Amrit's MEST3 Exam Blog

Our case study on news has focused heavily on the decline of traditional brands and the rise of social media. But do these two competing platforms actually need each other to be successful? News on the Tweet  is a report from  Newsworks  (a marketing organisation representing newspapers) and  Twitter  designed to show the positive impact new and digital media can have on traditional media. Read the report  and answer the questions on your blog. Include the News on the Tweet infographic above in your blogpost. Why are respected news brands good news for Twitter? It allows for a highly active and valuable audience. Due to the similar demographics and behaviours between the two audiences it allows for the audience becoming very valuable with 58% more likelyhood of online purchases once a week and 28% more likely to spend 2+ hours online. News brands provide an important service that twitter users like and need. From things such as providing the 39% of audiences that like to

Why is Mail Online going after the fact checkers? https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/dec/23/why-is-mail-online-going-after-fact-checkers-snopes Summary:" There are those in the media landscape trying to fix the fake news problem. Then there are those who are happy to play fast and loose with the truth"  "Throughout the US election, Snopes debunked articles on everything from President Barack Obama planning to issue a blanket pardon for Hillary Clinton to Pope Francis backing Donald Trump." Snope along with othersites like the assossiated press, ABC news and other fact cheaking websites were named as third party sources facebook would use to help flag disputed stories. A week later the mail online posted a 1,400 word article about Snopes founders and relationships. But the artciles tone seem to reveal a lot more about what the publishers thought about trying to reveal the truth about fake news. " The purpose of the article appears to be to sow do

Mark Zuckerberg appears to finally admit Facebook is a media company https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/22/mark-zuckerberg-appears-to-finally-admit-facebook-is-a-media-company Summary: Growing concerns of fake news on the social network see CEO relent on protest that Facebook is not a media company  In a video chat Zuckerberg said " Growing concerns of fake news on the social network see CEO relent on protest that Facebook is not a media company"  The news comes about as many commentors have stated facebook as being a media company as they " disseminating news and exercising editorial judgement" but Zuckerberg, in the past, has called the company a technology company.  But facebooks influence has come into light due to the recent fake news scandal. Previously facebook has a team of around 30 of editors to 'curate' the trending news feed but were cut in August due to complaints of being rightwinged news censorship and replaced

September - December  Week 1: Weekly New/Digital Media (1)   :  Facebook and Twitter join coalition to improve social media newsgathering              Weekly New/Digital Media (2)   :  Instagram unveils tool to allow users to filter abusive comments Week 2: Weekly New/Digital Media (3)   :  WhatsApp threatened with legal action over Facebook data sharing deal              Weekly New/Digital Media (4)   :  Request shows and rehabilitation: How prison radio changes the lives of inmates Week 3: Weekly New/Digital Media (5)   :  Daily Mail publisher turns to price rise to counter advertising slump              Weekly New/Digital Media (6)   :  Are mobiles changing how we shop? Week 4: Weekly New/Digital Media (7)   :  Pixel is a direct challenge to Apple – and a referendum on Google               Weekly New/Digital Media (8)   :  Yahoo email surveillance: who approved the secret scanning program? Week 5: Weekly New/Digital Media (9)   :  I'm with you on the digital revolution, it's

1) Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry 2) Ofcom report: how news consumption has changed 3) The future of newspapers: Build The Wall analysis 4) The decline of newspapers: the effect of online technology 5) The future of journalism: John Oliver and Clay Shirky 6) The decline of newspapers: Media Magazine case studies 7) Citizen journalism and hyper-reality: Media Magazine article and questions Part 1 Part 2 8) News Values: theory and updating them for digital media landcape 9) Marxism & Pluralism: Media Magazine article and questions 10) Alain de Botton on the News: lecture and questions 11) Full NDM essay including paragraphs on Marxism and Pluralism Part 1 Part 2 12) Globalisation and news: cultural imperialism 13) Globalisation: taking it further (Google Glass case study and capitalism) 14) Fake news and globalisation - Guardian and New York Times articles

The growing problem with fake news is a great example of the crossover between globalisation and the news industry.  It has been linked with a range of political events across the world - from Brexit here in the UK to Trump's election in the USA. Many European countries are now worried fake news will influence their upcoming elections in 2017.  Fake news: blog tasks The Guardian & the global problem of fake news 1) Read this Guardian feature -  Fake news: an insidious trend that's fast becoming a global problem   2) What similarities do you notice between the different countries outlined in the article and their problems with fake news? Usually fake news isn't made for a revenue basis but rather to create hate and influence audiences.  Many countries have struggled with it Fake news usually occurs during important times such as during elections, wars etc.  More often found on social media sites like facebook  3) Is fake news an inevitable consequence of the &q

Twitter U-turns over banning white nationalist https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/12/twitter-u-turn-banning-white-nationalist-richard-b-spencer-alt-right Summary: " Richard B Spencer’s account reinstated weeks after being suspended as part of wider crackdown on hateful conduct from ‘alt-right’ members"  Spencer’s account was suspended as a move against leaders of a " “alt-right”, a far-right movement  " which has been an issue since the election of Trump in America and on the same day twitter made it easier to report hateful content.  As a result more of his multiple accounts accounts of " white-nationalist National Policy Institute" were suspended.  However, it seems that he may have been suspended for other reasons suggesting it may have been due to " for running multiple accounts with too much overlap." Following his suspension  Spencer " Spencer hosted a conference in Washington DC, where audience members gave ent

Uber employees 'spied on ex-partners, politicians and Beyoncé' https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/13/uber-employees-spying-ex-partners-politicians-beyonce Summary: Cab startup’s former forensic investigator Samuel Ward Spangenberg claims he was fired from the company after blowing whistle on lack of security.  Uber employee's tended to abuse the view that uber had to spy on   “high-profile politicians, celebrities and even personal acquaintances of  Uber  employees, including ex-boyfriends/girlfriends, and ex-spouses”, the investigator said.  Spangenberg is suing the company on " age discrimination and whistleblower retaliation" when he accused the company of their lack of security he was later fired 11 months later.  This lack of overseeing customer data and ethical breaches due to vunrable managerial policies allowing data to be stored and making it seem as a  “legitimate business purpose”. The reason  Spangenberg gives that  this wasn

One of the topics that we need to cover in A2 Media is  Globalisation  - which has huge relevance to digital media, news and beyond. You should have read the notes on Globalisation in class -  the handout is here  if you need an electronic copy. Globalisation and news: blog task Having discussed these issues in class in relation to our news case study, you now need to a nswer the following questions on your blog: 1) Is our news influenced by American  cultural imperialism ? Give some  examples  arguing for or against this perspective. I feel that our news is effected by American Cultural Imperialism. Take economic and business news for Britain, many of the big multinational companies have a huge influence on the UK economy and most of them are owned by America therefore anything  to do with their currency or any of their business news it will directly affect us too hence the focus on America especially now and near to their elections as it would not only influence this but also o

Facebook reportedly testing new tool to combat fake news   https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/06/facebook-tool-fake-news-rank-misleading-language-data-collecting Summary: " Facebook users asked to rank whether a story ‘uses misleading language’, in an apparent attempt the solve the site’s problem with false stories"  Facebook seems to be testing a tool that should help to identify and hide "fake news" content. The tool asks readers to rate on a scale to what extent the links title provides "misleading language" However its unclear weather or not they intend to take any action based on this data they are trying to collect. Moreover the problem is much deeper than just misleading headings but its also the actual content of those 'stories.' Ranging from completely fabricated stories to accurate headlines of that particular content.  Key stats/quotes:   Research suggests  that almost 60% of social media shares com

Google 'must review its search rankings because of rightwing manipulation' https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/dec/05/google-must-review-its-search-rankings-because-of-rightwing-manipulation Summary: " Hate sites are dominating and controlling searches on Muslims, Jews, Hitler and women and search engine is failing to tackle problem, say academics"  Google is now reviewing the ranking system of their searches due to strong evidence of "being manipulated and controlling" of right wing propaganda, eg. against muslims, jews and women.  Data analysist Cathy  O’Neil  also states that  “It simply can’t go on pretending that it has no editorial responsibilities  "  Google has since started changing some of the bias suggestions that come up in the search engine but haven't removed all of them.  Frank Pasquale, professor of law states that  " Who did that? And how did they decide? Who’s in charge of these decisions? And what will t

Globalisation: taking it further We have already explored globalisation with relation to news, cultural imperialism and the impact on audiences and institutions. Now we need to explore some of the  wider issues  linked to globalisation and media - including capitalism, privacy, 'big data', and techno-panics. These are crucial issues that are likely to come up in Section A of your MEST3 exam - as well as being relevant to your independent case studies for Section B. Media Magazine: Globalisation case study Go to  our Media Magazine archive  and click on  MM47  - the case study issue. You need to find page 31 and the  Google Glass feature: a case study in Globalisation . Read the article and answer the following questions: 1) Why was Google Glass controversial? can record video and sound and there is also a feature of facial recognition which can lead to an invasion of privacy as well as a loss of connection with reality. Some restaurants etc. said they would prohibit its