Weekly News

ITV's Elaine Bedell to step down after seven years

ITV director of entertainment Elaine Bedell is to leave the broadcaster after seven years. Bedell is following in the footsteps of ITV director of television Peter Fincham who announced earlier this month he is stepping down.

During her time at ITV, Bedell has been responsible for overseeing some of ITV’s biggest shows such as Britain’s Got Talent, The X Factor, Benidorm and I’m a Celebrity … Get Me Out of Here!, as well as commissioning new series including Ninja Warrior UK and Plebs.

Fincham, who worked with Bedell when he was BBC1 controller and she was BBC entertainment commissioner, said: “Elaine has been a tremendous colleague over the past seven years and has led the entertainment and comedy team with unswerving commitment and enormous flair. I can completely understand why she wants to seek new pastures and I wish her the very best of luck. I’ve had such fun working with Elaine and her team – she’s a class act.”

I think that ITV may find difficulties replacing her due to her long period at ITV of seven years. Also, they may feel demotivated due to her big role in ITV such as overseeing big shows such as BGT and X Factor.

Jeremy Clarkson comments about trans people are 'damaging', says Stonewall

Campaigning charity Stonewall has slammed Jeremy Clarkson’s Sunday Times column about transgender people as “damaging and ridiculous”.

Clarkson has come under fire for his column, which ridiculed the transgender community, saying “we must now all turn our attention to the plight of people who want to change their name from Stan to Loretta, and fight for the right for men to have babies”.

A spokesperson for Stonewall, which campaigns for the equality of lesbian, gay, bisexual and trans people across Britain, said: “Vitriol like this shows how much work we have left to do – and is extremely hurtful not just to trans people, but their friends and families, and no doubt most people with a moral compass.”

This clearly shows how careful influential people such as Jeremy Clarkson have to be because stating his opinion on such a strong topic such as transsexuals could cause controversy. This could also effect Sunday Times because their reputation could be at stake with such huge statements. The Sunday Times may look to fix this to ensure their reputation is kept and their brand image isn't destroyed or not valued as much.

Weekly news

Sun website traffic falls by more than 5% despite axing of paywall

The Sun saw a more than 5% fall in its audience in December, despite dropping its paywall fully for the first time on 30 November.

A spokesperson attributed the decline to “certain apps being turned off to unify the Sun online presence and the expected seasonal lull in Dream Team”. Much of the site’s content was also already free before the paywall was officially dropped, as the site began relaxing its approach to charging for online content last summer.

However, the Sun outperformed the rest of the UK’s national newspapers, which saw bigger falls during the month. Their Christmas traffic declines followed gains made in November, which were partly driven by public interest in stories such as the Paris attacks.

In my opinion I would have thought the paywall would have caused a decline due to the audience not wanting to pay for the site. However it shows that even after the paywall was removed, there still showed declines in visits. I think that this is bound to happen and is almost inevitable with social media and people gaining information and news from different sources on the internet and probably social networking sites such as Twitter which provide news pages that are easily accessible. 

BBC staff are still afraid to speak out, four years after Jimmy Savile's death

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@janemartinson

Thursday 21 January 2016 14.50 GMTLast modified on Thursday 21 January 201616.24 GMT

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In all major sex abuse scandals – from Rotherham to the Catholic church as well as Jimmy Savile – the perpetrators are aided by a culture of silence. And the most searing indictment in the report into the BBC’s handling of the Jimmy Savile abuse scandal is that this culture of silence continues.

Decades after children who spoke out about abuse by Savile were bustled out of the studio, BBC employees still feel too scared to speak out about their workplace in case they lose their job or fail to get promoted, according to Dame Janet Smith’s draft report. Extraordinarily, the draft report records that one teenager abused on camera was told it was “just Jimmy fooling about”.

Even after Savile’s death, those who chose to talk to the officially sanctioned review did so in the main if they were allowed to remain anonymous. They spoke of their fear that they would suffer the consequences for doing so.

I think that the BBC refuse to touch on this subject because they believe that this is a big issue that may affect their brand image. BBC are a strong brand but talking about such as huge story and a popular one that has brought many opinions in the past may cause controversy and people to doubt and maybe question the BBC which is something they wish to avoid in order to keep their brand image and reputation high.

Identities and the Media: Reading the riots

How did the language and selection of images in the coverage create a particular representation of young people? 

Most of the images that were selected featured young people, which created an idea that the main people involved were 'wild youth' or uncontrollable young people. Many of the images showed similar features such as the fire background which gave an idea of a 'war zone'. This highlighted the importance and seriousness of this issue. The fire in the background of these images also gave a sense of exaggeration to the situation which has given it an 'alert' or 'attention' sign for the audiences of these newspapers.

What is the typical representation of young people – and teenage boys in particular? What did the 2005 IPSOS/MORI survey find?

The typical representation is that the youth now are all 'morons' or ignorant kids that like causing havoc. The newspaper articles demonstrated that the youth are rioting aggressively with no purpose when in fact this was a protest that kicked off due to police shooting and innocent man.

How can Stanley Cohen’s work on Moral Panic be linked to the coverage of the riots?

The coverage clearly shows a sense of moral panic in society that the youth are being aggressive and senseless where society show anxiety and fear because of the youth that are causing damage all over Britain. 

How was social media blamed for the riots? What was interesting about the discussion of social media when compared to the Arab Spring in 2011?

Social media showed to be very dangerous and partly the reason for the riots because that is what was used by the youth to communicate with one another in order to meet up and cause trouble and loot stores.

Alternatively, how might media scholars like Henry Jenkins view the 'tsunami' of blogs, forums and social media comments? Do you agree that this shows the democratisation of the media?

The media scholars will view this as a silly accusation because they would believe that the shooting triggered the riots although social media was being used to communicate, it doesn't and shouldn't put blame on such a platform that has brought many advantages to society over the years. 

What are your views on the main causes of the riots?

I think that what triggered the riots was the shooting of the innocent man however, it then grew out to become for many different reasons that the youth may have felt hard-done by. Some youth may have rioted and looted because they're fed up of their treatment and stereotypes in society that come naturally to them even when being innocent.

Were people involved in the riots given a voice in the media to explain their participation?

No, people involved in the riots were not given a voice to express why they done such things but instead were called morons and idiotic youth for participating in such aggressive behavior which doesn't seem to be fair.

In the Guardian website's investigation into the causes of the riots, they did interview rioters themselves. Read this Guardian article from their Reading the Riots academic research project - what causes are outlined by those involved in the disturbances?

Many say the main cause of the riots was due to the rioters anger towards the police department and their treatment to communities. Rioters relationship with the police is what caused the riots and the looting's to happen. Rioters feel that the police do not show sympathy or understanding for the youth and how they are treated. 

What is your own opinion on the riots? Do you have sympathy with those involved or do you believe strong prison sentences are the right approach to prevent such events happening in future?

I think that the shooting by the police caused and sparked the riots to happen. I definitely feel sympathy towards the rioters because I believe that the riots occurred because of a reason behind them and not headless youth trying to cause trouble. I believe that the mistreatment of the youth and people in communities in general has cause the anger to build up and has caused the riots to take place. I think that prison sentences will not prevent this from happening because the youth will still feel anger but this may also anger them more due to them feeling hard-done by and not listened to by society. I think instead the police and governments should work on creating youth clubs and activities for children in order to discipline them but also give them a voice in their community which is what they're seeking for.

NDM case study: News on the Tweet

Why are respected news brands good news for Twitter?

Respected news brand are huge benefit to twitter because the allow the audience to access their news through social media such as Twitter. This beneficial because NDM has developed massively over the years which has made news accessible through the internet and social media sites. This is a benefit because news brands such as the guardian or the sun are now able to tweet their news through Twitter allowing consumers to gain information through the internet.

Why in turn is Twitter good for respected news brands?

Also Twitter is good for respected news brands because with the decline of the newspaper industry this has put news organisations down. However with Twitter institutions such as the guardian can post and tweet their news which still allows their news to be distributed and consumed in a different format which is still beneficial because of the popularity of their institution on Twitter.

The report suggests that old and new media “are not, in fact, in direct competition, but often work extremely well together to enhance both the media eco-system and the consumer experience”. What evidence do they provide to support this idea? Do you agree with it?

‘Better together’ is becoming a familiar phrase in media – ever since we learned that online and legacy media are not, in fact, in direct competition, but often work extremely well together to enhance both the media eco-system and the consumer experience." This is a quote from the article which suggests that new media and old media are 'better together' which suggests that old media and new media work well together instead of being competitors against each other they have helped each other to both strive. An example of this is how a site such as Twitter has allowed the news industry to post articles for consumers. This is a prime example because it shows how they have helped each other instead of competing. 

Do you think the increasing amount of 'gossip' or 'banter' is harming the reputation of news and journalists?

Yes, I think the increasing amount of gossip or banter is harming the reputation of news because news traditionally is supposed to be serious. This means that news industries provide news with a certain amount of seriousness with stabbings, murders etc. Meaning the increase in banter has taken away the serious element of news making the reputation decline heavily. However, it can be argued that this has also enhanced news because it has allowed consumers to interact more with the news due to its light banter. This is beneficial for news industries to an extent because it has given them that connection with their audience allowing them to create good but respected relationships with consumers.

Weekly News

BBC risks excluding viewers by prioritising online content

BBC3 move to online-only, fears over future of traditional broadcasting and corporation being too ‘overtly political’ among public’s concerns, study finds.
Older, poorer and rural viewers could all be excluded by the BBC’s plans for the future, according to warnings published by the BBC Trust.A consultation of more than 10,000 people revealed that many older licence-fee payers said they feared being forgotten and left behind by “the prioritisation of online content over traditional broadcasting” given in the BBC’s own proposals to create a “British, bold and creative” broadcaster.
The BBC are chasing after to receive more viewers especially the younger generation because they access everything through their phone and tablets which has made BBC's viewers decrease. However, the BBC should focus on the older generation as an audience so they are able to deliver quality news to them.

New York Times

The New York Times has named Jim Rutenberg as its new media columnist, filling the role left vacant after the sudden death of David Carr almost a year ago.

Rutenberg is currently the chief political correspondent for the newspaper’s Sunday magazine, having joined the NYT from the New York Observer as a media correspondent in 2000.

A joint memo to staff from executive editor Dean Bacquet and business editor Dean Murphy said the hunt for someone to take on the prestigious role had been “exhaustive” and taken in both internal and external candidates.

I think that the New York times audience will realise the difference in writing because of they would notice that the loss of David Carr who was a significant journalist for the New York times. The change in journalists may cause the audience to go to other competitors due to a difference that they may not like.

weekly news

Netflix, Spotify and Apple power UK entertainment revenue to record £6.1bn

UK revenue from music, TV shows, films and video games hit an all-time high of £6.1bn in 2015 thanks to the booming popularity of digital services offered by players including Netflix, Amazon, Spotify and Apple.

A surge in digital spending combined with the mega-selling new album by Adelehauled the total UK music market to its first growth in at least a decade, up 3.5% to £1.06bn. The UK music industry saw the number of streams almost double to 27m and physical sales, while flat, were greater than they have been for a decade.

Having sold 2.6m copies of 25 in just six weeks after its November launch, Adele even pipped big-seller Fifa 16 to become the biggest entertainment hit of the year, according to figures released on Tuesday. The football game sold 2.5m units between its release in September and the end of the year.

Netflix: from DVD rentals to the verge of world domination

When Netflix chief executive Reed Hastings took to the stage in Las Vegas on Wednesday to announce the streaming service’s expansion into a further 130 countries, he told the audience they were “witnessing the birth of a global TV network”.

It was a grand statement for a company that started out as a US mail-order DVD rental business, but one it has backed by attracting about 74 million subscribers around the world and making huge investments in TV programming.

Hastings’ words were chosen carefully: his list of countries that could now access Netflix ranged from the obscure (Azerbaijan) through to the massive (India). Even if China remains one of the few places not on the list, Hastings said the company “hopes to be there soon”. At more than 190 territories, Netflix is within a whisker of the 200 it promised to have by this time in 2017, and not far off the global tag it wants to claim.