Essay Question

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

The development of new and digital media has made the audience both more powerful in terms of consumption and production. This is because new and digital media has adapted and been made more modernized in the world, alongside the internet being “the most important medium of the twentieth century” (Briggs and Burke). This essay will discuss both sides of the discussion.

From a Pluralism perspective the audience are now more a powerful in terms of their consumption and production to a certain extent. Because of the recent developments of new and digital media the audience have more freedom online to do what they please as there is less censorship meaning anyone’s opinion can be heard. This may come across in the form of blogs or a video which is posted online. The viewers or readers have the option now to “Conform, Challenge, Accommodate or Reject” these opinions which are given to them. This means that they are not forced to accept one dominant opinion and are allowed to form their own perspective on things. Because of new and digital media developments, user generated content such as Twitter and Facebook help subvert the view of the big companies and institutions being in control of the audience and that they consume. The development of new and digital media has meant that “The internet has given readers much more power…The world is changing and newspapers have to adapt”. There are currently 18 million blog readers which shows that there is a variety of news sources for consumers

Newspapers and other news institutions have been forced to adapt in the way they reach their audiences. They have been forced to  provide news on the internet for free as they were slow to react to the developments which has meant that a paywall attempt would result in consumers going elsewhere for their news. This has made audiences powerful to some extent as the news institutions have to give in to the consumer’s demand, as they have a variety of sources to receive news. This point can be argued by James Murdoch who believes “it is essential for the future of independent digital journalism that a fair price can be charged for news to people who value it”. From this statement it is clear that he supports the attempt of news institutions putting up paywall’s. This would be a view from a Marxist perspective. Marxists believe that a powerful elite control the media and promote their ideologies and that there is one perception to story's in the media, and argues that Pluralism allows the chance of dumbing down the audience as the internet consist of “Web pages and blogs which are like a million monkeys typing nonsense”. This is evident in the consumption of less serious websites such as listicles on BuzzFeed and lolcats where there are cat videos and memes. These articles or stories on the internet are more about humour rather than serious news articles and is referred as ‘entertainment’ which is clearly dumbing down its audience.

A Marxist perspective would argue that the so-called “information revolution” has done little to benefit audiences. Far from being a “great leveller” (Krotoski, 2012) as many have claimed, it has merely helped to reinforce the status quo by promoting dominant ideologies. The most popular news website in the UK by a considerable margin is the ‘Mail Online’, which receives more than 8 million hits every month and is continuing to expand rapidly – with forecasts that it will make £100 million or more in digital revenues in the next three years. Similar to its tabloid print edition, the website takes a Conservative, right-wing perspective on key issues around gender, sexuality and race and audiences appear to passively accept what the Marxist theorist, Gramsci, called a hegemonic view. When one of their chief columnists, Jan Moir, wrote a homophobic article about the death of Stephen Gately in 2009 there were Twitter and Facebook protests but, ultimately, they did not change the editorial direction of the gatekeepers controlling the newspaper.          

Another Marxist argument is that the audience are being manipulated into thinking they are in control and have power. This is because “A minority of media producers always serve a majority of consumers” (Pareto’s Law). Even though citizen journalism is a part of the digital revolution for example YouTube post and Blogger, it is still owned by a media conglomerate for such as Google. This creates the perspective that they are using user generated content to voices their opinion on something but are still over powered as the media conglomerates are still in control and have the power in what we can access and see online, and they can remove or block what they don’t agree with. The development of YouTube has allowed the development of cottage industry as people can create a life and a business from it which provides the consumers with power from a Pluralistic perspective.

Furthermore a Pluralism perspective would still argue that user-generated content has become the main method in supporting the ideologies and beliefs of pluralists. UGC is allowing the internet to become a mass medium in which in which contains views and opinions and isn’t based on biased or influenced ideologies, which support major institutions and aren’t controlled by gatekeepers. This has meant that Negroponte was right when he had made the comment of saying: “Monolithic empires of mass media are dissolving in to an array of cottage industries”

Privacy has become an issue because of the amount of user generated internet out in the web, and also other sites. This privacy concern is because of all the sign up procedures to sites which ask about personal information about its users. This has allowed the audience to become weak and vulnerable. This was evident when the Apple icloud had become hacked and people’s personal information and pictures had become exposed on 4chan, which shows that the internet is a revolutionary medium but it makes us, as audiences, more exposed to the impact of privacy problems. Major Institutions such as Google can control what we see on their search engine when we search for information. Other institutions may sell your personal information for their financial gain.

In conclusion, the development of new and digital media has made the audience both more powerful in terms of consumption and production of media products to a certain extent. This is because we are vulnerable to the developments as audiences although we have more say in the current debates and issues in the world today.

The Murdoch paywall

The Murdoch paywall

1) Do you agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online?

I strongly disagree with James Murdoch because the BBC are a public broadcasting service and they are already earning a revue from households which have a TV. This means that they have no need to charge extra, for online news as their main aim is to inform, entertain and educate. Profit and money shouldn’t come into it as they are a different companies with different goals.

2) Was Rupert Murdoch right to put his news content (The Times, The Sun) behind a paywall?

As a business mogul Rupert Murdoch was right to put a paywall up, as his primary goal is to have a profitable business. Although since they have put up the paywall, they have been able to gain approximately 140,000 subscribers and made profits of £361 million. In Rupert Murdoch’s opinion he would say that the paywall is successful strategic method for him to gain my money from viewers and subscribers as they are receiving quality news. Rupert Murdoch putting up a paywall has benefited his business, as they can reduce their losses.

Audi R8 Scam

No, you can't get free Audi R8 cars on Facebook – it's a scam

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/20/free-audi-r8-cars-facebook-scam

This article is about how people are being scammed of their personal details in return for a “Free Audi R8”. You can’t get a free Audi R8 car by liking a Facebook post. Which sounds like an obvious statement, but according to security firm Bitdefender, more than 200,000 users of the social network have fallen for it.

Entrants were asked to like the page and share its post on their own timelines, while saying what colour car they’d like if they won. Bitdefender claims that the page has attracted nearly 180,000 likes and more than 210,000 shares so far. Some of its posts include links to videos, which is where the scam gets worrying: Bitdefender says that some of the sites hosting those videos are also running the JS:Trojan.JS.Likejack.A code that can be used for “clickjacking on hidden commercials”.

My opinion about this is that it seems straightforward and people shouldn’t be failing to see that is very unlikely that you would just be giving a “Free Audi R8”.

How to use social media to get a job 

http://careers.theguardian.com/how-use-social-media-get-job

This article is about how Charlie Loyd, a satellite image enthusiast, perfected a new way to make maps with cloudless imagery and tweeted his work to five mapping companies. Within minutes he had a reply tweet, followed by an interview and eventually a job offer.

Key points:

·         45% of employers now use social media to screen job candidates. Likewise, jobseekers are increasingly using online profiles to find jobs, with 34% using Twitter to make first contact with employers.

From this article it is clear to see that the developments from the digital age has allowed easy access and easier ways to try and apply for a job. This may have increased the amount to communication there is from employers to applicants.

Minecraft YouTube videos

Minecraft YouTube videos have been watched 47bn times

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/24/minecraft-youtube-videos-mojang-views

This story is about how Children and adults alike aren’t just playing Minecraft in millions: they’re watching YouTube videos made using Minecraft – and those videos are racking up billions of views.

Key points:

·         By June 2014, Minecraft videos had been watched 30.8 billion times, with only 183 million of those views coming from the channel of Mojang, the game’s publisher.

·         That’s nearly three times the total views for videos about Grand Theft Auto, which Octoly estimated was the second most popular gaming brand on YouTubewith nearly 12 billion views, ahead of Call of Duty (10.2 billion), Angry Birds (six billion) and Halo (4.8 billion).

      My opinion is that Minecraft is doing something right as a brand as they are gaining popularity from YouTube viewers who enjoy the game which is played by million but watched in billions. This game has made some YouTubers successful as people enjoy their content. Viewers may not see the obvious as this is an evolution of YouTube over the last couple of years. YouTube is a big part of the reason why Minecraft is such a strong, well-loved gaming brand in 2014 – and it’s also a notable factor in Microsoft’s decision to buy Mojang for $2.5bn this summer. Microsoft isn’t just buying a popular game that’s sold more than 54m copies across computer, console and mobile: it’s buying one of the world’s biggest television brands. Despite the fact that its huge popularity is online, rather than on traditional television.

'Build The Wall analysis'

'Build The Wall analysis'

To all of the bystanders reading this the true audience for this essay narrows necessarily to a pair of notables who have it in their power to save high-end journalism—two newspaper executives who can rescue an imploding industry and thereby achieve an essential civic good for the nation.

Truth is, a halting movement toward the creation of an online subscription model already exists will it work? Is there enough demand for old-line, high-end journalism in the age of new media? Will readers pay for what they have already accepted as free? There is no going backward, they will declare, affronted by the idea that a victory already claimed can even be questioned. The newspaper is all but dead. Long live the citizen journalist.

The third point was about the newspaper industry not spotting the early developments of new and digital media which has made them lag behind and not able to do much about this development. In the beginning the newspaper industry didn’t take the changes seriously so the rapid expansion happened like a disease

The fourth paragraph is about 3 scenarios of a pay wall. The first scenario is about how the audience would be willing to pay if there was a pay wall as the news would be high quality. The second point was about newspapers become local to their regions and online pay walls go up. The final scenario states that all small newspapers are eviscerated and only unique and essential newspapers have survived.

Summary

This article is his personal view about the struggle of the news industry. The article starts off with the explanation of newspapers having high quality professional journalism, that is paid for, rather than citizen journalism that is unprofessional and if the audience is not willing to pay for their news they shouldn’t receive it at all. He talks about the pros and cons of the big institutions and where they went wrong with not seeing the developments early. The end of the article talks about the three scenarios.

My opinion

My opinion is that newspapers were the original sources of news on all platforms as news was first written and sent out through them. That has changed as there is a development of new and digital media which has allowed consumers to access news in different ways. These developments have allowed faster ways to access news.

I think that if a pay wall should go up it will drive away the little audience it has, this is because the audience have other sources plus they already have been getting it for free.  

Facebook offer eggs to be Frozen

Apple and Facebook offer to freeze eggs for female staff

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/newsbysector/mediatechnologyandtelecoms/digital-media/11163231/Apple-and-Facebook-offer-to-freeze-eggs-for-female-staff.html

This article is about Apple and Facebook battling for the best talent by offering to pay for female employees to freeze their eggs. Facebook has started offering female staff up to $20,000 (£12, 570) for so-called ocyte-cryopreservation, so that they can delay having children until later in their careers. The process typically costs between $10,000 and $15,000, plus an additional $1,000-a-year to keep the harvested eggs on ice. The social network is also offering help to men who want to become parents. Apple has said it plans to start paying for egg freezing from January.

Both companies hope that the move will help them to attract more female staff, and retain them for longer by reducing the pressure on them to have children before a particular age. Instead of progressing up the ladder to senior positions, many women having children end up dropping out of the workforce, leading to a loss of experienced talent.

Key Points:

·         Women’s fertility goes into steady decline after the age of 35, and falls even more rapidly after 40

·         The process typically costs between $10,000 and $15,000, plus an additional $1,000-a-year to keep the harvested eggs on ice.

This shows that Facebook care about their own progress and are giving their female staff a reason to carry on working for them rather than the females focusing on have a females as there is an option to have the children at a later stage.

Revenge porn

Revenge porn could lead to 14-year sentence, new guidelines clarify

http://www.theguardian.com/law/2014/oct/07/revenge-porn-14-year-sentence-cps-guidelines

The article talks about the issue of revenge porn. This is the act in which explicit images of former partners are posted online after the relationship has ended. The new rule is that the Crown Prosecution service suggests it will now carry a maximum sentence of 14 years, if someone is caught doing so. A spokesperson has said that “No one should have to suffer the hurt and humiliation of ‘revenge pornography’ – a nasty and invasive crime that has appeared due to the developments of digital media.

Key Points:

·         “Due to the very personal nature of ‘revenge pornography’, prosecutors are being asked specifically to consider the impact on the victims involved.

·         There were 149 allegations of crimes involving revenge pornography during the last two and a half years, according to the eight police forces in England and Wales.

This article explains the important issue of privacy and how it’s changed along with the impact of new and digital media on the audiences. There seems to be very little privacy online making audience prone to violation and becoming targets by hackers. The development of new digital media has made audiences more vulnerable.

Sexism in freshers week

Everyday sexism in freshers week: the fightback starts here

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/womens-blog/2014/sep/19/everyday-sexism-in-freshers-week-student-university

This article is about how the National Union of Students (NUS) revealed the results of a survey of over 2000 students. The results showed that 37% of female and 12% of male respondents had experienced unwanted groping or inappropriate touching. 36% of women had experienced unwanted sexual comments about their body (compared with 16% of men).A girls story is explained which is related to the issue: “On a night out at the student union, I was dancing away, minding my own business, when a guy I didn’t know grabbed me from behind and roughly pulled me into him, lifting me off my feet. One arm around my waist and the other across my breasts, he spun me around and then pushed me into his friend. I was even more pissed off when I told a member of staff and all I got was a shoulder shrug and told that they couldn’t do anything because ‘I had not been assaulted’. Gee thanks.”

Key Points:

·         37% of female and 12% of male respondents had experienced unwanted groping or inappropriate touching.

·         36% of women had experienced unwanted sexual comments about their body (compared with 16% of men)

This article shows how there is an issue with university life as there are issues of harassment and unwanted sexual groping of female students. This article shows that there isn’t really enough protection for these female students.

Can Twitter make money out of breaking news

Can Twitter make money out of breaking news or is it a PR platform?

http://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2014/oct/12/twitter-breaking-news-pr-vivian-schiller

This story/ article is about what’s going on with Twitter. There is an on-going struggle within Twitter over whether it should largely be a conduit for journalism or PR.And whether a technology company, even one with 271 million monthly users, believes it can make money out of breaking news. Twitter’s behaviour over the last few months suggests it doesn’t think it can.Twitter has always seemed bigger than it actually is because of the type of people – celebrities, sports stars and politicians as well as newshounds – who use it.

Key Points:

·         8% of people were using Twitter for news

·         Facebook, with 1.2 billion users, and is twitters social media rival.

·         271 million monthly users on Twitter

My opinion about this story is that Twitter has the capability to both entertain and give its audience real life news stories as the internet is where the audience now spend most of their free time, as there has been digital developments where these stories can be accessed.

Trolling

Does free speech give us the right to anonymously troll strangers?

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2014/oct/06/free-speech-anonymously-troll-strangers-mccann-dossier

This article talks about the recent case in which the internet troll Brenda Leyland was exposed as the troll of the McCann family and was recently found dead after suicide. The article questions whether social media gives people too much freedom allowing there to be "trolling" online. The article talks about how trolling has now become an almost accepted part of social media in that if you are a social media you will be exposed to trolling. However some can actually be threatening leading to other issues.

Key Points:

·         Trolling can also be obsessive and highly personalised – a form of stalking.

·         Trolling seems to now be viewed as an acceptable

As there have been developments with new and digital media and social networks there has been less censorship as not everything on the internet can be regulated as there is an increased level of User Generated Content. For this reason people are free to do what they please to a certain extent, even if it is offensive and can affect another individual. 

Mojang Bought

Minecraft studio Mojang bought by Microsoft for $2.5bn

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/minecraft-bought-by-microsoft-for-25bn-as-creator-notch--says-im-not-a-symbol-9733826.html

This article is about the purchase which Microsoft has made. Microsoft has bought Mojang, the Swedish studio behind the game Minecraft, for $2.5 billion (£1.5bn). Minecraft has been downloaded more than 100 million times since its launch in 2009, brought Mojang more than $100 million in profit last year and is one of the most popular games of all time.

Key facts: 

·                     Microsoft buys Minecraft creators Mojang for $2.5 billion (£1.5 billion)

·                     Minecraft being downloaded 100 million+ times

·                     $100 million profit in 2013

Microsoft being able to buy Mojang so easily highlights just how powerful and what a global giant they are in the media, as they can buy almost any company they want. It is actions like this and other media giants such as Apple buying Dre beats and Facebook buying Snapchat that perhaps do not allow smaller media companies to become major powers houses.

Future of Paying

Cash or card? Soon we'll be paying by handshake

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/bank-accounts/9937296/Cash-or-card-Soon-well-be-paying-by-handshake.html

The article looks at how technology is changing and becoming more futuristic. For example the way in which things are paid for has developed into cards in which you just have to tap on a reader. This will still be developed in the future and will change the way people will be able to pay for things through. Along with this they talk about a 'touchless' system. Meaning that you would be able to simply pick up your products and walk out of a store. 

Key Points:

·         Contactless technology has been available in the UK since 2007

·         There are currently 31.3 million credit and debit cards enabled with contactless technology

·         You can "wave and pay" with some mobile phones, such as the Samsung Galaxy S3

I think there will be too many complications with this system although it would be an easy and more convenient way to shop. However as it will be introduced sometime in the future, it may have some success. 

The Rise and Rise of UGC

The Rise and Rise of UGC

Answer the following questions...

What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?

‘The audience have become ‘users’ and the users have become publishers’ as the general  pu8blice who may have smartphones which have video cameras can now catch the action when it happens and can be filmed by an onlooker. These citizens play an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing, and broadcasting news and information. This can be done on social media sites such as twitter because of these digital developments. This can be effective as the information can be used for different reasons such as crimes, breaking news or shocking footages.

What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?

The first example of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’was back in 1991. In 1991 four Los Angeles police officerscaught Rodney King, an African-American, after a high speed chase and surrounded him. After surrounding the young man the police officers tasered and beat him with clubs. This was filmed/ videoed by an onlooker from his apartment window.This footage made prime-time news and became an international media sensation, and a focus for complaints about police racism towards African-Americans. This caused 6days of riots in which 53 people diedand around 4000 people were injured.The costs of the damage, looting and clear-up came in at up to a billion dollars.If George Holliday (The Onlooker) hadn’t been looking out of his window the police officers would have got away with it .

List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations.

Message boards

Chat rooms

Q&A

Polls

Blogs with comments enabled.

What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?

The clips/ footages are often more hard-hitting and emotive coming from the audience as you see it from their perspective.

What is a gatekeeper?

The gatekeeper is the person who decides what shall pass through mainly him and be broadcasted to a mass audience

How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?

People can create their own user generated content this has meant that things can’t be moderated online anymore as there is more freedom of speech and a lower level of censorship.

Google Hits Back

Google hits back at News Corp’s claims that it is a platform for piracy

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/25/google-hits-back-news-corp-piracy-claims

This article is about Google’s reaction to what has been said in the form of Rachel Whetstone (the former advisor to conservative leader Michael Howard who is now Google’s senior vice president of global communications). Whetstone addresses all the comments that Murdoch had made in his letter to the UN’s competition commission. She also uses examples where The Sun has changed things using its power to influence the audiences.

·         Last year Google removed 222m web pages that broke copyright rules, with an average take down time of six hours.

·         “Google is also an industry leader in combating child sexual abuse,” she said. “And we are committed to protecting our users’ security. It’s why we remove malware from our search results and other products.”

·         News Corp UK title the Sun’s notorious “Up Yours Delors” front page from 1990, aimed at the then European Commission president, with the accompanying comment: “People probably have enough evidence to judge that one for themselves.”

I believe both major institutions have become so powerful that this clash is almost a struggle of total control for the media empire. Every institution wants to be the biggest and most popular that have a large audience to control and use as people seem to be dumbing down and believing everything they hear and are told.

Apple Watch

Five reasons why the Apple watch won’t take off

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/media-network-blog/2014/sep/11/apple-watch-wearable-technology-price

To summarise this article it is a summary of the Apple watch and presents the reader with the quite obvious flaws that have been found prior to it even being purchased. As the writer puts it that he is “disappointed” with many others who were considering buying one. The Apple watch has packed in too much with any real use. The next issue is that there are so many applications packed in that there will be more notifications and apple failing to further its developments. Furthermore, the size is really big and clunky so it has quite a bit of weight on it due to the large screen. The fourth issue is that you need an I phone in order for it to work, so this increases the chance of you being robbed as you are carrying “at least £1000 in valuables”.

In my opinion, Apples attempts at trying to get ahead of the game in the technology industry with the latest Iphone and Apple watch has become a mix of success and failure. The Iphone 6 is able to live up to the hype and buzz created, however the Apple watches attempt at living up to the expectations  may have taken a wrong turn as it looks like Apple rushed its developments.

Scottish Independance

Scottish independance : broadcasting changes could damage democracy

http://www.theguardian.com/media/media-blog/2014/sep/14/scottish-independence-broadcasting-impartiality

This story is talking about  how an independent Scotland would not be allowed to enjoy the BBC and its shows as it would now be an independent state. However, this is not correct as they would still be able to get all BBC channels through either a SKY subscription or a Virgin subscription. An independent would have to create their own ofcom to monitor shows and movie.  

I believe that the article is accurate as independence for Scotland would mean the loss of the BBC as it is the national broadcaster but more relevantly it is another variable that could make Scotland stay.

the point about a Scotland ofcom intrigued me as there would be a need for construction of snp would. Due to the fact a party would set this up , the question is raised whether this new organisation under SNP's control would be biased and conform to the SNP's need and not that of the Scottish people.

iPhone 6: New Screens

iPhone 6: mass production of new sapphire screens begins

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/aug/17/iphone-6-apple-mass-production-sapphire-screens

This article is about iPhone releasing its newest version of its iPhone Franchise. It shows and talks about the new screen. These screens are Near-unscratchable screens that are expected to be one of the biggest selling points of the iPhone 6. This has resulted in the company Apple in saying "You should be good without a screen protector on your next iPhone"A prototype has gone through a durability tests as it involved stabbing it with a hunting knife and trying to snap it while standing on it.

Key points:

·         The iPhone 6 will make its first public appearance on 9 September

·         In March 2012, Apple patented a concept for laminating thin layers of sapphire to each other and to glass, producing surfaces that are strong and resist chipping

·         Apple is said to be preparing two new iPhone models, both of which will have larger screens than their predecessors. The biggest will measure 5.5 inches corner to corner, while the smaller iPhone will have a 4.7-inch screen

Until now Apple has had screens which can be easily shattered and marked. But the new screens have shown that they can withstand scratches from concrete. This would be good for the company as they have fixed a problem which consumers may have had with their phone.