Olympics ceremony

In the Olympics ceremony opening there was a multicultural theme in the sense that they tried to imply that Britain welcomes many and different races. This was shown as there was black people as well as white people, this was shown firstly in the household where the women is living with her black partner or husband and has mixed race children, the family almost portrays a nuclear family, A theorist which would argue this would be Alvarado because it does not show any of his four attributes. More than that, the fact that the family is a mixed race family shows the audience how London wants to be seen rather than how it really is. Usually, mixed race families are seen as a broken family rather than a nuclear family, however, the Olympics does not portray a hard living family but rather portrays a happy stable nuclear family. this is challenging the stereotypes as these families are usually stereotyped in a negative way however Dany Boyle is trying to challenge this stereotype. However, the daily mail would disagree with the scene about the NHS and argue that we should not depend on the NHS as we should be independent. people who are more right wing believe that it should not be glorified because everything should be private shouldn't rely on the state.

NDM story number 2

Newspapers give Labour's 50p tax rate proposal the thumbs down :

. The announcement by Ed Balls that Labour will reintroduce the 50p top rate of income tax for those earning over £150,000 went down very badly with the majority of today's national newspapers.

. Columnists railed against Labour's decision. Most leading articles were hostile.

. recognised that it would have political benefits, pointing out that 60% of the people polled in recent research supported a 5% increase in the top rate.

. "As David Cameron will say to the Federation of Small Businesses today, we rely on the country's wealth creators to produce the jobs on which our long-term security relies. It is, frankly, insulting of Mr Balls to suggest that the high earners who provide most of the tax revenues have not played their part in the recovery.

. The 50p rate "will raise funds to cut the deficit. It is both fair and popular. Opponents should be required to declare any financial interest."

. The Guardian, in an editorial headlined "More than small change", argued that "the commitment to a new tax rate is warmly welcome" despite no-one knowing "how much will be raised." I

My opinion : 
this will cause a few problems and arguments as many people will not want to pay more tax

. 

NDM stories:

Sky to offer The Tunnel and Moone Boy episodes free on YouTube: 

. Sky is to offer episodes from some of its big shows, including The Tunnel and Moone Boy, for free on YouTube in an attempt to entice viewers to its pay-TV services.

.  Sky First Episodes, that will allow viewers to watch the first episodes of shows 

. The channel, which launches on 1 February, forms part of a multimillion-pound campaign to promote Sky's range of entertainment channels and programming.

. Sky is aiming to reignite growth in its TV base

. which has plateaued at about 10 million subscribers.

. It is now targeting the 13m-plus UK homes that watch free-to-air services.

. "We're passionate about delivering truly great TV – and the best way of demonstrating this is to give people the opportunity to enjoy the shows for themselves," said the Sky director of entertainment, marketing and digital, Naomi Gibney. "The combination of Sky First Episodes and a TV campaign featuring entire clips from our biggest and best series means that now everyone has the chance to sample Sky shows."

. As well as the YouTube tie-up, Sky is spending millions on a marketing campaign that will include TV ads, featuring stars including Chris O'Dowd, Nick Frost and Dominic Cooper, running on rivals including ITV and Channel 4.

my opinion : very good, however they need to lower prices. 

post-colonialism

What is post- colonialism ?

. In the 19th and 20th century Britain and other European countries held colonial empires in Africa, Asia and South America.
. colonialism produced media which naturalised colonialism- they were bringing a civilising influence to colonised countries.
. post- colonialism emphasises the importance of the cultural, economic, political and military dominance of this past.
. The absence of non-white images in the media, visually suggests the dominance of the white culture.

Orientalism :

. Edward said (1995) introduced this concept
. suggests that the East and and the Orient are representations of both fear and fascination

Diaspora :

. result of the forced or voluntary migration
. people experience a sense of belonging to a culture which is 'other' to the dominant culture of the country of residence

Alvarado :

. (1987)
. suggests that there are four types of representations for members of the black community.
. firstly the Humorous
. secondly the exotic or sexually promiscuous
. the pitied
. the dangerous

12 year of slave:

Analysis of 12 years a slave trailer :

This trailer highlights that the film will be about the exploitation of black people during 1841. these black people came from all around the world, in this movie the man who is being exploited is from Canada and was sold into slavery. The film shows how these people were born free as Michael Fassbender quotes, "I was born a free man." This film portrays the division between black and white people.

Alvarado 1987 would argue that the trailer ... 

. suggests that there are four types of representations for members of the black community:

. firstly the Humorous
. secondly the exotic or sexually promiscuous
. the pitied
. the dangerous

However, in this case the trailer would portray 'the pitied' as the audience feels sympathy towards the black people in  this film as they were sold to slavery. it would be argued that 'the dangerous' which portray the white people who used the black as slaves which challenges stereotypes as black people are usually stereotyped as 'the dangerous' however this movie challenges this stereotype and almost swaps roles.

Black skin white mask (Fanon): 

This theory is supported by Fanon who argues that people may look white but are actually white. An example of this would be Michael Jackson who had undergone many surgeries and bleaching process in order to make himself look more white, by changing his nose and skin colour. This could be argued to be an understanding thing because of the exploitation of the black and how they are treated differently than white people. In this trailer, this theory can be used to describe the black people who were sold into slavery, although they were black, many came from a rather 'white country' for example the Michael Fassbender had came from Canada which means that he would of had to adapt to their culture.

2nd NDM story :

Facebook will lose 80% of users by 2017, say Princeton researchers :

. the platform will be largely abandoned by 2017
. The forecast of Facebook's impending doom was made by comparing the growth curve of epidemics to those of online social networks. Scientists argue that, like bubonic plague, Facebook will eventually die out.
. The social network, which celebrates its 10th birthday on 4 February, has survived longer than rivals such as Myspace and Bebo
. it will lose 80% of its peak user base within the next three years

MY OPINION : facebook is dying.

1st NDM story :

Press regulation: most national and regional newspapers sign up to Ipso :

. More than 90% of national newspapers and most regional publishers have signed up to Ipso.
. government-backed regulator underpinned by royal charter, held a meeting on Thursday morning to secure the signatures of the vast majority of UK newspaper and magazine publishers
. "Ipso will be an independent, tough and effective regulator fully in line with the principles of the Leveson report."
. In an internal memo to staff seen by MediaGuardian, Mike Darcey, the chief executive of Sun, Times and Sunday Times publisher News UK, said that it would be a "robust" regulator.
. "[Ipso's] aim is to ensure our award-winning journalism is responsible as well as robust,"
. he said. "We have already strengthened our internal procedures and set ourselves the goal of being the best governed media company in the world, so it is right that we were among the first to sign up".
. It is understood that Guardian News & Media, publisher of the Guardian and Observer, the Financial Times and the Independent are among those not to have signed yet.

 my opinion :
good.

Guardian to raise cover price: 

.Weekday and Saturday's edition of newspaper to cost 20p more as the times also increases price by the same amount.

.  From 11 January, the Saturday edition of the Guardian will increase from £2.30 to £2.50, while from 13 January the weekday edition will climb from £1.40 to £1.60.

. The Saturday Guardian price rise at the weekend will be accompanied by the launch of a new lifestyle supplement. The Saturday edition has also undergone a design revamp, with changes including the Money supplement moving into the main section of the paper.

. "While price rises are never easy decisions, it will enable us to continue to offer our loyal and engaged audience an improved, quality product, despite the tough market," said a spokeswoman for GNM. "The uplift in sales for both the Guardian and the Observer following the launches of Observer Tech Monthly and biannual magazine The Fashion, supported by our Own the Weekend marketing campaign, prove that our continued investment in print is being welcomed by our readers."

. "No publisher likes to increase its price, but we believe we have been the best value quality paper for several years now and remain great value for money," said John Witherow, editor of the Times, in a letter to readers.

.  subscribers get the weekday Times for 60p per day.

MY OPINION: 

I think by increasing the price less people will buy the newspaper, not because it is expensive,but more because people now have the internet to get the news from, newspapers are sources of traditional media which has been dying out anyway, so by rising up prices it ismore likely to die out even more. 

2 NDM story:

'The Rupert Murdoch era is all but over'

. The question is, is Rupert Murdoch's influence on the media coming to an end?

.  When looking back at 2013 and forward to 2014 it is tempting to focus on all the "new" things that have happened or are about to happen for example, Twitters, Facebooks, Buzzfeeds, Vices, Snapchats and so on. 

. The influence of these are overestimated in the short term and underestimated in the long term

.  although "new" media have played a part, it is in the heartland of Britain's oldest medium – the press  that this epoch-shifting change has occurred. The Murdoch era is all but over.

. The things Murdoch has done/launched were very significant such as upending the cosy broadcasting consensus that this country had the "best TV in the world" by launching Sky and building it into the commercial colossus it now is – when all around him said it would never work; and shaping Britain's most popular daily tabloid the Sun, created from virtually nothing, capturing the public mood with headlines like Gotcha! and going on to make the political weather for nigh on 40 years.

.So now the company has been split into 21st Century Fox (TV, movies and entertainment) – no longer required to bankroll loss-making newspapers and, it is hoped, set free from the risk of infection by events back in London

MY OPINION :

I think as traditional media is dying out, and new launches of digital/new media is being launched, Rupert Murdoch's influence on media might come to an end, however,although traditional media has died out the other broadcasts he has launched for example, sky has not died out and has been continued in today's society.

What is the message of Black mirror ?

There is the use of the element of 'Satire' as the Prime minister is told to have sexual intercourse with a pig. This is mocking the government and the prime minister as it portrays to the audience that the prime minister has no control or power and that he has to do what he has been told to do so. This pushes the threat towards the prime minister to a huge extent. More than that, the fact that the news got published on the internet within 9 minutes: Youtube and Twitter, shows the use of social networking sites and broadcasting. the news had spread and within minutes the mass knew what was going on. the Prime ministers wife also found out what was happening through twitter which elevates the fact that social networking sites are the main cause of why this situation got out of hand. Furthermore, the use of censorship is also portrayed in 'Black Mirror' when the prime minister demands that he does not want the audience to find out and to delete anything that has been published on social networking sites, similarly, the use of censorship is used with the reporter goes to record what is happening, she is then caught and her phone gets shot, elevating censorship and how important it is to the government to not share everything with the audience. The use of traditional vs new/digital media is also evidence in this programme as back in the days people would not have had phones and laptops to publish and spread the news around, however, the development in new technology has made this much easier. Finally, the use of desensitisation is important as the audience are now not as shocked as they would of been many years ago, this is because the audience witness many situations which are worse, the audience are now used to seeing violence, swearing and sexual intercourse.

Egypt revolution notes :

. Journalists (wrote blogs about the revolution and the police state that needed changing)
. June 20120- Khaled sayed, brutually beaten and murdered for exposing pictures of the faults of the government
. A photograph was taken by his brother when he went to identify his body.
. facebook - 5 million users in Egypt
. Islam, brotherhood leaders were against Mubarak
. Jan 25th - holiday in honour of the police
. 20% of egyptians access the internet- not as much as tunisia
. The word spread through mosque, cafes
. Asma mahfouz - against Mubarak , outspoken on facebook about her opinions towards the governement
. people sent texts and posted what was happening on facebook to spread the word
. they tricked the police to be in the wrong place at the wrong time by posting where they will be on facebook.
. 40,000 in tahrir square
. the west relied on Mubarak to join Israel and 'war on terror'
. obama made egyptians angry
. Henry clinton talks about 'internet freedom'
. Jan 28th - organizers met at secret location
. map to how to attack the police was being discussed
. British based vodafone withdrawed themselves,
. 28th Jan - Egyptians were cut off from the internet by Mubarak
. Americans funded the egyptian army. 1.3 billion dollars aid going every year.
. The traditional government was hierachical, pyramid structure
. internet is decentralized, no structure, new threat that government does not know how to control
. became known as 'battle of the camels' - because they brough camels to the roads
. Feb 11th - protestors heard the government was going to make a speech - he also sent text messages to the mass

Christmas NDM story number 4

UK entertainment spending rises with surge in film and music streaming:

. Value of film and TV downloads, streams and subscriptions rises to £621m, and number of tracks streamed doubles to 7.4bn
.
. Skyfall was the biggest-selling DVD in the UK in 2013, shifting 2.96m copies.
. After five years of decline, sales of entertainment products such as music, films and video games were growing again last year because of booming digital services such as Netflix and Spotify
. The surge in popularity of watching TV and films on the likes of Netflix, Amazon's LoveFilm and Apple's iTunes fuelled a 40% increase in spending on digital videos with downloads, streams and subscriptions rising to £621m
. The digital revolution was also felt in the UK music industry where the number of tracks streamed doubled to 7.4bn, thanks to a rise in users of services such as Spotify and Deezer, which have almost halted a 10-year decline in music sales.
. The shift to digital viewing more than offset a 6.8% fall in the sale of physical DVDs to £1.4bn, reversing a five-year decline in total video sales, which managed 3.7% growth to £2.06bn last year
. "Services like Netflix, LoveFilm and Blinkbox are transforming the video business by making content available over multiple devices," said Kim Bayley
. "They are responding to the way people are now consuming content on the move."
. The biggest-selling DVD in the UK last year was Skyfall, which shifted 2.96m copies,

My Opinion :

Less people are going to the store to buy the CD'S and DVD's , but are starting to download off the internet. Traditional media is dying.

Christmas NDM number 3

University applications by UK students down 1% on last year :

. Ucas interim figures come a month after George Osborne announced cap on the number of undergraduates to be axed

Facts :

. University applications by UK students have dropped by 1% from 264,860 at this time last year to 263,460
. Overall 303,750 people submitted university applications by 16 December 2013. Updated figures will be announced after the final Ucas deadline on 15 January.
. The interim figures show that there has been a 4% dip in applications from Northern Ireland and applications in Scotland remained around the same on 14,110.
. There has been a 2% rise in applicants from Wales and a 5% rise in applications from outside the EU.
. The figures come just a month after George Osborne announced that the cap on the number of undergraduate students will be axed next year, in an effort to strengthen the UK's long-term economic competitiveness.
. The university thinktank million+ has called on the government to do more to promote the benefits of studying at university
.