Alain de Botton Questions

1) To what extent do you agree with Alain de Botton's views on the News?

News is the most powerful sources and we tend to only concentrate on news that is scares us and shows fear to the audiences. The news "parachutes us to disastrous places" due to familiarity of the area. The news therefore replaces the role of religion as it tells us what to do and how to react. It controls our emotions and feelings. News manipulates  the audience as well; news also shows biased information as we always get negative news.

 2) How can you link Marxism and Hegemony to de Botton's criticisms of the News?

Marxism and hegemony can be linked to de Botton's criticism of the News due to Marxists view of society as being capitalist and class dominated. They also believe that the media promote hegemonic ideology and ensure the dominance of certain classes as de Botton argues that the elite people drown us with news in order for us to accept the status quo.

 3) How could you use Pluralism and new technology to challenge de Botton's views on the News?

A pluralist sees the control of media in an autonomous managerial elite who gives flexibility to media professionals. A pluralist challenge de Botton's view by stating that we get to choose what news we want to consume. We have the option of either watching the news offered to us or producing our own news through citizen journalism.  

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.

•  Female technology journalists report abuse is still the name of the game
• Reviews, tweets, Instagram posts: why customers are the new marketers

NEWS 10

Newsquest fires veteran executives and orders them to quit the office

SUMMARY: 

Regional publishers are eradicating jobs. Many of the people in the know also accept that such cutbacks, even if unpalatable, are part of the process engendered by the digital revolution. Developing technology allows us to achieve more with less, especially in newspaper production. And it also makes commercial sense to do that from centralised subbing “hubs”. The NUJ’s northern and Midlands assistant organiser, Jane Kennedy, was also stunned by the job losses. She said: “The savagery of these cuts show the utter disrespect shown by Newsquest to journalists who have given them decades of highly-dedicated and skilled service.” Week after week, Newsquest’s axe sweeps away jobs (following orders from its US-based parent, Gannett, to maximise profits). Just a couple of days ago, the company also announced 11 redundancies on its Essex titles. Even if necessary, does the company not care at all for the human beings it employs and lets go so carelessly?

FACTS:

• They were not to return to the office where they had worked for 40 and 38 years respectively. It is a disgraceful way to treat people who have given long service.
•  Newsquest refuses to respond to press queries (yes, the irony is striking).
• Gee also pointed out that the Lancashire Telegraph was recently named as the best online media outfit at the O2 North West Media Awards.

The Murdochs: how Keith's legacy became Rupert's obsession

SUMMARY;

On 12 April 2012, following the News of the World phone hacking scandal, Keith Rupert Murdoch submitted his witness statement to Britain’s Leveson Inquiry into “the culture, practice and ethics of the press”. Its opening lines stressed that his grandfather had been a Presbyterian minister and supporter of the free press. Rupert then quoted the section of his father’s will in which Keith Murdoch laid down his expectations that his son “should continue to express ideals of newspaper and broadcasting activities in the service of others and these ideals should be pursued with deep interest”. The will, setting out Keith’s hope that his son should have the “great opportunity” of “ultimately occupying a position of high responsibility” in the field of the media, was dated 21 January 1948. It had been written when Rupert was still at school, aged just sixteen.

FACTS:

• In October 1952, Elisabeth had given Rupert’s tutor at Oxford the task of telling Rupert his father had died. Rupert returned to Melbourne as soon as he could, though unfortunately not soon enough to attend the funeral.
• When Rupert arrived back there was at least some time for private grief with his mother and sisters before he had to undertake the difficult tasks of understanding Keith’s financial affairs and resolving the inheritance.
•  At the end of 1952 it was election time in America and Keith’s close friend the HWT’s New York bureau chief Randal Heymanson tried to get Rupert into one of the rallies “which will doubtless increase his prestige with his Oxford pals”. 

Essay

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

Developments in new and digital media has given audience more power in terms of consumption and production, however, Marxists theory still exists today as the elite still exists today 

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 status 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 addition, the website takes a Conservative, right-wing perspective on key issues around gender, sexuality and race and audiences a pair to passively except what did Marxist theorist, Gramsci called a hegemonic view. When one of their chief columnist, Jan Moir, write a homophobic article about the death of Stephen Gately in 2009 there were Twitter and Facebook protests but, ultimately, they did not change their editorial direction of the gatekeepers controlling the newspaper.

A pluralist perspective would argue that society is classless and therefore gives audience is the plural values of society enabling them to 'confirm, accommodate, challenge, or reject' (Gurevitch). The pluralist perspective links to the uses of gratification theory by Blumer and Katz (1974) Who came up with an audience theory stating that media audiences are active and make conscious choices about the way they consume the media. These are audiences he is in the media for divergent escape from everyday problems, mainly for entertainment; for personal relationships that audiences use the media for emotional another interaction. Audience is also use the media for personal identity where they find themselves being reflected in texts of learning behaviours and values, as well as using the media for surveillance which is using the medium of information which is useful for living such as reading the news all looking at the weather forecast. The Arab Spring protest is a useful approach to understanding the pluralist approach as individual processes due to unemployment, rising prices and privatisation of the state; this shows how individuals are protesting against the elite and therefore as on the same level as them. Another useful example of studying the pluralist approach for audiences and the media would be citizen journalism as audiences have now become 'users' Who have become publishers where they create their own content. This gets audiences the power to come up their own news stories without having any gatekeepers or having the 'elite' control them; as Rushbridger argues ' the mutualisation or sneezes a very powerful idea that particularly writes for the Guardian, as our relationship with our readers is very strong. We can use the community of our readers in ways we would not have been able to in the past'.

On the other hand, Marxist theory would argue that audiences are being oppressed by the elite, they argue that people have no say over the medial produced. This links to Andrew Keans theory of a 'million monkeys typing nonsense'. Marxists also argue that the media or seen to promote hegemony ideology and ensure the dominance of certain classes, ultimate control is increasing concentrated in wealthy Cooperation/media conglomerates. Marxists also argue that the public suffer from false consciousness, which links to the idea of the hypodermic needle theory, that audiences are being given the incorrect information and are believing it. This is supported by a quote from Bill Thompson about how the media exaggerates statistics about rape are believe by audiences.

On the contrary, Pluralist encourage autonomy from the state, they Schlesinger how audiences voice their own voices and opinions which therefore encourage an alternative. Pluralist believe that audiences are not being controlled by the state as well as the elite as news writers tend to have their own freedom as they get to post what they want; the control of the media is said to be in the hands of an elite who allows a considerable degree of flexibility in production choices.This also links to the idea of citizen journalism as audiences tend to grab videos or photos to use as evidence and post it on social media which then begins to trend and becomes their headline. This also links to another pluralist idea that the audiences manipulate the media. 

However, the pluralist approach is criticised significantly by Marxists as they argue that the media manipulate audiences simply because of the profit motive. They argue that the media are seen to promote hegemonic ideology and ensure the dominance of certain classes. This links to the idea of class consciousness as the working class realise they are doing as they are being told by the elite as they are socialised into these norms. Herman and Mcchesney (1997) argue that the Internet and the digital revolution do not pose an immediate or even foreseeable threat to the market power of the media giants. In the current political climate, moreover, it is likely that the global media firms will be able to incorporate the Internet and related computer networks into their empires, while the egalitarian potential of the technology is minimised'.

Pluralist therefore argue that media organisations are seen as enjoying an important degree of autonomy from

The state, political parties and institutionalised pressure groups. Control of the media is said to be in the hands of an autonomous managerial elite (an elite who had freedom) who allows a considerable degree of flexibility to media professionals. A basic symmetry is seen to exist between media institutions and their audiences as Mcquai says 'the relationship is generally entered into voluntarily and on apparently equal terms' and audiences are seen as capable of manipulating the media in an infinite variety of ways according to their prior needs and dispositions. 

Examples to back up Marxists points are the fact that media corrupts us; the news wind us up for its own ends to keep itself in its job. Also the media promotes anger and feat to audiences; its a deliberate technique used by the elite to keep their business on top. It is seen as a sales technique - sensationalism. This therefore helps to maintain the status quo against them 'Goen'. This shows how the elite controls the media and uses the media to provoke the working class with the techniques they use such as rephrasing the words or making the headline.

Overall, both Marxists and pluralist have different views towards audience being more powerful towards the impact of new and digital media. However, due to the impacts of new and digital media, and the idea of citizen journalism gives audiences the power over media 

NEWS 9

BBC says public back its online journalism even if it hurts papers

SUMMARY: 

The BBC has hit back at critics who say it should stop publishing written journalism online, claiming the vast majority of the public support its digital news coverage even if it makes it more difficult for newspapers to make money. Last month culture secretary John Whittingdale said newspapers were “entitled” to be concerned if the BBC continued to “provide news content that looks like newspaper content” and suggested the corporation should consider reining in its online operation.

STATISTICS:

• Only 6% said they thought the negative impact on newspapers meant the BBC should stop publishing online
• 83% said the BBC should continue its current approach to putting news online.
• The BBC said it was reviewing its news content online to ensure it was distinctive.

OPINION:

Twitter is replacing favourites with likes – but does anyone heart it?

SUMMARY:

Favourites – we use them for a myriad of reasons. Favouriting a tweet could mean “I like this tweet”, or “good point”, or “this is fun, but not enough to retweet”, or “I acknowledge your communication, but can’t be bothered to reply”, or “the conversation is ending now, but on a positive note!” Also, the favourite is a great bookmarking tool.

In a press release, Twitter’s thinking is entirely wrongheaded. Hearts are, it says, “more expressive”. No, hearts aren’t, for reasons outlined above. Here is what they think a heart can mean …

STATISTICS:

• Twitter has cruelly stripped away all of the above nuances of communication by replacing the favourite function with a “like” button

• One supposed to bookmark an article on the refugee crisis without ‘liking’ it? I’m not ready to inaccurately look – ironically – heartless on social media.

OPINION:

Media magazine notes

Notes from media magazine conference

MEDIA CONFERENCE NOTES

Bill Thomson:

What had the Internet done for me?

-          Open to innovation 

Network is becoming seem less and very fast

-          Accessible

Delivers freedom and speech

Ways to use the net:

-          Connection

-          Information

-          Voices in your need

-          Political action

-          Financial reward

-          Games

-          Learning

-          Friendship 

Downsides:

-          Bullying 

-          Porn

-          Extremism

-          Content collapse 

-          Fraud

-          Scams

-          Sexual abuse

Media and democracy:

Diversity and plurality

Last few decades:

-          Rolling news 

-          Free newspapers 

-          Mobile apps

-          Online news

Chasing audience members

Cut and paste journalism 

Cut and pasted from daily mail

Internet gives power to audiences 

Hack gate

-          Corruption of power

-          Digital information is hard to contract

-          Online code is law

-          Codes and other laws of cyber space

-          It's complicated

-          Privacy 

The dark net launch of online resources to be accessed

Media publicity protests power 

Phone hacking 

2011 Rupert Murdoch closed newspapers 

Nick Davis not about journalist is about power

Power over:

-          Media content

-          Audiences

-          Journalists

-          Governments

Power to:

-          Censor

-          Mislead

-          Set the agenda

Stuart Hall

Role of media in circulation common sense definitions of majority and minority groups of deviance and normality

NDM: Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1) Research the Ian Tomlinson case. What would the traditional, hegemonic view of the police be in a case like this? How did new and digital media create a different story? What does the police officer's subsequent acquittal suggest about the power of new and digital media?

The traditional hegemonic view of the police in this case would be a Marxist approach, where the media would've portrayed the police positive and Tomlinson as negative, as the police are seen as the elite class, the more powerful individuals and therefore they would have control over what goes on the media and control how they are being portrayed, this was done on the newspaper. The new and digital media created a different story due to the access of user generated content, where an individual was able to shoot what happened and post it on social media. This therefore showed audiences a reality view of what actually happened at the scene and therefore created a pluralist approach where the elite people in this case were portrayed negatively due to the user generated content that was posted on social media such as YouTube.

 

2) What does the author argue regarding whether hegemony is being challenged by Web 2.0? 

The author argues that the balance has shifter and that Web 2.0 has not switched power from producers to the audience. The author therefore argues that the audience have no longer got to rely upon token access traditional media offered us, such as newspapers or radios. the article states how easily individuals can produce texts themselves such as posting videos on YouTube that therefore become viral, and posting news on social media such as twitter or Facebook which then becomes viral and it becomes shared and viewed or it becomes a trend and many people are then aware of the story you would've published. However, the author argues that it is still early days in the development of user-generated content, where in a few years’ time a net-based audience-produced text would have started having a more distinctive impact on the internet; where user generated content would develop its own codes and convections which differ from traditional media.

 

 3) In your opinion, do new and digital media reinforce dominant hegemonic views or give the audience a platform to challenge them?

 

I believe that new and digital media gives the audience a platform to challenge them, as they now have the power to update stories and use photographic or videos to prove their side of the story which is then taken to be viral. For example, if there was a case of racism, and the elite portrayed the story negatively and was the wrong, any individual as the scene would've taken a photographic view of the issue and proved it online to be wrong and therefore they have the power to challenge stories that have been posted online and therefore becomes a pluralist society where individuals are economically determined, and they have been given a platform to challenge the elite and make it a classless society.

NEWS 8

UK And US Prepare For Cyber Attack Stress Test

 

 

 

 

SUMMARY:

 

The stress test is designed to see how the City and Wall Street interact in an emergency caused by hackers, or a major problem with IT systems. According to the Government's cyber security body, CERT-UK, an exact scenario for the exercise is yet to be determined.

 

 

FACTS:

 

 

• TalkTalk fell victim to a "significant and sustained" attack which saw about 1.2 million customer email addresses, names and phone numbers accessed 
• Along with about 21,000 unique bank account numbers and sort codes.
• Meanwhile, over in the States, a massive data breach exposed the sensitive personal data of 15 million T-Mobile US customers.

 

OPINION:

Guardian and Observer publisher reduces losses as digital revenues rise

SUMMARY:

The publisher of the Guardian and the Observer has reported a small reduction in losses for the financial year ending 29 March to £19.1m. A 20% increase in digital revenues at Guardian News & Media from £68.3m to £82.1m drove revenues up 3% to £214.6m, helping bring losses before interest, deprecation and amortisation down from £19.4m in the previous year.

FACTS:

• Investments at group level meant operating losses across GNM parent Guardian Media Group increased from £40.6m to £45.3m
• Those were, however, offset by an increase in profits from its 33.1% stake in publishing company Top Right Group from £16.8m to £22m.

OPINION: