Thursday, 15 October 2015

NEWS INDEX PAGE - UPDATED

#7 - 08/10/15:  Facebook gets emotive

#28 Twitter warns users they may have been hacked by 'state-sponsored actors'
29 Hollywood's ties with Silicon Valley threaten to squeeze out the British media

30 Boston Globe reporters forced to deliver papers by hand amid distribution crisis. 

31 Make or break for the Sun and more consolidation

32 Some New Year resolutions for the Guardian

33 The #BringBackOurGirls of 2016: what will dominate Africa's Twittersphere this year?

34 Newsquest/Gannett forced to change policy over remote subbing

NEWS 5

Not a game … Zoe Quinn received death threats onlineFemale technology journalists report abuse is still the name of the game






A few months ago, I stared out of the window, wondering whether to change my name. I’d been advised I “might consider” doing so if I wanted to report on video gaming. It was hard to imagine a cacophony of hate in a silent house under the quiet shade of hundred-year-old chestnut trees.
But women in tech, such as games developer Zoe Quinn, had told me about being terrorised, made homeless, or “screamed at by a Nazi” down the phone at night. Quinn was targeted by groups – mostly of young men – who saw her as a symbol of socially aware critiques of misogyny in gaming to which they objected.

Female writers disguising their gender is not new. “We had a vague impression that authoresses are likely to be looked on with prejudice,” wrote Charlotte Brontë in 1846 to explain why she and her sisters (aka Currer, Acton and Ellis Bell) had used male noms de plume.
FACTS
















Five predictions for the future of publishing

A newspaper stand


More than a month after the public release of Apple’s iOS 9, each day is bringing new surprises, dramas and lessons for the digital media world. We’ve accelerated towards an ad blocking apocalypse thanks to iOS 9, failed to see the rollout of the Apple News app in the UK, and seen the launch of its rival Facebook Signal.
We’ve also witnessed the sudden rise and equally sudden disappearance of ad blocking app Peace, with Apple now also removing some ad-blockers that it deems to pose a security risk to users.The latest analysis shows that iOS 9 adoption is happening at record speed, so publishers need to move quickly to take advantage of Apple’s software shakeup and adapt accordingly. 
FACTS

1. There will be more deals between publishers and tech companies

2. Apple faces a tough fight with Facebook

3. All content will be personalised

4. Quality journalism will continue to thrive; paywalls may prosper

5. New media companies will continue to attract investment








NDM News: Citizen journalism

Examples

  • Video cameras had becomemore common and more people could afford them...unfortunately for four Los Angeles police officers! Having caught Rodney King, an African-American, after a high speed chase, the officers surrounded him, tasered him and beat him with clubs. The event was filmed by an onlooker from his apartment window.

  • There were six days of riots, 53 people died, andaround 4000 people were injured. The costs of the damage, looting and clear-up came in at up to a billion dollars.

  • The natural disaster of the Asian Tsunami on December 26th 2004 was another turning point for UGC.



Theory 
  • The audience 
    have become ‘users’ and the users have become 
    publishers. Audiences now create their own 
    their own 
    content.
  • We are in the era of user generated content (UGC) where the old divide between  institution and audience is being eroded.


Benefits to institutions 

  • As technology improved over the 
    years, incidents of this kind have become more 
    and more common. Millions of people have 
    constant access to filming capability through 
    their mobiles, and footage can be uploaded and 
    rapidly distributed on the internet.

Benefits to audience 

  • It is not only in providing footage for the  
    news that citizen journalists have come to the 
    forefront. UGC now plays a huge role in many 
    aspects of the media.

  • The desire for everyone to tell their own story and have their own moment of fame may explain the huge popularity of Facebook, MySpace and other such sites.


Wider issues and debates 

  • It is likely that in future 
    there will be fewer and fewer permanent 
    trained staff at news organisations, leaving a 
    smaller core staff who will manage and process 
    UGC from citizen journalists, sometimes known as 
    ‘crowd sourcing.’ Some believe that the mediators 
    and moderators might eventually disappear 
    too, leaving a world where the media is, finally, 
    unmediated.

  • There is a whole new world out there. With it comes new responsibility. There is enormous potential to expand our view of the world and our understanding of what is happening. Our collective knowledge, and wisdom, should grow. 

  • On the other hand, in twenty years time, the news could be overrun by pictures of people’s kittens and a few bigots shouting across message boards at each other.

1) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?


CITIZEN JOURNALIST are individuals who use their technology such as phones to record incidents that happen in public which is then used as a piece of evidence for the police.

2) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?

Ferguson's citizen journalists


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

allow audiences to leave a comment about the story, 

allows audience to share the story and share their comments on social networking websites.


4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?

UGC - has more information and has the other side of the story

Professionally shot footage - footage that is shot to show the public, therefore hides the other side of the story. 


5) What is a gatekeeper?

Something that stops you from doing something. For example, parents stopping you from playing games online and therefore they block the website. The parents became gatekeepers. 

6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?


The role of a gatekeeper has changed as there is now less gatekeepers and everything is now more easily accessible.


7) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?

Journalists are losing their job, UGC are giving in more information as well as more informative information than journalists. 



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

  • news stories
there are now different stories relating to the same story, people are twisting the stories and adding in more information. 
  • the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)
there are now more stories on topics that don't matter as much as the ones that do

  • the role of professionals in news
they are now having to work on online news, and how they present the news online and not the paper base forms.

Newspapers: The effect of online technology

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

I don't agree with James Murdoch's statement about BBC not providing free news online as this would then make BBC lose many consumers. This is because audiences now are more likely to be online when they consume the news not on a paper base form as it’s a traditional form of media. Another reason to why BBC should still be free is because its easily accessible and therefore shouldn't be charged as this would lose more consumers. As is states that it can only be accessed by an internet connection, in some cases consumers have to pay for an internet connection hence they shouldn't have to pay to read news online. 


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

You only reach profit through subscriptions when you've deducted the cost of acquiring and retaining users. Three years on, The Times should be starting to see the benefits of their toil now. For several years now, Times Newspapers has been losing money. The company has tolerated this because it could use profits from elsewhere in News Corp to pay for our papers and because the proprietor has a passion for newspapers.



3) Choose two comments from below the Times paywall article - one that argues in favour of the paywall and one that argues against. Copy a quote from each and explain which YOU agree with and why.



AGAINST


4) Why do you think the Evening Standard has bucked the trend and increased circulation and profit in the last two years?



The London Evening Standard is an anomaly when its circulation and estimated readership figures are compared. It has increased due to the ABC audiences consuming paper based news papers as they would take a copy underground or on the way to work. 


5) Is there any hope for the newspaper industry or will it eventually die out? Provide a detailed response to this question explaining and justifying your opinion.


I believe that the newspaper industry will soon die out due to the advances in technology. Due to consumers accessing things online, as well as having smart phones due to apple being such a popular brand, more people are more likely to consume news online and not on paper base forms, as its something audiences can access easily and not pay for it. whereas some newspapers audiences have to pay for and therefore shows why the newspaper industry will die out. As the years go by, the newspaper industry will become less popular and therefore die out; as people will be used to the online.

Friday, 9 October 2015

NEWS 4




Facebook's 'like' button is getting a makeover to allow users to be more emotive in their responses.
No longer will people be confined to 'liking' their friend's Facebook status, but they will also be able to respond with: 'love', 'haha', 'yay', 'wow', 'sad' and 'angry'.

  • The company said it would start the pilot in Ireland and Spain on iOS, Android and desktops.
  • The feedback from the pilot test will be used to improve the feature and the company hopes "to roll it out to everyone soon," Cox wrote in the post.
My opinion on this story is that Facebook are becoming a more advanced now and are empowering audiences to a wider views and values. They are giving the audience a chance to share more of their views and their emotions 



Websites









Dozens of leading news organisations, including the BBC, are taking part in a scheme that will allow their web-based articles to load more quickly on smartphones and tablets. Leaders of the Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP) initiative promise that the stripped-back versions of the pages will be "lightning fast" to load. The move has been led by Google, which is providing use of its servers. 
Participants believe it may discourage the use of ad-blocking plug-ins. AMP works by simplifying the technical underpinnings of the pages involved. Much of the Javascript code used on normal webpages is absent, meaning articles should not only appear faster but use less battery power. Publishers can continue to tap into the same ad networks as before, but they will not be able to display some types of adverts including pop-ups and "sticky" images that move as users scroll down a page.

  • Twitter, LinkedIn, Pinterest and Wordpress have said they also intend to make use of the technology.
  • Facebook is a notable exception.
  • The social network recently launched an alternative programme called Instant Articles, which speeds up the delivery of third-party content by hosting it on its own platform.


My opinion on this story is that technology is now advanced and becoming more faster and wider. Its becoming an easier platform to be on.


Monday, 5 October 2015

NDM baseline assessment learner response'

Harsh Feedback from Mr.Bush 

Good effort Dhruvina

WWW: attempt to incorporate own research/reading

EBI: you need to answer the question. Focus on keywords (introduction). Re-do intro and write an additional paragraph doing this 

Mark: - ) 

Introduction: 

There has been a great development in new/digital media, as there is now much more to for audiences to consume; in other words, 'the most powerful conglomerates dismisses traditional media.' The  developments in new and digital media has given audiences a access to greater variety of views and values, as they have the power to make radio stations and websites which shows that there are no gate keepers. However, even though there are many advantages to the developments, audiences may also be empowered negatively by these developments due to issues such as privacy.

Social networks such as Skype and Facebook advantage audiences significantly due to the access they gain of being connected to other individuals around the world. This therefores creates a global village which mckluan describes as being a way of giving audiences easy access to communication around the world. The developments in new and digital media have also allowed numerous ways for audiences to communicate, for example, Skype allows audiences to make one to many or many to many calls around the world.