Most of the traditional media's attempts to compete with new and digital media have been too little too late. Does your case study support this view?

Most of the traditional media's attempts to compete with new and digital media have been too little too late. Does your case study support this view?

The case studies which I have studied to answer this question are the news and film industry. Taking into consideration the impact new and digital media has had on these industries and the futile efforts of traditional media to compete with it, proves that traditional media has done 'too little too late' as the media has now moved on to a more universal and popular platform.

The news industry is a clear example of the failure of traditional media to contest with new and digital media. Initially, throughout the 1900's, newspapers made millions selling their broadsheet copies to customers, with the print format being the only credible and readily available source of news at the time. Once Web 2.0 became a household staple after 2000, newspapers such as The Sun used it as a form of advertising for their broadsheet format, offering free news in the hope that this would attract broadsheet sales. However, the exponential growth of the internet globally was underestimated by newspapers and as a result, broadsheet sales and industry profits have been continuously in decline since the emergence of the internet, since people now have online news readily available across all of their devices, proven by Newscorp UK making a loss of £3.5 million in 2014.

The industry's response to this decline in sales as a result of online news was to introduce paywall subscription services to their online websites, with the Sun reaching over 225,000 subscribers following this format. However, despite this, it is evident that newspapers have waited too long to introduce paywalls, as people are now accustomed to receiving news for free, an issue recently sparked by Rupert Murdoch's remarks that the BBC are too 'dominant' and that their provision of free news is a 'threat' to the industry. Similarly, newspapers have tried to adapt to new and digital media through the technological convergence of their product, with all major news providers now having 'apps' in an attempt to attract paywall subscribers through their handheld devices. However, the fact that the Sun has so many subscribers yet it's parent company is operating at a loss proves that the attempt at competing with new and digital media has been a failure.

Similarly, the traditional media's failure to keep up with new and digital media has resulted in the death of local news. Following the newspapers decline in broadsheet sales due to free news being provided online, newspapers decided to provide more global news in at attempt to regain broadsheet sales, for example wars in places such as Syria and natural disasters such as in Haiti in 2011 have been substantially covered by reporters. However, once again the global nature of the internet has meant that anyone can find news about foreign countries for free easily online, meaning the attempt to attract sales from a more global audience and take advantage of the UK's multiculturalism has failed. The consequence however is that the industry has seen a serious decline in local news as local journalists and newspapers can no longer generate the broadsheet sales to continue. For example the Reading Post, Readings local newspaper, discontinued its broadsheet version after 49 years and now only provides news online, though it covers a far smaller spectrum due to cuts. 

However, it may be argued that in certain aspects traditional media's attempts to compete with new and digital media have been successful in some aspects. Across all media platforms, brand recognition is a vital part of the provision of news as it offers the consumer a sense of credibility if they trust the brand. Media Magazine's 'Word on the Tweet' article argues that Newspapers are successful in that they hold brand recognition with consumers, proven by the fact that the Daily Mail twitter account has 955,000 followers on twitter. Therefore, although newspapers may not be economically monopolising new and digital media, they still possess a substantial amount of power in providing and verifying news online.

In the film industry, traditional media has once again failed to compete with new and digital media. Like the news industry, the film industry failed to anticipate the extraordinary development of the internet, causing the film industry to massively under-regulate it, as film makers never saw it as a potential threat to the giant box office. However, the internet's revolution of the media globally has lead to box office films now being illegally pirated online immediately after release on websites such as 'Letmewatchthis', which receives over 3 million views a day, allowing people to which films for free online and costing the US box office a total of 20.5 billion a year, and caused a 5.1% drop in global cinema attendance in 2014. 

The industry has only recently began to take action against illegal film sharing online, with president Obama looking to make the 'Stop Online Piracy Act' a law in the US, whilst we have also seen file sharing websites such as 'Megaupload' and 'The Pirate Bay' be taken down in recent years. The film industry's attempts however to bring consumers back to the traditional form of cinema to watch films have been futile, as the internet now is far too large to be properly regulated; as even with major file sharing sites being taken down, it has not prevented piracy online or new sites doing the same thing, evidenced by the 32% drop in 15-25 year olds in the US now going to the cinema, as the 'digital generations' are now accustomed to watching films online for free.

In contrast, an alternative argument is that traditional media has successfully competed with new and digital media. The internet arguably has simply given the film industry the perfect platform in which to market their films to the 'lucrative' 15-35 year old target audience as most people this age are online. The industry has utilised the internet by releasing online trailers, adverts, websites promoting their films and interactive user generated content such as the Wolf of Wall Street's 'Make a GIF' campaign, all features used to encourage audiences to return to traditional media, the cinema. The film industry's success in using new media to attract audiences is proven by increasing box office profits, with the global box office earning 35.9 billion in profits in 2013, up from 34.7 the previous year, linking to the idea of hegemony as the elite use new media to indoctrinate us into going to the cinema.

In conclusion, looking overall at my two case studies it is abundantly clear that traditional media has completely failed to compete with new and digital media and their attempts to keep up with it certainly have been 'too little too late' as new media continues to expand and revolutionise the media whilst traditional platforms are left in its wake.

Weekly new and digital media story 43

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2015/mar/12/sun-raises-prices-for-weekend-editions

Sun raises prices for weekend editions

News UK hikes prices of both tabloid weekend titles, with Sunday edition planning to expand size of existing sections

The cover price of the Sun on Sunday will rise by 20p to £1, and the price of its Saturday counterpart will be hiked by 10p to 70p.

The rise still leaves the Sun on Sunday 20p cheaper than red-top rival the Sunday Mirror, and 50p cheaper than the next-best selling Sunday title, the Mail on Sunday. The Sun on Sunday’s lead over the Sunday edition of the Mail fell below 40,000 for the first time in February.

In my opinion the fact that The Sun are having to raise their broadsheet prices once again proves that the newspaper industry is in decline as a result of people no longer buying newspapers and getting their news online. I believe that broadsheet prices will continue to rise and sales continue to decline until all newspapers eventually move online.

Weekly new and digital media story 42

Salma Hayek praises social media's 'peaceful revolution' for women

Actor says Facebook and Twitter have helped tackle issues such as domestic violence and age discrimination - and takes her first selfie.

Salma Hayek has made her Facebook and Twitter debut – and taken her first selfie – while describing the “peaceful revolution” on social media that has enabled women to tackle problems such as age and body image stereotyping in advertising.

“You cannot deny it is a very important part of today,” she said.

Hayek said that the rise of social media has given consumers a voice which has enabled a “peaceful revolution”.

“This is the strength of technology, everybody gets to have a voice,” she said. “People have regained some power, there is a lot of hope in that. I feel many times people in power, in big corporations, dictate which way we go. It is like a peaceful revolution.”

She said that female consumers of all ages have become empowered, opening up a rethink on the traditional use of young, very thin models to advertise products.

This story links to feminism and the idea that new and digital media has empowered women are helped achieve equality through giving women a voice on social networks and other sites. I do agree that social media has provided women with a platform to express their views which was previously unavailable to them, making it much harder to get female opinions across due to the male dominated media.

Weekly new and digital media story 41

Facebook set to host content for news publishers

New York Times, BuzzFeed and National Geographic in the frame for deals to let publishers share revenues from advertising around their stories on the social network

Facebook has become a major driver of traffic to news websites in recent years, but now the social network is making a play to host some of that content on its own site, and give its publishers a share of the advertising revenues.

The New York Times reported that Facebook has been in talks with “half a dozen” news publishers over its plans, naming BuzzFeed, National Geographic and the New York Times itself as three of the likely candidates.

Its report says a trial could begin in the next few months, with news stories hosted on Facebook so that users would not have to click links to read them on external websites.

In my opinion the integration of social media and newspapers again highlights the inevitable move from broadsheets to completely online as institutions realise that revenue is only sustainable through utilising new media, and broadsheets are no longer economically sustainable.

Identities and the media : Waves of feminism

Ched Evans: petition to prevent convicted rapist playing : 

1) Summarise this example for the rest of the class in one paragraph

The story is about a radical feminists online petitions to stop convicted rapist Ched Evans being brought back into football by Oldham Athletic.

2) What was the initial incident or situation that sparked this example?

Professional footballer Ched Evans was convicted of rape and was then potentially going to be signed by Oldham after his sentence, however due to massive online opposition this fell through.


3) In your opinion, is this an example of a valid campaign or something of a witchhunt against people who are not doing any serious harm?

I think that this is a valid campaign as someone that is a convicted rapist should not be allowed to be put in such a public space in which he will be idolised by so many young people. Being a rapist, this would certainly give the wrong impression to children.

Caitlin Moran: Twitter silence : 

1) Summarise this example for the rest of the class in one paragraph

This is a twitter movement using the hashtag #twittersilence in which Moran and her feminist supporters would go 24 hours without tweeting one day due to the inability of females to voice their opinions on twitter without being subjected to online abuse by men.

2) What was the initial incident or situation that sparked this example?

The incident was sparked by constant abuse faced by women if they try and voice their opinions online, Moran therefore felt an ironic silence could be used to highlight their idiocy as they have nothing better to do than tweet offensive messages without a response.

3) In your opinion, is this an example of a valid campaign or something of a witchhunt against people who are not doing any serious harm?

The campaign was a valid one but largely ineffective as I feel that the silence indicates that males have won, as through their offensive comments they want to silence women to not give their views, Moran's campaign only allows them to achieve this.

Emma Watson: HeForShe gender equality campaign : 
1) Summarise this example for the rest of the class in one paragraph

The campaign is Emma Watson's attempt to unite both men and women in achieving gender equality as she feels the word feminism has become synonymous with 'man hating'.

2) What was the initial incident or situation that sparked this example?

Emma Watson's personal experiences as she states that at age 14 she became sexualised by the media, and at 15 found that her and her friends dropped out of sports team to prevent becoming "too muscly".


3) In your opinion, is this an example of a valid campaign or something of a witchhunt against people who are not doing any serious harm?

I think this is a valid and by far the most affective campaign because as a male, I believe that the word 'feminism' has been tarnished by radical feminists who do simply set out to spread their hate of men. Therefore I massively support Emma Watson's aim to bring men into feminism, which they are currently alienated from because of radicals, as equality can only be achieved if both genders support it.

Weekly new and digital media story 40

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2015/mar/05/which-regional-daily-will-be-the-first-to-go-digital-only

Which regional daily will be the first to go digital-only?

The blog article discusses the future of newspapers and argues that the time which newspapers go completely go digital is inevitable. It gives examples of weekly newspapers that have already stopped their broadsheet version and wonders how long it will take before a daily paper does the same. The article then predicts that the Birmingham mail will eventually stop its print version due to dwindling sales and continued losses.

Identities and the Media: Feminism

What are the two texts the article focuses on?

The article focuses on TV show Pan Am and also Beyonce's music video for her song why don't you love me.

What examples are provided from the two texts of the 'male gaze' (Mulvey)?

An example of Laura Mulvey's male gaze within the text is ""with a face like that you will find a husband in a couple of months". Another example of this is "fragmented legs as they walk in unison through the airport".

Both of these quotes clearly sexualise women and portray them as sex objects in the eyes of men.

Do texts such as these show there is no longer a need for feminism or are they simply sexism in a different form?

I think texts such as these highlight the hypocrisy within feminism. The fact that many people view Beyonce's "Why don't you love me" video as liberating to women, yet page 3 is seen as discriminating women because they are not iconic role models highlights that there are hypocritical elements to it. Overall I believe that equality between genders has been largely achieved, however the lack of women in top positions is slightly concerning.

Choose three words/phrases from the glossary of the article and write their definitions on your blog.

Feminism – the advocacy of women's rights on the ground of the equality of the sexes.

Post-feminism – a reaction against some perceived contradictions and absences of second-wave feminism. The term post-feminism is ill-defined and is used in inconsistent ways. It was historically used to pose a contrast with a prevailing or preceding feminism.




Research the No More Page 3 campaign. Who started it and why?

Lucy Holmes started the campaign in the summer of 2012 when she saw that the largest picture in The Sun newspaper was a naked woman on page 3, despite the fact that the London Olympics were going on. She felt that this degraded women's position in society as they only existed to be looked at by men.

What are the six reasons the campaign gives for why Page 3 has to go?

1) Page 3 was first introduced in the sexist 1970s. A lot has changed over the last 30+ years in our society, with women gaining more equality

2) It is soft porn that shouldn't be placed in a family and number one selling newspaper.

3) It teaches children that women are merely seen as sex objects for men to look at, whereas men are depicted as working, in suits etc, giving children a negative outlook on the position of women in society.

4) Page 3 ignores and overshadows all the positive achievements made by women and instead degrades them.

5) Every single weekday for the last 44 years in The Sun newspaper the largest female image has been of a young woman (usually of a very particular age, race, physicality) showing her breasts for men, sending out a powerful message that whatever else a woman achieves, her primary role is to serve men sexually.

6) The Sun newspaper could be so much stronger without Page 3. Because currently, any story they run about women’s issues such as rape, sexual abuse, harassment, domestic violence or the dangers of online porn is contradicted by it.

What are Barbara Ellen and Susan Boniface's contrasting opinions in the debate?

Boniface argues that Page 3 is outdated and degrading to women as it depicts them as merely sex objects to men, who are clearly seen as superior as the newspaper is run by men in positions of power, in control of a women who is there to show her body. 

Ellen however argues that it is anti-feminist to oppose women that chose to show their bodies on page 3, and that women are doing the opposite of feminism by looking down upon those who chose not to follow the traditional, well accepted middle class lifestyle in which a women works in an office. It is therefore snobbery and hypocritical to oppose page 3. Women support the right to offend certain groups during the Charlie Hebdo marches, and idolise and constantly read about celebrities such as Kim Kardashian who did worse. 

How can the No More Page 3 campaign be linked to the idea of post-feminism?

Post-feminism can be linked to the campaign as it suggests that women are fighting to finally become equal to men, and with the campaign achieving it's aim of removing page 3 it may be argued that we now live in an equal society and the need for feminism no longer exists

.