week 10: story 20

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/oct/31/politics-digital-technology-brexit-donald-trump

Politics has gone wrong. Is digital technology to blame?

The article is pre-US elections so the author talks about how unlikely it would be that Donald Trump would become president (little did he know). But still it is a relevant argument as it talks about Brexit and Jeremy Corbyn.  Here is a quote from the article about new and digital media "Digital technologies make it far easier than it has ever been to find out what people want – their likes and dislikes "  this shows how audiences could take it for granted and not think to much about what they see and where they see news for example on the internet.

In my opinion i do think the Internet is very influential for younger people in comparison to people in the older age demographics as they didn't grow up with the Internet being there main source of news. Therefore younger people trust it more and they may believe more of the stuff they find on the Internet then say 40 year old and above would. This can also apply to people in different socio-economic groups, for example people in the ABC1 category would be more inclined to trust the traditional news platforms more, for example newspapers and TV, because they've been fact checked more. People in C2DE groups may be more prone to view there news on social media and this is a problem because that is probably the biggest group full of people with different views and values who interpret what they see on the internet either or real or fake in different ways.

week 10: story 19

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/16/bbc-world-service-to-broadcast-news-programmes-in-north-korea

BBC World Service to broadcast news programmes in North Korea

This article looks at how and when the BBC propose to expand it's broadcasting service, they plan to double there audience and expand there languages it broadcasts in, including Korean. They want to be able to reach over 500 million people by 2022, which would be its 100th anniversary.

This could mean a lot for the people of the UK because this could be quite costly we wonder what the BBC will intend to do in order to be able to broadcast there service to more of the world. This raises concerns over whether they will raise the price of the TV license or scrap it all together and choose to get funding from advertising, however now may not be the best time as advertising revenues are falling year on year especially on TV. New and digital media has helped do this, which is a good thing because now people all around the world no matter what leadership style governs them can potentially have access to other news with different views and opinion over subject matter.

week 9: story 18

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/02/18/mobile-giant-three-to-block-online-advertising/

Mobile giant Three to block online advertising

Although this happened earlier this year, this problem does affect the whole industry as other companies have followed on from what 3 proposed. They proposed to block online advertising on there network. The Chinese owners first put this forward and it was evaluated by the board and they decided to go through with it.

Of course this is not good for the advertising industry online, however this may just end up pushing these advertisers back to traditional methods like advertising in newspapers and on billboards, although this sounds updated it will be much cheaper then paying for hundreds of online adverts over various sites which may end up not being seen by anyone because they're being blocked by 3 and other ad blocking sites. 

week 9: story 17

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/nov/17/fake-news-google-funding-fact-checking-us-election 

Fake news clampdown: Google gives £150,000 to fact-checking projects

This article further explains how Google plans to invest the money they proposed a few weeks ago. This plan is to invest in UK companies that are trying to tackle how journalists can tell if a piece of news is 'fake'. They propose to invest around £1500000 in 3 UK businesses to help them create a fact checking tool so they don't make mistakes.

I believe this is a good thing for the industry because even recently iv'e been seeing a lot more fake news circulating around, especially during the US elections i was fooled by a piece myself. It happens to a lot of people now and it is quite hard to differentiate between whats real and what isn't because were not really given a reason to suggest that a piece of news is fake if it comes from a source. Therefore, having professional institutions do the fact checking means we may be more likely to trust it more, however we may never be able to fully trust the news we find circulating around on social media as there aren't many procedures around to stop people from posting fake news stories. The problems with social media sites like Twitter is that if people start re-tweeting and liking a post it will no doubt catch on and when it does it can spread around everywhere and if the news is fake then it can impact many people. 

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 Ian Tomlinson case was about an unarmed and innocent passerby who was struck in the back by a police officer on duty during the G20 summit. Ian Tomlinson subsequently died as a result of his injuries. The first stories arising about this was that he had died from natural causes, but later video footage emerged to show a police officer hit and push him to the ground. Traditional hegemonic views that have been presented by the media over a period of time in the UK that the police force is a force of good and that it is there to protect us. However, new and digital media has meant that things can now be challenged and that dominant hegemonic ideologies are not immune from scrutiny, as video footage which showed what "really" happened unpinned those moral and ethical values that the media portrays the Police to be.



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


Traditional media, like Newspapers and billboard advertisements were used to reinforce an ideology from a group in power, but from what i understand, hegemony is a theory which states that audiences are conscious in there decisions to follow these views and to not challenge them. However, new and digital media is challenging this as it gives audiences the choice to challenge and to actively participate in talking out against the values that have been passed on. For example, I read about how the BBC portrayed the British royal family as a group of people to look up to and that they represented everything "British", these values are still around today, they are hegemonic views because we have accepted it as a society and choose to believe it, NDM has not made a significant difference in challenging this dominant ideology.



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


New and digital media can both reinforce dominant hegemonic views but it can also give the audience a platform to challenge them. New and digital media has given us a new medium to spread our views and values. Social media has given anyone the opportunity to spread whatever they please, whether this be people who still wish to reinforce dominant hegemonic views or those who wish to challenge them. That's not to say that reinforcing dominant hegemonic views is a bad thing some of them are good and are what we base some of our moral and ethical values on but now we know that we don't have to accept them as common and normal anymore because of new and digital media.





4) Do recent world events such as Brexit or Donald Trump's election in the US suggest dominant hegemonic ideologies are being challenged or reinforced? There are arguments for both sides here - explain your opinion and why.


Trump being elected does prove that anything can happen. Some may say that the media probably helped him win, just like the Sun in this country when they published the headline "It's the Sun what won it", the media does have a strong influence but they don't always reinforce dominant hegemonic views. Trump is an example of such, because the values that we have been taught leads to think that what a president looks like is a man like Bill Clinton. Many people voted for Trump because they wanted something "new" and "different", New and digital media is probably the main reason people want something different because it enables the audience to challenge dominant hegemonic ideologies.

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

Syrian war

• Progress

Donald Trump being voted Republican presidential candidate 

• Disaster

Italian earthquake

• Consequence

Brexit vote on UK's economy

• Prominence 

Prince dying

• Novelty

Harambe 

1. What example news story does the Factsheet use to illustrate Galtung and Ruge's News Values? Why is it an appropriate example of a news story likely to gain prominent coverage?

They used the story where the first female British service person was killed in action in Afghanistan. This made the news because it was unusual to see a female being killed and also because she was British, there for the story would've gained cultural proximity as the British people would have seen this as more relevant to them than if a French soldier was killed in action,

1. What is gatekeeping?

Gatekeeping is job performed by the editors and journalists of a news organisation. They put news stories and pictures/videos of a process to determine what is and isn't news worthy. They don't do this based on there opinion. It must meet a criteria that lists certain news values, for example immediacy may be one for a lot of news organisations as people don't want to see old news.

1. What are the six ways bias can be created in news?

The six ways bias can be created in news are:

• Bias through selection and omission, when selecting or editing a story the editor can be bias by choosing whether or not to use a specific story and what bits are shown of the story as this could paint another picture if things are left out.
• Bias through placement, so where a story is placed online or in a news paper usually shows it's significance and if an important story is placed in the middle or towards the back then they maybe less appealing because people are accustomed to finding the most important stories at the front of the site/paper.
• Bias by headline, the Headlines are one of the first things that someone reads on a newspaper, however headlines can be misleading, convey excitement and express approval/disapproval.
• Bias by photos,captions and camera angles, the way a picture is taken or the way a video is shot can make a person look better and show them in a different way, either positively or negatively.
• Bias through use of names and titles, different names and labels can be given to people to make them appear different in other peoples perspectives, for example 'Terrorist' can also be labelled as a 'freedom fighter'. 
• Bias by choice of words, people can be influenced by the use of positive or negative words which carry with them certain connotations.

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

To give an example, Wikileaks has become the supplier of the news 'market' and its up to the news organisations to differentiate themselves by filtering the news stories they find from Wikileaks and blogs/Twitter by adding their own news values.

1. 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.

The Paris attacks were largely talked about on Twitter

Hillary Clinton's private email server was leaked to Wikileaks

1. 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?

They're saying that Twitter has become a place where news breaks first and that is where people come to voice their opinion and share events first instead of calling up a news organisation and reporting it to them.

• What does it say about how news is being produced?

News is being produced by the people. User generated content (UGC) is becoming much more prominent and normal/ordinary Citizen journalist are more then capable of reporting news.

• What role does the audience have in this process?

The audience plays the role of editor now as they have the medium available in-order to publish what they find and voice there own opinion. Audiences are definitely more empowered. 

• Why might this be a problem for journalistic standards?

If Audiences have the tools to publish there own content for other people to see and make judgement on, there will most likely be a reduction in professional jobs available in journalism because they are not needed.



9) In your opinion, how has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values? 

It hasn't made any significant differences as of yet, however some of the more noticeable changes are how much more relevant some of the values have become, for example Amplitude is a much larger factor as near enough everyone has access to a newspaper, TV and or the internet. Also immediacy has changed slightly, we already had 24 hour news but now we have live feeds online that are also updated 24/7 so yes new and digital media is having a positive impact on Galtung and Ruge's news values.


10) How would you update them for 2016? 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.


Unambiguity- We can link this with what we've been learning recently as some audiences may see or not see citizen journalism as clear and definite. Citizen journalism is only around now because of new and digital media as near enough anyone with a phone can video an event and upload it.

Elite nations and people- Because just about anyone can start there own blog or develop and app and upload there own news we have been introduced to celebrity news. News and gossip which is all about them in there everyday lives.

Continuity- News isn't always defined as news anymore as there are so many sources that claim different things, and this is a problem that new and digital media has caused with introducing the likes of twitter which has caused numerous hoaxes, news no twitter does not go through the same process of that which is seen in newspapers or on TV.

Frequency- News is now available 24 hours a day on television and online. There are now also live feeds which constantly update stories and upload pictures and videos. Also the volume of news has increased as a lot more people can create content (UGC) with the introduction of new and digital media.

Predictability- News is now more unpredictable as people can see stories from all around the world.  NDM can create new trends which people never knew would happen, for example when the media reported on the shooting of Harambe the gorilla, tags and memes were made about him.

Balance- News is a lot more balanced because of the audiences they get are able to form their own opinions on the matter and therefore to not appear badly in the public eye, News must be balanced so as to no upset the wrong group of people,

Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance

1) Read the article from Media Magazine: Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance (Dec 2009). Use our Media Magazine archive, click on MM30 and go to page 59.

2) Create a new blogpost called 'Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance' and make notes from the article under the following headings: 

• examples

The invention of the telephone led to the creations of VOIP's like Skype, which form different simulations of reality like dinner parties.

Movies, in particular silent movies 

The Internet with all its social networks 

• theories 

Jean Baudrillard's simulation/simulacra 

• positive aspects of new technology (or 'digital renaissance' 

enhanced communication 

audience empowerment - UGC

escape from reality

• negative aspects of new technology on audiences and society

very different from reality

fantasy- people are unable to differentiate 

less communication- people become unsociable 

 

• wider issues and debates 

New media technology like social networks contribute negatively by being a medium to which bullying can happen

Skype and other social networks are unmediated, meaning anything can be said on them which may go against someone else's beliefs. 

3) 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, with the large picture and video sharing site offers people to like rate and comment on peoples content from around the world

Snapchat- offers short videos and pictures that are available for a set amount of time, have changed social trends among young people countless times

Twitter- acts like another news station and has changed the way breaking news comes around, stories can appear on twitter long before they appear on any news channel, however it does raise the concern  over the authenticity of the news as there have been a lot of hoaxes.

4) 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?

I do think anything that is filmed live and spontaneously does reflect some aspect of reality and it can be very helpful in helping less powerful people beat the system rightfully.
5) 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 do think that citizen journalism is making news more accurate and closer to real life, however by sending it to another media organisation could still distort the truth through editing and other gimmicks.