Week 6 news - Snap chat ads

Snapchat messaging app gets its first ad... and it's very creepy

But that’s because it’s a 20-second trailer for horror film Ouija, as company admits ‘we need to make money’

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/oct/20/snapchat-messaging-app-ad-creepy-ouija

Facts:

- Has more that 100 million users.

- The ad was 20 sec long (snippet)

Snap chat have been putting ads in peoples snap chat in the USA, people are getting frightened by the ad that has been put in, its the trailer to a new horror film called, "Ouija" . 

I personally believe that this is a good addition to Snap chat as it makes that overall experience of the app better. People have more to look forward to them when they check their snaps. In addition the snap goes within 24 hours, so it just like a normal snap.  

The Rise and Rise of UGC (User Generated Content)

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

Actual definitions

- Citizen journalism is the gathering, writing, editing, production and distribution of news and information by people not trained as professional journalists.

- Citizen journalists are non-professionals who collect, disseminate and analyze news on blogs, wikis and sharing websites using tablets, laptops, cell phones, digital cameras and other mobile and wireless technologies.

Citizen journalism is the term used to describe people that have used primary content to bring some form of justice or to give their opinion on something. They have obtained the content through themselves, usually in the form of images, videos and written content.

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

The unknown person that filmed Rodney King getting beaten by police officers. This was user generated content (primary content) that was used to bring justice to him, however as it was filmed by an ordinary person it becomes citizen journalism. 

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

- Photos 

- Twitter 

- Flickr

- Video 

4) What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken 

first-hand (UGC)?

Professional footage - People feel that this footage has become old fashioned, it doesn't give the raw feeling that the consumers (audience) wants. 

UGC footage - This footage gives us the first hand look at what is happening, the feeling of a hand held camera, the shaking of the footage and the slightly grainy footage puts the audience in the point of view of the person filming. 

5) What is a gatekeeper?

A gate keeper is someone that filters the content that is shown on TV, they go through content that people have sent in and they see what may be useful and what isn't. Gatekeepers are needed as a lot of the time people send in information that is unnecessary, for example  a BBC spokes person said that a lot of the images sent in were of peoples kittens.  

6) How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?

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

One of the concerns is that sites without moderation could have content that is dominated by defamatory or racist and other hate-fueled content. This means that people would be able to post whatever they want, whenever they want as no one is there to stop them or to filter the content that is shown. A prime example of this is '4chan' - http://www.4chan.org/. This is a site that doesn't have many or any filters for what is published out to the world. 

The Murdoch Paywall

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

I disagree with Murdoch because the BBC are their own business, thus it should be their decision whether they want to put up a paywall or not. Furthermore as they are a public broadcast provider, it's almost their duty to be providing us with news, without us having to pay. However as the BBC make their profit through TV licences, the public are indirectly paying them.  

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

As a business man Rupert Murdoch was right to put a paywall up, as his primary goal is to have a profitable business. Furthermore since they have put up the paywall, they have been able to gain approximately 140,000 subscribers and made profits of £361 million. I would agree to some extent of Rupert Murdoch putting up a paywall, as it is benefiting his business. Furthermore as they made a loss of of £28.7 million, it was a turn in the right direction. 

Week 5 news - touchless pay

Cash or card? Soon we'll be paying by handshake

Banking of the future: Contactless cards are just the beginning – there's a host of new ways to pay around the corner

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/finance/personalfinance/bank-accounts/9937296/Cash-or-card-Soon-well-be-paying-by-handshake.html

The article looks at how technology is changing and becoming more futuristic. they are looking at how paying by card will change and people will be able to pay for things through just a touch. Along with this they talk about a 'touchless' system. Meaning that you would be able to simply pick up your products and walk out of a store. 

Personally, I think there will be too many complications with this system, and I believe a lot of people wont be comfortable with this. However as it will be introduced some time in the future, it may be have some success. 

Build the wall analysis

Section 1

This section looked at how they've targeted the Washington post and The New York times. 

Section 2

This section looks at how if the pay wall is going to be effective or not. Are people willing to pay for something that they can get for free? 

Section 3

This section talks about the decline in the industry and it's reasons.

Section 4

 He talks about what the possible outcomes may be.

 - The newspaper becomes successful again and begins to improve turning towards the pay wall. initially allowing them to invest more money in to newspapers. 

- Newspapers go bust and don't sell, new news will be posted online. Newspapers that make a healthy income will be able to pay for high quality journalism. 

 - All newspapers fail and only the high end newspapers will stay in business.

My opinion  

In my opinion I believe that if paywalls were put up the news paper industry will slowly start to decline, due to people being able to access news in other forms. News is available over many different platforms meaning that people don't initially need newspapers to get their news. On the other hand, it comes down to how much people will trust other sources of information, for example if you were to find a news article on a site that you didn't know of, you wouldn't trust the news. Thus there are arguments both for and against this article. Personally, I think that print media won't last very long, due to the increase in technology and the availability of news. 

Comments

A monopoly! Exactly the right way to go - can I get some fries with that?

If all newspapers were priced the same, it would would have an effect on how people brought newspapers, as they would go for the newspapers that they are familiar with. Also it may increase the print market as if all newspapers had a price, then people would be pushed to buy them. 

Newspapers actually haven't been charging readers for the cost of creating content since the 1830s: Economics says online news, in a competitive market, must be free. 

This user has written that, "online news, in a competitive market, must be free. " This comment goes with one of David's theory (section 4, theory 2) in this part of the article he talks about how newspapers will go bust and online news will thrive in terms of delivering news to society. This comment backs this up, as news online is free more people tend to use that instead of reading a free newspaper or purchasing a newspaper, this is due to the fact that news online is much faster, it is updated more often than newspapers and finally, it is more convenient for the the consumer. 

Most of the folks writing about the paywall issue are assuming that because only 5-10 percent of the current online readership will sign up for web content, it will be a failure. Actually, the folks behind the paywall effort don't care if anyone signs up for online content. The entire point is to push people into print subscriptions. It could be that some newspapers or groups won't even offer an online-only option. It will just be a free giveaway with print.

This user is saying that the people behind the paywall don't really care if you pay or not, as they're trying to push people in to print subscriptions. However I would disagree with this, as if people don't pay for an online subscription they are very unlikely to pay for a print subscription. Due to the fact that news is heavily available online people don't need to look very hard and far to find what they are looking for. However, people may just be pushed to pay, as they may not trust the source of information from other sites and they feel comfortable receiving their news from a trusted institution.




  

Week 4 news - I phone 6 and beard pulling

'Hairgate': iPhone hit by new social media storm

http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/10/07/us-apple-iphone-hair-idUSKCN0HW1MA20141007?feedType=RSS

Facts: 

 - It has become a trend on Twitter 

 - #Hairgate

 - #Beardgate 

 - People are mocking the Iphone 6 

The article is on how people are complaining about the Iphone 6 having defaults, they are saying that when making phone calls, their hair and beards are getting caught in the phone. This was then turned into two hashtags, "#Hairgate" and  "#Beardgate", these both started trending on Twitter and eventual became a 'thing' on the site. People are now making funny posts and creating images in order to mock the Iphone 6. 

The future of newspapers

The article looks at how newspapers have changed and how they are going out of business because of the internet. It looks at how news papers are losing business to both the readers and advertisers, "The business of selling words to readers and selling readers to advertisers, which has sustained their role in society, is falling apart". Furthermore it talks about how politicians and businesses could possibly "get away with murder" this is a metaphor used to say that as newspapers are going out of business, there aren't a lot of media mediums that would focus on these groups, therefore they could get away with things that they usually wouldn't. The article also looks at how people can now also play a part in giving news, 'citizen journalism', this is when members of the public can say what s on their mind, they are now able to do so through blogs. Through the use of blogs people are now able to freely say whats on their mind without having any hassle, all they need is "a keyboard and an internet connection". 

I do agree with what is being said in this article, as news is now available over all three platforms, print, e media, and broadcast. Thus people don't need to look at newspapers to get their news. Furthermore as you can access news online now, which is updated more frequently means that people will get all the news they need within seconds. However as the news is available on a range of different platforms it may not have the depth that was once found in newspapers, there the information online might be easier to access, but it may not have the depth that newspapers have.  

Week 3 News - IOS update fail

iOS update: Apple apologises for breaking new iPhones

An update to iOS 8 released on Wednesday left iPhone owners unable to make phone calls

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/sep/25/ios-update-apple-apologises-breaking-new-iphones

Facts: 

 -  The update, iOS 8.0.1, was pushed to iPhones at 6pm on Wednesday

 -  A number of health-and-fitness-themed apps were taken off of the app store 

 - People were told to Downgrade back down to iOS 8.0

I think that Apple have released too much in a short space of time, and they haven't looked in to all the technically difficulties that could occur. This could lead to them losing out on customers as people may not trust the apple brand as much. Apple should be more careful when they release new products, as I think that if they keep having problems such as this one, they could make a great loss