Reflections

It has been an interesting journey throughout this 14 weeks of study for this subject Issues in Publication and Design. In the blink of an eye, the 14 weeks study duration has finally come to an end, thank you Ms. Jenny for the unconditional support and guidance along the way. Blogging is a platform for most of the people to record things that happen around them or express their own feeling, it may sound casual to us initially but after learning it in depth, I discovered that there are so many different aspects that we need to take note in order to achieve effective communication. From the most fundamental step of doing research to find relevant information , I learned that it is important to understand the culture of the audiences I am getting in touch with. Schriver (1997) stated that the meaning of an article text can have different meaning from one culture to another it could be humorous for one but offensive on the other. Beside the written text, I have added in element such as pictures and other graphic elements on my blog to ensure that it is multimodally articulated and its layout suits the reading preference of my readers. Walsh (2006) claimed that multimodally articulated text helps strengthening the message intended to convey. Last but not least, a big thank you for my fellow friends who guided me and also to those who left you footprint here.

Reference List

Schriver, KA 1997, Dynamics in Document Design: Creating Texts for Readers, New York: Wiley Computer Publications.

Walsh, M 2006, ‘Textual shift: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,’ Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no.1, p.24-37.

Boston bombing: Bad journalism fuels terrorism hysteria

Concepts: journalism ethics; media law

The hysteria starts when the New York Post featured a photo of two young men with backpacks and giant headlines on Thursday morning accusing “Bag Men: Feds seek these two pictured at Boston Marathon” (Abcarian 2013). Thereafter in the afternoon, New York Post clarified that the Boston Bombing had nothing to do with these two young men (Abcarian 2013). The Post Editor Col Allan defended his decision to smear these two men, he said that “the image was emailed to law enforcement agencies yesterday afternoon seeking information about these men as our story reported” (Abcarian 2013). Allan emphasized that the name of the two men were not identified and the story did not call them suspects (Abcarian 2013). CNN had made the situation worse when the reporter John King mentioned that the arrestee was a dark-skinned male according to some reliable source, this statement further relates to the victim (Abcarian 2013).

         Do the headlines ruin the journalism ethic and credibility of news pre-set by the journalist? In my opinion, I think that the news reported by New York Post is misleading the readers. The ethical issue here is how far should one risk shocking an audience's sensitivities in order to correctly and fully report the truth of the incident. It is true that in the news article it did not specifically call the victims suspect or track down their name, but by making an assumption on their backpacks and the headline of the news it has misled the readers to relate them as terrorists. Being ethical in reporting news it is essential to ensure all the news publish in the newspaper have its reliability, credibility, truthfulness, accuracy, fairness, impartially and public accountability for all readers (Himelboim & Limor 2008). Like all other ethical systems, the principle of ‘limitation of harm’ is included in the journalism ethic. Details such as the names of minor children, crime victims' names, information which will harm someone’s reputation and information that are unrelated to particular news reports release should be refrained and withhold from reporting (Society of Professional Journalists 2013).

Reference List

Abcarian, R 2013, ‘Boston bombing: Bad journalism fuels terrorism hysteria’, Los Angeles Times, viewed 8 June 2013, <http://articles.latimes.com/2013/apr/18/local/la-me-ln-boston-bombing-bad-journalism-fuels-terrorism-hysteria-20130418>.

Himelboim, I & Limor, Y 2008, ‘Media Perception of Freedom of the Press: A Comparative International Analysis of 242 Codes of Ethics’, Journalism [Journal], vol. 9, no. 3, pp. 235-265.

Society of Professional Journalists 2013, SPJ Code of Ethics, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.spj.org/ethicscode.asp>.

BitTorrent goes straight in effort to end association with piracy

Concepts: Ethical publishing principles-piracy & file sharing sites; copyright regulations & fair use; new music business model & new media ecosystem

            BitTorrent is a platform for internet users to share files online a peer-to-peer network for over 10 years (Holpuch 2013). It is able to hold up to 170 million monthly active users (Holpuch 2013). Hence, users had abused the software to share illegal content. Illegal downloading like music and movie had lead to copyright and piracy issue (Holpuch 2013).

            On the other hand, some artists and author had used this as an opportunity to increase their fan base (Holpuch 2013). And so, they are able to earn more indirectly by selling other merchandise to fan (Holpuch 2013). As a result, BitTorrent is trying to promote legitimate service for digital music (Holpuch 2013). On top of that, new auto pilot program had been unveiled to spotlight musicians and filmmakers to online users (BitTorrent 2010). BitTorrent Live had been released in March 2013 with live streaming BitTorrent technology to share live content online more efficiently (BitTorrent Live 2013).

            I think that when copies are available online, it will be shared illegally. However, with streaming available, users are allowed to access rather than having ownership (Strategy Analytics n.d.). “Copyright enables composers, recording artists, musicians and other creatives to be recognised and paid for their work” (BBC 2013). I find that by streaming, it can reduce the copyright and piracy issue on file sharing because paying to access streaming able to prevent music or movie being copied.

            Government has taken into action to reduce copyright issue by forming Center for Copyright Information to educate consumers on how to obtain digital copyrighted content legally and avoid illegal peer-to-peer sharing, through a system based on information and deterrence (Lesser 2012).

            On top of that, Digital Right Management (DRM) had emerged in music and film industry to allow Pay-to-Play streaming system to prevent users from accessing the file without payment (Digital Rights Director, 2011).

I think that there will never be a way to completely stop or prevent piracy and copyrights issues to happen. However, more and more software are developed to reduce the impact on piracy. For example, iTunes, Walmart Music, Sony Music or even the latest iTunes radio that Apple released to allow users to listen to best selection of music by streaming can reduce music from illegal downloading.

Reference List

BBC 2013, ‘A Guide to Music Copyright’, College of Production, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/academy/collegeofproduction/videos/tv/a_guide_to_music_copyright>.

BitTorrent 2010, ‘BitTorrent Spotlights Artists in New Pilot Program’, Press Releases, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.bittorrent.com/company/about/bittorrent_spotlights_artists_in_new_pilot_program>.

BitTorrent Live 2013, ‘A New Way To Live Broadcast’, About Us, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://live.bittorrent.com/>.

Digital Rights Director 2011, ‘The Easiest Way to Sell Videos Online and Prevent Digital Piracy’, Digital Rights Management, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://digitalrightsdirector.com/Easiest_Way_To_Sell_Videos_Online_And_Prevent_Piracy.html>.

Holpuch, A 2013, ‘BitTorrent goes straight in effort to end association with piracy’, The Guardian, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2013/mar/13/bittorrent-goes-straight-piracy-illegal-downloads>.

Lesser 2012, ‘How to keep web copyright infringers honest’, CNN, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://edition.cnn.com/2012/07/17/opinion/lesser-copyright/index.html?iref=allsearch>.

Strategy Analytics n.d., ‘Global Digital Music Sales to top $8.6 Billion in 2012’, Press Releases, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.strategyanalytics.com/default.aspx?mod=pressreleaseviewer&a0=5268>.

Turning a Page: Newsweek Ends Print Run

Concepts: new media ecosystem; business of the media; audience preferences;  multimodals

Newsweek magazine had ended its long time print rivalry with Times to an online-only format (Daniel & Hagey 2012). The magazine is now part of the news and commentary site of The Daily Beast (Daniel & Hagey 2012). Tina Brown who was the editor of the magazine is now the editor of Daily Beast and Newsweek Global controlled by the magazine's old headquarters IAC/Interactive Corp (Daniel & Hagey 2012).

This is a significant sign that the demand for traditional print medias are being threatened by multimodal print online (Daniel & Hagey 2012). Newsweek's losses had reached approximately $40 million annually with a circulation drop of half to 1.5 million and advertising pages plunged more than 80% (Daniel & Hagey 2012). Daily Beast acts as a promotional platform for Newsweek and had grown 36% in the past year to five million unique visitors monthly (Daniel & Hagey 2012). Ms. Brown assured that “even in the digital form the cover will still play the same role it has as a wonderful marketplace of ideas” (Daniel & Hagey 2012).

According to Kres (2006), the writing trend involves close relationship with typeface choices and layout. “Newspaper, magazine and many other kind of texts are no longer just written but ‘designed’ and multimodally articulated” (Kres 2006, p. 187). I personally think with new invention of technology such as smart phone and tablet, the internet has accelerated the downward spiral of print-based media. Internet provides a platform for people to have access to all sorts of information (Naughton 2006). Computer mediated communications are one of the best examples (Lister 2009). This was caused by the handiness of devices as well as the fast-moving lifestyle that urban people are living, people nowadays get in touch with people around the world through email, Facetime and etc; Everything is demanded based on its easy accessibility. Hence, the demand of online-only magazine is unexceptionally high. For example, the US News & World Report which went online in 2008 has yielded a relatively high profit with 180 staff members in the company according to its editor Brian Kelly (Daniel & Hagey 2012).

Reference List

Daniel, R & Hagey, K 2012, ‘Turning a Page: Newsweek Ends Print Run’, The Wall Street Journal, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424127887324660404578201432812202750.html>.

Kress, G & van Leeuwen, T 2006, Reading images.

Lister, M 2009, New media: A critical introduction, Taylor & Francis US.

Naughton, J 2006, ‘Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem’, University of Oxford, vol. 8

Walsh, M 2006, ‘Textual shift: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts,’ Australian Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no.1, p.24-37.

Google reaches Library Project settlement in court case with publishers

Concepts: Ethical publishing principles-piracy & file sharing sites; copyright regulations & fair use

A court wrangling between Google and a group of American publishers on the formation of web-based library has reached a settlement after 7 years (Harris 2012). Google has been granted permission to carry on with its initial plan, which is to digitise the libraries of 7 major universities (Harris 2012). This issue was brought up by several publishers such as McGraw Hill, Simon and Schuster, John Wiley & Sons and Pearson Education Inc and Penguin Group (USA) to the courts complaining for a copyright infringement (Harris 2012). The publishers were afraid that Google library project would badly affect their business as most of the users would prefer reading it online instead of buying from them (Harris 2012). The settlement has been announced by the court today disclosed that publishers have the right to refuse allowing their books to go online or remove from the digital library (Harris 2012). Google also promised to make only 20% of any book browsable and whole book are sellable online (Harris 2012). Tom Allen and David Drummond who are the president of the Association of American Publishers and the web giant's chief legal officer respectively show satisfaction towards the result announced by the court (Harris 2012).

According to (Your Right 2008) copyright is enforced under law that permission is needed from the owner before using their work, copyright gives you ownership over the things that you develop. I think that Google should not neglect the right of the copyright holder at the first place. The convenience of searching information or books online resulted in the reduction of purchasing power of online users on books, they would rather browse it for free instead of buying, this reduces their income source. The court is practicing a concept of fair use in copyright law in the latest settlement. According to Masnick (2011), fair use is about strengthening the copyright, making it more flexible to bend rather than breaking it; Which if the content of the books are used in a socially useful ways it fits the purpose of copyright law. Therefore, Google now provide a platform for people to browse books online, download will only be available if it has been purchased by the users. A win-win situation has been cultivated as the copyright holders are respected at the same time giving them motivations to produce more books.

Reference List

Harris, P 2012, ‘Google reaches Library Project settle in court case with publishers’, The Guardian, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/04/google-library-project-settlement-court-case-publishers>.

Masnick, M 2011, ‘Fair Use Doesn't Weaken Copyright Law, It Strengthens It’, TechDirt, viewed 12th June 2012, <http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110518/12090114324/fair-use-doesnt-weaken-copyright-law-it-strengthens-it.shtml >.

Your Rights 2008, Meaning of Copyright, viewed 9 June 2013, <http://www.yourrights.org.uk/yourrights/right-of-free-expression/copyright-and-allied-property-rights/meaning-of-copyright.html>.