Globalisation and the media: wider issues

1) Why was Google Glass controversial?

The Google Glass was significantly viewed as a controversial item as people thought it would be an introduction to the future dystopian world, similarly to the matrix which depicts a population that is somewhat alienated from each other due to technology. Google Glass seemed to be a starting point, in some people's opinion, for an impending fate of the world. Google Glass would possibly dissolve all conversations as people would no longer be able to tell whether people are actually listening to each other or concentrating on what can be seen through the Google Glass. Furthermore, with people being able to video and pick up images of what they are seeing, there are possibilities of Google using these images for the company's personal gain, without permission from the consumer. As reported, The Glass can record all sound and has installed facial recognition software, which will be able to pick out any one from the crowd that the user of Google Glass sees. This is highly exploiting privacy therefore, causing great controversy.

2) What are the positive elements to Globalisation that the article highlights?

Positives that arise from using the Google Glass is that information is much more accessible than what we once thought it was. Without wasting time by taking out devices, and turning them on, The Glass would be able to instantly search things making the speed we access information, much quicker. Furthermore, the Glass has converged a variety of function such as a sound recorder and camera in a small wearable device, which further accentuates its accessibility and convenience.

3) What are potential negatives to Globalisation?

Potential negatives of globalisation is that other countries may attempt to create replicas of products that are significantly successful while gaining a profit. Also, people will become less receptive of each other and focus more on their somewhat hyperreality online rather than their actual reality, causing separation from society. Globalisation allows for worldwide content to be easily accessed, creating more variety for audiences which would possibly ultimately lead to 

4) What is a techno-panic? How does it link to moral panics?

Techno-panic is very similar to moral panics as it refers to societies concerns due to a new change, however, techno-panic, directly refers to the fact that these concerns arise from the development in new and digital technology.

5) What is your opinion on the privacy debate and major corporations being able to access large quantities of personal data?

Personally, I believe that unless you have some knowledge or involvement with things associated with illegality, I do not have an strong opinions against major corporations being able to access large quantities of personal data. The largest gain that I believe these corporations have is the ability to target audiences better as well as find information on what sort of products, audiences are interested in. However, despite my personal beliefs being indifferent towards major corporations' means of accessing information, I fully understand privacy should be something that we are entitled to and should not be used purely for monetary gains.

NDM Story 24: Mail Online US almost doubles advertising growth

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/nov/25/mail-online-us-almost-doubles-advertising-revenues

The Mail Online is beginning to have a massive impact on the US, with having roughly a 60% increse in revenue within the last 8 weeks which is almost double the rate seen over the last year. Now, the online newspaper have about 40% of their total audience being american despite being a UK news service. mail Online is also beginning to hire more american staff as 40 of the newly 100 staff, were US citizens.Mail Online now employs a total global staff of 720, including 410 editorial staff. Of those, 200 are based in the US, 130 of them are editorial.

• Mail Online derives 40% of its 212 million monthly unique users from US readers, more than view it in its home market in the UK
• The US site experienced 38% year-on-year revenue growth making about £18m in advertising for the period.
• Mail Online US has seen advertising revenue surge by 64%.
• Mail Online missed its 2015 target of £80m, it made £73m in the year to the end of September, as year-on-year growth slowed from 41% to 18%
• Mail Online derived about 66% of its £73m in total revenues from the UK in the year to the end of September, with 25% coming from the US and 9% the rest of the world.

I think this is a massive advancement for the mail online as it proves the effects of globalisation. It may also influence the news institution to maybe consider including some american news. There are also possibilities of the website becoming one of the most popular news sites in other countries as well as america

NDM News: Globalisation

1) Is our news influenced by American cultural imperialism? What examples can you think of?

American cultural imperialism has had a massive influence on the world as it can be considered that many countries have been drowned in american culture, that they begin to adopt it as their own. Therefore, current affairs occurring in America has great significance worldwide. Our news has become greatly influenced by American cultural imperialism as all important news in America is broadcasted in the UK. This is because our culture has become so similar to american culture that we feel a sense of familiarity in america. Also, america is one of the few countries that has the primary spoken languages ti be English, further emphasizing the close relationship between UK and America. A major example would be the presidential elections being widely broadcasted in the UK, which is understandable as a new president is a huge change in how America is run. However, smaller news stories such as minor hurricanes that have barely negatively affected citizens, gets reported often in the UK, which shows that even the smallest of news stories that happen in America, holds great importance in the UK as well.


2) Has the increased globalisation of news improved the audience experience? How? Why?

Increased globalisation has greatly improved the audience's experiences with the news as it allows the audience to gain a worldwide understanding as we are able to easily access information and news from different countries from the comfort of our own home. However it may be considered that globalisation has not improved audiences' experiences as the news is more americanised than globalised meaning that much of the news is heavily concentrated on important and unimportant news from America. This means that we may be unaware of more pressing news in other countries with less political and economical power like America.

3) Has globalisation benefited or damaged major news institutions? How? Why?

Globalisation has benefited many major news industries as these news industries have gained a lot more global power whicj makes their news stories widely read over the world. Advancements in new and digital media has greatly helped to further benefit news institutions to make their news more accessible. However, globalisation also damages many news institutions as smaller, local news institutions would greatly lose their audience as manny if the audience would have preferred to consume news from globally popular news institutions.

NDM Story 23:YouTube tipped to strike licensing deals for TV shows and films

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/03/youtube-licensing-deals-tv-shows-films

New service, You Tube Red, is now planning to sign deals with Hollywood studios and television firms to make TV and Films, a paying subscription service. Although this decision is still in the early stages, You Tube Red hopes to make many films and TV shows exclusive to You Tube Red rather than only gaining licensing rights. As well as this, many You Tube artists are also choosing to make exclusive content for You Tube Red that only subscribers would be able to access. This feature opened in October for the US and will expand globally in 2016. Along with You Tube, Apple is hoping to release their own streaming sites in the near future which would be another contender for You Tube Red.

• The online video service is keen for its $9.99-a-month service to compete more directly with rivals such as Netflix, Amazon and Hulu
• It’s based on people paying $12.99 for a monthly subscription within the app – YouTube has added $3 to the cost of YouTube Red to account for Apple’s 30% cut of in-app purchases.
• YouTube is the 12th top-grossing iPhone app in Apple’s US App Store, jostling with Hulu and dating app Tinder on the outskirts of the top 10.
• PewDiePie, The Fine Brothers and Lilly Singh are among the YouTubers making new shows that will only be available to YouTube Red’s paying subscribers

You Tube Red's initial attraction was the extra content from beloved You Tube stars however with the decision to include exclusive content of films and TV shows is a positive improvement and will act as a bigger incentive for audience members to sign up to You Tube Red. However, the internet is limitless and many people may be able to find loopholes and other ways to access this restricted content but I believe that this will be very minimal and not affect You Tube Red greatly. 

NDM Story 22: The&Partnership launches talent agency for YouTube stars

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/dec/02/thepartnership-social-talent-agency-youtube-stars-maddie-bruce

Media Group, The&Partnership, have decided to launch an agency that supports future You Tube and social media stars. Already representing massive You Tubers such as Zoella, Caspar Lee and Joe Sugg, the agency is believed to be the first in the UK to be an agency that focuses on promoting social media stars. The agency aims to sign up and coming talent with a lot of potential to become future stars. An example of a success story with the agency is video blogger, Maddie Bruce, who, after being overloaded with requests to promote products, decided to sign with The&Partnership. With the help from the agency, she can now focus on the material that she wants to show to audiences with the agency making educated decisions as to what she should be promoting in her videos.

• The&Partnership, owning an almost 50% stake, wants to muscle in on the market dominated by players such as the established giant Gleam Futures, which represents big name YouTubers such as Zoella, Caspar Lee and Joe Sugg. 
• Bruce, for example, decided to quit her studies in criminology to make a career out of video blogging and social media influencing when she hit 100,000 subscribers on YouTube. She currently has 135,000.
• Halpern Prince, who founded her PR agency in 1993 and sold a 50.1% stake to Hornby’s group in 2013, says she is keenly aware of the duty of care to young talent.
• Keith Weed, Unilever’s global marketing officer who handles an annual marketing budget of €7.2bn (about £5bn), says: “They’ve got a great line-up of up-and-coming talent who offer real engagement potential.

YouTube is a new and up coming form of digital media where anyone can voice out their opinions, ideologies and interests, with many vloggers having huge fan bases. Creating agency that helps successful You Tube artists with the commercial side of the profession would be very helpful and with the outstanding number of wannabe vloggers, this kind of company can potentially make a lot of profit and eventually become a well known entertainment agency in the future.

NDM News Story 21: Google accused of spying on students in FTC privacy complaint

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2015/dec/02/google-eff-ftc-privacy-chromebook-gmail-spying-students

Google has recently been accused by US privacy campaigner the Electronic Frontier Foundation and has filed a complaint against them with US regulator the Federal Trade Commission. According the the EFF, Google constantly monitors any actions of students using the internet;every site, search, result and video. They supposedly did this without any permission from students or parents, therefore creating quite a stir, especially due to Google publicly promising that they would not do this without permission. However, a spokesperson from Google confidently claimed that their services provide a safe a secure interface for students to use. Due to conflicting statements, the FTC will be called to do a thorough investigation of the case and whether Google is invading people's privacy or not.

• Google provides a suite of tools for schools and higher education that mirror those available to businesses and consumers, allowing them to offload some of the IT infrastructure to a paid-for cloud-based service.
• Google’s Chromebooks have found success in education where they can be bought for significantly lower cost than most other computers.
• Google is understood to be in the process of disabling some of the features the form part of the EFF’s complaint, including Google’s Chrome Sync for Chromebooks that records browsing behaviour.

As Google is an extremely affluent company, a small issue such as this would not greatly affect the company, however, it would lead consumers to question the reliability of Google and possibly may lead them to change to different browsing websites and other providers.  

NDM News Story 20: A dating site for Disney fans? It's a whole new world …

 http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/dec/03/a-dating-site-for-disney-fans-its-a-whole-new-world-

With the endless number of fans who desire a romance that is seen in the widely watched Disney films, Dave Tavres, a great fan of Disney films, is releasing a dating app called Mouse Mingle, which allows users the opportunity to find their perfect partner, similarly to Disney movies. The website gives users the chance to post pictures and information, rate users and answer Disney related questions. It is a free app for users however, a price would need to be paid in order to send private messages. Tarves first came up with the idea in 2011 while he was working in Disneyland, California, wanting there to be a way in which Disney fans can find each other. Despite the dating site only applying to a niche fan base, it is not expected as a failing website as there are many other site with a niche audience such as dating sites dedicated to Doctor Who, vegetarianism, farming etc.

• $12.55 (£8) a month to send private messages.
• Members state their favourite Disney films, songs, characters, heroes and heroines, princes and princesses in their profiles.

I think that by creating this dating website, this is another way to increase the revenue for Disney. Despite the website not being directly affiliated with the Disney franchise, successful relationships formed through this website will create a powerful memories and which will induce couples to visit Disney regularly as it was the reason for them coming together. There are possibilities that this website will not do as well as expected as Disney's audience is significantly young children and there may not be enough adults who would prefer to use a disney dating site over another more conventional dating site, resulting in Mouse Mingle only raking in small profits.