you access to information that can erode any sense of real priorities. In order for people to accept the status quo, he said there is two ways in doing this. You can give people no news or you can do the exact opposite, where you drown them in news. De Botton's view sides very much with a Marxist view as he believes 'the news is the most powerful force out there shaping how we see the economic and historical problems'.

2) How can you link Marxism and Hegemony to de Botton's criticisms of the News?

Marxists believe the media is a tool used by ruling bodies to maintain control over divides in society. The theory of Marxism can link to De Botton's opinion as he believes that the news decides what the viewers deem as 'interesting'. This just goes to show that the ruling bodies decide what we should find interesting and what they choose to deliver to their audiences will have to be what they watch. The lady beside him said that audiences need education, as the news is corrupting us, due to these opinion leaders feeding us information. The news is said to 'not be made by the people', thus leading to a lack of connection between audiences and the news, going against the pluralistic values of a society.

3) How could you use Pluralism and new technology to challenge de Botton's views on the News?

Pluralism, the thought of a classless society with free choice to media goes against Alain's point about 'being force fed the same stories all the time.' Alain believes that the news is 'chosen' for the audiences. A Pluralist ideology could challenge De Botton's views as they would argue that the 'audience has the ability to choose what they want to watch and consume'. Every consumer has freedom of choice, and if they happen to choose that news channel to watch, where they deliberately portray a negative portrayal or mis information, then it is down to them to differenciate between the real and false. New technology may change his view as social media and online news articles give viewers more autonomy in what they want to view and consume. Ahmed also says tthere news gives us a moral purpose: to create a sense of community, inform us, and change and improve the world.
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NDM: Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony


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 acquittal suggest about the power of new and digital media?

The traditional, hegemonic view of the police would be that they have more dominance over the public and people of the community. In particular, this dominance has recently suggested in the news to be violent and aggressive amongst the African-American community. Ian Tomlinson's case was one that could have perhaps changed these traditional, hegemonic views about the Police, as they started to think the police shouldn't have this much dominance over the public, as they are using it for an excuse when there is a accidental killing or using it to their advantage. New and digital media has helped create a different story as it was in highly in favour of the policing force, when projected on news channels, however, due to a higher amount of user-generated content and access for public on sites like Twitter, that can connect the world and create a Global Village, many other views and values came into consideration.

However, it was said that these social networking sites, are equally causes of major historical issues like the 'Arab Spring', causing the revolutions in countries like Tunisia, Egypt and Libya. Politically, then, the internet has given the people a potentially powerful tool to communicate with each other, and so to challenge their rulers. However, as governments can exert a large degree of control over the internet, ‘We Media’ on its own is not sufficiently strong to allow ‘people power’ to succeed.

2) What does the author argue regarding whether hegemony is being challenged by Web 2.0? 

Web 2.0 is essentially a medium allowing audiences to become producers of media texts. On one hand, the use of user generated content, and lack of gate keeping, has been said to 'democratises the media'. Some observers believe this is one cause leading to 'dumbing down' and 'the cult of the amateur'. This is beneficial as thousands of members from the general public are able to use these mediums if they are co-producers and is especially lower in cost. Without the Web 2.0, it was very unlikely that the case of Ian Tomlinson would have made it to court.

3) In your opinion, does new and digital media reinforce dominant hegemonic views or give the audience a platform to challenge them?

In my view, I think new and digital media, in particular, Twitter, can give the audience a platform to challenge them. People using sites like Twitter are mainly members of the general public, some of which are the oppressed, which gives them a great way to express their feelings towards the elite in society, and almost target them through social media. Understandably, hegemonic views are also prominent through new and digital media, for example, through the Twitter accounts of the elite, and the opinion leaders, as they can use their power to grab the attention of members of the public, further reinforcing their hegemonic views.

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Monday 14 November 2016

Week 9-

NSPCC records 88% rise in children seeking help for online abuse


The number of children and young people tormented by online trolls has increased by 88% in five years, according to a report by a leading children’s charity.
The NSPCC study shows that the charity’s helpline service, ChildLine, counselled 4,541 children about online bullying in 2015-16, compared with 2,410 in 2011-12.
The findings follow recent figures that showed that almost a quarter of a million children and young people are receiving help from NHS mental health services for problems such as anxiety, depression and eating disorders.
To coincide with the start of anti-bullying week, the NSPCC said that in a quarter of its counselling sessions children and young people were also given help with mental health and wellbeing issues including low self-esteem, self-harm, suicidal thoughts and depression.
Children as young as seven told ChildLine counsellors how they were being tormented and abused by malicious and hurtful messages from which they felt there was no escape. The comments posted on their social media profiles, blogs and online pictures ranged from bullying and abusive words about the way they looked to death threats and even being told to kill themselves.


Facebook’s failure: did fake news and polarized politics get Trump elected?


“If I were to run, I’d run as a Republican. They are the dumbest group of voters in the country. They believe anything on Fox News. I could lie and they’d still eat it up. I bet my numbers would be terrific.”
Many Guardian readers will have seen this quote, attributed to a 1998 interview with Donald Trump in People magazine, in their Facebook news feed.
It’s a great quote, but he never said it.
It typifies the kind of fake news and misinformation that has plagued the 2016 election on an unprecedented scale. In the wake of the surprise election of Donald Trump as president of the United States, pressure is growing on Facebook to not only tackle the problem but also to find ways to encourage healthier discourse between people with different political views.
Rather than connecting people – as Facebook’s euphoric mission statement claims – the bitter polarization of the social network over the last eighteen months suggests Facebook is actually doing more to divide the world.
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NDM: News Values

1) Come up with a news story from the last 12 months for each of the categories suggested by Harriss, Leiter and Johnson:
  • Conflict

Donald Trump groping remarks reveal 'pattern of sexual assault', says Kaine- (https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2016/oct/09/donald-trump-groping-remarks-sexual-assault-tim-kaine-debate)

Donald Trump’s taped remarks about groping women and using his fame for sex are reflective of “a pattern of sexual assault”, Hillary Clinton’s running mate, Tim Kaine, said Sunday.





“It’s not just words,” Kaine said in an interview with CNN, adding that Trump must explain to American voters in Sunday night’s presidential debate “why he thought that was acceptable behavior”.
A number of women, including Jill Harth, who spoke to the Guardian in July, have alleged that Trump groped them or behaved in an inappropriate manner.
  • Progress

Andy Murray: Number one ranking 'may be start' of more success for Briton- (http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/37882468)

A British tennis player as world number one is an idea as ludicrous to recent memory as anything else in that giddy list, but with Andy Murray, we should no longer be surprised.To a nation systematically unable to produce tennis champions despite finances and facilities at the elite level to embarrass others as well as itself, Murray is the gift that keeps giving.
  • Disaster

More than 250,000 Syrians have lost their lives in four-and-a-half years of armed conflict, which began with anti-government protests before escalating into a full-scale civil war. More than 11 million others have been forced from their homes as forces loyal to President Bashar al-Assad and those opposed to his rule battle each other - as well as jihadist militants from so-called Islamic State. 
  • Consequence

Lower benefits cap comes into force- (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-37873922)


A cut in the benefits cap - a limit on the income working age households can receive in certain benefits - has now come into force.The cap has been reduced from £26,000 a year to £20,000 a year in the UK - except in Greater London where the limit is £23,000 a year.
  • Prominence 
'I want to explore surrogacy': Kim Kardashian reveals she's looking into alternative ways to have a third child with Kanye West after suffering health problems while pregnant- (http://www.dailymail.co.uk/tvshowbiz/article-3912532/Kim-Kardashian-wants-explore-surrogacy-husband-Kanye-West-suffering-health-problems-pregnant-North-Saint.html)

She has vowed to not have any more children after suffering serious health problems during her previous pregnancies. But Kim Kardashian West does not want this to stop her from expanding her brood, as she reveals she is planning to look into alternative methods.
Talking on next week's episode of Keeping Up With The Kardashians, the reality star, 36, admitted to her sisters that she wants to 'explore surrogacy' after she and husband Kanye West, 39, both expressed desire for a third child.
  • Novelty
‘I’LL TAKE CARE OF HER..I’M A FRIEND’ 

Chilling moment sex predator leads victim to horror attack before returning to club after savage assault- (

https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/2130084/chilling-moment-sex-predator-leads-victim-to-horror-attack-before-returning-to-club-after-savage-assault/)
Now footage reveals how Tiso was caught on camera collecting his coat from the club as his victim was escorted from the venue by concerned staff.The Brazil native was later captured walking the 24-year-old woman, who had taken an ecstasy tablet and was under the influence of alcohol, down Montague Lane in the city.The pervert was then seen grappling with the young woman. At one stage, she fell before the rapist casually picked her up.

2) What example news story does the Factsheet use to illustrate Galtung and Ruge's News Values? 

 The article talks about asylum seekers pose a threat to the community and sets up ideas of conflict. It creates fear of the outsider and immigrants.

3) What is gatekeeping?

Gatekeeping is the process of filtering information prior to dissemination. This process is usually done via the editor, but the gatekeeping process could be seen to be more than simply an editor choosing one story over another, it could also refer to how journalist select certain lines of questioning, or use some words over others to describe people and event. In general, gatekeeping is about opening or closing the channels of communication and, in the case of news, it is a way for news institution to control the ‘flow’ of information passed on to the audience.

4) What are the six ways bias can be created in news?

  • Bias through selection and omission
  • Bias through placement
  • Bias by headline
  • Bias by photos, captions, and camera angles
  • Bias through use of names and titles
  • Bias by choice of words

5) How have online sources such as Twitter, bloggers or Wikileaks changed the way news is selected and published? 

Some critics argue that the rise of e-media and the developments in 
technology are challenging the way media institutions ‘gatekeep’ 
news. How far this is true is debateable, whilst some bloggers have 
high-profiles on the internet, many are regarded as unreliable sources 
of news. 
Many mainstream media outlets criticise the ‘unprofessional’ 
practices of bloggers.

6) Give an example of a news story from the last 12 months that was reported as a result of online technology - Twitter, Wikileaks or similar.

For example, blogger Ana Marie Cox released exit poll results during the Obama presidential election campaign, something mainstream press would not do as they argue it could affect the outcome. Cox argued her blogs only affect voter turnout “to the extent people believe them”.

7) Complete the task on the last page of the Factsheet regarding Sky News and Twitter:
  • What does this reveal about how Sky views Twitter as a news source?
That it is an efficient source of news as it provides Sky with instant news.
  • What does it say about how news is being produced?
That audiences are now providing evidence for news companies for their stories, not journalists.
  • What role does the audience have in this process?
They provide evidence for new companies, such as Sky, and almost take the role of a journalists.
  • Why might this be a problem for journalistic standards?
Because some information that audiences might be invalid and also it proposes a threat to journalists.

Final tasks

Choose SIX of Galtung and Ruge's news values and say how each one has been affected by the growth of new and digital technology.
Predictability: social media is unpredictable, through trending and having a wide audience to receive this info, in other words having a large database.An example of this is the London Riots which shows how quickly things can spread and become important in society.

Elite nations/people: the influence of celebrities in particular causes many people to follow what these people do, like etc on a daily bases with the help of social media such as Snapchat, Instagram, they are able to post about their social lives and keep followers updated. 

Amplitude: News stories about protests or riots for the most part make a great deal of media attention and are generally discussed along these lines reporting these stories is probably going to request to the audiences as it is always a attention-grabbing topic.

Frequency: some stories from a particular category are always in the news as they createattention from audiences since individuals are interested with this kind of content. For instance,rape or murder cases are always big news stories when they happen as they are viewed as harsh and wrong create a similar reaction each time yet stay well known.

Familiarity: this doesn't matter that much because news from all over the globe is posted on social media. This means that all audiences will view different news stories

Amplitude: if the news story isn't significant and its posted on social media, then it won't go viral. This means that the news story will only have a small viewing.


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Wednesday 9 November 2016

NDM News: Citizen journalism and hyper-reality


Examples
  • High-speed chase by police to catch Rodney King, an African-American who was eventually surrounded, tasered and beat with clubs all filmed by onlooker from apartment window. Made prime time news internationally, it was a focus for complaints about police racism towards African Americans. RESULT : 4 COPS WERE CHARGED WITH ASSAULT AND USE OF EXCESSIVE FORCE BUT WERE LATER ACQUITTED OF CHARGES SPARKING HUGE CIVIL UNREST . 
  • London Bombings - July 2005
  •  Asian Tsunami - 26th December 2004
  • Mumbai, India: Bombings - late November 2008
  • Hudson River Plane Crash - 15th January 2009
  • Seung-Hui Cho - Undergraduate 23-year-old who regularly sent photos, written pieces and videos to NBC news
As a result, of these first-hand accounts the reaction they got had everyone springing into action and looking into what had just broken. 

Theories 
  • Crowd Sourcing - Eventually leaving the media unmediated

Benefits to institutions 
  • They are buying into the world of UGC - Buying up social networking sites.  e.g) News Corp brought Myspace. 

Benefits to audience 
  • First-hand accounts
  • Less censored
  • No longer passive receivers of news
  • Can access the news from wherever they are

Wider issues and debates 
  • The riots that followed the acquittal, killed and injured many was it really necessary to prove a point?
  • Would the four police officers even have been charged in the first place, if it wasn't for onlooker George Holliday grabbing his video camera? - " King's beating would be just another hidden incident with no consequences" - Sara Mills (Article writer)

SHEP
  1. Social: Greater accessibility - Shareable through the internet on sites such as Twitter, Myspace, YouTube and Facebook
  2. Historical: Audience were passive receivers of news in the past, with news being only produced by big news conglomerates. Now... we are creators and receivers
  3. Economical: Big organisations are suffering with the rise of UGC, Less profit for large organisations. e.g. Nobody is buying printed newspapers anymore. News companies have needed to become more inventive with the way in which they make their profit. e.g. advertising.
  4. Political: What is going to happen to the media if eventually it is a unmediated world? How are we going to know what to believe and what not to believe?

1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?
The term citizen journalist refers to regular people like you and me who over the years have had greater access to filming capabilities through our phones and other devices which has allowed us to play an active role in the creation of news. We can rapidly collect and distribute footage we collect via the internet for all to see which then gets shared and can end up becoming a viral news story, just the story of Rodney King. 

2) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?
The case of Rodney King, that was captured and shared by an ordinary person in a matter of minutes and before long went viral with all the major news conglomerates in a wide variety of countries broadcasting the news about Rodney King and the police brutality towards him.

3) List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations.
  • Twitter
  • Facebook
  • Snapchat
  • Instagram

4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?First hand UGC, is different from professionally shot footage because it is unedited in the moment witness accounts; the video quality is likely to be quite low in comparison to that of professionally shot footage as first hand UGC is typically shot off of people's camera phones whereas professional shots are done with high quality cameras and a complete camera crew. 
5) What is a gatekeeper?
The people who decide what is and what isn't the news. They decide what should and should not be broadcast. We can send in as much UGC as we want but it is the gatekeepers decision as to what gets onto the daily news bulletins. 

6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?
With the rise of UGC, the role of a gatekeeper has changed from being the people who filter what is and what is not news. To the people who just manage the UGC content that they get sent day to day and deciding what parts of it if any at all can be used in their news bulletins. 

7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?
Journalists primary concern is losing their jobs, with the rise of UGC it is a concern that there will be fewer and fewer permanent trained staff at news organisations; leaving less and less people to deal with the rise of UGC and managing all the content.that people send in. 

Another concern would be that without moderation sites could be overrun by bigots and fools. By those who shout the loudest and have little else to do but make posts. The fear of being dominated by defamatory, racist and other hate fuelled content raises questions about unmoderated content.


8)What impact is new/digital media having on:
  • news stories
NDM will mean that news stories are probably going to have a lot more UGC content within in them. As a opposed to the company using content that their own journalists have collected and editied.  However, the increased use of UGC does leave the question will these first-hand accounts still be run through gatekeepers and censored. Because if not it could lead to more hard-hitting news being shown to what is already a desensitised audience as a result of what they are shown in the news. 
  • the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)
UGC, will impact the news agenda I think quite a lot, this is because rather than journalists sending through urgent emails that should be broken straight away it will be citizen journalists replacing this. If journalists send it in it still has to run by the gatekeepers which sometimes can result in certain news conglomerates being last to break the news that they were originally the first to obtain. However, with citizen journalism it likely to be broadcast straight away. However, as I mentioned it could lead to more hard hitting and unmediated potentially low-brow news.
  • the role of professionals in news
The role of professionals has already changed dramatically and stands to change further in my opinion. Professional journalists in permanant roles will be reducing in numbers but of who is left they will no longer be in the position of sitting by a computer and writing the articles for the print issue or surfing the net and keeping and eye on a number of sources for the news to break. Instead they will simply be there to manage the UGC that gets sent into news conglomerates by citizen journalists. They will be deciding what is what and what is good to broadcast. But soon I think even that will be no longer eventually I think the media will end up unmediated, but if and when this happens what are we supposed to believe?

Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance

 Examples
  • Graham Bell launched telephone in 1876 - Revolution in communication systems and sewed the seeds of a more wide ranging transformation about the way in which society thought about itself and culture.
  • Substitution of face to face interaction interaction with a hyper real experience mediated by technology
  • Skype dinner parties 
  • Eadweard Muybridge's experiments with stereoscopic images in the 1870's - developed into a staple venue for romantic courtships in the 20th century
  • Cinema,television, music videos and computer games all invite the audiences to suspend disbelief and inhabit of a paperless fantasy world.
  • BAUER's Kerrang! - Successful brand that exists in a post digital age across multiple platforms (website, TV and radio station)   
  • Bebo, Facebook and MySpace embody postmodern culture
  • September 11th - Terrorist attacks on America in 2001  

Theories 
  • Jean Baudrillard - Simulacrum and Simulacra
  • Frankfurt School theorists like Theodore Adorno: Viewed the gramophone record and cinema as a means of distracting the working class from their disadvantaged social positions.  
  • Mark Zuckerburg  - Bullying
  • Albert Bandura - The Bobo Doll Experiment 

Positive aspects of new technology (or 'digital renaissance' 
  • The way in which technologies are embedded into our lives reinforces traditional structures of society and culture
  • Interactivity
  • Prejudice no longer matters
  • Re birth in the way that we think about society and culture in the developed world from the proliferation of creative digital hardware to social networking
  • More innovation and social interaction

Negative aspects of new technology on audiences and society 
  • Impossible to take a moral stance on media technologies
  • Body image issues
  • The use of telephones/television and the internet are all symptomatic of societies decay

Wider issues and debates 

  • Is the advancements in the digital world a positive impact on today's society or a negative impact?
  • Have the advancements in technology come to fast? Are we struggling to keep up with the developments?  
  • What do these advancements that keep coming in technology mean for society in terms of work? (Print media industry - Journalists lost/loosing jobs with the takeover of User Generated Content) 
    1) The article was written in 2009. Offer three examples of more recent social networking sites or uses of technology that support the idea of a 'digital renaissance'.
    Instagram - Providing live videos and the ability to create stories in a matter of minutes that can be shared with thousands of people at the click of a button. 

    Skype - The ability to have a live video stream going and share one moment or experience with millions of family and friends - Skype dinner parties

    Facebook - Live streaming service

    2) How do live streaming services such as Periscope or Facebook Live fit into the idea of a 'digital renaissance'? Are these a force for good or simply a further blurring of reality?
    Live streaming services like Periscope and Facebook fit into the idea of the digital renaissance as these services are an advancement in technology. Users of the services can easily record their surroundings or something they are doing in the moment and share it with millions of people within a matter of minutes with a few simple clicks. These types of live streaming services are a force for good because they encourage better audience interaction and discussion of views and values etc. However, these services are a further blurring from reality because some people begin to hide behind the camera and deceive others from what is the truth (Reality); they live every second of their lives behind the lens of a camera. 

    3) How can we link the 'digital renaissance' to our case study on news? Is citizen journalism a further example of hyper-reality or is it actually making news more accurate and closer to real life?
    I think that the digital renaissance can be linked to our case study on news because it allows us to see how the advancements in technology over the years has changed the way in which we consume and distribute news and how our views of the media and other things have changed because of the way in which technology has changed. I feel like citizen journalism is both a further example of hyper reality and also making news more accurate and closer to real life. Citizen journalism provides us with first hand accounts of uncensored news which is real life and it could be more accurate because it is shared in the moment with thousands of people. However, citizen journalism could also be an example of hyper reality because is what we are fed through citizen journalism an imitation of real world processes or is it an actual representation of someone or something. 

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