Chris Brennan

   Well we had a lot of trouble getting there – but we did it. The presentations were this week and I feel we did quite well. We made a big change in the focus of the research since the last presentation in that we decided to focus solely on the new social networking features of XBOX Live. I think it worked well because it had more focus. Our presentation had 3 main areas – the new XBOX Live features in terms of Convergence and Globalisation, and the debate amongst XBOX LIVE users regarding whether this improves or detracts from their experience.

   As everyone obviously knows we didn’t end up presenting it over XBOX Live in class as we had planned because the guys in IT told us this would be too hard. Our back-up plan was to present it over a video conferencing site called TinyChat.com. However this needed broader authenticiation, which wouldn’t work on our laptops, and the IT guys wouldn’t let us hook-up a webcam at uni. So we ended up all doing our presentation from home and organizing it via a phone call to Jason. And on top of that I couldn’t connect to the site with my webcam for two hours right up until our presentation, despite the fact it had worked fine the day before – it was very lucky we had left ourselves two hours to get it ready. Needless to say we probably spent as much time in putting together our actual presentation as we did our research. However I do think it turned out alright. From what I hear the class didn’t have too many troubles following our presentation. The only drawback was that we couldn’t see the class, as there were no webcams on the lab computers, so it was hard to gauge their reactions.

   The other drawback of having to do our presentations from home was that we didn’t get to see the other presentations. It’s a shame because I was really looking forward to seeing how they all turned out because they were all interesting concepts.

   I found this week’s topic really interesting. The video we watched today on Google was great because I didn’t know anything about the business side of Google, even though it is a service I use daily. It was interesting to see Google’s humble roots and then how it grew to the enormous multinational corporation/international icon that it is today. It sort of started out with this fun atmosphere and tried to set itself apart from the traditional corporation, but it became more like these companies as it searched for ways to make money and grew into what it is today. It was also really interesting seeing some of the privacy issues surrounding the fact that Google keep information on your web surfing activities in order to provide their service. This is something I was previously unaware of.

   The reading was also interesting, as it showed how Google lists its search results is in a way that promotes visitors to larger corporate sites, although not on purpose (Hindman, 2009). I did previously know that most internet usage was dominated by mainstream media websites, but I never thought that Google might contribute to this. Google lists sites based on number of links, which appears to be effective campared to other search engines in providing isfeul results to users(Hindman, 2009). However it would be good to see a search engine that maintains Google’s good results for users, while giving smaller sites a better chance of being noticed. But I’m not sure how or if this could be done.

References:

Hodman, M (2009), ‘”Googlearchy”: he Link Structure of Political Websites’, The Myth of Digital Democracy, Princeton University Press, pp.38-57.

This week we had presentation proposals. I think that ours went quite well, though I think it became clear that we have to focus our topic a bit more and do a better job relating it to globalization, as that is what this subject is mainly about. The other big thing we have to work out is the technical side of things. I’m not sure if we will be able to give our presentation over XBOX Live as we are planning to, but I’m sure we will work something out.

I think that all the groups did quite well, and it will be interesting to see how they turn out. All the ideas are very different, as are the proposed presentations methods.

I found the lecture really interesting this week. It introduced a key point about the internet I think is often usually overlooked - its ‘glocalised’ nature. There are two ways in which the internet can be considered ‘glocalised’. The first is that people use the internet  in different ways depending on where in the world they live. As we’ve learnt previously the uptake and usage of new technologies, like the internet, is socially determined (Winston, 1998); this is a key factor leading to the internet being a ‘glocalised’ medium. But technological infrastructure and local laws also have an impact on how the internet is used differently in different places. The reading this week on Trinidad demonstrated this well (Miller and Slater, 2000). It provided a detailed history of internet use in Trinidad, which allowed us to compare it to our own and see just how different an experience it can be in different settings. The other factor that leads to the internet being ‘glocalised’, which came up in the lecture, is that although it is a global communication system we usually use it to maintain our local relationships. I think Facebook is the perfect example of this. Although the homepage of Facebook shows a world map with lines between countries to represent its global nature, the fact is that, despite its potential for global social networking, we usually only use it to connect to people we already know from work or school, some of which will often only live down the block.

References: 

Miller, D, Slater, D (2000), ‘Trinidad and the Internet – An Overview’, The Internet: An Ethnographic Approach, Berg, pp.

Winston, B (1998), ‘Introduction: A storm from paradise’, Media Technology and Society – A history: from the telegraph to the internet, London, Routledge, pp.1-14.

Online Campaign – Greenpeace: stop climate change

What is the campaign about?

On the Greenpeace website there are several campaigns under the ‘help stop climate change’ category. The campaign I chose to focus on is a campaign was relating to an internal memo of the API (American Petroleum Institute) that was leaked to Greenpeace. There is a link to the memo on Greenpeace’s website. The memo outlines a plan for the major petrol companies to join forces to stage fake anti-climate-protection policy protests and plans to skew the facts to alternative fuel look more expensive than it actually is.

What can you do?

The campaign asks people to email the major petrol companies, telling them that you know about the API’s plans, and asking them to speak out against the actions of the API and support climate change policies.

Target audience

There doesn’t seem to be a particular target audience for this campaign, just anyone that happens to come across it on their site. So I guess it is aimed more towards those that are already involved or interested in Greenpeace activities, which follows the argument in the Cabtree reading that internet only really has the capacity to enable people who are already engaged to participate (Crabtree, 2007). Although, in this case, I do think they could have done a job of getting this out. I didn’t know about it until I searched their site to research for this blog. I think there would be other that would participate if they knew about it. The email is already typed up for you so that all you have to do is sign your name and press send. I think this is a good idea because it is easy to use and makes the lazy and apathetic people, such as me, more inclined to participate, which I did. This is a goof thing since studies show that more and more people are becoming disengaged from politics (Coleman, 2005: 197). In this case I think it is an example of how the internet has the potential to make people more engaged in politics (Coleman, 2005)[1].

I’m also surprised that a ploy to stage fake protests wasn’t a big news story. It was only published in niche media or more high-brow media like the Guardian and the New York Times. I’m not sure why that is – maybe Greenpeace needed to do more to get it out there

Scope

The scope of this campaign is international. Even though it is about the American Petrolium Institute, it is asking anybody from across the globe that has an interest to send the email and place pressure on these companies to do the right thing.

For anyone interested, here is the link:

http://www.greenpeace.org/international/campaigns/climate-change/oil-industry-action180809

References

Coleman, S (2005), The Lonely Citizen: Indirect Representation in an Age of Networks, Political Communication, Routledge, Vol.22, pp.197-214.

Crabtree, J (2007), ‘Civic Hacking: a new agenda for e-democracy’, openDemocracy, accessed 08/09/2009, http://www.opendemocracy.net/debates/article-8-85-1025.jsp

[1] Although Coleman is mainly concerned with people becoming more engaged with their political politicians.

Global Media Corporation - Sony

Sony is a large multinational media corporation with reaches across the globe, consistent with the current tend brought about through the spread of global capitalism (Flew, 2007: 74-77). Sony Corporation is a public parent company that owns 311 subsidiary companies (OneSource, 2009). Its head quarters are based in Tokyo, Japan. Interestingly though its’ CEO Howard Stringer, is a US citizen. I guess that’s a reflection of the nature of global media corporations. It has 171,300 employees (as of March 31, 2009) and generated 7 730 000 million yen last year (Sony Corporation, 2009a).

Sony sprung from a small radio repair shop in 1946 before growing into one of the biggest multinational media corporations in the world (Sony Corporation, 2009b). Although Sony started off as primarily a hardware manufacturer, it gradually moved into the communications industry with acquisition of CBS Music in 1968 followed by Columbia Pictures and the formation of Sony Computer Entertainment (usb4ever, 2007).

Sony now has holding in electronics (which is where it started), Pictures (including film and television), Finance Services (including insurance companies), Games (hardware and software) and Music. Its’ main subsidiaries now include CBS music (now Sony Music Entertainment), Columbia Pictures Entertainment (now Sony Pictures Entertainment), Sony Ericson (joint venture with Ericson), Sony Financial Holdings and Sony Electronics (OneSource, 2009).

Sony seems to have a limited political influence compared with other media companies. I was unable to find evidence of any political donations. Because it is mainly a hardware manufacturer with holdings in entertainment media, it seems to have less potential for influence than other media companies, such as News Corporation which is primarily a news media organization. But Sony has been campaigning for sustainable living and is trying to emphasis its use of ‘sustainable design of products. It also emphases its involvement in education through Sony Corporation’s Social Contribution Committee (Sony Corporation, 2009c)

SWOT:

Strengths/opportunities

• Sony is a well-recognized and respected brand.
• Expanded from an electronics company to include entertainment media as well.
• Sony’s portfolio of motion pictures through Sony Pictures Entertainment has potential to earn money with the maturation of DVD as a product and the emergence of Blue-Ray and digital downloads (Darleen, 2009).

Weaknesses/Threats

• New technologies in mass producing electronic equipment make it easier for new companies to compete (Darleen, 2009)
• In audio technology Sony’s Walkman has lost its dominance to Apple’s IPod, although it has recently outsold Ipod in the Japanese Market (Bloomberg New, 2009)
• IPod is also dominating the digital download market.
• Loss of dominance in the consol market to Nintendo (McWhertor, 2009)

References:

Bloomberg News (2009), ‘In Japan, Walkman’s sales overtake Ipod’s’, CharlotteObserver.com, accessed 07/09/2009, http://www.charlotteobserver.com/business/story/925911.html

Darleen (2009), ‘SWOT analyses for Sony’, OP Papers, accessed 06/09/2009, http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Swot-Analysis-Sony/189534

Flew, T (2007), ‘Globalization and global media corporations’, Understanding Global Media, Palgrave Macmillan, Houndmills, Basingstroke, Hampshire, pp.66-97.

McWhertor (2009), US console sales take another big hit in June, Kataku, accessed 07/09/2009, http://kotaku.com/5316476/us-console-sales-take-another-big-hit-in-june

OneSource (2009), ‘SOny Corporation’, OneSource, accessed 2/09/2009, http://globalbb.onesource.com.ezproxy.uow.edu.au/web/reports/ReportMain.aspx?KeyID=26318&Process=CP&Report=CORPFAM

Sony Corporation (2009a), ‘Sony Corp. Info’, Sony Corporate, accessed 03/09/2009

http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/Subsidiaries/index.html

Sony Corporation (2009b), ‘Sony History’, Sony, accessed 03/09/2009, http://www.sony.net/Fun/SH/1-1/h2.html

Sony Corporation (2009c), ‘Community’, Sony, accessed 03/09/2009, http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/Environment/contribution/theme/index.html

usb4ever (2007), ‘History of Sony Corporation’, usb4ever, accessed 4/09/009, http://www.usb4ever.com/Sony/sony-corporation.html

Job: Journalist Cadet Level One

Location: Burdekin, Townsville, QLD

Salary: undisclosed

Contract: Full time/permanent

Employer: Lower Burdekin Newspaper Company PTY. LTD. – Owned by News Limited

Advertised in: The Townsville Bulletin

The Job is a cadetship at the local Newspaper in Burdekin. ‘Essential is an honest, friendly and professional disposition together with an intrinsic ability to meet deadlines and identify with the local community… The position offers excellent prospects for advancement throughout the groups’ publications. The company is a member of the News Limited Group’.

Career – Journalism

Journalism is an information labor job, which, as Jason mentioned in the lecture is becoming more common. Most of the accounts I read of journalists did like their job; I guess this is because that it is mostly those who are enthusiastic that were willing to be interviewed about their careers. Some of the positives of the job for journalists were the ability to investigate and speak to many different people (My Job Search, 2009), freedom to write about what you want (Rogers, 2009c) and being able to master a range of topics (Rogers, 2009e). Some of the negatives were the constant pressure of deadlines (Rogers, 2009a), having to find and produce stories no matter how you’re feeling (My Job Search, 2009), their work not having the desired impact (Rogers, 2009b), lack of space and depth of articles (Rogers, 2009c) and having to rely on press releases and email instead of face to face interviews (Rogers, 2009d). However, despite these positive accounts not all journalists are satisfied with their jobs. The increase in people in the communications industry taking their work home as a result of new media technologies (Gregg, 2009) also applies to journalism. According to a Pontyer survey, more than 50% of news-room managers say they take their work home with them and a almost a third of these say they still cant get the work done (Geisler, 2005). While more than half of journalists surveyed said they were dissatisfied with their work/leisure balance and almost half the journalists surveyed said they were seriously considering leaving the profession (Geisler, 2005). Also, the increase in freelance journalism (Newman, 2009), reflects the increased frequency of casual non-secure jobs, as mentioned in the Deuze reading (Dueze, 2007: 3), which can lead to an increased independence, but also a decreased job security (Dueze, 2007: 23).

References:

Newman, J (2009), ‘The increasing importance of freelance journalists to media relations efforts’, Jon’s PR 1.5, accessed 2/06/2009,

http://jonnewman.typepad.com/jons_bridge/2009/03/the-increasing-importance-of-freelance-journalists-to-media-relations-efforts.html

 Geisler, J (2005), Out of Balance: Poynter Survey Reveals Journalists’ Pressure Points, Poynter Online, accessed 2/06/2009, http://www.poynter.org/content/content_view.asp?id=78725

Gregg, M (2009), ‘Function Creep: Communication technologies and anticipatory labor in the information workplace’, Home Cooked Theory, accessed 2/06/2009, http://homecookedtheory.com/wp-content/uploads/functioncreepnms.doc

My Job Search (2009), ‘What’s it really like?’, My Job Search: Journalist, accessed 30/08/2009, http://www.myjobsearch.com/careers/journalist.html

Rogers, T (2009a), ‘Working Journalist: J.D. Mullane’, About.com, accessed 30/08/2009,

http://journalism.about.com/od/careersinjournalism/a/jdmullane.htm

Rogers, T (2009b), ‘Working Journalist: Rob Davis’, About.com, accessed 30/08/2009,

http://journalism.about.com/od/careersinjournalism/a/robdavis.htm

Rogers, T (2009c), ‘Working Journalist: Mike Sielski’, About.com, accessed 30/08/2009,

http://journalism.about.com/od/profiles/a/mikesielski.htm

Rogers, T (2009d), ‘Working Journalist: Michael Rushton’, About.com, accessed 30/08/2009, http://journalism.about.com/od/careersinjournalism/a/michaelrushton.htm

Rogers, T (2009e), ‘Working Journalist: Steve Wartenberg’, About.com, accessed 30/08/2009, http://journalism.about.com/od/careersinjournalism/a/stevewartenberg.htm

I found the idea interesting in the lecture this week that globalization is not a new phenomenon but has occurred in different forms throughout history, such as the Roman Empire and the British Empire. I think this shows that the idea of the latest form of globalization brought on by the internet and new media as being unique is not quite accurate.

In the Kevin Kelly reading (Kelly, 1999) he argues strongly that the new digital economy will change our lives as much as the industrial revolution did. I’m not sure what I think about it. I think there are definitely aspects of new media and the digital economy that are new, but as the example of globalization shows it is not completely unique either. The question is how unique is it and how much will this affect the way it is? It’s a difficult question to answer and only time will tell I guess. Until these new media technologies have had a chance to become more fully integrated into society its impacts can not be fully recognized.

I’m not quite sure I understood what point McLuhan was trying to make in the Gutenberg Galaxy (Mcluhan, 1962), but basically it uses examples from King Lear to describe western society’s gradual change from an oral to a written culture and argues that written cultures tend to be more individualistic. He says that in relation to the media that oral societies are more concerned with access and results than freedom of expression. And I think that he concludes that access and results are in fact more important. I’m not sure what I think about this either. I do think that it is important for new media to maintain freedom of expression, but then at the same time what good is this if people don’t have access to it?

References:

McLuhan, M (1962), ‘The Gutenberg galaxy’, The Gutenberg Galaxy: the Making of Typographic Man, Routledge and Kegan Paul, London, pp.11-21

Kelly, K (1999), ‘The new economy’, New rules for the new economy, accessed 14/8/2009, http://www.kk.org/newrules/newrules-intro.html