NDM Story #26 Facebook app lets you view anyone’s hidden photos

http://metro.co.uk/2014/12/30/facebook-app-lets-you-view-anyones-hidden-photos-5003545/

A new browser extension, available now on the Chrome web store, boasts that it will let you view the hidden photos of ‘anyone on Facebook’ – whether they’re your friend or not. Facebook users currently have the ability to ‘hide from their timeline’ any unflattering photo that they don’t wish others to see. What many people don’t realise is that ‘hiding’ a picture doesn’t remove or block the photo in any way and the Picturebook app takes advantage of this loophole to find those hidden photos. Picturebook’s description is, therefore, slightly misleading. No app or browser extension is truly able to change the privacy settings of someone else’s photo and if you untag yourself from an unflattering photo, Picturebook won’t be able to find it.

I believe that the Picturebook app is a scheme and does not benefit anyone in any way. It is misleading and does not actually change an individuals privacy settings if their pictures are on private correctly. It is also a privacy concern as it encourages people to peer into others photos which they thought were hidden from others.

NDM Story #25 News Corp UK suffers £3.5m loss after £51m profit the year before

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/dec/17/news-corp-uk-suffers-35m-loss-after-51m-profit-the-year-before

Rupert Murdoch’s British newspaper and publishing division suffered an operating loss of £3.5m in the year up to June 2014 compared to a £51m profit the year before. One stand-out feature was the plunge in the profitability of the Sun, where operating profits were down to £35.6m from £62.1m in 2013. Similarly, earlier this month, News UK made much of Times Newspapers having returned an operating profit of £1.7m, but the accounts reveal that it suffered a pre-tax loss.

• The Sun’s revenues fell 5.5% to £489m
• 225,000 subscribers had signed up for online packages, which it regarded as a success, but it did not compensate for the continuing decline in print revenues
• The company incurred further legal costs of £17.1m due to the activities that resulted from its post-hacking decision to set up the management and standards committee (MSC)

In my opinion, I believe it is interesting how a news corporation can have such a drastic turn over in the period of on year. It however shows that the company itself has encountered in activities that resulted in legal costs and also other newspapers may be more popular. 

MM conference notes

John Snow:

• Go for two news sources rather than relying on one
• Brand is important and news to be strong
• We are in the golden age for journalism
• Twitter is beneficial for journalism 

Destiny Ekaragha:

• Films that inspired her include 'the breakfast club'
• Created/directed small films entered in films festivals such as 'tight jeans'
• Involved in directing upcoming film 'gone too far'- comedy about two brothers

Pete Fraser's 9 key words:

• Research
• Logistics
• Planning
• Evidence
• Equipment
• Reflection
• Ideas
• Production
• Feedback

Jake Wynne:

• Worked with stars such as Robbie Williams, Paul Weller and the Spice Girls
• His commercials work has included spots for BMW, Nike, PlayStation and Nescafe

Owen Jones:

• Passionate about the economy
• Believe the rich get richer
• Pluralist approach

News on the Tweet

1) The combination of newsbrands and Twitter helps keep us informed and opinionated. Each helps the other to grow its audiences and influence.Twitter therefore becomes more popular and used when users go on the social networking site to look at news pages as these are always kept up to date. Twitter users stated that newsbrands on Twitter helps them to 'to be aware of what is going on in the world, to pass the time and to be connected to people I am interested in but don't know.'

2) In turn, Twitter is good for newsbrands because by users following news companies on Twitter, they gain more followers and publicity. The newsbrands then have a larger audience interested in them and it can therefore boost their subscribers. Statistics show that 40% of users check Twitter frequently to see what is going on with their favourite newspaper brand.

3) The report suggests that old and new media 'are not, in fact, in direct competition, but often work extremely well together to enhance both the media eco-system and the consumer experience.' According to the report, enhancements take place in four different ways. These include: knowledge, opinion, gossip and banter and community. I do agree with this as I feel both Twitter and newsbrands work together in order to benefit one another.

4) Besides serious news, there is also gossip and banter of celebrities, political scandals, sports etc all for entertainment purposes. Examples of tweets from journalists include:

• 'Neil Ashton @neilashton • Nov 5 Arsenal are toast: In all seriousness now, what are the sales figures like for this kind of stuff?'

• 'Camilla Long @camillalong • Feb 16 Favourite story all weekend has been Del Boy killing the British sheepskin coat industry. LOL'

• 'Lucy Tobin @lucytobin • Feb 17 Excellent: a University has spent £20,000 building a mock pub for students to investigate why people get drunk.'

• 'Caitlin Moran @caitlinmoran • Jan 11 The most amazing thing about the story of President Hollande having an affair is that he apparently only has one pair of shoes.'

5) In my opinion, I believe that the increasing amount of gossip and banter is not actually harming the reputation of news and journalists. Instead, it enhances them as 'jokes' and 'funny quotes' are more likely to be shared and re-tweeted, gaining more publicity. However, I do believe it is important on which journalist or newsbrand does this as people who are taken very seriously would not be likely to post and gossip or banter on Twitter and that in turn could damage their reputation as they may then be seen as unprofessional.

6) The report suggests that trust in Twitter has actually been enhanced due to journalists. Statistics show that 39% of users felt that 'journalists on Twitter are a trustworthy and faster source of news, 48% said I feel I have a more personal connection with journalists I follow and 69% stated Twitter gives me access to journalists I wouldn't otherwise connect with.' The users on Twitter therefore increase due to the public finding journalists to be trustworthy. However it also increases journalist profiles as more Twitter users have access to them through the social networking site.

7) In my opinion, I believe that new and digital media developments such as Twitter have had a positive impact on traditional newspapers to a certain extent. Whilst the social networking site has allowed users to have greater access to newsbrands and increased their profile of subscribers and followers, it could be argued that this also encourages the decline of traditional newspapers. This is because people are less likely to buy print newspapers and pay money for them as they can easily access the news through search engines on the internet and social sites such as Twitter. It can be seen as more convenient as people gain quick access to the internet through computers, tablets and smartphones wherever they are, as oppose to going to the shop to buy a traditional print newspaper.

NDM Story #24 Does the Sun really speak to more people than Russell Brand?

http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/dec/05/the-sun-speak-more-people-russell-brand

The Sun has stepped up its attacks on Russell Brand in recent days but in many ways the comedian is now much more influential than the paper. The Sun sells 1.9m newspapers a day, according to the latest ABC figures from November. This is considerably more than the 48,000 copies Brand’s latest book, Revolution, had sold up to 22 November, according to Nielsen. However, Brand dwarfs the paper’s reach on the majority of the world’s favourite social media sites. He has 8.6 million Twitter followers, which is 13 times more than the Sun. He also has 1.2 million more Facebook followers.

• The Sun sells 1.9m newspapers a day
• Russell Brand has has 8.6 million Twitter followers
• He also has 1.2 million more Facebook followers

The fact that Russell Brand is more popular than The Sun on Twitter is an interesting debate. It may be because Russell Brand is quite a comedian, therefore may attract a larger audience. Also, he is a controversial character and Twitter have not taken him off Twitter for his controversy. It is debatable that this is because they want popular users to remain on Twitter, encouraging people to use Twitter.

NDM Story #23 Paper: Facebook's new app curates news stories from old media in 'distraction free' format

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/facebook-launches-new-newscuration-app-named-paper-9096521.html

Facebook has announced a new mobile app named Paper that could see the social network control a significant portion of the digital news market. The app will launch on 3 February for the iPhone in the US and promises a 'distraction-free layout' by pulling in new stories from various media publications. In terms of visual style and navigation, Paper appears to be similar to news-curating app Flipboard. Users navigate through Paper with a series of swipes; going from left to right to flip through stories, and pulling up or down to expand or shrink content.

In my opinion, I think that Facebook have created this app as it competes with the current market and apps that are dominating android and apple. The app is similar to Flipboard which has a unique style of flicking through news and also links to other things such as social networking sites.

Globalisation

Media Magazine 47: The case study issue

1) The Google glass article introduces the concept of Google glass and the features it holds. The positives and drawbacks of the product are also explained along with the limitations. The article is also linked to globalistion and the theories which relate to Google glass such as Stanley Cohen's moral panic.

2) A positive effect of globalisation outlined in the article is the opportunity that Google have given to rural areas to have access to the internet. One example is a rural area of New Zealand, where Google launched their Project Loon in June 2013. Large balloons fitted with radio antenna devices were released into the air to float above, offering people living there the ability to access internet for the first time. If successful, Google planned to release many more balloons and provide other rural areas with this opportunity such as East Asia and Africa

3) A negative effect of globalisation outlined in the article is the concentration of ownership and the possibility that smaller companies have little or no hope of staking a claim on the global market as they won’t be able to compete. Moreover, only a limited number of companies dominate the global market and in the main only distribute the majority of the world’s wealth amongst themselves. The FT500 for 2013 shows Google placed in at number 15 on the list. It was also in the top 10 companies featured on the list, eight of these are American owned.

4) Moral panic: An instance of public anxiety or alarm in response to a problem regarded as         threatening the moral standards of society - Stanley Cohen

    Techno-panic: Moral panic that centres around fears regarding a specific contemporary -
Marwick 2008

5) There are several concerns regarding data and privacy with Google glass. The article states how someone wearing Google glass can easily walk around and take pictures of or film people and the general public without anyone being able to realise. This is a major privacy concern as permission for someone to be filmed or have their picture taken is not given. Also, Google glass can record all the sound it picks up and can come with facial recognition software, therefore people can be identified even in a large crowd.

6)  In my opinion, I do not believe that globalisation is something we should be worried about, however it is something that we need to be aware and careful of. Globalisation is not something that we can stop or control but we can build our knowledge on new developments around the world and be cautious of things like Google glass which have privacy concerns. The 'global village' that theorist McLuhan speaks about is something we should embrace as long as it leads to positive impacts. 

Globalisation and new/digital media

1) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? 

One way in which increased globalisation of news has improved audience experience is through the wider availability of international channels on Television. For example, we can view live footage in other countries such as China or India while sitting in the convenience of our own home in the UK. Our multi-ethnic society pays more of an interest in news around the world. We have greater access to international news online also, as international newspapers such as India Times are available to view and most are free.

On the other hand, it can be argued that news companies only show audiences news that is interesting instead of what is important. Alain de Botton argues that news corporations only show us a snapshot of footage of natural disasters in other countries for example. Audiences are only shown dramatic images and are not given much information. This then means that we do not have much sympathy towards those who are being affected and do nothing about it. It can therefore be argued of whether news institutions are to blame for this.

2) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What example can you think of?

On one hand, it can be argued that news focuses on American culture widely in the UK. An example is celebrity news/gossip. A majority of American celebrity news is released in the UK. This could be because American celebrity news is more interesting and consists of more scandals, which gives British institutions more viewers and audiences.

On the other hand, British news is said to be less bias then American news. Therefore, British news is more likely to focus on the values it currently holds as it is admired by audiences. If they took on too many traits on American news then British institutions may find themselves losing viewers.

3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions?

It can be argued that globalisation has benefited major news institutions as companies have greater access to content around the world. For example, news institutions do not need to rely on citizen journalism if there is a disaster in America and their company is based in the UK. Instead they can spread out journalists and reporters from their company around the world so footage can be gathered and reported by the institution.

On the other hand institutions can be challenged due to globalisation. One example is the Ferguson case in America. The shooting of Michael Brown by a police officer broke out into protests in Ferguson and across the US. The protesters used social media to organise their demonstrations.They used Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to spread the word about planned protest locations, sending text messages with announcements and collecting donations and supplies. Two of the main organisers prepared for the protests by sending out tweets with information and calls to action. The two reached more than 20,000 followers each with their Ferguson updates.

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

Technology has grown and developed over the years, as has new and digital media. Due to this, I believe that audiences are more powerful in terms of consumption and production. This is because they have greater access to new and digital media e.g. through the internet, tablets, smartphones etc. Therefore, freedom of speech and opinions are expressed by audiences more. Also, traditional print media has been in decline while online news continues to grow and increases.

Traditional print media has been in decline for the past few years while online news is increasing. This has lead to the decline of newspapers as news online has become much more easier for audiences to consume and can sometimes be more convenient. More newspaper institutions have switched to online news where they provide customers with the latest stories from their newspapers. This means that audiences no longer have to go to the shop to purchase a newspaper, but can in fact have a digital copy which they can read from their computer, smartphone, tablet etc online. This is beneficial for consumers as they can read their news to their own convenience, whether they are at home or outside, they can easily search the news on the internet. There is also an increase in apps which can be downloaded on smartphones and tablets. News institutions such as BBC, The Guardian and Metro for example have their own apps where news stories are provided for audiences who download them. Although most news found online is free, some institutions have pay walls. This means that consumers have to subscribe and pay a monthly free to read a certain newspaper online. This can be a disadvantage for certain companies such as The Time and Sunday Times who have a pay wall. They can sometimes find profits to be low because consumers have a choice and can easily access free news online such as the BBC. However, audiences can argue which news institutions they find to be reliable. Moreover, it is debated over whether news online is a premium product compared to traditional print newspapers due to pay walls. Although print newspapers are commonly paid for, they are much cheaper and tend to cost under £1 for a newspaper, whereas subscription online can be higher.

There has also been a rise in citizen journalism throughout the years. This means that news institutions have become more dependent on citizen journalism in order to provide evidence for their news stories. For example, the general public have filmed disasters on their phones, which have then been sent and used by news institutions that show the footage on TV and online. This creates a sense of realism (Baudrillard) for audiences as the footage is shaky and unclear, as oppose to it being shot steadily on a  professional camera. It makes audiences relate to the news story more as they see the perspective of someone who was actually there when the incident took place. This has also contributed to the decline of journalism as institutions use citizen journalism footage as oppose to professional footage by journalists as audiences prefer it. Also, it saves news institutions costs as they do not need to pay a journalist to work for them. An example of citizen journalism is the death of Ian Tomlinson which was carried out by a police officer. A member of the public filmed the incident, which The Guardian then released soon after. This created major controversy over the case as the police officer resigned, therefore was unable to face punishment. Similar to this, the shooting of Michael Brown in Ferguson was also carried out by a police officer. This lead to protests which had over 20,000 followers on Twitter. Protesters also used social media to organise their demonstrations.They used Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to spread the word about planned protest locations, sending text messages with announcements and collecting donations and supplies.

Alain De Bottton recently spoke about the fact that news institutions expose stories to audiences which are more interesting than important. For example, if there is a natural disaster on the other side of the world then news institutions will show shocking images and then go on to another story before giving important details or even communication to audiences about how they can help. It could be argued that this is a reason why we as audiences have no sympathy for those who are affected because we are not educated enough by the news and it is their responsibility. Alain De Botton also mentioned that celebrity news such as Taylor Swift is more important to news institutions and receives more coverage in news stories. Moreover, Galtung and Ruge created a set of news values in which they believe news institutions use to determine which stories should receive coverage in their news stories. These factors include: elite nations or people, predictability, frequency, amplitude and immediacy etc. News stories that cover the most factors would be prioritsed by the news institutions.

User generated content (UGC) has also increased within the past years, giving audiences more power to create their own media products. Audiences now have blogs, in which they share their activities and opinions. YouTube is also used more where anyone can sign up and make an account. Users then post videos and can even go viral without having to be signed to a company e.g. singers can gain thousands of views and subscribers without having a record deal. Moreover, audiences are able to share their opinions and debate among themselves through comments which they can leave on news websites e.g. The Guardian. However, if the institution find comments to be inappropriate, they can be removed. Baudrillard's theory of hyper reality suggests that audiences believe they have more power than they actually do, however fail to see that the ruling class still hold power over us.

Marxists believe in capitalist society, where the bourgeois exploit the proletariat. In the world of news, institutions and companies remain dominant and have power over their audiences, who have no control. An example of this is the fact that audiences feel more powerful as they can comment on articles found on online news. Although audiences can comment what they want, the comments are still regulated by the news institutions and they have the power to take it down if they find it inappropriate. Also, although audiences have more freedom and power to create their own media online, they still use websites such as Google and YouTube which are owned by dominant corporations. A theorist who agrees with this is Pareto as he stated that ''a minority of (media) producers always serve a majority of consumers. This ties in with Pareto's 80/20 rule, where he stated that 80% of wealth is owned by 20% of the population.

The main pluralist belief is in a equal society. In recent years, Rupert Murdoch famously said ''the internet has given readers much more power.. The world is changing and newspapers have to adapt.'' As new and digital media grows, the internet has most definitely given audiences more freedom of speech and opinions. People are able to make videos and upload them on YouTube, without even having to sign any deals or get in touch with famous people, they can still gain several subscribers and gain hundreds of views. An example is an online fashion and beauty blogger called Zoella. She currently has just under 7 million subscribers and her videos have 307,946,467 views. After becoming so popular through her YouTube channel, Zoella has now released her own book called 'Girl online' which sold 78,000 copies in the first week. She has also won several awards such as the Radio 1 Teen Award for best British vlogger and was asked by Bob Geldof to sing on the Band Aid 30 track Do They Know It's Christmas. The fact that anyone can set up a channel or blog and start sharing their stories, can lead to big opportunities if you gain enough fans and there is no need to be recognised by a large company anymore.

To conclude, I believe that audiences have power to a certain extent. Although technology and new and digital media has grown, institutions and companies still have control over regulation and the things that remain or are taken down on the internet. I therefore believe that the ruling class have greater power over audiences due to their dominance. This relates to the Marxist belief of hegemony as the elite remain the ruling class in society and hold the power.

NDM Story #22 Digital journalists have great chance to develop much-needed transparency

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/sep/05/digital-journalists-have-great-chance-to-develop-much-needed-transparency

Digital media outlets can improve the quality of journalism by using new tools such as the CSI-style verification of social media posts and by allowing the reader not only to comment but to correct articles, media researcher Kellie Riordan argues. These methods are being used by both traditional media outlets such as the BBC and digital natives such as the US business site Quartz, which launched only in 2012 but is already competing with the Economist and Bloomberg.

I believe this tool encourages citizen journalism as readers can alter texts and articles.

NDM Story #21 YouTube star takes online break as she admits novel was ‘not written alone’

http://www.theguardian.com/books/2014/dec/08/zoella-bestselling-girl-online-written-siobhan-curham-zoe-sugg

YouTube star Zoe Sugg has announced that she is taking a break from the internet after admitting that she did not write her bestselling debut novel alone. Sugg took to her Twitter account, where she has tweeted "I’m taking a few days out and off the internet because it’s clouding up my brain. Thanks for understanding." The fastest-selling debut novel ever, was not written solely by the popular YouTube video blogger, or vlogger, as readers had been led to believe. After sustained pressure over whether or not the book was ghostwritten by Siobhan Curham, who is named in the acknowledgements, Sugg posted a statement on Sundaylate Sunday afternoon, saying that, “for the doubters out there, of course I was going to have help from Penguin’s editorial team in telling my story, which I talked about from the beginning”. “Everyone needs help when they try something new,” added Sugg. “The story and the characters of Girl Online are mine.” It has also prompted some backlash on Amazon, where reviews of the novel now include the comment that: “I was considering purchasing this book, but today I have seen that the publishers have admitted that it was ghostwritten. I feel like this is cheating young girls out of their pocket money.”

• 2.61 million followers on Twitter

• It sold 78,109 copies in its first week

In my opinion, I do not believe that Zoe has gotten enough credit for what she has achieved. Writing a first novel is not easy, however she could have been more clear of whether she wrote it alone or not as it seemed that she did.

NDM Story #20 How Ferguson Protesters Use Social Media to Organize

http://blogs.wsj.com/dispatch/2014/11/24/how-ferguson-protesters-use-social-media-to-organize/

Protesters in Ferguson, Mo. and across the US are using social media to organise their demonstrations. The protestors await the grand jury’s decision on whether to indict police offer Darren Wilson in the shooting death of teenager Michael Brown, They are using Twitter, Facebook and Tumblr to spread the word about planned protest locations, sending text messages with announcements and collecting donations and supplies. Two of the main organisers are preparing for the protests by sending out tweets with information and calls to action. The two reached more than 20,000 followers each with their Ferguson updates.

This article challenges Botton's belief that the news is used for social control. It is not the actual news corporations who are trying to have control in this article, but in fact the public who are fighting against it. Their protests have gained over 20,000 followers by using social media.

NDM Story #19 Sun+ signs up 225,000 paying subscribers

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/24/sun-plus-paying-subscibers-news-uk

The Sun has signed up 225,000 paying subscribers to its £2-a-week digital service Sun+, almost double the number reported a year ago. The publisher said that the figure has been stripped of any subscribers on a free trial, with the vast majority paying £7.99 a month. The company has spent tens of millions of pounds buying internet and mobile highlights rights to prime sports events, its deal with the Premier League alone is thought to have cost at least £30m over three years.

• News UK’s tabloid, which went behind a digital paywall on 1 August last year, reported it had attracted 117,000 paying subscribers in December 2013.

• In October, the Sun fell below 2m sales for the first time since 1971, with 1,978,324 average daily sales.

• About 2%, or 5,000 subscribers, have a quarterly or annual package.

This article reinforces Botton's view that the media is used for social control. The fact that Sun+ have made their online services cheaper and more accessible to the public, more people have been encouraged to subscribe. However this is an example of how the news will provide stories which prioritse less important news such as celebrity gossip and showbiz etc. 

Alain de Botton on the News

1) I agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News to a great extent. Botton states that the news does not focus on things that are important, but in fact focus on less important things. He uses the example of natural disasters that occur in the world and the fact that the news does not create sympathy for these stories. This is the reason why us as audiences can go to sleep so easily and not worry about those who have been affected. To contrast, Botton uses an image of Taylor Swift with her legs revealed which he states would be more important for news organisations to put on the front of their news as oppose to global warming, which is a serious factor affecting us. Botton also uses an interesting quote that 'the hierarchy of news has broken down.' By this, he means that the unimportant news is now at the forefront of news, whilst more important but perhaps less fun news is in the back and is given less importance. Overall I strongly agree with Botton's view on the news as most news corporations sell their news in this way to audiences.

2) Marxism and hegemony can be linked to Botton's view on the news as he shows elite people such as Prince William who is carrying his baby's car seat and celebrities such as Natalie Portman taking her son to the park who receive attention from the news. Although they are doing every day activities that most parents do anyway, it still means that things such as flu's spreading and children in less developed countries dying gain less coverage. The reason they gain less coverage is simply because they are less important and people only care to read about elite people. The point is that elite people stay in control and the centre of attention while others do not get much attention from audiences and are therefore classes as less important, encouraging hegemony as the elite continue to stay in control. News companies are concerned about making profits, as oppose to providing important, knowledgeable news.

3) Pluralism and new technology could challenge Botton's views on the news as citizen journalism is increasing, especially on the internet. This means that footage is published online and reaches social networking sites such as Twitter and YouTube and is shared among audiences. Citizen journalism tends to focus on things that happen to normal people, instead of the elite. For example, the Ian Tomlinson is a great example of citizen journalism having an impact on the elite as his case was further investigated after the police denied killing him. I believe citizen journalism will only continue to grow and in fact news companies need citizen journalism in order to provide efficient evidence for their stories in most cases that they did not capture themselves.

NDM Story #18 Yahoo replaces Google as default search engine in US for Firefox

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/yahoo-replaces-google-as-default-search-engine-for-firefox-browser-9871908.html

Yahoo has struck a deal to become the default search engine on the Firefox internet browser in the US, replacing Google and its ten year partnership with the company. Mozilla confirmed that "Google, Bing, DuckDuckGo, eBay, Amazon, Twitter and Wikipedia will continue to be built-in as alternate search options” but users will have to change the settings to use these. A spokesperson for Mozilla said: “In most countries, including the UK, Firefox users will not see a change. In the US, Yahoo will become the default search, Baidu in China and Yandex in Russia."

• Yahoo holds around 10 per cent of the market share for US desktop computers, followed by 20 per cent for Microsoft and 67 per cent for Google.

• Firefox is similarly placed, accounting for 10 per cent of US browser use on desktop, tablet and mobile compared to 33 per cent for Google Chrome.

I found this article quite shocking, considering the fact that Google has taken over almost everything on the internet! Also, Firefox internet browser is replacing its ten year partnership with Google, even though it is more commonly used as oppose to Yahoo. 

NDM Story #17 Tesco hides newspaper covers to stop children seeing ‘sexualised pictures’

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2014/nov/22/tesco-tabloid-newspapers-display-protect-children-sexualised-images-page-3

Tesco will no longer show the front covers of tabloid newspapers to avoid children seeing “sexualised pictures of young women”. After months of lobbying by campaign groups No More Page 3 and Child Eyes, the largest supermarket chain in the UK said it would change the design of its “news cube” stands so newspapers will not be displayed vertically. No More Page 3, founded by writer and actor Lucy-Anne Holmes, has been campaigning for images of topless women to be removed from page three of the Sun newspaper for two years.

• 3,300 stores in the UK, will now only show the names and logos of newspapers on the sides of the display stands.

As a Feminist viewpoint, this campaign is positive as for the UK's largest supermarket chain to agree to the change I believe it is a big deal. Newspapers are the traditional form of print news and have been around for years. Therefore, for Tesco to agree to only display the name and logo at their news stands shows that the campaign to stop sexualised images of women has worked. It may only be a matter of time before other supermarkets begin to take on these values if successful and enhances the brand name. 

Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values. To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

New and digital media has developed over the years, along with technology. The development has allowed audiences to gain a greater access to the media in more ways than ever before, through devices such as smartphones and tablets. From the traditional print newspapers to online newspapers, the media has developed in ways to which audiences are able to have more of an impact and participation with news and news stories.

One way in which audiences are able to be more empowered in the media is by voicing their opinions. Pluralists would be in favour of this as their aim is to create an equal society, who share the same values and beliefs. This is evident through online newspaper websites such as The Guardian, as audiences can comment on stories as well as disagree with them if they feel that the news article is unfair or bias. If several people agree with this, it can form a 'protest'. Audiences can also show power through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook. In the past, people have set up protest pages on topics that they feel strongly about. If several people join the movement, changes can be made, depending on the subject and severity of the protest. An example is a Facebook page that was set up calling for more transparency at Plymouth University. The page was created following a meeting of students and senior figures to discuss the boardroom dispute which saw the vice-chancellor absent for more than four months. The anonymous creator of the page says its purpose is "to help publicise some of the overlooked student and staff issues related to education at Plymouth University.'' Another example is of Dapper Laughs who had been due to perform at Cardiff University’s Y Plas student union as part of his 2015 Full Length Tour, but has now been told he’s not welcome after more than 700 people petitioned against it. A petition entitled ‘Ban Dapper Laughs’ Show,’ was started by student Vicky Chandler, who called for his appearance to be pulled, branding it ‘a soap box for his misogyny inside the walls of an academic establishment that claims to protect the rights of its students.’ This shows how several people with one agreement can make a change and have power over institutions.

On the other hand, a Marxist approach could argue that large news institutions create an illusion that audiences have power and large institutions still in fact hold all the power. For example, the death of Ian Tomlinson during the G20 protests caused many people in the public to protest against the case and the fact that the police officer (Simon Harwood) responsible for his death was not being punished. The Guardian were the first newspaper company to report this case and in fact used a form of citizen journalism as a member of the public recorded and sent it footage of the attack. The Guardian then released this footage as proof to support their story. The fact that the police officer did not face any severe consequences or gain any punishment for several years shows the dominance and power of police officers over society.  In addition, Radio One's Newsbeat decided to make their segment shorter and more child friendly. However, it can be argued that this is in fact 'dumbing us down.' Tom Quading on Twitter even tweeted  'Why is newsbeat on radio 1 so dumbed down, I know some idiots will listen but us normal people shouldn't have to listen to this crap!' This is an example of news institutions having power over audiences, without them even realising at times.

To conclude, I believe that audiences are empowered by these developments in new/digital media to a certain extent. Although audiences are able to voice their opinions and protest against dominant institutions, companies are still able to make decisions and do not often follow the influence of audiences, unless it is in their interest. I agree with the Marxist view that bigger institutions still have power over audiences, as equality has not yet been created. This does not however mean that I am in favour of Marxists, as Pluralists are trying to make society equal with the same values and beliefs.

NDM Story #16 California journalists offered $150 gift cards to deliver their newspaper

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2014/nov/17/newspapers-us-press-publishing

California's troubled Orange County Register is now asking its staff, including reporters, to help deliver its Sunday issues.They are evidently being offered up to $150 in gift cards to deliver 500 papers. It follows distribution problems since the Register (you're going to love the US grammar) "transitioned to new independent carriers to deliver the newspaper, impacting delivery to several neighbourhoods."

The fact that Orange County Register are having to offer rewards for staff to distribute their newspapers, emphasises the decline of the newspaper industry and the fact that newspaper industries are unable to survive and compete with new and digital media. 

NDM Story #15 Facebook targets workplaces with new professional networking site

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/17/facebook-at-work-professional-networking-site

According to a report in the Financial Times, the company is developing a site called Facebook at Work that will allow users to chat and collaborate on documents with colleagues, and connect with contacts. Thousands of companies use email, chat and collaboration tools offered by the likes of Google and Microsoft, while LinkedIn has become the most widely used site for professional networking. Many companies prevent their employees from logging on to their Facebook accounts on work computers, though the rise of smartphones has made that less of a barrier to using the social network during office hours. However, the new site is expected to look very similar to Facebook’s interface, with its newsfeed and groups, but allow users to keep their personal information entirely separate from their work profile.

• Facebook, which was founded in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg while he was a Harvard student, has some 1.35bn monthly active users at at the end of September.

• It had 1.19bn users at the same point in 2013.

Due to the dying down of certain social networking sites, I believe that Facebook are being innovative and are stepping away from the 'social side' of networking and have noticed that it is commonly used for professional reasons as well. 

Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

Media Magazine 39: Web 2.0 - Participation or hegemony?

1) Ian Tomlinson was an English newspaper vendor who collapsed and died in the City of London on his way home from work after being unlawfully struck by a police officer, Simon Harwood, during the 2009 G-20 summit protests. The traditional hegemonic view of the police in this case would be that Tomlinson done something wrong or aggravated the police, giving them a reason to push him to the ground and eventually kill him. Simon Harwood (the police offer responsible for Tomlinson's death) has been charged with the crime, however has stated he is not guilty on several occasions. This suggests that the power of new and digital media is great to a certain extent as the video of the Ian Tomlinson death was recorded by a member of the public and therefore citizen journalism. However, the police officer has 'gotten away' with this case and a few others in the past very lightly.

2) The author believes that we, the audience no longer have to rely on traditional media such as radios and newspapers and we can easily produce texts ourselves. Moreover, the author stated that 'injustices can be challenged more easily; but the problem of political, and legal, controls will be harder to surmount.'

3) In my opinion, I believe that new and digital media reinforces dominant hegemonic views to some extent. Although powerful institutions still have the power to publish whatever content they like, these are now more often challenged by audiences. For example, if the Guardian online post a controversial/bias viewpoint of  a story, then audiences can comment, share their opinions and even criticise the newspaper or story.

NDM Story #14 BBC Panorama documentary deeply irresponsible, says Mazher Mahmood

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/11/mazher-mahmood-accuses-bbc-panorama-irresponsible

The Sun on Sunday reporter Mazher Mahmood has accused the BBC of being deeply irresponsible for pledging to broadcast an already delayed Panorama documentary about his career as an investigative journalist. The BBC pulled the scheduled documentary with minutes to go on Monday night, citing new information from Mahmood’s lawyers delivered just 90 minutes before transmission. Mahmood’s letter denies this, accusing the BBC of issuing “misleading” statements. In an astonishing letter sent from his lawyers, Kingsley Napley, Mahmood calls on future viewers of the programme, Fake Sheikh: Exposed, to “keep an open mind on any allegations”, which he claims are based on sources that lack credibility. The allegations made, he says in the statement, are “unsustainable and wrong”.

A BBC spokesperson said: “Shortly before transmission Mr Mahmood’s lawyers submitted new information relating to one of the cases in the programme which, as a responsible broadcaster, the BBC needs to evaluate. Once this has been done we will broadcast Fake Sheikh: Exposed, including recent footage of Mr Mahmood, as planned. “We have nothing further to say. We will let our programme speak for itself when we broadcast it.”

In my opinion, BBC's Panorama is to educate audiences and make them aware of what is currently happening in the world. As this particular episode was based on Mazheer Mahmood, it is to no surprise that he has retaliated and involved his lawyers after the episode was aired. However, Panorama did make a documentary on his career, therefore some form of consent should have been given before the episode was aired on TV. In contrast to this, the purpose of the episode was to expose the 'fake sheikh'. 

NDM Story #13 Germany tops table of Facebook data requests

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/05/germany-tops-table-facebook-data-requests


In public, Germany has been leading the fight against privacy-invading US technology companies. But in private, the country made more requests per capita for user data than any other. New figures from Facebook show that the German government makes more requests for user data, relative to the size of its Facebook user base, than any other.

• Facebook’s latest transparency report reveals that Germany made 2,537 requests for user data in the first half of 2014.

• With the country’s Facebook population estimated at 22 million by eMarketer, that means the government made 115 requests for data for every million users. 

• Those requests referenced 3,078 user accounts, but just a third of them led to some data being produced.

• Italy, America and France are the next three biggest sources of government requests, each producing around 100 requests per million users. Britain comes fifth of the 20 countries the Guardian studied, with 70 requests for data per million users.

• But requests from Britain and America are significantly more likely to be granted than those from mainland Europe; 71% and 80% of requests are granted, a success rate twice as high as that of Germany or France (where just 30% of requests lead to data being handed over).

• In the US, no such content was restricted, while three countries – India, Turkey, and Pakistan – restricted access to more than a thousand pieces of content each, with India topping the censorship charts after imposing restrictions on 4,960 items. The country has the second-largest Facebook user base after the USA.

In my opinion, I believe that technology develops at different rates in different parts of the world. As Twitter is taking over Facebook in the UK, it is not the same with Germany. 

NDM Story Summary

1) 10/09/14- NDM story #1 - Are your tweets trusted or tainted? The realities of social media #fails

2) 15/10/14-  NDM story #2 - The dizzying decline of Britain's local newspapers: do you want the bad news, or the good news?

3) 15/10/14- NDM story #3 - Facebook under fire from drag queens over 'real name' rule

4) 15/10/14- NDM story #4 - Pay to play: the end of free social media marketing?

5) 15/10/14- NDM story #5 - Microsoft 'in talks to buy Minecraft creator for $2bn'

6) 08/10/14- NDM story #6 - 'The Paedophile Hunter'

7) 15/10/14- NDM story #7 - Isis in duel with Twitter and YouTube to spread extremist propaganda

8) 15/10/14- NDM story #8 - How to save local journalism (and democracy) with a new funding initiative

9) 21/10/14- NDM Story #9 Snapchat messaging app gets it's first ad... and it's very creepy

10) 31/10/14- NDM Story #10 Apple Watch battery life will only last a single day, confirms CEO Tim Cook

11) 05/11/14- NDM Story #11 Ebola advice emails from 'World Health Organization' are malware spam

12) 05/11/14- NDM Story #12 Spain moves to protect domestic media with new 'Google tax'

13) 11/11/14- NDM Story #13 Germany tops table of Facebook data requests

14) 11/11/14- NDM Story #14 BBC Panorama documentary deeply irresponsible, says Mazher Mahmood

15) 18/11/14- NDM Story #15 Facebook targets workplaces with new professional networking site

16) 18/11/14- NDM Story #16 California journalists offered $150 gift cards to deliver their newspaper

17) 22/11/14- NDM Story #17 Tesco hides newspaper covers to stop children seeing ‘sexualised pictures’

18) 22/11/14- NDM Story #18 Yahoo replaces Google as default search engine in US for Firefox

19) 02/12/14- NDM Story #19 Sun+ signs up 225,000 paying subscribers

20) 02/12/-14- NDM Story #20 How Ferguson Protesters Use Social Media to Organize

21) 09/12/14- NDM Story #21 YouTube star takes online break as she admits novel was ‘not written alone’

22) 09/12/14- NDM Story #22 Digital journalists have great chance to develop much-needed transparency

23) 16/12/14- NDM Story #23 Paper: Facebook's new app curates news stories from old media in 'distraction free' format

24) 16/12/14- NDM Story #24 Does the Sun really speak to more people than Russell Brand?

25) 31/12/14- NDM Story #25 News Corp UK suffers £3.5m loss after £51m profit the year before

26) 31/12/14- NDM Story #26 Facebook app lets you view anyone’s hidden photos

27) 14/01/15- NDM Story #27 Your ‘private’ Instagram photos may not have been as private as you thought

28) 14/01/15- NDM Story #28 Social media, journalism and wars: ‘Authenticity has replaced authority'

29) 17/01/15- NDM Story #29 I enjoyed my week in Google Glass, but those around me weren't so keen

30) 17/01/15- NDM Story #30 How a team of social media experts is able to keep track of the UK jihadis

31) 23/01/15- NDM Story #31 Twitter encourages 'verified' users to stop posting photos from Instagram

32) 23/01/15- NDM Story #32 The Sun’s Page 3 cynicism isn’t just about lust. It’s about resentment and power

33) 09/02/15- NDM Story #33 British jihadi who faked his own death to return to UK is jailed for 12 years

34) 09/02/15- NDM Story #34 Snapchat helps Daily Mail and Vice Media get on message with youngsters

35) 25/02/15- NDM Story #35 Why more men should fight for women’s rights by Owen Jones

36) 25/02/15- NDM Story #36 Ferguson’s citizen journalists revealed the value of an undeniable video

37) 25/02/15- NDM Story #37 Brands must take advantage of Twitter's personal touch

38) 25/02/15- NDM Story #38 Brian Williams has gone, but false news is bigger business than ever by Emily Bell

39) 25/02/15- NDM Story #39 Mail Online soars past 200m monthly browsers as newspaper sites bounce back

40) 25/02/15- NDM Story #40 Is Twitter bad for economic growth?

41) 06/03/15- NDM Story #41 Should Britain introduce electronic voting?

42)  06/03/15- NDM Story #42 PM faces being 'empty-chaired' as TV debates are expected to go 
ahead

43) 06/03/15- NDM Story #43 BBC licence fee good for at least another decade, says director general

44) 06/03/15- NDM Story #44 Anger over new powers for Turkish authorities online

45) 06/03/15- NDM Story #45 Why some Indians want to 'Ban BBC'

46) 13/03/15- NDM Story #46 Snapchat 'worth $15bn' after Alibaba invesment

47) 25/03/15- NDM Story #47 Where will Fleet Street be in 2025? A long way further right

48) 25/03/15- NDM Story #48 Daily Star's Page 3 ads banned for being 'sexist' and 'offensive'

49) 02/04/15- NDM Story #49 TripAdvisor removes 'feminist' review

50) 02/04/15- NDM Story #50 Apple Watch: are you feeling the terror?

51) 02/04/15- NDM Story #51 Knowing ploy or social media fail? Penguin Books runs #YourMum Mother’s Day Twitter campaign

52) 02/04/15- NDM Story #52 A third of young people think social media will influence their vote

53) 02/04/15- NDM Story #53 Teachers 'facing more abuse on social media'

54)  02/04/15- NDM Story #54 Instagram deletes woman's period photos - but her response is amazing

55) 02/04/15- NDM Story #55 Sexting: Young girls and boys bullied for explicit sex videos

56) 02/04/15- NDM Story #56 Twitter's new quality filter removes abuse from your timeline

57) 05/05/15- NDM Story #57 Ed Miliband’s Russell Brand interview is no joke for the Sun, Mail and Star

58) NDM Story #58 Police investigate construction firm after complaints from passer-by over wolf-whistling

NDM Story #12 Spain moves to protect domestic media with new 'Google tax'

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/31/spain-newspaper-google-tax

Recently, the Spanish government passed a new copyright law which imposes fees for online content aggregators such as Google News, in an effort to protect its print media industry. The new law known as the “Google Tax” or by its initials LPI, requires services which post links and excerpts of news articles to pay a fee to the organisation representing Spanish newspapers, the Association of Editors of Spanish Dailies (known by its Spanish-language abbreviation AEDE). The law is the latest volley in the war between European newspapers and Google. The publishers accuse the search firm of using their copyrighted material to build up a news service without doing any reporting itself. The company says that it is “disappointed” with Spain’s new law. “We believe that services like Google News help publishers bring traffic to their sites. As far as the future is concerned, we will continue working with the Spanish publishers to help increase their revenues while we evaluate our options within the framework of the new legislation.”

• Failure to pay up can lead to a fine of up to €600,000.

• Google defends itself by claiming that it 10 billion views to newspapers’ websites every month.

• That requirement doesn’t require copyright holders to go through a judge before demanding links be removed, while imposing fines of €600,000 on sites which don’t act.

• Once it comes into action at the beginning of 2014, the country will also require websites to remove links to material that infringes copyright, even if the websites themselves don’t make money from the infringement.

In my opinion, I believe this can be beneficial and save the Newspaper industry within Spain. 

NDM Story #11 Ebola advice emails from 'World Health Organization' are malware spam

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/23/ebola-malware-spam-email-world-health-organization

This articles talks about the cybercriminals who are using the current Ebola outbreak as a topical hook for spam emails that can install malware giving them remote access to computers, including logging key presses, capturing video from webcams and stealing passwords. The message in the e-mail that is sent to people states “There is an outbreak of Ebola and other diseases around that you know nothing about. Download the World Health Organization file for more information on how to stay safe from Ebola and other preventable diseases. We care.” The creators of the email are installing something called the “DarkComet Remote Access Trojan” which can run on computers “undetected by antivirus software” according to SpiderLabs.

Although spams occur everyday on the internet and especially through e-mail, the people who have created the Ebola malware spam are aware of the fact that most people are likely to open it and therefore have taken advantage of vulnerability. We all want to know how to protect ourselves from the disease and as they have used the name 'World Health Organisation', people are likely to believe it is real and not a scam.

NDM Story #10 Apple Watch battery life will only last a single day, confirms CEO Tim Cook

http://www.independent.co.uk/life-style/gadgets-and-tech/apple-watch-battery-life-will-only-last-a-single-day-confirms-ceo-tim-cook-9822502.html

"You're going to wind up charging it every day," said Cook. "Because you're going to use it so much."

Apple is planning to release the device early next year in America before slowly rolling it out to other markets, and the Apple Watch will come in three models – normal, sport and luxury – all of which need to be paired up with an iPhone. Cook said that the iPhone sales are still predicted to generate half of the company's revenue for the future. Cook also boasted about the success of the recently-launched Apple Pay mobile wallet, which lets iPhone 6 and 6 Plus owners pay for purchases using their mobile. The company has reportedly had more than one million cards activated for Apple Pay in the first 72 hours, which Cook says gives the company “more than the total of all the other guys”.

As other companies have released smart watches, it is no surprise that Apple have released one also. Apple, along with other competitive companies are now known to have substantial battery lives due to the great usage of phones, tablets etc by consumers. Therefore, Cook has confirmed and put his belief into the new Apple watch being a success and believes that it will need to be charged every night because consumers will use it so much throughout the day.

News values

Immediacy: has it happened recently?

Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on Twitter or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken so different angles might be required. Newspapers now contain more comment or opinion rather than the breaking story.

Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain?

Local news tends to focus on what is happening in Britain as we tend to care less about other countries and in particular, those that are seen as minority. International news however is easily accessible online e.g. The India Times. The development of new media allows international news to be more accessible as apps are available also.

Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people?

Due to the rise in user generated content, events are now recorded and more footage is available from the public. This has caused an increase in citizen journalism as news companies then use this footage when describing events e.g. protests as they involve a large number of people and tend to have a large impact. User generated content is also widely available on social networking sites e.g. Twitter as people post and share their content. 

Frequency: did the event happen fairly quickly?

It is not always possible for news companies to capture an event that happens fairly quickly as it is time consuming for them to get their reporters down to an event. This again links to the rise in user generated content and the fact that citizen journalism is taking over regular journalism as the public who are already at the event tend to record it on their phones anyway, which is later used by news companies.

Unambiguity: is it clear and definite?

News companies have to be very careful when reporting news as it needs to be 100% certain and correct before the story is made available to the public. It may however take a while for companies to be certain and in that time before the release, the story can already out break online and through social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook.

Predictability: did we expect it to happen?

For news that is expected to happen, news companies organise for their reporters to be present at those events. This then allows them to cover stories and gain visual content which can then be displayed on TV, online and through social networking sites for audiences to view.

Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event?

If an event is rare or unexpected, it tends to create a 'hype' depending on the severity of the story. This leads to the topic becoming big on social networking as the story is spread across the social networking sites. Sites such as Twitter use hashtags which then promote the story or event. For example, Alice Gross' recent death was unexpected and placed itself all over the news, including the BBC. There was also a #findalice campaign in search for the young girl which boosted the awareness on Twitter.

Continuity: has this story already been defined as news?

With developing technology and media, it is important for news companies to release the latest stories and not repeat 'yesterdays news'. Therefore, if a story has already been released online and through social networking sites, news companies will need to find a different approach when releasing the story or take another approach on it.

Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-

known people?

International news is widely available online, on TV and on the radio. Stories that have an impact on the world tend to make the news. For example, if Obama makes an important speech then it will reach news stories as he is an elite person. It would also be available on sites such as YouTube where people can comment, share, like and dislike the video.

Negativity: is it bad news?

Reporting bad news can be quite controversial, depending on the severity. Events such as ISIS is obviously bad news for most of us in the UK, however with people fleeing from the UK to join ISIS in Iraq. It therefore might be bad news for some but not for others. During ISIS, people in Iraq were posting videos of the assassinations of citizens all over social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook which the police then removed.

Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death.

News companies tend to balance bad news with good news quite often, however usually if it puts someone or something in a negative light. With the recent outbreak of Ebola, the story is not being balanced with many human survival stories as the disease is air born and therefore not anyone's fault and nobody is to blame, so it does not portray anyone in a negative way. The 'hype' for the disease spreading into different countries however is carried out through social networking sites such as Twitter which hashtags e.g. #ebolaoutbreak, #ebola, #stopebola and #ebolavirus. 

The Rise and Rise of UGC

The following information is based on the Media Magazine article, The Rise and Rise of UGC (Dec 2009) https://docs.google.com/document/d/1bR0yBbZK6Y0tP1THZAw1vt9y-VFUnsR_v9i98I7d6nk/edit?hl=en_US&pli=1

Examples

• Start of the LA Riots
• Tsunami-December 24th 2004
• London bombings-July 5th 2005
• Mumbai bombings-November 2008
• Hudson River plane crash-January 15th 2009

Theory

• Moral panic
• Folk devils
• Hypodermic needle model

Benefits to institutions

News institutions are able to gain real life footage through user generated content. This is then used for their News stories through various media platforms such as Newspapers, radio, TV and online news. It allows news institutions to gain audiences views and attention by providing actual first hand footage from events, enhancing the realism.

Benefits to audience

Audiences are able to witness news with images/video clips which help make news more believable.
Some audiences have even benefited from user generated content. For example, the Tsunami on December 26th 2004 was one of thr worst natural disasters in recent time. Tourists were filming the disaster and a few days later, social networking provided witness accounts which helped survivor's and family members get in touch, acting as a forum.

Wider issues and debates

• Not all UGC may be trusted. Bias audiences may film/take pictures of something or someone to purposely portray it in a negative light.
• It is argued that journalists are losing their jobs due to the rise in citizen journalism.
• Audiences want to 'see it to believe it.' With growing technology, news sources need to provide evidence of stories as them telling us or writing it is not enough.

SHEP

Social: News institutions and audiences interact through social media networking sites such as Twitter as information is shared by inquisitions and audiences have the ability to comment and share the feed/stories.

Historic: Citizen journalism has increased, institutions were reliant on journalists before to capture an interesting story.

Economic: The occupation of journalists is in decline as it is argued that they are losing their jobs due to the rise in citizen journalism.

Political: Information can be bias, therefore institutions may only use content in their favour/belief.


1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?

Citizen journalism is the collection, dissemination, and analysis of news and information by the general public, especially by means of the Internet.

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

The start of the LA Riots.

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

Social networking sites have introduced message boards, polls, chat rooms and Q&A, offering UGC.

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

One of the main differences is the quality. Professional footage is clear and steady, whereas UGC footage tends to be quite shaky, blurry and of a lower quality. This however creates realism in the shot.

5) What is a gatekeeper?

A gatekeeper is the person who decides what shall pass through each gate section. The gating process can include a news item winding through communication channels in a group.

6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?

Institutions are now regulating online  to see what is trending and what news is being shown. Before, institutions controlled what audiences see, however with developed technology we have greater access to content online e.g. YouTube.

7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?

The decline in the job role of a journalist is a primary concern as user generated content and citizen journalism is a threat to the industry. Institutions cannot afford to pay several journalists to capture news therefore UGC is used instead.

What impact is new/digital media having on the following:

News stories: More use of user generated content. News institutions rely on citizen journalism when reporting a news story so audiences can 'see it to believe it.'

The news agenda: Institutions use stories that interest audiences, as well as having footage to show their story.

The role of professionals in news: New/digital media has caused a decline in professionals in the news e.g. journalists. UGC means that citizen journalism is now used as oppose to professional journalism footage/shots as the quality is more realistic.