The Dangers of Facebook

We all have a facebook page. We are all stupidly addicted to it and use it far too often,however, today the more sinister and dangerous side of social networking was revealed.

Peter Chapman, who has a history of violent sex assaults and is a convicted sex offender, befriended 17-year-old Ashleigh Hall by posing as a teenage boy on Facebook. Chapman falsely lured Ashleigh into a meeting back in October, and days after her body was discovered. Ashleigh had been strangled and dumped in a farmer's field near Sedgefield.

Chapman, 33, pleaded guilty to the charges at Teesside Crown Court. He also admitted failing to notify police of a change of address, as required by the sex offenders register.

This story is a stark reminder to us as the internet generation to be more careful when we are online and to only accept and converse with people who we know and trust.

WINOL Week 4 Debrief

Here are the debrief notes for the past week's bulletin :

Job Loss Story: Joeys opening line – repetition okay as long as its not too noticeable. Opposition – always going to give a good interview or “slam” opposition. Good shot, nice background view, well framed, noise issue with the water though. Should have asked more obvious questions to get more quotes.

The graphic quote was too weak. Good framing of the noddy’s, becareful on the eye line to make sure the noddy looks realistic and not fake. Make sure both interviews are of similar time so not to show bias.

Simulator/Trading story : Technically brilliant, slight editorial problem in the fact that its too positive, maybe in the sign off put some sort of spin on the article eg “it remains to be seen if the simulator will be a success….” Needed a stronger finish

Big Tidy Up – good shots again, balanced story, Joy Carter liked story because although it was negative it was truthful.

Fairtrade story – facts are in Kayleigh’s voice, exposition, would be better if it came from a real source, or a piece to camera would be stronger.

Sport – stumble over words in opening, relax and pretend you have more time. Re-shoot it. Strong piece to camera, not too bad footage , trying to emphasise the amount of people there, tighten the shot to give a more crowded effect. Try to get tighter to action, maybe cut aways to the crowd to get emotions on footage. Well read over the footage.

The and finally was not as strong and quick as hoped.

Bulger Killer's In Trouble Again

In the past week it emerged that one of James Bulger's killers has been re-arrested after breaching the rules on his release license in 2001. The public seem to have extremely strong views on whether the details of this re-arrest should be published and Jon Venables's new identity revealed.

The murder of the young and innocent James Bulger is a sensitive topic, due to the age at which James was savagely beaten to death. Bulger was taken by two young thugs from his mother in the local town shopping centre and lead to a railway where he was subjected to a horrific beating and was left to die. Venables and Thompson became Britain's youngest murderers at the age of just ten years old.

The government has come under strong criticism from the public over their refusal to release the details of Venables's re-arrest. Justice Secretary Jack Straw has however agreed to meet James's Bulger's mother, Denise Fergus, after her calls on the government to tell her and the public what offences Venables is alleged to have committed.

Venables and James's other killer Robert Thompson were given new identities on their release from life sentences, controversially Mr Straw admitted that the details behind Venables being returned to prison were in the public interest, but said there was a risk of prejudicing any further criminal proceedings.

This is a very difficult subject but personally i feel the public should be informed because Venables has been let off light for the crime he committed and has shown his time inside hasn't taught him anything and he has broken the release rules and could be a danger to the public again as could Thompson and thus we as innocent members of the public have the right to know.

WINOL Week 3 Debriefing

Another week of WINOL....

Opening headlines and pictures didn’t match, however better overall introduction with music.

NEVER use someone’s name in headline – exceptions with celebrities, this allows for the audience to want to know more/read or listen on….

Get your interviewee talking, play dumb, let them do the speaking, but when they give you something juicy/good, stay quiet as it will provoke the interviewee to expand and say

Cutting room journalism - have a clear idea of what the story is, get your interview to say what you need for the piece. Where students go wrong is only knowing half the story, you need an angle before you start the piece.

Paedophile story – should have done a piece to camera, more effective, shot of building too long,

Issues of consent on filming of car parking forum, section 8 – performing a public duty

Don’t use words or phrases that don’t emphasise enough, make your verbs more dramatic, “selective quoting”

Hospital bug story – good introduction, basic yet informative. Good strong quote from doctor, however he should be saying it’s a nightmare not telling the story. “Big” problem , interviewer should prompt further questions. “Inevitable” – comment not fact.

Sound on the rugby manager interview - poor quality.

One woman band – no news at all, just a mini feature. Good cut away shots and filming.

Overall, a much better bulletin, people seem more confident, its far from perfect but 80% there and pretty good considering there is no budget and we are short staffed, but as ever, there is always room for improvement.

The traffic was up again, but we need to improve it further, date with fate may need to be brought back to bring traffic to the site.

Canada Deliver For Their Fans

Canada ended the Vancouver Winter Olympics on the perfect note last night with a 3-2 overtime win over rivals USA in the men's ice hockey final to claim the gold medal.

Canada had lead the match for a long time but with 23 seconds remaining the US snatched a dramatic equaliser through Zach Perise to stun the home crowd into silence. However Canada didn't panic and fittingly it was crowd favourite Sidney Crosby who scored the golden goal 7 minutes into over time to clinch a 14th gold for the host nation - a record for a country staging the Winter Olympics.

Having never followed ice hockey or properly watched it i found myself engrossed in the final , and cheering on the home nation, and even found myself enjoying their success, if only Great Britain could be half decent at the winter games or even the normal athletics events id get right behind them!!

I will now pay more attention to the Ice Hockey on the ESPN sports channel!!

Disaster In Chile

Following the massive earthquake that struck Chile on saturday, the country's president Michelle Bachelet has announced further emergency plans to help the country get back to normal.

The country was struck by an 8.8 magnitude quake, one of the most powerful earthquakes ever recorded and has killed over 700 people with the death toll expected to rise as research efforts are stepped up over the next few days.

Troops are being deployed to help with rescue efforts through the country and also to prevent looting as some civilians desperately seek food and water.

A curfew is in force in some areas and some basic supplies are to be distributed as rescuers attempt to reach worst-hit areas.

The country has been in a state of shock and panic, with one US risk assessor, Eqecat, estimating the cost of the damage at between $15bn and $30bn (£9.8bn-£19.6bn) or 10-20% of gross domestic product.

Responsibility for the reconstruction of the country will soon pass to President-elect Sebastian Pinera, who takes office in two weeks, and what a job he has, personally i wish him the best and hope that the country can get back to normality as soon as possible and offer my condolences to the family of the dead, and wish speedy recoveries to those who were injured but lucky enough to survive this horrific disaster.

Microsoft Forced To Offer Alternate Browsers

People logging on to the internet by the Microsoft owned program Internet Explorer, which is the standard default browser for all Windows machines, will be greeted by a different home-page today.

Windows users will be offered the choice of downloading other browsers as part of a deal that Microsoft has struck with the European Commission.

This compromise by Microsoft resolves a long-running case in which the software giant had been accused of abusing its market power and position to belittle others.

Customers using the Internet Explorer browser will be greeted by a pop-up window which will prompt the person to choose and install one of 12 different browsers or let them stick with Microsoft's Internet Explorer.

Although the update has been prepared for Windows XP, Vista and the new operating system Windows 7, not all Windows users will see it.

The alternate browser choice window will not pop up in front of those who already run a different default browser on their PC's, such as Firefox, Safari or Chrome.

This pop up windows is seen as a move in the market by Microsoft's competitors following the recent trouble Microsoft had with safety issues surrounding the security of your computer and its files whilst using the Internet Explorer browser.

WINOL WEEK 1 Debriefing

Clearly not our strongest bulletin by a long shot, but there were some positives to take from it but also a lot of things that we need to work on.

Some of the information provided was inaccuate and we as a team must make sure that all the news we report is 100% fact so not to get into any trouble.

Technically the majority of the sound levels were off cue and out of sync, and there were some basic errors made in filming i.e not enough general views and lots of boom mic's in shot.

On a personal note , i enjoyed filming the football again and doing the voice over ,but agreed with Chris's comments about it being slightly bland and will work on my voiceovers in the coming bulletins.

We know we can do better, and we will.

Former Sikh Judge Thinks Kirpan's Should Be Allowed.....

Sir Mota Singh QC, a former high court judge has started a furious debate this morning regarding his comments on the banning of "Kirpan's" and other religious Muslim artefacts. For those who don't know a Kirpan happens to be a ceremonial sword or dagger that must be worn by all baptised sikhs.

"Not allowing someone who is baptised to wear a Kirpan is not right," Sir Mota told BBC Asian Network. Mota is deeply religious but surely common sense must prevail here, we cannot have people being allowed to walk around carrying knifes, London has a problem with knives already. This is in no way to suggest that Muslims carrying these religious artefact's would intend to use them in an unsavory way however, it is clear to everyone that arming young teenagers with knives is hardly a sensible idea.

Sir Mota said "It's a little more than ceremonial. It's a requirement of the religion." when asked about the possibility of substituting a smaller knife in place of the traditional Kirpan. The judge however conceded that it may have to be an option for debate between school and Sikh authorities.

Personally, i think its a very sensitive issue here, but with all due to respect to the Muslims and their religion, this our country, England, and whilst we respect and welcome their religions and cultural diversity, they must respect and obey our laws if they wish to live here and thus carrying knives no matter how important to their religion cannot and should not be allowed.

Orwellian Language Blog

Advertising - accurate, fast and fair - or just simply misleading? It has the benefit of being able to express views and exploit an audiences mind.

Advertising has the capability of persuading people into entering into commercial transactions and thus "false advertising" (i.e the use of false or misleading statements) is strictly forbidden and companies are required to have "truth in labelling" (the customers have the right to know exactly what they are buying).

For example in Australia, (and most European countries) there is a very broad provision in the Trade Practices Act that prohibits conduct by a corporation that is misleading or deceptive, or would be likely to mislead or deceive you.

It makes no difference whether the business intended to mislead or deceive you—it is how the conduct of the business affected your thoughts and beliefs that matters.

If the overall impression left by an advertisement, promotion, quotation, statement or other representation made by a business creates a misleading impression in your mind—such as to the price, value or the quality of any goods and services—then the conduct is likely to breach the law.

George Orwell’s creation of "Newspeak" in his the novel 1984 shows how the reduction of words can change the meaning of them and the following adverts are good examples:






For example, Gillette's slogans such as: "the best a man can get" and "the worlds most comfortable shave" are extremely misleading because some men may prefer Wilkinson Sword blades and find them more comfortable. The advert suggests that there is nothing better a man can have to shave his face which is clearly misleading and not the 100% truth. The product itself is aimed at a mass audience but the adverts slogan brackets all men into the same category. The use of the 3 professional athletes is another Orewellian technique showing that by bringing famous personnel together and the mass market in order to sell a product.

When the iPhone was first released, one of Apple's adverts was banned because of complaints over the adverts fale advertising. The advert showed the phone loading webpages very quickly and containing "flash and java" images , which at the time the iPhone was actually incapable of producing.

Watch the advert here :

http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2008/aug/27/apple.apple

Perhaps more recently and maybe more in the public eye, there was the controversy surrounding an anti ageing advert, where Twiggy had infact been airbrushed, thus misleading the target audience (presumably women, perhaps the odd vain man..!) into thinking the cream would have the amazing effects and results shown on Twiggy's perfect wrinkle free face.

Read about it here : http://www.independent.co.uk/news/media/advertising/airbrushed-twiggy-advert-ruled-misleading-by-watchdog-1841973.html

Personally i believe there are certain boundaries in advertising, airbrushing Twiggy was unacceptable and misleading, however, there also comes a point where the audience must not be so gullible as to believe everything they see., however, the truth of labelling law is there for good reason, in order to protect the average member of the public and make sure transactions occur on fair ground for both parties.

Other adverts that caught my eye when surfing the net were examples such as the food colourings in Hula Hoops and the "100%" beef burgers in McDonalds, the list could go on forever.

George Orwell's theory of "Newspeak" in 1984 is simply fascinating and gripping because it ties in with the foundations of modern advertisements. In the world we live in today, the advertisement industry's manipulation of language and misleading slogans for their brands seems to be socially acceptable and we all fall for it , so my advice to you all , read the small print!