MEST3 Exam

Why we should be wary of ending net neutrality  https://www.theguardian.com/technology/media-blog/2017/nov/26/net-neutrality-law-trump-deregulation-media Key Data/ Statistical Info Activists see the ending of net neutrality, effectively the rules that stop internet service providers discriminating against certain types of content, as having serious consequences for smaller or more diverse web services that will no longer be protected from providers either slowing their traffic or pricing them out of the market altogether.  It has also been heavily criticised by large technology companies and social platforms, which see it as tipping the scale in favour of telecoms providers such as AT&T and Verizon.  In practice, platform companies such as Facebook grew bigger than traditional media and Amazon and others rapidly moved from shopping to producing films and video series. However, ending net neutrality forms only part of an agenda by the  Trump a...

Social services minister orders inquiry into credit card system data breach https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/nov/25/social-services-minister-orders-inquiry-into-credit-card-system-data-breach Key data/ Statistical info The social services minister, Christian Porter, has ordered an investigation of  a data breach affecting 8,500 current and former Department of Social Services employees , whose personal information was left open for more than a year. The move comes after the Greens blamed outsourcing for the breach in the Business Information Services system which held expenses and credit-card information dating from 2004 to 2015. Compromised data included credit-card information, employees’ names, user names, work phone numbers, work emails, system passwords, Australian government services numbers, public service classifications and organisation units. “The federal government is continually looking to outsource and privatise department and Centrelin...

1) To what extent do you agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News? I agree with Alain de Botton's views to some extent as I also believe that we are "passive consumers" of news and are unable to really understand or acknowledge the events that happen around the world, in the right way. However his comment towards the end of the lecture "the news is the most wonderful tool of distraction ever invented" is quite exaggerated. The news is not a "distraction", but rather a "distorted picture of our society". News provides us with information on current world events, but I believe that they way in which it is provided in fact diverts us away from what really happened. The perspective from which it is reported plays a key role in the way the news is consumed and therefore brings up the argument of whether news is reliable. Therefore I agree with de Botton's view of the news to some extent however there are some parts in the video wher...

Bonus reading: Hegemony and the Hunger Games Read  the article on the Hunger Games  and at least 15 comments below the line. How does this link to what we've learned about  hegemony ? Hegemony is used to describe how ideas are shaped by the elite and how their opinions & way of seeing things are seen as "normal" to the public. First, the article talks about hegemony within the fictional world of Panem. The "Capitol" is controlled by the rich and powerful, while the poor live out in the "Districts". Another way in which the article links to hegemony is by exploring the way in which Jennifer Lawrence, who plays Katniss, subverts the typical stereotypes of women in films. The article states that she doesn't conform to the "girly" characteristics that most female protagonists have in films, and that her "physical and mental prowess" is what motivates female audiences into believing in these positive representations of women in ...

Russian "troll army" tweets cited more than 80 times in the UK media https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/20/russian-troll-army-tweets-cited-more-than-80-times-in-uk-media Key Data/ Statistical Info Members of a Russian “troll army” were quoted more than 80 times across British-read media outlets before  Twitter  revealed their identity and banned them, a Guardian investigation has shown. Some posts from the accounts were embedded in articles to provide apparently local reportage and pictures from the sites of disasters and crime scenes around the world. In fact, Twitter claims, all the accounts were run from the offices of the  Internet  Research Agency in St Petersburg, alleged to be the headquarters of Russia’s troll army. The investigation will raise concerns about the extent of Russian penetration of the British media, which would have disseminated their messages to a much wider audience than they might get on Twitter alone. To gauge t...

Katharine Viner: in turbulent times, we need good journalism more than ever https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/16/katharine-viner-we-need-public-interest-journalism-in-turbulent-digital-age Key Data/ Statistical Info  Facebook has become the most powerful publisher in history by replacing editors with algorithms and has divided public debate in a way that challenges democracy,  Katharine Viner , the editor-in-chief of the Guardian, has said. “Championing the public interest and the continued freedom of the press – which has always been at the heart of the Guardian’s mission – has become an urgent necessity,”  “Our digital town squares are mobbed with bullies, misogynists and racists, who have brought a new kind of hysteria to public debate. Our movements and feelings are constantly monitored, because surveillance is the business model of the digital age,”  Viner said the digital journalism produced by many news organisations had become “l...

1) Read Media Factsheet 76: News Values and complete the following questions/tasks. 2) Come up with a news story from the last 12 months for each of the categories suggested by Harriss, Leiter and Johnson: Conflict- Westminster attack   Progress- Catalonia Independence Disaster- Hurricane in Florida Consequence- Brexit negotiations Prominence - Trump presidency Novelty- John Lewis Christmas advert 3) 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? The example the factsheet uses is Afghanistan as an example. In terms of "geographical proximity its far from the UK" , but it involved a British soldier. Its also a continuous story- often the interest in the story lies in the fact that deaths, are not predictable. 4) What is gatekeeping? Gatekeeping is a way of mediating certain content before it is published online.It could also refer ...

Whatsapp: inside the secret world of group chat https://www.theguardian.com/global/2017/nov/12/whatsapp-inside-secret-world-of-group-chat-politics-sexual-harassment Key data/ Statistical Info Shortly after June’s general election, Tory MPs used WhatsApp groups to canvass backbench opinion about  Theresa May ’s prospects – They’ve played a pivotal part in exposing sexual harassment in both politics and journalism, with victims swapping names via a “whisper network” of like-minded WhatsAppers.   the app’s system of secure end-to-end encryption – which means that nobody outside the group can intercept the messages – also attracts those with more sinister intent. The home secretary  Amber Rudd  suggested earlier this year that it was one of several potential hiding places for those plotting terrorist atrocities – Isis recruiters have been known to use it and  Khalid Masood  sent a message on the service shortly before killing six peop...

The digital war against ISIS is being lost. What should be done? https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2017/nov/13/digital-war-against-isis-lost-islamic-state-mohamad-al-arefe Key Data/ Statistical Info Accounts such as Mohamad al-Arefe’s prove it: he has  20 million followers on Twitter  – more than anyone else in the Middle East.  He only follows five accounts – all versions of himself in Indonesian, Farsi, Urdu, Turkish and (perhaps most worryingly) English. He also produces popular “Snap Fatwas” on Snapchat.  He is a one-man, multilingual, global extremist-leaning media network. Isis’s most valuable territory – and the one that it is holding comfortably – is online: it has a hugely successful international brand The issue of extremist values and ideologies is one of the main disadvantages of new and digital media. The availability of social media apps, such as Twitter, Facebook and Youtube, allows anyone to upload ex...

Citizen journalism and UGC (user-generated content) 1) Read the article from Media Magazine:  The Rise and Rise of UGC  (Dec 2009). Use our  Media Magazine archive , click on MM30 and go to page 55. 2)  Create a blogpost  where you make notes from the article under the following headings:  Examples 1991- An African American man named Rodney King was tasered and beaten by four LA police officers, after a high speed chase. The event was filmed by someone in the nearby apartments and soon made it to prime-time news where it became an "international media sensation". Dec 26th 2004- Asian Tsunami- people witnessed the natural disaster as it unfolded. 5th July 2005- London bombings  January 15th 2009- Hudson River plane crash photo posted on Twitpic.  Theory (audience reception etc.)  Audience reception theory (Dominant or preferred reading) - Videos from citizen journalists can be interpreted in many ways, depending on the audience's ...

BBC cancels 10m of cuts planned for local radio https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/nov/08/bbc-cancels-10m-cuts-planned-for-local-radio Key Data/ Statistical Info The BBC director general,  Tony Hall , has made a surprise U-turn and cancelled about £10m of planned cuts to local radio in order to help the corporation combat fake news. The  BBC  has reduced its investment in its 39 regional radio stations as more people receive their news from digital providers such as Facebook. A review of BBC local services began last year was due to make about £10m in cuts as the BBC prepares to lose £650m from the abolition of licence fees for the over-75s in 2020, as part of its funding deal agreed with the government. “I want to hear the sound of England as it changes. So while other media are becoming creatively less local, I want us to become even more so and to connect with our audiences in new ways.” The article talks about how the BBC cancelled the...

Netflix email scam hits millions of subscribers  http://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/tv/news/netflix-email-scam-subscribers-a8041621.html Key Data/ Statistical Info An email scam has been targeting Netflix subscribers, hoping to gather personal information and payment details from those who use the streaming service.  Account holders around the world have been sent a well-crafted email, designed to look official, asking them to update their account information otherwise be suspended.  The scam has targeted Netflix’s 110 million subscribers. The vast amount of Netflix users that could have been affected by this scam, just goes to show that developments in new and digital media have many disadvantages. It is common nowadays to pay for a service using your phone or computer, but this puts audiences at risk of revealing their personal details e.g card details, home address, phone number etc. to scammers. Furthermore, with several security f...

Issue 57 of Media Magazine featured two very useful  case studies  on British newspaper brands and their recent decline. The New Day The New Day was a brand new newspaper launched by institution Trinity Mirror in 2016 - but it folded after just two months.   1) What was the New Day trying to achieve? It was trying to reestablish itself on the print market in hopes of becoming a popular newspaper that met the needs of middle aged people and their "modern lifestyles". 2) List the key statistics on the first page: how many people buy newspapers in the UK? How has this declined in the last year? According to Allison Phillips, the paper's editor, ''about six million people buy a newspaper in Britain everyday. However in the past year ''over a million people have stopped buying a newspaper''.  3) What audience were the New Day trying to attract? Men and women aged 35 to 55- "who want a more modern approach to news" which they could rea...