Newspapers: The future of journalism

Newspapers: The future of journalism

1) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?

In the video there is an example of how the catholic church was exposed for it's wrong doings around child molestation. He argues that without it these sort of situations wouldn't be exposed and the public eye would never see.

2) What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)?

It is presented as a not a good relationship as the advertisers tend to overpay for a service that may not be worthwhile, but they're forced into due to there not being any other alternatives. 

3) Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age?

Shirky suggests that people consume the news in bulks now and also say that people fine out about news on social media such as twitter instead of reading the actual newspapers.

4) Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992?

Many of the good effects in limiting the Catholic Church’s ability to continue doing this were a result of the public reuse of the documents in ways that were simply not possible in 1992 and had become not just available, but trivial by 2000

5) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls? 

Shirky says that it will make newspapers become a finite good whereas it's really an infinite one. He also says he's sceptical of it as we need the public good of the accountability to journalism

6) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?

A social good is something that will help benefit the whole society for example Journalism is a social good as it helps bring important stories to the public which then gets published therefore a large audience will be able to get this information.

7) Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes?

Shirky believes that, newspapers are irreplaceable in their production of accountability journalism.

8) Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news?

If they continue taking over then once person can have too much power and be able to manipulate mass amounts of people at a time. 

weekly news blog 2

Walking Dead zombie actor, 52, is jailed for biting British mother-of-two, 41, after they met at UK horror convention

By TERRI-ANN WILLIAMS FOR MAILONLINE  

PUBLISHED: 9 March 2020 

• US actor Michael Mundy met Beverly Jackson at a UK horror convention 
• Ms Jackson said she 'fell for' the 52-year-old and that he had been 'charming'
• Became abusive and was jailed last November after being convicted of assault 
• Ms Jackson said initially he had been very charming and had promised to get her into films, The Sun reported.
• Ms Jackson said she was first attacked by Mundy in 2018 in hotel room in Germany.
• She said she fell for him but that he became 'more and more abusive'. 

This type of news would appeal to an audience as its mentioned that the actor worked in walking dead which has created a large following, this is an example of hard news as its a serious topic.

We spend 70 hours a week caring for our son - I'm terrified about what will happen when we die

By Clare Cowling

Tuesday, 25th February 2020,

• A year ago Trevor could still walk with a stick, get taxis home and go to the pub. He also had a volunteering job two days a week, but was dismissed about six months ago when his disability became worse.
•  In fact residents of the UK now have a 65 per cent chance of providing unpaid care in their adult lives.
• We urgently need a fair, effective and properly funded care system across the UK so no one is forced to give up work to ensure their loved one gets proper support, or terrified about what the future might hold without them.

This news is a mix of hard and soft as the issue is serious but it would not apply to everyone in the UK as a concern for the country. 

Newspapers: The decline in print media

1) Look at the key findings from the report on pages 2-3. How do UK adults generally get their news? 

Most UK adults get their news from Television.

2) Read the overall summary for adults on pages 7-8. What do you notice about the changing way adults are getting their news?

 Now adults choose to get their news from social media as opposed to print.

3) Look at the summary of platforms used on page 13. What do you notice about newspapers and how has it changed since 2018?

Since 2018, newspapers have declined by 2% 

4) Now look at the demographic summary for news platforms on page 15. What audience demographic groups (e.g. age, social class) are most and least likely to read newspapers?

MOST :
Males
ABC1
White
65+

LEAST:
Females
Minority backgrounds
16-24
C2DE

5) Read Section 3 on cross-platform news consumption (page 20). What newspaper brands can you find in the list of most popular news sources across platforms?
Daily mail
The Sun
The metro
The guardian


6) Now turn to Section 6 focusing on newspapers (page 33). How has the circulation of national newspapers decreased between 2010 and 2018?

Circulation for newspapers has decreased to a half. In 2010 it was at 22 million but now it’s at 10.4 million.


7) What are the most-used newspaper titles?
It starts from the daily mail to the sun and then the metro.


8) What are the most popular titles when print and online figures are combined (look at page 38)?

daily mail
The guardian 
The metro


9) How does the i compare to the Daily Mail?

Compared to the Daily Mail the I has a significantly smaller readership


10) Now study the demographic details for our two CSP newspapers on page 39. What is the breakdown of the Daily Mail audience and the i audience? What differences do you notice?
The Daily Mail audience: 

33% male
40% female
34% 16-24
39% 65+
37% ABC1
36% C2DE
32% minority ethnic
37% white

The I audience:
6% male
5% female
5% 16-24
6% 65+
6% ABC1
4% C2DE
5% minority ethnic
5% white

11) Read section 7 of the report: news consumption via social media (pages 40-52). Pick out three statistics from this section that you think are interesting and explain why.

Overall 73% of audiences use facebook- This is interesting as the digital age is largely dominated by the younger generation who don't use Facebook as much.
In 2019 41% of people get their news from social media - The intense impact of the digital age.
18% of people get their news from people on Facebook, this shows the impact of opinion leaders and media susceptibility.

12) Look at the summary of readers' attitudes for newspapers on page 76. What statements for Daily Mail readers tend to agree with?

Highly Quality content, World knowledge consumption.

1) What has happened to print media in the last 30 years?

Print has declined in the last 30 years 

2) Why is the Independent newspaper such a good case study for the decline in print media?

The independent was popular at first but then it 'died' leaving its subsidiary newspaper the 'I'.

3) What was the Independent newspaper famous for?

The content was based on honesty.

4) What did the then-owner of the Independent, Evgeny Lebedev, say about the newspaper's digital-only future?

He said it was a 'bold' move.

5) How do online newspapers make money?

advertising.

6) What did the Independent's longest-serving editor Simon Kelner warn regarding the switch to digital?

It is difficult to replicate the originality in the paper in the digital form 

7) What is the concern with fake news? What does 'post-truth' refer to?

The ease of creating a fake website that promotes 'fake news' in the modern age.

8) What is your view on the decline in print media? Should news be free? Is it a concern that established media brands such as the Independent can no longer afford to exist as a printed newspaper?

 it was bound to happen as the internet grows through time, it's obvious that people are more willing to get their news freely as opposed to going out and getting it.

weekly newspaper research

"we must not let coronavirus breed distrust, conspiracy theories and fake news"

By Ian Birrell

Sunday, 1st March 2020, 7:01 pm






  







https://inews.co.uk/opinion/stop-coronavirus-breeding-distrust-conspiracy-theories-fake-news-2005380

This article pretty much explains how the coronavirus came about and explains that

it can be countered if we put trust in experts furthermore linking to how past diseases have been also countered. Also, the article tells people to remain calm and not overthink what is happening. In addition, the article compares coronavirus to past epidemics saying

we are experiencing a cycle.

I believe this is an example of Hard news because the subject matter is very suited to it.

This story appeals to people because of the subject matter as coronavirus epidemic is something that is very prominent at the moment and people want to know as much as they can.

I believe that it somewhat reflects the newspaper as it seems to be very factual and informative which is what the I values.

"Flooded homeowners open their doors to reveal terrible scenes of misery from 15-day deluge as more rain arrives but Boris Johnson still hasn't visited a single victim"

By AMELIA WYNNE FOR MAILONLINE

PUBLISHED: 10:58, 1 March 2020 https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-8061851/Homes-totally-water-storm-batters-Britain.html

This article shows the effects of the ghastly showers in the uk which have caused the northern and eastern areas of the uk to flood, Furthermore, the title is a bit clickbaity as the article doesn't really talk about Boris Johnson all that much as the title explains. Also, the article explains how these floods have been one of the most devastating in uk history.

This is an example of hard news as the article is very informative on the dangers of the floods and the impact it has had on the people affected by them.

This story appeals to the audience in a hard hitting way because of the pictures as well and how they show the damage caused by the floods.

This story does not really reflect the values as it calls out Boris Johnson who is a conservative like the newspaper.

Media Paper 1 PPE - Learner response

1) Type up your feedback in full (you do not need to write mark/grade if you do not wish to).

D, no feedback on my exam given

2) Did you succeed in meeting or exceeding your target grade for A Level Media? If not, how many additional marks do you need to achieve your target grade in this paper?
 
I did not meet my target grade as I was 1 below it. I need to achieve around 8 marks to meet my target grade for the exam section.

The grade boundaries for this paper:

A* = 78; A = 68; B = 56; C = 46; D = 36; E = 26.

Now read through the AQA mark scheme. This is vital as the paper was an official specimen exam paper and therefore the mark scheme tells us a lot about what AQA are expecting us to produce. The original question paper is here if that is helpful too.

3) Write a question-by-question analysis of your performance. For each question, write how many marks you got from the number available and identify any points that you missed by carefully studying the AQA indicative content in the mark scheme:

Q1: 5/8 
Had to mention:
Overall the use of media language is consistent with the codes and conventions of the media form (flier / electronic advertisement), Overall the use of media language is consistent with the codes and conventions of the media form (flier / electronic advertisement). The syntagm consists of visual and verbal signifiers (dominant signifiers potentially include the mouth, the artist’s name, words like LAUNCH)

Q2: 3/12
did not mention the unseen image:

the product uses conventional elements of both the form and
representation (layout, composition, indexical indicators of femininity
[lipstick, exposed flesh], the choice of typefaces) but without conviction.

all of the comfort usually provided by generic convention is denied: she
refuses to be framed, to be addressed. What we’re left with is her non-
European ethnicity / culture and a hint of something exposed in an
uncomfortable way with the album title almost scored into the flesh
the various texts are similarly unhelpful. 

The singer’s name is just out of kilter as is the title of the album which rather than anchoring a preferred reading merely extends the paradox / intrigue

boys write love songs too? In a music industry still dominated by specific
‘boys’ singing of their various loves for girls in general, this is another
double take, conventional only at first glance, the point at which we are
taken in

all in all, a text which represents an attitude that is both cultural and

political: the ‘voice of the Philippines’.

Q3: 4/9

EBI:
• fantasy elements through special effects and transformations
• the road which the artist dances along, with its impossible lay out across
an imagined city suggests the yellow brick road of the Wizard of Oz
(Michael Jackson had previously appeared in a remake of the film – The
Wiz)
• the artist’s costume is an updated version of the clothes worn by Fred

Astaire – another graceful, male dancer

Q4 8/20

EBI:
Butler’s ideas about gender include:
• sex and gender
• gender as performativity ('a stylised repetition of acts')
• gender as historical situation rather than natural fact

• subversion.

Maybelline
• this subversion of socially constructed norms calls into question the
relevance and stability of gender / sex as categories (the binary doesn’t
work)
• the male and female characters are equally interested in the product –
the mascara
• the woman in the advert isn’t objectified or sexualised (because the

heteronormative element is absent)

Q5.1
A= A company owns different businesses in the same chain of
production and distribution

B=A company owns numerous companies involved in mass media
enterprises

Q5.2 
• creating videos and video edits related to their fan focus
• purchasing / accumulating / collecting merchandise / memorabilia
• engaging in ‘cosplay’ (roleplaying in costume)

• creating fan art

Q6 5/9
• it emphasizes the difficulties faced by British films produced outside of
the mainstream for niche audiences
• demonstrates the way independent film makers have to draw on all

available resources (personnel, funding, distribution)

Q7 10/20
• The Surgery also wants to address diverse audiences – by age, location,
ethnicity etc
• The Surgery wants to offer useful advice in an appropriate way to a
largely student audience: it wants to be cool and reliable!
• there are clearly other readings that can be made by this audience who
have this kind of information available in many different formats. Its
demise in 2017 might suggest that these ‘oppositional readings’ were

becoming ‘dominant’.

war of the worlds.
• though the primary purpose was undeniably to entertain, it could be that
those who decoded the program as factual were responding to an

intended meaning

4) Look at Question 4 - a 20-mark essay evaluating how useful Judith Butler's theory of gender performativity is. Write a full essay plan for this question using the indicative content in the mark scheme and with enough content to meet the criteria for Level 4 (top level). This will be somewhere between 4-6 well-developed paragraphs planned in some detail.

intro: 
Butler Statement is true that gender is a performance however it is more complex than we think.

Para 1 Score:
-Male domination
-Females sexualised
-Butler
-"golden age"

Para 2 Maybelline:
-Gender fluidity= success
-Gender is learned
-Masculinity in crisis
-Non conventional

Conc:
-Past enforces traditionals values
-present supports fluidity

5) Based on the whole of your Paper 1 learner response, plan FIVE topics / concepts / CSPs / theories that you will prioritise in your summer exam Media revision timetable.

-The Surgery
-Postmodernism
-butler
-billie jean csp
-representation theory

Video games Index

1) Videogames: Women in videogames
2) Videogames: Further feminist theory
3) Learner response: OSP assessment
4) Videogames: Tomb Raider Anniversary
5) Videogames - Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
6) Videogames: Henry Jenkins - fandom and participatory culture
7) Videogames: The Sims FreePlay part 1 - Language & Audience
8) Videogames: The Sims FreePlay part 2 - Industries
9) Videogames: The Sims FreePlay part 3 - Representations

Sims Representation

Textual analysis

1) How do the expansion pack (DLC) trailers reinforce or challenge dominant ideologies?

• Reinforces a capitalist society where you have to work and be successful.
• People as consumers- lots of examples of Sims spending money and this being desirable 
• Gameplay has been feminised to appeal to the female audience
• Reinforces some gender stereotypes

2) What stereotypes have you identified in The Sims FreePlay?

Female Sim in pink bedroom doing her homework/schoolwork where as the male Sim is in a blue bedroom. The male character is also shown to do more masculine stereotyped activities like doing karate and playing drums. Mainly female Sims shown to shop and catwalk etc HOWEVER Chic Boutique extension pack uses male Sims also and feminises masculinity 

3) What media theories can you apply to representations in The Sims FreePlay?

• Van Zoonen - gender stereotypes
• bell hooks - power structures in society
• Gauntlett - fluidity of identity 
• Hall- approaches to representation /encoding and decoding 
• Gramsci - marxism and hegemony

Read this Forbes article on gender and racism in The Sims franchise and answer the following questions:

1) How realistic does The Sims intend to be?

Realistic enough to make it believable without having to over step boundaries.

2) How has The Sims tried to create more realistic representations of ethnicity?

By making the character's look less cartoonish.

3) How has The Sims responded to racism and sexism in society?

Sim's are only ever judged by their characteristics rather than their appearance meaning it's literally impossible for Sim's to be either racist/sexsist as they are coded to only judge others based of randomly generated characteristics.

4) What is The Sims perspective on gender fluidity and identity?

It allows same sex marriage and people to create whatever character they wish to make so it in a way supports the idea through giving all the players the option to do it.

5) How does The Sims reinforce the dominant capitalist ideologies of American culture?

The main insentive used by the game to get people to continue playing is by giving money to players for completing certain tasks. One of the main goals that the game offers from the beginning to the end of the game is increasing the worth of the town and how much the town is worth overall. 

Read this New Normative feature on LGBTQ representation in The Sims franchise and answer the following questions:

1) How did same-sex relationships unexpectedly help the original Sims game to be a success?

"Same-sex relationships were probably the main factor that led to the game's popularity. During a showcase of the game at E3, audiences were shocked and pleased when they were able to form relationships between the same-sex. It was something that had never been done before in the gaming industry and it received massive positivity from gamers and critics".

2) How is sexuality now represented in The Sims?

There is now a lot of freedom and it is now possible to have same sex relationships etc.

3) Why have fans praised the inclusion of LGBTQ relationships in The Sims franchise?
It was praised as it giving a good representation of what LGBTQ+ rights should be like.

4) Why did the Sims run into regulatory difficulties with American regulator the ESRB? How did EA respond?

ESRB rated the game higher than before, meaning the game becomes unacceptable for younger audiences due to the addition of Sex. This meant that The Sims had two options, either removing the option and disappointing a lot of fans, or taking the M rating. They ended up teaming up with EA and managed to convince the ESRB that they should be granted a T-rating. 

5) How is sexuality represented in the wider videogames industry today?

There's a much wider acceptance of characters that identify with the LGBTQ and giving them representation in video games.

Reality, postmodernism and The Sims

Read this Paste Magazine feature on reality and The Sims franchise. Answer the following questions:

1) What does the article suggest about the representation of real life in The Sims 4?

It doesn't have the magic or fantasy to provide escapism, the more realistic simulation of life drives away from the games original idea of diversion(Uses and Gratifications).

2) What audience pleasures did the writer used to find in The Sims franchise?

Diversion.

3) Why the does the writer mention an example of a washer and dryer as additional DLC?

They didn't want their Sims to do something that they didn't like doing in real life.

4) In your opinion, has The Sims made an error in trying to make the franchise too realistic?

No, The Sims still uses unrealistic aspects of time and the freedom the user has to do whatever they want is still an appealing aspect to the game.

5) How does this representation of reality link to Baudrillard’s theory of hyperreality - the increasingly blurred line between real and constructed?

There is a simulation of real life inside a game played by real people.

The Sims FreePlay social media analysis

Analyse The Sims FreePlay Facebook page and Twitter feed and answer the following questions:

1) What is the purpose of The Sims FreePlay social media channels?

The social media oages are there to promote the game. The Twitter page posts updates on game patches, retweets people who play walkthroughs or gameplay videos.

The Facebook page shows things that the player can do inside the game, usually more aspects of gaining ideas on what the consumer wants to see.

2) Choose three posts (from either Twitter or Facebook) and make a note of what they are and how they encourage audience interaction or response.

https://twitter.com/TheSimsFreePlay/status/1108853712378781697

Tells the audience to watch the gameplay video - create more interest in the game.

https://twitter.com/TheSimsFreePlay/status/1108582305012259473

Asks the audience what they want to see for interior design styles.

https://twitter.com/TheSimsFreePlay/status/1091186125064957452

Ask the audience what they like from events in the game, so the developers know what they can add more of to promote gameplay.

3) Scroll down the Facebook feed briefly. How many requests for new content can you find from players? Why is this such as an important part of the appeal for The Sims FreePlay?

Almost every post has players asking for new content, it shows how the developers actually put things into the game that the players want to see, it makes them keep playing.

4) What tweets can you find in the Twitter feed that refer to additional content or other revenue streams for EA?https://twitter.com/AppStore/status/1096261625450037249

5) Linking to our work on postmodernism, how could The Sims FreePlay social media presence be an example of Baudrillard’s hyperreality and simulacra?

It shows how reality and fiction can link with each other. Real people are playing a fake game that tries to imitate real life through simulation.