MEST3 Independent case study: New/Digital Media

MEST3 Independent case study: New/Digital Media

The basics

Your chosen industry:

Music

Your chosen case study:

The impact the growth of Spotify is having on the music industry


Audience

1)

New and digital media has meant that audiences can now gain access to music whether it's a single or an album 'in an instant.' Digital has taken over, allowing audiences to access music on a variety of devices with just a few taps being required unlike their physical counterpart.

2)

Rather than use things like a CD or record player like in the past, audiences now use their internet-connected devices to go on a streaming service like Spotify and listen to their collection of music there. This gives them the opportunity to access it on multiple devices that they own.

3)

4)

Services like Spotify have made it so that it's a lot easier not only to access, but to also gain new access to music that perhaps the listener wouldn't have paid attention to before. Things like curated playlists make way for things like this, creating a set of songs for the audience to listen to based on their previous listens. As well as this, people get to see what music is the most popular around the world easily whether it's based on genre or nation.

5)

6)

Diversion: with the ease involved in accessing music as a result of the emergence of services like Spotify, a greater sense of this can be said to derived by audiences as they are able to listen to virtually whatever music they want to

Personal Relationships: N/A

Personal Identity: N/A

Surveillance:

7)

Distribution of active Spotify users in the United States as of April 2015, by age:

13 - 18 years: 21%
18 - 24 years: 26%
25 - 29 years: 15%
30 - 34 years: 11%
35 - 44 years: 14%
45 - 54 years: 9%
55 - 64 years: 4%
65 years and older: 2%

Institution

1)

2)

3)

4)

5)

6)

UGC

1)

2)

Marxism, Pluralism and Hegemony

1)

2)

3)

Globalisation

1)

2)

3)

Social media 

1)

2)

3)

Statistics

1)

2)

3)

Theories

1)

Issues/debates

1)

Wider examples and secondary texts

1)

INDEX

1) Institution: the impact of Google on the newspaper industry
2) Ofcom report: how news consumption has changed
3) The future of newspapers: Build The Wall analysis
4) The decline of newspapers: the effect of online technology
5) The future of journalism: John Oliver and Clay Shirky
6) The decline of newspapers: Media Magazine case studies
7) Citizen journalism and hyper-reality: Media Magazine article and questions
8) News Values: theory and updating them for digital media landcape
9) Marxism & Pluralism: Media Magazine article and questions
10) Alain de Botton on the News: lecture and questions
11) Full NDM essay including paragraphs on Marxism and Pluralism
12) Globalisation and news: cultural imperialism
13) Globalisation: taking it further (Google Glass case study and capitalism)
14) Fake news and globalisation - Guardian and New York Times articles
15) News on the Tweet
16) Reading the riots

17) Post-colonialism: theories and Destiny Ekaragwa film analysis

18)Post-colonialism: Orientalism theory and Yasmin clip task
19) Post-colonialism: Media Magazine articles and questions

20) Feminism: post-feminism and No More Page 3 research
21) Feminism: Feminist theory and Beyonce video analysis

22) Feminism: waves of feminism and online activism
23) Feminism: Applying feminism - Media Factsheet
24) Identity and Film - Media Factsheet
25) Identity and the wider media - Factsheet

26) Collective identity and the media

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Identities and the Media: Feminism

Media Magazine reading

1)

The two texts that the article focuses on are Pan Am, a period drama set in the 60s based on the lives of both pilots and stewardesses working for the Pan American World Airline and Beyonce's 'Why Don't you Love Me' music video, parodying the role of a typical 1950s housewife.

2)

One of the examples from Pan Am showing the 'male gaze' is the magazine cover displaying Laura. Here she's portrayed as a woman whose purpose is to be 'visually enjoyed by men' and nothing more. Another one is present in the final sequence of the pilot episode. Here the stewardesses are presented in slow motion which works to 'provide even more visual pleasure as we can take in all the glorious period detail of their uniforms and of course appreciate their perfectly coiffed hair and make up.' Shots like this work at least mostly to satisfy the desire of men. The 'Why Don't you Love Me' video exemplifies the male gaze with the way in which Beyonce is dressed. Wearing things like 'tight high-waisted knickers' and a 'vintage style bra,' we're shown a women that is being highly sexualised. This goes further when when she can be seen touching herself up and playfully looking down at the camera.

3)

Texts like these represent that sexism still does definitely exist, albeit in a different form. While they may be working to allow women to exercise freedom that they want to, wearing what they want and doing what they want, they may still be unintentionally reinforcing the levels of sexism that there are in society.

4)

Third wave feminism - was a movement that redefined and encouraged women to be dominant and sexually assertive

Nostalgia - a sentimental longing for the past, often only remembering the positives of the time

Patriarchy - an ideology that places men in a dominant position over women

No More Page 3

1)

The No More Page 3 campaign was started by Lucy-Anne Holmes, both an actress and an author. She did with it with the purpose of stopping the reinforcement of this attitude that women and their can be viewed as objects subjects to both public scrutiny and comment by the general (male) public.

2)

One of the main reasons given for why Page 3 had to go is how its objectification of women has meant that they are often recognised in an offensive, discriminatory and derogatory way. Not only this, but it simply doesn't reflect the 'progressive' nature of the times we currently live in, with the feature heralding from the 1970s.

3)

Barbara Ellen holds the view that the No More Page 3 campaign should continue as Page 3 itself is not only something that is 'a pathetic leering bare-breasted woolly mammoth' but also part of the old ages, 'reeking of male dominance, of women as sexualised and neutralised objects.' Susie Boniface on the other hand is of the opinion that the campaign should be abandoned saying that actually, it's come about at a time when society has actually been evolving to the point where some people actually find the page to be empowering women.

4)

The 'Little Mixed up about what to wear?' article discusses the dress choice of the band Little Mix during the performance on X-Factor. It goes into how this concept that young girls can have of not wearing much to embrace freedom is false, and how if it wasn't then boys would too be doing the same thing among other things. Based on this article, I do think that I believe the view that the paper is taking since what it is saying are things that I believe too.

5)

Both the No More Page 3 campaign and Sexist News represent that we in fact do not live in a post-feminist state. The very fact that matters of sexism are still having to be discussed at length like this whether it relate to the portrayal of women in newspapers or reality TV, shows that actually we're still in a position where things can very much be debated. At the same time though, it could be said that perhaps it highlights the fact that more needs to be done to reach this post-feminism state that we aspire to in a number of walks of everyday life.

6)

I do agree with the aims of the campaigns in that the equality of men and women should be achieved. However I feel that they can often end up campaigning against not necessarily the wrong, but least relevant things that they could possibly on the road to achieving this equality with men.

7)

Personally I feel that there still is very much a need for feminism in the modern world. While progress has without a doubt been made, things aren't 100% in the state that we might want them to be. While I say this though, I think it's important that this feminism is exercised in the right, relevant areas of society. Page 3 could definitely be seen as something that reflected the more male dominated society we live in, however like what Susie Boniface said, there are a lot more significant issues that should be addressed with women totally in mind other than that.

Identity and the wider media

1) The Factsheet suggests that identity is defined by the individualised experiences we have had as people mostly based on the context we're in as well as the relationships we have with others. However the relationship we have with the media is also quite significant in determining this too since we often utilise it to view things like reflections of ourselves.

2)

• Non-mainstream - La Haine could be considered as being a text that a non-mainstream person would access, at least in the UK, with it being a foreign language drama/crime film portraying young people from the banlieues of Paris, France
• Edgy - Game Of Thrones since it's a TV show that relies quite heavily on shock value in terms of both nudity and also killing off main characters
• A pleasure seeker - Narcos would appeal to this aspect as looking at it from a Uses and Gratifications front, a huge sense of diversion can be derived from viewing the action that goes on in it
• Fashionable - Cosmopolitan magazine applies here as keeps women up-to-date regarding things like fashion and health
• Witty and fun - The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air fits in here with the type of humour we see on show in it and particularly fun nature
• Cutting-edge - Mr Robot aligns with the cutting-edge trait since it displays the impact that modern/new technology and hacking in particular, can have on the society that we live in

3)

Examples suggested for a case study on urban youth are The Jeremy Kyle Show, Harry Brown with its portrayal of the working class youth as villains to older people and Eden Lake with its representation that youth culture acts as a threat to middle classes.

4)

Richard Hebdige argues that youth cultures display their resistance/opposition to the dominant culture through their style choices. This can be seen with how the 'urban youth' portray themselves as non-mainstream by 'adopting the uniform feared by mainstream culture.'

5)

Acland is referenced in talking about how the media is what makes for the representation of the youth as deviants, helping reinforce the mainstream values that exist. Perkins elaborates in adding that representations of this nature though are formulated by people outside the group [youth] with Giroux adding how it is a reflection of the adult culture's fear of urban youth.

6)

Ill Manors can be linked to the identity of the youth since in it, we more often than not see representations that align with what Acland discusses of the youth represented as deviants within society. This can be seen with the numerous occasions in the film that we see young people being the perpetrators of a variety of crimes. As well as this, the music video for 'Ill Manors' shows off large groups of the youth as being harbingers for public disorder with how the way in which they're rioting in the street. 

7)

David Gauntlett suggests that the media have influence over the construction of identities meaning that the manner in which the media stereotypes groups can become part of how individuals view themselves. This ends up being used by media institutions to help sell their products.

8)

I do agree with Hebdige in saying that youth culture will continue to resist mainstream culture. As long as media heavily associated with (urban) young people like hip-hop and rap music continue to possess the anti-establishment sentiment they've always had, then it'll more likely than not be the case that they too challenge the dominant ideologies seen more typically within adult culture. The sense of rebellion runs too deep within the age group to be changed at all and new and digital media like Facebook and Twitter with their online communities is another thing representative of how this resistance will only continue e.g. Black Twitter.

Identities: Post-colonial theory & blog tasks

Identities: Post-colonial theory & blog tasks

1) 

Films:

• Slumdog Millionaire 
• Kidulthood
• Adulthood
• Attack The Block
• Shank

TV programmes:

• Top Boy
• Citizen Khan
• Casualty
• Luther
• Line of Duty

Online-only productions:

• Brothers With No Game
• Venus vs Mars
• The Ryan Sisters
• All About The McKenzies
• Meet the Adebanjos

2)

Looking firstly at Gone Too Far, and we see that a number of different aspects of the theories can be applied to the film that predominantly reinforce typical black stereotypes. In terms of Alvarado’s theory, the very Nigerian roots of the film is something that can undoubtedly be viewed as exotic  and foreign to (white) British audiences. This is displayed through things such as the traditional West African attire worn by Yemi’s mum and not least through the use of the Yoruba language by her and Ikudayisi. This goes hand in hand with Fanon’s primitivizing element of black stereotypes, simply because the characters in the film are something that the audience is not. Danger is also something present here, with Razer’s showing this particularly. The connotations he gives off whether it’s in terms of behaviour or (more arguably) clothing are ones that can be likened to that of a gangster. This would also link in to the decivilizing that the black community is often victim to through portrayals in the media. To some extent, pity can be said to be a theme within the film. Although not an issue directly explored by any means in it, the environment it mostly takes place in, a council estate, has most of its associations being with poverty and just general adversity. Tight Jeans doesn’t work to subvert any of these stereotypes either and actually, it could be said that it does more than Gone Too Far to reinforce them. For example, the theme of humour is something shown with all 3 of the boys in it with the quite comical discussions they’re having. 

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

Post-colonialism - bonus reading and tasks

MM58: Social Media and Black Identity

1)

• Aisha Harris - believes that social media has made black people subject to 'memeification.' This entails that they are shown as always performing or entertaining, helping reinforce the dominant attitudes and satisfy what is a 'deep-rooted desire' within society
• Anthony Giddens - social media can act as a tool that actually uplifts and inspires black people in a way that mass media simply doesn't
• Henry Jenkins - believes that social media is an 'arena wherein participatory cultures' can be established.' This ranges all the way from actual political activist groups, with a key example being '#BlackLivesMatter,' to even socially-constructed communities such as 'Black Twitter.' In communities like this, the voicing of perspectives that would usually go unheard from get a platform to thrive on, working to challenge some of the negative representations that exist of black people in mass media

2) 

I feel that social media hasn't had an outright positive or negative effect in terms of black identity. It has definitely had its pluses in helping construct positive identities of black people whether it be through the celebratory hashtags of 'The Blackout' campaign or expression of marginalised voices through 'Black Twitter.' However it has also without a doubt helped reinforce them too, with 'Digital Blackface' coming to mind here. Non-black people often tend to utilise the anonymity that comes with social media and use it in a way that they can parade as being black, simultaneously degrading black identity as this is done e.g. @ItsLaQueeta.

3)

Alvarado's theory can be applied to identities of black people on social media as online, they often tend to be portrayed as belonging in one of the four themes. Pitied, in the sense that they are often seen dwelling in the 'ghettos' of society, humorous for the uploads of a more light-hearted nature they're in, dangerous for fights that are posted on websites like WORLDSTARHIPHOP and exotic with the amount of black musicians there happens to be. Fanon's theory also fits in here as what tends to happen on social media is that black stereotypes decivilise the community, often making each individual fit into some archetype of a sort e.g. 'gangsta.'

A Hustle for Life: Refugees in the Media

1)

One of the representations we see of refugees in the article is that they are travelling by choice as evidenced by the word 'migrant.' Rather than portray them as 'fleeing a genuine disaster,' they're shown as doing it on their own accord. Representations range from this to the more dehumanising, with Katie Hopkin's 'cockroaches' and 'feral' comments being testament to this. This isn't helped by the imagery of the actual refugees themselves, with it giving the out the perception of a 'swarm, horde or tide, marauding and invading their way across the world.'

2)

I personally feel that the documentary genre can have an equal amount of bias as that of the news media, although it can be the case that they offer less of it. 'Exodus' is representative of this, with it for example letting us into the actual perspectives of the refugees themselves through them being handed smartphones to film their experiences on. 'The Refugee Camp: Our Desert Home' also manages to show that this bias is lessened in documentaries as what we see in this are refugees that are attempting to return to their country when it's safe. This goes against this whole convention of 'migrants' fleeing their country to come into Europe.

3)

Edward Said's theory can be used here in that refugees in news media tend to be represented as being both dangerous and uncivilised. We see this through things like Katie Hopkin's description of them as 'feral,' but also images of them with the 'swarm, horde, or tide' they move around in to get from place to place. Alvarado's could also be applied to in the sense that refugees receive a sense of pity with the situation they've been placed in and to some extent, this goes hand-in-hand with Fanon's theory with them being infantilized and depicted as 'needing to be looked after.' 

Weekly New and Digital Homework

19/12/16 - Complex Media shuts down print magazine after 14 years (29)

Complex Media, a New York media company founded in 2002, has announced plans to cease production of its bi-monthly print edition centred mainly around pop culture and the hip-hop genre, Complex Magazine. With the December 2016/January 2017 issue marking the last edition of the magazine, Complex has said in a statement to Billboard that this move was made as the company 'embarks on a rapid expansion of premium video creation across the company's networks and with a growing list of distribution partners.' With this of course comes with redundancies, with a number of staffers from the editorial department of the company making it clear that they had been laid off on Twitter, though Complex have not made clear the exact amount of these.

• Verizon Communications Inc. and Hearst Corp. said they have agreed to acquire Complex Media, with the deal valuing Complex at $250 million to $300 million

This article just continues to chronicle this downfall that the print platform is going through. While it doesn't appear that Complex Magazine is necessarily doing badly as a print product, it seems that from an cost efficiency point, continuing to invest in it just doesn't make any sense. Something that should also be paid attention to is the fact that this move will be done as a way of 'reallocating certain positions to address its content needs' which funnily enough lie in the e-media platform. Again, this is representative of this 'death' that e-media is causing for print.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

19/12/16 - News publishers contributed £5.3bn to the UK economy in 2015 (30)

According to Deloitte report by the industry trade body, News Media Association, the news publishing industry in 2015 contributed £5.3 billion to the UK economy amongst the challenges industry has faced as of recent. Along with this it has been also been cited for supporting a large number of jobs within the country whether that be through investment in digital services or the supply chain. Interestingly the report talks about how if this contribution is to be continued in this manner, then newsbrand content 'particularly on digital platforms' has to be monetised to fund newsgathering. Continuing on the topic of the digital platform, Ashley Highfield, chairman of the NMA, said that there's now a need for 'a fair and equitable regime in which news media publishers’ investment in news is appropriately acknowledged and rewarded, without the commercial benefits being siphoned off by digital platforms and aggregators.' Digital giants such as Google and Facebook can be thought to be the main culprits he's referencing here. Additionally the job the UK media does in 'underpinning' democracy is discussed here with how investigative journalism has helped  improve accountability of institutions with an example being the Guardian's Panama Papers findings.

• The news publishing industry contributed £5.3bn to the UK economy in 2015
•  news media industry generated £4.8bn revenue through circulation and advertising over the course of 2015
• The sector also supported an estimated 87,500 UK jobs; invested £97m in digital services; and added value across the supply chain because the average publisher dealt with nearly 2,600 suppliers
• 90% of the total spend with suppliers by news media organisations remained within the UK, compared to the average of 77% across the economy
• publishers are by far the biggest investors in original news content, accounting for 58% of the total investment in news production

I feel that this article has a lot more of a positive outlook on the situation of the UK news industry. Displaying the benefits it continues to bring with one being its investigative journalism and another its support of jobs, it's clear that the sector isn't completely gloomy. The main part of the article which really caught my eye though, is the one that describes how this positive contribution of news publishers can continue. Monetising news online is something that can either be a hit or miss move, with it more often than not being the latter with The Sun being an example of this. Whether most publishers in the industry will choose to make this move will be something that'll have to be paid attention to over the next few years.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

I'm with you on the digital revolution, it's the lack of journalism I can't face 

This article written by Roy Greenslade, though based on a piece by Charlie Arlinghaus, takes a usually unexplored perspective in the topic of the decline of the newspaper industry as the digital revolution takes place, in that it raises the issue that there are misconceptions regarding the way people obtain their news. While it's said more and more that an increased number of people are getting news from social media such as Facebook and Twitter, Arlinghaus brings reality to light in that by following someone who posts links to news stories, you're still getting your news from someone who produced and gathered it at a newspaper institution. Not only this but the reliance that workers within other media platforms have on (local) newspapers is unreported, particularly with radio where front pages of local newspapers are often used as scripts by news broadcasters. Rounding off the article though, the whole concept of citizen journalism is discussed and the need of it emphasised. Without it with the decreasing number of reporters, government in particular aren't as accountable as they once were and as an iron core of journalism, democracy is also harmed in the process.

• Guardian Media Group to cut 250 jobs in bid to break even within three years
• Trinity Mirror confirms 12 job losses on Cambridge and Herts & Essex titles
• Telegraph to axe senior jobs in fresh round of cuts

What I like in particular that this article is able to put across is this idea that there are now some thoroughly developed misconceptions to do with how people currently access news online. While they may be using social media to hear about the news, if they're clicking on to a link by a news publication to get the full details of it then that means that industry is still very much needed by the general public today. Along with this, the importance of not just newspapers in general are stressed, but more specifically local ones, and I believe that this is quite a significant thing to look at as these papers are often used as a basis for people working within other media platforms such as radio, so the death of them could also cause a decline with other platforms.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

17/10/16 - Channel 4 News defends Facebook live stream of battle for Mosul 

Facebook Live, the broadcasting live video streams aspect to the social network, was recently used in order to stream conflict taking place in Iraq by news broadcasters such as Channel 4 News as well as Al-Jazeera. Doing this has sparked reactions that fall along different places in the spectrum, with a digital editor of Channel 4 saying: 'we wanted to bring one of the most significant stories of our time to our viewers as it happened. Given the nature of conflict – we are cautious and vigilant that the material is appropriate at all times and have measures in place to stop the stream when necessary.' On the other side though, members of the public such as Aodhán Ó Súilleabháin remarked on how the emojis flashing across the screen of a warzone, was only effective in acting as entertainment for viewers.

• Watched more than 500,000 times by lunchtime on Tuesday
• Mosul feed on Al-Jazeera attracted more than 892,000 views
• Rudaw’s (Kurdish media group) audience on Facebook has increased more than 200% this week

This article to me is representative of some of the changes we are without a doubt going to see within the news industry in the next couple of years. Live streaming where people can watch things that take place across the globe as they happen, will become a lot more of a prominent thing, however with a situation like war I'm unsure on whether this was the right thing to do. Although it does act as more enlightening for the general public, is it really appropriate for emojis to be displayed in the foreground when there are casualties involved in it? While I'm sure this is something that Facebook will eventually address, it's clear that live streaming is the 'new kid on the block' when it comes to news reporting as seen in the summer with events like the Dallas and Minnesota shootings but regardless, it's here to stay.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

20/02/17 - Germany leads fightback against fake news (48)

There was a story in Germany reported by Breitbart that a mob attacked the oldest church in the country, St Reinold's Church in Dortmund. In a subsequent article, the publisher admitted that St Reinold's actually isn't the oldest church in Germany. Fake news. Anas Modamani, a 19-year-old Syrian took a selfie with Angela Merkel and as it went viral, so too did the false claim that he was a terrorist. Fake news. Stories like this are now being used in a way that they help fulfil an agenda, in this case an anti-Islamist one, that is both divisive and just a complete misrepresentation of true events. Measures to prevent stories from disseminating though, have already been established. In Germany, Facebook employ independent, young fact-checkers part of a newsroom called Correctiv. They monitor suspicious stories by looking at the amount of likes and shares they're receiving. Stories coming from particularly untrustworthy websites will usually result in the team contacting the original source(s) for the story to get verification for its credibility. They then send a message to all German users of Facebook as to whether it's authentic or not. As a nonprofit organisation, they don't accept money from Facebook to maintain its total editorial independence. One of the reasons why Germany have been able to prepare so well for this issue is firstly due to the refugee policy instated by Angela Merkel. 

I think from this story, it's clear that both the United States and Britain could take some pointers from Germany on how to combat fake news. Social media is the main territory where this news spreads, so by establishing fact-checkers within some of them like Facebook, it's a lot harder for these kind of articles to travel. However it'll have to be seen whether or not the country will be able to keep this up come election time as this is likely when stories of this nature will be at their peak.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

28/11/16 - Facebook doesn't need to ban fake news to fight it (23)

After the alarm the publishing of fake news by Facebook has caused, ranging from death hoaxes about Tiger Woods to lies regarding the US presidential candidates, it's now being put into question whether they should actually be the ones drawing the line as to the news that is being published. This has been brought about with it now being asked whether we'd 'be revolted if one company owned all the newsstands and decided what was proper and improper reading fare.' Problems with these stories on Facebook crop up firstly through the fact that if a friend shares a fake article, it's presented as a standard post with the picture of the person who sent it. This presentation as a 'standard post' entail it having the top image, headline, and sometimes an introductory paragraph. This unified presentation essentially 'average(s) out' the credibility of all stories on the site, which only particularly attentive readers being able to identify giveaways as to them being fake. The 'like, share and comment' buttons all help to make the story circulate even further as the Facebook algorithm values engagement as justification for showing it to more people. All of this has been done in a way that readers are sure to return to the social network and engage with the content on it which inadvertently will lead to them clicking on adverts which helps Facebook as an institution - ad revenue.

• Over the course of the 10 months leading up to the election, the top 20 fake news articles being shared on Facebook skyrocketed from 3 million “shares, reactions, and comments” to nearly 9 million, while mainstream media articles declined from 12 million shares, reactions, and comments in February to just 7.3 million by Election Day

It''s suggested by the writer of this article, that the most effective way for Facebook to deal with this whole situation is 'de-emphasise who shared a story into your timeline, instead branding it with the logo and name of the publication itself, and encourage readers to, well, read, before or instead of liking, sharing and commenting.' This appears to be a particularly useful way of lessening the circulation of fake news that occurs since it means that Facebook don't get the power of as well as presenting users with stories, also determining which ones are 'proper and improper reading.' Regardless of whether Facebook adopt this specific scheme or not, they are going to have to do something to stop the slander it's now being to receive as a social network.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

28/11/16 - What the latest sales figures tell us about the state of newsprint (24)

The Audit Bureau of Circulations October print sales figures work only work to confirm the fact that less people are purchasing newspapers. Not only that though, but the statistics work to show how well national daily and Sunday titles are doing in competing against one another. Broadsheet newspapers such as The Times for example, are beginning to see losses in buyers month by month while the Daily Telegraph is actually winning them. With this it can be expected that eventually, The Times will surpass The Telegraph. The losses of The Guardian which have amounted to approximately 5% year-on-year have got questions cropping up about the future of the publication and more specifically, whether this will have it be digital-only, akin to The Independent. When tabloids are concerned, The Daily Mail has been managing to close the gap that there is between it and The Sun, which is owned by Rupert Murdoch.

Headline sales; (bulks); = total without bulks; year-on-year percentage differences

• Daily Telegraph 456,999 (20,901) =436,098 -3.79%
• The Times 437,352 (74,060) =363,292 +10.94%
• i 278,843 (68,501) =210,342 +1.53%
• Financial Times 194,152 (21,562) =172,590 -7.16%
• Guardian 157,778 -5.5%
• Daily Mail 1,510,824 (73,882) =1,436,942 -5.2%
• Daily Express 397,236 -3.4%
• The Sun 1,672,217 (95,272) =1,576,945 -7.38%
• Daily Mirror 756,142 (45,000) =711,142 -10.17%
• Daily Star 462,306 +7%

Personally, I feel that this article just reinstates that the state of newspapers is in the unfortunate position that we've learned it's in. While certain papers may be gaining buyers, a notable amount of publications are losing them. Not only this, but the fact that papers such as The Guardian now could be considering a digital-only future is representative of the fact that the print platform is becoming increasingly unstable.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

05/12/16 - The paywalls come down and readers flood in. But revenue doesn’t (26)

In competing with newspapers like the Daily Mail, Guardian and Mirror who've all had increasing readership figures year-on-year, The Sun has been the real leader with them going up from 13 million in 2015 to 24 million in November 2016 in monthly reach. The real major contributor to this taking place was the removal of the paywall on the paper by Rupert Murdoch in November 2015. With this, while readership figures of the paper saw a surge advertising of course didn't follow suit as without a subscription service then the paper fundamentally lose out on it. Linking to advertising, it's said by Enders Analysis that digital advertising in 2017 will grow by 12.7%, but what's quite interesting to note here is that 90% of this growth will end up in the hands of giants, Google and Facebook.

• The Sun: up from 13m in 2015 to 24m last month on the back of a tenfold increase in mobile readers
• Digital advertising in 2017 set to grow by 12.7%, another mobile surge (almost hitting £10bn a year)
• Some 90% of growth lands straight in the pockets of Facebook and Google

This article to me is representative of a problem that newspapers are currently having. While by them not imposing a firewall they are getting high levels of circulation for their papers, at the same time they're not going to be earning the advertising revenue that they potentially could be and need to 'stay alive' as a publication. This is where companies like Google and Facebook in particular capitalise on quite well with them 'siphoning off' this advertising revenue. The fact that 90% of the growth of digital advertising will go in the hands of Google and Facebook clearly shows this being the case, perhaps suggesting that they're now monopolising the news industry.

Weekly New and Digital Homework

10/10/16 - Who are the new kids on the block in investigative journalism? 

10/10/16 - Who are the new kids on the block in investigative journalism? (10)

It's often said nowadays by journalists themselves that investigative journalism is now dead. However with things like the FA bribery and Panama Papers revelations, it's clear that this is far from true, with both of these two cases happening within the past year. Cited as one of the newspaper industry's 'greatest reasons for existence,' a range of different groups and organisations are valuing investigative journalism quite highly. This is apparent with things such as the Bureau of Investigative Journalism (BIJ) being given a grant from Google for more local reporting and also NGOs like Greenpeace having investigative journalism units who hire reporters to look into things such as climate change. Something also quite interesting to note is that global collaboration between journalists has become particularly notable, the Panama Papers exposure highlighting this especially with journalists from around the world coming together to make the discoveries.

To me the thought that investigative journalism could be seen as dead surprises me. With things such as leaks regarding Amber Rudd's involvement in offshore firms and the FA scandal happening within the past few months alone, how it could be dead is beyond me. It's even said that the concept is one of the greatest reasons for the existence of the newspaper industry and it's clear that this is true with the effect that stories that have come out due to investigative journalism have had. For example, the 1.7m US diplomatic records that were published on Wikileaks had caused a notable amount of uproar that is still often audible today.