NDM Summary 14/11/13

Weekly NDM Story .. 

Sunday, 15 September 2013 - We have Abandoned our Children to the Internet ..

Sunday, 22 September 2013 - Apple says "t's working on fix for iOS 7 lockscreen bypass flaw"

Saturday, 28 September 2013 - Sun on Sunday and the Sunday Mirror suffer sales drops after cover price hikes

Thursday, 3 October 2013 - News Corp reveals plan to boost advertising following paywall launch

Sunday, 13 October 2013 - Apple iOS 7 software update: love it or loathe it?

Saturday, 26 October 2013 - BBC iPlayer: viewers ditch computers for tablets and mobiles ..

Saturday, 26 October 2013 - Rupert Murdoch elected chairman of 21st Century Fox

Sunday, 10 November 2013 - Newspapers Are Dying For A Lot Of Reasons, And Craigslist Is One Of Them

Saturday, 16 November 2013 - Open thread: why is YouTube's new comments system causing such anger?

Saturday, 16 November 2013 - Sun editor: topless Page 3 photos 'not set in stone' ..

WWW - I post a variety of different stories on my blog each week allowing me to be a where of the news and what's going on around the world. My structure of each story is easy to read and clear which will help me when it comes to revising.

EBI - I should have more stories and I could have highlighted the key words and bullet pointed more facts.

Weekly NDM Story ..

Open thread: why is YouTube's new comments system causing such anger?

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/12/open-thread-youtube-new-comments-system-causing-anger-google

YouTubes commenting section has now been changed to squeeze out trolls in favour of "conversations that matter to you". In the days since, there's been a considerable backlash against the changes, which appears to be gathering pace, and it's all about the way YouTube's comments section is now tied to the Google+ social network.

More than 95,000 people have so far signed a Change.org petition calling for YouTube to change the comments section back to its original form: "Google is forcing us to make google+ accounts and invading our social life to comment on a youtube video and trying to take away our anonymous profile. They are also trying to censor us unless we share the same worldview as they do," claims the petition, which is aiming to get 150,000 signatures.

• YouTube's official video introducing the comments changes has also been catching flak, and not just in its comments. At the time of writing, 2,127 people have given the video a thumbs-up, while 40,450 have given it a thumbs-down.
• The site's own co-founder Jawed Karim hit out at the changes late last week, posting a message on his channel asking: "Why the fuck do i need a google+ account to comment on a video?"
• Meanwhile, YouTube's biggest star PewDiePie – more than 15.6 million subscribers and 2.8bn total views – has disabled comments on his channel, albeit for different reasons: he claimed that his top comments were overrun with "Links to virus sites, advertisers, self-advertisers, spam, copy and paste pics of dogs (I'm OK with those though)."

Changes to any big social media service often attract a lot of criticism when they happen, before it settles down. This feels more serious, but I personally don't think its not that big of a problem. Eventually everyone will get over it, its a better system now because it blocks out and stops trolls and jealous people.

Weekly NDM Story ..

Sun editor: topless Page 3 photos 'not set in stone' ..

http://www.theguardian.com/media/2013/nov/05/david-dinsmore-on-page-3-hillsborough-buzzfeed-and-politics

Could The Sun be on the verge of changing its mind about Page 3? Its editor, David Dinsmore, said today: "It is not set in stone that there must be a pair of breasts every day on Page 3." His statement came on a day where the paper had a very different kind of Page 3 where there was no nipples on display.

He had earlier pointed out, during an interview with the BBC's John Pienaar, that he stood by his decision to continue running pictures of topless women. He said: "I make The Sun for its readers, not for the No More Page 3 people, or the Twitterati or Guardian readers. We held focus groups in which it was clear that we shouldn't touch it [Page 3]. People don't want to be told what should be in their newspaper." Dinsmore said Page 3 was an "intrinsic part of the brand" and to remove it would therefore be "brand erosion." He added: "As far as I'm concerned I've parked the issue.

Now the paper has digital competitors, such as BuzzFeed, which he described as "brilliant - the best thing on the internet". Its content, "with a mix of light and shade", was "just like The Sun." He was convinced that, despite falling print sales, his paper's content was "the subject of every conversation in Britain each day", even though people might not be conscious of it coming from The Sun because it was copied so quickly by other sites. "People don't want news," he said, "they need it." He would not be drawn on how well, or not, The Sun's website has performed since it went behind a paywall (a word he didn't like).

Personally, I believe the suns page 3 is the unique selling point of that newspaper and also, the man is right when he explains how people don't actually want news however they need it therefore having something that will attract them isn't all bad. On the other hand I find it degrading and harsh on women for a whole newspaper to portray these women as sex objects. Its wrong and as a women I think they should get rid of page 3. If people don't want to read the news that's there problem.

NDM: UsvsTh3m ..

Daily Mail quiz powers UsvsTh3m towards 3m users ..

The reason why this website is a good idea for newspapers in the digital age is because the Daily Mirror publisher's Buzzfeed-style social content offering, is expected to reach 3 million unique users in October thus attracting a wider audience. Trinity Mirror claims that the site will pass the 3 million monthly unique user mark at about lunchtime on Thursday, almost tripling the number of users recorded in September. This is all through the 1.25 million users, that came from the people playing and sharing the tongue-in-cheek Daily Mail quiz. Users are encouraged to share their scores on USvsTh3m games and quizzes via social media, helping to drive up traffic, making everything about it interactive therefore attracting a wider audience.

Weekly NDM Story ..

Newspapers Are Dying For A Lot Of Reasons, And Craigslist Is One Of Them

http://www.webpronews.com/newspapers-are-dying-for-a-lot-of-reasons-and-craigslist-is-one-of-them-2013-08

Newspapers are dying. It’s an inevitable fact that the Internet has made print newspapers largely irrelevant. People think that the Internet has only robbed newspapers of their readers due to the medium’s ability to deliver news faster, but a new study has found that the Internet has been taking ad dollars from newspapers as well.

What should worry more newspapers is that the study didn’t take into account any decline in classified ad rates from 2008 to 2012. The researchers fear that newspapers may have felt the sting of Craigslist even more over the last four years. The study also didn’t take into account other online classified ad services so the impact could be even greater. 

Despite the doom and gloom surrounding the death of newspapers, the researchers are largely positive. They feel that newspapers are adjusting their business models to deal with the shortfall left behind by the loss of readers and ads. That’s true for the larger newspapers, like The New York Times, that have successfully transitioned to online and mobile.

Personally, I believe newspapers are dying because e-media has taken over through the simple fact that its easier and quicker to find information out. Also, because newspapers cost, people prefer online news as its free. Eventually newspapers will die forever, its just a matter of time.

Weekly NDM Story ..

Instagram acts after BBC finds site users are advertising illegal drugs ..

http://www.theguardian.com/technology/2013/nov/07/instagram-illegal-drugs-bbc-investigation

Instagram has now become Strict with their users updates, comments and hashtags in a bid to stamp out the sale of illegal drugs. After a BBC investigation, it was found that people were selling and adverting illegal drugs to their followers. Most of the drug sales have mainly taken place in the US according to the #BBCtrending strand on the broadcaster's website.

One ad posted below an image of bags of marijuana said: "Just getting a few packs ready for tomorrow morning … Place your order today, it gets shipped out at 8am tomorrow." Another photo displayed a selection of pills with the caption: "$2 a pop for xans, $10 a pop for roxys " – a reference to Xanax, a psychoactive anxiety treatment, and Roxicodone, an opiate used to treat pain.

Many deals were finalised through instant messaging apps such as whatsapp or kik allowing messages to be kept private. Instagram which is owned by Facebook has a policy of actimng on reported inappropriate activity. But it told the BBC that there was no point in finding such material because its terms of service state: "You may not use the service for any illegal or unauthorised purpose,  people can't buy things on Instagram, we are simply a place where people share photos and videos." 

Personally, its not a shock to me that people are using social networking sites for illegal uses, and its not another shock that imstagram don't think its worth checking out. If people are going to sell drugs they will, nobody can stop the because they'll find another way of selling it. However the BBC investigating it will help cut the problem down. 

Weekly NDM Story ..

Rupert Murdoch elected chairman of 21st Century Fox

http://www.theguardian.com/media/greenslade/2013/oct/21/rupert-murdoch-21st-century-fox

Shareholders of 21st Century Fox ignored a call for an independent chair by electing Rupert Murdoch as chairman during a meeting on Friday (18 October). Murdoch's sons, Lachlan and James, were also confirmed as board directors. Two investor groups, Christian Brothers Investment Services and the British Columbia Investment Management Corporation of Canada, proposed that there should be a separate chairman and chief executive.

• And the proxy advisory firm, Institutional Shareholder Services, recommended that shareholders should vote against Murdoch and eight other directors, including his sons.
• Reuters reports that Timothy Schaler, an investment adviser for Christian Brothers, told the meeting: "Our new company deserves a fresh start."

The response from 21st Century Fox was that it needed Murdoch's "unique insight and strategic vision" in the joint chairman-CEO role, and said the current board has delivered good returns for shareholders.

• The Murdochs control 39.4% of the company's voting rights through class B shares. Prince Alwaleed Bin Talal, a frequent Murdoch ally, owns 7%.
• Murdoch is also executive chairman of News Corp. Its chief executive is Robert Thomson.