QnA with BBC Spokes Person

Questions:

1) To what extent do you think new and digital media has influenced the BBC (positively or negatively)?

2) Do you think the need for journalists have declined due to citizen journalism?

3) There was a recent article about the BBC fearing the decline for the use of TV rather than online streaming sites, what ways have you come up with to get youths interested in the TV rather than thair digital device?

Read the article from Media Magazine: The Rise and Rise of UGC (Dec 2009). Use our Media Magazine archive, click on MM30 and go to page 55.
https://drive.google.com/folderview?id=0B0i5diL3vrEiSGxRNHIyZmM4Ums&usp=drive_web
Next, create a blogpost where you make notes from the article under the following headings:

Examples

• 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. The home-video footage made prime-time news and became an international media sensation, and a focus for complaints about police racism towards African-Americans.
• Asian Tsunami on December 26th 2004 was another turning point for UGC. Much of the early footage of events was provided from citizen journalists, or ‘accidental journalists,’ providing on-the-spot witness accounts of events as they unfolded. Tourists who would otherwise have been happily filming holiday moments were suddenly recording one of the worst natural disasters in recent times.
• The London bombings on July 5th 2005, provided another hard-hitting and emotive. An audience used to relatively unmediated reality through the prevalence of reality TV can now see similarly unmediated footage on the news.
• Video footage that 23-year-old Seung-Hui Cho,an undergraduate at Virginia Tech, mailed into NBC News. Between his first attack, when he shot two people, he sent the package from a local post office, before going on to kill a further 30 people. 
• Mumbai bombings
• Hudson river plane crash

Theory (audience reception etc.)
Benefits to institutions 

• Citizen journalism benefits institutions as it makes their company more known; they're gaining more views from the public.
• Also, huge companies such as Google have brought social networking sites such as YouTube to become more known and popular.
• Flickr is now owned by Yahoo, Microsoft invested in Facebook, and News Corporation, is owned by Murdoch, bought MySpace.

Benefits to audience 

• It has benefited audiences dramatically as they are able to see the true original story of what had actually happened, without anything being manipulated by the editors.

Wider issues and debates 

• However, audiences may misinterpret the footage in another way as the quality maybe be poor e.g too shaky and blurry. 
• Also, editors may not use the whole footage, they may cut some things out of it to make it seem less damaging
• Creates moral panics

SHEP

Social

• Creates moral panics
• Causes the public to take action e.g protests by the majority - which could lead to destruction and chaos
• Fear of unemployment by journalists
• Historical
• The only way for news to get around was by listening to the radio or by word of mouth as advances technology e.g phones with cameras, were not invented then
• Economical
• Moral panics, which turns into chaos, leads to billions of pounds to make everything back to the way it was
• However, as everyone is producing new content, journalist fear of losing their jobs as no one would turn to them, because it is better to look at things in a video rather than reading it

Political

• Causes chaos with politics if riots occur

What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?
The term citizen journalism, is where the public record footage themselves and publish it on social networking sites such as YouTube for everyone to watch globally e.g A man recorded police officers strangling his friend to death and posted it online for everyone to see

What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?
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. The home-video footage made prime-time news and became an international media sensation, and a focus for complaints about police racism towards African-Americans.

What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?
Professional footage is shown after the incident has happened - its not live. However, it may have been edited to make the scenario seem not so damaging. Also footage is clear. Whereas, with first-hand footage, it is shown there and then; at the time the incident had occurred, it shows the audience everything that occurred, although the footage is unclear and blurry.

What is a gatekeeper?
Gatekeepers are people who are an attendant employed to control what goes through a gate e.g footage that can be published on YouTube.

How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?
The role of the gatekeepers have changed dramatically as they allow sensitive topics/footage to be publish on social networking sites. They are not as harsh as they used to be e.g pornography is accessible for everyone of all ages.

What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?
They fear that due to all the content produced by citizens, they will become unemployed as the public are more likely to watch what they have recorded, which is all legit, rather than read something which may have been twisted by journalists - not the full story.

What impact is new/digital media having on the following:
News stories - The public are less likely to read these stories as they'd prefer to watch the real thing
The news agenda - More exciting and interesting stories are shown on new and digital media, which, could lead to a decline in news stories - they would need to produce better stories than others to still exist.
The role of professionals in news - their jobs could go into a decline as the public would watch footage that hasn't been manipulated with than footage that has.

New and Digital Media (WEEK 5ii)

Tech companies urged to protect young from dangers of excessive screen time

http://www.theguardian.com/society/2015/oct/10/tech-companies-young-dangers-excessive-screen-time
Children using smartphones, standing in a row
The article talks about how children have become way to addicted to gadgets and smartphones and how it is affecting them severely and has an affect on their well-being. It says they need to protect these children form becoming psychologically damaged before its to late.

• "New technologies, smartphones, tablets and social networking sites have brough great benefits to millions of people, including children"

• Lloyd said the government needed to “empower young people through education in the classroom to understand how usage of social networking sites and screen-based media can influence their wellbeing, for example, by making them feel inadequate next to the online lives presented by peers”.

• The SSC also floated ideas that could help children when using electronic media. These include encouraging them to keep social media diaries to help them “balance” their online and offline lives and for social networking sites to install “virtual” usage meters as default settings for all users who are under 18, so that they are made aware of how long they are spending online.

In my opinion, i think that children should be kept away from all these new gadgets and phones as its destroying them psychically and mentally. When i was younger, i did not have any of this, all i had was toys and dolls for me to play with - i had a childhood. These children don't. They have become too addicted to these gadgets, its come to a point where children cry just to play on their parents phones rather than play with toys.

New and Digital Media Week 5

USA today's Facebook - inspired use of emojis gets thumbs down

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/12/us-todays-facebook-emojis-twitter

USA Today: emojis on the front page were inspired by Facebook Reactions.
This article talks about how emojis are a common feature of online messaging on smartphones and computers and is extremely popular with the public. It also says how 'USA today's' have started using them with each article they produce e.g an article about Russian bombing of Syria was illustrated with an angry red face, while a story about the stabbing of a US citizen - who had recently helped stop a terrorist attack in France - carried a sad face with a tear emerging from one eye.  It was noted that the more digital people are, the more the seemed to like them.

• The stunt received a mixed reaction on twitter, with some pointing out that it jarred with the serious nature of the stories being covered and others questioning whether emojis had a place in print.

In my opinion, having emojis on a newspaper would take the seriousness out of the article, it would seem like the newspaper company is mocking the content of the article. However it does help the audiences and the journalists empathise with the people the story is on.

New and Digital Media (WEEK 4ii)

Ad blockers are wreaking havoc with the online revenue of newspapers

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/04/eclipse-threatens-newspaper-giants-buying-digital-rivals

This article is about the effects ad blocker is having on newspaper revenues, research has found that moblile advertising overtaken print ads in the UK, which is 20% of the entire advertising revenue. Facebook and the social mob are becoming a news hub of their own for hundreds of millions of (often young) users –potentially eclipsing the value of discrete news websites.The ad blockers of this world are destructive forces, undermining the revenue base of so much news coverage. This article stays optimistic that this is a small obstetrical the newspaper industry can overcome.

• 20% of advertising revenue made by mobile advertising
• Ad blocker causing a decrease of the revenue for more industries
• the newspaper continues to go into a revenue decline 

In my opinion the newspaper industry should really consider ways to work with new and digital media as it is going to continue to grow which may have an even bigger effect on them, the most attractive thing about news on the internet is citizen journalism and people being able to communicate their ideas, so the newspaper industry should really consider that, as well as figuring out schemes to increase the quality of the news they produce.

New and Digital Media (WEEK 4)

BBC sees danager of losing young viewers distracted by devices  

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/oct/05/bbc-sees-danger-of-losing-young-viewers-distracted-by-devices

This article is about the BBC trying to think of schemes to get the younger audiences interested in content on the TV instead of their mobile phones. The BBC believe that their main threat isnt online streaming sites such as netflix but the device mostly associated with their younger audiences.The way they are dealing with that decline of younger audiences watching TV on the television, is by having a 'sign in' on iplayer, this would allow them to see what the youger audiences are interested in. North said the BBC is working hard to understand changing mobile viewing habits, and the impact of social networking on what, when and how people watch the broadcaster’s shows. But he said the television in the corner of the living room still has an important role even in the OTT world.

• Netflix is not a threat to TV
• biggest growth being iPlayer 
• we understand as entertainment today
• when and how people watch the broadcaster’s shows

I think that the mobile phones and the evaluation of technology in general is threat to traditional sources of media. Personally i spend more time on my phone than on watching TV, anything i do need to watch is done through my mobile phone or other devices, suggesting that we as a society has outgrown the traditional television and look for alternatives of watching broadcasting shows.

Build The Wall Analysis

Summary if each section:

Section 1

The newspaper industry can still be saved if all the newspaper providers relaunch with a paywall, therefore the readers would have no choice but to subscribe and the newspaper industry can be saved.

"you must act together"

Section 2

The newspaper industry and the internet can compromise in a way they can both make profit, internet advertisement doesn't bring in much revenue, but a paywall will increase their profits.

Section 3

Newspapers have lost their value in order to attract and entertain readers, to keep them coming back so the newspaper industry does not completely die out.

Section 4

Building a paywall can mean that the industries have more to money to invest in increasing the quality of news, in the newsrooms and surveillance around.

Summary of David Simon's overall argument. 

 David Simon's mostly focused on the financial advantages of having a paywall. He used facts and figures to emphasis his point. one of his main examples was the 'Baltimore sun' which a subscription newspaper is a niche audience, it has only 210,000 readers at $10, making a profit of $2.5 million a year excluding the delivery and the printing cost, suggesting that the paywall is a realistic approach for the newspapers to continue striving. David Simons believes that the only way the newspaper industry can be saved is if all the available newspapers go on the pay wall at the same time, as a result readers would have no choice but to pay the subscription causing all the newspapers to develop and survive together. He talks about the long term effects of having a pay wall such as the increase in the quality of news, the pay wall would allow the newspaper industry to invest more money in hiring staff to get high quality news, which can mean readers get more reliable news. He believes that there is still time for the newspaper to act and save the industry but it needs the commiseration of all newspaper. He thinks that in order for the newspaper industry to stark making money the major company owners should stop being selfish and work together. In addition he believes that the reason the newspaper industry is failing is because of the lack of strategical/logical thinking and the inability to take risk(they are scared of the consequences that may occur as result to putting a pay wall), but if they do take that risk he thinks that the newspaper industry would not just survive but thrive as a business.

Read this response to the article by Dave Levy, criticising and disagreeing with David Simon's viewpoint. What references to new and digital media can you find in Levy's response?

He says the reason that articles are managing is because of the links to social networking sites such as twitter and blogs suggesting its survival is through news and digital media. He concludes putting a pay wall wouldn't result to people linking articles on social media because it would limit the views on their social networking sites as a result causing even more problems for the newspaper industry. Furthermore Dave levy thinks this is a dramatic argument for the solution for the newspaper industry, he thinks that the pay wall will just push their remaining costumes away to their competitors (which allows customers to access articles for free)or find alternative ways online to read articles.

Finally, what is your own opinion? Do you agree that newspapers need to put online content behind a paywall in order for the journalism industry to survive? Would you be willing to pay for news online?

To some extent I agree with what David Simons has to say, I think that having online content behind a pay wall will allow the industry to make more revenue to improve the quality of news we as the consumers are getting. The paywall also allows the journalist which are not credited financially for their hard work to be compensated, however this will only go to plan id their consumers are willing to pay that online subscription. which i personally think is not going to be successful. The consumers are more likely to find alternatives of reading an article (going to newspaper which doesn't have a paywall), which would make the other newspaper industry more successful because advertisers would want to invest in those with more views than one with a niche number of readers. Me personally I wouldn't pay for a subscription if there was other ways of me accessing articles, which leads perfectly on David Simons point of all newspaper content having a paywall on it so readers have no choice but to pay the paywall. so in conclusion i think that newspapers could benefit from a paywall id they all do it together and take the risk together.

Newspapers: The Effect Of Online Technology

Do you agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online? why?
If the BBC start charging people for news there are many impacts that this may have on society. The main impact being the divide between people who can afford to get news and those who cant, having an impact on the intellectual level of the lower class. furthermore its going to be difficult for the BBC to start charging for something that was free, people may ignore their new priciple and try to find other ways of accdessing news putting the BBCs company in a decline. I conclude that listening to James Murdoch may not be a smart business decision for the BBC, but may have a good impact on his newspaper industries as people may be willing to pay for news from the times and the sun than the BBC.

Was Rupert Murdoch right to put this news content (times and the sun) behind a pay-wall?
To some extent, it is right if you look at it from the profit aspect. Having the times and the sun on a paywall would mean that newspaper industry would make enough revenue to continue to survive and continue to grow. The paywall will also fund the times and suns staff as well as allowing them to have better resources for a high quality as a result the consumers would have a more reliable news, making them to continue paying the subscription.

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.

Why do you think the Evening Standard has bucked the trend and increased circulation and profit in the last two years?
At the start of this year, the Standard announced it was expanding its distribution from around 700,000 copies a day to closer to 900,000, which rather neatly explains the 27 percent increase in circulation recorded by the ABC. I think the main reason the evening standard has increased sales is because of people using trains and tubes everyday, they have no choice but to buy the newspaper as they cant access it through the internet.

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 think that having online content behind a pay wall will allow the industry to make more revenue to improve the quality of news we as the consumers are getting. The paywall also allows the journalist which are not credited financially for their hard work to be compensated, however this will only go to plan id their consumers are willing to pay that online subscription. which i personally think is not going to be successful. The consumers are more likely to find alternatives of reading an article going to newspaper which doesn't have a paywall.

The Future Of Newspaper

Who killed the newspaper? (article)

Summary:

This article talkes about what the best ideal newspapers should have, some of these features include setting the news agenda for the rest of the media. This article believes the meaning of newspaper changed for well developed countries, its become "a business selling words to readers and selling readers to advertisers" causing the newspaper industry to deteriorate.  This article believes that the internet had more of an impact on newspapers than all the other "old" media as a result the main blame on the decline of newspapers is the internet. Because of the internet newspapers in Switzerland and Netherlands have lost half the advertising to the internet emphasising Rupert Murdoch point about the golden river drying up. Newspapers haven't shut down in large numbers however, in order to cut costs there are redundancies being made to the journalists, effecting the quality of news. In addition newspapers alter their news to be more entertaining so it attracts the younger generation, rather than the international affairs and politics making newspapers lose its meaning. As a result this article believes that the internet is the reason the newspaper industry has gone into a decline.

Do you agree with its view on the effects being 'a cause of concern, but not a panic'?

I agree to some extent, this is because the newspaper industry can take precautions this early in the stage rather than panicking about it. They can still maintain the quality of news in the newspaper to create the trust that internet news doesn't have, eg google news just draws together sources from all around the world making it unreliable as a result printed newspapers can use that to their advantage. Further more they can increase the prices of their newspapers to compensate for the advertisement they lost  to the internet. However the newspaper industry should really consider ways to work with new and digital media as it is going to continue to grow which may have an even bigger effect on them, the most attractive thing about news on the internet is citizen journalism and people being able to communicate their ideas, so the newspaper industry should really consider that.

New and digital media (WEEK3ii)

We are working on time travel

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/oct/02/instagram-kevin-systrom-interview-working-on-time-travel

This article is about the development of intergram and how the founders came from a simple desk in a small room, to a massive well decorated building. it talk about the sudden grow of instagram, and is the leading social networking site with 400 million users. This article talks about how there is more to instagram than selfies and exotic holidays. This article talks about the potential talent, creativeness and opportunities instagram is creating for its users. Instagram is a  $35bn technology company which is 50 percent more than Twitter emphasising on the success of instagram.

• 400 million users on insta
• worth $35bn
• worth 50% more than twitter
• secured a $250,000 investment

I think to some extent instagram is allowing people to be more creative because of the competitiveness to get followers. There are allot of people which had opportunities because of instagram (insta famous people), there are allot of modelling opportunities because of intagram however they are not that good is discovering really good photographers or academic talent. I think the best social networking site that creates the best opportunity is vine, because it created allot of opportunity for hosts. 

New And Digital Media (WEEK 3)

Universal internet access to combat poverty 

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/technology/mark-zuckerberg/11893994/Mark-Zuckerberg-calls-for-universal-internet-access-to-combat-poverty.html
This article is about Mark Zukerbergs the co founder of Facebook opinion on the importance of the internet. He said that there should be global access to the internet by 2020, in order to create a united world where we can all understand each other.  He described this objective as a 'to do list for the people of the planet' and pitched to the United Nations, "a like or a post wont stop tanks or bullets, but when people are connected we have a chance to build a common global community" this highlights the importance of the internet, which allows people to communicate worldwide aswell as give people the will to stand up for what they believe in. This newspapers expresses the importance of the internet for social change.

• global access to the internet by 2020
• objective as a 'to do list for the people of the planet'
• wont stop bullets or tanks, but has a chance of building a common global community 
• an affective way to combat the UNs newly adopted agenda of global illness.

In my opinion this is an effect way to get people communicating globally, and may help people stand up for what they believe in as the internet is desensitised. Also because they can see issues of other people from different countries it may help them empathies with them as a result connecting the world. However I don't think the having access to the internet is the most effective way to deal with poverty, because people will need homes and food before they can start paying broadband bills.

Audience and Institutions

Influences of new and digital media;

News consumption in the UK:

• 95% of adults follow the news in the uk, TV is the most used source to access news which decreased from 78% to 75%  since 2013.
• There has been a growth on those who used the internet or apps to access news from 32% to 41%since last year.
• this is mostly evident in 16-34 year olds, where the use of internet and apps has lead to an increase from 43% to 60% in 2014
• people who thought that BBC1 was the most important source of news decreased from 34% in 2013 to 28%in 2014
• increase in those who use website and apps for news 21% in 2014 VS 14% in 2013

TV news consumption:

• an average adult watches 115 hours of news (it was the same in 2013)
• 16-24 year olds watch 27 hours of news in the same period
• 55+ year olds consume 196 hours in the same period
• 64% for BBC 1 + BBC2
• a further 12% for BBC NEWS

Attitudes towards different types of news:

• adults when asked what they considered news; 53% said crime, 53% for world wide current affairs, 51% uk current affairs, 49% for uk politics, 45% for weather.
• 16-24 consider crime sports technology and science as news.
• over 55s general world news, uk and regional current affairs

Reasons to follow the news:

• to find out "what is going on in the world" 58%
• "whats going on across the UK" 56%
• "whats going on in the local area" 49%
• "whats going on in respective nations" 46%
• "its important to keep informed" 42%

An institution that has benefited from changes in new and digital media:

Google is a multinational technology company specializing in internet related services and products. its a free service that makes its money through online advertising, and the blame for industries like the music and newspaper industries hitting a decline.As of September 2013, Google operates 70 offices in more than 40 countries. Google's Internet business was responsible for $10.8 billion of  this  total,  with  an  increase in the number of users' clicks on advertisements  In October 2014, according the  Interbrand ranking, Google was the second most valuable brand in the world (behind apple) with a valuation of $107.4 billion, however A Millward Brown report from the same year puts the Google brand  ahead of  Apple's at  number 1. 

An institution that has suffered from changes in new and digital media:

Only 49% of the people who consume news do it because they want to know what is going on in their local area, which means that more than 50% dont care about local news which means that local newspapers such as the ealing gazette has suffered. New and digital media can be blamed because people who use newspapers to find out news in general is decline, which means that bigger industries can afford to put the distribution of their newspapers on apps or online (the people who use appes/internet for the news increased by 11% in one year), which means local newspapers who don't have the budget would be hit harder.

Who has benefited the most for the changes new and digital media has had on the news industry, audiences or institutions?

Figures show that adults watched an average of 115 hours of news and TV in 2013 and the same with the year before. The majority was 64% on BBC One or BBC Two news channel. However, 16-24 year old's only consumed 27 hours of news on TV, compared to 196 hours for those ages 55 plus. Furthermore, missing one your programmes is not a major problem, as it is available on the BBC iplayer and the other mainstream channels have similar devices. In addition, if people want to show the world their videos to the film, they are able to make a You Tube account and upload it onto there.
Additionally, availability of interactive features are social networking sites such as Fcaebook, Twitter and internet blogs, Also Skype which allows you to make long distance calls, video calls and emails. This benefits the audience, as it allows them to interact with people out of the country and in their society. They can engage in what is happening all over the world e.g by looking at news on social networking sites etc. Also , new developments include the hybrid television where social networking sites, emails and the internet are accessible on your TV screen, so whatever you want to watch or do online, can be done on your TV.  Moreover, on demand means music, feature films and television and all the content of the internet are available on a laptop with wi-fi, again having a hige advantage on the audiences.

The music industry along with film and newspaper has suffered due to the development of new and digital media. the music industry started hitting a decline from 2005/06 due to the development of online access to music such as YouTube. this way people dont feel the need to but the music inorder to listen to it when youtube lets them access and download them for free. According to the 'global recorded music industry revenue', the music imdustry declined from being worth $37billion in 1997 to being worth only $15billion in 2014.

The most common form of watching news is by TV. For example 95%  of adults say they use the TV a as source of news. There is a growth in the number of those who use any internet apps for news, with over four in ten (41%) doing so this year, compared to a third (37%) last year and over a quarter (28%) of those who consume in the UK named BBC, compared to over one-third (34%) in 2013. Also, since 2013, there has been an increase in the number of people starting a website/app as their most important news source.

In conclusions, the institution that has benefited from the changes in new and digital media as well as audiences is Google. This is due to the fact that more people now have greater access to the internet e.g by using their phones etc. and it is much easier for audiences to reach a variety of information. This means that Google has more viewers - becoming more known globally.