Rupert Murdoch's Character, and Social Media and Political Activism
To do well in this assignment, you will need to combine theory and information from academic sources with your own thoughts and reflections about them and the media texts you are applying them to.
Since I am not asking you to write a formal essay, you do not need to worry about developing a very formal voice or using APA perfectly. You can relax and write as yourselves, acknowledging your sources by simply writing surnames and page numbers in brackets.
--Write TWO journal entries on any TWO of the following topics. Each entry should be between 800-1,000 words long. You must combine theory and information from the sources uploaded on mycourses with personal reflections on the topics/personalities/issues you discuss. There is no need for APA-style referencing but you do need to acknowledge your sources in the text as well as at the end of each entry.
1)-Who's Who? Write a journal entry on ONE of these three people associated with the media and media studies: Rupert Murdoch, Nick Davies, Dan Gillmore. Your entry should include a brief summary on what they are best known for within media circles, and a personal reflection on what struck you about them and their influence in media circles. You will find information about all three personalities in the material I uploaded for you on mycourses, and you are welcome to add to this with your own research.
2) Social media and political activism(1) Explore how social media was used in political protests and activism in what has come to be known as 'The Arab Spring'. The ability to read and understand Arabic will be an advantage if you attempt this question. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of social media in contrast to traditional news sources here, and please make your answer personal - reflect on how reading about this case affected you emotionally as well as rationally. Sources you may find useful are: Dan Gillmor, Long and Wall, Nick Davies and the chapters on participatory journalism uploaded in week 3 of the course.
3) Social media and political activism (2) Explore how social media is being used in the ongoing Trump-Clinton-Sanders presidential race. Consider the advantages and disadvantages of social media in contrast to traditional news sources here, and please make your answer personal - reflect on how the various online campaigns are affecting you emotionally as well as rationally. Sources you may find useful are: Dan Gillmor, Long and Wall, Nick Davies and the chapters on participatory journalism uploaded in week 3 of the course.
4) Write a journal entry that describes and reflects on the phenomenon of "citizen journalism" as defined by Dan Gillmor (see uploaded chapter on mycourses). Think about its pros and cons, and consider the possible dangers of a media system where well-paid, professional journalists are a rarity. Please read the Dan Gillmor chapter and the chapters on participatory journalism that I posted for you on mycourses. This article should also help inspire you: http://www(dot)theguardian(dot)com/media/greenslade/2015/apr/07/democracy-will-die-if-professional-journalists-go-to-the-wall (Links to an external site.)
5) Compare and contrast the business model employed by traditional newspapers in the 'Press Barons' era in Britain and the ways in which the radical press funded itself before press taxes were lifted in 1869. Please reflect on the emotions and thoughts that this piece of media history stirred in you, and think about its implications for understanding the ways in which ideology in the media is inevitably a matter of economics too. NB: All of this is described in Part 1 of the book Power Without Responsibility (Curran and Seaton, 2010). Extracts from this book are uploaded on mycourses and the book itself is available in the Hult Library.
6) The Millenium Bug, SARS, WMD in Iraq ... Nick Davies claims all three are examples of "churnalism". Write a journal entry that explores ONE of these stories in depth, and include your emotional and intellectual reactions both to your chosen story itself and the phenomenon of "churnalism" in general. Ch 1 from Flat Earth News will be essential reading here. The book is available in the Hult library.
Rubric for grading criteria:
1)Answering the question; keeping on topic-You will do well if you answer the question fully, clearly and accurately without going out of point or getting lost on the way.(15pts)
2)-Clarity of thought and structure-You will do well if your answers are organised in a rational manner and are clear and easy to understand(15pts)
3)-References to class notes, sources and class discussions-you will do well if your notes and answers contain clear references to the ideas, readings and audio/video clips we discussed in class. All references must be acknowledged. There is no need for APA, but you must include the surname of the author and where applicable the page numbers concerned. For example:" As Long and Wall argue, a 'type' will trigger a set of expectations and beliefs ..." Another example: As Davies shows, the whole Millennium Bug saga was "a stunning example of a failure in truth-telling by the global media" (Flat Earth News, p. 12),(30pts)
4)-Evidence of thought and reflection-You will do well if your writing shows evidence of thought and reflection on the issues and debates you raise in your answers(30pts)
5)-Grammar, spelling-You will do very well if your writing is almost error-free.(10pts)
Mandatory Links for Dan Gillmor, Long and Wall, Nick Davies:
http://www(dot)hypergene(dot)net/wemedia/download/we_media.pdf
http://www(dot)theguardian(dot)com/media/2014/jul/25/-sp-rupert-murdoch-passive-power-hack-attack-nick-davies
http://www(dot)oreilly(dot)com/openbook/wemedia/book/ch06.pdf
http://www(dot)theguardian(dot)com/media/greenslade/2016/may/31/mass-media-is-over-but-where-does-journalism-go-from-here?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other
https://www(dot)1843magazine(dot)com/content/ideas/tim-de-lisle/can-guardian-survive
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Media Journal
Part 1: Rupert Murdoch
Brief summary
Born in March 11, 1931, in Melbourne, Australia, Rupert Murdoch is an American media proprietor. Murdoch's father Keith Arthur was also an editor, reporter, as well as the senior executive at Herald and Weekly Newspaper Publishing firm. Murdoch grew up as a son of a renowned journalist and thus groomed to join the world of publishing at a young age (Newscorp.com). He graduated from the Geelong Grammar in 1949 before joining the Worcester College in Oxford University. In 1965, Murdoch married his wife Patricia Booker and divorced in 1965. Later in 1967, he married Anna Torv and divorced in 1999 (Biography.com). 17 days later, he married his third wife-Wendi Deng, but later divorced in 2014. According to Forbes Murdoch is arguably one of the world's most influential media tycoons after leaving his role as the CEO at Cable TV plus broadcasting guru 21st Century Fox in 2015 (Forbes.com). Currently, he serves as the chairperson News Corp, which operated the Wall Street Journal as well as other print activities.
Rupert Murdoch's Character and relationship with politicians
Murdoch is avery outspoken person and does not hesitate to make hs views and opinions known on various issues including politics (Addley, 2016). He is a very shrewd businessman and his success in the media business is a clear indication that he is aperson that is always determined to succeed. His hands-on approach to issues is the reason why his business ventures have always been successful. He reads all the tweets from his followers and also types his tweets (Addley, 2016). Murdoch always takes a personal initiative to apologize to the public on the behalf of his companies whener a mistake has been made. Furthermore, Murdock is also a family man that likes reading books and hiking. However, most of Murdoch's former employees have always accused him of bullying and dictatorial tendencies and some writers even comlained that their stories were altered without their consent (Media Studies, Week 3).
Apart from being a shrewd busiinesmand and prominent media personality, Murdoch is also a powerful personality and even some politicians are tremble in his presence. He is aways in the company of powerful politicians in the country (Davies, 2014). In fact, Murdoch is often reffered to as the destroyer of reputations by the political elite and that is why they try their level best to avoid crossing his path. He has always played a critical role in the formation of British governments since 1979 (Davies, 2014). The man is so powerful to an exntent that powerful leaders create time for him in their busy schedules because ignoring him is the biggest mistake that oone can ever make. He is sometimes viewed as a media megalomaniac by outsiders but his vast media empire has been his source of power and any politician that wants to succeed must be his friend (Davies, 2014).
Personal reflection on why I like him and their influence in the media
The interest in Rupert Murdoch is because he built a media dynasty at age 22, after inheriting two newspapers the News and the Sunday Mail from his father. However, he continued to acquire other media houses over the years. In addition, the Murdoch family operates 120 dailies in five nations; a huge cable TV network consisting the U.S, Fox Channels as well as Fox International Channels across Africa, Europe, Asia and Latin America (NewsCorp.com). In addition, the family owns HarperCollins, a book-publishing firm, a huge broadcasting and satellite TV branch and a movie studio.
Murdoch's journey to a media mogul started immediately after taking over the News and the Sunday Mail after immersing in all operations of daily paper activities (Forbes.com). He redesigned page layouts, wrote headlines, as well as working in the printing and typesetting rooms. During his working, he changed the News daily into a journal of sex, crime and scandal making the paper controversial though its circulation heightened. Three years later (1956), Rupert Murdoch extended his business by acquiring the Perth- founded Sunday Times where he changed it into a startling fashion of the News (NewsCorp.com). Later, in 1960s, he purchased the Sydney-based afternoon paper, the Mirror. After making major success steps, he continued to harbor his ambitions and in 1965, he established Australian- first national newspaper in Australia that boosted his image as a renowned news publisher (Biography.com).
In 1968, aged 37, Murdoch's media empire was worth over $50 million where he purchased The News of the World a trendy Sunday sensationalist in London (Biography.com). A year later, he acquired the Sun, a struggling daily sensationalist and transformed the paper to a successful tabloid reporting majorly crime, sports and sex. In 1973, Murdoch increased his media empire in U.S by purchasing the San Antonio News -Texas-based sensationalist (NewsCorp.com). In 1974, he founded the Star- a national sensationalist and later in 1976 acquired the New York Post. Murdoch established the News Corps in 1979- a holding company for different media properties (NewsCorp.com).
During the 1980s and 1990s, Rupert Murdoch purchased new outlets across the world at distinctive places (NewsCorp.com). In England, he purchased the London-based Sunday Times and Times. U.S-based New York magazine, the Village Voice as well as the Chicago Sun-Times. During these periods, Murdoch started stretching his media business into an entertainment and TV broadcast. In 1985, he acquired the 20th Century Fox and other different independent TV stations and integrated all into FOX, Inc- a key American television network (Odiogor, 2011). In addition, he established STAR TV in 1990, which is based in Hong Kong and viewed by over 320 million viewers in Asia. Murdoch continued to invest media where he in the late 1980s, he acquired multiple prominent British and American scholarly and legendary publishing companies. Later on in 1990, he incorporated both into HarperCollins (NewsCorp.com).
In the later part of his career, Murdoch continued to develop News Corps and controlled increased number of viewers on a daily basis. He acquired Intermix Media that owned the MySpace social media site in 2005 (Biography.com). In 2007, Murdoch headlined after acquiring Dow Jones that owns the Wall Street Journal. His big influence has drawn critics over his monopolizing power over worldwide media outlets and his conservative political sentiments aired on Fox News Channel. Despite his success in media, Murdoch has suffered blows to his media empire. For instance, in 2011, London-based sensationalist The News of the World was involved in phone hacking scandal. However, despite the scandal News Corp continue to dominate almost all media forms across the world (Odiogor, 2011). In 2013, he restructured his media empire into two entities- News Corps and 21st Century Fox. In June 2015, Murdoch handed over his CEO role to his son James while remaining as the executive co-chairman.
Part 2: Social media and political activism: Arab uprising
The modern social media can be seen as a mixture of traditional culture convention for data representation, manipulation and access and newer convention of data representation manipulation and access. In the Arab uprising, people used Facebook to schedule and Twitter to coordinate the demonstrations and YouTube to demonstrate it globally. Social Media was used by famous activists in the Arab uprising to organize, educate, share cultural products of movements, build coalitions, communicate and o...