week 23:story 46

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/03/online-transparency-fake-news-internet

With the power of online transparency, together we can beat fake news

Last year we saw a proliferation of disinformation online. “Fake news” sites interfered with political discourse and sentiment around the world. Filter bubbles limited our perspectives. Oxford Dictionaries named “post-truth” its international word of the year As we started 2017, we heard new terms, such as “alternative facts”

when a new 2,000 rupee bill was introduced, fake news claimed that the bill was equipped with a surveillance chip. Later debunked, the “news” spread like wildfire on the messaging platform WhatsApp, which has 50 million monthly users in India.

Fake news is being dealt with in a similar way to global warming, all of the rich and powerful people are complaining about it and pouring some time and money into helping it, but no one knows really how to stop it and by the time its taken over the internet it will be to late,

week 23: story 45

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/08/fake-news-inquiry-social-networks-complaints-policy-facebook

Fake news inquiry to review social networks' complaints procedures

A parliamentary inquiry into fake news is to consider legislation forcing social networks to improve the way they handle complaints after Facebook’s failure to remove sexualised images of children. His committee will examine whether new offences should be created to ensure social networks are held responsible for inappropriate content, including fake news as well as images of children which have been reported.

I do think that this is a good thing as complaints on social media sites usually go no where and rarely get dealt with. Facebook only dealt with 18/100 complaints when a BBC reporter flagged the images showing how complaints don't get dealt with and with no explanation.

week 22: story 44

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/feb/02/digital-revolution-age-of-experience-books-vinyl

We’re over the digital revolution. This is the age of experience

This article from the Guardian is talking about how the digital revolution is over or slowing down. In terms of media companies like Kodak who went bankrupt in 2012 when the age of traditional film was dying out and new media was evolving and bringing with it new technology. This has happened on radio as-well and e-readers with Vinyls and books off the shelf rising in sales once more.

I believe this is a good thing that some traditional media sources are coming back but i do no believe that this is the end of the digital age or the digital revolution., Technology is going to keep moving forward and even though traditional media sales are rising nothing has been reported on newer media sources falling and with the upcoming youth 

week 22: story 43

 https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/mar/08/bbc-focus-too-middle-aged-and-middle-class-says-ofcom-chief 

… we have a small favour to ask. More people than ever rely on the Guardian to keep them up-to-date, but far fewer are paying for our journalism. Advertising revenues across the media are falling fast. And unlike many news organisations, we haven’t put up a paywall – we want to keep our journalism as open as we can. So you can see why we need to ask for your help. The Guardian’s independent, investigative journalism takes a lot of time, money and hard work to produce. But we do it because we believe our perspective matters – because it might well be your perspective, too.

If you depend on our reporting to stay informed, support us now and help make our future much more secure.

This passage appears at the end of every guardian article viewed on a computer. It asks users to donate and subscribe to the guardian as they exclaim they are facing falling advertising revenues and this isn;'t just affecting them. The passage also says that they don't want to go behind a paywall and that there journalism needs to be funded.

Media and collective identity

1) Read the article and summarise each section in one sentence, starting with the section 'Who are you?'

Who are you? we are included in building a picture that reflects us, the importance of this is the way of life encompassing us, the thing that makes us our identity and how we need to be seen.

I think there for i am?  How in the past our identities were fixed and people we not going to change because a magazine or newspaper told the what the new trend was.

From citizen to consumer?  becoming passive consumers of media products 

The rise of the individual?   individualism 

Branding and lifestyle?  products can be linked to different lifestyles depends on the way they are marketed.

2) List five brands you are happy to be associated with and explain how they reflect your sense of identity.

Sony- This reflects my identity as i use their products almost everyday and have done for a long time.

Youtube- This is part of my identity as i believe it reinforces the idea of globalisation which i believe in.

Nike- This brand is part of mu identity as it pushes you to do well at all things not just sport. 

3) Do you agree with the view that modern media is all about 'style over substance'? What does this expression mean?

 For men and women alike the media does present style over substance as it sets them unrealistic goals which people feel they must live up to, for example for men they must be fit and muscular whilst women must have the latest clothes and jewellery.

4) Explain Baudrillard's theory of 'media saturation' in one paragraph. You may need to research it online to find out more.

Baudrillard argues that we now live in a media-saturated society in which media images dominate and distort our view of events and the world to such an extent that they are creating reality rather than merely reporting it.

5) Is your presence on social media an accurate reflection of who you are? Have you ever added or removed a picture from a social media site purely because of what it says about the type of person you are?

No, but i see how people can change there profiles so that it better reflects what people expect and think of them and not what they actually want that picture to represent.

6) What is your opinion on 'data mining'? Are you happy for companies to sell you products based on your social media presence and online search terms? Is this an invasion of privacy?

We may all disagree with it but in reality when websites say they are running cookies or recording data we still use the page because we have no other option. If we don't agree to their conditions usage of that website is restricted. 

Identity and the wider media

1) The Factsheet discusses how identity is a complex subject. What does it suggest defines our identity?


Identity is a very complex subject. How we define ourselves is
based on a complex set of relationships but we can think about our

1. idea of ‘self’ as being:
2. • who we think we are
3. • who we want to be… and
4. • who we think others think we are

2) Complete the task on page 2: suggest media texts that could reinforce that someone is non-mainstream; edgy; a pleasure seeker; fashionable; witty and fun; cutting-edge.

You are…. … media use to reinforce these ideas?

non-mainstream= Alternative streaming service to Netflix and Amazon 

edgy= 

a pleasure seeker= social media sites like Instagram 

fashionable= style magazines

witty and fun= meme pages 


cutting-edge= 


3) What examples are suggested for a case study on urban youth?

The urban youth are considered to be outsiders as they reinforce mainstream values (ALthussar). Jeremy Kyle is a show used an example to show how some of the urban youth are represented as Chav's nd hoodies which create the moral panics in the media. Also the shows Harry Brown and Eden Lake make portray the urban youth to be the villainous type.

4) What does Hebdige argue with regards to youth culture? 

Hebdige says that youth cultures show their resistance to the dominant culture through their style choices.Urban youth can show itself to be outside the mainstream by
adopting the uniform that is feared by mainstream culture and they
learn about this fear in the media representations.

5) What other theorists are referenced alongside Hebdige? How do they link to the issue of youth identity?

• The media continues to represent these youths as deviant in an attempt to reinforce mainstream values (Acland)
• representations are constructed by people outside this group (Perkins)
• reflection of adult culture’s fear of urban youth (Giroux).

6) How can we link our Year 12 case study on Ill Manors to youth and identity? What specific examples from the case study could be used to discuss Hebdige’s theory that youth culture challenges mainstream culture and dominant ideologies?

Wearing the same clothes and having the same values can allow audience members to
identify with a group and so become an important part of the ‘construction of self’. Jessie J and Ben Drew (Plan B) also talk about how the urban identity of the youth can be adopted and constructed.

7) What does theorist David Gauntlett suggest regarding the media’s influence over the construction of identities?

Theorist David Gauntlett claims that the media have influence on identity construction and so the way the media stereotypes groups may become part of how individuals see themselves and media institutions are able to use this to sell their products.

8) Do you agree that Hebdige’s view that youth culture will always seek to resist mainstream culture and challenge dominant ideologies?

No not all the time because in the London riots this mainstream culture was reinforced when the urban youth culture looked like they were in their prime when they were doing what everyone expected them to do.

Identities and Film: blog task

1) Read Media Factsheet 142: Identity and Film.

2) Complete the Twenty Statements Test yourself. This means answering the question ‘Who am I?’ 20 times with 20 different answers. What do they say about your identity? Write the 20 answers in full on your blog.3) Classify your answers into the categories listed  on the Factsheet: Social groups, ideological beliefs, interests etc.

I am a:

1. Media student -Social groups,
2. Dortmund fan -interests
3. 17- self evaluation 
4. brother - self evaluation 
5. son- self evaluation 
6. feminist - Social groups,
7. business student- Social groups,
8. GHS student- Social groups,
9. F. M. fan- Social groups,
10. man- self evaluation
11. 5ft  7- self evaluation
12. bad at maths- self evaluation
13. going to university - ambitions 
14. cancer star sign
15. not religious
16. a twin
17. creative
18. human
19. motivated
20. easily amused 

4) Go back to your favourite film (as identified in the lesson). What does this choice of film say about your identity? Are there any identities within the film (e.g. certain characters) that particularly resonated with your values and beliefs?

White Chicks

This film is unique because it shows off people trying to cover up their own identities in terms of race but really their true identities in terms of personalities and traits show up even more when they're trying to be someone they're not. The identities in the film are very clear as there is a clear distinction between the blacks and the whites.

5) Watch the trailers for the five films highlighted as examples of gay/lesbian representation in mainstream film. How are LGBT identities constructed in the trailers and how are audiences encouraged to respond to these representations?

These LGBT identities can be seen as quite feminine to begin with and they don't assume the masculine/hero role. Although they are also seen as good characters like in the miners strike film who intend to good but are looked down upon.

The kids are alright-

It presents them as adoring, mindful, strong and defensive - simply like all hetrosexual guardians. This highlights the view they may have that gay person couples ought to be permitted to have youngsters and they would even now have the capacity to raise the kids - with a little help of the inverse sex