NDM News: Citizen journalism and hyper-reality

Citizen journalism is a vital aspect of our case study on the impact of new and digital media on news.

It provides a more positive reading of how new technology can change the way news is created and consumed and also gives us the chance to consider Baudrillard's theory of hyper-reality.

Media Magazine ran a reality special edition a few years ago that explored these issues in some depth. Your blog task is to read two (or more!) articles from MM30 and complete the tasks below.



Blog tasks

Citizen journalism and UGC (user-generated content)

1) Read the article from Media Magazine: The Rise and Rise of UGC (Dec 2009). Use our Media Magazine archive, click on MM30 and go to page 55.

2) Create a blogpost where you make notes from the article under the following headings: 

• examples
• theory (audience reception etc.) 
• benefits to institutions 
• benefits to audience 
• wider issues and debates 
• SHEP

3) What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?

4) What was one of the first examples of news being generated by ‘ordinary people’?

5) List some of the formats for participation that are now offered by news organisations.

6) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?

7) What is a gatekeeper?

8) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?

9) What is one of the primary concerns held by journalists over the rise of UGC?

10) Offer your own opinion (critical autonomy) on the following:

What impact is new/digital media having on:

• news stories
• the news agenda (the choice of stories that make up the news)
• the role of professionals in news

Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance

1) Read the article from Media Magazine: Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance (Dec 2009). Use our Media Magazine archive, click on MM30 and go to page 59.

2) Create a new blogpost called 'Hyper-reality and the digital renaissance' and make notes from the article under the following headings: 

• examples
• theories 
• positive aspects of new technology (or 'digital renaissance' 
• negative aspects of new technology on audiences and society  
• wider issues and debates 

3) The article was written in 2009. Offer three examples of more recent social networking sites or uses of technology that support the idea of a 'digital renaissance'.

4) How do live streaming services such as Periscope or Facebook Live fit into the idea of a 'digital renaissance'? Are these a force for good or simply a further blurring of reality?

5) How can we link the 'digital renaissance' to our case study on news? Is citizen journalism a further example of hyper-reality or is it actually making news more accurate and closer to real life?

Finish this for homework - due date confirmed by your exam teacher.

Remember, this is in addition to the regular NDM stories on your blog - two due every week without fail.

NDM indexes: half-term 1 recap

We are half-way through our new/digital case study into the news industry and need to create an index to ensure we are keeping up with the workload. 

After half-term, we will be covering additional aspects for our case study, writing another MEST3 Section B essay and preparing for the next formal assessment in January. 

NDM News index

In today's lesson you need to create an index of all of your work so far for New/Digital Media and News. 

This process is an excellent start to your revision for the MEST3 exam in the summer and will also highlight if you've missed anything through absence or trips. Your index should include the following:

1) Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry
2) Ofcom report: how news consumption has changed
3) Baseline assessment: learner response
4) The future of newspapers: Build The Wall analysis
5) The decline of newspapers: the effect of online technology
6) The decline of newspapers: Media Magazine case studies
7) The future of journalism: John Oliver and Clay Shirky


For your index, the text should link to YOUR corresponding blogpost so you can access your work on each aspect of the case study quickly and easily. This also means you if you have missed anything you can catch up with the work and notes and won't underperform in the assessment due to gaps in your knowledge.



NDM story index

You also need to update your separate index of ALL of your NDM stories so far. This homework was originally set on Monday 11 September which means you should have a minimum of 12 stories in your index this week. 

Your index should have the story number (starting with your first story back in September as #1), the headline and a link to your blog post for that story - guidance for the original task from September (with top-level examples from previous years) is here.

Remember, every story you post needs to be on a separate blogpost and the link in the index should go to YOUR blog post on that story, not the original article itself.

Index due date: anything you don't complete in the lesson needs to be posted by your last lesson before half-term.

NDM News: The future of journalism

One of the key aspects of our case study is considering the impact new and digital media is having on journalism and the vital role news plays in society.

This builds on our work exploring the impact of technology on newspapers and whether news should be free. You've already completed the blog tasks on paywalls and the decline in the newspaper industry and now we need to explore the important role news reporters play in revealing corruption in politics and society.

We've got some excellent video resources to work with on this topic. Both of our videos refer to the 2016 Best Picture winner at the Oscars - Spotlight. This is director Tom McCarthy's film based on the true story of Boston Globe reporters investigating widespread child abuse in the Catholic Church. We highly recommend you watch this film as part of your ongoing case study work on News.

John Oliver on journalism
British comedian John Oliver presents a show called Last Week Tonight on HBO in America. Last year, he put together a report on the decline of journalism in America and its replacement by 'clickbait' stories rather than real news. Watch it here:



Clay Shirky on news: don’t build a paywall around a public good
Clay Shirky is a professor at New York University and a worldwide expert on digital and social media. He's a vital media theorist for our case study on News and he makes a compelling argument for the role news plays in society. Interestingly, he argues against paywalls - presenting an alternative to David Simon's Build The Wall argument that you have already studied and posted to your blog.

Blog tasks

1) Go to the Nieman Lab webpage (part of Harvard university) and watch the video of Clay Shirky presenting to Harvard students. 

2) Play the clip AND read along with the transcript below to ensure you are following the argument. You need to watch from the beginning to 29.35 (the end of Shirky's presentation).

3) Why does Clay Shirky argue that 'accountability journalism' is so important and what example does he give of this?

4) What does Shirky say about the relationship between newspapers and advertisers? Which websites does he mention as having replaced major revenue-generators for newspapers (e.g. jobs, personal ads etc.)?

5) Shirky talks about the 'unbundling of content'. This means people are reading newspapers in a different way. How does he suggest audiences are consuming news stories in the digital age?

6) Shirky also talks about the power of shareable media. How does he suggest the child abuse scandal with the Catholic Church may have been different if the internet had been widespread in 1992?

7) Why does Shirky argue against paywalls? 

8) What is a 'social good'? In what way is journalism a 'social good'?

9) Shirky says newspapers are in terminal decline. How does he suggest we can replace the important role in society newspapers play? What is the short-term danger to this solution that he describes?

10) Look at the first question and answer regarding institutional power. Give us your own opinion: how important is it that major media brands such as the New York Times or the Guardian continue to stay in business and provide news?



This work completes our mini-unit on the decline of the newspaper industry. You will need to complete this for homework but will have half-term to do it. Exact due date set by your exam teacher. Good luck!

Folder check - this week!

In your exam lesson later this week you need to bring your Media folder to show you are organising your notes and assessments correctly. 

Specifically, we will be checking you've got the following:

• Ring binder folder or equivalent
• Dividers - section for each teacher and assessments
• Notes in chronological order/title/date 
• Marked NDM assessment(s)
• Quality of note taking 

We will be checking this in your exam lesson later this week - make sure you have everything required!

Critical Investigation: Notes and Quotes

You should by now have an in-depth, completed Critical Investigation Proposal on your blog. 

The next step is to develop a 'Notes and Quotes' document to contain all your research. This document will eventually be many thousands of words and contain all your links, ideas, comments and quotes from everything you read and watch. It is essential that you have a wide collection of research and notes before you write a single word of your actual essay.

Rabia achieved an A* in Media two years ago and was interviewed for a PiXL video explaining how she researched her critical investigation on masculinity:



What does a great Notes and Quotes document look like? Here is Rabia's 11,000 word masterpiece that she discusses in the video and led to the 48/48 full marks essay. You might also want to have a look at former student Navneet's Notes and Quotes blogpost - and bear in mind she too went on to write an outstanding essay that achieved 47 out of 48 marks.

Your classwork AND homework is to start your Notes and Quotes document and reach at least 2,000 words - due after half-term. 

You may want to do this on Microsoft Word initially but you WILL have to publish everything you've got to your blog at least once a week for the next month.

Fortunately, you already have a template for this document from the last section of your Critical Investigation Project Proposal. Indeed, you may have already copied everything over into a new blogpost under the heading Research Plan. 

Either way, you now need to create a new blogpost called Notes and Quotes and start watching, reading and writing up any thoughts, ideas, quotes or comments you think of while you research.

You'll need this on your blog - with at least 2,000 words of content - for your first double Media lesson after half-term - good luck!

NDM: The decline in newspapers - MM case studies

Issue 57 of Media Magazine featured two very useful case studies on British newspaper brands and their recent decline.

The New Day
The New Day was a brand new newspaper launched by institution Trinity Mirror in 2016 - but it folded after just two months.  

Read the feature: 'A New Day for British journalism' on page 6 of Media Magazine 57 (our Media Magazine archive is here) and complete the following tasks on your blog:

1) What was the New Day trying to achieve?

2) List the key statistics on the first page: how many people buy newspapers in the UK? How has this declined in the last year?

3) What audience were the New Day trying to attract?

4) Why do you think the New Day failed so spectacularly? There are several possible reasons listed in the article but do develop your own opinion here as well.

The Guardian
The Guardian is another British newspaper struggling with a steep decline in print sales. However, the Guardian's survival strategy has been built around a global online approach to digital content. 

Read the feature: 'Can The Guardian survive in a changing media landscape?' on page 9 of Media Magazine 57 and complete the following tasks on your blog:

1) List the key statistics on page 10: How many unique digital browsers used the Guardian website in June 2016? What are The Guardian's latest print sales figures? How does this compare to the Telegraph? In terms of finances, how much did the Guardian lose in 2015? 

2) What has been The Guardian's strategy for reversing this decline?

3) What global event did The Guardian's digital coverage win awards for?

4) In your opinion, will the global website strategy be enough to save The Guardian?

Remember you also have the ongoing work on the effect of online technology to complete this week. Pay particular attention to the quotes and statistics in all this work - these will be vital in lifting your MEST3 Section B essays into the A/A* bracket. 

Finish for homework - due next week.

NDM: the effect of online technology on newspapers

We've read an important handout on the impact new and digital media has had on the newspaper industry and now need to develop our knowledge and understanding further.

If you missed the lesson or want to go over any of the key details the handout is here: Newspapers: The effect of online technology. Make sure you've read and highlighted the text and completed the tasks.

Blog tasks

Based on the handout you've read and the links provided, answer these questions on your blog with detailed, in-depth paragraphs. Remember, critical autonomy means forming your own opinions on these issues.

1) Do you agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online? Why?

2) Read this blog on the Times paywall three years on (note this is the UK Times - not the New York Times!)

3) Was Rupert Murdoch right to put his news content (The Times, The Sunday Times) behind a paywall?

4) Choose two comments from below the Times paywall article - one that argues in favour of the paywall and one that argues against. Copy a quote from each and explain which YOU agree with and why.

5) Read this article from the Media Briefing on the continuing decline of the newspaper industry. 

6) Why do you think the Evening Standard has bucked the trend and increased circulation and profit in the last two years?

7) Is there any hope for the newspaper industry or will it eventually die out? Provide a detailed response to this question explaining and justifying your opinion.


Finish for homework if you don't get it done in the lesson: due date confirmed by your MEST3 exam teacher.

Bank of England film competition

The Bank of England is running a film competition based around the subject of independence.

The brief is flexible and the length of the film is between one and three minutes - the more creative the better.

There are full details on the Bank of England website here. 

Note: you need to pre-register this weekend if you want to take part. You then have until December to make the film.

It's a great opportunity to make a film for your portfolio and also potentially win a prestigious award (not to mention decent prizes!)

Media Awards 2017: THE NOMINATIONS

The nominations are in for the Media Awards 2017!

With the ceremony just two weeks' away, these are the films and music videos that will be battling it out for a prestigious Greenford High School Media Award. The quality level at both GCSE and A Level was exceptionally high and it has been an extremely difficult process narrowing down the nominations for our Oscars-style event.

Tickets will go on sale on Monday 9 October priced £4 for early bird tickets and £5 in the week of the Awards. Be quick - the event sold out in just three days last year!

A Level nominations

Best Year 12 Original Screenplay
Out of Mind 
Hiraeth
Nowy Poczatek

Best Year 12 Production Design
Voice of the Void
Euphoria
Nowy Pockzatek

Best Year 12 Dialogue/Voiceover
Click
Approval
Euphoria

Best Year 12 Cinematography 
Unstable
Voice of the Void
Click

Best Year 12 Sound Design
Voice of the Void 
Approval
Out of Mind

Best Year 12 Film Editing
Unstable
Click
Hiraeth

GCSE nominations

Best GCSE Cinematography
Take a Bow – Shanella Dammanpilage Done
Earthquake – Ahmed Hassan
Unfaithful – Blaise Marden

Best GCSE Music Video Concept
Radioactive – Tyler-Jade Kelly
Don’t – Shabd Magon
Mrs Potato Head – Areej Mehdi

Best GCSE Production Design
Unfaithful – Blaise Marden
Mrs Potato Head – Areej Mehdi
Wolves – Annya Ranshi

Best GCSE Editing
Symbolism – Mariam Ahmadyar
Untitled – Kacper Ikwanty
Party – Shahir Joian

Best Actress/Actor

Gifty Kumi – Unstable

Sophie Robertson – Out of Mind

Nasteha Mohamed – Approval

Abdullah Al-Fadhli – Click

Mr Mather – Training

Hussein Hamume – Click

Congratulations to all our nominees and we look forward to seeing you at the Media Awards on Tuesday 17 October!

NDM: The decline of the newspaper industry

The next aspect of our new/digital case study for A2 Media is the decline in the newspaper industry.

Exploring how new/digital technology has impacted on traditional media industries is a critical part of the overall exam topic. We need to learn statistics and examples that illustrate the decline in print media alongside looking at how audiences have changed the way they access and interact with news. Your Ofcom research blog task is a major part of this but now we need to consider whether print newspapers have any kind of future - and if so, who will pay for it?

The future of newspapers

Read this article from the Economist on the future of newspapers.

On your blog, create a blogpost called 'The future of newspapers' and write a paragraph summarising the argument the article makes. Then answer the following questions:

1) Do you agree with its view that it is ‘a cause for concern, but not for panic’?

2) The article is 10 years old - an eternity in digital media terms. Have the writer's predictions come to pass? Use statistics from your Ofcom research to support or challenge the writer's argument.

3) The Economist suggests that high-quality journalism in the future will be backed by non-profit organisations rather than profit-seeking media corporations. Is there any evidence for this? How is the Guardian funded? What do major stories from the last year such as the Panama Papers suggest about how investigative journalism is conducted in the digital age?



Homework/classwork
You have some serious homework this week - in addition to finding your weekly NDM stories. Your main work is some in-depth reading which will provide excellent preparation for university. David Simon, creator of critically acclaimed TV series The Wire and a former journalist, has written a passionate defence of the newspaper industry in the face of the new and digital media onslaught. This will easily take you a couple of hours to complete - make sure you put the time in.

The article, Build The Wall, is available here on the Columbia Journalism Review website.

Your tasks are as follows:

Read the article in full and create a blogpost on your MEST3 Exam Blog called 'Build The Wall analysis'. 

1) Summarise each section in one sentence:

• Section 1 (To all of the bystanders reading this…)
• Section 2 (Truth is, a halting movement toward...)
• Section 3 (Beyond Mr. Sulzberger and Ms. Weymouth…)
• Section 4 (For the industry, it is later than it should be…)

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

3) The New York Times added a paywall in 2011 - two years after David Simon's essay. Read this summary of the New York Times's paywall - why does the writer suggest the NYT's paywall was successful?

4) The Washington Post followed with its own paywall in 2013. Read this article about the launch of the Post's paywall. List one strength and one weaknesses of newspaper paywalls that the article discusses.  

5) Read this Guardian comment by AC Grayling piece on the state of journalism that was published the year before David Simon's essay. What references to new and digital media can you find in AC Grayling's argument? Overall, do you feel the comment piece is positive or negative about the influence of new/digital media on the newspaper industry?

6) Finally, what is your own opinion? Do you agree that newspapers need to put online content behind a paywall in order for the journalism industry to survive? Would you be willing to pay for news online? Critical autonomy is the key skill in A2 Media - you need to be able form opinions on these issues.

ALL work due: confirmed by your MEST3 teacher (Mr Halsey's class - Tuesday 10 October)

Mr Halsey 13D cover work - Monday 2 October

Apologies - I'm not feeling well so won't be in on Monday.

The work is very simple: start on your critical investigation project proposals. The details are all on the blog and it's an extensive planning exercise so will take time. I'll be back on Wednesday and we will start tutorials to ensure we're heading in the right direction.

Any questions, speak to Mr Bush or Ms Fowler who will be around. Good luck!

Critical Investigation: Project proposal

The next step in our critical investigations is to develop our presentations into detailed academic proposals. 

You will be given a one-to-one tutorial to help you find the right angle and issue to concentrate on but first need to develop a blog post working through the following headings and tasks:

Working title

Include your specific text in the title and either 'how or 'why' or both, e.g.: To what extent and why are video games such as 'Grand Theft Auto’ becoming more violent? This list of last year's critical investigation titles may help you write your question.

Angle

How will you approach this question? E.g.: What impact are these increasingly violent games having on their audience? Is this simply a moral panic of the 21st century or is further regulation required?

Hypothesis

What is your current opinion or viewpoint on the media debate? That is: what will you be testing through your research and investigation? E.g.: Video games are psychologically damaging for young people, and audiences have become increasingly desensitised to screen violence.

Linked production piece

What are you planning to make as your linked production piece? E.g.: Newsnight-style documentary video report looking at the impact of violent videogames on young people.

MIGRAIN

Apply the Key Concepts to your text/topic by using the questions from the Summer Research Project to help you. (Include at least five bullet points per key concept). Include as many media keywords as you can.

SHEP

Apply the Wider Contexts (Social, Historical, Economic, Political) to your text/topic, including at least three bullet points on each one.

Issues/Debates

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using the Media A-Z to help you think about this. Your research and essay plan will need to factor these issues and debates into your work:

• Representation and stereotyping
• Media effects
• Reality TV
• News Values
• Moral Panics
• Post 9/11 and the media
• Ownership and control
• Regulation and censorship
• Media technology and the digital revolution – changing technologies in the 21st century
• The effect of globalisation on the media

Theories

Select at least five and say how each relates to your study, using keywords/specific theorists' names from the Media A-Z:

• Semiotics
• Structuralism and post-structuralism
• Postmodernism and its critiques
• Gender and ethnicity
• Marxism and hegemony
• Liberal Pluralism
• Colonialism and Post-colonialism
• Audience theories
• Genre theories
• Contemporary Media Landscape

You may need to further research these theoretical areas. 

Research plan (media texts, academic texts and websites)

Media texts
What your main focus will be, E.g.:
Call of Duty
Grand Theft Auto

Other media texts
(at least five related examples)

TV documentaries
Research videos online, e.g.:
BBC One - Panorama, Addicted to Games? http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00wlmj0

Academic texts/books
(a minimum of five, including author/full title/year, e.g.:)
Barrie Gunter: The effects of video games on children: the myth unmasked (1998)
James Newman: Playing with videogames (2008)
Nancy Signorielli: Violence in the media: a reference handbook (2005)
Peter Vorderer, and Bryant Jennings: Playing video games: motives, responses, and consequences (2006)

Internet Links
1. At least FIVE from Media Guardian or Guardian Culture or another newspaper website.
2. At least FIVE from university websites/academic papers online. Use Google Scholar as a starting point.
3. Any other relevant sites/articles - the more the better.

Use our archive of 2017's top-grade Critical Investigations to help you. (You may also want to look at those from previous years too: 2016, 2015, 2014, 2013).

You have 10 days to complete this detailed proposal before you need to start your research in depth. Good luck!