Essay

The development of new/digital media means the audiences is more powerful in terms of consumption and production.

A Marxist perspective would argue that the so called ‘information revolution” has done little to benefit audiences or to subvert the established power structures in society. Far from being a ‘great leveller’ (krotoski), 2012) as many have claimed it has merely helped to reinforce the statue quo by promoting dominant ideologies. The most popular news website in the UK by a considerable margin is the ‘mail online’, which receives more than 8 million hits every month and is continuing to expand rapidly – with forecasts that it will make £100 million or more in digital revenues in the next three years. Similar to its tabloid print edition, the website takes a conservative, right wing perspective on key issues around gender, sexuality and race and audience s appear to passively accept what the Marxist theorist, Gramsci, called a hegemonic view. When one their chief columnists jane moyer wrote a homophobic about the death of Stephan gately in 2009, there were twitter and facebook protests but ultimately they did not change the editorial direction of the gate keepers controlling the newspaper.

In a pluralists perspective they believe that everyone should be equal they believe that everyone should be equal and should have the freedom of speech. It allows them to have more than one view in society. This backs up Gunevitches as he states that something can be able to ‘conform, accommodate or reject’ giving society choice and then being autonomous through having this freedom people are now able to search and obtain information through the new and digital media source called the internet. As well as gaining information audiences are able to post up their beliefs and views Marxists would agree with a theorist named Andrew keens where ‘a million monkeys typing nonsense’ and causing people to be dumbed down. An example of a society being autonomous is during the Arab spring. Where audiences on social networks were able to communicate and bring down leaders where everyone found out about what was going to happen by others sharing posts and USG (user generated content) this supports the two step flow theory. This is due to one person organizing an event (or a group of people) so others are able to like, share and join.

From a Marxists perspective they believe that new and digital media has not empowered audiences in any way. They do not believe that they have the freedom of speech but are controlled by opinion leaders and major institutions ‘a million monkeys’ – Andrew keens. They’d be in favor of this quote, as Marxists believe that audiences are being dumbed down. For example, buzzfeed has introduced a new form of delivering news of pointless subjects like ’top 10 people who shouldn’t design cakes’.  

Due to new and digital media people have no become more powerful as pluralists argue. Due to the internet and new technology becoming more affordable and becoming easier to use, people can access information at their fingertips. This is empowerment as they are able to consume information either formed by professional people like journalists or either an ordinary person. We call this ordinary person a citizen journalist. Anyone can become a citizen journalist by simply signing up to their own blog which they own and are able to post what they like, weather they want to challenge any person, information or news, they are able to do so. Some of these people that consumer information and produce anything that could be posted online is called a prosumer, due to them producing and consuming at the same time. Pluralists believe that their society have choice and are able to choose what they would like to watch what they would like to believe on whatever they see on the internet. This is the society being autonomous making their own decisions.

A Marxist would however disagree. This is because they believe that audiences do not have a choice and are under control by the big institutions such as google. Google is one of the worlds market leaders in search engines, they are one of the most visited websites in the world. They also own a lot of other segments for example, they produce their own tablets phones, and other websites. Marxists believe in lin and websters theory where ‘ top 5% of all websites accounted for almost 75% of user volume’ meaning they have very big audiences which visit their websites on daily basis. Marxists would argue that in a pluralist society are fooled into thinking that they have choice and are able to do as they wish. For example, a person who opens up a blog would believe that they are not in any way under control by these big institutions, but the fact is that these big institutions own most of the worlds most visited websites. Google owns the blogger website.  There for they can easily influence those who have signed up to their website.

In conclusion I believe that the new and digital media has empowered audiences to a certain extent. We now have citizen journalists for example who can produce their own news and who can have a big audience. We also have more user-generated content which is important as it prevents from big institutions from twisting stories. So I do believe that new and digital media has empowered audiences to a certain extend.

Twitter users 'frustrated' over Delhi rape allegation

On twitter users in India are angry and frustrated as shown in the article from them being scared and ranting about how men rape and women should stay at home and not live. Many users in India which are women are upset about this as they are now scared from other twitter users who have been raped recently. Recently another women has claimed that she had been raped in a taxi after she fell asleep in the back. She said that she woke up in a scheduled part of the city.

• People of India in twitter rape trending 
• Women recently raped 
• Women in India are now scared 

I believe that some of the women may just be waking this up as evidence has not been found that the women have been raped. More women should use public transport like buses more often if they are scared that they may be raped out in public like taxies for example. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-india-30373852

Facebook accused of being 'morally unacceptable' after it emerged social network paid only £1.8m of tax on almost £2.37bn of advert sales

Facebook for the past two years have been avoiding the UK tax through Ireland. It has been announced that they have made 2.3 billion in sales and are trying to avoid a few million pounds in tax, for them selling in the UK from advertisements. This is where Facebook get their money from advertisements, from business' wanting to promote and get their business out there. Facebook have apparently refused to listen to what they have been told as they think they are not in the wrong.

• They have avoided 2 years of UK tax
• They have made 2.3 billion in revenue 
• They have only paid 1.3 million to Ireland 

I believe that Facebook should be paying the tax due to them operating and making money from the UK. This should have been taken care of ever since they first started selling however Facebook should be fair and understand that they should be paying tax like every other business. 

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2863254/Facebook-accused-morally-unacceptable-emerged-social-network-paid-1-8m-tax-2-37bn-advert-sales.html

'Revenge porn' Facebook post leads to jail sentence

In california a man has been jailed for uploading a video which is so called "revenge porn". It is where a male posts up a video of a woman who has been caught on tape having sex. In California last year they released a legislation that is for those who post up any so called "revenge porn" if one was to release a video as such they will be prosecuted and jailed for the upload. Like the man arrested a few days ago names Noe Iniquez.

• Noe Iniquez arrested for posting revenge sex video 
• Legislation put into power last year october in california 
• Other countries may follow on 

I believe that countries should follow on with this legislation that has been put in place in california as it ensures the privacy of others.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30307657

Can internet companies monitor terrorists?

Government have been putting pressure on the so called internet giants like Facebook and Twitter, as they are telling them to become more active in the battle against terrorism. To become more aware and to notify the police force about any messages or people that may be planning on any terrorist acts so that they are able to tackle any future casualties and put them to a stop end before they start. However, social networks like Facebook say that they are doing enough and are trying their hardest to stop and catch the terrorists that may be using their network sites for communication.

• Government demand that internet giants seek out terrorists 
• Social networks say they are doing enough 
• Users are worried about their privacy 

I believe that this does come with some benefits and some drawbacks. The benefits being that they are able to seek oit any terrorists communicating. The drawbacks being that some users messages may be seen and used without them knowing which gets the users worried about their privacy. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30208602

Kenya Arrests 77 Chinese in Internet Hacking Case

Kenya have recently arrested a number of 77 chinese people that have been hacking through the use of the internet. They were all in the same neighbourhood but in the end they got caught. Kenya's most read newspapers commented that if they wanted to they could have if wanted hacked into the government servers without being the government knowing. This happened through them creating and using the latest technology computers and softwares made by themselves. They were all arrested on committing espionage. 

• 77 people were arrested from china
• They were all hackers 
• They had the power to hack into government servers

This shows to us that new and digital media is developing and technology is becoming more advanced, so advanced that normal people like these hackers could have hacked into government servers if they wanted to, but they didn't. This shows that information from government is under threat and could be hacked. Not just government but other things as well. 

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory/kenya-arrests-77-chinese-internet-hacking-case-27358620

Google plans launch of child-friendly products

Google does plan for the future to open up a search engine made by and run by google for those of younger ages. The ages targeted are for those up to the age of 12. The difference between the original search engine and the engine that they plan or creating and opening up is that it would be much more easier and safer for children to use. They would like to provide safe searches made by the younger generation so that they can not be exposed to searches or advertisements that does not appeal to them.  It will also allow parents manage and to see what exactly they are doing online and are able to block off any websites that they don't want their children visiting.

• New search engine for children
• Parents are able to manage the searches 
• It will be released soon 

I believe that this idea is a great idea as it does secure the safety of children of very young ages as they may be exposed to many different type of things. This would also allow parents to see what they are up too and block off any websites that do not want them to visit. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-30328078

The Murdoch Pay Wall

1)      Do you agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online?

I believe that the BBC should not be providing free news to the public as it is unfair on others institutions. The public already pay the BBC licence fee which covers the costs of the news with all the reporters and journalists. However, other institutions cannot do that as they are not public service institutions, they are businesses and are there to make money. I think the BBC should decrease the price in the licence fee so that they can charge people online for those who do want to subscribe and get news daily. The delivery of the news for people who go on to the BBC website is for free currently; however other institutions are not happy about this. The BBC must give audiences more choice, for them to choose whether they would like for the BBC to take out money from the Licence fee to pay for the news that they provide. Not everyone that pays the licence fee uses the BBC website for news. So this would mean that they would be getting more money than they should get. Which is why I think that they should decrease the amount of the licence fee and set up pay walls for those who would like to pay and view news online.  

2)      Was Rupert Murdoch right to put his news content (The Times, The Sun) behind a pay wall?

Rupert Murdoch I believe was right to put up pay walls. This is because now those newspapers are in decrease due to new and digital media enhancing and becoming bigger than ever with billions of users online and on smart devices, people look forward and use the new technology available to read articles. We know this due to the vast increase of people becoming on line users. By 2015 it is said to be that there will be 3 billion people that will become online users. Some of which will be viewing news. So why not set up pay walls if people are moving from newspapers to tablets/smartphones if they were already paying for newspapers. This ensures that they still keep their income up so that they are able to pay professional journalists to look for and write up news for people who value it. However, due to not every institution not following on from his footsteps people have been getting used to getting their news free from other institutions. This would mean that they would not be interested in paying for news when they could go to another site to get it free. These institutions get their money from advertising. Which is why, I believe that most institutions if not all should go up on pay walls, if not some then all. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1jQxGe_uDYgYDkZLo9Rc8FUgC6DAGsFoWt5qF_HVYdgQ/edit

http://www.themediabriefing.com/article/times-digital-subscribers-reach-140-000-as-paywall-project-reaches-maturity

News Values

Familiarity:

Familiarity is whether the news is culturally close to us in Britain. We see changes here due to new and digital media as now we are able to use social networking sites such as Twitter to see whether the British public is tweeting about it. News reporters will be able to view what has been trending on twitter by the British public and are able to see whether it is worthy and if its interests the British public as the British want to see what they want to see.

Amplitude:

Old fashioned news used to be a bit late with any big events that may happen due to them not knowing about it as it may be a private event which may have been hosted by specific group. This would have meant that news would have been behind with the event. Now that new and digital media has come round, many of the certain people that do decide to organise or go to a certain event they will communicate on social networking sites.  News institutions are now able to go online and use new and digital media to their advantage. This would be done through looking at the most visited social networking sites like Facebook and see what’s been shared a lot. Facebook also have pages where people would be able create the page and write down all the details of the event like where it will be held for example. This would then be shared and news institutions will come across the page due to the amount of people viewing, liking and sharing the page. The page would also ask users if they will be attending which adds on to a list of how many people may be attending exactly. Due to this the news would be able to know if an event will be happening before hand and will know all about it like its purpose. They would also be able to see whether it is a big event judging by how many people will be attending.

Frequency:

News used to get their information of how long the event was by either interviewing people that have been to the event and have experienced it or by being there themselves. Now that new and digital media is available to people and institutions they are now able to see for themselves first hand. This being done by new and digital media as people who have been to the event would be able to record it then post it online on websites like YouTube. News institutions would be able to view the videos which were uploaded either professionally by the event hosts themselves or by the people that have attended. News institution would be able to get their information by simply watching what has happened in the event and how long it was and all other information that they are able to get form the videos they have viewed. They can then set up the news for the event that’s happened from information obtained from videos of how long it was and how long it had lasted. However, this could also be a bad event for example a murder.

Predictability:

News which had been predicted would have been obtained through interviewing people by journalists. Through new and digital media news institutions are not able to surf the internet and see what kind of views people have and what they predict may happen. For example predicting who would be elected for prime minister. News institutions would be able to make a judgment by viewing who’s trending the most on social networking sites by using simple hash-tags. Through this news institutions are able to make a judgement and predict who may win the elections that may take place. With the research they have found they are able to put into their news to show people as it would be a big interest to them. This is because audiences would want to know who may become prime minister. News institutions would also have viewed audience’s predictabilities as people now have more freedom and power due to new and digital media which means news institutions are able to view audience’s views on who may win, to see audience’s predictions. 

Internet data plan back on political agenda

There is now a law which forces firms to send information to the police which could help them majorly with any types of crime. The frims must provide the police with as much informations as possible, if not everything. This could be anything from people using the internet on their phones or on their computers which enables to police to verify who the person behind the phone or computer is. This would make the polices jobs easier and better as they'll be sure to catch who ever is behind any illegal activity.

http://news.bbcimg.co.uk/media/images/79208000/jpg/_79208649_4b4b6c99-b148-4f51-b36d-862f277e59ff.jpg

• A new law for firms to provide police with inforomation 
• Makes investigations easier
• Stops criminals 

I believe that this is god as police would be able to catch people in the act and have evidence which was provided by the firms. This would mean that police would be able to tackle any criminal activity and catch the people behind them in the act or with hard evidence to out them away or to make an arrest. 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-30166477

Google Contributor : can i really pay to remove ads?

Google have now revealed that people would be able to remove the ads that they post up. Google gets most of their money through advertisements, whoever some of Googles web browsers do not like the fact that they keep seeing adverts everywhere. Google have not made this available to everyone as they have only made it through invite. Google will invite some people for them to take part in this advert removal from google. They will let the internet users decide how much they would want to pay for it. This is from 1-3 dollars in the US.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/11/21/1416574807135/fcc6ddd6-a9c5-494c-8822-0693f0a67ac2-620x372.png

• Cost 1-3 dollars
• All adverts will be removed
• Not available to all 

I believe that this is a good method of satisfying those web users who hate advertisements and would actually pay for them to be taken off. Google will be getting money from them monthly. The users that don't mind will carry on as usual as they never had a problem with them in the first place. This creates the best for both worlds apart from the people that are advertising their business as their target audience online will be decreased. 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/21/google-contributor-pay-remove-ads

Tesco Clubcard looks to find perfect presents on Twitter through Secret Scan-ta

Tesco will be working with a company which allows them to get informations o that people who are on twitter will be able to find presents which they would like for christmas for their friends via twitter. the company that Tesco will be working with is 'we are social'. They will assist tesco through producing the app which will help fellow tweeters find whats best for their friends. This would be done so that they are able to sell the products that they find to the people they want to buy presents for which would make Tesco even more money for christmas this year.

http://www.thedrum.com/uploads/styles/home_page_featured/public/news/tmp/37015/tesco_secretscan-ta.jpg?itok=qxnobl-D

• Tesco will get more sales
• Tweeters will find best presents for friends 
• Twitter will have more people on twitter, more trends 

I believe that this app is quite useful as people will be able to find out what presents they would buy which their friends would like which would avoid them buying new presents. It will also help tesco by boosting up their sales and which would make them more money through the use of twitter and supplying information for their customers. 

http://www.thedrum.com/news/2014/11/20/tesco-clubcard-looks-find-perfect-presents-twitter-through-secret-scan-ta

population with internet access to pass 3bn next year.

It is said that by next year 2015 the current figure of 2.7 billion people that are currently online users who use the internet is said to increase hugely up to 3 billion. This is nearly half the worlds population. The figure is said to have increased due to the production of the mobile phone and tablet devices which are coming out. They are becoming increasingly more cheaper than ever with prices being as low as £99. This is all over the world. It is also estimated that by 2017 there will be around then nearly half of the population online with either a computer or phone maybe tablets that the amount would be increased to just over 3.7 billion online users.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03112/girl-phone_3112939b.jpg

• Currently 2.8 billion online users 
• estimated to increase to 3bn by 2015
• Estimated to increase to 3.7bn by 2017

I believe that the increase is due to infact technology becoming cheaper and cheaper. Most products are made from china where technology and parts are made cheaply aling side with the labour that they offer a t a very cheap price. This would mean that most of the world would soon be able to afford a communications device which will be able to connect to the internet which adds to the current amount of online users. I believe that by 2017 there will be well over more than 3.7bn users which will be online. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/internet/11243324/Population-with-internet-access-to-pass-3bn-next-year.html

Build the wall analysis

Section 1:
In the first section the author David Simon, talks about how the internet is as we all see it as a free privilege. It allows us to access many different things which in this case he is talking about the news. The news can be seen and read through websites created and managed by newspapers themselves like the times and the sun. He also mentions how a newspaper and reading news online may not give the exact same experience as they are both different in many different ways, some negative and some positive.

Section 2 :
The second section is quite similar discussing how people are finding that buying newspapers is getting old, a bit old fashioned. People have now moved on and have started to purchase news online, however not everyone. People now prefer to access their news and to view their news online as it has many benefits to it. Furthermore most of the news online is free meaning they won't have to be paying for it. The section also discusses how the newspapers are getting more vulnerable.

Section 3 :
The third section was mostly talking about some facts and statistics that were used and mentioned in the section by the writer. This was done so that they can back up their points. For example "10 percent of the existing 210,000 Baltimore Sun readers, for example, who pay a subscription rate less than half the price of home delivery, or roughly $10, would represent about $2.5 million a year. Absent the cost of trucks, gas, paper, and presses, moneylike that represents the beginnings of a solid revenue stream"

Section 4:
In the last section of the article David talks about the risk of newspapers moving on to pay wall, making people pay for the news rather then giving it out for free online. He discusses how many of the newspapers will be following on and changing as they'll find that they won't be able to survive without paying people for their services. This is understandable due to people reading less newspapers meaning they wont be getting as much money as they once did. For them to survive them must result to putting up pay walls, as David says most newspapers will build that pay wall up.


In the article David talks about the pay wall and why newspapers would be putting up the paywall and how it would benefit both parties. he discusses why people are buying less newspapers due to new and digital media. How people are finding newspapers old-fashioned and how news online is more convenient. Which is true due to most people owning smart phones which they could access anywhere with a touch of an app. However, currently most newspapers are giving their news out for free, David says this would not be forever as they can not afford to do so due to the shortage of income the business are getting from their consumers who are the news readers.


Comment 1:

Most of the folks writing about the paywall issue are assuming that because only 5-10 

percent of the current online readership will sign

up for web content, it will be a failure. Actually, the folks behind the paywall effort don't care 

if anyone signs up for online content. 

The entire point is to push people into print subscriptions. It could be that some newspapers 

or groups won't even offer an online-only 

option. It will just be a free giveaway with print.

#3 Posted by Morgan Cartwright on Thu 16 Jul 2009 at 12:23 PM

Morgan disagrees with the whole pay wall idea as he believes it would be a failure as he say

only 5-10 percent of current online readers will sign up to these pay walls that they will force 

up on the people who read news on a daily basis. He believes that they should force people

to carry on the traditional way and make them pay fro print subscriptions. 

Comment 2 : 

will never pay for “news” again. Most news is not truly news - it is sensationalism, hype and 

deception. Most news is not balanced - every editor is biased. And it is not just that - I truly 

can not afford to pay for news. Academics, especially with tenure, got it made in the shade 

and may be able to afford to follow the “news” as they are funded and it does not come out 

of their pockets. The question comes down to this - do we want an informed public or not. 

The answer, at least right now, is no. If the public were truly properly informed the American 

people would not allow Wall Street to gut Main Street, would not believe the lies of “the 

terrorists are going to destroy our way of life” and would understand that it really makes no 

difference - except in perception - of who holds the title of chief cheerleader - oops I mean 

Commander in Chief, President, which should be renamed CEO of America Incorporated.

#9 Posted by Lawrence Turner on Fri 17 Jul 2009 at 11:55 AM

Here we see Lawrence saying that he will never ever pay for news again due to him 

believing that news that is published today is not truly news, he believes it's deception and 

not balanced at all. He also says that he is not able to pay for news as he simply cannot 

afford to pay for it. Here we see that he is against David, some people may also feel the 

same way about news and may not be able to afford it if all news was to be paid for. 

Comment 3:

Please do this. Authoritative resources are being lost in the wikipedia world.One mst go 

around the world to find authoritative on the groud reporting. I would pay for it, no question.

#8 Posted by Judy on Fri 17 Jul 2009 at 11:47 AM

Here we see a person who feels that paying is better than getting it free. Here we see a 

person who values news and knows the worth and what it takes to get the news. Which is 

why he believes that news should be paid for and that he does not mind paying as what 

you get for free would not be as good as what you are going to pay for. 



Conclusion: 


I do believe that news should be paid for. Newspaper corporations should in fact put up pay 

walls so that they are able to make money to pay what their audiences ask for which is in 

fact great news. Since the internet came a long i believe that newspapers were not quick to 

act with the change. This i must say to most of the newspapers.Now that people are so 

used to getting free news they do not want to change as they like the idea of something 

being free. Of course if newspapers decide to then change all of a sudden and begin to 

charge for the news they provide online, most readers will not be happy. This may be due 

to the fact that there is a lack of knowledge to readers knowing exactly where news comes 

from and how hard people like journalists work to go and get the news readers are informed 

daily about. Newsreaders take newspapers who supply free news for granted and see 

those who charge for example like newcorp as them trying to rinse out as much as they can 

get 

from readers. People must accept that news will not be supplied to the world for free and 

people will not work for these readers for free. These newspapers are business' they are 

not charities. If news was to be free it would mean that great journalists would be made 

redundant as news corporations would not be able to afford them. This would reduce the 

quality of news which is produced due to a shortage in journalists which are professionals 

at what they do. Paywalls should be put up for readers to be satisfied with the news they 

are currently receiving, or else news corporations will turn into "buzzfeeds" 

which dumbs down audiences through their ridiculous posts and articles which are 

pointless. So in conclusion I agree with David. Yes to pay walls!

David Cameron: Google, Facebook and Twitter have duty to take down extremist material

David Cameron says that the technology giants in the media being Facebook, twitter Google and the rest must be aware and face up to their responsibilities. they must check what they have online and must be responsible for taking down inappropriate material from on-line so that the website can be a safer place. Dave Cameron and the internet providers have agreed to put on a panic button for every users so that they are able to report inappropriate material so that broadband companies are able to do something about it or report it further towards the  companies that have them on their sites.

http://i.telegraph.co.uk/multimedia/archive/03106/david-cameron_3106329b.jpg

• terror related posting 
• new panic button for online users 
• 1000 terrorist posts which are terrorist breach acts

I believe that David Cameron is right to step up and complain and also take into consideration what's online. He also makes a point where companies must live up to their responsibilities and should try to make a contribution just like the broadband campanies installing a panic button. 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/politics/david-cameron/11230325/David-Cameron-Google-Facebook-and-Twitter-have-duty-to-take-down-extremist-material.html

Spotify CEO speaks out on Taylor Swift albums removal: 'I'm really frustrated'

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/11/spotify-ceo-taylor-swift-albums-daniel-ek

This was about the CEO of Spotify making his first comment about the Taylor Swift situation.

• Spotify chief executive Daniel Ek has responded to Taylor Swift’s decision to remove her albums from the streaming service with a blog post tackling what he describes as the “myths” of streaming music.
• In his post, Ek announced that Spotify now has 50 million active users, with 12.5 million of them paying for a monthly subscription.
• He added that Spotify has now paid out more than $2bn in royalties to labels and publishers.
• Ek also defended Spotify’s “blend” of free and subscription music, with Swift having removed her albums because the company refused to only make them available to its paying subscribers.
• Ek also claimed that a top artist like Taylor Swift can expect to earn $6 a year from Spotify streams

I think what Taylor Swift and her label did was not clever.They were making a lot of money out of this online streaming system and if they don't like that - well they have too because thats were the music industry has gone to now. 

1994 in technology: What the Internet, computers and phones were like 20 years ago

In this article it talks about how the internet has changed from back in 1994 till this present day in 2014. Some of the facts that the article talks about is how everything has changed for examples back in the day there was only about 10,000 websites online where people could go on to and do what they wanted to do. Whereas now there are over 45 billion websites which is a huge amount compared to how many there used to be. It also talks about how the internet was sonly used by scientists and scholars for research purposes. Compared to now people use it for communication and entertainment purposes which is what its used for by the majority of internet users.

http://imgick.syracuse.com/home/syr-media/width620/img/news/photo/2014/11/02/16242972-mmmain.jpg

• Internet had around 10,000 websites 
• Internet has over 45 billion websites
• Internet was only used for research purposes 

I believe that the internet has changed in many different ways not only for the bad but also for the good of the people that use it. There are many online internet users around 2.7 billion.  The internet has become for some unbearable to live without due to it being included in their daily routine. Phones and computers are checked every minute by some. Checking for status updates and many more.

http://www.syracuse.com/news/index.ssf/2014/11/technology_history_internet_computers_phones_1994.html

Hungary’s prime minister scraps draft law taxing internet use

Hungary's prime minister had tried to put a tax on the internet that for each household that uses it or has access to the internet. This is due to the fact that the government is trying to attempt to get less users online. This is de to the fact that new and digital media such as the internet has allowed for people to become more free and voice their thoughts online for everyone to see. The government are currently trying to think of ways to cuts down on people using the internet by charging them taxes. They are trying to cut down on oppositional voices and now know how powerful new and digital media is and how influential it can be. Later on crowds and protestors arose to address this problem they may be facing in the future and protested for the government not to make this new legislation.

http://static.guim.co.uk/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2014/10/31/1414749385709/Budapest-Hungary-people-m-011.jpg

• Hungary thinking of new internet tax
• Government worried about oppositional voices being heard
• Silencing people 

I personally think that is legislation should not be put out as the tax is unnessasry and only for the fact that the government are scared of what might happen if people were to carry on spreading their voices through the internet. People are allowed to say what they like when they like and how they like. the tax could affect some households in Hungary. 

http://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/31/hungary-prime-minister-viktor-orban-scraps-draft-internet-tax-law

Tyga Slams ‘Gold Digger’ Blac Chyna: Hacks Twitter Over Drake Drama?

Here we have another hacking where professional singer/songwritter Tyger had been accused hacked into someones Twitter account. The star had hacked into his ex's Twitter account due to her tagging Drake in on a picture on instagram. Tyga was not happy about what she had done so had decided to hack  Blac Chynas Twitter account then tweeting this message 'I'm a gold digger & a cheater. I never really loved Tyga it was always about the money.'

http://pmchollywoodlife.files.wordpress.com/2014/11/blac-chyna-gold-digger-tyga-hack-led.jpg?w=600

• Tyga aged 21 
• Took place on the 28th october
• Blac did it to piss tyga off 

I believe that celebrities are setting bad examples to other who look up to them. By followers and fans of Tygas hey may take hacking peoples twitter accounts in to consideration when a problem arises. Celebrities take advantage of new and digital media so that they are able to humiliate and expose people online for everyone to see. 

http://hollywoodlife.com/2014/11/02/tyga-blac-chyna-gold-digger-hacked-twitter-rant/

Examples of UGC

Snapchat's First Ads Will Appear This Weekend

Snapchat have now decided to advertise on their application. This is said to be done due to them saying "we need to make more money". Through advertising on snapchat they will be making millions of viewers to see the advertisements. this is due to snapchat having millions of users that use snapchat on a day to day basis. They said that they would appear on peoples stories which cannot be removed. this could cause some people to be disappointed with snapchat.

• Soon be advertising
• They'll charge for advertisements 
• They claim they need to make more money

I believe that they do need a way to make their money which they have found. If snapchat were not making money it would mean that people would be working for free, people do not work for free these days. The company is getting bigger and bigger as more people are needed for snapchat to run. This would mean they would need to pay out more and hire more people meaning they'd need more money for them to hire new people. 

http://www.forbes.com/sites/ellenhuet/2014/10/17/snapchats-first-ads-will-appear-this-weekend/

Facebook Safety Check will help tell friends you're safe during disasters

Facebook have released a new feature on the Facebook social networking site and application which could be accessed via mobile phones. This new feature which has recently been introduced is to help people notify others if they are safe or not for when a disaster happens. This is mostly things like earthquakes which are dangerous events that have happened before. For example in Hattie, many people were missing. This new feature helps people to stay in contact with others and to let other Facebook users online see that you are alive and well. You will be able to post your current status of where you are if in need of any help.

• I'm safe button lets people know you're safe 
• It was inspired by the disaster in Japan 2011
• This could save lives and reassure people others are safe

I believe that this new feature that has been introduced on Facebook could be helpful in some aspects. However, if a person was stuck for example and they had the chance to tell others they are safe they would automatically be calling people instead of posting updates on Facebook. This is helpful for only notifying friends that you are safe and sound. 

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/17/facebook-safety-check-friends-disasters

The Rise And Rise Of UGC

1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?
A citizen journalist is a person who writes about news themselves, this is mostly done online. The main websites where citizen journalists posts their news is on Googles Blogger Website. This allows them to post up any news they would like to share. Furthermore, what makes them a citizen journalist is them being opinionated where they write up their own opinions on a certain story they have published. This is what a citizen journalist is. 

2) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?
One of the first news reports generated by an ordinary person was in america. The local police department had been in a high speed chase with an african american citizen. Once the police had captured and stopped the chase, from a window nearby where the beating took place a local had filmed the police officers using their power in a negative way. After being filmed by the ordinary person the video had been sent to a news station. The television station then had aired the footage that was recorded by the ordinary person making this user generated content. The footage showed the police beating up the african american with golf clubs and violating the individual. This was possible due to the new technology that has been evolving over the years, becoming more easier to use and available to the public at cheaper prices. This allows more ordinary people to re

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

• Comments section on news articles online 
• Apps which allow video footage to be sent to institutions 
• institutions have allowed ordinary people to ask questions which may be answered 
• Facebook 
• Twitter 
• Youtube 
• Blogger 

4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?
Professional footage is shot from behind police lines not up in personal with the situation. The first hand footage is taken live as the situation is happening rather than after. This would allow people to se exactly what happened and is usually more powerful. 

5) What is a gatekeeper?
A gatekeeper is a person in which is professionally trained at obtaining the news and is in charge of what is shown and whats kept back. They are the ones that are in charge of the news and chose what to tell people. 

6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?
The gatekeeper role is under threat due to them may be becoming extinct, those people becoming redundant. This is due to people becoming more involved with the media online. They are now able to make their own news and find out for them selves about the news from other online users. This makes the gatekeepers useless to many that rely on the news that they get form other online users.

7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?
One of the primary concerns held by journalists is that they may also become redundant like the gate keepers. This is simply due to the fact that people are becoming journalists with out being professionally trained, by simply using social media or other websites like blogger to find out information or to post their own for others to view, which again makes them useless to people who have moved on from traditional media.

• examples
• theory (audience reception etc.) 
• benefits to institutions 
• benefits to audience 
• wider issues and debates 
• SHEP

The institutions would benefit a lot from user generated content as they will be receiving videos and pictures of situations that may occur. This would mean that the institutions would be getting the news story first before any other news channel gets it. This would also benefit them as they would not have to waste time to go get a clip of the story as they have received some already. The best thing is that when the users record the videos or take the pictures, they take them whilst its happening, making sure true stories don't turn in to made up stories. The audience would benefit from user generated content as they would be proud that they have sent out a story which has been aired or contributed towards the final story that would be shown on live TV. This may also assure them that the true story does come out as the news is not able to twist it due to the users having a bit of power. This would also make the audience feel as if they're opinions are valued in the world and by national/international institutions. This would allow audiences to get their messages across and be able to share their opinions/thoughts or stories. Some of the wider issues that may occur is that some of the user generated content may be avoided meaning the institutions may not want to show on air or on websites of peoples opinions or comments. Institutions may also not take into consideration audiences comments almost blocking them out and leaving the gatekeepers do their jobs. This would cause issues as people may be fuming that their voices are not getting heard by institutions such as the BBC. However, this may be due to the fact that the institutions do not agree or find them irrelevant. This backs up Andrew Keens theory of people typing down nonsense, false information.

This social side to user generated content is that people get their voices heard which back in the olden days was not possible, this is due to the new and digital media which is advancing everyday. This allows people to do more and contribute towards today's news for example. This would also mean that some of the people that provide content which is generated by ordinary people to get paid for their services. For example if a person was to film an accident happen they would be able to sell it on to an institution that would be able to broadcast it live on air. Politicians are now able to interact with audiences and share out user generated content through the use of social media. This includes sites like Twitter where people are able to message and tweet about politicians. This could influence the politicians as they may take into consideration what they have heard and seen online.


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

• news stories
• the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)
• the role of professionals in news

User generated content is having big impacts on news stories as they are able now to speak the truth online through social networking. They are able to for example tweet about institutions. They are now also able to contribute to news stories by providing institutions with evidence with pictures or videos which may help with the story through making it clearer and to prove the story is as accurate as it seems, or even change the whole story. Through user generated constant the news are now able to see what people want to see on the news, to see what is trending online so that they are able to interest more of the population to watch the news as everyone is talking about it. This is through social media sites and also face to face. The roles of professionals in the institutions in news they are under attack. Since the audience are making the news and providing the news for the institutions professionals are under  lot of pressure as they struggle to compete with the user generated constant obtained by institutions through new and digital media. The roles of professionals in news are the reporters who go out to film and talk about what's happening. There are also the gate keepers that decide what goes on the news, however we see that people may not want what the gatekeepers show on the news, coming back to my point where UGC influences what institutions show.  

24 People Who Should Not Be Allowed To Decorate Cakes

This article is about Brian Galindo and how he has found decorated cakes which he thinks are ridiculous. The cakes that have been made have spelling mistakes or just look terrible. The people decorating them have misspelt words so then Brian Galindo takes the mick out of the people through the headings above cakes that have gone wrong.

http://www.interestingnews.net/wp-content/uploads/2014/10/enhanced-20685-1412879659-1-300x199.jpg

https://img.pandawhale.com/RYnelv-24-people-who-shouldnt-be-allo-eouY.jpeg

Female Game Developer Was Harassed So Severely On Twitter She Had To Leave Her Home

Brianna Wu who is a female game developer has been recently targeted on twitter and has been receiving threatening messages on Twitter. These messages were sent due to Brianna being a feminist and supporting women in the gaming department. This obviously made someone unhappy about what she was doing. She then was forced to leave her own home so that she feels safe elsewhere. The messages have been censored in the article as the words were inappropriate. She had also received death threats which scared her the most. These messages have been reported and they are looking for the person behind these threats.

http://static3.businessinsider.com/image/543a9a4c69beddab5a64f281-800-/briannawu.jpeg

• Took place on saturday 11/10/14
• Death threats were sent 
• Reason for threats, she was a feminist

What has happened here is a woman has been threatened due to her backing up other females. She is a feminist who supports other females in the gaming industry. Someone did not like this idea so decided to threaten her for her actions. I believe this is wrong and she has acted in the right manner to leave her house as she felt unsafe. 

http://www.businessinsider.com/brianna-wu-harassed-twitter-2014-10

Twitter users in France can now tweet money

Twitter has now announced that in France, Twitter users are now able to send money and transfer money to other twitter users online which has beaten Facebook in person to person transfers. Twitter has recently teamed up with a bank which is based in France, which is ranked the second largest banking group in the whole of France. However the company did not say if they were going to make the transactions private or if other twitter users are able to see the transactions made on-line. Due to this Fcebook feels like they are falling back so have hired former chief executive of pay pal David Marcus to follow up on twitters new approach.

http://im.ft-static.com/content/images/c9ee7851-76fe-43f5-b106-f7103aa3a856.img

• Jean Yves Forel Bank Executive 
• Introduced E-commerce 
• Unknown whether transactions will be private

Twitter i believe is moving up and is becoming more optional with the services they provide. I believe that through this method of payments online through twitter people could be easily blackmailed into sending people money.

http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/6f6c273c-525b-11e4-b55e-00144feab7de.html#axzz3G1I3H7H9

Media Leaders

The UK's top media leader i believe is to be the BBC. the BBC have been around for many many years and has expanded ever since. The competitor that is close to the BBC is the ITV. Which is also a television broadcast. after the ITV channel i believe come channel 4.

The BBC:

The BBC is a television broadcaster, they were one of the first channels that have been broadcaster on British television. they were also the first on radio too. They first started off as a radio station informing people of news and playing out music to those who listen to the radio and who didn't have TV's. Now to this present day the BBC now own loads of channels which is, BBC1, BBC2, BBC3, BBC4 and also the BBC news station. they also own a majority of the radio stations included which they broadcast for people who listen to the radio. The BBC is known as a public service broadcaster. this means that they have a list of services they would have to provide to the audiences. The list is to educate, inform and also entertain the audiences. I believe that the BBC is the top media leader in the UK.

ITV:

ITV is the BBC's competitor and is also very famous for what they do. The ITV broadcaster is well known for hosting shows. These shows that they broadcast on to the TV of millions are all family based. ITV is all about entertainment as has been known for entertainment for many years. They mostly target mainstreamers and families. They also show family movies that they broadcast for the entertainment of families which bring them all together. they play big major blockbuster hits which are family appropriate. The ITV institution owns ITV player which is online for their audiences to get on to to watch anything they have missed out on in the few days or weeks. The channels are all free on TV. They also make their money through advertisements by advertising advertisements.

Channel 4:

Channel 4 is a broadcaster which is known in the UK for broadcasting documentaries. These documentaries are all filmed by the Channel 4 institution. They mostly specialise in the education of the audiences and also broadcast their own news live in the Channel 4 studios. They also make their money through advertising advertisements on the channel. They don't only aim to inform and educate but also aim to entertain. this being done through broadcasting movies online. they also own their own website where they post up the shows that they do. which are fro example Top Boy and many others. I believe that this comes 3rd in the list.