Weekly New/Digital Media Homework 13

Shocking video appears toshow LA police shoot man as he crawls away wounded.

Tweeters strike once again as another case of police brutality attracts the attention of millions shook by the obscenity of the police force's conduct. Social media seemingly inspires an uprise against injustice by authoritative forces and the use of UGC in this case is catalytic to the entire process.

The impact of new/digital media on the music industry

Copyright laws are fondled with in the dawn of the digital takeover, especially with streaming on-demand services by Spotify, Apple Music and rivals. Yet, traditional methods are still considered by UK govt in order to attempt protecting the marketship of musicians and record labels. This is indicative of a sustained relevance for traditional media. 

NDM News: index

1) Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry
2) Audience and Institution: how news consumption has changed
3) The future of newspapers: Build The Wall analysis
4) The decline of newspapers: the effect of online technology
5) Citizen journalism: Media Magazine article and questions
6) News Values: theory and updating them for digital media landcape
7) Marxism & Pluralism: Media Magazine article and questions
8) Media Conference: notes from speakers
9) Marxism and Pluralism: views and values question
10) NDM Section B essay on blog - consumption and production question
11) Marxism and Pluralism: Alain de Botton on the news - lecture and questions
12) Globalisation: questions and blog task
13) Globalisation: Media Magazine - Google Glass, techno-panics and data mining
14) News on the Tweet report and questions
15) Audience and Institution article and questions
16) Institution case study: NDM and News Corporation

NDM institution case study: News Corporation

 Impact of new and digital media on News Corp include:

·         Online subscriptions/paywalls

·         Price promotions for newspapers

·         Impact on institution content and its appeal

·         Paid subscriptions for TV content

·         Quality of journalism

·         User generated content

·         Social media/online news providers (Huff Post, Ampp3d etc.)

Tasks

1) Research News Corporation’s response to the growth of new and digital media by listing each of the institution’s brands (Sky News, Times etc.) Have any closed, changed or been in the news in the last 10 years for any reason?

Foxtel

Testra

-

Authonomy

BallBall

-

Australian Golf Digest

Australian Good Taste (with Woolworths Supermarkets)

Australian Parents (with Woolworths Supermarkets)

Best of the Gold Coast Magazine

Big League

Country Style

delicious. (with the ABC)

donna hay

Gardening Australia (with the ABC)

GQ Australia

Inside Out

Lifestyle Pools + outdoor design

MasterChef Magazine

National Geographic

SmartSource Magazine

Super Food Ideas

Vogue Australia

-

The Sun

The Times

Sunday Times

Press Association

-

Sold

TV Guide

Dow Jones Local Media Group

Pacific Magazines

Star

San Antonio Express-News

Defunct

The Daily (2011-2012)

News of the World (1843-2011) (closed)

Today (1986-1995)

The London Paper (2006-2009)

Consolidated Media Holdings (2007-2012)

Publishing and Broadcasting Limited (1994-2007)

2) Develop examples of the impact that new and digital media has had on News Corp’s brands (paywalls, readership figures, audience share etc.)

The fall of the newspaper printing industry has coincided with the rise of digital media – serving as an overall more appealing platform for news delivery. Paywalls have thus been put in place for The Sun and The Times to charge readers for revenue to be reinvested into better quality journalism. Readership figures have yet seemingly dropped due to the wide accessibility of free news over a plethora of online news sources.

3) Use what you have found out about News Corp to answer the following question:

“Why and with what success are traditional media institutions adapting to the challenge posed by new/digital media?”

NDM: The key concepts of audience and institution

1) What was the relationship between audience and institution in the pre-digital age?
Economically powerful organisations packaged products for carefully defined audiences, serving a hypodermic needle one-way stream of power. The ways in which media is accessible has strayed from traditional norms since, through the growth of new digital media and technology.
2) The article gives a lot of examples of major media institutions. Choose three examples from the article and summarise what the writer is saying about each of them.
- The MailOnline's funding model pertains an income received according to the duration a reader stays on the site. To exploit this, the site is filled with clickbait and plenty of multimedia content. 
- A thriving subscriptionship service is crafted for SkyOne audiences, who are offered early access to enjoyable shows for loyal audiences - thus justifying investment into programming with TV developers. 
- Advertisement entails the generation of income for ITV, who thus see appeal for the mass audience as a lot more important than for niches. 

3) The article ends with a section on the digital age. Summarise this section in 50 words.
The prevalence of increased interaction over the internet among audiences and institutions as well as the growth of mobile technology have indicated a morphing of the digital landscape. Audiences have now the power to access entertainment across almost all new digital hardware mediums, and are consequently provided an abundance of content. This may have also impacted the perceived value of these products, which contemporary audiences may neglect due to the wide availability of products instantaneously with services such as on-demand. 

4) How do YOU see the relationship between audience and institution in the future? Will audiences gain increasing power or will the major global media institutions hold sway?
Ultimately, the major global media institutions will sustain their traditionally inherited power over audiences. This is due to the sheer fact of a necessity for institutions to oversee the media markets of entertainment and information development/production/distribution. Audiences will however have an increase of power over the decisions institutions make regarding what they release - clearly evidenced by the increasing impact of social media and UGC which seemingly provides a voice channel for audiences traditionally powerless. 

Weekly New/Digital Media Homework 12

Why the Sun is likely to escape Ipso censure over its jihadi poll
Despite of a major backlash through social media, particularly Twitter users. The national tabloid The Sun is arguably evading the Ipso censure due to its corporate power under the protection of the Murdoch empire. This highlights an argument about the empowerment of audiences being futile in comparison to the invincible nature of major institutions. 

He's a terrorist, but so are these guys

The news headline by Daily News of New York City provides a commendable article on the recent West American shootings by a jihadi couple from California. The news article places the jihadi among many terrorists of a Caucasian background, and by doing so, eliminates the prejudice targeted specifically to ethnic minorities of America - this counter-narrative to the Islamophobic nature of most news corporations was commended by media personality Piers Morgan. 

Weekly New/Digital Media Homework 11

BBC3 TV channel to be switched off by February, BBC Trust confirms

The youth oriented channel is bound to face an eventual axe due to the falling revenue of the BBC. This is indicative of the coinciding yet causal dominance of the internet in providing entertainment, particularly to the targeted audience of the dying TV channel - planned to be exclusive to BBC iPlayer, the online streaming service. 

Express titles may follow Star’s lead with major price cuts

The tabloid is due to join its rival's pricing regimen in order to avoid a significant fall in revenue to its corporate competitor. This is incidental to the decline of the newspaper industry as less people are buying newspapers - accessibility of the internet, for free.

NDM case study: News on the Tweet

News on the Tweet is a report from Newsworks (a marketing organisation representing newspapers) and Twitter designed to show the positive impact new and digital media can have on traditional media.

_________________________________________

Why are respected news brands good news for Twitter?

Among the abundance of sources, users need to be provided with credible news providers from which they can trust to receive accurate and legitimate information

Why in turn is Twitter good for respected news brands?

Twitter provides a platform/medium through which respected news brands can have their works publicised and made accessible for a myriad of followings to consume and share/discuss the news.

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”. What evidence do they provide to support this idea? Do you agree with it?

Arguably this view is justified by Twitter activity inn action as statistics suggest that 60% of newsbrand Twitter followers claim to have never usually read newspaper brands in print format prior to following them on Twitter. This is agreeable as we witness many young people subverting the stereotypical expectation for them to be dull and not opinionated on news stories - clearly a thwarted view as a result of Twitter discussions relating to links to news articles. 

On page 24/25 of the report, the focus turns to 'gossip' or 'banter'. What example tweets from journalists are used to illustrate this? 

- "Grace Dent @gracedent • Nov 6 I reveal the shocking truth behind Jennifer Aniston’s new hair http://ind.pn/HJXtV9" - Illustrates this view of gossip - justified by a display of personality and interest of the Tweeter. 

- "Camilla Long @camillalong • Feb 16 Favourite story all weekend has been Del Boy killing the British sheepskin coat industry. LOL" - 'Bit of banter' - Reflects personality with light-hearted humour

Do you think the increasing amount of 'gossip' or 'banter' is harming the reputation of news and journalists?

I believe this opinion to be reductionist in the sense that it disregards the autonomy for the audience to be able to choose what news they read. Among a majority of serious news stories, there are segments dedicated to a type of news which may not be respected - celeb gossip. football scandals etc. 

What does the report say about trust in Twitter and journalists (look at pages 34-39)?

The report illustrates the symbiotic relationship between Twitter and journalists with the expression of 'a virtuous circle' - Twitter provides journalists with a platform to connect with audiences on a personal level, creating the resultant view of them as honest and expert. 

Finally, do you think new and digital media developments such as Twitter have had a positive or negative impact on traditional newspapers?

I believe that new and digital media developments such as Twitter have placed an unprecedented importance on news today across all audiences due to the convergence and relevance of technology in modern lifestyles. The resultant effect may be negative on traditional newspapers in print form, however, adapting companies can still profit if they use tactics from online based journalists such as TheHuffingtonPost or BuzzFeed who rely on consumer created content and citizen journalism while still providing a level of curation to check legitimacy and for censorship before publicising material to audiences. 

Globalisation and the media: wider issues

1) Why was Google Glass controversial?
Physical social interaction was a techno-panic highlighted as humans may become "less engaged" in conversations with each other as others become occupied with accessing the internet. Privacy issues were also raised in accordance to non-consented filming, location tracking and sound recording -  all data which is supposedly accessible to 'Google agent' - a techno-panic highlighting the convergence Google encourages in all of their products being increasingly associated to people's personal lives and thus suggesting datamining as a privacy concern.

2) What are the positive elements to Globalisation that the article highlights?
Enrichment through increased choice of material and opportunities. 
Access to information enhances democratic process.
Enables informed decisions on anything.

3) What are potential negatives to Globalisation?
Smaller organisations remain small while the minority possesses the majority of worldly wealth among themselves as a monopoly.
4) What is a techno-panic? How does it link to moral panics?
The idea of a moral panic is reinvented to adapt the development of technology as a potential threat which may concern society and trigger such concerns in the media in an elaborate way to be thus reinforced by the public.

5) What is your opinion on the privacy debate and major corporations being able to access large quantities of personal data?
My personal opinion is formed on the basis that major corporations simply cannot consistently track a mass audience of people, and it would be futile regardless. There aren't any legitimate repercussions which arise from the access of personal data belonging to Glass users, and one of the cautionary tips warranted by the use of such equipment is indubitably that users should (as ever) be weary of what is seen through the lenses. To a further extent, access to personal data could be useful in retrospect to solving crimes, and thus beneficial without much harm to privacy - safety first! 

Weekly New/Digital Media Homework 10

Why the Paris attacks got larger UK coverage than other tragedies 

This opinionated article by Greenslade argues the viewpoint that audiences are more interested in terror attacks closer to home - a perspective resembling that of media critic Alain de Botton, who advocated the importance of empathy when consuming news.

BBC Red Button services face axe as sport and online news are cut

The legendary BBC Red Button has faced the 'axe', with the prevalence of new and digital media. The medium is now seen redundant due to the availability of news reports and sports updates via the internet.

Weekly New/Digital Media Homework 9

#1in5Muslims: Twitter mocks Sun front page with 'facts' about Muslims
As ever, Twitter users strike once again to criticise a xenophobic headline by TheSun after a recent moral panic about the threat of jihadis. This reflects the empowerment audiences have via the use of social media in order to backlash against major corporations.

Mali hostage films from hotel window - video http://trib.al/mN2BscE 
A Chinese tourist kept hostage utilises his smartphone to provide footage of crime in Mali. This exemplifies citizen journalism with importance as TheGuardian accesses the material to use for a news story based on the occurrences in Mali. 

NDM News: Globalisation

1) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What examples can you think of?
Although contrarily arguable, I believe that the news of Britons is much profoundly influenced by domestic British organisations rather than American conglomerates. News services by FOX for example, are mocked by British critics and most media intellectuals due to the sheer ignorance and bias promoted by the corporation. Judging by the perspective of a Londoner, accustomed to ethnic diversity, the BBC provides a much culturally diverse news provision rather than traditional institutions such as the DailyMail or The Sun - ran by Murdoch. 
2) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? How? Why?
It can be suggested that the globalisation of news has improved audience experiences as awareness and familiarisation is developed. This is informative as well as educational for audiences as they aren't ignorant to the wide range of social climates occurring worldwide. 
3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions? How? Why?
Globalisation can be said to benefit major news institutions because they can now have increased power over foreign countries and manipulate their views and ideas - culture. However, damage can be incurred to such news insitutions as residents become familiarised to more personal and reliable accounts by people over social media - citizen journalism.

Marxism & Pluralism: Alain de Botton on the news

1) To what extent do you agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News?
Alain de Botton proposes the agreeable idea of a 'torrent' heap of information in which the audience is essentially drowned in senselessly to the extent of not being able to keep track of what is 'important' due to a greater fascination for what is 'popular'. This provides an argument which is realistically demonstrated as such is evidenced by Twitter's generally overall fluctuating reaction to refugees from Syria. Early September witnessed an uproar within the cyber-world as Tweeters expressed their sympathy for a 3 year old victim to the death toll of war-torn Syria. As November unfolds with the Paris massacre, the focus of sympathy from the general public's viewpoint switched in favour of the Western nations as mainstream news advocated a greater support for such nations, who were posed opposingly to not just ISIS, but the religion of Islam as a whole. The radicalisation of this view has led to an ever upsurging prejudice against members of the faith worldwide as 'importance' on this is 'popularised' by the hands of Rupert Murdoch's empire. 'Searching for the Taylor Swift of the day' is a schema for developing news practiced by corporations intending to serve the agenda of partnering politicians. "A good photo is a bearer of new information". Importance of empathy, "seduced into caring". "A very particular pathology" in comment section.

2) How can you link Marxism and Hegemony to de Botton's criticisms of the News?
De Botton proposes the idea that the news is tailored according to the news provider's political ties with the proletarian governing body of Rupert Murdoch's alliances - responsible for a majority of news distribution worldwide.

3) How could you use Pluralism and new technology to challenge de Botton's views on the News?
Pluralistic ideas advocative of the freedom granted to millions of social media users are contradictory of de Botton's pessimistic criticisms. The new multimedia platforms have inspired the uprise of many left-wing movements juxtaposing hegemonic ideologies reinforced by the mainstream news.

4) Choose two news stories from the last six months - one that supports de Botton's views and one that challenges his belief that the News is used for social control. 
SUPPORT - The Sun's headline news article reinforces xenophobic ideas favourable of the Caucasian majority of Britain, particularly those middle-classed. 
CHALLENGE - The Huffington Post's web article addresses the hideousity of the article and uses social media reception from Twitter to challenge The Sun's improper content. 
 

Weekly New/Digital Media Homework 8

News Corp first quarter 2015 earnings fall 15% as advertising revenue tumbles

The transgression from print to digital advertising for many advertisers is prevalent with the recent standings of revenue for Murdoch's newspaper giant. This was clearly evident with the alternative increase in digital advertising revenue, which justifies the mass audience's digital preference greatly. 

The repercussions of this seem to be a fairly significant indicator of News Corp's forecasted longevity as a newspaper conglomerate, suggesting that they may need to eventually come to a conclusion of newspaper production after the heavy cases of mass redundancies and production costs. What will the ultimatum be for newspapers?

Paris attacks: French jets pound Islamic State in Raqqa as chaos and fear grips France's capital after false reports of fresh gunfire - latest news

Martin Rowson's depiction of the world's political climate

Following the Parisian attacks, the reporting of news has been significant in indicating the stature of TV and digital media. While many critics claim that 'TV reigns' as viewership standings rise higher than ever, it is irrefutable to acknowledge that digital integration is also highly significant. This is shown with continuous updates using all forms of media and most profoundly, the comments section as well as hyperlinks which guide readers to more sources. Such is particularly relevant in a complicated longitudal event as such which ties in with an abundance of other news stories which would otherwise be inaccessible to TV watchers. 

Empowerment of audiences?

The empowerment of audiences is considered in one stance according to the access to variously ranging views and values. The extent to which this ability is granted to UK audiences is a lot more debateable in comparison to the Stalinist model of North Korea, which has its media strictly limited to reinforcing only the views and ideologies of the dictating proletariat. The UK is commonly determined the polar opposite of this, being regarded as a population largely liberal in its ability to advocate and support ranging views, a lot of which differ from those of the governing Conservative body. New and digital media enables this output of pluralistic views on social media networks, a profound one being Twitter, which generates discussion by the use of tweets, mentions and the newly introduced ‘like’ system – indicative of support for publicised information. Opinion leaders such as Owen Jones, who are openly against the Marxist nature of the cooperation among leading governments and the Murdoch controlled media, which statistics suggest influences around 50% of the total mainstream media in the UK. This indicates a disempowerment of audiences in wholesome as half of the output is under regulation of the governing state.

 This is further justified by the Ipsos Morum poll of 2014 which finds the majority of Britain to be under the false impression that socio-political moral panics are prevalent to a much larger extent than they really are. Correlations between this and the hyperbolised representation of these panics by the mainstream media are found as debates of false benefit claim and the establishment of Islamic  beliefs in the UK are believed to be generally a lot more significant. Ultimately, the hegemonic control of the media is suggested in a cynical nature as it is found that the media defies its primitive role to inform audiences, as they do in fact misinform them with false beliefs which fuel moral panics and thus demonstrate a reinforcement of values advocated by the governing body, hence disempowering a society which is made to merely believe they are under pluralistic liberation as suggested by Rupert Murdoch's announcement insisting that "the internet has given readers much more power".

To a definitive measure, the internet continues to prove itself unsuccessful for audeience empowerment as Herman and McChesney state: "the egaliatarian potential of the technology is minimised" and instead, "global media firms (are) able to incorporate the internet and related computer networks into their empires". Such is evidently demonstrated by the wide internet-based digital technology market as institutional conglomerates such as Google and Facebook adopt smaller uprising companies.