#21

No-makeup selfies raise £8m for Cancer Research UK in six days

Charity says #nomakeupselfie trend will let it carry out 10 more clinical trials despite mixup that sent some donations to Unicef

Women posting bare-faced selfies online have helped a leading cancercharity raise more than £8m in six days – despite thousands of pounds being donated to Unicef by mistake.

The craze has seen soaring numbers of women posting pictures of themselves wearing no makeup on social media sites and nominating their friends to do the same.

Cancer Research UK, which did not start the campaign, said the #nomakeupselfie trend had resulted in an unprecedented increase in donations.

But it has emerged that some people intending to donate to the charity sent their cash to Unicef in error, while others mistakenly inquired about adopting a polar bear with the World Wildlife Fund (WWF).

Cancer Research UK and Unicef use the same text number for donations but those texting the keyword DONATE rather than BEAT found their money sent to the UN agency.

Mike Flynn, director of individual giving at Unicef UK, said there had been a "genuine mixup" and it was working with Cancer Research UK to transfer £18,625 that was donated by mistake.

He said: "Unicef UK is not responsible for this error. However, we have been working hard to find a resolution to the situation for those affected.

"We contacted Cancer Research UK as soon as we became aware of what was happening. Unicef UK and Cancer Research UK have agreed that these donations will be received in full by Cancer Research UK.

"We are now working closely with all parties involved to ensure that this doesn't happen again in the future."

The WWF confirmed that it too had accidentally received text messages. Those texting BEAR instead of BEAT accidentally inquired about adopting a polar bear through the charity. The WWF said no money had been taken from people who sent the texts.

Kerry Blackstock, the charity's director of fundraising, said: "Any texts sent to us instead of Cancer Research would not result in any donations going to help protect polar bears as WWF relies on human operators calling people back to confirm adoptions, so no money would have changed hands.

"When we realised there was a lot of interest in a campaign we weren't presently running we made sure our automatic text message response let the sender know their text had gone awry.

"We wish Cancer Research every success in their campaign and their goals. Polar bear selfies are harder to come by, though as far as we are aware none wear makeup."

Carolan Davidge, Cancer Research UK's director of communications, said: "We're really grateful to everyone who donated to Cancer Research UK through the #nomakeupselfie campaign.

"We have agreed with Unicef that the donations they received will be given to Cancer Research UK. People who made a donation in error to Unicef have already been contacted to let them know the money is being transferred."

A host of famous women including the pop stars Beyoncé and Rihanna, model Cara Delevingne and X Factor judge Cheryl Cole have taken part in the trend, which has spread across Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.

Cancer Research UK said the donations would allow the charity to carry out 10 clinical trials that it did not have money to fully fund last week.

Harpal Kumar, chief executive of Cancer Research UK, said: "We have been overwhelmed by the support people have been showing us through the #nomakeupselfie trend.

"We don't receive any government funding for our research and so it is phenomenal to think that the generosity of the public is enabling us to fund critical research that we didn't have the money for six days ago. Being able to fund more trials will bring forward the day when all cancers are cured.

"It has been an exciting week, and we would just like to thank everyone again for their support."

This article is about women posting up pictures online without make-up for charity, Unicef.

Summary

1) 10/12/13 - Rich kids of instagram
2) 16/12/13 - When fiction becomes fact: can we trust the internet?
3) 7/01/14 - Internet streaming won't save music – the industry still relies on hits
4) 21/01/14 - Why is the music industry so cross with Google?
5) 28/01/14 - Candy Crush
6) 28/01/14 - How social media can change the face of fundraising
7) 28/01/14 - Stan Collymore returns to Twitter and hits out at the Sun
8) 28/01/14 - If Nintendo makes mobile games, what can it learn from Sony and Microsoft?
9) 28/01/14 - BBC targets social media users with Instagram video news
10) 11/02/14 - Flappy Bird is not the new Angry Birds 
11) 11/02/14 -  New iPhone music app lets any fan rap like Tinie Tempah
12) 11/02/14 - Today's media stories from the papers
13) 12/02/14 - Flappy Bird creator takes down madly popular game as he had threatened
14) 12/02/14 - Press freedom under attack - the risks journalists face in order to report
15) 5/03/14 - What's next after WhatsApp: a guide to the future of messaging apps
16) 12/03/14 - Netflix and Spotify help drive UK home entertainment revenues to £5.3bn
17) 12/03/14 - David Cameron's new Facebook likes show you can put a price on friendship
18) 12/03/14 - Twitter - Click hereto make your commenting life easier, #hardworkingpeople 
19) 20/03/14 - Yahoo aspires to mirror the success of Netflix's House of Cards
20) 20/03/14 - New £1 coin: can you do better than the Royal Mint?

Marxism and Pluralism

Developments in new/digital media mean that audiences can now have access to a greater variety of views and values.  To what extent are audiences empowered by these developments?

To a extent I agree with this statement, that audiences are empowered by these developments as of the advance level of new and digital media that has been introduced. It has allowed millions of people to access the internet on different types of devices such as a laptop, mobile phone, tablet or game consoles. The advance technology allows people to get information quicker, therefore becoming more aware of a situation. The world is changing, as "we're shifting from a 24 hour news cycle to a 140 character one" (Adam Sharp) as people are getting news updates through twitter, as any major news that breaks upon T.V is automatically discussed upon on Twitter. This is also a form of immediacy, as if it is more important than ever due to the news breaking on Twitter or other social networking sites, The use of social networking sites just allows audiences to publish their viewpoints, and give the story a different angle to be looked at upon. 

Through the use of different news websites, such as MailOnline and other free news websites, where audiences are allowed to comment and publish their own news, allowing audiences to feel powerful. It allows audiences to obtain important information as well as giving away their opinions, web 2.0 is growing, and as it is part of the internet, and the internet is an "empowering tool"(Al Gore) it allows audiences to become producers of the media text. Audiences are able to publish their own text on Wikipedia, which means it isn't fully reliable, as there are no sources to back it up, due to everyone being able to publish anything on it. However, in terms of audiences, they can publish any news they find, there is no need for a journalist to be sent from another side of the country to another, as anyone is able to publish news, and then it is gradually passed along. This could even be in terms of a citizen journalist, which can be an ordinary person recording something they believe is interesting or suspicious and would give the audiences something to talk about. As users are able to make their own blog posts, it is a sense of becoming producers of it, as we own it, this makes audiences believe "everyone has a chance to be seen" (Chad Hurley- Co-Founder of YouTube). This supports Pluralism, as we live in a classless society and media organisations are responsive to an audience and are economically determined. Audiences have been empowered by the capability to challenge the media organisations, and the "technology blossoming of the culture of freedom, individual innovation and entrepreneurial-ism" (Castells) makes audiences believe they are free to do what they want, as they have the ability to do so. 

On the other hand, Marxist view capitalist society, as being one of class dominance, the media are seen to promote hegemonic ideologies, and they ensure the dominance of certain classes. The main news audiences receive are from either their T.V or an official news website such as the BBC, then audiences produce their own texts on unofficial websites such as a blog post, or a tweet, as audiences believe "communities cab come together" (Jimmy Wales - Co-Founder of Wikipedia) if they post up news and spread it on unofficial websites. The media has a lot of power over audiences, as Pareto's law says 80% of the media is owned by 20% of institutions, this therefore implies, the world has to accept it as a "common sense and natural"  Also, Paerto's law says “a minority of media producers always serve a majority of consumers suggesting that social networking sites which allow users to create their own pages/accounts, which have connection with celebrities, such as Twitter, it is a form of promotion for celebrities, and for them to gain more followers and have a bigger fan base, it is a sense of competition for all artists among themselves within the same category, as they want to have more followers

Furthermore, as Marxists would argue that user-generated content creates illusion that we have a free opinion, and can say whatever we wish to, and it gives audiences a sense of "complete freedom" (Libertarianism). Marxist argued that the media is dumming down. The order in which media texts are being consumed are changing, however, people are still consuming it through different ways as the technology is developing, they still are aware of what is happening around the world, suggesting innovation is occurring but people will still be informed through the new devices as such. 

In conclusion, I believe that as technology is developing but people are still aware about what is happening around the world, through the development of news. News has had a long process of how it has been developed, and the way news is passed around has developed over the years majorly. New and digital media has allowed audiences to get news from different sources, and Rupert Murdoch said "the internet has given readers much more power" as audiences are able to access news through different manners such as on Twitter, Facebook or even the Guardian website or still the traditional manner of newspapers sometimes. However, Rupert Murdoch said "newspapers have to adapt" this is to the fact news is being processed through the internet. Also, citizen journalists are impacting the way audiences have access to it, as it is challenging the qualified journalists with a degree, who have learnt their job role correctly and try following it, but citizen journalist just record anything they see which may be suspicious and then publish it for audiences to view. Audiences are able to say their views and publish it on Twitter or Facebook, and have discussion on forums, through the use of new and digital media. However, the institutions are still in power as they provide these services for the audiences. Without the institutions setting up these grounds for audiences, audiences wouldn't be able to give their opinions or create content for others to view. If Twitter didn't have log-in services for audiences, then audiences wouldn't be able to leave their opinions or create content of their own. They'd just be able to view what they see, and there would be no user generated content, this would mean a situation wouldn't be able to be looked at from different viewpoints. 

Globalisation

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

I believe the news is influenced by American cultural imperialism, as the American news company CNN, were providing the Americans 24 hour news updates, this was done to keep them all informed of everything happening around the world. This has been developed in the U.K, as SKY now provides 24 hour news for the British audience, to keep them informed and up to date with what is happening around the world. Furthermore, if you look at CNN's website and compare it to SKY's, they are exactly the same, SKY had copied CNN's layout, suggesting the Americans influence the cultural imperialism. The Americans hold great power over the movements the U.K make, as the U.K looks up to America, and they do so many similar things as America. 

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

I believe globalisation of news has improved the audience experience, as the audiences have more choice of how they can view their news, as of the technology available, audiences can view news through their mobile phones, laptop, tablets, iPad's, games consoles and many more ways. Rupert Murdoch said, the world is changing, newspapers need to adapt, as the internet holds more power, and newspapers are out of fashion, and people no longer purchase them as much as they did years ago. Furthermore, audiences are able to get news much more quicker, which allows us to be aware of what is happening quickly, and allows action to be taken.

However, it could be argued that globalisation of news hasn't improved the audience experience, as news is becoming less local, and more worldwide as everyone receives news from around the world, it could lead to audiences being lost and them not being interested. As, the news audiences are receiving is around the world news, and they are being informed about what is happening in their area constantly, so it isn't frequent news about their own area.

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

Globalisation has benefited major news institutions, as there are journalists in every country, this suggests institutions no longer need a journalist in every area, as of the large institution links being made, and news can be published around the world from other journalists. Furthermore, there are also citizen journalists, who record things they see from their mobile phone and they could publish the news. 

However, globalisation has damaged major news institutions as it is harder for news institutions to stand out, when your away from large companies, this is because most news is always similar but it may be laid out differently, or may be published at different times. Also, Ealing Gazette being a prime example of a local newspaper, it is going out of business, as nobody purchases this any more, as people receive news through different sources of technology, through the internet.  

#20

http://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2014/mar/19/new-pound-coin-designs-photo-favourite

New £1 coin: can you do better than the Royal Mint?

The new £1 coin has been unveiled by the Royal Mint today. What do you think it should have looked like? We’d like to see your original designs, or share a photo of your favourite coin via GuardianWitness

Do you like the new £1 coin or do you think you can do better? We‘d like to see your own original designs. Or if you have a favourite coin, please share photos of those too – we particularly like the round ones with holes in.

The new 12-sided pound coin, based on the historic three pence piece, also known as the threepenny bit , which was the first coin to feature a portrait of Queen Elizabeth II. 

A new one pound coin has been released, and this article questions if it can do better than the Royal Mint. This coin is a 12 sided pound coin, and it has been based around the historic three pence piece, this was the first coin to have the Queen's picture upon.

#19

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2014/mar/19/yahoo-netflix-house-of-cards-tv-content

Yahoo aspires to mirror the success of Netflix's House of Cards

Yahoo is to bring a number of "emblematic" TV shows to its online audience, as it looks to increase its original content and mirror the success Netflix has achieved with its streaming of House of Cards.

Dawn Airey, the former UK TV executive who is now Yahoo senior vice president, Europe, Middle East and Africa, said the US internet company would be "producing and commissioning some shows of significance quite quickly".

"When it comes to original content, one of my observations of the business is we have to do a few more emblematic big things that really stand out," Airey told the Guardian's Changing Media Summit on Wednesday. "If you look at what Netflix did with House of Cards [it was] very, very, very clever."

According to Airey, Yahoo spends around $500m a year on original content, which includes original programmes such as the US web series Burning Love and Ghost Ghirls, along with digital magazines Yahoo Food and Yahoo Tech.

By commissioning and producing more of its own content, Yahoo is competing against the likes of Hulu and Netflix, which received a raft of Emmy awards nominations for its exclusive online streaming of the hit show House of Cards.

Airey, who previously held senior roles at ITV, Sky and Channel 5, would not divulge specific details of upcoming shows but they are expected to mark a significant step up in quality from the content Yahoo has hitherto produced and commissioned.

The shows are expected to launch with a global audience in mind and Airey said there would not be an increase in spend on UK-specific original content.

In the UK, Yahoo's commissions include shows such as The Shizzle, which features Made in Chelsea star Jamie Laing interviewing celebrities.

Airey added: "In EMEA as a region, our investment in original content will probably not see a huge step change from where we are. I am not about to spend a vast amount of money on original production for example in the UK."

Yahoo has a global audience of 27 million unique visitors a month and, according to Airey, its audience has an "insatiable appetite" for video, which would be expanded.

Questioned whether Yahoo would continue to have an interest in acquiring sports rights, after losing out to News UK over Premier League online clips last year, Airey said Yahoo would "look at everything that comes up".

Yahoo spent around $500m a year on original content, this includes programmes such as the US web series Burning Love and Ghost Ghirls, and digital magazines Yahoo food and Yahoo tech. This suggest how wide Yahoo has spread. It is said Yahoo has a global audience of 27 million unique visitors a month, they audience has expanded majorly and has allowed Yahoo to become successful. 

#18

Click here to make your commenting life easier, #hardworkingpeople

A. Responses about 'your lot'

A1. Your lot would do exactly the same.

A2. Your lot would do something much, much worse.

A3. Your lot wouldn't even do anything.

A4. Your lot did, in fact, start it.

A5. Meet sexy girls in your area.

In fact, there is no indication anywhere in the thing giving rise to the response that the author has a particular "lot", or any praise for policies of a previous "lot" or any assessment of proposed policies of a prospective "lot". Responses about "your lot" effectively reject the idea that the policies of the people currently in charge merit any closer scrutiny than policies that are a matter of historical record or proposed policies of those merely bidding to be in charge at some point in the future. May optionally include the phrases "hell in a handcart" or, on this website, "typical Grauniad".

B. This is not the piece I wanted to read

B1. I see you conveniently neglected to mention X.

B2. I admire you normally, but this is beneath you. You should be worrying about Y.

B3. I would rather someone else had said this, because I hate you.

B4. This is nothing new/Why is this news?

B5. Make $$$ from home.

Clicking on the commenter's profile may reveal that they want every piece to include X or Y. In fact, incorporating X or Y, as they are almost always entirely unrelated to the piece, would be convoluted and add 3,000 words to any piece, causing my editor to beat me about the face with her hardback copy of the Guardian's Style Guide, before making me copy a thousand lines of "I will never again submit a novelette as a comment piece". I suspect B2 will be particularly popular as a response to this piece.

C. The personal approach

C1. Come and have a look at my high street.

C2. You are an elitist fact-slinger. Come and have a look at my high street.

C3. You clearly do not understand this or anything else ever. You should apologise and come and look at my high street.

C4. I don't know if you are intentionally misrepresenting this or just stupid.

C5. Why should I listen to a failed [insert random fact from author's short biography]?

C6. You are a liar. Come and have a look at my high street or, as I call it, "Poland".

C7. Siding with the terrorists. AGAIN.

C8. Meet sexy girls in your area.

It is often clear in this category of comment or tweet that only the title of the piece has in fact been read. Such responses may be in capitals and frequently end with "WAKE UP SHEEPLE", "FACT" or "END OF". The commenter could well call you "mate" and comment on either your salary, the juxtaposition of your politics and your taste for sparkling wine from a particular French region, your high horse and possibly your ivory tower. I am always on the lookout for that elusive high street that perfectly represents all of the UK in every respect, so keep your suggestions coming.

D. I look at this as a promotional opportunity

D1. An OK piece, but my blog is better. (with broken link)

D2. Here is a short erotic story I wrote about this.

D3. Here is a cat with Nutella all over its face.

D4. Here is a short erotic story I wrote about a cat with Nutella all over its face.

D5. Make $$$ from home.

You might want to save time by simply typing: "This comment has been removed by the moderator as it contravenes community standards".

E. The false dichotomy

E1. Why don't you move to North Korea?

E2. Why don't you move to France?

E3. Why don't you move to Cuba?

E4. Tony Blair is a war criminal.

E5. Tony Bliar is a war criminal.

E6. In the real world [insert thing only applicable to small English town].

E7. FINE THEN. BRING BACK STALIN.

E8. Meet sexy girls in your area.

I hope you find this useful and it saves you time.

An astounding amount of time, effort and angry fingering is spent every day commenting on things with which people disagree, whether on websites, social media, blogs or other forums. Caps lock buttons all over Britain are buckling under the strain. In an effort to free #hardworkingpeople and unleash a wave of entrepreneurship and economic growth, I have attempted to codify some of the more typical responses. This will allow #hardworkingpeople to simply type, for instance, "A3 and B1" and get back to #hardworkingpeople activities. The focus, for the purposes of this project, is one of right-leaning commenters on left-leaning positions, but I think you will find that all response groupings can be adjusted to work the other way around, with very little #hardwork.

MEST 3 Mock Exam

Grade C  
WWW: Your answers improve as the exam progresses which is unusual! You've stayed focused on the questions throughout too.

EBI - LR: The main issue is the lack of reference to other media texts, particularly in Q2. You mention plently of websites in Q3, but not films - where was ill manors?! 
- Re-write Q2 with a wide variety of examples from other media texts 

Include: Audience appeal/pleasure 
- Uses of gratification - Escapism (diversion)
- Paragraph on twilight and let the right one in
- Outsiders
- Stereotypes for people that don't fit in - unknown, mysterious, eccentric and different-Enigma codes - Barthes
- Doctor who
- Spiderman
- Vampire diaries, being human
Theories: Dyer - powerful groups 
Perkins: elements of truth 
Medhurst: common stereotypes 

Media products that represent outsiders, such as vampire films are popular, this is because of the level of engagement they hold. This content appeals to audiences as they receive pleasure from it and they may feel as if they are able to escape (uses of gratification theory - katz and blumler) as they may feel as if they are away from the rest of the world.

Twilight, is a prime example of outsiders, as they don't fit into this category. Vampire movies are popular as of the suspense created throughout, this is engima, which is Barthes theory. The action created through the actors movements whilst they fight and argue over who gets Bella is engaging. Audiences have stereotypes of how vampires actually are, Perkins said stereotypes hold elements of truth, this is shown in Twilight as both Edward and Bella are vampires and as audiences have that mind set of them being pale, and having blood dripping down as well as, some men thinking women vampires are sexy, which is known as the male gaze by Mulvey. Furthermore, stereotypes are also common within Twilight and that was Medhursts theory as both Edward and Bella are paled skinned. Twilights demographics are women of 15-24 year olds. 

Let the right one in is also an outsider vampire movie, this is because let the right one in is in Swedish, and not English, making the audience feel excluded and not getting sufficient amount of information. This would mean British public who watch this film would more pay attention to subtitles opposed to the movie and action going on. Perkins argued that stereotypes hold elements of truth in them and this creates an audience appeal and making vampire movies so popular.

Spiderman is another film which is an outsider film, which remains popular and has been a massive hit. Spiderman is a stereotype as it doesn't fit in, due to it being unknown, mysterious, eccentric and different. This automatically creates enigma for the audience, making them wanting to watch on, and making the films more popular. Audiences, also tend to pass on through word of mouth, unknowingly or knowingly information about how they think they film is, which encourages others to go watch it, making the film become more popular. 

#17

David Cameron's new Facebook likes show you can put a price on friendship

Do you like David Cameron? Do you "like" David Cameron? Not in a high-school way: I mean on Facebook.

Just a month ago, the prime minister's official Facebook page had barely 60,000 likes; it has now got almost 130,000. That's 50,000 more than Nick Clegg, and 100,000 more than Ed Miliband.

All that raises questions. First and foremost: why do any of them have Facebook pages? Don't they have countries and/or parties to run? But also: how did Cameron pick up so many likes, so quickly?

It seems the answer is adverts. Conservative party strategists paid Facebook to advertise the PM's page on the site; the Mail on Sunday estimates the cost was about £7,500.

You can choose to pay for ads on Facebook in a number of ways. Billing per click and per thousand impressions are both popular, as they are on the web in general, but you can also charge per "interaction". That can be people clicking "attend" on an event, or liking a page. At about 50p per like, this doesn't come cheap. But the brutal reality of Facebook advertising is that it works.

For reasons which are too arcane to get into here, Facebook thinks I run a business. As a result, I occasionally get given free money for adverts, to tempt me into using the site to promote my non-existent business. Typically, that money instead gets pumped into low-effort pranks. To date, I have linked several hundred people to a shock website; shown around 250,000 people a poor pun about George Osborne; and, in a particular favourite, targeted an advert exclusively at Conservatives urging them to read the Communist Manifesto. Seventeen clicked through.

Facebook gives extremely detailed feedback about how people have interacted with such campaigns. And what you learn, very quickly, is that people do interact with Facebook adverts, in huge numbers. Even if they're obviously jokes.

This is a way of promoting facebook, through David Cameron, as he is the prime minister. He had barely 60,000likes on his page, and now he has 130,000. This was more than what Nick Clegg had and Ed Miliband. Nick Clegg had 50,000 less than Cameron, and Miliband had 100,000 less than Cameron, suggesting he is doing something right and as he has that many more likers. 

#16

Netflix and Spotify help drive UK home entertainment revenues to £5.3bn

New figures show that three-fifths of Britain's video, video games and music sales are now derived from the internet

Growing demand for streaming services such as Netflix and Spotify helped the UK home entertainment sector increase its revenues in 2013 for the first time in five years to £5.3bn, according to new figures.

Sales of video, video games and music jumped 4% year on year in the UK from £5.1bn to £5.3bn in 2013, marking the first growth in the home entertainment sector since 2008, according to figures published on Wednesday by the Entertainment Retailers Association (ERA).

Internet-derived sales – which includes home delivery, digital download, streaming and other access services – were up 13.9% year-on-year to £3.18bn or 60% of the total UK home entertainment market.

The fastest-growing sector across the online home entertainment market was video-on-demand subscription, including Netflix and Amazon-owned LoveFilm, which was up 120% on the year.

Music streaming services, including Spotify and Deezer, were up 34% on the year.

Sales of physical products from high street stores continued to decline, down 8% compared with 2012 and accounting for 40% of the market, or £2.12bn.

Broken down by sector, sales of video were £2.05bn, up 3.7% on the year; video games were £2.2bn, up 6.6%; and music was down 0.5% to £1.05bn, according to the ERA.

Home entertainment retailers have struggled in the face of online competition, with HMV closing 66 of its high street stores.

In contrast, TV and film streaming service Netflix grew its subscriber base in the UK and other international markets by 1.6 million in the last quarter of 2013.

The ERA director general, Kim Bayley, said: "The entertainment revolution has been driven by new and existing retailers taking huge gambles and investing in technology and new delivery mechanisms.

"This is stark evidence of the revolution in entertainment consumption being driven by entertainment retailers. The fact that 60p in the entertainment pound is now spent online and 26p in the pound is for access to content rather than ownership is a testament to the huge investment and technological ingenuity of retailers in providing consumers with new ways to enjoy the music, video and games they love."

According to the ERA Yearbook independent record shops increased their share of the physical album market from 2.4% to 4.5% in 2013. Sales of vinyl albums through independent stores last year were 368,300, compared with 75,700 in 2008.

Spencer Hickman, coordinator of Record Store Day, the event in in which independent stores club together to support music, said: "2013 was another great year for independent record shops, suggesting that contrary to earlier fears, in the age of downloads and streaming, physical formats and vinyl in particular are still as relevant as ever."

Both Netflix and Spotify have been a growing success for the UK home entertainment, this suggests they are doing well. As the figures have increased and the revenues in 2013 for the first time in five years to £5.3bn, according to new figures.This had lead to a decline in sales within the market on high street stores, they've been declining down by 8% compared to 2012, and accounting for 40% of the market. This suggests how the economy is moving, and everything is changing to online and people aren't purchasing other products. 

#15

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2014/feb/21/whatsapp-facebook-messaging-apps-viber-kik

What's next after WhatsApp: a guide to the future of messaging apps

Facebook’s $19bn deal points to the internet’s future, but from Viber’s domination to upstart Kik, WhatsApp is hardly unique

Messaging is enticing for a few reasons. For one, it’s a medium used by people all over the world. For another, it’s quieter; messages deliver a stream of photos, video or simple text direct from loved ones, without the added noise of everyone else on the internet. Messages provide for the fastest way for people to connect or find each other in a crowd. And messages allow people to buy stuff – lots and lots of stuff – in an almost criminally seamless manner.

Consider the following a 101 guide to some of the messaging apps you may not have heard about, including a brief refresher on WhatsApp. These apps provide services that WhatsApp/Facebook may hope to emulate in the race to make money and literally monopolize the world’s attention. (And if that sounds creepy, that’s because it sort of is. The Guardian’s Dan Gilmor takes a look at a world where Zuckerberg, not phone service providers, dominate communication.)

Short attention span version: Born and bred in Silicon Valley by two ex-Yahoo employees, this app registers one million new users per day, and 450m users per month use the service to send text, photo and video. And now it’s worth a lot of money.

Where it’s popular: Europe – up to 80% market penetration in countries including Brazil, Germany, Portugal and Spain – and Latin America, India

Numbers: $19bm is the only number anyone’s paying attention to at the moment

Why it’s worth watching: See above. Also, WhatsApp’s revenue strategy ($1 after a year of free use) looks especially sluggish compared to other apps offering similar services.

More reading: Dominic Rushe’s breaking story on the acquisition also has great background on founders’ visions for the tool – and more numbers, if you need them.

Whatsapp has been brought by Facebook, whatsapp is a popular way people talk to each other and catch up with each other, it is popular in Europe - up to 80% market penetration in countries including Brazil, Germany, Portugal and Spain - and Latin Amercia and India. This shows is a something that is used around the world and it is really popular. 

News values

News Values

How has new and digital media technology changed Galtung and Ruge’s news values?


Immediacy is more important than ever due to news breaking on Twitter or elsewhere online. However, this in turn changes the approach of other news sources such as newspapers as the news will probably already be broken by the time the paper is published so different angles might be required.

Familiarity: is it culturally close to us in Britain? Through the new and digital media we've become more aware of new stories from all over the globe. Everyone becomes familiar with news from other countries, people from the U.K are aware of what happens in LEDC (less economically developed countries) countries, as well as MEDC (more economically developed countries) countries such as in USA or even Japan through the use of the internet. 

Amplitude: is it a big event or one which involves large numbers of people? 

If it is a big event people are more aware of it, big is defined through the amount of people killed not like 100, if it is like 10,000 people it would involve a large number of people, as the event has affected a large number of people, and involves others being concerned. Information is posted on the internet through new and digital media and people become aware, and the user generated content is passed on significantly fast. 

Frequency:  did the event happen fairly quickly? 

Events which happen fairly quickly are the ones which are witnessed by citizen journalists, as they record the event with their mobile phones and are eye-witnesses of that scene, and then it is too late for other news reporters to get hold of it, as it may not be occurring at the time they  arrive. 

Unambiguity: is it clear and definite? 

It has to be clear and definite, it may lead to other users posting up things which are untrue, and they would have found this information out through other user generated content. Information is posted up on several websites and forums which may not be clear and may not complete the picture of the story. 

Predictability: did we expect it to happen? 

If the event was expected to happen then it would lead to a build up of ideas, and there would have been several work been done to cover that event. Information would've been passed through social networking sites about the event and how likely it would be for it to occur.

Surprise: is it a rare or unexpected event? 

If the event is rare or unexpected it would mean people would be shocked when they hear about the news and it would spread really fast through social media forums, in order to inform everyone about it. 

Continuity: has this story already been defined as news? 

If the story has already been defined as news, then it would be continued to be done as that. The internet holds a big role as it allows certain news to go on for a period of time, and it goes viral on several sites. 

Elite nations and people: which country has the event happened in? Does the story concern well-known people?

Depending on where the event happened and who it concerns it is made page 1 on newspapers to an extent, or even the other pages, which people may not even view depending on the importance and connection of the countries. However, if it involves well-known people such as celebrities it would go viral on the internet and everyone will be informed about it, through many social networking sites. 

Negativity: is it bad news? 

If the news is bad it would mean people would talk about it more, and they would have more to say about it, it would raise arguments and create confusion onto what actual happened, as there would be no answer for the users, so they would make up their own views and opinions and debates would be caused. 

Balance: the story may be selected to balance other news, such as a human survival story to balance a number of stories concerning death

Stories which are selected to balance other stories are done so people don't think everything that happens is negative and there is some positives in the world.