6: What concerns/considerations are there (if any) for the media institutions involved in your case study as a result of the impact of new and digital

The instantness of the internet has caused a huge problem for newspapers. This is because they where and still are the most popular source of political information within the media, but the speed of the internet has caused a potential threat to the platform. The internet holds the capability for an instant gratification to be fulfilled. Also some newspapers aren't as trusted because of there economic focuses and the freedom of the internet sources gives them a more trustworthy feeling for some viewers. During an interview with Christian O'Connell David Cameron swore live on radio this could have lead to discipliner for absolute radio as well as possible legal action. The BBC decided to run a disrespectful comment about Lady Margret Thatcher made by Jonathan Ross in a pre-recorded interview. Given the fact that the BBC is a public service broadcaster outrage was caused with a number or members of the conservative party making complaints. The banning of social networking sites in a number of countries after the tunisian revolution in order to stop similar type facebook groups building to protest against the government. Also in Dubai and other Islamically ran countries have banned the use of smart phones because of the capability they hold to access the internet and in turn websites which have been banned in such countries. This includes the banning of skype which allows free cross country video and audio interaction.

5: What are the political and social implications of the new technologies and the methods of their consumption?

Politics has always been very important within the media landscape as it essentially determines how we live our day to day lives. New technologies has allowed for a lot more interaction between the governments and the people they govern to become more readily available. New technology, in particularly the internet, gives any one a free viable source of getting in contact with their member of parliament. However the introduction of such technology has made the role of top politician change into being some what like the role of celebrity. This suggest that common society and the media landscape is addicted to make ideals out of people. The methods of consumption has vastly increased and the amount of political footage, articles and web pages etc. has massively increased with stories about politicians circulating through a number of different genres. For example we have seen british prime minister David Cameron appear on talk show the Jonathan Ross show. He was the first politician to appear on the show; it's usually guest consist of sports personalities, actors and people who are generally seen as celebrities. Also he appeared on a segment on car show top gear. The section he appeared on was called 'stars in reasonable priced cars' this would suggest that he is perceived as being star or celebrity. The now very public lives of top politicians and political states means that globalisation within the world can appear. Other countries can see how other countries are run and therefore demand their country do similar things through interaction through social networks for instance. Also it means that within a country the media attention politicians receive now means that they aren't able to do as they please. They now that their actions are likely to become public knowledge and therefore should act as a deterrent.

4: Consider the effects so far, and possible effects in the future, on media institutions involved in your case study.

Last year we saw the broadcast of the first ever live prime ministerial debates in high definition on ITV, BBC and Sky; a few years before this we saw the election of the first ever black president and how he used twitter, Facebook and a number of different social network sites(including his own) to obtain votes. A few years ago the government launched the 'Your Freedom' website which enabled workers in the public sector the chance to air their thoughts online. And this year the census 2011 embraced the media and new media in promoting itself, with a number of promotional billboards, a twitter page, youtube page, flickr page and their very own website allowing the censorship form to be filled in on line. Also a promotion music video was filmed and released online by underground artist ghetts. This all leads to the embracing of new media by the governments in the western world and essential the integration of new media into politics. However in a lot of countries dictators are still in power and control what media is allowed to be represented to the people of their countries. An example of this would be North Korea where the government has full control of what is allowed to be consumed within the country. Also Egypt recently block the use of Facebook and twitter in fear of a Tunisia style revolution. I think that in both cases, embracing or banning of new media, the politicians have released that if they can control what is represent of them, whether through user generated content or control of the media, they can stay elected in power. A clear example of this would be the prime minister of Italy Silvio Berlusconi who has a monopoly on the television broadcast in Italy and has managed to stay prime minister through a number of legal problems and controversies.

3: What issues may there be regarding media effects and/or regulation/ censorship as a result of changes due to new and digital media?

On a radio interview with Christian O'Connell of absolute radio David Cameron said the word 'twat' when asked about twitter. The show was broadcast on a number of different platforms including: SkyTV, Virgin Media TV, Freeview, DAB, FM radio among others. It cause some offence and the Prime Minister later apologised for his comments claiming he didn't mean any offence that it may have caused and how he never knew that it was even a swear word. O'Connell asked Cameron whether or not he was on twitter to which David Cameron replied "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat." At the time Cameron thought this was quite a quick response and said to his PR lady that he thought it had been quite a good interview. She responded saying that it was but it was a pity a about the swear word. He said what 'pissed' yeah sorry about that, then she said no not that the other one the t word. This shows that maybe these new digital media services may need some form of regulation or censorship. Also hours after Bin Laden's death was announced to the world manipulated images of a fake dead body claiming to be his where posted on the internet. Also he became a trending topic on twitter that day and actor/wrestler Dwanye 'The Rock' Johnson renamed the day Osama Dead Laden day. Top end politicians are some what becoming celebrities and this can be seen as an effect of the contemporary media landscapes obsession with idealisation of figures. In an interview with Jonathan Ross, David Cameron spoke about he had been followed to work by cameras the day after he had became the head of the conservative party, whereas before his relatively unknown to the general public.

2: Are there any cross cultural factors and/ or effects of globalisation involved in the impact of new technology on your case study?

The definition of politics is "The activities associated with the governance of a country or area." This can be as a democracy, meaning that someone is elected to represent the collective view of their country or constituency. Given the nature of one person controlling an area for the benefit of many who have elected them, would suggest that a lot of interaction is needed between the chosen politician and his constituency. This is where the role of new media starts to effect politics, a number of new devices and technologies have emerged to allow the public a bigger platform to voice their opinions. Examples of this would be shows such as Question time on the BBC creating a twitter page which allows viewers to not only question politicians on the show but can tweet their opinions wherever they like. Also a number of politicians have created their own twitter pages to interact with younger generations of potential voters; the use of social networking sites was very prominent during Barack Obama's election campaign. He used twitter, Facebook, myspace as well as converting his own website into a social network allowing americans the opportunity to question policies and share opinions. A government can also be ran as a dictatorship , this is "a government controlled by one person, or a small group of people. In this form of government the power rests entirely on the person or group of people, and can be obtained by force or by inheritance. The dictator(s) may also take away much of its peoples' freedom". Dictatorships are generally seen as being wrong and a lot of countries have been fighting for the freedom to elect their leaders. A recent example would be in Tunisia where they used a Facebook to organise a number of protest and consequently the revolution has been dubbed 'the Facebook revolution'. Many countries have taken this as an example and begun protesting, but in response Egypt had blocked the use of Facebook and twitter to disrupt any planning of protests.

1: Consider theoretical perspectives in relation to the impact of new/digital media in your case study.

Marxism

New media posses a potential threat to the idea of marxism in politics. Marxism relies on the lower class audiences remaining comfortable in their social position, to ensure the economic wealth of the upper classes. Also it gives the lower classes a false sense of consciousness or empowerment. New media generally allows uncensored content from the lower classes to be shared amongst each other and therefore conclude that the political state is biased towards the upper class and how they can affect this. For example the Tunisian revolution generating mass numbers on Facebook, as well as the tuition fees protest gaining the same king of following on social networking sites. Also the recent death of Osama Bin Laden has been accused of being a conspiracy theory. The video of the president Obama's speech was uploaded on youtube and now has over 3 million views; this has subsequently lead to a number of people asking the see images of the body and multiple cross examination of the story. Being so close to the next american election it has been suggested that it's a scam to ensure Obama's re-election by ex-govonur Jesse Ventura.

Postmodernism

New media in politics has lead to a number of postmodern techniques being applied to a number of news stories and political programs. On a election day a huge number of graphics appear on every news channel covering the election, trying to predict where the votes will go and the possible results of this; such as a coalition government. Also before the election three prime ministerial debates where broadcast live on television networks BBC, ITV and Sky all in High Definition. These debates had live popularity line charts which fell and rose when each politician spoke, depending on the audiences reaction. This is another example of postmodern technique which leads into the idea of false truths. How the popularity of each opinion was broadcast on television leading to that opinion becoming the common truth amongst the most about of people and therefore becomes perceived as the truth.

Feminism

Politics is very male dominated and the publicity of female politicians is much lower than that of the males. Jonathan Ross placed Britain's only female prime minister into Laura Mulvey's male gaze when he made highly confrontational comments about her in a interview with current prime minister David Cameron. During the interview he made comments about David Cameron masturbating over Lady Margret Thatcher and duly offended many Conservatives.

Users & Gratifications

The main gratification gained from peoples interaction with politics through the media is one of information. In countries with democracies in particularly during years with elections the viewer watches politics and interacts with it mainly to make decision about they want the country to be run.

Politics: New Media Case Study Pt.2

"He’s got a profile on YouTube and MySpace, which is holding their very own presidential primaries, and Obama’s even got his own social network through his campaign site. Making sure to keep in touch with as many people as possible in as many ways as possible, Obama has joined Twitter." Link

"As part of a partnership with nonpartisan group Declare Yourself, they’re set to run voting ads across the site and even embark on some MySpace marketing: you can make friends with the Declare Yourself profile and watch promotional videos (hosted by MySpace Video, naturally). The page provides a section where you can fill in a form, then print it out and mail it to state election officials. Once you’ve done that, you can copy and paste a badge to your own page to show others that you’ve registered to vote."Link

The Conservative leader, David Cameron, today apologised for any offence caused after he used the word "twat" during a breakfast radio show interview. When Absolute Radio host Christian O'Connell asked him about his views on Twitter, the Tory leader said: "The trouble with Twitter, the instantness of it – too many twits might make a twat." Link

Interview Video Clip

Audio-Christian O'Connell

The BBC sparked a major political row last night after Jonathan Ross was accused of making 'disgusting' remarks about Lady Thatcher in an interview with Conservative leader David Cameron. Senior Tories called for the presenter, who recently signed an £18million three-year deal with the BBC, to be sacked after he made a series of obscene comments when Mr Cameron appeared on Friday Night With Jonathan Ross. Link