Identities and the media: Reading Riots

1. How did the language and selection of images in the coverage create a particular representation of young people? 

The language and the selection of images that were used created a negative representation of young people. This was due to the type of images shown as they appeared to look violent and chaotic. They have used low angle shots to show that they are taking over and in control of the riots that occurred during the time it happened. 

Why does David Buckingham mention Owen Jones and his work Chavs: the demonisation of the working class?

He had been mentioned because Owen Jones stated that there is a new modern Britain and that the working class has slowly become an object of fear and ridicule. 

What is the typical representation of young people – and teenage boys in particular? What did the 2005 IPSOS/MORI survey find?

The survey showed that 40% that included young people or even that have mentioned them spoke of the negatives like the violent things they do, they focused less on the stuff that they have achieved or done any good. It also shows that 71% of the articles showed them negatively in the media. 

How can Stanley Cohen’s work on Moral Panic be linked to the coverage of the riots?

The theory of moral panic can be linked to the coverage of the riots as the riots had put fear in everyone that had read or seen the things that the young people have done also, what they have supposedly done. This may have also stuck with many of the people today believing the same things about every young person in society.

What elements of the media and popular culture were blamed for the riots?

The elements that were blamed were rap music, violent video gams, and reality TV.

 How was social media blamed for the riots? What was interesting about the discussion of social media when compared to the Arab Spring in 2011?

Social media was blamed for the kind of power it had given the young people, the rioters. It helped them set up pages and socialise with others who were planning to riot out on the streets, this made it easier for individuals to form big groups to go out and riot, making them stronger. In comparison to the arab springs, it had given them power to put their voices out inline for others to be heard, and with social media they were able to challenge their government. 

The riots generated a huge amount of comment and opinion - both in mainstream and social media. How can the two-step flow theory be linked to the coverage of the riots? 

The two step flow theory can be linked to people being twitter famous, this allowed individuals to voice their opinions becoming opinion leaders then with the help of this helped others to voice their own. 

Alternatively, how might media scholars like Henry Jenkins view the 'tsunami' of blogs, forums and social media comments? Do you agree that this shows the democratisation of the media?

This does show democratisation as people online are now able to speak their mind and do so without being afraid. People can now express their opinions and share it with other online internet users freely due to the new developments in technology and the media. 

What were the right-wing responses to the causes of the riots?

The right wing was negative about the young people as they described them as voilent beasts and dogs that needed to be controlled and put on leashes. 

What were the left-wing responses to the causes of the riots?

The left wing blamed it on society and inequality meaning that they were not the ones fully responsible for what happened and that everyone had a part to play in it. 

What are your OWN views on the main causes of the riots?

I believe that the riots were caused by them being misrepresented in the media which got them even more annoyed and angry at society for judging them in a certain way and acted up on it, they begun to be that stereotype everyone thought they were. 

How can capitalism be blamed for the riots? What media theory (from our new/digital media unit) can this be linked to?

Since we are currently living in a materialistic society in this country we are value ourselves by what possessions we have, the younger people saw this as a time to get what they cant have and so what lead to the riots taking place where people begun to steal things they were not able to afford. 

Were people involved in the riots given a voice in the media to explain their participation?

The people that were involved in the riots were not given a voice in the media for them to explain as society does not want to know what they have to say due to the stereotypes and society thinking they already know these people and their reasons. This meaning not giving them power to explain and back themselves up. 

What is your own opinion on the riots? Do you have sympathy with those involved or do you believe strong prison sentences are the right approach to prevent such events happening in future?

I believe that everyone was in the wrong and that society must stop stereotyping and considering one side of stories they have been reading and listening to. They must be open to other things. The rioters were in the wrong and do deserve a punishment due to them breaking stores that could have been family run, they were innocent and didnt deserve this. So by enforcing strong prison sentences it would allow for less people to try their luck to get away with crimes they thing they can evade.

Billionaires battle for the Internet in space

A hand full of billionaires are trying to get the chance to provide internet from space to millions of people, they all want to do the same thing but dont want anyone else doing the same. Elon Musk is a billionaire who is planning on sending satellites up into pace which are 750 miles from planet earth and send them into orbit. He is planning on providing cheap affordable internet at which is faster than the normal broadband speeds that we currently have now. He says he would want to provide the other 3 billion users that are offline and do not have internet access.Facebook are planning to create load of drones that they will shoot up to space. these drones have only one purpose which is to provide the other 4 billion non active internet users wifi so that they are able to surf the internet. Today only 2.7 billion people use the internet, just over a third of the worlds population. However, still the rest remain without internet. 

• Billionaires want to provide internet from above
• Elon Musk wants to provde
• Mark Zuckerberg wants to provide

http://money.cnn.com/2015/01/21/technology/internet-in-space/

Democratic Republic of Congo Extends Internet Blockage

The government of the democratic republic of Congo has ordered the internet to be blocked, not only this but also applications where people can communicate on apps like kik and messenger apps. This is to prevent the protest and them trying too bring down the president as nobody wants him to be a leader any more. So the government has resulted into blocking out the internet so people are not allowed to form huge groups and protest in the streets. This also lead to police gathering up all together to try and defend the government as protesters took to the streets.

 

• Governement blocks internet 
• President afraid 
• Society Outraged 

http://www.wsj.com/articles/congo-blocks-internet-access-amid-protests-against-president-kabila-1421938042

Teen robbed and then stabbed to death 'after being lured into Bronx apartment building by girl on Facebook'

A boy who was using Facebook to communicate with a female had been talking for a while. They had then thought to meet, the male went over to a building of where they wanted to meet and there he found himself stabbed in the chest. He was also bottled in the head and then died. Ricardo was 16 and died on Creston Avenue outside a building. He also had his wallet taken from him along with his cellphone. this was done through people pretending to be someone else and arranging meeting with them.

• Age 16 stabbed in the chest
• Stolen his wallet and phone
• Murderer known as Skip

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2916151/Teen-stabbed-death-lured-Bronx-apartment-building-girl-Facebook.html

Hacked US news agency Twitter account triggers false alarm over US-China combat

Hijackers have high-jacked an account which they have hacked into. The account that was hacked was a major news corporation. With this account they were posting up false new stories which were misleading people and giving people wrong information, the news company had claimed that it may have been china that had hacked into the account. Not only this account was hacked but a few others as well during the same time period, this could have also been done by the same people however, they still do not know for sure who had hacked into the accounts.

• News company hacked on twitter
• May be the Chinese 
• Other

 http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/northamerica/usa/11351868/Hacked-US-news-agency-Twitter-account-triggers-false-alarm-over-US-China-combat.html

Millions Of Twitter's 'Active Users' Don't Actually Do Anything

This article is about how 285 million users that are on twitter 24 million of those users are not real people, some of them are just machines that really done do anything. It is said that 781 million people have opened an account on twitter and then have just abandoned it. This means that twitters stock value has been decreased from a high $55 to $38. Twitter however do not see it that way and believe that they are all real people and that people have set up the accounts and are using them.

• 781 million accounts made
• 24 million are robots
• 285 are active accounts

http://uk.businessinsider.com/twitter-maus-with-no-discernable-user-action-involved-2015-1?r=US

Elon Musk announces 'space Internet' plan

Elon Musk is a billionaire who is planning on sending satellites up into pace which are 750 miles from planet earth and send them into orbit. He is planning on providing cheap affordable internet at which is faster than the normal broadband speeds that we currently have now. He says he would want to provide the other 3 billion users that are offline and do not have internet access. "The speed of light is 40 per cent faster in the vacuum of space than it is for fibre. The long-term potential is to be the primary means of long-distance Internet traffic and to serve people in sparsely populated areas." "Our focus is on creating a global communications system that would be larger than anything that has been talked about to date."

• Satellites will be sent into space
• 750 miles from earth 
• Provide 3 billion people with internet access

I think this is a great idea as it would provide the other three billion people with internet, however Facebook do have the same intentions. 

L&R

Question 7.

WWW: Good answer with good focus on the question

EBI: More reference with audience theories ( uses and gratifications, hypodermic model, physcographics)

A Marxist would argue the fact that most of the audiences on the internet are mostly passive consumers. This would mean that they would they'll be viewing content in which they will accept at once. They will not challenge what they have been told and would argue  back at the big institutions. The big news institutions that are the leading companies for news would post out stories, which may or may not be true. This would relate to the hypodermic needle as Marxists would believe that they will accept anything and are under the power of the big leaders, believing that in a pluralist society no one is equal but run by the big institutions. Audiences would believe anything that would be said or told to them by the big institutions that run the news. Audiences may also just take information on board instantly by them maybe seeking surveillance looking out for the latest news. This again would go against what Marxists believe as they think that they are under control and are not autonomous therefore not being able to think for themselves.

News On The Tweet

Why are respected news brands good news for Twitter?

It would be good news for twitter to have respected news brands associating with twitter as it would give them a better reputation and would mean to show users that they are tusted. It would give them more of a professional look as big institutions use twitter. This would be important for twitter as they would be able to get more users on the site.

Why in turn is Twitter good for respected news brands?

Twitter is perfect for these brands are it will allow them to gain more users on the site than they previously had. These users can be from all over the world and anyone is welcome to join. It would also mean that they would receive more page views on their websites. The more page views thy receive the more they would be able to charge the companies that want to advertise on their website. As more people would be viewing them each day.

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 ecosystem and the consumer experience”. What evidence do they provide to support this idea? Do you agree with it?

They have said for example if someone was to watch a television programme they would then maybe pick up their phone and tweet about it on twitter. This would then be viewed by they followers and if they were watching the same thing at the same time they would be able to join in the banter as they are able to comment, retweet and like posts that have been posted about a certain thing. This would mean that they would have created their own gossip or banter online. I agree with the statement.

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

• Kim kardashians behind being too big for her pants
• The sales figures for a arsenal toaster
• slang commentary on an interview with nigel farage calling out david cameron or 'dave' or as the journalist refers to him

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

I think it is harming journalists as they are now posting and talking about nonsense and subjects in which are irrelevant and stupid. People’s knowledge and the way they think about things could also change.

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

"Almost half of all Twitter users, and almost two thirds of news brand users, say it is important that news on Twitter is verified by a respected brand. This helps build trust in the content."

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

I think that new and digital media developments have had both positive and negative impacts on newspapers. The positive would be that newspapers are able to now post up stories online and give out links for their websites which would potentially give them more views meaning more money coming into the business for charging more for the amount for views. Also their followers would receive the news instantly instead of having to go onto their websites or actually buying the newspaper. A negative facto would be that there would be a decline in the amount of newspapers sold.  

Snapchat users response to ads; ‘we like them, we really like them’

Snap chat users that use snap chat on a daily basis watch the advertisements that are featured in everyone's stories. Snapchat were worried that the snapchat users may become annoyed if they were to post up advertisements on stories, they have recently started to post up advertisments of mcdonalds recently. They've have done a survey and have seen what people have been saying about the advertisements. some of their views were that they liked the really much. People enjoyed watching the advertisements.

44% of Brand Story viewers said they enjoyed the ads.

People who viewed the Dragon Age Brand Story were 7% more likely to buy the game.

Universal says their Brand Stories led to a 13% increase in tickets sales on those two movies

Rapist, 16, groomed girls on Facebook

This article is about how a 16 year old has been sentenced to eight years in detention for raping younger girls. he had first started raping girls since the age of 14 and has been doing it till this day. He has now been caught and used to communicate with the girls through social networking sites. He ha been regarded as dangerous by the judge who gave him the sentence. The boy had admitted to 10 offences and pleaded guilty for the acts committed.

• Boy 16 rapist 
• Sentenced for 8 year detention 
• Been at it since 14 

I believe that this is wrong and young people are begging to use social networks to socialise with others so that they are able to either harassing others. This begun with a little boy opening up a social network account, perhaps social networks should restrict who is able to join and use the social networks. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-lincolnshire-30742917

Learner Response

LR (do this on a blog posting, with the feedback I've given you)...

·         Write a longer introduction, outlining some of the key points on both sides of the argument.

The development of new/digital media means the audiences is more powerful in terms of consumption and production. A Marxist would argue that new and digital media does not give audiences more power in any way, in fact it does the opposite. They believe that they are being dumbed down by new and digital media by the posts that they post up on the internet and also by what they get by other producers of media, for example tweeters. A pluralist would argue against this as they believe that people in their society are all autonomous and believe they have the freedom of speech. They believe that no one is controlled and everyone is able to do as they plead. Two different societies with two different views. 

Facebook Knows About You! Be Aware!

This article tells us how there is an unwritten agreement between Facebook and the users that most don't know about. Facebook will take your information from Facebook and they will send them off to advertisement agencies so that they are able to target you in particular. From this they make money off the information they get off you which they are allowed to do due to accepting terms and conditions when signed up to Facebook. The only way you are able to opt out is to deactivate your account.

• Facebook Sells users information 
• They make money of information 
• Unwritten agreement

http://full-timewhistle.com/technology-22/facebook-knows-about-you-be-aware-1789.html

ISIS fighter accidentally gives away his location on Twitter

A man from New Zealand who had joined the islamic state in Iraq has revelaed his location on twitter by accident not knowing that he had. After noticing he had revealed his location he had delted the 45 posts online. This made him vulnerable to potential threats. They had traced him to a town in syria near al-raqqa an isis stronghold.

• Taylor revealed his location 
• Could have been threatened 
• Left New Zealand for iraq 

This just shows how important it is to keep some things private like your location as it could be viewed by all and your private life may not become so private.

http://metro.co.uk/2015/01/04/isis-fighter-accidentally-gives-away-his-location-on-twitter-5008664/

What to expect from Google in 2015

Google have been selling the new Google glasses recently, whoever they haven't been very successful so they have now decided to make the new glasses look less nerdy and which would mean it would be appealing to more people meaning they'd buy it. Google glasses would allow people to record and surf the net just by being on their glasses. They have also released the new android or will be on to cars so that now drivers would be able to surf the net in their cars and are able to use google maps as their sat navigation system.

• Google changing google glasses 
• New google maps in cars 
• Android run systems in cars 

I think this would be good as this would mean they'd be able to make more money from what they are doing it would make peoples lives easier as most people have grown up with google and know how to use it easily. 

Smart extends free Internet promo

MANILA, Philippines - Smart Communications said it is extending its free Internet promo for all Smart, Talk ‘N Text and Sun Cellular subscribers. They are allowing people to surf the internet so that they are able to go onto websites. However, they are only able to use 30 mb on a daily basis. This would allow for  more business to make more money like websites through advertisements. This would also make the subscribers enjoy their time and become daily users for those who cant afford the internet on their mobile devices. 

• Smart communications giving people free internet 
• Up to 30 mb a day
• Would allow for more 

I think that this is a great way for people to get online and for business to make more money through advertisements like websites. It will also allow for more user generated content as people are more likely to share post and subscribe to new things. 

http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/business/01/05/15/smart-extends-free-internet-promo