UWL visiting lecturer notes

UWL visiting lecturer notes

• London 7/7: Adam Stacey - 'rise of the cameraphone'

• Neda Aghal-Sultan: death captured by recording bystander

• Black Lives Matter movement

• Paris attacks 2015: Facebook's safety check

• Arab uprisings - 2011

• Ethical considerations e.g. intrusion of privacy

• Drop in quality of news - particularly local organisations e.g. seagull news in the Newcastle Chronicle

• 80% of news circulation regarding Brexit was pro-Brexit in terms of newspapers

• Facebook - 1 billion active users per day
• YouTube - 1 billion

• 2015 - first year people spent more time online than on TV

08/05/17 - Spotify and Deezer call on Europe to end Apple and Google's app store abuse (70)

08/05/17 - Spotify and Deezer call on Europe to end Apple and Google's app store abuse (70)

A report by the Financial Times has stated that technology firms such as Spotify have called on Europe via the European Commission (EC) to 'crack down' on Apple and Google's app store practices. As seen in a letter signed by the CEOs of Deezer, Spotify and Rocket Internet to the EC, there's been a request to probe the way both Google and Apple 'abuse their privileged position.' Some of this complaint derives from this concept that mobile OSs, app stores and search engines have made the evolution from 'gateways' into 'gatekeepers,' stopping third-party software from being able to effectively compete with their own services. On top of this, the companies are unable to access customer data when they sign up through an app store like the Google Play Store.  This makes it the second time that Spotify has hit out against Apple, the first being against the 'Apple tax' which the company had which involved the charge of a 30% fee towards any sales through its App Store including subscription services.

• Apple and Google combined, account for 90 per cent of the mobile market

This article could be used to display the way in which online/e-media, with all its good things has also got a more negative side attached to it. Here we see two digital giants attempting to assert their power over other companies in an attempt to prevent them from growing in the way that they should be. Google especially has been notorious for this, particularly in terms of its 'siphoning off' of ad revenue from news publications. It'll be interesting to see whether or not the EC follow through with the request to probe the two giants or not, seeing that they're doing something that could be regarded as preventing competition.

08/05/17 - Facebook Live: Zuckerberg adds 3,000 moderators in wake of murders (69)

08/05/17 - Facebook Live: Zuckerberg adds 3,000 moderators in wake of murders (69)

Mark Zuckerberg, CEO of Facebook, has put forward a pledge to gather 3,000 additional content reviewers and also invest in tools to help remove content going against community standards more swiftly for the social network. This comes after the streaming of shootings, rapes, murders and assaults that have gone on on the network over the last couple of months, with these live broadcasts still being viewable to users after being streamed. This is able to happen because what's actually relied on to scrutinise content is the 1.86 billion users and a team of people at Facebook which review reported posts, retroactively removing taking them down from the site. So with this, on top of the 4,500 deep team that is already there, Zuckerberg aims to add 3,000 over the next year 'to review the millions of reports we get every week, and improve the process for doing it quickly.' This year has seen the network come under fire for its inexpediency in taking down objectionable content. Videos such as the one of a Thai man killing his 11-month-old daughter and also the Cleveland murder of Robert Godwin are cases that brought around this criticism, with the former of which being available for 24 hours before being removed and the latter disseminating on other social networks like Twitter. This criticism has even extended as far as the Commons home affairs committee, with it complaining that 'social media companies currently face almost no penalties for failing to remove illegal content' and that sanctions should start to be developed against them for this.

• Facebook relies on reporting tools used by the social network’s 1.86 billion users and a team of people at Facebook to review reported posts and content and retroactively remove them from the site
• Two videos of a Thai man killing his 11-month-old daughter in April were available for 24 hours before being removed, and were viewed over 370,000 times

It appears that in the future, Facebook will see itself be a receiver of quite a hefty load of criticism whether it's from the people or even governments. First it was censorship, then it was fake news and now it's the speed at which they remove objectionable content. While Zuckerberg has made the pledge of introducing another 3,000 content reviewers to the network, he'll probably want to get this done quickly as the content just doesn't seem to stop rolling in. The more cases that come in that aren't put a stop to promptly, the more they'll come under this same fire that they have been throughout the year. Not only will they have to worry about the reaction of the general public to this, but also possible sanctions by governments which the House of Commons Home Affairs Select Committees are aiming to put in place against them, as these will add to costs they incur - harming profit levels foe the company. 

MEST3 PPE - Learner Response

MEST3 PPE - Learner Response

1)

WWW: Clearly expressed, with a range of good examples

EBI: Section A answers need to be more developed

2)

I was able to meet my target grade.

3)

Question 1 - 3/8

Question 2 - 3/7

Question 3 - 3/7

4)

My strongest question in Section A was question 3. This was likely due to the fact that I was able to bring in current occurrences in the news industry today such as fake news and its impact on events like the US presidential election 2016 and also the Brexit campaign.

5)

My weakest question in Section A was question 2. I believe this was because I didn't write as much as I possibly could have for it, having only written 2 paragraphs. Just one more paragraph exploring another point could have possibly pushed me to a better mark.

6)

3/5

In covering 3 out of the 5 points laid down in the suggested essay content, I believe I answered the question reasonably successfully. Perhaps a discussion of the millennial audience's tendencies could have taken the essay further though, along with the inclusion of my independent case study (Spotify).

7) 

Question 1: I believe that my answer here was quite middling. While I did discuss things like the editing, cinematography and sound of the products helping to contribute to a authoritative/trustworthy tone, I think I could've talked about how some techniques provide an authoritative appearance but not necessarily a trustworthy one.

Question 2: The same goes for my response to question 2. While I was able to take a theoretical standpoint to things, I simply wasn't able to take it to that next level because I didn't write enough about it. For example, mention of the two-step flow could've definitely been something that could have been explored here with Russell Brand as an opinion leader.

Question 3: My response to question 3 could be classified as one of the stronger answers. This is due to the fact that as well as answering the case that the media should provide accessible platforms for alternative/oppositional voices, I brought about a sense of evaluation saying that actually, there are cases when actually these voices shouldn't be heard.

Question 6: I think that my answer to this essay question was approaching some of the better ones, but something that held it back was my focus on print media/the newspaper industry as traditional media. Talking about my independent case study and how NDM has affected the music industry is an example of something that would be needed to really push my answer up to where it potentially could be.

8)

Media producers can encourage audiences to agree with a certain set of values and beliefs through placing representations of 'ourselves' in those products. Product 1 helps in doing this as the lifestyle that we see with the man 'climbing up the ranks through' is something that perhaps we as audiences aspire to. Lines like 'nothing comes easy,' all help in contributing to this line of appeal of successful careers (Dyer), and so could help provide some personal identification (Blumler and Katz) with sections of the audience.

Producers can also encourage audiences to agree with a set of values and beliefs if they have a celebrity/popular figure upholding them. Product 2 helps represent this, as what we see is Russell Brand behind these discussions attempting to engage particular sections of society with current affairs and political events. By seeing a figure/opinion leader like this behind a series of its nature, it's more likely than not going to be the case that audiences adopt the views that the leader is stating. With this, the sheer influence that opinion leaders have is something that can be exploited by media producers to help encourage agreement with a certain set of values and beliefs, which is something that could also be seen with Plan B and his oppositional view towards the government with Ill Manors. 

Ill Manors is something that did the same thing with its anti-establishment ideology, visible on a number of its different products. For example with the Tag London campaign, what we saw perpetuated throughout were views that were quite anti-government. The fact that this was done on social media by other ordinary people may help members of the audience cultivate views that align with this same outlook on government.  From an ideology standpoint, this could help audiences in adopting more of a Marxist perspective in that we as the masses are dominated by the upper class/elites who impose ideals upon us and this is something which Product Two arguably does in the same fashion.

Independent case study bulletpoints

Independent case study bulletpoints

Social media: Twitter

• Elections (Trump and Clinton)
• Use as a form of surveillance on people
• Globalisation
• Social media movements/revolution e.g. BLM, Arab Spring
• Community formation e.g. 'Black Twitter'

Social media: Instagram

• Facebook buyout
• UGC - 'everything you post is yours'
• Hyperreality
• Two-step flow model
• Male gaze + female gaze

Social media: democracy and elections

• Increased focus on narrative
• UGC (New Zealand - Powerhouse)
• Pluralism - allows for democratic views and freedom
• Two-step flow model
• Echo chambers
• Use of social media by young people

Gaming industry: Activision and Blizzard

• Gaming audience particularly active - Call of Duty Infinite Warfare trailer most disliked on YouTube
• UGC - petitions, mod tools
• Globalisation
• Social media - promotion of games
• Uses and Gratifications - diversion
• Hypodermic needle

Documentary genre

• Cinema being skipped
• UGC contributing to documentaries
• Globalisation - Americanisation
• Social media - trending to get a wider audience
• Docu-drama
• NDM hasn't killed documentaries

Film viewing/distribution

• Major film studio/mini film studio
• Older audiences don't mind spending money
• VoD has more demand from young people
• 2014 - 5.1% decrease in cinema admittance
• VoD - individualised experience (stuff like internet connection is still significant though)
• Pluralists will say it has allowed for more competition

Netflix streaming

• Individualised personalisation
• Technological convergence
• Globalisation - cultural imperialism
• Promotes content via social media
• Approaching 100m subscribers

01/05/17 - Revealed: Spotify poised to expand in London with new UK HQ (68)

01/05/17 - Revealed: Spotify poised to expand in London with new UK HQ (68)

Digital (music) service business Spotify is about to reach a deal in agreement of a lease with property investor Blackstone, to take almost 60,000 square feat at the Adelphi Building overlooking the Thames. Property sources from the West End stated that the move from Argyll Street, currently occupying around 20,000 square feet, to the art deco would give the business space for 'significantly' more employees. This would help complement the increase in staff numbers in the UK which the company has been seeing. As stated in the report: 'The company’s primary focus is to continue its rapid growth and increase the number of users and subscribers in the UK.'

• Spotify was valued at $8.5 billion (£6.6 billion) in a recent funding round, and has 18 offices globally
• Spotify's most recent UK accounts show that staff numbers in Britain rose to 180 in 2015, up from 167 a year earlier.

This article is representative of the ever-so quickly increasing growth of Spotify. To help accommodate the increase in employees that they've been having in the UK, the poised move would help in boosting this even further. This story comes at a time when Spotify has been said to be currently eyeing a listing with them being valued at a whopping £6.6 billion with 18 global offices.

01/05/17 - Google and Facebook bring in one-fifth of global ad revenue (67)

01/05/17 - Google and Facebook bring in one-fifth of global ad revenue (67)

In the year 2016, both Google and Facebook managed to accumulate one-fifth of global advertising spending, which is almost two times what the figure was five years ago. With this, online advertising has overtaken television making it the world's largest ad medium according to data and analysis agency Zenith. Within this online sector, Twitter has been found to be the fastest-growing media owner, seeing ad revenue increase by 734% from 2012 to 2016. An interesting finding here is how internet-only media companies appear to be 'grabbing the biggest slices' of the online advertising market. This has occurred while traditional news publishers have fallen far behind having to undergo things like cutbacks. Google and Facebook on the other hand alone, accounted for almost 20% of global advertising spending with the next runner-up being Comcast who are of course a traditional media owner. This comes as the market leader Google has been facing boycotts from advertisers such as McDonald's and even the UK government itself due to them discovering their advertising spending was being used to place banner ads on top of YouTube videos from groups like Britain First. Regardless though, digital platforms funded by internet ads dominated the top 30 and funnily enough out of this top 30, 20 of the firms are based in the US. This signifies the fact that the nation has the biggest ad market and also has companies that have invested the most in expanding their reach abroad with Silicon Valley innovation powering this growth.

• Twitter is the fastest-growing media owner, increasing ad revenue by 734% between 2012 and 2016
• Google attracted $79.4bn (£61.5bn) in ad revenues in 2016, three times more than the second-largest, Facebook, which pulled in $26.9bn, according to Zenith
• The two companies accounted for nearly 20% of global advertising spending last year, up from 16.3% in 2015 and 10.6% in 2012
• The largest traditional media owner is US broadcasting and cable television company Comcast, which was third with $12.9bn in ad revenues in 2016, up from $11.5bn the year before
• The seven digital platforms (Facebook, Google, Baidu, Microsoft, Yahoo, Verizon and Twitter) generated $132.8bn of internet ad revenues in 2016, accounting for nearly 3/4s of all internet ad spend, and nearly 1/4 of total ad spending

With this article, we see that Google and Facebook still remain as the digital giants they have been known as. Their topmost positions on the Zenith rankings represent this, also showing traditional media owners are increasingly losing their hold within the advertising market. Something that was also quite notable with the rankings was how 20 out of the top 30 media owners were from the US. It could be said that this is representative of the cultural imperialism that we tend to see within today's media. Either way though, it'll be quite interesting if we see other countries becoming more dominant in this ranking across the coming years.