New and digital media; NEWS stories#11 - mr halsey

Google to sell Motorola unit to Lenovo in $2.9bn deal

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/jan/29/google-motorola-lenovo-sale

New and digital media; stories#10 - mr halsey

As it's revealed one in three children use a tablet before they can talk, a father's alarming story: The day I realised my toddler was addicted to the iPad

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-2548365/As-revealed-one-three-children-use-tablet-talk-fathers-alarming-story-The-day-I-realised-toddler-addicted-iPad.html


This article refers back to new and digital media as it discuss' how the young boy 'William' is addicted to the IPad as well as how his entire behavior had changed due to this new electronic device. His teachers at school had also noticed this behavior. William is only four therefore Father was shocked to find him playing with the device at 7 in the morning, asking for it at 4 am and have tantrums when he was unable to have the device. The four year old also hit his 18 month sister when she distracted him from playing angry birds. This article therefore shows the negative affects of younger children having new devices as they are loosing their childhood.

• William crept back into our bedroom, found the iPad, and began playing Angry Birds - a hugely addictive video game. When his 18-month-old sister, Megan, disturbed him, he hit her'
• The devices are so effective at occupying small children that many parents in our circle jokingly refer to the iPad as their 'iNanny'.
• William Adams, 3, had become increasingly obsessed with iPad
• He would search for it at night and could turn violent when it was rationed
• Parents Guy and Katie confiscated it and William whined, begged and cried
• Eventually, slowly re-introduced the device in a controlled fashion
• One in three children are able to control an ipad before even talking.

In my opinion I believe it is wrong to even distract a child with electronic devices especially when they are as young as three. The reason for this is that I believe all children should be brought up in a child's environment rather than being around phones, ipad's etc as these devices are addictive and unhealthy for the child's social health. Furthermore, if the child does get addicted to electrical devices it would be the parents fault as it is them who have presented the child with the devices in the first place.

New and digital media; build the wall analysis - mr halsey

David Simon, creator of critically acclaimed TV hit The Wire and a former journalist, has written a passionate defence of the newspaper industry in the face of the new and digital media onslaught. This will take a couple of hours - make sure you put the time in.1) Read the article in full.
The article, Build The Wall, is available here on the Columbia Journalism Review website. 
3) Summarise each section in one sentence:

• Section 1 (To all of the bystanders reading this…)
  This section of the article talks about how the fall in the newspaper industry has brought about a panic and can not only be saved by the higher class newspapers such as The New York Times and The Washington Post  as all the rest of the journalist and in the panic to spread all their news online. Also talking about how newspapers are shutting down everyday therefore over 2 dozen reporters are being fired from their newspaper industry everyday.Talks about the importance of content in newspapers and that newspapers must cost and if you do not find a way to make people pay for the work you are in work terms delusional. David Simon states the paywall is a necessity and that if online newspapers should have a subscription fee.
• Section 2 (Truth is, a halting movement toward...)
  David Simon goes on to discuss Rupert Murdoch's idea of not to do The Wall Street Journal online for free as well as considering an online subscription model for the less unique publications speaks volumes. He also states how Rupert Murdoch as well as the desperate and starving newspaper chains would follow The Times and The Post as it is these newspapers in charge. If these newspapers do not agree with anything, it is likely for nothing to happen. He also discusses the difficulties of going behind a pay wall as their is always going to be a free newspaper elsewhere that provides the same news stories for free. Therefore no newspaper can go behind the paywall without it eventually going bust as readers would most prefer free news. More of the public are reading the Times (nearly 20 million average unique visitors monthly) and the Post (more than 10 million monthly unique visitors). Compares the newspaper industry with television - talks about how paying the TV revenue wouldn't have been thinkable 30 years ago but it slowly came into plan and increased as more channels, bundles and TV packages came into place ; the more channels etc the more people would pay. 
• Section 3 (Beyond Mr. Sulzberger and Ms. Weymouth…)
  Firstly, talks about how in 1995 The Baltimore Sun newspaper said that by putting the information on the internet young individuals would come across it by 'surfing the net' and therefore read it and then want to read more by going out and buying the newspaper. At the time it sounded comical however that is exactly what happened. Secondly, goes on to discuss how by putting the news on the internet costs for advertising and may loose a few readers it works out cheaper and more beneficial than door to door deliveries. 
• Section 4 (For the industry, it is later than it should be…)This section talks about the scenarios on whether The Times and The Post build the paywall. Firstly, he states that both The Times and The Posts' revenue streams would be balanced by advertising etc. They are reassured that they can risk going behind the paywall without local readers getting free national, international, and cultural reporting from the national papers, and having seen that the paid-content formula can work. Secondly, In those cities where regional papers collapse, the vacuum creates an opportunity for new, online subscription-based news organizations that cover state and local issues, sports, and finance, generating enough revenue to maintain a slim—but paid—metro desk. Again, given the absence of circulation costs, such an outcome becomes, by conservative estimates, entirely possible.

4) Summarise David Simon’s overall argument in 250 words.

5) Choose three comments from below the article, and explain whether they agree or disagree with David Simon’s argument and why.

1.  "Please do this. Authoritative resources are being lost in the wikipedia world. One mst go around the world to find authoritative on the groud reporting. I would pay for it, no question."
   This individual agree's with David Simon's argument. The reason for this is because they believe that information online is mostly being shared through Wikipedia, this is a disadvantage as Wikipedia is a user generated site therefore the information shared on it is not particularly true. However if newspapers were online - even if behind the paywall - it would be much easier to access it and at least the authoritative resources would be up to date and considerably true therefore making the money going to towards it worthwhile. Furthermore, although many believe it would be the uperclass buying the newspapers online I believe this individual is education but is from the working class, this is because she has misspelled many words and is not speaking in proper English. 
2. "I will never pay for “news” again. Most news is not truly news - it is sensationalism, hype and deception. Most news is not balanced - every editor is biased. And it is not just that - I truly can not afford to pay for news. Academics, especially with tenure, got it made in the shade and may be able to afford to follow the “news” as they are funded and it does not come out of their pockets. The question comes down to this - do we want an informed public or not. The answer, at least right now, is no. If the public were truly properly informed the American people would not allow Wall Street to gut Main Street, would not believe the lies of “the terrorists are going to destroy our way of life” and would understand that it really makes no difference - except in perception - of who holds the title of chief cheerleader - oops I mean Commander in Chief, President, which should be renamed CEO of America Incorporated."
   This individual goes against David Simons argument as he believes that news is biased as well as untrue therefore it is not worth it to be spending so much online. He also states that he can not afford it, therefore suggesting that he can find news from other resources for free. 
3. 
   

6) 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? Critical autonomy is the key skill in A2 Media - you need to be able form opinions on these issues.

New and Digital media(News) - How has news changed in the last 20 years? - mr halsey

How has the news changed in the last 20 years?
Consider both the audience and institutions!
News has changed drastically over the last 20 years, there is now many different ways audiences are able to view/access their news. Although many people still find out news by 'word of mouth', 500 years ago the only way new would be accessable was 'word of mouth' as there was no internet, newspapers, radio etc. Furthermore, in the 17th century audiences would use letters as there was access to early printing. Therefore the very first newspapers would be given out. Additionally, in the 20th centuary (1920, 1930, 1940) a whold new form of getting news was introduced. This was through the broadcasting platform therefore audiences were able to access the news through the radio as well as television. News through the television became mostly popular in 1953 as this was the year that the queens crowning was shown on TV. Furthermore, in the 1940's cinemas were introduced. This was a large change within news as before the movies would start they would show the latest news, much like cinemas show trailors and adverts now in the 40's they used to show news stories.
Moreover, the main way that news has changed over the last 20 years is the ways in which it can now be accessed. There are now more institutions than there ever has been before. For example, there has been 25 years.

New and digital media; stories#9 - mr halsey

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2542749/Facebook-favourite-social-network-teens-beating-YouTube-Twitter.html

The'death of Facebook' has been 'greatly exaggerated': Report claims social network is favourite among teens, beating YouTube and Twitter

Study based on 170,000 online interviews found the social network is used by almost half of 16 to 19-year-olds around the world on a monthly basis

25 to 34-year-olds rather than the 16 to 24-year-olds make up the largest share of users on nearly all of the social networks surveyed

‘We’ve been able to show that Facebook is still used by 48.5 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds globally on a monthly basis,’ said Mr Smith.

Facebook is still the dominant, most popular social network on the planet among teens with 67 per cent more active teen users than the nearest competitor, YouTube, which is regularly used by 29 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds, he said.

Twitter is third most popular social network with 26 per cent of 16 to 19-year-olds around the world using it on a monthly basis.

‘Our GlobalWebIndex Social study shows that reports of ‘the death of Facebook’ have been greatly exaggerated,’ Mr Smith said.

New and digital media; the future of newspapers - mr halsey

* Read this article from the Economist on the future of newspapers.
* On your blog, write a paragraph summarising the argument the article makes. 
- The article argues that newspapers are not a dying news industry. However, we should try to prevent newspapers from dying as they are the only industry that is able to find significant information on politics, government and other serious issues. The main reason for the fall in newspaper demand is the internet as more people are using it now. Also, the use of news apps on smart phones has been as great reason to why newspapers are no longer in high demand. Moreover, newspapers are able to find this important information and make audiences and public aware where as the internet is unable to find such information therefore the public would not be receiving all the news that they need to know. Newspapers have previously been able to make politicians and those in charge resign. Also, this article talks about how dying newspapers is a great concern however it is nothing to panic about as we can still get information from other resources such as the internet, magazines etc. 

* Do you agree with its view that it is ‘a cause for concern, but not for panic’?
- In my opinion, I agree with this article as although newspapers are highly important and give out great news if they do die out it would be a concern however it is nothing to have such a panic about. The reason for this is that the same news can be shared through the internet, social networking sites, apps, magazines etc. Therefore, it would not be the total end of news all together!

New and digital media; stories#8 - mr halsey

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/19/call-to-end-bbc-culture-of-secrecy

Senior BBC figures are facing calls to reform the corporation's "culture of secrecy", as an internal inquiry is expected to reveal Jimmy Savile sexually abused up to 1,000 children while working for the corporation.
The paper quoted a source close to the Smith inquiry, expected to report next month, saying that "many hundreds and potentially up to 1,000 people" were victims of Savile while he was working for the BBC from the 1960s until his retirement in 2006.

New and digital media; how has it changed over 20 years? - mr halsey

Topic area: NEWS 

Impact on audience:

• Audiences are able to access news at anytime - Online;
• The information audiences get is inaccurate, user-generated information;
• Audiences can report news - camera phones etc,
  - 'Citizen Journalist';
• Many sources of news.

Impact on institutions:

• Audiences fallen as people can now watch what they whenever they want;
• As a lot of the information in the news from online is user-generated many, a lot of journalist have been sued;
• The user-generated information gives news a bad reputation; false rumors get sent around;
• User-generated information means less audiences as they would no longer trust these newspapers or websites (information source);
• Advertising revenues being taken over by other institutions such as Google and other NDM companies (new and digital media companies).

Theories and debates: 

• Perato's 80% of audiences get news from 20% of institutions;
• Globalisation - the process by which businesses or other organizations develop international influence or start operating on an international scale;
• Pluralism - a condition or system in which two or more states, groups, principles, sources of authority, etc., coexist.

Who has benefited most?
In my opinion I believe both the audiences as well as institutions have benefited from the changes in new and digital media over the last 20 years. However, audiences have ha a better advantage over institutions. The reason for this is that although audiences receive a higher profit according to the higher number of audiences and users they receive there are now many shares in institutions therefore the profits must be equally distributed. 

New and digital media; stories#7 - mr halsey

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-2540205/Have-11m-teens-left-Facebook-2011-New-report-claims-mass-exodus-continues-site-messaging-apps-over.html

More than 11 million teens have left Facebook since 2011 as messaging apps take over, new report claims 

• According to iStrategy, Facebook has 4,292,080 fewer high-school aged users and 6,948,848 college-aged users than it did in 2011. 
• Female (age 19): 'Yeah, that's why we go on Twitter and Instagram [instead of Facebook]. My mom doesn't have that.'
  

New and Digital Media and News; article - mr halsey

News article: http://gigaom.com/2014/01/02/no-larry-page-and-sergey-brin-are-not-to-blame-for-the-decline-of-the-media-industry/

1) Why has Google led to the decline of the newspaper industry?
Google has led to the decline of the newspaper industry by taking off billions in advertising revenue over the past decade or so. Craig Newmark made a online classified site which he had originally pitched to a newspaper, but was rejected. However, it is this site that is blamed for removing billions of dollars in classified advertising from the newspaper business, demolishing one of its key revenue pillars.


2) Do you personally think Google is to blame for newspapers closing and journalists losing their jobs? Why?

I personally think Google is not to black for newspapers closing and journalists loosing their jobs. The reason for this is that I believe the development of new and digital media is the real cause for newpapers closing as there are new ways to know the news such as online. Also, many people now have Ipads, new phones etc this allows individuals to read the news on the go therefore meaning there is no longer as much of a demand for newspapers. Although journalists are loosing their jobs due to the low demand for newspapers there is now a higher demand for journalists to write online articles therefore jobs for journalists are still available.

New and digital media; stories#6 - mr halsey

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2535631/11m-watch-BBC-iPlayer-New-Year-Soaring-sales-tablets-push-audience-figures-record-high.html

- BBC iplayer for 11million views on new years,
- BBC have described this year as being 'the year of the tablet'
- 941,000 downloads of the mobile and tablet app over festive period
- On Boxing Day there were 2.2m iPlayer requests from tablet devices 
- Almost 11 million TV and radio programmes were watched and listened to on the BBC’s iPlayer on New Year’s Day, the highest ever daily viewing figures for the online service.
* his therefore shows that the new technology such as tablets and mobile phone are enabling individuals to watch what they wish on the internet 

New and digital media; stories#5 - mr halsey

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/jan/06/jeremy-paxman-shaves-off-beard

Jermey Paxman shaves off beard, claiming it was 'so 2013'

Newsnight presenter returns to familiar clean-shaven look after telling magazine: 'If a chap can't shave on holiday, what can he do?

New and digital media; stories#4 - mr halsey

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-london-25557937

- Thousands of police civilian staff including 999 call handlers and detention officers are striking until midnight on New Year's Eve.
- About 7,500 police and community support officers, detention officers in custody suites and administration staff started their strike at midnight.

PCS general secretary Mark Serwotka said: "The Metropolitan Police is not short of money. It does not need to force pay cuts on low-paid staff who help to keep London safe."

The force said New Year's Eve was one of the busiest days of the year for the service but it had "appropriate plans in place".

New and digital media; stories#3 - mr halsey

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2013/dec/24/storms-britain-dead-christmas-travel-chaos

- The storms and rush of christmas has caused deaths. 
- As people rush to return to their homes and spend christmas with their family or loved ones the weather does not help 
- Five people have died since Monday and thousands have had Christmas disrupted after the UK was battered by strong winds and heavy rain causing widespread chaos to rail, road, air and ferry travel.

New and digital media; end of unit question - mr halsey

PLAN - ESSAY

"There are always concerns about new technology."

In your view, what are the possible benefits and problems attached to the Internet?

Introduction:
- Put my argument across; that new technology has always got up coming concerns 
- Give example of the internet; The fact that social networking sites and user generated (Problems)
- Give the opposing view that there isn't always a concern as people can find out information that would usually be a difficulty to know about; the development on technology allows important news to be known much faster.

Paragraph one; The concerns of new technology:
- The internet is truly and multi-media experience as due to new technology internet users are able to find all forms of information such as text documents, photographs, movies, videogames, emails etc.
- Although some may argue that there are always problems and concerns about new technology, it has enabled people to complete many tasks which were not possible 10 years ago. 
- These would be things such as being able to find over 10,000 results on Google within 1.4 seconds. 
- Google has ownership over many other websites such as Gmail and Youtube.
- These are extremely popular websites and are used by many people for example, 

• More than 1 billion unique users visit YouTube each month..

• Mobile makes up almost 40% of YouTube's global watch time..
• Therefore illustrating that the development of new mobile phones allows individuals to use internet on the go showing that new technology is positive as it enables internet to be more accessible.

- Google is also a prime example of the Paretos law as 80% of the media is owned by 20% of institutions. 

It could be argued that the development of new technology disables the information shared through the internet to be reliable or trustworthy as majority of it is user generated. However, despite of the concerns of new technology it has enabled us to research more than 10,000 searches within the space of 1.4 seconds therefore demonstrating the internet as more of a positive development rather than negative.

There are many benefits attached to the internet as the internet has been an up coming technological development for many years and now has reached its peak as statistics show there are 2,435,297,833 (constantly changing) internet users around the world. The internet is truly an multi-media experience as due to new technology internet users are able to find all forms of information such as text documents, photographs, movies, videogames, emails etc. This is evident as there is now 113,281,983,659 email users, however due to the internet being a main source of information these statistics are changing every second. Furthermore, Google is a main institution which is used in order to research information. Google has ownership over many websites such as Google Chrome, Gmail and Youtube therefore it is not only used as a research engine but also business and entertainment based. Youtube is an extremely popular website and is used by individuals all over the world, as evidence has shown more than 1 billion internet users visit YouTube each month. Also mobiles make up almost 40% of Youtube's global watch time therefore demonstrating new technology positivly as it enables the internet to be more accessible as well as allowing individuals to use the internet on the go. Google is therefore a prime example of Pareto's law as it has been said that 80% of the media is owned by 20% of institutions. 

Paragraph two; Internet is not a concern, Beyonce putting her album straight on internet:
- Beyonce put her album straight on I-tunes without not warning and is recording a music video for each song of hers
- http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25362941
- Beyonce has unexpectedly released her fifth album on iTunes overnight, with 14 new songs and 17 music videos.
- "adding she was "bored" of releasing music the traditional way"
- 
Additionally, new technology is not a concern in modern day media. The reason for this is that the development of new technology enables individuals to know information at a faster time then ever before. Beyonce's release of her 5th album is a prime example of this as not only did she go against the 'traditional' way of releasing an album according to the music industry but the first announcement of the album was made on instagram. This was significant as it illustrates the development of technology as well as the power of it as although she did not advertise her album she still recieved 

New and digital media; stories#2 - mr halsey

Beyonce puts surprise album on iTunes

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-25362941

Beyonces surprise album release brought about many controversial opinions and debates however the artist put her leg out there and did something the music industry thought would never have been possible and released her 5th album without any notice or advertising. She has also decided to release 17 videos for each song of hers, she was able to record every single music video without a word going out to anyone else in the music industry or any of her fans. Therefore this article talks about how Beyonce broke the expectations of the music industry as she avoided advertising her album and just released it straight to iTunes. 

- Beyonce has unexpectedly released her fifth album on iTunes overnight, with 14 new songs and 17 music videos.
- The self-titled record is the follow-up to 2011's 4, and features guest spots from her husband Jay-Z and daughter Blue Ivy.

New and digital media; stories#1 - mr halsey

Smug shots and selfies: the rise of internet self-obsession

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/dec/06/selfies-status-updates-digital-bragging-web


This story focuses on people obsessions with taking selfies. 2013 is being known as the year of the selfies, these picture types are becoming popular as the social networking sites such as Facebook, Instagram and Twitter become more popular. Furthermore, the hashtag 'selfie' has also become extremely popular as individuals now use this hashtag '#selfie' in the caption of their pictures on Instagram and Twitter. 

- 2013 is the year digital bragging took over the web. We expose the worst offenders
- this article focuses on people obsession to take selfies of themselves and post them on social networking site.

- The word 'selfie' on it's own was none as the most popular hashtag on instagram and twitter in 2013. 

In my opinion I believe that 2013 has been the year of selfies, both nice and awful picture. It is true that many people now post pictures of their grand houses and cars even when not a celebrity they still choose to copy the MTV cribs lifestyle. Furthermore, I believe people no longer care about how they look or what is thought of them through their pictures on Instagram or Twitter and they are popular social networking sites and by posting awful picture of themselves people are able to get more views and likes and other may find it entertaining and humorous.