Facebook inflated video viewing times for two years

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/23/facebook-video-viewing-times-ad-agencies-metric

This talks about how Facebook have neglected views based on those who would watch a video for less than 3 seconds. This has made a bad impression for them as this could mean that there have been miscounted views so that this would misrepresent the amount of views a video would get. This would mean that advertisers would now be unsure as to whether they would want to invest in Facebook for advertising.

• "Following inquiries from agencies, the social network disclosed that this could have inflated average viewing time by between 60% and 80%" 

In my opinion I think that Facebook isn't entirely to blame for this incident as they wouldn't think that less than three seconds of viewing the video is considered a  view. This could mean that advertisers were mislead to believe that the video could have had more views. However since they weren't aware of the situation at hand then this would've meant that advertisers aren't aware of the viewership that the video may have. 

Rinstagram or Finstagram? The curious duality of the modern Instagram user

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/26/rinstagram-finstagram-instagram-accounts

This article covers how a woman has two accounts on Instagram. In this case she has one that shares her travels which was public in comparison to one which she has privatised. The privatised account would cover her day to day life. This article also covers how people would have lied about their own lives on social media.

•  75% of British people admit to lying about themselves on social media.
• Released research in 2014 revealing over 60% of people said social media makes them feel inadequate about their own lives.

In my opinion I think that the duality that people would have on Instagram would present themselves with two personalities. Although this might express themselves to the audience, this does end up fabricating what they are actually like.This does relate to the 60% that lied. This could be because of the anonymity that social media would serve to the audience. As a result this might cause people to get away with lying as they would have an audience trusting in their appearance on social media.

NDM case study: How has news changed?

2) The most popular platform to access the news would be TV which has had 67%. This has changed in comparison to 2014 which has had 75% of adults who would use TV. This has highlighted how audiences are slowly transitioning to online.

3) 51% of 16-24 would use TV for news in comparison to the 86% of 55+ who would use the news for TV. Newspapers have also seen a similar pattern with 21% of 16-24 reading newspapers in comparison to 44% of 55+. However there is a contrast when it comes to online. This is proven with 59% of 16-24 while 55+ would have 23% using online to access the news.

4) It has been shown that AB socioeconomic groups would want the news in comparison to those who would be in DE. One reason why I think that there would be the contrast in between both socioeconomic classes is because AB are more likely to choose academic courses which may require knowledge of the wider world. As well as that, they might also want to be updated about the news. Meanwhile DE may not go to news channels or simillar content is because they may not have access to the news. 
AB/DE
TV: 71%/67%
Internet: 50%/29%
Newspapers: 38%/26%
Radio: 46%/23%

5) There are four platforms that are used to access the news.
19% only use TV for the news
-26% are 55+ 
-28% DE 
-13% 16-24s
-14% AB
11% only using the internet for news
-20% 16-24
2% 55+
3% only using radio for news
2% only using newspapers

6) The change over time is that it has decreased over time. BBC had 73% in 2013. However it is at 71% in 2014. This would show that audiences are turning away from TV to better platforms such as the internet. Age was also a matter as the BBC had 16-24 had watched 25 hours in 2014 in comparison to the 189 hours that 55+ have had in 2014.

7) The amount of newspapers readers who would have decreased by 27% from 2005 to 2014.

8) The newspapers that were that in 2014 29.3% of 14-24s read print newspapers. Meanwhile a larger amount were 67.9% of 65+ would read newspapers.

9) The most read newspapers were The Sun (20%), Daily Mail (19%), the
Daily Mirror (13%), the Metro (12%) and The Times (9%)

The most read newspaper which is The Sun has a right-wing view.
Daily Mail has a Right Wing approach
Daily Mirror is Left Wing

10) 59% UK adults aged 16-24 use the internet for news. 23% of those are aged 55+. 53% of those in the ABC1 socio-economic group use online sources for news, compared to a third (32%) of those in the C2DE socio-economic group. Men are more likely than women to say they use internet for news (45% vs. 37%)

11) (51%) say they use the website or apps of TV and radio companies to get news. 

12) 43% only use social media as a news source.


13) 56% of online news users said they used the BBC website or app compared to 59% in 2014. Facebook was the second most popular response, up by 12 percentage points since 2014 from 17% to 29%). This was followed by the Google search engine (15%) and the Sky
News website or app (14%).

14) 61% of 16-24 who use the internet for news would only use social media. This contrasts the 26% who would use social media to get updated.

15) breaking news would be the main type of news that social media users would use to get updated on topics.

16) Now that there is new and digital media for audiences to get updated on the News, would help them with key updates since they would have notifications to keep them ready for new stories. As well as that social media can be translated so therefore people can understand stories so that they could understand different viewpoints.

17) Institutions can benefit from the change as they can now find new ways to communicate with their audience. There has been more citizen journalism stories more recently in comparison to the past which could show a witness perspective of the story. As well as citizen journalism it is now easier to promote themselves if they are trending and have a good following then be shared so that this could entice new readers.

18) The downsides that audiences may have suffered is that there may be more biased content. This is because there are more sources of the news besides the news so therefore this might mean that someone who has a strong following might influence their audience to vote. Especially considering that the Presidential debate has occurred, this has made more opinion leaders actively expressing their opinion on whether Democrats or Republicans win.

19) Institutions might suffer because of the new news sources such as the YouTube channels that would report the news. In this case the YouTubers might even be preferred over traditional news channels which might mean that they may lose viewership.

20) Institutions have benefited this as they can gather content from recorded footage that can present the story in a new perspective. As well as that institutions can also interact with its audience as it would help them create content for their audience. As well as that they can also share their content making it more easier for the audience to view their reports easier.

However audiences have also benefited form the change as they can now access the news in various websites. As well as that they can also share their opinion on the topic so that they can also view other opinions that may contrast theirs. They can also intrigue a younger audience to read their content that would ake them interested in reading more regularly.

In conclusion I think that audiences gained more benefits than the institutions as there are more ways to interact with the news which can help them understand the story as well as catch-up on missed stories online.

NDM baseline assessment learner response

4) WWW: A solid well developed essay that explores both sides of the argument.

EBI: One genuine concern is handwriting: it was mentioned in the MEST3 Examiner's Report and you need to address this over the next few months.
You've used a lot of examples but make sure they relate to audience empowerment.
It's great you've discussed institutions retaining power but I'd love to see examples of this. 
More Media Theory required.

5) Another way in which audiences are gaining power would be from the variety of views that are present in Twitter. In this case twitter would allow their users to tweet out what they would like to. However they are limited to 140 characters. This could negate the effect of the hypodermic needle syringe since this would suggest that audiences are pretty passive. However since they could tweet about their opinions then this could show that audiences are empowered with their opinions and the freedom that they have. This would mean that big institutions would need to take this into consideration. An example of how the opinions of an audience dictates the content of the media was with Blizzard and the fan base. The players had an outcry for one of Overwatch's playable heroes. The players had felt that the developers had sexualized women with the victory pose that Tracer had. Since this comment from the early stages of the game, they had changed her pose to be seen as less offensive. This could further emphasise the power that an audience could have as they would dictate the content for their products. 

However the other side to this would be that big institutions are also gaining power. In this case they would use adverts to their advantage to try and empower themselves. An example of this would be the Presidential Elections. The both parties have used various celebrities and public figures to endorse their party. One strong endorsement would be the current President Barack Obama supporting Hillary Clinton. Since he would have a following from his previous terms as President, those who would've voted for him might want to support him again. This would therefore mean that their opinions would be influenced by his presence. As a result this would support the hypodermic syringe model as this would suggest that Barack Obama would be one of the driving forces for the popularity of the Democratic Party. One other way in which customers are influenced into their decisions would be adverts. Since the adverts would try and persuade an audience, this would mean that audiences might be likely to purchase that product if it intrests them. This could go both ways. One way would be that the advert would persuade them to purchase it. or that the advert gives the viewer a choice between competitors. This would then go against the hypodermic syringe needle.

BBC Radio 1 aims to be 'Netflix of music radio' with phone-first strategy

Source:https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/19/bbc-radio-1-aims-to-be-netflix-of-music-radio-with-phone-first-strategy

BBC Radio 1 plan to stream their services to phones quite like Netflix. This would leave audiences with a variety choice to listen to when they want to listen to Radio 1. This would be helpful for them as an audience wouldn't need to listen to the schedule or wait for a specific time until the event takes place.

• “We have 25 hours of programming that is made for your phone,” said Ben Cooper 

In my opinion I think this is a great way for them to try and appeal to their audience. This would be because it would be more convenient to them as they would offer. content that would be readily available to them. This would be a great change as some of its listeners may not have the time to listen to all of the stories. Although there is a similar to BBC iPlayer. However in this case it appears to be exclusive content for mobile users which might give it a unique selling point for listeners to go to. 

Meet Snapchat's 'dudeocracy' of talent

Source:https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/22/snapchat-users-dudeocracy-of-talent

 

In this article Snapchat is seen as a place where talent would be showcased. In this case this social media app was discussed in an event called SnapHappen which wasn't organised by Snapchat. This event has mainly talked about the success that this would have gaathered with some of its users being sponsored. It also talks about how advertisers. As well as that Snapchat is also trying to convince advertisers that they could use their platform to advertise their products or services there.

• "Two things seem to be holding back any deluge of marketing dollars for Snapchatters: the infamous lack of metrics on Snapchat, including how many followers a star has, and how many times their stories have been viewed"

In my opinion I think that Snapchat looks like a great way for talent to grow. Since they could try and garner some followers over time, this could therefore mean that they have a chance of getting sponsored. This would also make advertising quite challenging if they want to promote their products by sponsoring a Snapchat user since they would have 10 seconds to try something creative. This could make their users more creative and this could make it more competitive for big corporatios such as 20th Century Fox to try and promote using Snapchat.

Facebook and Twitter join coalition to improve social media newsgathering

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/13/facebook-twitter-social-media-newsgathering

This article talks about Google-backed First Draft. This is a programme that would ensure that broadcasters and social platforms would ensure that they are distributing effective and truthful stories rather than fake ones. This would ensure that it would also make obtaining news as a user easier as they would try and improve newsgathering so that then it could make news distribution of a greater quality. Quite recently Facebook and Twitter have joined in First Draft. This would mean that a majority of the citizen journalism that would occur could now be verified so that an audience isn't deceived into think that fake news stories are real.

• "more than 20 news organisations to have signed up to the partner network, which is being organised through Google-backed First Draft"
• "Other organisations joining the network include Al Jazeera’s AJ+, Breaking News, International Business Times UK, Reveal project, Euronews, Amnesty International, European Journalism Centre and American Press Institute"

In my opinion, I think that this would be a great way for the news to be more trustworthy. This would be because sometimes news can tend to show a certain bias towards a side if it is UGC such as citizen journalism which would only show the perspective of the footage and the footage that is present may be based on a certain part of an event which may tell a different narrative to the audience as opposed to what actually happened. Therefore this would debunk some of the fake stories and change the way and quality that is distributed in both Facebook and Twitter to ensure impartiality. 

New and Digital Media: News Case Study Introduction

BBC

• News Online had launched in 1997
• Available in 32 Languages
• Has an average of 4.2 million viewers

ITV

• First aired in 1955
• Average of 1.2 million viewers on 10pm Programme
• Has won a few awards such as the International Emmy Awards Current Affairs & News in 2009

Channel 4

• First aired in 1982
• Has been known for its investigative reporting
• Also notorious for including controversial topics.
• Would have a viewership of over 700,000.

The Guardian

• Have online readers of 8.2m unique visitors per month
• First introduced in 1821
• Would tend to have a Left-Wing opinion as its demographic may support left wing parties.

The Independent

• First founded in 1986
• Would tend to have Left-Wing opinions

The impact of Google

1) One of the reasons as to why there is a decline of the newspaper industry would be because of the ways that businesses can be promoted through Google. Since this website is very accessible to those who can access the internet, this would mean that they would more likely use the internet to attract the attention of the audience. Since it would make it easier for them to advertise to their demographic, it would be preferable to advertise with Google.  This would contrast the effectiveness in comparison to advertising on newspapers as this format wouldn't attract as much of an audience as online would. This could be due to online's wide variety of content to be accessed which would explain why more people would go online than read a newspaper.

2) "$60 billion plus of potential annual ad sales that print publications seem to have lost, Google had grabbed about $44 billion by 2012, from virtually nothing in 2000". 

3) It appears that 2004 was the year that it had gone into its steepest. This could be because of the rise of smartphones at the time which has had convergence as 2008 also saw a slight dip in advertisement investment into print. This would've probably explained why there has been more advertising online than on print.

4) In my opinion, I don't think that google is to blame for the loss of occupations from the newspaper industry. Google have found a phenomenal way to ensure that advertisers can promote their businesses. Since the internet is a widely accessed platform, then advertisers would want to use this to their advantage. Because of this, more and more people are likely to see the adverts online. Also since print starting to be considered a dying platform because of digital versions being available to readers, then this would be considered as putting themselves at a disadvantage as they may attract more readers onliner rather than on print since the internet is a vast platform that would host a lot of content made ready for an audience to access.

5) "The irony is that Google is probably more of a savior than a killer of journalism and editorial content. How many thousands of blogs, fan sites, writers, startup outlets, etc., have been discovered by Google’s search algorithms? How many talented artists and great stories have found a launching pad on YouTube and other Google outlets? How much content has been spread into new languages due to Google translate?"

In my opinion, I would agree with this comment. This would be because this would talk about how accessible the content for journalism is. The commenter also makes a valid point in adding in Google Translate. And I think this could be seen as a way for an audience to see multiple perspectives on one story as we could look as the foreign view and compare their ideologies to our own and see if they would also highlight some aspects that we may have missed.

"They don't earn very much from news related searches like “Benghazi interviews”. I would argue they make their money on the backs of commercial enterprise, not journalists. Sergey and Larry owe the news industry nothing".

I would disagree with this statement as I would say that Google could still have some form of income from news related content as there would be YouTube videos that would rely on distributing the news. And sometimes these videos might be monetized so therefore they would still get income from advertisers. 

Broadcasters warned against using children's photographs from social media sites

Source: https://www.theguardian.com/media/2016/sep/09/broadcasters-warned-against-using-childrens-photographs-from-social-media-sites

This article talks about the privacy of children online and how broadcasters would be seen as invading privacy. In this case, big institutions such as ABC have been targeted as they have used photos from social media. This would be because the ACMA have recently updated their guidelines so that it would affect social media such as Facebook. This has made it so that broadcasters aren't just freely taking publically available photos of young children without the consent of the parents.   

• "the first time the guidelines have been updated since 2011 and several high-profile cases have been included as case studies"
• "ABC News broadcast images of the surrogate children of a man, who was charged and acquitted of 20 child sex offences"

In my opinion, while I do think that it is a bad idea to simply take photos of children from social media without consent, the lack of imagery in news stories may not make it more visually interesting for the viewer to watch the news on live TV. So while this does respect the privacy of the parents and the children, it may also sacrifice for a news story that may not have as much of an impact on to them as audiences wouldn't normally want to just listen to the presenter who would report on the news as they would also expect some relevant imagery or footage.