Weekly New Digital Media - 29.02.17 (50)

Post-truth era is perilous for media, says former Sunday Times editor

                

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/27/post-truth-era-perilous-for-media-sunday-times-editor-harold-evans

Summary: Sir Harold Evans expresses concern about fake news, Trump’s attacks on media and bad behaviour by some areas of press. The rise of fake news, attacks on the media by the administration of Donald Trump, and bad behaviour by some parts of the press have created a uniquely perilous time for journalism, according to former Sunday Times editor Sir Harold Evans. vans said this was a world that was epitomised by the behaviour of Trump and those around him. “In terms of truth of journalism it is a very perilous time,” said Evans. “We have those people who don’t have the brains to distinguish facts [from fiction]. Then we have the bad performers in the press, particularly numerous in the UK … Then you have got the assault [on the media].” Evans said Trump was a “congenital liar” who lied even when there appeared to be no advantage in doing so. “He is in a class by himself as a liar; it’s so often, and so intense and so astonishing.” He then continued to say “Rupert is too intelligent to become a captive of Trump, but he may prefer Trump to anybody else. Murdoch is much more a strategic thinker, more intelligent in public affairs than Trump.” Evans added that bad behaviour by sections of the media, particularly in the UK, were undermining trust in the rest of the industry.

[] Evans was editor of the Sunday Times for 14 years

[] After Murdoch’s acquisition of Times newspapers in 1981, he was made editor of the daily title, but resigned shortly afterwards over what he has said were political differences with the new owner.

[] However, he said he opposed Murdoch’s bid to take full control of Sky through a takeover by 21st Century Fox, on the grounds that concentration of media reduced incentives to tell the truth.

In my opinion: Trust and the truth are very hard for the customers to do with industries in media and the platforms that are in it, this is all due to the elite and their power of hiding things from the audience but then also harder for the audience to do due to the increase of fake news and realising that internet can be quite deceiving and that is of how we have made the internet to be as well as what we expect from the news to also deliver to us. 

Weekly New Digital Media - 29.02.17 (49)

BBC orders investigation into claims of aggressive TV licence enforcement                    

             

https://www.theguardian.com/media/2017/feb/27/bbc-investigation-tv-licence-enforcement-outsourcing-firm-capita

Summary: The BBC has ordered an investigation into how an outsourcing firm collects the TV licence amid claims that it runs an aggressive incentive scheme to maximise collection of fees from non-payers. Capita was said to have told an undercover reporter, who posed as an applicant for an enforcement job, that the company was “greedy” for as much cash as possible. Area TV licensing manager Ian Doyle was filmed saying: “We are looking to get 28 licence sales per week from each officer. As soon as you hit that magic 28 there’s a bonus ... Basically you’ve got to get 28 conviction statements before you can start hitting extra money.”The BBC told Capita to investigate the claims and “ensure swift and appropriate action” was taken. It confirmed that Capita operated an incentive scheme for enforcement officers, but insisted that this should only apply to licence fee sales and not prosecution statements as the undercover footage suggested. The House of Commons culture, media and sports committee is to raise the issue with both Capita and the BBC. Capita faces allegations that staff targeted vulnerable people under incentive scheme to maximise collection of fees

[] Anyone with a television or who watches iPlayer without a licence can be fined up to £1,000 and given a criminal record. 

[] The government has threatened to revive plans to decriminalise non-payment in a move that could cost the corporation £200m a year.

[] Capita’s enforcement officers are told to catch more than 28 licence fee evaders each week, as part of the company’s £58m contract to collect the charge.

In my opinion: I think that the new system that the BBC have got is effective because there are people (mostly students) who would watch things on demand and not have TV licences but still watch things on the iplayer, BBC just need to get better at catching those who don't have one because then there isn't no point of them having this system. BBC need to be able to have the right people who know what they are doing to maximise their collection fees otherwise these allegations that Capita were faced with could then be seen as a continuos problem. In addition it can also make the audience to be put off by BBC and may not even use it as much or no more because of the experiences they have faced with their team. 

Identities and Film - blog task

The media we choose to watch says a lot about us as people – it helps to construct our identity. 

1) Read Media Factsheet 142: Identity and Film.

2) Complete the Twenty Statements Test yourself. This means answering the question ‘Who am I?’ 20 times with 20 different answers. What do they say about your identity? Write the 20 answers in full on your blog.

[] I am a female 

[] I am the youngest sister

[] I am Muslim

[] I am British Pakistani 

[] I am a student 

[] I am 17 years old

[] I am a feminists

[] I am a daughter 

[] I am sociable

[] I am willing to come out of my comfort zone

[] I am not afraid to try new things

[] I am a quick learner 

[] I am a person who has a long attention spam

[] I am a hard worker 

[] I am a photographer

[] I am a Greenford High School student

[] I am kind 

[] I am a team-worker

[] I am going to travel and explore

[] I am interested in other cultures

3) Classify your answers into the categories listed  on the Factsheet: Social groups, ideological beliefs, interests etc.

Social groups

 I am a Greenford High School student 

I am 17 years old

I am a daughter 

I am the youngest sister

I am a female

Ideological beliefs 

I am a British Pakistani 

I am Muslim 

I am a feminists 

Interests 

I am a photographer 

Ambitions 

I am going to travel and explore

Self-evaluation

I am kind

I am a team worker

I am sociable

I am not afraid of trying to new things 

I am willing to come out of my comfort zone

I am a person who has a long attention spam

I am a quick learner 

I am a hard worker

4) Go back to your favourite film (as identified in the lesson). What does this choice of film say about your identity? Are there any identities within the film (e.g. certain characters) that particularly resonated with your values and beliefs?

One of my favourite film is "The Hobbit: An Unexpected Journey". This movie is where a reluctant hobbit, Bilbo Baggins, sets out to the Lonely Mountain with a spirited group of dwarves to reclaim their mountain home - and the gold within it - from the dragon Smaug. This movie reflects with my identity because it is a adventurous movie which reflects my identity interns of wanting to travel and explore, going to sightseeings etc. In addition as the protagonist is a Hobbit and it shows their struggles of being small and how people can undermine them, I am able to create a personal identity and relationship for the characters as being quite small too and the urge of myself wanting to prove people wrong when I feel though as if people undermine me. 

5) Watch the trailers for the five films highlighted as examples of gay/lesbian representation in mainstream film. How are LGBT identities constructed in the trailers and how are audiences encouraged to respond to these representations?

For each of the five films that highlight the examples of gay/lesbian representation in the mainstreams film. The LGBT identities were constructed as opening themselves up to the public and making the society become more open minded and not keep the LGBT community alienated due to their sexuality. Example like Pride, it makes the audience encouraged to represent positively to these representations and the feel of acceptance because of the "Trodov narrative" thats built up. These mainstream films are now also representing gay/lesbians in a positive way and making the audience know that they are just normal people and should be treated the same way as any other person that you would see. 

Identities: Applying Feminism

1) What are the five types of feminism outlined on the first page of the Factsheet?

• Radical Feminism: This type of feminism sees the cause of women’s oppression as men. It assumes that men deliberately exploit women as this benefits them. One of the main aims of this theory is to address concerns over violence against women, especially in sexual relationships.
• Liberal Feminism: This type of feminism is mainly concerned with gender socialisation in order to show that gender roles are not biologically determined. The main aim of this type of feminism is to change the ways children are socialised into stereotypical gender roles and to attempt to change social policy to improve the position of women within the family.
• Marxist-Feminism: This feminist approach looks at women’s oppression in relation to capitalism and the class system. One of the aims of this type of feminism is to look at the role of domestic labour within capitalism, namely that women work in the home for ‘free’, and the role women play in producing the next generation of the labour force.
• Black Feminism: This approach is primarily concerned with black and Asian women’s experiences of oppression and exploitation. It combines ideas about capitalism, patriarchy and anti-racism.
• Postmodern Feminism:  This type of feminism is associated with third wave feminists. It acknowledges the diversity amongst women and encourages individual women to find feminist ideas that combine with their own experiences of life to create a brand of feminism suitable for them.

2) Which category would Judith Butler fit into? What about Angela McRobbie? Laura Bates and Everyday Sexism? Explain your answers. 

For Judith Butler, I would think she fits into liberal feminism because she also thinks that gender roles are not biologically determined. Although for Angela McRobbie I would argue that she fits along with the category of marxists feminists because it focuses on women oppression in relation to capitalism and the class system whilst Angela had thought that we as in the audience look at each gender differently through the representation of what the media portrays and the difference between the gender roles they have in society. For the Everyday Sexism project by Laura Beates would fit in the category of postmodern feminism because she has set up an project which allows women to share their experiences of the sexists behaviour they've had towards them and what had then they done, the category of post feminism looks at the power of feminism and encourages individual women to find feminist ideas that combine with their own experiences of what they have experienced to then create a brand of feminism suitable for them. 

3) What was the difference between suffragists and suffragettes? Which approach do you agree with?

Suffragists: The National Union of Women’s Suffrage Societies (NUWSS) was formed in 1897 to unite several existing women’s groups who wanted the vote for women. They wanted to expand rights for all women and tried to achieve their goals through moderate, peaceful and lawful means. They presented reasoned arguments at public meetings and used petitions to raise public awareness of their plight.

Suggragettes: Women’s Social and Political Union. They believed strongly in what they were fighting for and were not afraid to use violent, confrontational and often illegal means to achieve their aims. They wanted the same rights as men and their chosen way to reach this goal was through ‘deeds not words’, most famously chaining themselves to the railings outside Downing Street and the houses of Parliament. 

I agree with the approach Suffragists had taken as fought the rights for women to vote in a peaceful and moderate way, it was less dangerous and no one could have told them off or told them they couldn't do what they done because it was lawful and it wasn't causing harm to anyone. They can go in a way that the peace and the rightful way would draw only positive attention to them and get heard in the right way. 

4) What was Laura Mulvey's argument regarding Hollywood film? Do you agree with it? Why?

The reason why I believe with Laura Mulvey's argument is because Hollywood do object females in women as only a pleasure to the audience and draw on to the male gaze. Within Hollywood, females can never be appreciated for what they can do but they just noticed as 'sex objects' and 'whores' as said by Mulvey and the upsetting thing is that Hollywoods films do this, is because they know this is the sort of this the wider and general audience like to see, it is seen as a norm in Hollywood films and that is just sad. 

5) Watch this YouTube video extract on Jean Kilbourne's Killing Us Softly series and list five examples she gives of the media objectifying women:

6) What is Killbourne's argument regarding the representation of women in advertising?

- Buses and Cars

- Bus Stops

- Doctors Offices

- Airplanes

- Billboards

- Sports Stadiums

- Schools

7) What is Naomi Wolf's argument in The Beauty Myth?

Her argument in the Beauty Myth is how it has been constructed by organisations of magazines and the media in general of how females should look and what 'beauty looks like', through this the audience have to live up to these standards that are set through software on computers. She also states that females that aren't white, she said that women of colour are generally considered beautiful only if they approximate the white ideal, whereas females that are West African are often featured in jungle settings wearing leopard skins as if they were exotic animals. Images on magazines especially set rules/standards for the general public and it would be associated with the word 'beauty.'

8) Why is the representation of women in music videos a controversial topic for feminists? 

This is because some people think that the representation of women in music videos are empowering women because of the control that they have whilst others believe that it is inviting the male gaze upon themselves as this was an example in Beyonces video; "Why Don't You Love Me"

9) What is your view of female artists such as Nicki Minaj or Beyonce - do they empower women or reinforce sexist, patriarchal views?

Both Nicki Minaj and Beyonce are two females artists that are very known to the public for whom they are but also what they represent in their songs or through their public appearances. Both artists speak about power and the rights of females but they go do it very differently. For both of the female artists, i feel though they reinforce the sexist because of how they represent themselves within the media and through their songs, this is done through the clothing they wear and the actions they show towards the public audience. 

10) Has new and digital media given women an opportunity to challenge sexist views or is it simply another media platform for women to be oppressed? Explain your view.

New and digital media has given women an opportunity to challenge sexists views, an example of is through how the Everyday sexism project did or through social media too as females have vocalised their opinion to it towards certain judgements that are made against them. But then I also think that is can be seen as a another media platform for women to be oppressed because people are so vocal and post anything and everything without considering what they are saying or how it may effect a person behind the screen as it can be done through comments under certain posts on social media. 

Identities: Feminism and new and digital media

Key notes - Waves of feminism
First wave: early 20th century, suffragette movement (right to vote).
Second wave: 1960s – 1990s, reproductive rights (pill), abortion, equal pay.
Third wave: 1990s – present, empowerment, reclaiming of femininity (high heels, sexuality etc. See Angela McRobbie's work on women's magazines).
Fourth wave? 2010 – ongoing, use of new technology and digital media (e.g. Twitter) for activism.

Fourth wave?
Many commentators argue that the internet itself has enabled a shift from ‘third-wave’ to ‘fourth-wave’ feminism. What is certain is that the internet has created a ‘call-out’ culture, in which sexism or misogyny can be ‘called out’ and challenged. 

This culture is indicative of the continuing influence of the third wave, with its focus on challenging sexism and misogyny in advertising, film, television and the media. 

___________________________________________________

Case study: Everyday Sexism

1) Why did Laura Bates start the Everyday Sexism project?
Laura Bates started the Everyday Sexism project because she wanted to raise awareness about this matter that is being unrecognisable and for people to think that its okay to do so because we are in a "post-feminine" era or it shouldn't be discussed about because females have got equality now. Laura made a website so everybody - females or males can share and write about any of the sexism experiences that they have had. 

2) How does the Everyday Sexism project link to the concept of post-feminism? Is feminism still required in western societies?
This project links to the concept of post-feminism because it shows how some of the females are now taking authority within themselves and standing up to the behaviour they get from some males. Also on the website there are also examples of some males standing up for females and their rights. People are now opening up to discussing about this instead of acting like sexism doesn't exist. I do think that feminism is still required in western societies because this isn't a men world anymore, a lot more females are taking in charge and getting higher positions in job roles. In my opinion, women shouldn't never be felt has a second best to men and shouldn't be discouraged because society has made it feel like it is a male world. 

3) How can you apply Judith Butler's theory of gender as a 'performance' to the creation of the Everyday Sexism project?
Bulters theory can be applied to this as a 'performance' socially, most of the time it can be seen that men in general - young and old think it is acceptable the way they sexually behave with a female is okay, as this topic is hardly ever spoken about, society is ignoring it and making it feel like its okay. It could be seen as if this is a social behaviour as nobody says anything about it, just like the examples Laura had given with her experiences and no-one tired to help her but instead they looked away awkwardly. 

4) How does Angela McRobbie's work on female empowerment link to the Everyday Sexism project?
Angela McRobbie's work on female empowerment can be linked to this is because females are now taking power and authority to how they are being treated by sexual behaviour towards them. As females are now sharing their stories on the website, it does raise the issue a little bit and making a wider audience aware of what does happen daily to other females, the anger that is being collected is making females stand up to their rights and encouraging as well as reinforcing female empowerment. 


Media Magazine: The fourth wave?

Read the article: The Fourth Wave? Feminism in the Digital Age in MM55 (p64)

1) Summarise the questions in the first two sub-headings: What is networked feminism? Why is it a problem?
Networked feminism is the name for 4th wave feminism. This came from the idea of fighter social quality issues found and are going on the digital media. The problem is that females or "femininity" is getting left behind due the increase of developments that are coming into technology. It suggests that within the media, feminists is still being associated with the means of getting recognised with the olden times - suffragettes who done things very differently and dangerously; tying themselves to railings and getting killed. 

2) What are the four waves of feminism? Do you agree that we are in a fourth wave ‘networked feminism’? 
First wave: early 20th century, suffragette movement (right to vote).
Second wave: 1960s – 1990s, reproductive rights (pill), abortion, equal pay.
Third wave: 1990s – present, empowerment, reclaiming of femininity (high heels, sexuality etc. See Angela McRobbie's work on women's magazines).

Fourth wave? 2010 – ongoing, use of new technology and digital media (e.g. Twitter) for activism.

In my opinion, I think there is a four wave but it just associated for females but also males. I think that females are more open about the fact that use digital media especially for activism but men do it too, and people just don't see it or won't admit because they feel though that since females are so open about it and many people just hear about females doing it, its only them. Males do it but they wouldn't like to admit it because it would make them question their masculinity. 

3) Focus on the examples in the article. Write a 100-word summary of EACH of the following: Everyday Sexism, HeForShe, FCKH8 campaign, This Girl Can.

Everyday sexism: The project started by Laura Baes in 2012 as a website which posted examples of sexism that users faced every day. It was set up because she found that feminism was hard to talk about. This campaign now is the most high-visibility feminists digital campagin, arguably due to its user generated content and its well used "hashtageverydaysexism" on twitter. This campaign is made to be very much personal and much more instant due to the role of social media. 

HeForShe: This campaign is led by Emma Watson, this campaign focuses on male support for gender equality, highlight that fact that feminism is not about promoting matriarchy bit solidarity. The digital commitment means that you can pledge to help the women's issues online, and now has generated a huge response. During the campaigns promotion, Watson used Twitter for a Q&A session, this represented both feminism and He For She as dynamic and integrated. 

FCKH8 campaign: This is a popular digital campaign, this movement foucses on the modern representation of girls and the huge social inequalities they face, whilst featuring young girls 'F-Bombing" to highlight society's imbalance when it comes to offences. This Campaign went viral due to a youtube video that was made; "Potty Mouth Princess", this video gained 1.6 million views. This video is a complete paradim shift in the representation of young girls, this was clearly liked by the audience. 

This Girl Can: This campaign has been described as the first fitness camping for women which doesnt shame or exclude them, by sharing photos,videos or even quotes exploitation of a women's fitness advert and without body shaming. There was an online petition about this as this campaign was heavily criticised especially by women themselves through social media. The online petition: "Stop Taxing Periods. Period" calls for tampons to stop being taxes as luxury items when they are more essentials than crocodile steak and which are not penalised by the same tariff. 

4) What is your opinion with regards to feminism and new/digital media? Do you agree with the concept of a 'fourth wave' of feminism post-2010 or are recent developments like the Everyday Sexism project merely an extension of the third wave of feminism from the 1990s?
In my opinion, I think that we are not entirely into the fourth wave but there could be potentially we will within few years time. Campaigns such as Everyday Sexism are trying to raise  awareness about issues that we don't want to talk about, it brings a positive view of how females are defending themselves and gaining their rights more vocally. 

Weekly New Digital Media - 22.02.17 (48)

The clock is ticking for Spotify

                               

                             http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38930699

Summary: It was as recently as September 2007 that Rick Rubin, then co-head of Columbia Records, put forward the idea as a way of combating online music piracy and file-sharing. You'd pay, say, $19.95 a month, and the music will come from anywhere you'd like," he told the New York Times. Spotify then came out over a year later. But Spotify is yet to make a profit, while plans to float the firm on the stock market have reportedly been delayed, raising a big question mark over its business model. Spotify isn't the only streaming platform, others have joined it over the past decade, including Apple Music, Amazon Prime Music and Deezer, as well as high-resolution music services Tidal and Qobuz. The firm originally planned to float this year, but according to the TechCrunch website, this could now be delayed until 2018. Spotify needs to conclude new long-term licensing deals with the big three record companies - Universal, Sony and Warner - to avoid the risk of suddenly losing major chunks of its content. Spotify must pay ever larger sums to its creditors just to settle the interest on its loan, while the amount of money it can raise from its IPO is trimmed by an ever greater amount.

[] Spotify is seen as the leader, with more than 100 million users, 40 million of them paid-up subscribers to its Premium tier.

[]  Swedish firm is now a major player in 60 countries, including the world's biggest music market, the US, where streaming accounted for 51% of music consumption last year.

[] magazine also hailed Spotify as "the place fans discover music as well as consume it", pointing to its promoted playlists, including its Discover Weekly service.

[] Spotify currently pays 55% of its revenue to record labels in royalties, with additional money going to music publishers.

[]  March last year, the firm raised $1bn from investors at an interest rate of 5% a year, plus a discount of 20% on shares once the initial public offering (IPO) of shares takes place.

My Opinion: Spotify is very popular in terms of how audience stream their music, the idea of streaming your music anywhere you want and however way you want; through computers or phones or even tablets, the accessibility to this streaming service is very much in the favours of a wide audience. In my opinion, I do think that Spotify will make their profit soon enough because many audience wouldn't move on from it as the prices are reasonable, the streaming service has a lots of features on for a wide audience; "Discover Weekly" or theres even an options of radios to listen too. The use of convergence is something that will allow audience to keep loyal to Spotify and help the service to make a profit. 

Weekly New Digital Media - 22.02.17 (47)

Female film protagonists reached all-time high in 2016, study shows

                               

https://www.theguardian.com/film/2017/feb/21/female-protagonists-high-2016-arrival-rogue-one-ghostbusters

Summary: The number of female protagonists in hit films was at an all-time high in 2016, according to a new study. Female-fronted films such as Arrival, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story, Bad Moms and Ghostbusters were notable examples and the year also saw a rise in women appearing within mixed ensembles. We have now seen over and over and over that female characters, when done well, they’re good box office,” said Martha Mauzen, who authored the study. Following in the footsteps of the female-fronted franchise relaunch The Force Awakens, Rogue One was also a big hit, making over $1bn at the worldwide box office, with Felicity Jones in the lead. While there was a wide representation in other genres, such as the Amy Adams-fronted Arrival, women are still more likely to be seen in a comedy, followed by drama, horror, animation and and sci-fi. It is possible that this is something of a quirk that we will not see repeated in the future,” Lauzen added. “It is also possible that introducing female protagonists is somehow an easier, less threatening fix than hiring women directors and writers.” This year has already shown that women can open movies, with Nasa drama Hidden Figures making $165m at the global box office. 2017 will also see female-fronted blockbusters such as Wonder Woman, Beauty and the Beast, Alien: Covenant and Star Wars: The Last Jedi.

[] Women made up 29% of leads in the top 100 films of last year, up 7% from 2015 thanks to Arrival, Rogue One: A Star Wars Story and Ghostbusters

[] 37% of films included major female characters, up 3% from 2015 and another all-time high.

[] Bad Moms which made $179m worldwide from a $20m budget. A sequel is now on the way

[] Action films are still the rarity, with just 3% of female leads.

[]  Hollywood still favors white female leads, with Asian characters rising to 6%, black female characters going up to 14%, but Hispanic women falling to just 3%

In my opinion, I feel though as now females are finally getting the recognition for the good things they have done, especially in movies. Females are getting the lead roles and those movies specifically are doing well in the box office, it can show that the representation can be changing and the audience to like a different change in movies as in terms of the protagonist. It can mean that the film industry are moving on and reinforcing the modern society that everybody thinks of and especially how females play a role with it. 

Weekly New Digital Media - 15.02.17 (46)

Yahoo issues new warning of potentially malicious activity on accounts

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/15/yahoo-hack-warning-user-data-2015-2016                              

Summary: Yahoo is warning users of potentially malicious activity on their accounts between 2015 and 2016, the latest in a string of cybersecurity problems faced by the technology company. The measure comes two months after the company revealed that data from more than 1bn user accounts had been compromised in August 2013, the largest such breach in history. The number of affected accounts was double the number implicated in a 2014 breach the internet company disclosed in September and blamed on state-sponsored hackers. Yahoo believes that the cookie-forging activity is linked to the same state-sponsored hackers, although the company would not name the state. Security experts have pointed to Russia and China as the usual suspects for these kinds of attacks, although some have questioned whether Yahoo would be a target. It is not clear how many user accounts are affected by the malicious activity announced Wednesday, although a Yahoo investigation has revealed that it involved the use of forged cookies, which can be used to access people’s accounts without re-entering their passwords.

[] Hackers potentially accessed accounts between 2015 and 2016, and the warning comes two months after saying data from 1bn users was compromised in 2013

[] Verizon is close to a renegotiated deal for Yahoo’s internet properties that would reduce the price of $4.8bn agreement by about $250m, following revelations about the company’s security breaches

My opinion: New and digital media is so advanced and some people like to use this in such a negative way and they are the sort of users of the internet that use it for all the wrong reasons. Hackers are setting up the worst examples of the developments that the internet is coming up with, this is something that can scare people to trust the internet and the developments of the internet. It is good that Yahoo is aware of this and are at least trying to do something to prevent it and protecting their users. 

Weekly New Digital Media - 15.02.17 (45)

Twitter loses ad revenue despite gaining 2 million users and Trump 'boost'

                                            https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2017/feb/09/twitter-loses-advertising-revenue-rise-users-shares

Summary: Shares in Twitter have slumped after the tech company suffered a decline in advertising income, despite a rise in user numbers as Donald Trump’s high-profile tweeting helped to advertise the platform’s influence. Jack Dorsey, chief executive and co-founder, hailed the growing “impact and influence” of Twitter, saying the US president had “boosted the power” of the service. But investors took fright as the loss-making company conceded that its financial growth was lagging behind its increasing popularity among users and would continue to do so in the near future. Twitter has now racked up losses of almost $2.8bn since it floated on the stock market three years ago – at $26 a share – and the latest figures deal a blow to the company’s plan to turn a profit by the end of 2017. The company had reported an increase in advertising revenue in the first three quarters of the year, before the trend reversed in the final three months. This was largely down to a 5% slump in revenues in the US to $440m, a fall that wiped out a 12% rise to $277m in its international markets. The company said “revenue growth will continue to lag audience growth in 2017 and could now be further impacted by escalating competition for digital ad spending”.

[] Investors take fright as company reveals $457m loss for 2016 and concedes its financial growth is lagging its popularity 

[] annual revenues up 14% on last year to $2.5bn (£2bn)

[] Monthly active users climbed from 317 million to 319 million in the final quarter of last year.

[] fall in advertising revenue in the fourth quarter, down to $638m from $641m in the same period of last year. 

[] The number of monthly users had picked up slightly since then, rising 3% in 2016 compared with 1% in 2015, and Dorsey said he believed advertising revenue would catch up.

[[] But there were signs of improvement ahead as cash flow increased to $440m from $5m in 2015

[] company is also making progress in the amount it spends on paying staff in stock, which has fallen to 24% of revenue and is slated to fall to 20% in 2017.

In my opinion I think that advertising is already so hard to make a revenue out of since as some audience do block of the ads making it harder for advertisements company to make revenue out it. From the statistics above, the fall in advertising revenue is still decreasing, but having such a large audience on a big social media platform could still allow Twitter to get some revenues out of it, if users do spend a lot of time on it and more users are joining. 

Identities: Feminist theory and blog task

Feminist theory: key notes
Judith Butler: gender roles

• Butler believes traditional feminists are wrong to divide society into ‘men’ and ‘women’ and says gender is not biologically fixed.
• By dividing men and women, feminists accidently reinforced the idea of differences between the two genders
• Butler believes gender roles are ‘a performance’ and that male and female behaviour is socially constructed rather than the result of biology.

Butler and the media

• If gender is a ‘performance’ rather than biological, we then need to think about what is influencing that ‘performance’.
• And that’s where the media comes in. How might the media influence our behaviour in terms of gender roles?

Angela McRobbie: empowering women

• McRobbie is a British cultural theorist known for her work analysing magazines aimed at women and teenage girls in the 80s and 90s.
• McRobbie highlights the empowering nature of magazines such as Cosmopolitan and Glamour, taking a different perspective to traditional feminists.
• This idea of ‘popular feminism’ fits into the idea of post-feminism and challenges the radical feminism of the 1970s.

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1) How might this video contribute to Butler’s idea that gender roles are a ‘performance’?

The video can reinforce the view of Butler and his theory of how gender roles can be construed though a 'performance' within media texts, the example of it can be shown in Beyonce's video. Within this video, Beyonce plays serval roles, dressing up as a housewive, trying to clean and cook; playing the role of a typical and stereotypical that a housewive would do. This reinforces the thought of them as vulnerable and females that are just there for men's pleasure. The fact that Beyonce is crying and pouring her feelings out for a men that she is questioning why he doesnt love her despite all that she has and can do, can reinforce that men have all the power and the control over a women and females have to have men in their life, this automactially puts a social divide of genders within society.

2) Would McRobbie view Beyonce as an empowering role model for women? Why?

McRobbie could see Beyonce as an empowering role model for women because of the lyrics that are stating that she doesn't need a guy as she can do things herself but she is questioning why he doesn't love her. But her actions are contradicting with what she is saying. McRobbie could also see Beyonce as reinforcing the gender roles.

3) What are your OWN views on this debate – does Beyonce empower women or reinforce the traditional ‘male gaze’ (Mulvey)?

In my opinion, I think Beyonce is reinforcing the male gaze upon herself through her actions and the camerawork that has been done throughout her music video. This is through the fitted clothing that she is wearing and high angles but also her actions that can attract and make the male audience wanting to watch more of the video. These conventions are objectifying females and reinforcing the traditional 'male gaze.' However, it could be also argued that Beyonce can be empowering because the control she has over her body and how she comes across towards the audience, but I personally would argue that Beyonce is inviting male gaze upon herself and doesnt come across empowering at all, instead it comes across as desperate and trashy.