the Media Watch PDF Document

PODCAST: the net
generation
page Nine
BY JIA WANG
C
hina is a country with 3,000
television channels, 700 television stations, and more than
1,000 radio stations; making
thousands
of
programmes for 1.3 billion viewers and listeners everyday. All television and radio
stations are owned and controlled by the
Chinese government as its own propaganda, and journalists are all employees
of this government. Therefore all forms
of media are controlled by the Chinese
government.
The relationship between the Chinese
news media and the Chinese government
is diametrically opposite to that between
the media and government in democratic
societies. In modern democracies, the
media performs the function of a social
watchdog. Government policy, the personal integrity of government officials
and foreign relations are all topics of critical debate within the media. In China
however, the government exercises tight
control over public opinion, has designated many areas off-limits for public
discussion and has imposed penalties to
restrict journalists’ freedom of speech.
According to an investigation published
by the New York based Committee to
Protect Journalists, between 1998 and 2002,
38 Chinese journalists were arrested on
charges of suggesting a state frame-up.
Of these, 32 were incarcerated, the
largest number anywhere in the world.
While Chinese journalists maintain an
externally peaceful existence, to exercise
one’s social responsibility or professional
conscience brings the risk of a government reprisal.
Hierarchy of Control
Generally speaking, the central government
controls the media by means of political
power and a hierarchy of coercive policies.
Local governments, lacking the supreme
power and authority of central government,
rely on a multiplicity of control methods: on
local media they can exert direct political control. In respect to reporters outside their
jurisdiction, they exert control either directly
through violence or indirectly through what
Chinese officialdom commonly referred to as
‘saying hello’ - exerting pressure on officials
from the reporters’ place of origin to bring
the offending organs into line.
The government therefore uses its power
to control news sources and to restrict ordinary people from providing information to
Chinese but especially to foreign media.
Apart from the application of various laws
and regulations, local government officials
impose more arbitrary forms of control in
accordance with the spirit of central government policy. Long years of suppression have
bred a habit of ‘self-discipline’ within
Chinese journalists. Most Chinese journalists
resign themselves to playing the role of ‘Party
mouthpieces’. Alternatively, they seek to
exploit their social influence for personal
PHANTOM FM: BACK
FROM THE DEAD
PAGE TEN
bold editorial stands critical of the government as the necessity to attract readers and
avoid bankruptcy have been more pressing
than fears of government repression.
Furthermore, the traditional means of media
control have proven extremely ineffective
against newer forms of communication,
most notably text messaging.
Although the government implements laws
to censor press reports about social and polit-
nels - and another 1,000 radio stations.
Television broadcasting is controlled by China
Central Television (CCTV) and employs nearly
10,000 people. With its 16 programme channels it is the country’s only national network.
CCTV is the most powerful network in
China and has about 30% of audience share
over the national territory. This fact is reinforced by the average Chinese viewers’ bias
toward local TV programming.
Radio
Talk radio in China allows a much
liberal exchange of views than other
media formats. In effect, talk radio
has shifted the paradigm from
authorities addressing the people to
people addressing the authorities.
Until 1991 the 14 million inhabitants
of Shanghai were served by only one
radio station - Radio Shanghai - which
primarily aired predictable, pro-government propaganda. In 1992, East
Radio was established with a format
that catered to citizens’ individual
concerns and de-emphasized propaganda. Competition between the two
Shanghai radio stations has resulted
in much livelier coverage by both including call-in programmes that air
discussions on politics, lifestyle, and
previously forbidden social subjects.
As callers are not usually required to
identify themselves, such discussions
are far more candid than would be
possible on television. Party officials
regularly give guidance to the hosts
and producers of talk-radio programmes, but such guidance is usually ignored without penalty because
party officials do not want to create
problems by moving against these
highly popular programmes.
Newspapers
gain. Journalists with a sense of social
responsibility tend to adopt a sort of camouflage. They assume that the central government leadership is wise and that the Chinese
socialist system is correct, concluding that
low-level corruption and its disastrous consequences can be attributed to the individual
actions of a minority of officials. While these
journalists believe their self-protective
approach will guarantee their personal safety,
events have proven otherwise.
ical conditions, these laws have not prevented
the press from discussing Chinese social
issues. Surprisingly, newspapers which are
nominally owned by the Communist Party are
sometimes particularly bold at reporting
social issues, even to the extent of exposing
lurid scandals involving local officials who
have relatively little political cover. However,
Chinese newspapers tend to lack in depth
analysis of political events as this tends to be
more politically sensitive.
Information Leak
Television
Despite government restrictions, much
information is successfully gathered either at
local level or from foreign sources; passed on
through conversation and text messaging.
The withdrawal of government media subsidies has caused many newspapers (including
some owned by the Communist Party) to take
Current estimates indicate that there are
now about 25 TV sets to every 100 people
and that roughly a billion Chinese have access
to television. In 1965 there were twelve television and 93 radio stations in China; today
there are approximately 700 conventional television stations - plus some 3,000 cable chan-
The number of newspapers in China has
increased from 42 (virtually all Communist
Party papers) in 1968, to 382 in 1980, and
more than 2,200 today. By one official estimate, there are now more than 7,000 magazines and journals in the country. Publishers
often deliberately understate actual circulation figures, through the use of their own distribution networks rather than official dissemination channels, while also avoiding state
taxes. Additionally, some 25,000 printing
houses and hundreds of individual bookstores produce and sell nonofficial material mostly romance literature and pornography
but also political and intellectual journals.
Continued on Page 8
MARCH 2006
EDITORIAL
Media Watch is proud to celebrate its second
year of publication. Originally conceived as a
simple project in media management, Media
Watch has since developed into an annual student newspaper focusing on the current
issues and topics relating to, you guessed it…
media!
As part of a continually changing industry,
this year’s Media Watch aims to represent the
ever-growing strands of media, as depicted in
our masthead logo. With the central theme of
media in mind, the content produced for
Media Watch covers a diverse range of topics.
One cannot write about the media industry
without identifying the significant changes of
the past year. Technological advancements
have enabled individuals to topple the traditional hierarchy of journalism by becoming
citizen journalists. Internet communities have
exploded in popularity, while people listen to
the latest Podcast and express their personal
views on blogs.
But rest assured it’s not all about technology! We strive to report on the important issues
relating to media: Media control in China, the
safety of journalists in war, and the might of
media moguls, to name but a few. We present
the lighter side of media with a profile of the
film censor, John Kelleher and take a look at
some of the amusing consequences of editors not checking facts and figures!
A little closer to home, the history of
Ballyfermot College’s new Media building is
deconstructed for your appraisal. We also take
an eager look forward to the return of
Phantom FM and its hopes for the future.
Hopefully you can find something here that
whets your appetite, stimulates some discussion or simply provides an insight into the
inner workings of the media industry.
The first year students of the HND programme in Media in Ballyfermot College,
Dublin were responsible for every aspect in
the production of the newspaper you now
hold in your hands: writing, photography,
style, layout and editing. Thanks to the
Directors, Derrick Moloney and Jamie White,
who organised the funding for the newspaper
and our extravagant launch. Special mention
must be given to our tutors; Joan Condron
and Jan Colwell, without whose support,
none of this would have been possible.
Finally, we would like to thank our sponsors
for their kind and generous contributions:
Bewley’s
Vue Cinemas
Gamestop
Tesco Ireland
Xtravision
The Andrew’s Lane Theatre.
Enjoy reading Media Watch!
Robert Ryan (Editor)
Disclaimer
The staff and management of BCFE take no responsibility
for any of the material contained herein.
2
BY DAVE ACTON
odern Ireland has much to
be thankful for. Having
shaken off the economic
and social stigma of an
older generation, Ireland
has drastically changed from the time of our
forefathers. However, from time to time
nostalgia rears its ugly head with the threat
of a return to a darker past and with the
Irish postcolonial mentality ensuring that we
are likely to gaze at the past through rosetinted glasses, there is always the danger that
we may misinterpret the past.
M
He embodies the importance of having one
foot firmly placed within the area of work
you are judging. In the past, Kelleher has
studied acting in America and has also developed a distinguished background writing for
film and television dramas. This has granted
him a roundness of character, believing that
it is “the director’s job to know what to cut
in their film”.
sort of thing!” Today’s censor can see the
obvious difference between what he calls
“gratuitous, exploitative hardcore pornography” and the so-called “softer” element of
the genre. In saying this, he also understands
that “It’s more widely available nowadays
and a bit pointless to somehow pretend that
we operate in an ivory tower”.
Today’s Ireland is a far cry from the time
That is not to say that
of the former film censor James
Kelleher is not doing his
job! As a government offi- Montgomery, who claimed that he “used the
cial the film censor may be
ten commandments as his guide.”
an easy target for the complaints of the taxpaying
collective droning, “We’re paying your
Kelleher knows that today’s Ireland is an
wages!”
But
I
have
had
the
pleasure
of
witunrecognisable
fifth cousin of the previousWith the authority to speak on behalf of
nessing
first-hand
the
place
where
the
cenly
so-called
respectable
and principled island
a younger generation, allow me to express
sor
works
his
magic
and
while
it
is
worthy
of
which
we
once
inhabited.
“There’s no quesmy gratitude that ‘good auld Ireland’ is long
appearing
on
MTV’s
Cribs,
I
believe
(without
tion
about
it,
if
you
look
at
a bookshop, look
dead but I must confess that I myself am
sounding
the
least
bit
cynical)
that
anyone
in
a
newsagent,
look
at
the
newspapers. We
guilty of misinterpretation. When I found
would
enjoy
the
privilege
of
having
a
private
try
to
remain
realistic…
times have
out I was going to meet the current Irish
cinema
at
work.
changed”.
This
is
the
underlying
tone encapfilm censor, John Kelleher, I had definite
sulated
within
every
challenge
our
country is
preconceptions about the appearance of
John Kelleher is simply a censor for the faced with as we continue towards an ultithis public figure. Before even walking
times and he does not feel that this liberal mate transformation: Times have changed.
through the doors of the modest (even darattitude should end with him. “I think that Nostalgia remains a vital part of a society
ingly modern) censor’s office on Harcourt
in today’s world where there are so many dif- which is trying to discover its new self in a
Terrace, I had already conjured up images of
ferent ways in which information and enter- whirlwind of new communities, new slang
a dictatorial old man with glasses and a
tainment are coming at people, that the old and new attitudes. This can help or hinder a
beard. How wrong was I? In reality, the man
concept of censorship as a kind of gate- nation and its progress, but without people
in question was a mature yet surprisingly
keeper role is irrelevant”. This certainly like John Kelleher and an attitude of proamiable man. I was slightly disappointed
rings true when we look at the once quaint, gressive tolerance, our rose tinted glasses
when he was not the ‘Ebenezer Scrooge’ I
God fearing nation which has finally come may forever remain blurred.
had envisaged but instead someone reministo its senses regarding censorship. In the
cent of a pleasant English teacher.
past the censor was responsible for banning such ‘moralis“The old concept of censorship as a kind tically depraved’ films as
Monty Python’s The Meaning of
of gatekeeper is irrelevant.”
Life and Walt Disney’s Fantasia.
How, in this age of rapid inforPutting aside my preconceptions about
mation
and
communications,
could an area
Mr. Kelleher, I decided to allow his craft;
such
as
film
possibly
be
supervised
in such
that of film censorship, speak for itself.
an
authoritarian
manner?
We
are
living
in a
Imagine my further feeling of confusion as
world
today
where,
if
you
are
too
young
to
I discovered that the man with the power to
see
a
film
in
the
cinema,
you
simply
downsanitise all of Catholic Ireland’s films has
never banned one single film! Here was con- load it. Failing this, you get your friend with
firmation that Ireland is no longer the the easy going parents to do it. These are the
moral, church-run country which it once furthest lengths a child must go to see what
was under the rule of film censors such as they want, when they want. Censorship is
James Montgomery. This is yet another now “Consumer advice for parents, to help
manifestation of Ireland’s transformation them make more decisions to be better
into a state of modern acceptance. This is informed and to take the responsibility that
post Celtic Tiger Ireland, and by the look of they have for their own children”.
things, things have changed. Indeed today’s
Ireland is a far cry from the time of the former film censor James Montgomery, who
claimed that he “used the ten commandments as his guide”.
John Kelleher is a considerate mediator.
Kelleher feels that since we are in this
“age of mass communications, censorship is
unlikely to get more strict”, and this even
applies to one section of film which would
send a shiver along the spine of old Ireland;
pornography. “Careful now, down with that
The Irish Film Censor:
John Kelleher
MARCH 2006
A New Dawn
BY ROBERT RYAN
ne might have been forgiven
for thinking that they’d fallen
into a magical Wonderland while
attending the official opening
of Ballyfermot College’s new
Media building by the Minister for
Education, Mary Hanafin on February 10th.
While a few puzzled glances were exchanged
over the choice of a Mad Hatter’s Tea Party
theme, it was later explained in the principal’s
speech that, “Life at BCFE is serious and life
at BCFE is fun. And so it is, in the context of
fun that we have the theme of the Mad
Hatter’s Tea Party today, M-A-D representing
the variety and creativity of our courses:
Music and Moving Images, Art and
Animation and Digital Media.”
O
I’m late, I’m late
For a very important date
No time to say “Hello”. Goodbye.
I’m late, I’m late, I’m late.
Running a little behind schedule, the
Minister gave a perfect impression of
Wonderland’s own White Rabbit. However, she
did find the time to say “Hello”, posing for
photos at the entrance of the new building.
All of this was beamed live and direct to the
Multi-Purpose Hall for the enjoyment of the
eager audience waiting inside. After speeches
from members of CDVEC and our own
principal, Maureen Conway, Ms Hanafin took
to the podium. Giving little attention to her
prepared speech, the Minister spoke eloquently about her hopes for the future of
BCFE. Before taking a tour of the media
building, Hanafin marked its official opening,
not by cutting a ribbon, but by cutting a cake
with the assistance of Alice. Meeting students
and graduates of the college, Hanafin viewed
the various facilities of the college’s newest
addition. The professional presentation made
by students is sure to have impressed the
Minister and will hopefully
bode well for the future.
While I’d love to mischievously suggest that the new
building was built on the
ruins of an old burial ground, in actual fact it
was built upon the remains of an old soup
kitchen. Ballyfermot locals affectionately
remember this plot as a place that once provided soup meals for the elderly. The development of BCFE’s latest wing has a colourful history. In its initial planning stage, the
Department of Education sent a team of
school planners out to the college, when they
realised that there were a lot of “square pegs
in round holes”. Coming at the height of the
Celtic Tiger, the government were feeling
generous and suggested the construction of a
specialist building instead of the originally
planned prefabs. While there has since been
confusion over the exact amount allocated to
the college, the initial figure was in fact £5
million. The resulting confusion may be due
to the conversion to euro with people suggesting that the amount was closer to 9 million euro.
Built to cater for 250 students
the Media building has, in its first
year and a half, drastically
changed the way in which students work. Students now
achieve qualifications closer than
ever to industry standards. The
college’s reputation as a centre
for media excellence continues
to grow and impress. Speaking
with experts from the fields of
education and industry, there is a
general consensus that this is the
best media facility outside of
RTE. While the facilities of TV3
are on a par, they are impressed
with the building and its space.
The ultimate compliment was
paid when the industry came to
Ballyfermot. During the summer
of last year, RTE commissioned
5 half hour live shows of a children’s Battle of the Bands, to be
filmed in the Media building.
The experience gained by students working alongside this
production has been described
as invaluable.
Looking to the future,
Moriarty hopes that the
Media building will help to
promote the college’s profile
yet further. Already there has
been an active campaign with the invitation
of guidance counselors to the college, open
days and various other avenues of communication. The latest hope is for success in competitions, such as the Oxygen Student Media
Awards and the submission of student work
into film festivals. The ultimate aim is “to
educate students and educate the industry”.
Ballyfermot’s already impressive figures on
graduate student employment (98% within 6
months) will hopefully improve yet further.
Acknowledging this, Mary Hanafin expressed
a wary welcome to the future journalists who
she expects will “chase her around for comments”.
The opening of Ballyfermot College’s
Media building has set a new standard in the
provision of education in media and some
might be so bold as to say that its graduates
will be responsible for a new dawn in media.
in Media
The ultimate compliment
was paid when the industry
came to Ballyfermot.
Regardless of figures, the plan was to optimise this funding through the maximisation
of facilities. 15 members of staff were
tasked to regularly meet with the design team
throughout 1997, in order to hammer out
these plans. At the forefront of these consultations was John Moriarty, expert of the
“inner and mysterious workings” of the
Media building. With a background in the
media industry, Moriarty wished to integrate
the clever ideas he had seen and dispel any
possible weaknesses. Visiting the media facilities of Cork University, along with the studios of RTE, TV3 and Temple Bar, Moriarty
compiled a “wish list” of what he hoped
would be realised in Ballyfermot. Previously,
various issues of noise, heating and lighting
had stilted the college’s various media courses. Here was the perfect opportunity to correct those wrongs. Surprisingly, these projections were not dismissed and plans for construction were finalized in December of
1999.
The ultimate aim is “to
educate students and
educate the industry”.
As perfect as the plans sounded, the reality
was not so. Shortly afterwards, the
Department announced that they did not
have sufficient funds to meet the complete
proposed plans. The contingency plan was to
divide the construction into two phases.
What we see today is the completion of
Phase 1. Back to back building was promised, but as we all know Phase 2 is yet to
begin. If Phase 2 is to be undertaken in the
future, expect to see a single-story building,
consisting of 3 radio studios, 3 sound
rehearsal studios and 2 recording studios.
Unfortunately, Minister Hanafin remained
tight-lipped on this possibility.
Before opening the doors to students,
Moriarty wanted to ensure that every part of
the building was connected. This involved
the installation of specialist fiber-optic
wiring through every room in the college. If
you’re wondering what those black boxes are
in your classroom; they allow the entire
building to be connected and for the various
courses to overlap. Finally, the four downstairs classrooms were opened to students in
late 2004, shortly followed by the computer
labs.
3
MARCH 2006
BATTLE OF THE FREE SHEETS
ters in society which determine what makes
the news, i.e. what gets printed in newspapers or broadcast by radio and television.
Herman and Chomsky’s model also explains
how dissent from the mainstream is given
little, or zero coverage, while governments
and big business gain easy access to the public in order to convey their state-corporate
messages. For example ‘free trade is beneficial’, ‘globalisation is unstoppable’ and ‘our
policies are tackling poverty’.
Collectively this appears to raise serious
questions as to why a large percentage of
our intelligent young urbanites no longer
feel the need to turn to the pages of a traditional newspaper for their daily supply of
national and international events. One
would never have suspected that the shallow
editorial content of free newspapers could
be adequate fodder for the minds of our so-
BY HELEN KELLY
wo new free newspapers were
launched on an unsuspecting
Dublin public in the autumn of
2005. Hurtling down the steps
of a busy down-town Dublin
Dart station after these launches, one could
be forgiven for thinking that they might be
in Paris, as a free copy of Metro was thrust
into their hand. Seconds later, this illusion
was quickly dispelled as the second freebie,
bearing close resemblance to the Evening
Herald was tossed their way.
The title and logo of Herald AM leaves us
in no doubt that it is closely aligned with
Independent Newspapers. A glance at the
contents page of Metro informs us that Metro
is printed by The Irish Times and published by
Fortune Green Ltd in Dublin.
T
“Metro maintains that their
readers’ morning Metro moment
enhances their responsiveness”
“Metro enables commuters to
read the newspaper during a
typical journey time of less than
twenty minutes”.
It is indeed a source of wonder to many,
why a prestigious broadsheet such as the
Irish Times would see fit to co-operate with
the production of a morning newspaper for
free distribution on the busy streets of our
capital city. More puzzling again is, why they
would wish to align themselves, albeit as
printers, with the perceived down-market
tabloid form of Metro. The global connotations of this battle are of course rather subtle, and not immediately evident to the uninformed
Metro free newspaper originated in Sweden
ten years ago, when market research indicated that under 45 year old urbanite executives
rarely bothered to read daily newspapers.
Anxious to capture the attention of this highspending group, Metro was cleverly conceived
in order to give busy urbanites a ‘mild dose’
of daily news, while providing advertisers
with a prime-time portal to these busy ambient urbanites with large bank accounts. Ten
years after its launch, Metro is rated as
Sweden’s most distributed daily, and is a mere
4,000 readers behind Dagens Nyheter, the
most read paid-for morning newspaper in
Sweden.
Its success has not been confined to
Sweden, of course. By now, Metro has
become a global phenomenon. Known as
Metro International - it now produces sixty-one
editions in eighteen languages in nineteen
countries, and is currently in negotiations to
break into the Chinese market. At present it
is the fastest growing newspaper group in the
world. So, let us take a closer look at this
phenomenon which has now reached the
streets of our capital city.
A Metro information pack - aimed at advertisers - cites as fact, that 45% of Dublin
4
adults between the ages of 18 and 34 do not
read a morning newspaper. Metro now takes
its share of the credit that it has attracted a
new generation of newspaper reader at a time
when ‘paid for’ newspaper sales have
declined internationally. Referring to their
core target audience as “Urbanites who are
time-starved individuals, yet very ad literate
and responsive”, Metro maintains that their
“readers’ morning Metro moment enhances
their responsiveness”.
Elaborating on the ‘Metro Moment’, the
information pack indicates that this “highlights the mood state of the reader; the mind
is fresh, uncluttered in the morning, and
more receptive to advertising messages, driving response”. Metro’s research also concludes
that these “Urbanites are young, affluent,
professional people who live active and ambitious lives, and embrace and enjoy city living
and the rewards and excitements this brings”.
The official web-site for Metro
International tells us that: - “All Metro editions
carry headlines, local, national and international news in a standardised and accessible
format and design, which enables commuters
to read the newspaper during a typical journey time of less than twenty minutes”.
All of the foregoing informs us that the
Dublin Metro is one of the latest instalments
in what has become a global publishing phenomenon. It has two major stakeholders:
Associated Press Limited and Metro
International S.A. Associated Newspapers
Limited is the management company for five
major newspapers including the Daily Mail,
the Mail on Sunday, the Evening Standard,
London Metro, Ireland on Sunday and the adver-
tising publication Loot. Metro International
S.A. is a joint stock company incorporated
under the laws of Luxembourg. One of its
non-executive directors is Joshua A Berger;
Executive Vice President and Managing
Director of Warner Brothers Entertainment
U.K. Limited.
As an international success story, Metro
International S.A. brings good news for its
partners and its advertisers, particularly in an
era that has seen a huge drop internationally,
in advertising revenue for newspapers.
Altruistically however, we need to question
whether this is really good news for the print
media industry and its readers?
Traditionally, there has always been tension
between editorial and advertising departments of newspapers. Editorial teams have
always placed themselves in a more exalted
position than advertising teams - thus ensuring that editorial content took priority over
commercial interests. In the modern world,
however, corporate ownership seems set to
reverse this tradition. Corporate ownership
by its very nature, equates with profit. So, it is
logical to conclude that the increased globalisation of the print media will ensure that
advertising takes precedence over editorial
content, thus resulting in the loss of editorial
control. In other words, the proverbial tail
will now start to wag the dog!
The doyen of media critics, Noam
Chomsky has much to say about the globalisation of the media industry. In a joint book
titled Manufacturing Consent - the Political
Economy of the Mass Media, Chomsky and
Edward Herman introduced their ‘propaganda model’ of the media. The propaganda
model argues that there are five classes of fil-
called brightest and best! Are we therefore
to conclude, that the content of these free
newspapers on the streets of our capital city
epitomises all that is most attractive to many
of our burgeoning leaders?
Journalist and broadcaster Vincent Browne
in one of his recent columns in The Irish Times
challenged Irish society to put a halt to the
globalisation of its media. Remarking that
“the three great transmitters of ideology had
been, religion, education and media”, he
observed that with “religion parked for the
time being and education faltering, the media
has become the main transmitter of ideology”. In this role he maintained that media
now shapes - among other things - “all our politics, our society, our values and our culture
and that we have allowed corporate-owned
media to run our country, our society and our
minds”.
In a recent interview with The Irish Times,
Nicholas Kelly - the young author of a new
play titled The Grown Ups, says his play reflects
the capitalist culture that he sees engulfing
the capital, from place names to social trends,
and the problems that accompany them.
Advertising signs in the city, give glimpses of
this trend, he states, citing as examples, a billboard for broadband, with its slogan “Always
settle for more” to Christmas ads for
Dundrum Shopping Centre screaming “Shall
I buy it now or shall I wait until someone
buys it for me for Christmas?”
It is a sad reflection of the Irish educational system, that the well honed messages of
the global media corporations are having
maximum impact on their target audiences.
So, next time we decide to accept the proffered free newspaper as we dash from the
Dart to our daily business, maybe we might
need to remind ourselves that we may yet
have to pay dearly for our action.
After all, there is no such thing as a freebie!
MARCH 2006
HEADLINES FROM THE FRONT LINE
BY ALISON WHEARTY
n recent times the safety of journalists
reporting from war zones such as Iraq
and Afghanistan has come under serious speculation. Already in 2006, seven
journalists have been killed while simply
doing their jobs - keeping us informed.
Imagine the scene: A man wakes up. He
turns on the radio and heads to have a shower and freshen up for the long day ahead. Still
feeling a little bit sleepy he makes some coffee and has a bite to eat while reading the
morning paper. At eight o’ clock, he grabs
his keys and briefcase, and leaves for work. A
typical start to the day for many, agreed? But
unlike the multitudes that are setting off for
their cushy nine to five jobs, this mans job is
far from ordinary. He is an overseas correspondent for a large multi-national media
organisation, currently based in the heart of
whatever war zone or politically divided
‘hotspot’ the news demands coverage of.
Every day he is faced with the uncertainty of
what is to come. He could be injured, abducted or even killed while doing what he is simply been paid to do; keeping us, the public
informed and up to date on current events
that occur in the world around us.
I
‘Reporters sans Frontieres’
The majority of people work, get paid and
have trade unions to fight for their well-being
and safety. But what support is there for
media practitioners who find themselves in
dangerous situations? Reporters without Borders
is an international organisation that fights for
the safety of journalists and for the freedom
of speech in the world press. Today, more
than 130 journalists around the world are in
prison simply for doing their job. In Nepal,
Eritrea and China, they can spend years incarcerated simply for using the ‘wrong’ word or
photo. Reporters without Borders believes that
the imprisonment or killing of a journalist is
tantamount to eliminating a key witness,
threatening everyone’s right to be informed.
The organization has fought for such causes
for more than 18 years. They are also responsible for the provision of ‘PRESS marked’
bulletproof jackets, available to freelance
journalists going into war zones.
Thankfully the risks associated with overseas
reporting are no longer taken lightly. Many
major media organisations now send their
staff to ‘war training’ classes, in order to learn
the basic survival skills and to become aware
of the dangers they may face. Centurion Risk
Assessment Services and AKE Integrated Risk
Solutions are just two of the many private
firms that specialise in these war training
classes for journalists. Both companies are
run by ex-members of the British military.
Centurion prides itself on helping people save
lives. Its mission statement reads, “Danger
knows no frontier, and press cards do not
stop bullets. Even with the best of training,
journalists can become casualties.” The
Pentagon now offers intensive weeklong
classes to American journalists likely to be
part of a military unit stationed in Iraq or
Afghanistan. Even with all the preventive
measures that are now being taken by both
journalists and their employers, nothing can
guarantee personal safety when placed in a
turbulent situation. What starts out as a normal day can turn into sometime much, much
worse…
On the 19th of October 2005, Rory Carroll,
an Iraqi correspondent for The Guardian
newspaper was abducted by rebel insurgents
in Baghdad and later freed after 36 hours in
captivity. The 33-year-old had been in Iraq
for nine months, having previously worked as
The Guardian’s African correspondent. Whilst
in Sadr City, a Shia-dominated district of
Baghdad, Carroll was interviewing one of the
many victims of the Saddam Hussein
Regime. Leaving the home of the interviewee, Carroll was snatched by armed Shia
opportunists and bundled into the boot of a
car. He was held in a darkened concrete passageway, measuring five metres long by one
metre wide. Carroll remained here for almost
two days until successful negations were
made for his release.
Carroll was one of the fortunate! In 2003,
ITN reporter Terry Lloyd was killed in Iraq a
mere day after US and UK forces invaded,
when the convoy he was traveling in came
under enemy fire. Lloyd’s colleague and cameraman, Fred Nerac also went missing during
the attack and to this day, the whereabouts or
status of Nerac is still unknown. The inquiry
into his disappearance has never been made
public.
The well known reporter said he had been in
the City Centre covering another story when
he received direction from the RTE newsroom to head down to O’Connell Street.
Describing in graphic detail how he was set
upon by yobs just after arriving at the GPO,
Bird said “I was trying to find the cameraman
who I was meant to meet with. All I could
see around me was people picking up pieces
of rubble and firing them at the guards.”
Having recognised him, the crowd began calling him an ‘Orange Bastard’ before attacking
him. Bird failed to identify his attackers.
“They said, ‘Charlie Bird, you Orange Bastard
and then started punching me” he said. “If it
wasn’t for two officers, I would have got an
awful beating.”
Danger knows no frontiers, and
press cards do not stop bullets.
Unfortunately, I myself was innocently
caught up in the troubles of that day. While
scenes of Gardai clashing with rioters
unfolded before my very eyes, I noticed a
photographer wading in between the two
groups. Completely unprotected, this pho-
tographer was risking serious injury for the
sake of that elusive front page picture! Why
would he knowingly put himself slap bang in
the middle of that mess?
So why do it?
Following his release from captivity, Rory
Carroll was asked “So why are you a journalist if you know the risks attached?” Carroll
answered by saying that the very thing had
crossed his mind more than once as he sat in
that dank passageway. “I tried to remember
why I volunteered for Iraq. Curiosity, ambition and hoping to clear my head after a broken relationship, among other things played a
major part in my decision. But no story was
worth this. In any case I’d missed the story Saddam could have broken down and pleaded guilty for all I knew.”
So why would you want this career? Sure
you could choose that nice little desk job
within one of our national papers, but
where’s the fun in that? If you truly have the
conviction and desire to join in this dangerous line of work, consider yourself warned
of the potential risks ahead. Whether these
are dodging bullets in a war zone, or being set
upon by rampaging rioters!
The Dublin Riots
Recently, the risks facing journalists have been
witnessed a bit closer to home. Almost two
weeks ago, 300 protestors who opposed a
planned Loyalist march clashed with Gardai in
Dublin. The trouble broke out just after midday at the junction of O’Connell Street and
Parnell. Failing to keep the protesters back,
Gardai came under attack from missiles such
as cement blocks, pipes, glass bottles and even
firecrackers. Fourteen people, including six
gardaí were treated in hospital as a result of
this afternoon’s disturbances. RTE’s Chief
News Correspondent, Charlie Bird was
reporting on the debacle and was unfortunate
to be one of those injured during the riots.
5
MARCH 2006
who’s afraid of the media?
BY JENNIFER MOHAN
s our media consumption
grows, so too does our consumption of violent, allegedly
entertaining images. However
the effect of these images on
young children can last a lifetime and
research into this area has provided some
shocking results.
A little thought of, yet prime example of
children’s exposure to violent images is the
news. Over the past 10 years, the news philosophy of many local television news programs has been “if it bleeds, it leads.”
Viewers and critics alike say news has moved
toward sensationalism, with murders and
rapes often securing top billing. In a survey
in the early 90’s, a University of Oklahoma
professor found that more than half of the
101 news professionals questioned said they
would rather air tape including a gunshot and
death than no footage at all.
What is interesting is that few parents
would think much of gathering around the
television with their children and watching
the news. In fact they probably believe it
A
would educate them and of course, it would.
But when graphic images of war, violence,
death, road accidents etc. are shown - what
are the effects?
A number of studies have reported that
watching media violence frightens young
children and that the effects of this may be
long lasting. In 1998, American Professors
Singer, Slovak, Frierson and York surveyed
2,000 Ohio students aged between six and
thirteen. They report that the incidences of
psychological trauma (including anxiety,
depression and post-traumatic stress)
increased in proportion to the number of
hours of television watched each day.
The days of children going
out and playing football after
school are long gone
Popular television shows such as the cartoon South Park, portrays four children who
swear incessantly and get involved in thousands of acts of violence. One character dies
at the end of each episode, but is alive again
the following week. Furthermore, the days
of children going out and playing football
BY WAYNE MOONEY
Image Courtesy of Warner Bros.
6
t one stage or another, we’ve all looked into
the mirror and disliked what we’ve seen;
whether it’s the look of a dreary Monday
morning or the tired face of a Friday
evening, we’ve carried on and suffered without complaint. It’s true to say that almost everyone has
something they don’t like about their body, yet most people are content to leave it at that, unlike the remainder
who feel it necessary to go to extreme lengths in order to
achieve the perfect body. This extremity breeds a reliance
on cosmetic surgery to maintain this perfect look. But
who is responsible for influencing our decision towards
going under the knife? While maybe it’s an unspoken
pressure from our peers, maybe there’s a much more sinister connotation in our everyday media consumption?
Might we be being coerced into spending thousands of
euro on cosmetic surgery through the media?
There’s no denying the fact that the media influences
the way in which people think. A common practice in
advertising is to make the consumer feel as though they
truly need this product, that they are incomplete without
it and how much better their life would be with it. This
may seem extreme but it forces us to buy products we
don’t need or want. A similar tactic has been adopted in
the media towards cosmetic surgery: we don’t actually
need it… we’ve been told we need it and we believe
them. Some might say it’s a form of brainwashing and we
all know how hard it is these days to escape advertisements for cosmetic surgery bombarding us from every
medium. And yet it doesn’t just stop at advertising!
Cosmetic surgery has been recognized as such a popular trend in the last three years that most television stations will now have at least one television programme
relating to it. The popular US series, Nip/Tuck is based
around the so-called “glamour” that surrounds cosmetic
surgery. While the show may touch on some realistic sur-
A
gical procedures, it usually deals with them in a fictional and
unrealistic manner. For the real guts of the matter, one need
only turn to our unhealthy obsession with reality TV. As much
as we argue and deny how much we love/hate it, we still continue to watch shows like Big Brother and I’m A Celebrity…
These shows may present the viewer with an hour of enjoyable mindless pap, but there have been increasingly more disturbing developments in the world of reality TV. Take for
example TV3’s programme, The Swan, “…offers ugly ducklings the opportunity to transform themselves into a beautiful
swan. It offers women the incredible opportunity to undergo
physical, mental and emotional transformations and follows
them through the process. This groundbreaking idea culminates in a pageant in which one woman will be crowned “The
Ultimate Swan”.” Here is a programme which tries to help
these women and obviously calling them ugly is going to
boost their confidence from the outset. After suffering the
pain of going through surgery, these women are then served
the ultimate insult as they must compete against fellow
‘Swans’ in a beauty pageant. Should everyone not be considered a winner or is there no prize for second place?
We’ve all looked into the mirror
and disliked what we’ve seen
Another example is Extreme Makeover on the Living TV channel. This programme preys on women who believe that there
life would be “complete” after cosmetic surgery, spending up to
Stg£40,000 to do so. I know they say you can’t price happiness,
but this is ridiculous! A quote from one participant said, “When
I saw the programme it made me stop and realise how crap I
felt about myself.” This is why we should be wary of these programmes – they lead us to believe that we are inadequate, that
we go under the knife in order to feel good and be confident
of who we are. But if we’re spending thouands on cosmetic
surgery, surely then we are not confident of whom we are?
MARCH 2006
after school are long gone with many spending hours playing video games, often filled
with images of murder, car crashes etc.
The age at which media executives deem
appropriate to corrupt children’s innocence
and capitalize on the lucrative children’s market gets younger with every passing year. The
manifestations of a viewing diet that features
graphic violence on children are many. It is
often thought that when children consume
hours of violence through television shows
or video games that it leads them to behave
more aggressively than those who don’t. This
has been backed up by thorough research
into the area of the effects on media violence
on children and researchers argue that it is the
physiological effects of media violence that
cause aggressive behaviour.
Exposure to violent imagery is linked to
increased heart rate, faster respiration and
higher blood pressure. Some think that this
simulated “fight-or-flight” response predisposes people to act aggressively in the real
world. Researcher L. Rowell Huesmann
reviewed studies conducted in Australia,
Finland, Poland, Israel, Netherlands and the
The world we live in is one
that is crime-filled and violent
United States. He reports that “the child most
likely to be aggressive would be the one who
watches violent television programs most of
the time, believes that these shows portray
life just as it is and identifies strongly with the
A common practice in advertising is to make the consumer feel
as though they truly need this
product, that they are incomplete
without it and how much better
their life would be with it.
aggressive characters in the shows.”
Also, it has been shown that playing video
games has negative effects on children,
regardless of whether or not they are aggressive by nature. Craig Anderson and Brad
Bushman of Iowa State University reviewed
dozens of studies of video gamers. In 2001,
they reported that children and young people,
who play violent video games (even for short
periods), are more likely to behave aggressively in the real world.
Playing video games has
negative effects on children
With the amount of violence now being
viewed by children we must not forget that as
children, images that we have become accustomed to as adults are often frightening for a
child, who is perhaps viewing an act of violence they have never seen before. The question then is as adults are we affected still by
violence we see in media as children? In 1999,
Professors Joanne Cantor and K. Harrison
studied 138 university students and found
that memories of frightening media images
continued to disturb a significant number of
participants years later. Over 90 per cent
reported they continued to experience fright
effects from images they viewed as children,
ranging from sleep disturbances to steadfast
avoidance of certain situations.
Watching the news it would be easy to
believe that the world we live in is one that is
crime-filled and violent, where you could be
robbed or murdered at the drop of a hat.
When children view violent images over an
extended period they are logically led to
believe that the world is much scarier than it
actually is. This is known as Mean World
Syndrome and unsurprisingly it is increasing
rapidly. Researcher George Gerbner studied
the phenomenon and found that those who
watch greater amounts of television are more
likely to overestimate their risk of being victimised by crime, believe their neighbourhoods are unsafe, believe fear of crime is a
very serious personal problem and assume
the crime rate is increasing, even when it is
not.
Television stations should also consider
that although broadcasting to children is a
lucrative business, children cannot be treated
as a commodity to be exploited for financial
gain. What we learn as children influences
what we do and who we become as adults;
less violence on television would surely be a
step forward in combating some of the major
behavioural problems many children nowadays experience.
Children behave badly sometimes, after all
its part of being a child. However they don’t
learn to do so, on their own and it has been
proven that children exposed to more violent
images are likely to behave more aggressively
and consider violent acts the norm in the real
world. Certainly no one would suggest that
violent images shown by the media are at the
root of all problems experienced by children,
but they certainly play a bigger part than previously thought. However, researchers do
report that parental attitudes towards media
violence can mitigate the impact it has on
children. A general consensus among
researchers in the area is that “Family attitudes and social class are stronger determinants of attitudes toward aggression than is
the amount of exposure to TV, which is nevertheless a significant but weaker predictor.”
Shouldn’t parents be made aware that when
their children are enjoying a few hours on
their Playstation after school or staying up
late to watch South Park there could be long
term effects, not just the odd sleepless night?
SKIN DEEP
If we are to subscribe to these makeover
shows, reaching the age bracket of late 30s to
early 40s, it’s time to making an appointment
with your local Botox agent. However, there is
one exception to this rule and where else
would we find it but… on MTV. Strictly
reserved for a younger generation, I Want a
Famous Face follows the trials and tribulations
of young men and women as they desperately alter themselves through cosmetic surgery
in order to look like their famous idols. It follows these people in the weeks leading up to
the surgery, and the recovery period afterwards, usually within a few months. The end
result: Yet another body to add to the queue
of Britney Spears and Brad Pitt impersonators.
MTV was once described as “the voice of
a generation”. As such, the MTV audience
consists of a group ranging from pre-teens to
young adults. While 40 year old women may
have the maturity to decide for or against cosmetic surgery, the average MTV viewer is
more likely to be self-conscious and subject
to peer pressure. Ultimately, the broadcasting
of this programme is hugely irresponsible on
their behalf. “The voice of a generation”
showing a programme like this, leads to a
naïve and impressionable audience to think
worse of itself. Here is where the brainwashing factor becomes apparent.
You may believe this to be an exaggeration
but in a way we are gradually being brainwashed by programmes such as The Swan, I
Want a Famous Face and Extreme Makeover. In
the end these programmes are having a negative effect on people’s confidence in themselves and the way in which they look. The
trigger message is “get surgery and your life
will be better.” But there are no guaranteed
results from cosmetic surgery! Just as there
are programmes focussing on the final beautiful results, there are also the programmes
covering the ‘botched’ surgery jobs and how
it has all gone wrong. These are the people
who regret getting cosmetic surgery done and
certainly don’t want to parade around in a
beauty pageant. We can be sure of one thing
though: the glorified image that the media has
created for cosmetic surgery will continue to
grow, and we as an audience will continue to
watch.
7
MARCH 2006
Continued from Front Page
Internet
The Internet undercuts government efforts
to control the flow of information. More
than 100 million people in China now have
Internet access, and the figure is likely to surpass one billion within four years. In 2005
the Chinese government published new rules
on the administration of internet news information services, aiming to prevent the distribution of any uncensored versions of a news
event or commentary.
Restrictions include all news related to
“politics, economics, military affairs, foreign
affairs, and social and public affairs, as well as
reporting and commentary relating to fastbreaking social events” such as strikes, disasters, demotions, or environment issues.
The restrictions also prohibit internet
postings that encourage illegal gatherings
and strikes to create public disorder. The
rules also state that any individual who wishes to distribute news or news analysis to a
listed server must first register as a news
organisation. This ensures that only groups
that mimic the government’s version of
events will have e-mail distribution privileges, reports Human Rights Watch. Websites
that break these new rules will be shut down
and those running them will be forced to pay
a heavy fine. Three websites have already
been closed since the new rules were
announced, according to a report from the
Committee to Protect Journalists.
The Internet undercuts
government efforts to
control the flow of information.
Google
Online search engine leader Google Inc. has
agreed to censor its results in China, adhering to the country’s free-speech restrictions,
in return for better access to the Internet’s
fastest growing market. The company
planned to roll out a new version of its
search engine bearing China’s Web suffix
“.cn”. A Chinese-language version of Google’s
search engine had previously been available
through the company’s US dot-com address
but by creating a unique address for China,
Google is trying to make its search engine
more widely available and easier to use in the
world’s most populous country.
Due to government barriers set up to suppress information, Chinese Internet users
have until now been blocked from using the
Google search engine or encountered lengthy
delays in response time. These service trou-
bles have frustrated many and has stifled
Google’s efforts to expand its market share in
a country that is expected to emerge as an
Internet gold mine over the next decade.
In censoring Chinese search results Google
intends to post notifications alerting users
that some content has been removed. This
will be done in order to comply with local
laws. The company provides similar alerts in
Germany and France. Ironically, Google is
cooperating with China’s government at time
when it is battling the US government over a
subpoena seeking a breakdown of one
week’s worth of search requests - a list that
would cover millions of terms. Reflecting its
uneasy alliance with the Chinese government, Google isn’t releasing all its services. For
the time being, neither Google’s e-mail nor
blogging services will be offered in China
because the company doesn’t want to risk
being ordered by the government to turn
over anyone’s personal information.
So as a journalist in China, one has to be
extremely sensitive with words - both spoken
and written. Otherwise, one may risk the
punishment of jail. Even though journalistic
freedom in China is not comparable to journalistic freedom in the West, there is a certain
amount of optimism that this scenario is
changing.
Future of media
BYESTHERO’MOORE DONOHUE
& LEIGHHUSSEY
t wasn’t until recently that I first heard
the
term
‘citizen
journalist’.
Immediately I thought of earnest do
gooders, mobile phone, notepad and
pen shoved into their journalist’s workbelt, their cape flapping in the wind as they
stood atop a mountain called Democracy. I
imagined them hiding their true identities
behind masks, wearing underpants over their
trousers embroidered with the words, ‘truth,
justice and the journalistic way’.
So what exactly does citizen journalism
encompass? Simply put, citizen journalism
refers to the act of ordinary men and women
collecting, documenting, analysing and producing their own news products. It can take
the form of blogs, footage from video and
camera mobile phones as well as information
and news from independent websites. The
citizen journalist acts as their own editor and
dictate what stories are of relevance to them
and the communities they live in.
Some citizen journalists may also be
activists who use on-line blogging to communicate their stance on a particular subject.
The content of some of these sites, particularly personal blog sites wouldn’t generally
match professional journalistic standards of
those in mainstream media. This has led to
criticism from some traditional media establishments such as The New York Times who
claim that this particular strain of journalist
lack objectivity in their reporting. Surely freedom of expression however inelegant, inarticulate or offensive should be encouraged.
I
8
Perhaps it is time then to question why
mainstream news groups should be considered the only source of ‘real’ news? Why
should stories by citizen journalists be considered less valid or authoritative than those
featured in established newsmakers? Whose
reality are the big media organisations presenting?
Mainstream newspapers and broadcasters
largely present the reality of the minority i.e.
the super-wealthy,
powerful and politicised elite. Citizen
journalism allows
those
minority
groups in our society
who may feel marginalised by mainstream media, a
political, social and
cultural voice. These
groups are not proportionally represented in mainstream
media
because they are not
affluent enough and
so do not buy the
aspirational brands advertised in mainstream
media outlets. The media is a multi-billion
dollar industry. They sell audiences to advertisers and generate the bulk of their profits
from the revenue they receive from them.
Poor people don’t buy newspapers so they
don’t exist in the minds of the media giants.
We are all created equal, but within the media
zoo it would seem are more equal than others.
Citizen journalism, on the other hand, does
not discriminate. Mary Lou Fulton, publisher
of the Northwest Voice, California commented, ‘Instead of being the gatekeeper,
telling people that what’s important to them
‘isn’t news,’ we’re just opening up the gates
and letting people come on in’.
Articles and blogs contain bias of course
but not even a professional journalist is ever
completely free from bias. Even the most
earnest professional hack who claims his
work up to be truly objective is fooling himself. A journalist is
not born with an
intuitive sense of
what makes an
event or person
n e w s w o r t h y.
Rather they are
socialised to learn
what constitutes a
worthy
enough
story to fill their
pages and airwaves
with. If they gain
employment in a
professional media
organisation it is
because they produce news in a way
that meets journalistic standards acceptable
to the corporate shareholders. The media is a
multi-billion dollar industry and a journalist
has to keep bringing in readerships, so they
tow the editorial line be it consciously or subconsciously. If they don’t, they will soon find
themselves unemployed.
Sometimes the role of citizen journalist can
be thrust upon individuals simply by being in
the wrong place at the right time. One
moment you’re a mere citizen, then, poof!
The world turns and in an instant you are
reborn as a citizen journalist. The events of
the London Bombings in July of 2005, offers
a perfect example of such reincarnations.
New technology in the form of video and
camera capabilities on mobile phones and the
ubiquity of such technologies have meant
that the incredible and devastating scenes
were captured by ordinary men and women
and relayed and subsequently broadcast on by
mainstream broadcasters. Events can be seen
by audiences almost as they happen.
Citizen journalism is perhaps a more honest and democratic way of reporting although
one might have to wade through considerable
amounts of amateur journalistic rubbish
before stumbling upon journalism of substance. Hopefully sites such as Ohmynews!,
which employs an editorial staff to verify
facts and stories sent in from citizen journalists around the world, will succeed in furthering this burgeoning journalistic democracy.
Citizen journalism presents us with views of
the world far removed form the air-brushed,
sanitised media products of mainstream journalism. With citizen journalism the individual
is not defined as a consumer or target audience to sell to. Instead they are empowered
and politicised. This is something that can
not only open our minds and our worlds but
also lead to more socially and politically
engaged citizenships. British historian Lord
Acton once said that absolute power corrupts
absolutely. With this new from of journalistic
expression let’s hope that the power now held
by the giant media corporations is dissipated
and shared amongst all those who seek to
express themselves for the betterment of
society everywhere.
MARCH 2006
PODCAST
THE NET
GENERATION
BY EDDIE BOLTON
hat do Ricky Gervais,
Mark Hoppus and
George Bush have in
common?
Despite
sounding like a bad
joke, they are in fact all part of the latest
phenomenon to hit the internet –
Podcasting. While most internet crazes
tend to be nothing more than a flash in
the pan, podcasting firmly established
itself in 2005 and has continued to grow
through 2006.
Combining the concept of broadcasting
with the now conventional method of listening; the Apple iPod, the term podcasting was christened. Podcasting can be
defined as the distribution of audio or
video files for listening to on mobile
devices and personal computers. What
distinguishes a podcast from a simple
download is the fact that a user can subscribe to a podcast, enabling new content
to be automatically delivered.
Podcast files first made their internet
debut back in 2001, but only became popular in 2004 when internet searches for
the new term doubled by the day, reaching
over 100,000 in October. Podcasting was
beginning to spread across the globe with
the New York Times reporting shows originating from such diverse countries as
Canada, Sweden and Australia. These
podcast shows cover a variety of topics:
politics, technology, music and movies to
name but a few. The ultimate appeal in
podcasting is about creating content for
an audience that wants to listen when they
want, where they want, and how they
want.
Never one to miss an opportunity,
George Bush and his aides quickly identified podcasting as a new method to keep
in touch with his public. The President
now offers his weekly radio addresses as a
podcast on the official website of the
White House. The popularity of podcasting was confirmed when Todd Cochrane’s
Podcasting: the Do-It-Yourself Guide topped
the literature best sellers, proving that here
now was a new method of broadcasting
available to all and everyone.
As with any rising star, a backlash can
almost be guaranteed. While gaining an
ever burgeoning legion of fans, there were
many who refused to accept the concept
of podcasting, believing it to be nothing
special and that it would soon pass into
the territory of forgotten fads. Despite
W
the neigh-saying, podcasting continued to
grow with the first ever People’s Choice Podcast
Awards being held in 2005. The prime choices of podcasts were celebrated in a selection
of twenty categories.
With an exponential growth in popularity,
there was an equal demand for music to be
made available through podcasts. While the
area of using licensed music in podcasts has
been contentious and a delicate legal issue, it
has not stopped many independent and
unsigned acts from releasing their music as
podcasts. The afore mentioned Mark
Hoppus (former bass player of Blink 182)
has made a name for himself in the podcasting world, by introducing new bands to listeners with interviews and ‘podsafe’ songs
from the bands themselves. Justifiably,
Hoppus recently won an award for Music
Podcast of the year.
With regard to the complications surrounding music royalties, the broadcasting
model of streaming content is regarded as
acceptable while podcasting is not. There is
a belief that incidental music used on ‘talk’
podcasts can be easily manipulated into easily downloadable mp3 files. We all know how
much multi-millionaire music executives fear
the might of the mp3 file! The US Congress
is
looking
to
reform
the
Telecommunications Act of 1996 in order to
affect a change.
Despite these minor setbacks, podcasting
continues to move from strength to strength
while becoming increasingly available to the
masses. Ricky Gervais (star of The Office and
Extras) was recently entered into the Guinness
Book of World Records for having the most
popular podcast in early 2006. Available
through The Guardian website, Gervais’ podcast managed to maintain an average of a
quarter of a million downloads per weekly
episode. As well as this, the term ‘Podcast’
was identified as the 2005 Word of the Year
by the New Oxford American Dictionary and
has been entered into the official lexicon for
2006.
So what does the future hold for podcasting? Undoubtedly we can expect the diversity of themes and shows to increase yet further. No surprises should be expected when
politicians deliver podcasts as they attempt
to ‘keep it real’ and gain a hip status with the
youth of today. We may even see the day
when celebrity names get in on the act, in
order to resurrect or merely maintain their
status in the showbiz world. What cannot be
denied is the fact that podcasting is going to
grow until it becomes the norm on the web.
Just how long until it takes over the globe? I
guess we’ll just have to wait and see.
9
MARCH 2006
PHANTOM FM:
BACK FROM THE DEAD?
Phantom FM is at long last due to broadcast
legally across Dublin’s airwaves. Conor Callanan
talks to Simon Maher and former Phantom DJ,
Alison Curtis, about the station’s
past and its bright future.
“This is Rock and Roll radio, come on
let’s rock and roll….” ~ The Ramones
Allow me to set the scene… During the
mid to late 90s the whole alternative music
scene within Dublin was desperately crying
out for help. Here was an up and coming
musical community, brimming with a variety
of talent, a dedicated (nearly cult like) following and a selection of music venues dotted
throughout the city in which to congregate.
So what’s the problem? Despite the obvious
omission, not one mainstream radio station
in Dublin was willing to cater to this thriving
musical collective; to provide an outlet for
their music to be played and heard. The lack
thereof severely stifled the chances of any
possible success that might, perhaps befall
any Irish band or solo artist within the area of
Dublin or indeed beyond it.
Somewhere out there, amongst the pack of
disillusioned wannabe rock stars, a beacon of
hope was about to be lit, illuminating the
optimism of an unsuspecting audience of
alternative musicians. That beacon of hope
came in the form of Phantom FM. Here was
a radio station that promised to spark the resurrection of Dublin’s flagging alternative
music scene from its ashes. For a legion of
fans, who for so long had suffered the ignorance of mainstream radio, here now was a
station willing to push the boat out and fulfil
their musical dreams, albeit on a small scale.
This station was Phantom FM!
At the flagship of this revolution was
Simon Maher, General Manager of Phantom
FM. In interview, he explained that the station had originally been the brainchild of a
few like minded friends; some already had
experience in radio broadcasting, others had
been club DJs around Dublin and more had
played in bands. The collective consensus was
10
“wouldn’t it be deadly to have something
that played rock music on the radio?”
because at that time there was 2FM, 98FM
and FM104. The only source of alternative
rock music on the radio was Dave Fanning’s
nightly two hour show. Even that didn’t fill
the appetite!
The transformation of Phantom FM
from an idea into a reality required the hire
of a regular location in Dublin’s Village
Quarter, along with the necessary broadcasting equipment. With everything in
place, Phantom FM was ready to launch.
From the modest beginnings of weekend
broadcasts, the rapid success of Phantom
FM quickly followed: a success which only
became apparent when Simon and the
Phantom crew installed a phone line, “We
were inundated with calls!” Obviously there
was a hungry audience of listeners out
there.
The original hope for Phantom FM was
to “push it and see would there be a chance
that the BCI would consider licensing
someone who would do this”. So from
1998 the station measured the true interest
of its listeners and after realising how successful it had become, applied to the BCI
for a broadcasting license in 1999.
Unfortunately the application was
unsuccessful, as was the following one
when Phantom FM was unfortunate to
lose out to a station catering to country
music. I share the reader’s bafflement at
that particular revelation! By 2003 the station
was “operated as close to the licensed version
as it could” due to the situation it found itself
in after two failed applications, after which it
was felt that they “couldn’t push themselves
much further.” Phantom FM reluctantly
withdrew its FM band and begrudgingly
applied for a temporary license.
her to join the Phantom crew, where she presented the Drive Time show. Her dedication to
airing new Irish talent earned her a devoted
audience of listeners. Alison vividly remembers how her persistent listeners
used to keep in contact through“Wouldn’t it be deadly to have something out the shows, “there was great
texting in Phantom, the interacthat played rock music on the radio?”
tion with the audience was really
class.” Generally these texts
Since its inception nine years ago, Phantom came in the form of requests for local acts, to
FM has fulfilled its promise to its listeners by which Alison eagerly obliged.
consistently making an effort to discover and
As you can imagine Alison’s time in
support indigenous acts alongside more Phantom provided her with an amazing expeestablished acts from around the globe. One rience, as she “learned a lot, due mainly to the
such DJ who was at Phantom Fm from its fact that there weren’t the same restrictions,
beginning was Canadian-born Alison Curtis. because it was a pirate.” Many original ideas
Having originally arrived in Dublin in search were tested out at Phantom FM. With regards
of work in film, her passion for music lead
MARCH 2006
to the various home-grown artists that she
championed, many have since gone on to
achieve admirable success, both here at home
and on an international scale. Bands like
Turn, the Chalets, the Walls and Bell X1 have
all received acres of press coverage and
indeed national airplay since their early outings on Phantom FM.
In the period following Phantom’s withdrawal from radio broadcasting, the station
continued broadcasting over the internet.
Alison remembers how audiences still bombarding the show with requests. A particularly fond memory was when a text came in
from a guy working on an oil rig, asking
“Well, what do you look like? I’ve been on an
oil rig quite a while.” It just shows the funny,
yet weird side of broadcasting over the net!
Despite Phantom’s attempt to keep the
dream alive through internet broadcasts, the
“buzz wasn’t the same.” However, the presenters kept the professional element of
broadcasting to the normal high standard
that the listeners of Phantom FM had grown
accustomed.
Regretfully after three and a half years of
service, Alison decided to hang up her earphones and leave Phantom. During her time
there she had simultaneously worked at Today
FM as a researcher on the Breakfast Show and
“You’d turn around mid-link and you’d have people
texting you from the bus... “I’m behind you!””
it was now time to leave. Her earphones didn’t gather too much dust
though. Since May, 2003 Alison has
presented the hugely successful Last
Splash indie music show, where she
continues to play alternative rock
music to Dublin (and beyond), while
also concentrating on playing more
and more unsigned Irish talent.
In November 2004, the fortunes
of Phantom FM began to improve,
being granted a license for Dublin’s
first alternative rock station. In light
of their three previous failed applications, this came as a joyous surprise to both the station itself and
its listeners. Simon feels that the whole BCI
licensing process “can be a very frustrating
process and a lot of waiting around and second guessing, as to what exactly they want.”
With the BCI finally identifying the need for
an alternative music station, Phantom FM felt
confident of their chances in comparison to
the other competitors: Zed FM a consortium
led by Bob Geldof and XFM, a part of
A text came in from a guy working on an oil rig, asking “Well,
what do you look like? I’ve been on an oil rig quite a while.”
Capital Radio. No sooner had Phantom been
granted the application from the BCI, than
their launch date was delayed due to a legal
challenge from Zed FM against the BCI’s
decision. On November 1st 2005 the High
Court, gave its decision with regards to Zed
FM’s challenge, judging that the BCI’s decision was fair and open minded in awarding
the license to Phantom.
Simon spoke of how “before the various
court action started” Phantom had already
begun the recruitment process and amazingly
had received over 700 application, which has
since been whittled down to around 150. The
ideal would be to eventually have a crew of
“sixteen full time and sixteen part time staff.”
With the station eagerly awaiting official word
of its green light to broadcast, Simon expects
to be (fingers crossed) on the air “within
twelve weeks”. Just as it started out nine years
ago, Phantom FM will soon be broadcasting
to Dublin’s alternative music fans. I’m sure
there as eager as ever to hear their favourite
bands and local acts on the nation’s newest
radio station: Phantom FM. to hear their
favourite bands and local acts on the capitals
newest station that is Phantom FM.
11
MARCH 2006
McMEDIA
BY NIAMH SUTTON
lobalisation is a growing trend
that is cultural, political and
economic, but every business
guru worth his cent speaks
about it in fiscal terms. To
them the globe is a single market place where
goods can be produced and sold anywhere
regardless of differences in language, customs or distances. But what is the impact of
an increasingly global media industry on
consumers?
More and more we hear about the cultural
aspects of globalisation. In order to understand the concept of globalisation it is necessary to look at both sides of the coin. An
optimistic would believe that through globalisation there is a greater international cultural
exchange. The spread of multiculturalism
allows people to try, for example, foreign
food products without having to leave their
own country. Conversely, a pessimist would
propose that imported culture can easily supplant the local culture, resulting in a reduction
of diversity through hybridization or even
assimilation.
G
12
For many writers this concept leads ulti- gramming
has
mately to uniformity and homogeneity. It has fluctuated historibeen predicted that as a result of these impli- c a l l y .
cations we’ll soon be able to watch Dallas and Te c h n o l o g i c a l
eat a Big Mac in any part of the inhabited developments in
world.
satellite, digital
The US is one of the most dominant play- and cable televiers in this new media imperialism. There is a sion
channels
theory that ‘Western’ (particularly American) have all concultural values are now being forced on non- tributed to the
western societies via the mass media.
growth
in
The global spread of media corporations imported
and
has been intimately linked with imperialist exported materihistories. Marxists such as Noam Chomsky al.
and Herbert Schiller share the view that the
It’s important
globalisation of communication has been to note that this
driven, notably since WWII, by the material- trend of proistic interests of large US-based Corporations gramming covers
and threatens the supremacy of more feeble those mainly of a
nations.
recreational kind:
In relation to
exports
and We’ll soon be able to watch Dallas and eat a
imports
of
Big Mac in any part of the inhabited world.
global media,
recent debate about media/cultural imperial- light entertainment, movies, sports
ism would suggest that world-wide, imported programmes and so on. There is an economtelevision programmes contribute to more ic logic behind the purchasing of such prothan a third of total programming. The grammes as they are bought in packages at a
amount and typical content of, imported pro- fraction of the price it would cost to produce
‘home-grown’ versions.
In Ireland, the purchasing of imported
programming by the Public Service
Broadcaster - RTE has become a contentious
issue. Dermot Hanrahan, chief executive of
FM104, addressing the Forum on
Broadcasting early last year on behalf of the
Independent Broadcasters of Ireland (IBI)
stating that “if we are to be honest, the issue
is not about the semantics of what is or what
is not public service broadcasting, but it is
really about how we pay for it”. He also
posed the question “How does RTE account
for the use of the licence fee?” In answer to
his own question, he said “No one knows as
it is not separately accounted for by RTE”. So
the public pay this annual tax every year, yet
they cannot account for it? Hanrahan believes
that “RTE should be forced to introduce
transparent accounting systems to allow
interested parties, including members of the
public, to see how the licence fee is spent”.
In an article published in The Irish Times on
the 4th November 2005, David Tighe, the
Chairman of the Independent Broadcasters
of Ireland (IBI), said that “RTE should, of
course, get the licence fee - but only for its
public service broadcasting”.
An article titled “Break up these media
monopolies” was written recently by Vincent
Browne of The Irish Times. In it he stated that
“the media is where it’s at... In other words,
we have allowed foreign and corporateowned media to run our country, our society,
and our mind”. Browne acknowledges that
as a society it’s not entirely within our power
to prevent this but suggests “we could have a
rule that no single legal entity. Be that a person or a corporation, own or control, directly or indirectly, more than a single media out-
let in our country, subject to a few very rare
exceptions”.
It is obvious that media conglomerates
such as Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation
have become vehicles for not only the worldwide diffusion of language, identity and aspirations, but also for cultivating values congruent with the dominant ideologies of Western
capitalism.
This debate concerns not just popular programming, but other forms of information
dissemination, such as CNN and Murdoch’s
Fox. Studies have criticized the major western
news agencies’ capability to set the global
news agenda, in particular, in relation to the
reporting on US military intervention around
the globe, most notably Iraq.
In an article written in 2003 by Roy
Greenslade of The Guardian, he pointed out
that Rupert Murdoch “argued strongly for a
war with Iraq in an interview this week, which
might explain why his 175 editors around the
world are backing it too”. Greenslade also
states that Murdoch’s support for the war in
Iraq was motivated by “the o-word!” Even
though American and British politicians have
denied that oil was the driving force behind
the invasion, Murdoch has admitted that
“The greatest thing to come out of this [war]
for the world economy would be $20 a barrel
for oil”. The article also goes on to describe
the way in which Murdoch appears to be
“training the hearts and minds of his 175 editors” and using this as a way to mould the
opinions of his readers. Surely this is tantamount to brainwashing?
Put crudely the global media have become
service stations for the most powerful multinational corporations to re-fuel their vehicles.
However emphasis on the power of such
conglomerates and their products is often
counter-balanced by an emphasis on the
potential and actual diversities of their creative origins and reception. How can one
possibly argue their point? Until they go blue
in the face? This I leave up to you.
MARCH 2006
BY ESTHER O’MOORE
DONOHOE
e live in a media age, when
advancements in technology have been so great that
we can now surf the web,
watch our favourite TV
programmes and listen to music all via our
mobile phones. Our senses are bombarded
with information, entertainment and the new
hybrid; infotainment. Maybe now, more than
ever it is crucial for us to be more discerning
about where we get our sources of information from and to question who is making the
media products we subscribe to. Albert
Einstein once said, “Unquestioning respect
for authority is the greatest enemy of truth”.
With that in mind are we our own worst enemies for believing what we hear, without considering the underlying motives?
In their Model of Propaganda, Noam
Chomsky and Edward S. Herman propose
that there exists a complex system of filters
in media and educational institutions, which
ensure that dissident perspectives in the public discourse are weeded out or marginalised
by political and media groups. This results in
limited, uncritical perspectives and inaccurate
analysis of stories in the general news media.
How is this the case?
The answer is that media organisations
exclude news which is deemed unfit to print
according to the desires and norms of the
ruling hegemony, i.e. the wealthy, educated
and politicised members of society. At the
same time, these organisations marginalise
potential dissent from the lower socio-economic and de-politicised classes, which might
be damaging to the interests of these ruling
elite. These interests are largely concerned
with maintaining their privileged status, their
considerable wealth and their power. The
range of debate presented by media players
operates within a framework based on what
stories best serve the ‘national interest’- those
issues, which defend and inculcate the economic, social and political interests and agendas, of the privileged groups in society.
W
Media owners don’t want to publish stories
or produce programmes that will conflict
with their values and belief systems, with the
majority of their shareholders and also with
their readership. To do so might negatively
affect advertising sales from which broadcasters and publishers derive the bulk of their
profits. Fat cat shareholders, for the sake of
their wallets, demand editorial diets that are in
Don’t Believe The Hype
keeping with the status quo. In effect, they
are attempting to put a fiscal value on free
speech and treating it as a business commodity.
Rupert Murdoch, owner of one of the
world’s largest media companies; News
Corporation includes in his media stable, titles
such as The New York Times and the Boston
Globe. These publications are representative
of the ruling media elite, also known as the
agenda-setting media. Their audience consists
of wealthy, privileged people who are part of
what are known as the political class.
Chomsky argues that these groups are basically managers of
one sort or another and therefore,
leaders in the way
in which opinions
are shaped and
disseminated to
the wider public.
They set the agenda in terms of the
discourse deemed
appropriate to be
discussed in the
public arena. If
The New York
Times, for example,
leads with a particular story, then it’s
likely that countless papers around
the United States
will lead with the
same exact story.
How can this be? Are editors born with some
sort of headline sixth sense, resulting in
remarkably similar coverage? Of course not!
There are far more questionable forces at
work.
Take for example the Media Corporation
Canwest Global, one of the largest media consortiums in the world. At present they own
sixteen television stations, fourteen metro
daily newspapers, 120 community newspapers, seven networks as well as Internet news
portals, which all amount to a very significant
potential audience.
In December of 2001, all of these news
sources were informed by Canwest management that all its daily papers were to carry the
same national editorials. Letters to the editor,
which went against the managementapproved line on the Palestine-Israeli conflict,
were not allowed. Leonard Asper, a shareholder in the Canwest group, has commented
that “media proprietors and owners must
ensure that the people they hire do not bring
their ideology into the newspapers”. The
Canwest president for news and information
has commented that “owners have every
right to direct their operations in terms of
both content and ideology”. As Robert
McChesney very aptly noted in his 1997 book
The Global Media: The New Missionaries of
Global Capitalism, “There is no better way to
intimidate and then silence mainstream journalism than to be the boss”.
The self-serving nature of the media can
clearly be seen in the decision making of
Rupert Murdoch. Murdoch is often accused
of running partisan media coverage for political parties that promote policies and decisions which favour his commercial interests.
Events which may be contrary to Murdoch
business interests, may not be reported on or
may be given very small exposure in Murdoch
newspapers. For example, a protest march in
Sydney, Australia involving some 50,000 people against the exclusion of the South Sydney
Rugby League
Club from the
Super League
Rugby League
competition
was reported in
M u r d o c h ’s
Sydney papers
in a very discreet manner.
Interestingly,
Murdoch has
significant
financial interests in the
Super League
Competition.
Surely
there
could be no
correlation
between these
business interests and his decision not to feature the
demonstration prominently in his newspapers, could there?
Ultimately the media represent its own
interests most of which are concerned with
ensuring their media products return a profit,
and the interests of management are satisfied. Selling newspapers is a business, which
can only survive by maximising profits and
increasing share value for shareholders and
that means providing advertisers with huge
audiences.
Our papers and television programmes
aren’t filled with column inches about social
and economic injustices because junkies don’t
buy newspapers, and newspapers are in the
business of selling readerships to advertisers.
They have no political or economic currency.
Homeless people don’t buy mobile phones or
cheap flights or any of the other products
that the media hawk to us every single day. As
a result, their interests are not given adequateattention in mainstream media.
The media industry is a multi-billion dollar
business. However worthy and earnest media
practitioners present themselves, these
groups need to be profitable for their owners.
Making money for both shareholders eir
takes priority. From the point of view of the
huge media barons and their business associates, newspapers, television stations and all
other media forms exist to help the drive
consumer culture. Their function has been
reduced to selling the wares of those who
spend top advertising dollars with their firms.
Relying on market forces alone should not
determine what material is considered suitable for public consumption. It will only
mean bigger bank balances for a minority of
super-wealthy media barons and business
people and will see democracy badly damaged. It makes sense for the media industry to
seek to maintain the status quo because without doing so, there would be no industry. It is
an act of self-preservation which is slowly
killing democracy.
We ignore what we don’t want to
hear, because we feel powerless to
change the society we live in
Anyone reading this article might believe
that we are powerless to penetrate these elite
and become resigned to our status as benign
media consumers, passively absorbing the
information we are fed everyday as we can
constantly allow ourselves to be distracted
from what is really going on in the world.
Our allegiances are to brands, mobile phones,
and cheap gossip magazines that celebrate
the ‘insta-celebrity’ while our time is invested
in corporations. We have so many things to
do, foods to eat and places to go than ever
before, that we don’t fully engage with ourselves or society at large.
Some may say that becoming more politicised is pointless, arguing that when we do
become active, as was the case with the
worldwide protests against the Iraq invasion,
our representatives do not listen to us. They
don’t really care about what we think. They
would much prefer if we stayed at home and
watched Big Brother, so that the real Big
Brothers can get on with pursuing their capitalist ideals. So we ignore what we don’t want
to hear, because we feel powerless to change
the society we live in. We leave it to the media
and the politicians to look after the state of
our planet because we want to believe that
they are fair and objective bodies. The media
elite doesn’t want you to register that your
opinion is as equally valid as theirs. If we fully
engaged ourselves in the collective community, voiced our opinions, held a mirror up to
what actually matters in our own lives: then
journalists would actually have to do something other than re-wording biased press
releases from P.R companies promoting yet
another book, film, author, expert, government initiative that they are so eager to communicate to their readership. As the famous
broadcaster Edward S. Burrows once said:
“If we were to do the Second Coming of
Christ in colour for a full hour, there would
be a considerable number of stations which
would decline to carry it on the grounds that
a Western or a quiz show would be more
profitable. Good night and good luck”.
13
MARCH 2006
THE SMOKING GUN
BY DENISE FINNEGAN
eople may expect too
much of journalism.
Not only do they expect
it to be entertaining,
they expect it to be
true”. Editor of Harper’s, Lewis H.
Lapham, commented rather tongue in
cheek recently.
The pressure of a looming deadline and a
taskmaster of an editor can cause the most
capable of hacks to be economical with the
truth and create more than a few faux pas.
One expects tweaking of the truth from the
tabloids but it is becoming more commonplace for respected broadsheets to slip-up.
2005 was a year during which we witnessed some major media “gaffs”. It was
the year that Newsweek’s Koran error led to
deadly riots; the year a Fox News commentator’s error caused a family to be terrorized
by its neighbours and of course the year
when our very own Irish Independent basked,
regrettably, in the glory of Liam Lawlor’s
fatal final journey.
These consequences, though dire for all
involved, do have a silver lining. The outing
of these errors, seen as a tool to ‘name and
shame’ newspapers, can also be used positively to institute a higher standard of accuracy.
Fortunately, a selection of these erroneous stories are so spectacularly off the
mark that one can’t help but derive a vicarious pleasure from them. 2005 delivered
many hilarious and shocking errors and corrections from around the world. Featured
below are the best of the rest:
“P
Denver Daily News
The Denver Daily News would like to offer a
sincere apology for a typo in Wednesday’s Town
Talk regarding New Jersey’s proposal to ban smoking in automobiles. It was not the author’s intention
to call New Jersey ‘Jew Jersey.’
An unfortuanate error, offensive even
and yet the resulting correction is hilarious.
The Denvar Daily News offends an entire
state as well as a major religion and all it
can muster is 39 words! Only a newspaper
could get away with that!
accounts of the story. Then one politician
used the report to help spur on protests
that turned into riots that killed at least fifteen people. Suddenly, the White House
was all over the report, criticizing Newsweek
and calling for a retraction. In the following
May 16th issue, Mark Whitaker penned an
Editor’s Note. It said that the magazine was
unable to totally verify its information and
that it regretted that it “Got any part of our
story wrong and extend our sympathies to
victims of the violence and to the U.S. soldiers caught in its midst.”
White House Press secretary Scott
McClellan told Reuters: “It’s puzzling that
while Newsweek now acknowledges that they
got the facts wrong, they refused to retract
the story... I think there’s a certain journalistic standard that should be met and in this
instance it was not.” Whitaker stood strong,
refusing to retract the story. In a later interview he said, “We’re not retracting anything.
We don’t know what the ultimate facts are.”
So the publication is not retracting anything
because they don’t know what the facts are!
The pile-on continued and Newsweek was
unable to defend its reporting, finally resulting in a shamed Newsweek retracting the
story.
Reuters
“Please read in paragraph nine: ‘about 27 million Soviet citizens died’ ... instead of ... ‘more
than 27 Soviet citizens died’.”
This brings a whole new perspective to
WWII. Reuters certainly had egg on their
faces when they were forced to print this
correction regarding events in the Soviet
Union.
The Guardian
We gave an unlikely figure of 14m tonnes of
snack food consumed during transmission of the
Superbowl, which would be almost half a tonne for
every American. We meant 14m kilograms.
We know that the US has a serious obesity epidemic but even this typo tips the scale.
Newsweek
A short article that said American interrogators had desecrated the Koran and
flushed it down the toilet. The article cited
a single, anonymous government source
who said an internal investigation had
uncovered the evidence. Newsweek checked
with two Defence Department officials to
see if they had any objections to the report.
They didn’t voice any. So the story ran and
things were quiet until newspapers in
Pakistan and Afghanistan began running
14
USA Today
The newspaper altered a photo of
Condoleezza Rice to make her look somewhat demonic. Here’s the editor’s note that
the paper attached to the story where the
photo appeared:
The photo of Condoleezza Rice that originally
accompanied this story was altered in a manner
that did not meet USA Today’s editorial standards. The photo has been replaced by a properly
adjusted copy. Photos published online are routinely
cropped for size and adjusted for brightness and
sharpness to optimize their appearance. In this case,
after sharpening the photo for clarity, the editor
brightened a portion of Rice’s face, giving her eyes
an unnatural appearance. This resulted in a distortion of the original not in keeping with our editorial standard.
Journalists were not the only ones for
who the dissemination of the facts got a bit
diluted. Citizen journalists, got in on the act
when one of the greatest natural disasters
hit Asia in late 2004. Citizen journalism is
the act of citizens playing an active role in
the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing and disseminating news and information. Immediately after Asia’s tsunami disaster, pictures of 2002’s annual flooding of
the Quintang River in China began to circulate on the internet, being passed off as
actual tsunami pictures.
Running photos and information from
these citizen journalists on news sites, in
print and on air is a great idea - as long as
the news organizations can verify the information. Unfortunately, several media organizations - including The Times of India,
The Calgary Herald and Sky News in Australia
- all fell victim to publishing and airing
these falsified photos.
More vigilant journalists smelt a rat and
immediately checked their validity at
www.urbanlegends.about.com and www.snope.com;
where both sites keep track of breaking
news and photos on the internet. Full page
apologies and investigations inevitably
ensued.
In this era of info-tainment the erosion
of credibility does affect us and affects how
we deal with the news we receive. If one
learns anything from this it is that fact
checking needs to play a greater role in the
editing process. It was Mark Twain who
prophetically said, “A lie can travel halfway
around the world while the truth is putting
on its shoes”.
In these cases it looks like the truth was
having trouble even finding its shoes!
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MARCH 2006
BY HELEN KELLY
he publication of cartoons of the
prophet Mohammed in the
Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten
in September 2005 has resulted in
violent protests internationally,
resulting in hundreds of deaths. The Danish
Prime Minister has indicated that the cartoon
debacle is the worst international crisis to
face Denmark, since WWII.
Since September, the cartoons have been
published in approximately fifty international
newspapers, thus fuelling controvery about
respect, rights, and freedom of speech.
Those who criticise the publication of the
cartoons regard them as extremely blasphemous and insulting to the followers of Islam,
while supporters of their publication, say
they are excercising their right to ‘freedom of
speech’.More moderate voices within the
Islam community and outside, call for moderation of approach.
T
‘Freedom of speech’ which
ignores ‘responsibility’ does
not work in harmony with the
rights of individuals.
Two fundamental elements that seem to
have been missed by extremists on both sides
of the cartoon controversy are; reasoned dia-
DRAWING THE LINE ON M O H A M M E D
logue and respect. In so-called liberal western
democracies – there is a belief that ‘freedom
of speech’ is a fundamental right. In very
many cases however, debate that surrounds
such freedom seems to ignore the fact that
‘freedom of speech’ which ignores ‘responsibility’ does not work in harmony with the
rights of individuals.
It is indeed very easy for the majority of us
to maintain a passive role in this debate, and
to consider that the controversy is essentially
sparked and fuelled by those who hold
extreme opposing views. Living as we are, in
the 21st century, and in the real world,
nonetheless, we cannot but be personally
affected by the debate.
We can be very thankful, that the media
industry in Ireland, has, in general, taken a
moderate stance in the cartoons debacle. This
we can be justifiably proud of. However,
when it comes to tolerance and respect for
cultural values within Irish society, a section
of our own society, and a section of our
media fall far short of acceptable standards.
Consider for example, the mayhem that
recently erupted on the streets of our capital
city. One cannot say that the extreme violence
perpetrated on that late February Saturday
afternoon in Dublin represented a respectful
and tolerant gesture towards the culture and
sensibilities of fellow citizens. It can of
course, be said with some certainty that the
violence was fuelled by a handful of extremists and anarchists. Nonetheless, this kind of
embittered hostility challenges all of us, to
examine our own personal attitudes towards
those who we perceive to be different. Studies
show people can be consciously committed
to egalitarianism, and outwardly and actively
behave without prejudice, yet still possess
hidden negative prejudices or stereotypes.
Modern Ireland is rapidly becoming a
multi-cultural society. In order to truly assimilate and celebrate the diversity of our new
immigrants, we must all as individuals, rise to
the challenges that these new groups pose to
us before pointing fingers at other nations,
and their short-comings in relation to human
rights, and dignity. In particular, we must
begin by taking a look at our own attitudes
towards those of our fellow citizens who
embrace a religious culture that differs from
ours, including the beliefs of those who
belong to the Roman Catholic faith. It is gratuitous of us to condemn the publication of
the cartoons, while showing total disrespect
for our own culture, including the religious
beliefs of our own people. A nation that does
not uphold and respect the religious and cultural values of all its own citizens, can only
pay lip service to the rights and dignity of
those who differ from us in other cultural
matters.
15
MARCH 2006
Members
only!
BY KIM McCONNELL
nternet communities? What is this guy
on about! Just one of the many
thoughts that flew through my head, as
I walked away from an editorial meeting regarding this paper. With the only
internet access I have being at college, and a
dread of computers, as I once completely
wiped Windows off a PC, it might be safe to
say, I’m stuck in the dark ages with regard to
computers, the internet, and most technological advances.
Myspace, Bebo and Facebook: just a few
of the many Cyber communities, which have
become the latest trend, giving social networking a whole new experience, with the
majority of the members under twenty five.
Like MSN and other chat rooms, endless
I
amounts of time can be spent chatting,
viewing your friends profiles, sharing
photo’s, meeting mutual friends of friends
and generally zoning out . . . into a new
Cyber world of networking.
Who uses these communities? The answer,
everyone and anyone. Classmates chatting
with friends, singles meeting singles, families
keeping in contact or searching for a long
lost relative, used for just about any kind of
networking possible.
Is this the way forward in
social networking?
With 56 million members to date and
160,000 new members a day, Myspace
(which is connected to the Rupert Murdoch
owned News Corp.) has skyrocketed over
the last two years, while having had no
advertising or marketing at all. Surely
the media mogul would be pleased that
his first social networking sites has
taken off so well.
Tom Anderson and Chris De Wolf
the founders of Myspace, attribute
most of its success to the timing. Internet
networking had just taken off in and around
the launch of Myspace. The other main factor owing to the success of Myspace is that
the site has fewer restrictions when designing
your own unique profile than other sites
have. Some sites do not allow profiles of
bands, companies or ideas to be posted and
are deleted
soon after. This is where
Myspace differs. Members can log-in for fun
or listen to the latest bands, view their profile
and see where they are gigging next. With
there being absolutely no restrictions when it
comes to mixing business with pleasure,
Myspace has helped attract nearly 660,000
various bands and artistes, since its inception.
Many well known musical acts the world
over now have Myspace pages, featuring
samples of their music, as well as band
biographies etc. Bands such as Weezer,
Morrisey, Coldplay, Nine Inch Nails and
TheBlack Eyed Peas to name but a few, are
all connected with Myspace, be it personally or through their record labels. Tom
Anderson’s passion for music and eye for
emerging talent, lead to unsigned musicians being able to distribute music to the
masses, without having a record label.
Has anyone stopped to think
of the possible dangers
involved?
Let’s say a band has 15,000 Myspace
friends, all that is needed is for that band
to up-date their profile, giving details of
the next gig, affording them a great turn
out with no record deal or promotions!
One such act is Sheffield’s very own Arctic
Monkeys, who in the last few months have
risen from complete obscurity to become
the most successful new band in Britain,
having the fastest selling debut album of
all time in the UK. Through word of
mouth and Internet interest alone, the
band have gathered a cult following, baffling quite a few record label heads along
the way.
So how do you join one of these cyber
communities? Firstly you have to be invited to join a networking site by a friend.
Then you’d need to sign up and create a
16
profile, which you’re able to jazz up by
uploading pictures, journals and interesting
facts about your hobbies and interests. You
can then invite friends to join the network,
or search friends that are already members.
So we’re all becoming Cyber socialites, networking and meeting whose who. But has
anyone stopped to think of the possible dangers involved? After viewing an online dating
site the first thing that came to mind was How secure is this?
It is clear to see that there are dangers in
a lack of policing of profiles by the administration on Myspace. The site discourages the
uploading of material that could be deemed
as offensive and pictures displaying nudity or
of an obscene nature. You can however, create a profile that may contain restricted
material and only once it is found by members of the Myspace team, will it be deleted.
In addition it prohibits members from posting personal details, such as contact numbers, home addresses and surname.Resulting
in this however, can parents really be sure
that their children are safe in cyber-space?
Most of the dangers that have popped up
so far are, are all in relation to underage
members using ‘Dateline’on Myspace. It’s
extremely easy for underage members to setup profiles. These young users are to naive
to understand the potential harm they are in
or whom they are networking with. There
have been many cases of harassment, and
even child kidnappings, all of the contacts
originating on Myspace.
Millions of Web surfers are approaching
the Internet in an altogether new way. Net
newbies are gravitating to Websites where
they can find friends and feel comfortable.
This new class of Netizen (Net Citizen, that
is) is settling in, staying put and making a
home away from home.
So why do we join these sites? For fun,
business, pleasure, to learn more about our
interests? And why do we stay? I feel it’s
because there is such a sense of communitywithin these sites -the cyberspace equivalent
of the bar Cheers!
So is this the way forward in social networking? Who knows. It’s still early days but
the potential is there. In a few years from
now, I might have well overcome my fear of
computers, cut down from meeting up with
the girls from three nights a week to one,
chosing to have a chat in Myspace instead!
Anyhing is possible...
MARCH 2006
KNOWLEDGE IS POWER
BY ABIGAIL EVERARD
It’s bizarre to think that
there is a place you can share
your knowledge and wisdom
with others, but yet people
can outdo your facts with
even better ones.
ikipedia is the most phenomenal way of researching information on the
internet. There are literally
thousands of active contributors working on over millions of articles
in various different languages. Every day
there are incredible amounts of visitors from
around the world making tens of thousands
of edits and creating new articles to enhance
the amount of knowledge held in the
Wikipedia encyclopedia. It is no ordinary
encyclopedia, as it isn’t wrote by academics
but by ‘ordinary’ people.
W
It is a scary realisation, as to how dependant we have become on technology today.
Wikipedia is a perfect example. Gone are the
days of looking up a dictionary or searching
an encyclopedia, now you can find all your
knowledge with the click of a button. Most
students have entered Wikipedia at one stage
and the majority, if not all have used a computer. It’s interesting to speculate what will
be used in the next 20 years. We have
become so reliant on computers for everything, what advances in technology will the
next generation be relying on?
Jimmy Wales, an American businessman,
created this free encyclopedia in January
2001. The strange thing about this online
encyclopedia is that it lets anyone create a
new article for the site or edit an existing
entry. As a result of this, Wikipedia is now
one of the most frequently used sites on the
internet.
It’s bizarre to think that there is a place you
can share your knowledge and wisdom with
others, but yet people can outdo your facts
with even better ones. With people constantly making changes to the articles, nothing
less than perfection is acceptable. It’s mindboggling to watch your article being changed
within minutes of its submission. I must say,
it’s not a great place to boost your confidence - someone always seems to have more
information!
“ Wikipedia has become a
valuable source for journalists
around the globe”
So this extraordinary website has taken the
world by storm but not eveyone is happy
with it. Since October 19, 2005 the Chinese
authorities have banned Wikipedia three
times - twice unsuccessfully in 2004 and
2005. The present ban has been succesful
this time. However, there is no official reason for the block but it is believed the
authorities fear its influence.
As Wikipedia is updated by the minute, it
has become a valuable source for journalists
in newsrooms around the globe. Even
though the site is open to anybody, the content is rarely incorrect, as it is self-cleaning.
The community behind Wikipedia keeps a
close eye on the accuracy of articles and in
most cases acts quickly to fix errors that find
their way into individual entries. Part of its
novelty is the wide variety of users, ranging
from school-children to grandparents. There
have also been possible rumours of politi-
cians contributing on the site. It is remarkable how this non profitable website has
grasped vast numbers of contributors to
take time and share their knowledge.
However, the question does arise as to
whether this apparent mind-blowing website
really does have accurate information. There
could be individuals out there who may want
to damage its reputation for accuracy, by
making spoof articles. What’s to stop some
deranged person defacing the whole thing?
The answer is: not much, but Wikipedia is
working on keeping these individuals out.
In May 2005, the spoof articles were taken
to the extreme, when a ‘cyber-vandal’ wrote
a biographical Wikipedia article linking John
Seigenthaler, a respected retired journalist,
with the assassinations of both John F and
RobertKennedy. Wikipedia’s founder Jimmy
Wales, accepts that the site’s “open and egalitarian nature” renders it vulnerable to such
attacks, but after the Seigenthaler scandal he
promised to tighten up procedures to prevent misleading articles from being published. Following these incidents, a search for
the term ‘Wikipedia’ revealed the one-line
entry: “An encyclopedia full of crap.”
“Wikipedia: Reliable as
Encylopedia Britannica?”
It certainly must be a difficult task, running an ‘open website’ where people can create their own articles and at the same time
preventing publication of spoof articles. It’s
fortunate there are so many dedicated people
on hand to make the necessary repairs.
17
MARCH 2006
DO YOU SUDoKU?
BY ROBERT RYAN
escribing the Japanese love of
number puzzles as almost religious is something of an
understatement. More than 45
million puzzle books and magazines are sold in Japan every year, of which
about 10 per cent are devoted to Sudoku.
Every month, 15 Sudoku magazines and
around 30 books are published and consumed by legions of fans who think that
“these puzzles are part of the fabric of
Japanese life”. However in late 2005, the quietly obsessive world of Japanese puzzling
began to feel anxious. Three major
Japanese newspapers finally announced
what everyone had feared – one even
on its front page – Japan’s humble
Sudoku was, everywhere else in the
world, at the centre of a “boom”.
Traditionally a country with a low
newspaper readership and a preference
for crosswords, Sudoku fever spread
across France in July 2005, within days
of Le Figaro publishing the puzzles.
Initially French publishers were presented with something of a linguistic
problem, as opposed to a mathematical
one! Pronounced en francais, the puzzle
sounds like “sue de cul”, which closely
translates to “sweats from the bum”.
Avoiding obvious embarrassment, the
name was (conveniently) adopted with
a Japanese-sounding stress on the middle syllable.
Observant Jews addicted to Sudoku
in Israel have even overcome Judaism’s
strict religious laws by developing a
kosher version for use on the Sabbath.
The ancient Sabbath rules mean that all
Orthodox Jews are forbidden from
writing between sunset on Friday and
Saturday. Two entrepreneurial Jewish
settlers living in the Israeli-occupied
West Bank devised a solution. Using thick
plastic sheets, they created 81 squares, thereby avoiding the Sabbath prohibition by moving numbers on plastic squares instead of
writing them in boxes. Their Sabbath observant version of Sudoku is now on sale in the
US, China and of course, Japan.
D
There is one general consensus:
the sense of achievement after
completing a puzzle...gives a
certain sense of satisfaction.
You might be surprised to hear that the
average American can actually complete the
Sudoku challenge; “It’s more accessible than
a crossword because you don’t need a large
18
vocabulary”. At one point, six of the top 50
books on USA Today’s bestseller list were
Sudoku titles; including the ubiquitous
Sudoku for Dummies, which shot to the top
slot above 899 other titles. In October 2005,
The New York Post organised America’s first
Sudoku national challenge at New York
University. It received a staggering 5,000
entries!
Compiling the evidence it is obvious to see
that Sudoku has exploded in popularity,
spreading across nations like an epidemic,
ensnaring addicts regardless of religion,
colour or creed. One might say there are two
types of people in the world today: those
hooked on Sudoku, and those about to be.
Unless you’ve been on another planet for the
past year, you’re unlikely to have failed to
notice Sudoku.
The puzzle was designed anonymously by
Howard Garns, a 74-year old retired architect and freelance puzzle constructor, and
first published in 1979. There is a misconception that the puzzle originated in Japan,
when in actual fact it was first published by
Dell Magazines of New York. Its original
and somewhat less glamorous name was the
Number Place. Having garnered a legion of
followers Sudoku has drawn parallel comparisons to an old 80s favourite, with people
calling it the “Rubik’s cube of the 21st century”.
The attraction of the puzzle is that the
completion rules are simple, yet the lines of
reasoning required to reach the completion
may be complex. The puzzle is most fre-
quently a 9x9 grid, made up of 3x3 sub-grids
called “regions”. Some cells already contain
numerals, known as “givens”. The ultimate
goal is to fill the empty cells, one numeral in
each, so that the column, row and region
contain the numerals 1-9 exactly once. Each
numeral in the solution therefore occurs only
once in each of three “directions” or
“scopes”. Hence the name Sudoku, which
translated from Japanese, means “numbers
occur uniquely”.
If at this point you’re scratching your head
in puzzlement, be prepared for more.
Sudoku is founded on Boolean algebra and
related to wide variety of mathematical topics, e.g. Latin Squares, which you may have
vague memories of from Primary School.
Pronounced en francais, the
puzzle sounds like “sue de
cul”, which closely translates
to “sweats from the bum”.
H o w e v e r , w i t h
6,670,903,752,021,072,936,960 distinct grids
to choose from, it would take three billion
years for everyone in the world to solve them
all. There’s certainly no chance of any enthusiasts running out of material to puzzle over!
But you don’t have to be a mathematical
boffin to enjoy Sudoku. The successful
adoption of Sudoku as a daily newspaper
puzzle can be accounted to it having the
essential ingredient of “sufficient but not
too much” complexity. While, there is still a
strong argument for the traditional cross-
word, Sudoku is considered by many to provide a good workout for the auld “grey matter”. Indeed, it has been proven that both
puzzles stimulate opposing parts of the
brain. The only problem presented is the
choice of which one to tackle first!
Generally speaking there’s a sense of
mutual congeniality amongst the Sudoku
community. Sudoku’ers will politely
acknowledge other puzzlers hunched over a
Sudoku has drawn parallel
comparisons to an old 80s
favourite, with people calling
it the “Rubik’s cube of the
21st century”.
grid, straining to solve the latest puzzle, with a friendly “Do
you Sudoku?” At least this
was the case, until the arrival
of the colloquially known,
“Sudoku Snobs”; a similar
breed to those responsible for
the
division
between
Complex/Simplex crossword
enthusiasts. Sudoku simply
provides another opportunity
for them to ostentatiously
declare themselves superior,
after your failure to match
their completion of the
Difficult puzzle. Some even
have the audacity to time each
other!
In a possible attempt to
deflate the ever burgeoning
egos of these “expert”
Sudoku puzzlers, new varieties
of Sudoku have been appearing in newspapers. Placing
further mathematical restrictions on the solution, suggestive names are given to their
level of difficulty: Killer, Samurai and
Headache Sudoku all being examples.
Another derivative of the puzzle, Gattai 5
(five merged) consists of five 9x9 grids,
which overlap at the corner regions in the
shape of a quincunx.
Whatever your level of Sudoku expertise,
there is one general consensus: the sense of
achievement after completing a puzzle using
a combination of logic, observation and
ingenuity gives a certain sense of satisfaction. Whichever type of person you are;
already hooked on Sudoku or about to be,
the pleasantly addictive number-placement
game can proudly declare itself as a newspaper favourite, worthy of its place alongside
the crossword puzzle in giving people a brief
respite from the everyday stresses of life.
MARCH 2006
19