News Story WEEK 4: Frankie Boyle racism case

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/15/frankie-boyle-jokes-libel-mirror?INTCMP=ILCNETTXT3487

• Frankie Boyle sues Mirror Group Newspapers because they labelled him a racist
• Article published (in July 2011) for making jokes about the war in Afghanistan on his Channel 4 show Tramadol Nights
• Jokes were played in court as evidence

Here is the joke in question:

"A bomb went off in Kandahar today, killing two British servicemen, three UN relief workers and a whole bunch of Pakis."

Prior to this, he made a comment about Britons negligence towards the death of others. 

I think the joke is offensive and if a Pakistani complained, I would understand but they didn't. It was a British journalist who the wrote the article. I think there is always that one person who reacts angrily when a joke is said on TV like the joke Jeremy Clarkson made on the One Show where he said public sector workers should be 'executed in front of their families' for striking. I think people have to understand that they are just jokes and if you don't like them, you can always change the channel. 

The Rise & Rise of UGC Homework

• What is meant by the term ‘citizen journalist’?

A citizen journalist is a member of public who plays an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing, and disseminating news and information. New media like social networking as well as the mobile phone have made citizen journalism more common.

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

The Rodney King beating which sparked the LA riots in 1992 was one of the first example to be generated by an ordinary person. The amateur video was used in a national news report.

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

Responses on social network sites

• What is one of the main differences between professionally shot footage and that taken first-hand (UGC)?

A professionally shot footage requires permission to be taped.

• What is a gatekeeper?

A gatekeeper is someone who controls access to something

• How has the role of a gatekeeper changed?

They have had to deal with an increase in hacking, the prevalence of proxy servers.

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

Their job is threatened as the amount citizen journalists out numbers professional journalists.

News Story WEEK 3: Facebook Tax Avoidance

http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/10/facebook-uk-taxes

• Facebook HQ based in Ireland
• Only pay taxes in Ireland
• Don't pay UK taxes because they are registered in Ireland

I think this is wrong even though most big companies use this technique of having their headquaters abroad. Amazon for example is officially registered in Luxemborg because its tax percentage is lower than the UK even though it operates under a UK domain. I think there should be a law over whether companies can use tax avoidance techniques because this is not illegal although it is unethical.

News story WEEK 2: Facebook hits 1 billion users

http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/technology-science/technology/facebook-hits-one-billion-users-1360594

1 in 7 of the worlds population now uses Facebook each month. This comes after a difficult few months since Facebook's IPO on the New York Stock Exchange

News story WEEK 1: Iran blocks access to Google

http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2012/sep/23/iran-block-access-google-gmail?intcmp=239

Iran has blocked access to Google and Gmail in order to stop uproar from an anti-Islamic video posted on YouTube. 

In this instance, I think Iran is right to block access because  it prevents violence in the country or at least reduces it. I also think Google should have taken the film down in the first place which is said to have caused the death of the US Ambassador in Libya. 

YouTube.com

Who owns the site?

The man in charge at YouTube is Salar Kamangar, he is the CEO and senior vice president of video at Google. 

Do they also own any traditional media businesses? 
No

What other internet sites do they own? 
Don't owner other site but partners with other Google subsidiaries like Blogger and DoubleClick (advertising)

What is its revenue? 
Not stated but expected to be $3.6bn in 2012 financial year, same as Netflix subscription revenue

What is its overall worth? 
Not stated but estimated to be around $2bn

Research five key facts about the institution. 

1. Pareto principle applies because 30% of videos uploaded account for 99% of views. (2011)
2. Had more that 1 trillion views in 2011
3. Founders were former PayPal employees
4. Domain, youtube.com activated February 14th 2005.
5. Brought for $1.6bn by Google in November 2006

Find three quotes (with references) about the institution.

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List the key info provided on the company’s corporate homepage.

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Post up an infographic about the company.

 About YouTube

Top 10 Media Companies

1. Apple - Founded April 1976, worth $546bn, revenue $108.25bn. Run by Tim Cook (CEO)
2. Microsoft - Founded April 1975, worth $273.5bn, revenue $73.72bn. Run by Steve Ballmer (CEO)
3. General Electric - Founded 1892, worth $213.7bn, revenue $147.3bn. Run by Jeffrey Immelt (CEO)
4. Google - Founded September 1998, worth $203.2, revenue $37.91bn. Owned and run by Larry Page.
5. Amazon - Founded 1994, worth $84.2bn, revenue $48.07bn. Owned by Jeff Bezos.
6. Walt Disney - Found October 1923, worth $77.4bn, revenue $40.89bn. Owned by Bob Iger.
7. News Corp - Founded 1979, worth $49.5bn, revenue $33.41bn. Owned by Rupert Murdoch.
8. Time Warner - Founded 1990, worth $34.8bn, revenue $28.97bn. Owned by Jeffrey Bewkes.
9. Viacom - Founded January 2006, worth $25.7bn, revenue $14.91. Owned by Sumner Redstone
10. CBS Corp - Founded 1927, worth $20.5bn, revenue $14.25bn. Run by Leslie Moonves (CEO).