27/02/17 - Whistleblowers endangered in digital age, says lawyers' report (50)

27/02/17 - Whistleblowers endangered in digital age, says lawyers' report (50)

It's now being alleged that with the digital age, it's getting more and more difficult to 'safeguard the anonymity' of whistleblowers. With things like the interception and/or monitoring of phone and online conversations that can take place, there is a call for them to receive improved legal protection to prevent them from being identified. This comes after a publication of a Law Commission review exhibited suggestions that prison sentences for leaking information could potentially get increased with no regard for the concept of public interest defence. The actual report discussing the susceptibility of whistleblowers today, Protecting Sources and Whisteblowers in a Digital Age, displays how the Investigatory Powers Act (IPA) states that: 'communications metadata - which could be used to hunt down and prosecute a source - belongs to the telecoms provider not the the journalist.' What this does is make it so that both a journalist and a source won't know they've been exposed for whistleblowing until the material they've provided is used 'in legal proceedings.' The National Union of Journalists (NUJ) have lobbied to prevent this from happening which can be seen with their reform to the digital economy bill which helps create a defence for publication in the public interest. However, the way in which this is interpreted in courts may end up meaning that this isn't really enforced. Not only this, but it still doesn't ensure that the actual whistleblowers and sources are protected to a reasonable degree.  While across the media this is being viewed as a completely against the interests of the general public, also eroding the rights of whistleblowers, government view it instead as a 'strengthening' of safeguards since public bodies that want to utilise communications metadata to identify the source of a journalist now have to receive approval from a senior judge. 

This article is indicative of the increased risk there is for whistleblowers in the digital age. Through new legislation, law enforcement and agencies can now access journalists' data without journalists being aware of this. This means that whistleblowers can pretty much be exposed for the information that they've shared. It'll have to be looked at whether or not organisations like the NUJ will be able to influence legislation like this further as it could definitely have a significant impact on things like investigative journalism.

27/02/17 - The readers’ editor on exposing fake news and lies (49)

27/02/17 - The readers’ editor on exposing fake news and lies (49)

As of recent years, fake news stories having been running rampant within the media. Headlines like 'Nine Italian nuns pregnant after offering shelter to north African immigrants' and 'Man falls from bridge while playing Pokemon Go' are just examples of these kind of articles. A report by the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism stated that stories of this false nature mainly came about in the run-up to the 2016 US presidential election as well as the EU referendum, giving rise to the term 'post-fact' or 'post-truth.' Democracy is said to be the main thing at risk here with fake news essentially contributing to its destabilisation. Teyit.org is one of the fact-checking agencies among many others since 2010 that have had to be formed to combat against the influx of fake news that there's been. Not only this but Full Fact, a British charity, is currently developing an app for journalists to allow them to instantly check statistics they happen to hear at press conferences in order to confirm their credibility. The examples continue here with the Washington Post now fact-checking tweets posted by Donald Trump, attaching a note when any inaccuracies are found and also papers like Le Monde in France creating a whole fact-checking division within it. What's done is Teyit to prevent the dissemination of fake news is users of social media are invited to report stories they suspect are false to a WhatsApp hotline which founder of the agency cites as helping encourage 'critical thinking' within audiences. Nonpartisanism is something that still wants to be maintained while this fact-checking is being done though by the different agencies. They of course though, want to establish clearly that lies are lies and falsehoods are falsehoods and not use the term 'alternative facts' which the Reuters Institute laid out.

• According to a report from the Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, more than 90% of fact-checking agencies have been established since 2010 - 50 have launched in the past 2 years alone
• Since Teyit.org's opening three months ago, there have been some 3000 alerts regarding investigation and debunking of fake stories

What's now being able to be seen is that there is now actual action being taken in the fight against fake news. While a couple of months ago all stories on it revolved around the rise of fake news on social networks like Facebook particularly around the run-up of both the EU referendum and US election, we're now seeing stories showing the methods fact-checking agencies are implementing to prevent its spread. It's interesting here too that it's a number of different countries that are putting measures in place rather than just one, so with this it has to be paid attention to whether or not they'll be capable of putting at least a reduction in the amount of fake news stories that go about.

Identities and Film: blog task

Identities and Film: blog task

1)

• Nigerian  
• 17
• Reserved 
• A photographer
• Poet 
• Hip-hop enthusiast 
• Calm 
• Inquisitive
• A pan-African 
• Introspective 
• A pessimistic optimist 
• Dedicated 
• Collected 
• Easily amused
• Relatively receptive 
• Quiet
• Cautious  
• Informed 
• Patient 
• Versatile 

2)

• Nigerian  - social groups and classifications
• 17 - social groups and classifications
• Reserved - self-evaluations
• A photographer - interests
• Poet - interests
• Hip-hop enthusiast - interests 
• Calm  - self-evaluations
• Inquisitive - self-evaluations
• A pan-African - ideological beliefs
• Introspective - self-evaluations 
• A pessimistic optimist - self-evaluations
• Dedicated - self-evaluations
• Collected - self-evaluations
• Easily amused - self-evaluations
• Relatively receptive - self-evaluations
• Quiet - self-evaluations
• Cautious - self-evaluations
• Informed - self-evaluations
• Patient - self-evaluations
• Versatile - self-evaluations

3)

My favourite film is Malcolm X (1992), which suggests that my identity is deep-rooted in the pan-Africanism ideology as well as civil rights activism. With this I of course find myself resonating with Malcolm the most out of all the characters particularly towards the end of the film.

4)

LGBT identities are constructed into looking as if they're a group who come under a significant level of scrutiny/questioning and opposition by those that don't belong in it. The trailer for Pride displays it with the way in which gay people are shown protesting for their rights on the streets en masse, with things like placards to show for it. Wilde also does the same with the confusion that there appears to be regarding the sperm donation that was underwent for the lesbian couple to have a child. Audiences therefore could be said to be encouraged to respond to the representations in a way where they develop a level of sympathy for members of the LGBT community.

Identities: applying feminism

Identities: applying feminism

1)

• Radical Feminism
• Liberal Feminism
• Marxist-Feminism
• Black Feminism
• Postmodern Feminism

2)

• Judith Butler (liberal feminism) - Butler would apply here as her theory describes this idea that gender is not biologically fixed and that this division of men and women only worked to reinforce the difference bet
• Angela McRobbie (postmodern feminism) - McRobbie fits into this variant of feminism as her beliefs of women being empowered through the media stems from third wave of feminism
• Laura Bates (postmodern feminism) - Bates would definitely be a postmodern feminist as her Everyday Sexism project encourages individual women to talk about experiences of sexism that they've faced in their which as we know, has worked to create a brand

3)

The suffragists were liberal women's/feminist groups which aimed to achieve their goals through peaceful means while the suffragettes were more radical in their nature, using more violent and confrontational methods to get what they wanted. At the time it was utilised I think the suffragettes  approach would have been a lot more necessary to obtain the equal rights wanted for women. 

4)

Laura Mulvey's argument regarding Hollywood film was that through cinematography, women were objectified for the sole pleasure of the male audiences. Key words used to describe this portrayal were 'fetishistic' and so 'whores', but also 'voyeuristic,' so 'madonnas' or virgins.  

5)

• Glamour Magazine
• L'Oreal advert
• Oprah Winfrey TV guide cover
• Beauty Knows No Pain
• Eva Herzigova advert

6)

Killbourne believes that within the advertising industry the most important thing regarding women is their appearance. Similar to John Berger's theory that 'men act and women appear,' women are made to take a huge effort into the way that they look and if this doesn't produce good results, they can feel quite guilty as a result. Things like photo editing intensify this pressure, in a time where airbrushing and things like it make it more difficult and in some cases, virtually impossible for women to replicate what they see in the media.

7)

In The Beauty Myth, Naomi Wolf argues that women now have to pressure to attain the social standards presented to them in the media in terms of beauty. Because of this, women end up taking drastic measures to get to reach these 'ideals.'

8)

This a controversial topic as you'll have some feminists that believe that artists like Beyonce 'owning' their bodies in videos like 'Why Don't You Love' helps to contribute to the portrayal of a 'strong, independent woman.' At the same time though you'll have other feminists that believe this only appeals to the male gaze.

9)

I think that artists like Beyonce have assisted in empowering women despite the more patriarchal society we live in. We see this evident with songs like 'Who Run The World,' which clearly works to make women understand they're more powerful than perhaps they once thought. I think that someone like Nicki Minaj however just reinforces sexual views since her videos we see her present herself in not only a scantily-clad, but also a suggestive manner.

10)

Personally, I do feel that new and digital media allows women to challenge the sexist views of them that exist within society. Things like the Everyday Sexism project by Laura Bates are the standout examples of this since they show the solidarity that women can uptake with one another in order to oppose sexism - postmodern feminism. However at the same time we can still see oppression being present, sometimes unintentionally by media producers. For example, the Beyonce 'Why Don't You Love Me' video appears to have the purpose of empowering women but it can actually be thought to do the opposite with the way in which a woman is portrayed in it. 

20/02/17 - Germany leads fightback against fake news (48)

20/02/17 - Germany leads fightback against fake news (48)

There was a story in Germany reported by Breitbart that a mob attacked the oldest church in the country, St Reinold's Church in Dortmund. In a subsequent article, the publisher admitted that St Reinold's actually isn't the oldest church in Germany. Fake news. Anas Modamani, a 19-year-old Syrian took a selfie with Angela Merkel and as it went viral, so too did the false claim that he was a terrorist. Fake news. Stories like this are now being used in a way that they help fulfil an agenda, in this case an anti-Islamist one, that is both divisive and just a complete misrepresentation of true events. Measures to prevent stories from disseminating though, have already been established. In Germany, Facebook employ independent, young fact-checkers part of a newsroom called Correctiv. They monitor suspicious stories by looking at the amount of likes and shares they're receiving. Stories coming from particularly untrustworthy websites will usually result in the team contacting the original source(s) for the story to get verification for its credibility. They then send a message to all German users of Facebook as to whether it's authentic or not. As a nonprofit organisation, they don't accept money from Facebook to maintain its total editorial independence. One of the reasons why Germany have been able to prepare so well for this issue is firstly due to the refugee policy instated by Angela Merkel. This has essentially 'mobilised purveyors of fake news' which can typically be found in the nationalist far-right. Another is that most influential newspapers in Germany unlike Britain are 'staid rather than raucous.' So this conventionality of the market has made an opening for news that is particularly exciting albeit fake. With the election coming soon, it's also clear why the issue has been made to be dealt with so quickly.

I think from this story, it's clear that both the United States and Britain could take some pointers from Germany on how to combat fake news. Social media is the main territory where this news spreads, so by establishing fact-checkers within some of them like Facebook, it's a lot harder for these kind of articles to travel. However it'll have to be seen whether or not the country will be able to keep this up come election time as this is likely when stories of this nature will be at their peak.

20/02/17 - This is why conservative media outlets like the Daily Mail are 'unreliable' (47)

20/02/17 - This is why conservative media outlets like the Daily Mail are 'unreliable' (47)

When looking at the ban imposed on the Daily Mail by Wikipedia, one of the questions that comes to mind is why the online encyclopaedia still allows references to Russia Today and Fox News with their clear bias. However the move seems to be more justified with the two fake news stories by David Rose in consecutive editions of the Mail on Sunday. One of these stories was 'alleging scandalous behaviour' being displayed by NOAA scientists in terms of global temperature data. Although the data results are indisputable as proven by other professionals, Rose still deemed it fit to make the claim that 'world leaders were duped into investing billions over manipulated global warming data.' With all the criticism he received with a story like this coming left, right and centre, the journalist still maintained his views, even doubling down on them. With this comparisons have actually drew between Rose and Donald Trump for this blatant spreading of misinformation taking place. Even prior to that story though, Rose had still been publishing stories of a quite uninformed nature. In 2013, he published a story saying that 'because there was more sea in the Arctic that summer than the previous year, this was somehow indicative of "global COOLING!"' However it's clear that this simply couldn't have been the case since in less than four 4 decades, around 3/4s of the summer Arctic sea has disappeared. A year after this, he would completely dismiss the ice in the Arctic and instead speak on Antarctic which funnily enough, is the only reason that it's the only ice that has bucked the trend of the rest of the Earth. Propaganda is what Rose's stories end up being referred to as, with stories of this nature keeping in line with the bias of the journalists - undermining climate policies from the 'green cons.'

This article really does seem to justify the Wikipedia's ban of the Daily Mail. Stories that can come from it can be uninformed, biased and with a clear agenda in mind. Even with the criticism that stories and their journalists receive though, there'll always be people that agree with them and this is representative of the propagandistic nature of them.

Identities: Feminism and new/digital media

Identities: Feminism and new/digital media

Everyday Sexism

1)

Laura Bates started the Everyday Sexism project because as a victim of sexual harassment herself, she deemed it imperative for other women to have the opportunity to speak out against things that they've dealt with. This helps provide a sense of solidarity for them in being able to stand for their own rights as women.

2)

The Everyday Sexism project is testament to how post-feminism is still needed within modern society. Women still face aspects of abuse in terms of things like sexual harassment and rape in the U.K, so really a project like this actually has to have a place in society. Not just U.K society, but western society as a whole to help reach this egalitarian state we wish to live in.

3)

Judith Butler's theory can be applied to the creation of the Everyday Sexism project as the abuse of the women was done with 'sexual pleasure/gain' in mind. Society through things like Page 3 has constructed a notion that the main positive of women is their 'biological endowments,' and this is where the abusive behaviour comes from.

4)

Angela McRobbie's work on female empowerment links to the project as we see here, women standing up in solidarity against a crime committed on them. However, the main empowerment is sourced from the way in which the women present what's been done to them. 'Success stories' often get reported of women detailing what they've done in opposition to sexism by men and this can end up inspiring other women to also make a stand against it, deriving empowerment from this. 

Media Magazine: The fourth wave?

1)

Networked feminism is what's the quite contestable, fourth wave of feminism. It's done with the goals of solving social equality issues that we see on modern technology. Examples of this include blogs and hashtags and these have assisted in almost 'resurrecting' both ideologies and communities thought to have been dead to the internet. While YouTube is utilised in helping set up, grow and oppose campaigns with sentiments of sexism in them, Twitter is the main platform modern feminism is expressed on. Hashtags like #WomenAgainstFeminism and #YesAllWomen exemplify this, trending on the social network represent the significance feminism still has now in society.

It can be viewed though as being a problem, especially with the supposed 'post-feminist' state that we now live in. This state means that many people have misconceptions about what feminism actually stands for and what it's currently still trying to achieve. The concept of 'man haters' is a particularly prevalent one here. Not only this the word 'feminist' also has associations with groups like the suffragettes who were renowned for their more active opposition to patriarchy, so it's considered being too strong.

2)

First wave: early 20th century, suffragette movement (right to vote).

Second wave: 1960s – 1990s, reproductive rights (pill), abortion, equal pay.

Third wave: 1990s – present, empowerment, reclaiming of femininity (high heels, sexuality etc. See Angela McRobbie's work on women's magazines).

Fourth wave? 2010 – ongoing, use of new technology and digital media (e.g. Twitter) for activism.

Personally I think we are now in a fourth wave of feminism and social networks are only testament to this. Certain hashtags can be seen here and there that do have links to the feminist movement  and we see what appears to be quite a large number of young people associating with these.

3)

Everyday Sexism

Everyday Sexism is a project that was started by Laura Bates 4 years ago that allows female victims of sexism to post examples of some of the abuse they have had to face committed by men. She set it up with the main concern of us not being in a post-feminist state in mind, something that many disagree with. The 50,000 entries made by users by December 2013 proved that Bates’ view was true, and fast forward three years after that and you see the Everyday Sexism project being one of the most highly-visible feminist digital campaigns that there are.

HeForShe

HeForShe is a campaign lead by Emma Watson concentrating on support by males for gender inequality. One of the reasons she believes this should be done is because ‘fighting for women’s rights has too often become synonymous with man-hating,’ so the participation of males could help change that. In promotion of the campaign she’s participated in Twitter Q&A sessions, with her answers often rejecting the performance (Butler) aspects women are generally known for having. The campaign has though, been subject to criticism for making feminism too reliant on men which some argue actually helps undermine the ‘strong woman’ element that they feel needs to be developed more.

FCKH8

FCKH8 is a digital campaign that focuses on the modern representation of girls and the significant social inequalities that they often end up facing. It involved a video that featured young girls ‘f-bombing,’ and this was used to question what was actually worse between a girl swearing and the sexism that women have to face in society today. The video racked up over 1 million views in its first 3 months of being published but this didn’t stop the campaign from coming under fire. FCKH8 is a for-profit company that sells t-shirts so people felt that the feminist movement was really just being exploited as an advertising tool.

The Girl Can

This Girl Can is apparently, ‘the first fitness campaign’ that doesn’t either exclude or shame women in the photos, videos and quotes they share from them. The sexual exploitation that you would see in other campaigns is missing here meaning that body shaming doesn’t take place. Regardless though, this hasn’t meant that the campaign has had everyone positive about it as it has dealt with some criticisms by feminists online.

4)

I do think that as a society, we have entered a fourth wave of feminism. The use of social networks like Twitter and also video-sharing sites like YouTube exemplify this with the feminist communities that have been created on them through things like hashtags.  With this it appears that digital is the new path that feminism is now taking.

Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

1)

Beyonce's 'Why Don't You Love Me' video helps contribute to Butler's idea in that we see Beyonce herself partaking in actions that are part of this 'performance.' Throughout the video, we see her do things like clean, cook and do the laundry. The completion of household chores like this by a woman is something that within society, is deemed as a (traditional) norm. This is without mentioning the way in which she's shown in 'tight high-waisted knickers' and a 'vintage style bra' in obvious desire for the pleasure of a man. This is representative of how Beyonce is a 'performer' in the role that society have assigned to females.

2)

McRobbie would view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women as she radiates a sense of autonomy through her actions. In the scenes where we do see the artist wearing less, it could actually be looked at as a woman 'owning' her own body and making an active choice as to the way she presents herself.  Rather than 'submit to' a man telling her how to appear, she has ultimate control over her body.

3)

Personally I feel that the video manages to do both things in that while it empowers women, it does also reinforce their socially constructed roles they have in society. 'Why Don't You Love Me' presents Beyonce as a woman who has a good amount of autonomy to herself, taking pride in her own anatomy perhaps for her own sake as well as her love interest's. However not only does she show us conformation to the constructed roles that females have in society, but she inadvertently satisfies the desire of men which Laura Mulvey's male gaze explores. We see a woman that's presented in a way that benefits male audiences most which just reinforces what we traditionally see in society.

13/02/17 - Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as 'unreliable' source (46)

13/02/17 - Wikipedia bans Daily Mail as 'unreliable' source (46)

A vote by editors of the Wikipedia has meant that Daily Mail is now regarded by the online encyclopaedia, as a 'generally unreliable' source effectively banning it from being used as one. The decision is being viewed as quite an unusual move for the two reasons that they rarely impose any 'blanket bans' on publications and it still allows information to be sourced from news organisations like Fox News which are quite controversial for their credibility in reporting news. According to the editors, the Mail has a reputation essentially based around: 'poor fact checking, sensationalism and flat-out fabrication.' However there hasn't been uncontested support for the ban and there are individuals who oppose it for the reasons stated above as well as the idea that the reasoning behind the ban is solely 'driven by a dislike of the publication.' Regardless, editors have rounded up volunteers to review the 12,000 links already on the Wikipedia to the Daily Mail in order to replace them with alternative sources where possible. This has been to the dismay of the paper, with them in 2016 only receiving 'two upheld adjudications' for inaccuracy from IPSO.

In a time when there's global debate on the issue of fake news, it's no surprise a move of this nature was made. Publications are seeking to obtain and disseminate the most accurate information possible, free from elements like bias and outright lies. The Daily Mail has quite an infamous reputation for this kind of thing, having stories that not only align with quite a right-wing ideology but also ones that contain misinformation. This move is quite noteworthy too as usually it's Wikipedia in the spotlight for having false information as oppose to a newspaper publication. Perhaps it shows though a new approach that the encyclopaedia has in providing the most accurate information possible.

13/02/17 - Twitter loses ad revenue despite gaining 2 million users and Trump 'boost' (45)

13/02/17 - Twitter loses ad revenue despite gaining 2 million users and Trump 'boost' (45)

The frequent use of Twitter by Donald Trump is something that has assisted the social network in increasing its user numbers. This though, wasn't significant enough of a thing to prevent the decline of advertising revenue occurring for the platform and subsequently their shares. While monthly active users have been on the climb, even with a 9% reduction in the workforce, the actual financial growth of the social network is lagging to a degree where it's being said it'll continue in the future. The gains in advertising revenue in international markets for them, was essentially 'wiped out' with the losses within the US market which was previously seeing increases within the first three quarters of 2016. One of the reasons for this decrease according to chief executive and co-founder of Twitter, Jack Dorsey, was more competition in terms of digital ad spending. To help combat against losses of this sort, he claims the company will 'scrap  less lucrative initiatives' and draw the company's focus more towards products with a higher possibility of success e.g. live video-streaming.

• The San Francisco-based company reported annual revenues up 14% on last year to $2.5bn (£2bn)
• Monthly active users climbed from 317 million to 319 million in the final quarter of last year
• The tech company is still making sizeable losses, falling $457m into the red during 2016 despite cutting 9% of its workforce
• Its shares fell by more than 11% to $16.54
• Twitter has now racked up losses of almost $2.8bn since it floated on the stock market three years ago
• Fall in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter in 2016, down to $638m from $641m in the same period of last year largely down to a 5% slump in revenues in the US to $440m, a fall that wiped out a 12% rise to $277m in its international markets

It'll be quite interesting seeing how Twitter fare in 2017 in terms of ad revenue. How capable they are in competing for digital ad spending against other companies/platforms like Facebook and Snapchat will have to be seen. Not only this, but the new products they end up making in the drive towards profitability will likely be quite noteworthy, with live video streaming probably being just the beginning of many ventures they could delve into.

06/02/17 - Would you believe it? Print remains a favourite with readers (44)

06/02/17 - Would you believe it? Print remains a favourite with readers (44)

Since Google turned up in the industry, contributing to the destruction of the business model of newspapers, the actual disruption to traditional media such as print has accelerated. Journalism's future is now in fact online, regardless of what the comments of the digital deniers are. At the same time though, later down the line what print could do is largely serve more of a niche market in a way akin to magazines as they'll always be a segment of society willing to pay to get that exact kind of access to information. Whether this could be adapted to a business model, supporting quality journalism on a scale that allows it to be a centre of daily national conversation though is particularly questionable. As well as this, there's the whole issue about the echo chambers social media creates with the increased use of it for access to news and if it could improve the dissemination of news. The attention that online editions of news receive from readers is also quite a questionable thing. While online editions have as much as tripled the number of readers national papers reach, research shows that the amount of time that readers spend on them is significantly less than they would with an actual paper.

• 89% of newspaper reading is still in newsprint, with just 7% via mobile devices and 4% on PCs
• While print newspapers are read for an average of 40 minutes per day, online visitors to the websites and apps of those same newspapers spend an average of just 30 seconds per day
• Split in newspapers' print/digital revenues (88% to 12%)
• UK national newspaper market is more concentrated than is commonly believed, with one title having close to a 30% market share

This article is quite interesting as it unveils/reveals some of the things we didn't actual know in relation to the 'newspaper vs print' debate. The huge difference between the time spent reading stories online and then reading the print variant shows that perhaps print still does have something to offer. In fact, there have even been calls from Ofcom themselves saying that market share should actually be calculated from time-spent reading. As well as this, it'll be quite noteworthy to see whether print does become this more niche thing in time as it is  something that's been suggested by other people in the past. At least in this instance, there'll still be some use of the platform.

06/02/17 - Twitter accounts really are echo chambers, study finds (43)

06/02/17 - Twitter accounts really are echo chambers, study finds (43)

The phrase, 'birds of a feather flock together,' really does come across as being true when politics and the internet are in mind. Research on 2000 of the most politically engaged Twitter users identifying as supporters of one of the major UK political parties (by thinktank Demos) represented exactly this, with them being most likely to interact with other users supporting the same party or share articles that align with the same views as them. Report author Alex Krasodomski-Jones believes that this kind of behaviour that we see is exacerbated through how media outlets now will use more polarising views to attract audiences. Rather than just focus on stories with a neutral standpoint, 'this attention economy, vying for clicks, eyeballs, pushes people into very confirmatory outlets,' helping contribute to the number of alternative news stories which are 'ideologically driven' more than anything. Things like this can be seen with Ukip supporters accounting for more than half of all the linke posted for articles from the Daily Mail, Sun and Guido Fawkes websites. Cognitive scientist at Sheffield University, Tom Stafford, makes mention of this concept of homophily, saying that it applies to the media as much as it does in person. With this interaction between rival party supporters can already be seen as being quite infrequent.   

• Labour supporters were weighted more heavily towards the Guardian, Independent, New Statesman, Mirror and Huffington Post (centre-left or leftwing) which accounted for 82% of shares from LabourList
• More than three-quarters of retweets from SNP supporters and 73% of those from Ukip supporters were of someone from their own party
• The highest proportion of one party retweeting supporters of another – 32% – was between Tories and Ukip supporters

This article actually works to confirm this idea that social networks, this time Twitter in particular, are just echo chambers. It's viewed more as an avenue predominantly for people that share the same political views to communicate with each other rather than question them through talking to rival supporters. It's likely that this will in fact never change, and this concept of homophily is something that'll need to be mentioned as the main reason as to why this occurs. People like to hear what they want to hear, so it's natural that what they interact with is what matches up with their viewpoints.

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Media Magazine reading

1)

The two texts that the article focuses on are Pan Am, a period drama set in the 60s based on the lives of both pilots and stewardesses working for the Pan American World Airline and Beyonce's 'Why Don't you Love Me' music video, parodying the role of a typical 1950s housewife.

2)

One of the examples from Pan Am showing the 'male gaze' is the magazine cover displaying Laura. Here she's portrayed as a woman whose purpose is to be 'visually enjoyed by men' and nothing more. Another one is present in the final sequence of the pilot episode. Here the stewardesses are presented in slow motion which works to 'provide even more visual pleasure as we can take in all the glorious period detail of their uniforms and of course appreciate their perfectly coiffed hair and make up.' Shots like this work at least mostly to satisfy the desire of men. The 'Why Don't you Love Me' video exemplifies the male gaze with the way in which Beyonce is dressed. Wearing things like 'tight high-waisted knickers' and a 'vintage style bra,' we're shown a women that is being highly sexualised. This goes further when when she can be seen touching herself up and playfully looking down at the camera.

3)

Texts like these represent that sexism still does definitely exist, albeit in a different form. While they may be working to allow women to exercise freedom that they want to, wearing what they want and doing what they want, they may still be unintentionally reinforcing the levels of sexism that there are in society.

4)

Third wave feminism - was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive

Nostalgia - a sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives of the time

Patriarchy - an ideology that places men in a dominant position over women

No More Page 3

1)

The No More Page 3 campaign was started by Lucy-Anne Holmes, both an actress and an author. She did with it with the purpose of stopping the reinforcement of this attitude that women and their can be viewed as objects subjects to both public scrutiny and comment by the general (male) public.

2)

One of the main reasons given for why Page 3 had to go is how its objectification of women has meant that they are often recognised in an offensive, discriminatory and derogatory way. Not only this, but it simply doesn't reflect the 'progressive' nature of the times we currently live in, with the feature heralding from the 1970s.

3)

Barbara Ellen holds the view that the No More Page 3 campaign should continue as Page 3 itself is not only something that is 'a pathetic leering bare-breasted woolly mammoth' but also part of the old ages, 'reeking of male dominance, of women as sexualised and neutralised objects.' Susie Boniface on the other hand is of the opinion that the campaign should be abandoned saying that actually, it's come about at a time when society has actually been evolving to the point where some people actually find the page to be empowering women.

4)

The 'Little Mixed up about what to wear?' article discusses the dress choice of the band Little Mix during the performance on X-Factor. It goes into how this concept that young girls can have of not wearing much to embrace freedom is false, and how if it wasn't then boys would too be doing the same thing among other things. Based on this article, I do think that I believe the view that the paper is taking since what it is saying are things that I believe too.

5)

Both the No More Page 3 campaign and Sexist News represent that we in fact do not live in a post-feminist state. The very fact that matters of sexism are still having to be discussed at length like this whether it relate to the portrayal of women in newspapers or reality TV, shows that actually we're still in a position where things can very much be debated. At the same time though, it could be said that perhaps it highlights the fact that more needs to be done to reach this post-feminism state that we aspire to in a number of walks of everyday life.

6)

I do agree with the aims of the campaigns in that the equality of men and women should be achieved. However I feel that they can often end up campaigning against not necessarily the wrong, but least relevant things that they could possibly on the road to achieving this equality with men.

7)

Personally I feel that there still is very much a need for feminism in the modern world. While progress has without a doubt been made, things aren't 100% in the state that we might want them to be. While I say this though, I think it's important that this feminism is exercised in the right, relevant areas of society. Page 3 could definitely be seen as something that reflected the more male dominated society we live in, however like what Susie Boniface said, there are a lot more significant issues that should be addressed with women totally in mind other than that.

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

MM58: Social Media and Black Identity

1)

• Aisha Harris - believes that social media has made black people subject to 'memeification.' This entails that they are shown as always performing or entertaining, helping reinforce the dominant attitudes and satisfy what is a 'deep-rooted desire' within society
• Anthony Giddens - social media can act as a tool that actually uplifts and inspires black people in a way that mass media simply doesn't
• Henry Jenkins - believes that social media is an 'arena wherein participatory cultures' can be established.' This ranges all the way from actual political activist groups, with a key example being '#BlackLivesMatter,' to even socially-constructed communities such as 'Black Twitter.' In communities like this, the voicing of perspectives that would usually go unheard from get a platform to thrive on, working to challenge some of the negative representations that exist of black people in mass media

2) 

I feel that social media hasn't had an outright positive or negative effect in terms of black identity. It has definitely had its pluses in helping construct positive identities of black people whether it be through the celebratory hashtags of 'The Blackout' campaign or expression of marginalised voices through 'Black Twitter.' However it has also without a doubt helped reinforce them too, with 'Digital Blackface' coming to mind here. Non-black people often tend to utilise the anonymity that comes with social media and use it in a way that they can parade as being black, simultaneously degrading black identity as this is done e.g. @ItsLaQueeta.

3)

Alvarado's theory can be applied to identities of black people on social media as online, they often tend to be portrayed as belonging in one of the four themes. Pitied, in the sense that they are often seen dwelling in the 'ghettos' of society, humorous for the uploads of a more light-hearted nature they're in, dangerous for fights that are posted on websites like WORLDSTARHIPHOP and exotic with the amount of black musicians there happens to be. Fanon's theory also fits in here as what tends to happen on social media is that black stereotypes decivilise the community, often making each individual fit into some archetype of a sort e.g. 'gangsta.'

A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media

1)

One of the representations we see of refugees in the article is that they are travelling by choice as evidenced by the word 'migrant.' Rather than portray them as 'fleeing a genuine disaster,' they're shown as doing it on their own accord. Representations range from this to the more dehumanising, with Katie Hopkin's 'cockroaches' and 'feral' comments being testament to this. This isn't helped by the imagery of the actual refugees themselves, with it giving the out the perception of a 'swarm, horde or tide, marauding and invading their way across the world.'

2)

I personally feel that the documentary genre can have an equal amount of bias as that of the news media, although it can be the case that they offer less of it. 'Exodus' is representative of this, with it for example letting us into the actual perspectives of the refugees themselves through them being handed smartphones to film their experiences on. 'The Refugee Camp: Our Desert Home' also manages to show that this bias is lessened in documentaries as what we see in this are refugees that are attempting to return to their country when it's safe. This goes against this whole convention of 'migrants' fleeing their country to come into Europe.

3)

Edward Said's theory can be used here in that refugees in news media tend to be represented as being both dangerous and uncivilised. We see this through things like Katie Hopkin's description of them as 'feral,' but also images of them with the 'swarm, horde, or tide' they move around in to get from place to place. Alvarado's could also be applied to in the sense that refugees receive a sense of pity with the situation they've been placed in and to some extent, this goes hand-in-hand with Fanon's theory with them being infantilized and depicted as 'needing to be looked after.'