ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/28/europe-privacy-war-websites-silently-tracking-users

Europe’s next privacy war is with websites silently tracking users



This article is about how device fingerprinting has allowed companies to silently track users.

• The new opinion dictates that “device fingerprinting” – a process of silently collecting information about a user – requires the same level of consent as cookies that are used to track users across the internet.
• Now that Article 29 has published explicit opinion on device fingerprinting techniques it has laid the ground work for developing new legislation to govern their use and protect user privacy.
• Ultimately the regulation of device fingerprinting will fall to the individual data regulators in each country.
• Until now, device fingerprinting has been considered separate from the European legislation that covers cookies, which requires companies that store small bits of information on a users computer for storing settings and identity to explicitly ask for consent.

In my opinion companies should not be allowed to track users without them knowing as this is an offence against the individuals privacy.

The Murdoch Paywall

 Newspapers: The effect of online technology 

Times digital subscription 



1) I do not agree with James Murdoch that the BBC should not be allowed to provide free news online. This is because consumers should be able to access news as it is fundamental to have the knowledge of current affairs as it may concern them as individuals. The BBC being a public service broadcaster should not have a pay wall as consumers pay the license fee in order to be provided with the BBC channels therefore the online content should be free as well as it is a substitute from watching the news and quicker and easier to access. As the BBC is a public service broadcaster its aim is not to make profit as they do not gain revenue from advertisements either. Therefore news should be provided for free. 

2) To and extent Rupert Murdoch was right to put his news content behind a pay wall as the aim for him is to maximise profit as much as he can, whereas the BBC does not aim to maximise profits. The Times however does have 140,000 people paying digital subscribers which is showing the favour of the pay wall. However people are signing up due to the generous freebies such as the Times+ membership card and the Google Nexus 7 tablet for a low price of £50. The pay walls are making the company lose profit but this does not make much of a difference as they are making way more money than they are losing. The Times newspaper lost $28.7 million on a turnover of $361 million.  

ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/21/future-publishing-cuts-400-jobs

Future Publishing cuts more than 400 jobs as part of restructure



This article is about how the print industry has come to a decline and the digital advertising in the UK represents more than half of advertising revenue.

• 20% decline in revenues, from £82.6m to £66m, as print sales and advertising continued to decline steeply.
• Print revenues declined by 26% from £52.2m to £38.7m, while digital and diversified revenues fell slightly from £30.4m to £27.3m.
• Digital advertising as its UK operation represents 63% of total UK ad revenue.
• Future said it was entering 2015 with a “leaner, simpler business with a strategy that focuses on core competencies of content” concentrating on five areas: technology, games and film, music, photography and creative.
• Future, publisher of a portfolio of websites and magazines including T3, Gizmodo and Total Film, reported a £35.4m pre-tax loss in the year to the end of September.

In my opinion the print industry is in decline and more and more consumers are using the internet and looking at online content as it is free to access news, quicker and easier. There more jobs should be created in the new and digital media side of things rather than old journalism for newspapers.

ndm article

http://careers.theguardian.com/how-use-social-media-get-job

How to use social media to get a job – live chat



This article is about how to use social media to get a job through live chats and building your own profile. A statistic shows that 45% of employers are looking for candidates using social media. However a bad profile can harm the chances of getting employed.

• with 34% using Twitter to make first contact with employers. 
• good social media presence can lead to job offers, a bad profile can harm your job prospects or even jeopardise your current employment. In 2013 Paris Brown, Britain's first youth crime commissioner, resigned after she was publicly criticised for sending racist and homophobic tweets.  
•  two NHS nurses were sacked last year after posting images online joking about patients' anatomies and toilet habits.

In my opinion this could be a good idea as social media is a major part of this time, therefore moving with the times and the innovation of the process of getting a job would intrigue individuals to keep their online profiles at a high standard.

News Values

Gultang and Ruge

Immediacy has been affected by new and digital media as nowadays breaking news travels faster than it used to. This is because social media such as Twitter and Facebook uses user generated content which enables the audience to share and talk about news making it trend.

Amplitude involves a large number of people; this could be a news story such as Hurricane Katrina. New and digital technology has affected amplitude as social media could help victims get their message across by posting up real footage to show the world the disaster or by sending help messages. Many people could also help trend a news story if there are a number of people involved.

Frequency is affected by new and digital technology as user generated content such as commenting on newspaper articles or creating a discussion on social media e.g. Twitter has enabled news stories to be repetitive as people would then follow them and keep talking about them.

Unambiguity has been affected by individuals as they have their own opinions and share them on social media sites. An example would be the Oscar Pistorius case where most people knew he was guilty therefore they were clear and definite on it.

Predictability has been affected by new and digital technology as consumers of social media that express their views could predict certain things like if there would be a war, as political decisions may be obvious to them as on the news they could be hearing certain issues going on.

Surprise is affected by new and digital technology as if there is breaking news all of a sudden it will be talked about all over the TV news channels, newspapers, online news and on social media where discussions could be going on. So rare and unexpected news always becomes a big issue according to Gultung and Ruges theory and makes headlines but technology has made it an even bigger issue.

Familiarity has been affected as news is generated throughout new and digital media such as social media so often that news stories culturally close to Britain will keep being talked about.

Continuity has changed as new and digital media has enabled consumers to carry on conversations and voice opinions through user generated content and re-post news stories on social media which results in continuity on same news stories.

Balance is not really affected by new and digital media.

Elite nations and people, such as the U.S and President Obama have had many breaking news stories which have escalated through new and digital media as people can comment on news and the story can generate around globally.

Negativity in the news is a norm nowadays as most people expect at least 90 percent of the news to be negative. This negativity can be spread around through new and digital media being the online content.

Build the Wall Analysis

Section 1- This is about how newspapers are being destroyed and the internet is taking over so consumers should have to pay for content.
Section 2- The demand for high end journalism has gone down as consumers have turned to online content rather than buying newspapers.
Section 3- The dynamic has changed consumers perspectives of buying news content, news used to be paid to be delivered to houses even though they would lose customers but still made profit.
Section 4-  There are three scenarios given if The Times and The Post build a pay wall.

This article is about David Simons view on putting up a pay wall. He believes that most people may not pay for news if we leave it any longer to introduce a pay wall, however they may not have a choice to pay for quality news and even if they do not pay at least some profit will be made from the consumers who do pay. Simons is for newspapers and wants to try and save high end journalism by preventing the collapse of the newspaper industry. He states the industry is in 'slash and burn mode' and blames the newspapers as he believes it is their fault because they release all of the news through online content for free which is obviously the easiest way for consumers to access the information without paying for it.

The lack of imagination on display in this article is jaw-dropping. If, in five years, any part of this article can be looked back upon as anything other than a completely wrong-headed assessment of the state of the industry, if a reasonable person will be able to look back from 2014 on any of the suggestions and say either, "That would have been a good thing to try" or "Thank goodness they did that," I will eat a Baltimore Orioles hat while standing naked in Times Square.
This person definitely does not agree with the article because the state of the newspaper industry does not need a pay wall for their online content as that would be something society would not be pleased with.

The reason why newspapers are struggling now is not entirely because of a free online product and low online ad revenue. The reason newspapers are hurting is because the car industry went kerplunk. I would guess that NY Times readership has increased since it went online. It's just waiting to find a way to capitalize on that readership. Once someone figures out a way to do that, then problem will take care of its self. Also if NYTIMES and WP start charging we'll all just go to CNN.com. We will be less informed but we will also not have paid for something we believed should be free.
This person doesn't agree with David either because he believes news should be provided for free and if online content was to be charged for then people would just keep trying to find an alternative way to consume free news, even if it is not to the highest standard.

I fully agree with David Simon. The big dogs of journalism must act soon and decisively if they want to save the virtues and quality that define the very notion of their profession. I'd really rather pay for a good, interesting, unbiased, informative, product of journalism than read amateur bloggers who jot down a few sentences and then cover half of the screen with screaming advertisements.
This person agrees with David because he basically says news should be paid for if it is of quality rather than reading low end journalism news.

My opinion would be that news should be free as every individual has the right to be knowledgeable of current affairs globally and locally as this is important in the case of breaking news. If people are not aware of what is going on then this could potentially be dangerous for them, an example would be the London Riots; if individuals were unaware of what was going on in their communities they could have ran into trouble. Online content should not be under pay wall unless it is entertainment news which is not so important. However a counter argument for my opinion would be that even if there was a pay wall for online content then social media would help get news across to people. As users of social networking such as Twitter can make important news stories trend.

ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/nov/17/facebook-at-work-professional-networking-site 

Facebook targets workplaces with new professional networking site 

 

This article is about Facebook creating a new social networking site for workplaces called 'Facebook at work' for business people to communicate on here using chats and sharing documents. 

• The new site is expected to look very similar to Facebook’s interface, with its newsfeed and groups, but allow users to keep their personal information entirely separate from their work profile. 

• For the venture to prove a success, Facebook would have to win the trust of corporate IT chiefs and guarantee that information conveyed could not fall into the hands of rival businesses. 

• Thousands of companies use email, chat and collaboration tools offered by the likes of Google and Microsoft, while LinkedIn has become the most widely used site for professional networking. 

• Some have suggested that the drive is as much about creating more potential Facebook users as getting people in the developing world online. 

• Google is also working on a project to provide internet access using high altitude balloons, while Facebook is also experimenting with solar-powered drones at would fly at 20,000 metres. 

In my opinion I would say this is a clever idea as employees can get involved with social networking in a different way other than sending emails. This could become a development to remember as it is innovated to move along with the times as in the future social network will become even more dominant in world and used in a broader way. 

ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/nov/14/changing-channels-top-end-bundles-rise-to-100-pounds-a-month 

Changing channels: cost of top pay TV bundles rises to £100 a month

 

This article is about viewers having to pay up to £100 a month in order to watch their favourite shows in packages bundled with broadband and phone lines. This has been given the go ahead because the cost of television is increasing and the increase in streaming services such as Netflix, therefore they have had to up their game. 

• The new services, which offer shows any time and on any device, give consumers more viewing choice than ever before – but at a price. The top packages from Sky, Virgin Media and TalkTalk, which include all the best shows and broadband bells and whistles, all now cost more than £1,000 a year. 

• The most recent figures show that BT’s overall average revenue per user has grown 7% year on year to £404 a year. Sky’s has increased from £504 four years ago to £574, while Virgin’s is £588 a year – up 2% year on year. 

• To watch all Premier League football matches, plus shows such as Game of Thrones, House of Cards and the former BBC drama Ripper Street, consumers need to subscribe to Sky Sports and BT, Sky Atlantic, Netflix and Amazon Prime Instant Video, respectively. Buying just those TV services directly – without them being bundled with any packages that include broadband or telephony – costs about £792 a year, or £839 in high definition. That is on top of £145.50 a year for the BBC licence fee.

• TV companies are “upselling”, so individuals are also buying more premium online services such as Netflix or better broadband. 

ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/media-network/2014/nov/07/newspapers-not-dying-buzzfeed-new-york-times

Let’s get over the whole 'newspapers are dying' thing 



This article is about Tien Tzuo who believes newspapers are not dying out and that new media is falsely undermining newspapers' capacity for innovation. He says people conflate content with form.

•  Newspapers are intellectual assets, not physical ones. Their core product consists of making smart editorial decisions and publishing sharp voices. Whether you choose to read those voices on a phone or on a broadsheet makes no difference.

• News UK made a considered decision to partner with Spotify because lots of people like to listen to music while they read, and most journalists love music and are happy to contribute playlists. It was a natural fit.

• The FT actually makes most of its money from content, essentially flipping the modern newspaper business model on its head. But this has benefits on the advertising side as well. The greater behavioural and demographic insight that comes with membership plans and paywalls helps newspapers move away from empty calories like slideshow page views towards more valuable engagement metrics like time spent. 

• get over the whole “newspapers are dying” thing. They’re certainly moving in lots of creative new directions (and eventually they may ascend out of physical world altogether - holograms, maybe?), but they’re definitely not going gently into that good night.

• Generation Y actually spends 38% more time reading newspapers (online and off) than my own, Generation X. So as long as papers continue to create great content, hire quality journalists and come up with inventive new ways to bring their readers into the fold, they’ll do just fine.

In my opinion print newspapers are dying out, however the online versions have increased their consumer views. So eventually they will die out in the next few generations as the newer generations will be onto technology as the norm.

ndm article

http://www.theguardian.com/business/2014/nov/06/john-lewis-unveils-christmas-ad-starring-monty-the-penguin

John Lewis unveils Christmas ad starring Monty the penguin



This article is about how the John Lewis Christmas advert has become very popular and will be an on going feature of the store every year. The advert cost £1 million to make and the campaign is running for £7 million. It has now become one of the biggest media events of the year. After last years success of the advert gaining 10 million views on YouTube, this year it will be shared all over social media.

• Social media is now a central part of most retailers’ ad campaigns. Rival department store Debenhams, which unveiled an ad last week.
• Last year Marks & Spencer allowed viewers to vote on the name of the dog in its Christmas ad via social media, while Burberry, which is running its first ever Christmas TV ad this year, is simultaneously streaming it via 10 social media platforms including Tumblr and YouTube.
• Street said last month that John Lewis wanted to avoid over-hyping this year’s ad because it believed last year’s launch, which included a glitzy premiere at a London hotel, had irritated some customers.
• How the penguin was created:

It may look real enough to get animal lovers calling the RSPCA but it’s pixels not feathers that make up the penguin in John Lewis’s Christmas ad. Post production house MPC, the group behind CGI animations in Planet of the Apes, World War Z and the First Direct Platypus, created the penguin by mapping the movement of Adélie penguins in the wild.
Film of a penguin building its nest, for example, was used to help create the animation of Monty the penguin playing with Lego. The shot of a penguin peeking from behind a tree was rather more easily created, however – with the aid of a model penguin moved by a member of the crew.

In my opinion the advert is a really good way to entice viewers to visit the Christmassy store and get individuals in the Christmas spirit. Social media such as Twitter and Facebook are a clever way to get consumers to share the advert and talk about it using UGC and increase the views from last year.