Personal Reflection

In this subject Issues in Publication and Design (IPD), I appreciate the opportunity to open a blog discussing about blog issues, printed and screen design and current media issues happened in 2012. Loomer (2012) suggests that set a main focus for the blog is one of the key factors in creating a successful blog.

Apart from this, Schriver (1997, p.363) proposes that the words and pictures used should have a relation and interaction in between to provide understanding to the readers. To keep this in mind, I only chose pictures which are related to the topic of my blog posting.

On the other hand, Kirby (2010) also underlines that consistency is essential in managing a blog in order to maintain regular readership; therefore, I have blogged every month in this period.

Lastly, I would like to thank my readers especially my mentor Miss Jenny for the support of this blog. Till then, Ciao!

(149 words)

References

Kirby, R 2010, ‘7 Keys to Blogging Success’, Rod Kirby’s Success Center, last viewed 9 November 2012, <http://www.rodkirby.com/archives/1093>

Loomer, J 2012, ‘Six Keys to Successful Blogging’, JonLoomer.com, last viewed 9 November 2012, <http://www.jonloomer.com/2012/05/03/six-keys-to-successful-blogging/>

Schriver, K.A. 1997, ‘Chapter 6: The Interplay of Words and Pictures’, Dynamics in document design, pp. 361-441

The Era of E-Book

As the development of technologies and the changing trend of readers’ patterns, the era of e-books has inevitably and spontaneously emerged. In the first quarter of 2012, in United States, the usage of e-books has obtained US$282 million in sales, surpassing the usage of printed books which earned US$230 million, according to the Association of American Publishers (Yeoh, 2012).

Four months ago, Apple announced that their iTunes store is now available to Malaysia and 11 other Asian countries, which means that Apple users from these countries can purchase and download musics, movies and e-books online legally. Yeoh (2012) regards this as a good news to Malaysians as previously there is no websites which provide accessibility for Malaysians to purchase e-books.

As the growing usage of e-books, the publication of e-books leads to the new business model and new media ecosystem as well. Serbinis sees the industry of e-books as an ecosystem approach to a global business and a long-term investment as devices and gadgets are very user-friendly and the prices is going down gradually to meet the affordance of the public (Tagholm, 2012).

For the readers’ benefits, e-books can ease their burden on the inconvenience of bringing heavy and thick books from here to there. Gartenstein (2011) supports that e-books is environment friendly by saving trees and the earth as well as it does not need to print out any papers; and it does not need to waste any human resources and energy in delivering so it eventually save fuel.

Apart from this, Kelly (2010) suggests that the financial breakdown of e-books is better to both readers and authors. He illustrates that if a printed book cost $19.95, his royalty will be 5% to 10% of that price, about $1 to $2; but if an e-book cost $5, he will get $3.50. In this example, the money paid by the readers for an e-book is much cheaper while his royalty increases.

With these advantages, readers nowadays prefer e-books than printed books as it improves their reading experiences and makes their life better and more convenient.    

(338 words)

References:

Gartenstein, D 2011, ‘Advantages and Disadvantages of Electronic Books’, eHow, last viewed 8 November 2012, < http://www.ehow.com/list_6157579_advantages-disadvantages-electronic-books.html >

Kelly, J 2010, ‘Benefits of E-book Publishing’, The Kelly Letter, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://jasonkelly.com/2010/07/benefits-of-e-book-publishing/> 

  

Tagholm, R 2012, ‘Be Flexible with E-book Pricing’, The Frankfurt Book Fair Blog, blog posting, 11 October 2012, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://blog.book-fair.com/2012/10/11/be-flexible-with-e-book-pricing/>

Yeoh, O 2012, ‘The E-books Evolution’, Onn Yeoh: New Media Guy, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://oonyeoh.squarespace.com/sun-column/2012/7/4/the-e-book-evolution.html> 

Ethical Online Publishing

Seven years ago, Google Books has been charged with copyright infringement due to scanning over 20 million of books without permission and has published them online to the public (Stempel, 2012). The public can obtain the accessibility to the books from the search result provided by Google and this service has evoked a few publications to complain (Harris, 2012).

Finally, the law suit between Google and major publications has finally reached an agreement that Google Books can continue to allow the public to access the books online with only 20% of the content before purchase. On the other hand, publishers can also decide whether to participate in Google Library Project and sign an agreement with Google individually (Albanesius, 2012).

In terms of ethical publishing principles, International Committee of Medical Journal Editors (ICMJE) stated that "All persons designated as authors should qualify for authorship. Each author should have participated sufficiently in the work to take public responsibility for it. Authorship credit should be based only on substantial contributions to: a) conception and design, or analysis and interpretation of data; b) drafting the article or revising it critically for important intellectual content; and on c) final approval of the version to be published. Conditions (a), (b), and (c) must all be met" (King, 2012).

As a university student, I often access Google Books to find sources for various topics while I am doing my assignments. Although I could not access the whole book, it still helped me sometimes if the pages which were allowed to access were the sources I needed, depends on my luck; if the pages which were helpful were blocked from me, then I have to search again for other sources which cost me times.

However, I also believe that we should give respect to the authors and the publication of the books by purchasing them or reading them legally. Perhaps, universities can cooperate with Google Library Projects to provide their students with free access into the books for the benefits of students; Google can fulfil its contribution responsibilities to the society as well.  

(337 words)

References

Albanesius, C 2012, ‘Google, Publishers Settle Book-Scanning Lawsuit’, PCMag.com, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://www.pcmag.com/article2/0,2817,2410569,00.asp>

Harris, P 2012, ‘Google Reaches Library Project Settlement in Court Case with Publishers’, The Guardian, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2012/oct/04/google-library-project-settlement-court-case-publishers>  

King, C. R. 2012, ‘Ethical Issues in Writing and Publishing’, Oncology Nursing Society, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://www.ons.org/Publications/CJON/AuthorInfo/WritingSupp/Ethics>  

Stempel, J 2012, ‘Google Urges End to Authors’ Digital Book Lawsuit’, Reuters, 27 July 2012, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/07/27/net-us-google-books-lawsuit-idUSBRE86Q15Y20120727> 

Gender Inequality in Journalism

In the research undergone by Women in Journalism (WiJ), after evaluating nine national newspapers in a month, they found that the front pages of British newspapers are 78% dominated by stories covered by male journalists with 84% exposure of quotations by men (Hill, 2012). The result arouses the questions of gender stereotypes and discrimination emerging in the industry of journalism, which plays a role in building democracy among the societies.

Apart from this, women are often portrayed in a sexist way with tempting photographs appeared on the front pages. In this particular month, the result showed that the only women published on the front pages were the Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton and her sister Pippa Middleton, and crime victim Madeleine McCann (Hill, 2012). Larsen (2011) criticizes that sexism will cause negative social impacts and cultural values to the public.

Furthermore, International Federation of Journalists (2009, p.14) discovered that according to the Global Media Monitoring Project (GMMP), women were mostly mentioned in soft news in terms of arts and entertainment but least mentioned in politics, economy and government.  This has showed a gender inequality in journalism, which hindered journalistic excellence in news reporting.

Stoel (2012) considers the gender imbalance in journalism as “lack of respect” and this has violated the objective of journalism to produce wise reporting, instead, emphasizes on the sales of newspapers. On the other hand, White supports that ethical reporting is essential and should not echo with the concept of stereotyping in journalism while pointing out that fair gender portrayal as a part of ethical reporting (Mohr, 2009).  

To keep the above perspectives in mind, I personally agree with the notion of gender equality in journalism as it promotes respect to both gender within the newsroom and devotes the role of journalism in leading the public to be more aware of women issues and asserting women rights in journalism.  

(302 words)

References

Hill, A 2012, ‘Sexist Stereotypes Dominates Front Pages of British Newspapers, Research Finds’, The Guardian, 14 October 2012, last viewed 8 November 2012, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/14/sexist-stereotypes-front-pages-newspapers>

International Federation of Journalists 2009, ‘Part II: Stereotypes in the Media’, Getting the Balance Right, International Press Centre, Belgium.

Larsen, R 2011, ‘Sexism and Gender Inequality across 57 Societies’, Journalists Resources, last viewed 8 November 2012, < http://journalistsresource.org/studies/society/gender-race/sexism-gender-inequality-across-57-societies>

Mohr, L 2009, ‘Ending Gender Discrimination is Key to Ethical Reporting, Declares Journalists Meeting in Brussels’, World Association of Christian Communications, last viewed 8 November 2012, < http://www.waccglobal.org/component/content/article/1813:ending-gender-discrimination-is-key-to-ethical-reporting-declares-journalists-meeting-in-brussels.html>

Stoel, C 2012, ‘PRs- Be Aware of Gender Inequality in UK Media’, Firefly Communications, last viewed 8 November 2012, < http://www.fireflycomms.com/pr-blog/prs-be-aware-of-gender-inequality-in-uk-media-2> 

Privacy of Royal Personages

The cover page of The Sun on reporting Harry's issue.
Source: The Sun, 2012

The royal family of United Kingdom (UK) has faced a double blow related to their personal privacy within a month. Prince Harry’s nude photo was in the cover page of the major newspapers which was believed, leaked by his companions in the VIP suite of a hotel in Las Vegas, as they were playing strip billiards, reported by TMZ (2012).

Kate and William in their honeymoon trip.
Source: Woman's Days, 2012

On the other hand, Prince Harry’s sister-in-law Kate Middleton’s topless photos while sunbathing in her honeymoon with her husband, Prince William were published by a French magazine. In the article, Hulshof-Schmidt (2012) questioned the extent of privacy right for royal personages and celebrities and the significance of these news stories.

Patching (2011) points out that this kind of reporting is focusing on what they think the readers “need to know” than what they “want to know”.  For me, a reader who is interested in entertainment news than the other news, would like to know the personal life of celebrities and public figure whom I am interested as well; however, I think publishing out photos which reveal their private parts were unethical and the attention of the stories has been distorted.

For Harry’s case, The Sun (2012) argues that the citizens have the right to know the news of the royal members of their country, and the most important point they think they should and it is eligible for them to publish the photos was that “publish pictures which are already widely seen online” is included in the Press Complaints Commission’s code. From this view, Harry’s case can be considered as an exception.

But Kate’s case is different. The Sun explains that they respect Kate and William’s need to enjoy their honeymoon with low profile; Hulshof-Schmidt also feels that sunbathing in France is quite common and it is innocence that she is topless in her private estate, but she was still captured nude by the French press with telephoto lens.

MEAA Codes of Ethics states that journalists should “respect private grief and personal privacy”; therefore I believe that publishing issues regarding celebrities and royal personages with the purpose of human interest is acceptable but it should be ethical.

(353 words)

References:

Hulshof-Schmidt, R 2012, ‘Royal Exposure: How Much Privacy Should Kate and Harry Expect?’, The Examiner, 14 September 2012, last viewed 3 November 2012, < http://www.examiner.com/article/royal-exposure-how-much-privacy-should-kate-and-harry-expect>

Media Entertainment and Arts Alliance Code of Ethics 2012, Alliance Online, last viewed 3 November 2012, <http://www.alliance.org.au/code-of-ethics.html>
Patching, R 2011, ‘Privacy in the Age of No Privacy’, The Conversation, 20 July 2011, last viewed 3 November 2012, < http://theconversation.edu.au/privacy-in-the-age-of-no-privacy-2363>

The Sun 2012, ‘The Sun Publishes Photos of Naked Prince Harry’, 24 August 2012, last viewed 3 November 2012, < http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/news/sun_says/4502239/Prince-Harry-Vegas-Pictures-The-Sun-publishes-photos-of-naked-Prince.html >

TMZ 2012, ‘Prince Harry Naked Photos During Vegas Rager’, 22 August 2012, last viewed 3 November 2012, < http://www.tmz.com/2012/08/21/prince-harry-naked-photos-nude-vegas-hotel-party/ >

Current Trend of Media Publishing

Compare to the traditional print media, the current trend of media publishing has come to a new era, which is the age of online media, such as Youtube, online newspaper, social media (Facebook, Twitter and Weibo) and blogging. 

In terms of publishing form, Turner (2012) stated that the advantages of online media are:

(1)    Not only images, videos, moving images and audios are able to publish online as well to make the content interesting;

(2)    The objects published online are not printed, hence there are still chances to update or make changes.

Apart from this, Naughton (2006) suggested that the speed of news spreading through internet is remarkable in creating a community to communicate. For instance, this can be seen in the case of Namewee. 

 Namewee's Youtube Page. (Source：http://www.youtube.com/user/namewee?feature=results_main 2012)

Namewee was a rapper from Johor. He has composed a few songs and uploaded to Youtube to express his dissatisfactions towards Malaysia such as ‘Negarakuku’ regarding to the racist problem and ‘Good Day to Die’ referring to the Lynas issue. With the universality of Youtube and the power of social media, Namewee’s videos were spread rapidly and gained publicity throughout Malaysians and foreigners as well. Gradually, a community was formed inevitably which followed his ideology. This can be applied in the concept of Bowman and Willis (2003: p.15) that internet is “a powerful medium for communication and collaboration”.

Reference:

Bowman, S and Willis, C 2003, ‘Cultural Context: Behind the Explosion of Participatory Media’, American Press Institute, pp. 15-20

Naughton, J 2006, ‘Blogging and the emerging media ecosystem’, Reuters Institute for the Study of Journalism, last viewed 30 September 2012, <http://reutersinstitute.politics.ox.ac.uk/fileadmin/documents/discussion/blogging.pdf>

Turner, J 2012, ‘Similarities and Differences between Print Media and Online Media’, eHow.com, last viewed 30 September 2012, <http://www.ehow.com/list_7398012_similarities-print-media-online-media.html>

Blog Credibility

Sony Xperia Product Blog (Source: http://blogs.sonymobile.com/products/ 2012)

As I have discussed previously in the blog post about blogosphere, the trend of blogging has moved from personal interest sharing to the business field. Porterfield (2011) supports that blogging is effective in creating more exposure and awareness towards potential customers while developing business gradually. From this view, the credibility of the blogs is one of the key points to influence the success of the blog.

According to Kang (2009: p.20-22), readers judge the credibility of blogs through few factors such as the reputation of the blogger, the content (fairness, accuracy, knowledgeable and consistent) and the design of the blog (first impression) as well.  

Azzolini (2012) has imparted tips for bloggers to make their blogs credible:

1   - Organize the contents through editorial calendar and weekly meetings with           contents creators in order to safeguard the standard and quality of the content.    

2  - Update the blog frequently and regularly, at least 3 days per week to fulfill the demands of customers and to build their reliability towards company’s news and information.

3  -  Develop relationship and interactions with customers by joining their conversation such as commenting and replying their enquiries, which is to increase their engagement in communication with the business.

4  - Make changes in the blog to prevent customers from feeling dull and boring while surfing the blog, and also to increase their attraction.  

References:

Azzolini, S 2012, ‘Building Credibility with Online Communities: Tips from Professional News Room’, PR Newswire, last viewed 29 September 2012, <http://blog.prnewswire.com/2012/03/01/building-credibility-with-online-communities-tips-from-professional-news-rooms/>

Kang, M. J. 2009, ‘Measuring Social Media Credibility: A Study on a Measure of Blog Credibility’, Institute for Public Relations, pp. 1- 31

Porterfield, A 2011, ’10 Top Business Blogs and Why are They Successful’, Social Media Examiner, last viewed 29 September 2012, <http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/10-top-business-blogs-and-why-they-are-successful/>