Media In The United States of America

Though the USA likes to pride itself of on it's freedom, in the media industry there is little for those wanting to expose the truth. The USA should be an ideal place to be able to report truth, but as many have found, (Chelsea Manning, Edward Snowden, Julien Assange.) it really is not.

Through my research I discovered the USA's media market is a place for the rich and the ruthless rather than the adventurous and brave. The main stay of the market is gobbled up by under ten huge corporations, vertically integrated as to cut out excess costs. In terms all this does is drive business' who have fought for years to keep their name in the game to bankruptcy. Lovefilm, a revolutionary platform of watching media was driven out of business by the corporations creating their own platforms, rather than working with Lovefilm. When Lovefilm did go bankrupt, Amazon swept in to take the royalties and assets.

The news division of the media is concise. The majority of main stream news is owned at the top by a huge corporation who can plough their own agenda through these platforms they now own. Fox news is a staggering example of this. Fox produces a strange right wing format of programming with little care for factual accuracies and peoples feelings. Instead of host an intelligible debate, Fox prove their points by overloading the studio with 'experts' who share the same agenda as fox and ganging up on the one guest who doesn't. It teaches any Children watching that the way to win an important argument is to lie and to shout.

This is killing the roots of the journalism profession in America. Investigative journalism is becoming harder to practice, and less desirable to practice. Local news is filled with garbage stories aimed for who exactly, no one knows. Country-wide news is essentially a shouting match with little important being discussed. This leaves America in a scary position, the youth who will be soon to vote will know essentially nothing about politics or on how to make an informed decision on how to vote.

The examples of whistleblowers over such recent times show us that America is not a place of freedom. Especially if you wish to expose the truth when it is morally right to do so. The lesson this displays to the rest of the world from such an influential power is terrible.

Unfortunately these problems stem from the USA's reluctance to govern how much of the market can be owned by one singular company. There is little alternative view available on television or radio, but the internet has helped over the last fifteen years in a resurgence of alternate media. I plan to explore how alternate media can survive in the modern US media market and world-wide. 

Below are the accompanying slides from my presentation.

Media in France

France has one of the largest populations in Europe with around 66 million people living in the republic [1]. The capital city, Paris, is in fact the 5th most populated city in Europe [7], while also ranking 6th in ‘Top 10 Richest Cities In The World 2013’ [8]. Furthermore, as of the 2012 May elections, the current President of the country is the ‘Socialist Party’ leader François Hollande. One of the most interesting concepts around the electoral system in France is their unique governing system implicated; the elected President appoints a Prime minister (in this case Manuel Valls), with who they will share their granted executive powers with [along with the cabinet]. This system is referred to as ‘semi-presidential’ governing and is only used in 28 countries around the world including Russia.

Semi-presidential system countries [http://chartsbin.com/view/12813]

Though currently the French media is not strictly regulated by the government, there are laws that prohibit certain aspects of the constitutional right to ‘freedom of speech’. These prohibitions are essentially when one infringes another individuals right or promotes hate upon a particular "ethnic group, a nation, a race or a religion" [9]. Therefore, much like the American constitution amendments and laws have been passed, e.g. Gayssot Act. Furthermore, the CSA (Conseil supérieur de l'audiovisuel) are in fact a regulatory body that deals with electronic sources of media violation (TV and radio mainly). They are often an advisory body, but can be the cause of censorship.

According to figures, the French Media industry is responsible for around 14.8% of Europe’s total industry valuation. Unsurprisingly, France’s media worth is set to rise by 11.6% from $40.4 billion to $45.4 billion by 2018. 

Much of the French media is dominated by broadcast & cable TV and the publishing sector (41.4% + 41.1%), together responsible for 82.5% of the market [2]. This kind of domination has resulted in huge media companies making a large profit, for example ‘Vivendi’; the biggest entertainment organisation in France. The revenue for this particular company was $27.44 billion in 2013 [4]. 

Figures showing decline in revenue for Vivendi
[http://www.statista.com/statistics/194506/global-revenue-of-vivendi-since-2006/]

However, recently figures suggest that the media companies revenue has decreased meaning that sales within the media has. Since 2010 Vivendi has lost around $6.7 billion of annual revenue [4]. These declining figures tend to be consistent throughout the media in France, with ‘Le Figaro’, the largest national selling newspaper, supporting the trend recently having their worst circulation figure of the last decade [330,952 compared to 366,690].

Essentially, the cause of these declines throughout the French media could be due to the recent technological advances that have exploited new platform’s undermining the media’s use. The internet is beginning to present opportunities that are easier and faster than what the media can produce. Simplifying it; the internet has a huge penetration and accessibility in comparison to the media and in particular news organisations. France has a internet penetration rate of 83.3%, which is larger percentage than any French newspaper currently has [10]. 

In conclusion the media organisations within France have begun to acknowledge illegal piracy and the huge accessibility the internet offers to the public. Therefore, much like Facebook has done (harnessed the power accessibility offers, evident in 25.5 million people having accounts on Facebook in France) the media has now switched focus to online content. 

Norway and the Media

Despite not being a member of the European Union, Norway is situated in Northern Europe. Its capital city is Oslo and, for a fairly large country, it has a small population. It sits at just 5,136,700 - in comparison, the UK is half the size in terms of landmass and has a population of 64,000,000. Norway has a monarchy - King Harald 5th is the current sovereign - although, much like the UK, its government is tasked with the running of the country, and its laws are made in parliament. Ranked as the most prosperous country in the world [1], for six years running, it also has one of the lowest unemployment rates, with just 2.6% of its people not working.

Norway [ picture taken from http://www.pointsandtravel.com/]

Norway is not only one of the best places to live, it's one of the best places to be a journalist. In the 2014 Reporters Without Borders [2] report, which charts press freedom worldwide, Norway ranked 3rd, placing only behind Finland and Holland. It's a country that takes its media freedom - both for journalists, and from journalists - very seriously. The Norwegian Media Authority is the watchdog, tasked with keeping the country's media in line. Additionally, most of the country's publications are signed up to the PFU, the Norwegian Press Complaints Committee, which is a set of editorial guidelines much akin to the UK's newly-implemented IPSO.

Press Freedom Map [picture taken from http://rsf.org/]

In terms of printed media, Norway has a wide variety of newspapers [3], ranging from the tiny Osterdolen (circulation of 826) to the country's largest publication, the Aftenposten (circulation of 214, 026). It even has a small number of Sami-only newspapers, printed in the language of the country's indigenous people. The government offers a lot of assistance - it hands out production grants, with more money being allocated to the bigger papers, and doesn't tax the papers' publication. Like most other countries, newspaper sales are falling - in 2003, the tabloid Verdens Gang reported a circulation of 380,000, and in 2013 its circulation was just over half that, coming in at 164,430.

This decline is indicative of the general shift to online news. Norway is ranked 5th in the world for smartphone usage [4], and many people are choosing to access new on the go as opposed to purchasing a paper. Many publishers have successfully gone online, with some discontinuing their printed editions. There are even some highly successful online-only news outlets - the Oslo Times is Norway's most popular news source, of all the printed and online publications.

Norwegian newspaper stand [picture taken from http://i.usatoday.net/news/]

Television in Norway is also hugely popular, with many popular channels on air. The NRK, effectively Norway's BBC, owns most of the more popular ones, with NRK 1, 2 and 3 enjoying 42% of the total viewership in 2012. Programs are often aired in English, with Norwegian subtitles, given that English is the main language for most of the population. Norwegian TV is kept in line by a strict set of regulations - for example, adverts selling products to children and adverts seeking to politically influence people are explicitly illegal.

Other forms of media, such as radio and social media platforms, also enjoy a large amount of success in Norway [5]. The country's Facebook penetration - the population-to-user ratio - is the highest in the world, at 61.1%. Additionally, LinkedIn, widely considered the best platform for journalists to publish on, is among the top in terms of usage, with its 25% considerably higher than most other countries (the UK only has 9% penetration). This demonstrates Norway's thriving media culture, with many of the more blogging-orientated sites seeing more use than those of a social nature.

Social media conference [http://www.marismith.com/]

Media, of all forms, is thriving in a country which is enjoying considerable success in most areas. Online growth is likely to continue, and, with newspaper sales evening out, the print press might see gains in the near future. It may even rise to second or third on the Freedom Index, as it has seen more growth in recent year than either of the top two. It would seem that the future is bright, for not only the writers and media, but Norwegians of all kinds.

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[1] Guardian, European countries dominate in global prosperity rankings
http://www.theguardian.com/news/datablog/2014/nov/03/european-countries-dominate-in-global-prosperity-rankings

[2] Reporters Without Borders, 2014 Press Freedom Index
http://rsf.org/index2014/en-index2014.php

[3] Circulation of Norwegian newspapers
http://medienorge.uib.no/english/?cat=statistikk&medium=avis&queryID=190

[4] Google, Mobile Planet
http://think.withgoogle.com/mobileplanet/en/

[5] Social Users in Norway smile for Snapchat and Instagram
http://www.emarketer.com/Article/Social-Users-Norway-Smile-Snapchat-Instagram/1010534

Media in Somalia

Media in Somalia 

Somalia, a country in Africa with the capital, Mogadishu. Mogadishu has been bearing scars of decades of fighting. The country has been usually involved in civil war. It is comprised of a former British protectorate and an Italian colony, Somalia was created in 1960 when the two territories merged. Since then its development has been slow.

The region remains flawless with no effective administration or institution in place.

Federal government of Somalia, the first permanent central government was formed in the start of the civil war but due to the absence of power residents reverted to local forms of conflict resolution consisting of civil, religious and customary laws.

The main few regions in Somalia are: - Somaliland , Puntland and Galmudug who emerged for the process of decentralization. Radical group such as Al-Shabaab battled with the groups for the control over the country. 

The media environment in Somalia varies significantly from region-to-region, with different conditions in the unstable parts of Somalia. 

Somalia’s new provisional federal constitution, adopted by the National Constituent Assembly in August 2012, provides, Freedom of Speech. However due to violence in the country, journalist face restrictions on the reporting in practice. No freedom of information to guarantee access. Many cases are resolved outside the court either according to Xeer (customary law) or Islamic law. 

Somalia is considered having the most literate in Africa anda country where power has overtime been abused more constantly. Media has been used and misused; often to manipulate, control and inflame tension, hate and conflict. This shows the media’s role in shaping Somalia’s present and future. 

Without a central government since 1991; making it the longest running instance of complete state collapse in postcolonial history. This development is been driven by the evolving role of business groups, traditional authorities and civic groups.

Al-Shabaab means the youth and has been banned as a terrorist group by both the US and the UK They are building a media empire and creation chaos in Kenya. Though they use social media; they have been a group always against and killing journalist and shutting down the media outlets in Somalia.

The Somali government recently shutdown two independent radio stations, accusing them of inciting violence among Somali’s. 

Latest news from the BBC – Blast near airport in the Somali capital, Mogadishu, linked to the Al-Shabaab. 

Journalists in all regions receive no or low pay. Many media outlets prefer to hire cheaper, less skilled workers the ones who ask for more pay are threat to be replaced.

At least six journalist and media workers killed this year with continuing reports of further targeting and harassment.

No doubt; journalism is in deep trouble in Somalia along with the media; but this is one of the country where journalist have risked or resisted more in the face of appalling attacks. Many people fled but they still have a large number and some even say that they would rather die defending the freedom of Somali media.

Training on human rights, good governance and to fight forthe truth and being the right source for the people. 

Journalist need to learn their rights because some of the media owners do not know the laws of media and some of the journalist don’t know the ethics of journalism and thus people have faith that one day this country will be a land of opportunities.

Brazil - A Country Analysis

Today let us talk about South America’s largest nation- Brazil. We are going to discuss some questions, such as – How is social media influencing Brazil? What is the status of Brazilian journalists? What problems is Brazil facing at the moment? And perhaps, what’s going to be Brazil’s future?

Looking back in the history, Freedom of Speech in Brazil was most restricted during the military regime in 1967, when Article 151 was added to the constitution, limiting citizen’s liberty. It was until when Brazil became democratic and all this came to an end. It is a democratic country and has been democratic ever since 1985. There are three types of governments – Presidential, Federal Judiciary and Congress. Since the end of military rule in 1985, unionization, collective bargaining, and frequent strikes have become commonplace among federal employees in all the three branches of government.The current president of Brazil is Dilma Rousseff.

Investigating journalism in Brazil, we can see how it is facing crisis at the moment. This is because of two main reasons – one being the growing competition with new technologies and internet, which means how Brazilians have started believing online comments and broadcasted news. The second reason being, economic pressures to cut costs and do more with less of journalists and other costly reporting.

According to the World Press Freedom Index, Brazil is a country which exposes journalists to physical danger. In 2013, there were five journalists murdered and this made Brazil one of the deadliest countries for media personnel in western hemisphere. Now, due to all these cases journalists find it risky to cover subjects like – corruption, drugs and illegal trafficking.

A major problem faced by Brazil this year was when Brazilians in São Paulo protested against the massive amount of money spent on 2014 Football World Cup and 2016 Olympics. They said that all that money could have been used in hospitals and education. Another thing which was quite astonishing was when state military police was still using the methods it used during the time of dictatorship. Around 100 journalists were victims of violence and two-third of the blame went on the police.

Looking at these scores stated by the Freedom House this year, we can say that Brazil is neither the best nor the worst in context with press freedom.

Moving on to media, Brazil has South America's largest media market – thousands of broadcasting radios, TV channels and a strong press. Social media has influenced Brazilians in many ways like in purchase decisions, brands interacting directly with social networks and job recruitment.

Now let’s go to the vital part – Future of Brazil. Due to the growth of social media, people have started doubting what is being told to them by politicians and journalists. 

Instead , they have started drifting towards other sources like – online broadcasted news, posted comments by people on face book, articles and even blogs. They find it trustworthy, and unbiased. Old newspapers have now taken a backseat.

Journalism in Brazil won’t improve if media reforms are not taken seriously and discussed in a mature manner.This cannot be achieved by journalists’ good intentions and individual commitment alone.It is important to recognize that more structural and long lasting improvements in the media will necessarily depend upon- deepening of the Democratization Project and  Economic force. 

After reading all this the questions that come to our mind are-How will the media industry protect their institution? How will they retain positive public perception of their journalistic integrity and regain the trust of their readers?

(Can also refer to Power point presentation on this topic)

  

Why should we care about the contempt problem?

As we all know that contempt is type of a criminal offence, in other words, journalist will go to the jail if they make this criminal offence , and lost their job.so that journalist need realize the contempt is a extremely problem when they join tom work in court or any other place, that mean journalist should not interrupt , for instance, if anyone who is giving a phone call in the court room, it could be contempt.


In my viewpoint , journalist need help to protect the fair in court, in consequent, they have responsibility to protect suspect’s private information regardless of how horrible the crime. In addition, aim to avoid jurors have prejudice. Journalist should not publish any sensitive information before the trial . Because Jurors may be affected by journalist who publish some information before the trial, it will influence the who proceeding, and it is obviously unfair in court. The reason is that the publication of material that can influence the fair, as we all know that every trial is based on evidence rather than personal viewpoint, so that Jury always respect for the evidence because it can lead then to make conclusion in the end. Basically, the Jury  believe that defendant is guiltless before finding evidence constantly. It widely assumed that journalist can also be in contempt by conduct different from with publication, for example, if they disclose some gossip or any other information for Jury, it should be contempt offence. 

General law about contempt as a criminal offence of strict responsibility until 1981. It is obviously that the publication bring amount of risks of serious prejudice or any other impediment for the whole proceeding. According to contempt act in 1981, it said that the criminal proceeding become pervasive in UK . When summon or permission of arrest are issued, there have contempt phenomenon.


For previous conviction, it said to be unfair and illegal issue in revealing. This illegal behaviour can make defendant get conviction previously.


Apart from this, journalist can publish the background when mews organization feel reasonable.


The “Soham murders case”, this news story happened contempt offence. Two English girls were killed in Soham. The victim is Holly Marie , another victim is Jessica Aimee, they are both ten years old when they murdered . Lan Kevin was convicted in December 2003, his girl friend had provided wrong alibi so that she went to the jail as well.

Media's effect on moral development

A person with bad morals is likely to have a tough life; this is when moral development plays a role of being extremely important in a life of a human being. Morality is the key of  human mind that enables an individual to take moral decisions and actions between those that are right or wrong.

 Criticism often levelled against the media is that they are contributing to the decay of morality, which refers to the way people choose to live their lives according to a set of guidelines or principles that govern their decisions about right versus wrong. 

Media’s creation of moral panics has caused our society towards a big concern for the youth. Now-a-days as soon as we turn on the news, we are never short of a shocking scandal involving gangs of youths, kidnapping and assault. With these headlines popping up here, there and everywhere, stereotypes are gradually formed. However, every single youth of today really that dangerous, or are the media creating a moral panic. This is used to control the way in which the public behaves. The dangers of creating these moral panics are that they are continuously exaggerated in the media, which results in public concern constantly heightening. For example, the media frequently reports on criminal activity as it has a right to do. However, some believe that the media sensationalises crime so as to create moral panic and that this is used as a way of controlling how the public behaves.

Media usually has been portraying incidents and the happenings around to the society in such a way that they want the public to react to it in a panicky manner.

In recent years moral panic and media presentation have covered a wide-range of topics from HIV/AIDS in the 1980’s to asylum seekers into the UK in the 2000’s. This goes back as far as World War 1 when the wartime government used the media to portray the Germans in a certain manner in the hope of provoking a response. The same happened in World War 2. In this case, the media did not have to portray Hitler in a certain manner as the public already had its view on him. 

There is a deep connection between media and morality which has always been taken for granted, a movie Zero Dark Thirty, which tells the story of the tracking and eventual killing of Osama Bin Laden, has received several Oscar nominations but its attracting another kind of attention where it has been accused of influencing the point of view of right or wrong.

The media's act in launching certain perceptions of deviance, and have the power to create and instill particular thoughts towards certain groups within society.

There are journals, blogs and articles on the youth/teenagers or the future in terms of media, moral development, the working of internet by Ulises A. Mejias. Newspapers often point towards the debility of our society in regard to their reporting of moral panics, and repetitively refer back to the ‘good old days’.

This leads us to an on going concern that media is influencing the mind and working of the people, harming their moralities but also on the other hand media has got its good sights which has made it become the source of knowledge which enables us to get information of the activities around the world and creating a big impact on an individual's moral's.

Should Scotland Be An Independent Country

There was just one question – should Scotland be an independent country? The answer was as simple as a yes or a no, but it decided the future of the UK.  September the 18^th of this year was an important date, on this day the final decision according to the votes came out to be a no.

Let us first have a look at the reason behind Scotland wanting independence. The proponents of the Yes Campaign believed that Scotland would be richer if it separates from England. They wanted Scotland to make its own decisions about how resources are controlled and money is invested. They opposed investing billions of pounds in nuclear weapons and wanted to focus on social issues such as; childcare and programs to retain talent and encourage young Scots to stay.

Investigating the opposition and throwing some light on the Better Together Campaign we get to know about the arguments it placed against the yes campaign. They said that by being a part of the UK, Scotland can easily trade across other parts of the UK and therefore have access to more jobs. It also mentioned that Scotland has the protection of the UK armed forces and influence on the UN Security Council.

Shortly afterwards, Mr Salmond said he accepted the defeat and called for National Unity. He told supporters: “The unionist parties made vows late in the campaign to devolve more powers to Scotland. Scotland will expect these to be honoured in rapid course – as a reminder; we have been promised a second reading of a Scotland Bill by March 27th next year.” Mr Salmond urged the Yes voters to reflect on how far they had come."I don't think any of us, whenever we entered politics, would have thought such a thing to be either credible or possible", he said. He also claimed the campaign had put "a scare and a fear of enormous proportions" at the heart of the Westminster establishment."Today of all days as we bring Scotland together, let us not dwell on the distance we have fallen short, let us dwell on the distance we have travelled and have confidence the movement is abroad in Scotland that will take this Nation forward."

BBC’s Nick Robinson said: “This referendum may have ended one debate in Scotland – for now. It has however, lit the touch paper on the explosive question of where power lies in the UK.” David Cameron also committed himself to be offering Scotland new powers, but it made clear that this would depend on the next general election and a settlement that would exclude Scottish MPs from voting on many issues confined to England. Robinson suggests that this would create two classes of MP with the possibility of a government having a majority to pass certain laws but not others.

Hence for now, Scotland and the UK will carry on as they have for the past 300 years; but there will be some changes and they will not be the same as it was before.

Vice: An Organisation Shaped By The Worlds History

In Montreal, 1994, three young journalists started a magazine to appeal to people like themselves. Their idea of people like themselves was a youth generation who wanted an alternate style of news highlighting issues that may be important to a more detached portion of society. Twenty years later Vice magazine has a circulation of 90,000. Aside from the monthly magazine publication, Vice have over 5 million subscribers on YouTube, a record label, a yearly series on HBO and a recently launched global news channel.  But what happened over twenty years for Vice to get to this point and how has the events of this period shaped how the company evolved?

Vice Magazine - Issue 1

The magazine initially was launched as the Voice of Montreal. They received government funding to cover trends and cultures which were at the time not being covered in print. The magazine changed their name to Vice in 1996 and shortly after moved base to Brooklyn, New York. 

The magazine's edgy content made noises in the Journalism world, and many from the alternative scene lent their hands to Vice to write articles they may not have ever been able to, or to portray art in styles previously ever imagined. Terry Richardson, a notable fashion photographer was one of the first huge names to produce content for Vice, with it being received fantastically by the readership.

Over the next ten years Vice expanded into every continent making sure there was a voice for the alternative view all over the world. Spike Jonze, a friend of Vice and an academy award winning director gave Vice the idea of producing digital content for online and home entertainment purposes. Vice set up vbs.tv producing short documentaries about similar issues raised in the magazine but on a more global scale. This was all during the heart of the Iraq & Afghanistan wars. Vice produced alternate content compared to news organisations around the U.S. for online use at the viewers pleasure. This ultimately led to Vice's rise to the top in terms of Alternate media.

Vice's ground coverage of the Iraq war

Vice's popularity kept growing over the years after, allowing the company to grow into a multinational and multiplatform company. Vice now tries to cater to all forms of opinion and tastes which creates a fantastic environment for good informative news. Vice operate their own country websites and YouTube channels, but have also got sister productions such at Motherboard and Noisy. Noisy concentrates on alternative music, whilst Motherboard explores the worlds ever changing nature and the environment that it will create for us to live in. Vice's willingness to evolve and eagerness to embrace what lies ahead is what has made the company such a success. The company is set to surpass a revenue of $1 billion in 2016 according to CEO Shane Smith. 

Vice is at the peak of it's powers right now and the future looks nothing but big things for the company. Vice continue to produce quality news whether it be breaking or otherwise on a daily basis to the world, whether it be in the form of an hour long look into the real North Korea or exploring the harsh realities of Texas' drought. Vice is being shaped by the world we live in, something which a lot of media companies have struggled with in the internet age. Twenty years ago in Montreal, no one would have imagined this.

The Sociological Factors Affecting Your News

Modern day published news is often considered the result of tailored factors that affect the process of writing news stories. These environmental factors are in effect because media organisations operate within society’s regulated rules. This means that the rules of society, whether they are codified or not, have direct influence on the way in which the news is written and displayed [1].

Impacting on today’s news production are the political, economical, social and technological factors. Essentially, these factors constitute what news organisations consider during the process of news making- between the actual event and the final published story. The influence these factors can have is evident within the published media of many news organisations. Focusing on the political factor as an example, then enables an analysis of the sociological approach to journalism.

The nature of a political system often dictates the function of the news media in society, meaning in a liberal environment the role of the media would be to act as a watchdog [2]. A prime example of the political system causing the media to act in this way is apparent in the ‘Watergate Scandal’ of 1972 in the USA, in which two journalists acting in the interest of the public revealed the illegal behaviour of a President and his re-election committee.

In contrast, an authoritarian government would not allow many harsh or harmful depictions to be published against them. An example of this is the recent Chinese riots, of which very few journalists reported, due to the restrictions and regulations of the government. Videos and social media comments were posted on various platforms, only to be shortly prohibited by the Chinese government/regulatory body.

The political culture of society is also said to play a part in the news orientation. It’s a belief that the social norms and shaping of regions can create a culture that influences the focus of the media. For instance, one of the largest target audiences for newspapers in the UK would be the working-class, who are predominantly associated with Labour party votes. Therefore some newspapers, such as the ‘Daily Mirror’ feel obliged or influenced to support the views of their target audience with similar stories.

Labour Party-Lower Class Vote Link

Political pressure is one of the final factors within political systems that McNair draws up upon. The most radical form of political pressure can be presented in the form of informal lobbying, which has essentially corrupted many politicians in the eyes of the public. Lobbying is the notion that a government official can be influenced by other forces/individuals, discarding the obligation they have to the public. This kind of behaviour has led to close relationships between massive media corporations and politicians. Most notably the Thatcher-Murdoch liaison, seemed to be the most effective, as Rupert Murdoch (who owned the most influential newspapers in the country) secured Margaret Thatcher three general election wins in UK parliament.

Other political pressures present themselves in the form of legislation, physical disruption and censorship.

Overall, political systems have a huge effect on the final work of published news organisations. The sub-factors previously mentioned within this news effecting concept are prime examples of "media ecology"[4]. These elements fit with Harrison’s description, that the sociology of journalism is the “ecology of news”.

Journalism - is it dying, dead or very much alive?

In the last four hundred years, few industries have undergone the massive amount of change that journalism has. From the distribution of flyers during the political campaigns of the early seventeenth century, to modern day by-the-minute live updates, it has evolved to become a completely different beast. What does this mean for the future of journalism? Is it dead, dying or alive? Does it have a place in today's society?

For us to assess the mortality of journalism, we must first define what it is. According its page on Wikipedia [1], journalism is the "gathering, processing and dissemination of news and information." From this, we can infer that a journalist is somebody whose job it is to do such things.

With the newspaper industry - perhaps journalism's most iconic avatar - in seemingly terminal decline, many people have declared that journalism is either dying or dead. Jon Stewart, speaking on his program 'The Daily Show' [2], remarked that "the internet has killed journalism". Indeed, the rise of the internet has coincided with an alarming reduction in newspaper sales.

In September, The Daily Record recorded a drop in circulation of 15.15% on the previous year, with the Financial Times and the Independent following at -13.12% and -12.74% respectively. Only one national newspaper reported an increase, with The Times seeing gains of +0.39% [3]. These losses can be attributed to the ease with which users can access news on the internet. Why go outside and spend money on a paper when it is freely available in the palm of your hand?

Journalism, however, is not only limited to the newspaper industry. Even with said industry falling into oblivion, new and innovative demonstrations of journalism are emerging. Previously, you had to work for a news agency in order to reach the masses - this is no longer the case. Now, anybody can set up a blog and project their views and opinions to millions of people instantly, all from the comfort of their own home.

Despite the simplicity of these virtual newspapers, their power is not to be underestimated. In the recent Scottish referendum, nationalist blogs such as Wings Over Scotland and Bella Caledonia attracted daily readership figures of 2-300,000. With the majority of Scottish newspapers favoring a 'No' vote, they provided the much needed counter-argument that pushed Scotland to the brink. The ordinary people who founded these blogs had stood toe-to-toe with the partisan press magnates and, although ultimately unsuccessful, the potency of neo-journalism was cleared demonstrated.

Other forms of journalism are thriving in this new environment, too. You now no longer need to own a radio to listen to one, with most of the popular stations providing free downloadable apps for smartphones and computers. Recently, BBC Radio 6 Music reported average listener figures of 1,990,000 over the last few months [4] - setting a new record. Historically one of the biggest forms of journalism outside of the written press, the radio is now more accessible than ever.

With the increased visibility, more people are being educated, informed and entertained by journalism on a daily basis. Dying? Far from it - journalism is thriving.

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[1] Wikipedia, Journalism
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Journalism

[2] Salon, 'John Stewart declares that traditional journalism is dead'
http://www.salon.com/2014/07/31/must_see_morning_clip_jon_stewart_declares_that_traditional_journalism_is_dead/

[3] The Guardian, newspaper circulation figures for September 2014
http://www.theguardian.com/media/table/2014/oct/10/abcs-national-newspapers

[4] The Guardian Media, BBC Radio 6 Music latest figures
http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/oct/23/bbc-radio-6-music-lauren-laverne-nick-grimshaw?CMP=share_btn_tw

Defamation Problem In Journalism And Remedies.

It is widely assumed defamation influence the news environment and it have involved in some
publication life. In consequence, it is really necessary to improve the law in order to solve the defamation problem. Surprisingly, English law provide more opportunity for public to against untrue statements that could influence their reputation. This is the important reason why defamation as a significant part in law for journalism. As we all know that the general meaning of defamation is using untrue statement and creating wrong information to frame people up, and influencing people reputation in the end. According to this serious issue in news environment, defamation is said to be an important knowledge that people need to know ,in case of involving in defamation situation.

There have two forms of defamation: libel and slander, and defamatory statement happen in several ways here: printed; broadcast on television or radio;  films programme and video; Online media; public performance of a play. It obviously that defamation is
nearly to our life.  For instance , if you heard some famous people’s secret story in some publication such as tabloid or any other online resource etc. The secret news story about the famous people is
quite possible to be a wrong information.(Singer Victoria Beckham met damages from Star magazine in 2007.In other words, journalist have potential opportunity to
defame someone after the finish interview. In modern society, the news industry has threatened by defamation, online media , TV programme publications sometimes provide a space for journalist to
damage someone when reader or audience do not know the truth . Journalist publish a statement which include wrong information or not accurate content about public unless it is not defamatory. This rule is enough equal between public and journalist in news industry.

In some defamation case ,claimant ‘s barrister could find some defamatory sentences  in untrue statement on publication from defendant.( a journalist who damage someone ‘s reputation) Obviously, these defamatory sentences called slander.
Meanwhile, journalist always being cautious on their words in report, because there really have potential dangerous to let them jailed when they sued by defamation case, so that journalist have responsibility for their report, it is an important issue for them is to know how to avoid libel or slandermistake. . For example journalist need check for their information after they finish interview note taking, it is an important process to avoid them involve in defamation case.

Apart from this, as we have known, the most useful for libel is damage and injunction.  Damage is said to be an economic way to solve defamation case. In verdict, judge will decide the result of damages after evidence given. On the other hand, injunction have ability to prevent defamation event happen. It have  more obvious effect in China, because in China, the press is always controlled by government, so that it is easier to manage news environment in China, in UK, the situation is quite different , because British news industry is self-regulated rather than controlled by government or any other politician.



 

 

Is The Role Of A Journalist Changing In Our Society And Why?

In the Uk, we find ourselves in a media and press environment in which is self-regulated, unlikecountries like China that have specific rules that underpin their press regulation. It is thought amongst our media that a liberal democracy is how we should operate.

The competitive paradigm looks at pluralist (liberal democracy) media as ‘a public sphere’. Jurgen Habermas came up with this idea of having a space accessible to everybody in which decisions can be made.

The media is referred to as a 'Fourth Estate'. This is the idea that the press and other publishers act as a type of ‘watchdog’. Edmund Burke argued that established social classes would abuse their power and as result the ‘fourth estate’ was created.

Having heard the points of Habermas and Burke, the media slowly began to have a more influential role in the media as there was no manipulation from society. This continues to be achieved through private ownership which comes with no state ownership and as a result no influence from our government.

There are a number of factors that influence a news organisation. These consist of political, economic, cultural and technological. All these elements help shape what impacts Jounalism and all news organisations. Margaret Thatcher and Ronald Reagan were vital ingredients in shaping what we know as the media industry today.  They achieved this through encouraging private enterprise and also helping the market regulate itself.

Having said all this, Mcnair argues that liberal democracies are sometimes forced to support government. He uses example such as newspapers supporting the gulf war and the second world war.

Technology has been of high speed growth in recent years and suddenly everybody finds their way to impact what is available for public eye. People no longer want to know what happened yesterday, but more that they want to know what is happening now. This is achieved through the intervention of social media (Facebook, Twitter, Instagram etc). Without the history of media and the journalism industry, our current view on the world of press and media might look a lot differently.

An uploaded picture or a football goal can now be seen within seconds of occurrence. With this technological shift comes expectation and demand for more and faster, resulting in yesterdays news no longer being sufficient in todays’ world. This coincides with busier working lives and longer shift patterns, resulting in a ‘non stop’ environment for the media. I conclude with suggesting that the world of press, as a result of being shaped by past events ,people and technological factors, has resulted in a non stop media environment, and the role of a journalist has become more important and demanding as ever.