Weekly News #3

Samsung in 'exploding washing machines' probe.

Source: BBC News

I chose this story because i found it amazing that a company as big as Samsung have made such an awful mistake with several of their products. Not only have there been 'dangerous' accidents involving these washing machines, also Samsung had to recall several Galaxy notes 7's that were recently released because they had a similar problem. According to the article, Samsung have used faulty batteries which cause these products to catch fire and in some instances explode.

Burnt out Samsung galaxy note 7.

I think that the article is relevant to our course because everyone knows of Samsung and their products, most people own a Samsung product whether it be a: phone, tablet, computer or faulty washing machine. The reason everyone knows about Samsung is because we all see it everyday in the media.

By Lewis Jordan

Powerpoint on Thriller films

Thriller films power point by Lewis Jordan

Weekly news #2

Are Universities secretly sexist?

Source: BBC News

I picked this story in particular because it gives statistics and concrete evidence that men have a better chance of getting a high end job than women do. The articles says that only 24% of university professors are women and only 18% of women working as a vice chancellor or principle. Although there is an apparent 'scheme' in place to get more women in these kinds of jobs every year, the plan is to get the number from 24% to 30%. If the system was really fair then it should be a 50/50 split give or take.

I thought this article would be relevant to the course because in class we spoke about stereotypes of girls and it led on to the majority of us having an opinion about a group of people. However these opinions could be completely wrong. There is no evidence to prove that women would be any worse at the job then the men are, so why are they still not being employed?. Probably because they think for no particular reason that women can not do the job. This is why they are now being labeled as 'potentially sexist' even though it is obvious to anyone that they are blatantly sexist.

By Lewis Jordan 

Media Homework

Compare the This girl can video and the Victoria secret video.

Although the adverts are similar because we see women participating in several activities, the reality is they couldn't be more different. In the This girl can advert it shows a campaign in which they are encouraging women to partake in more physical activities and to be proud of who they are. On the other side we have the Victoria secret video which featured lots of women showing themselves off by wearing bikinis and posing in front of a camera.

The This girl can campaign video is clearly made to be motivational and inspirational to women. The video is diverse because it shows people of all shapes and sizes taking part in physical activities like: swimming, jogging and volleyball. This advert was also made by the national lottery so we know the advert was not made for the benefit of a company, it is purely to encourage people to get more active.

Whereas the Victoria secret video is made specifically by the company so they can get more publicity, a technique used in the video to attract attention is the use of attractive women so people watching the video think they will look like the models in the video, this is wrong because the company are exploiting the female body to make money. Also the use of women modelling in revealing clothing is used to catch the attention of men who could convince their partner to purchase from the company.

In conclusion, the adverts that could be seen in some ways as similar are in fact extremely different in the way that one is a scheme to encourage women and the other is a scheme that includes using women to sell products.

By Lewis Jordan

60 Second video about me

Weekly news #1

Amazon's Echo speakers head to the UK and Germany.

Source: BBC News

I choose this story because i thought it was interesting that one single product was making headlines. Obviously there are a lot of speakers you can purchase but for some reason they want to make us believe it is 'different' from the rest. In one part of the article someone quotes that the product is so popular in America "because it's so easy to use" I believe this article is really just about amazon getting some brand exposure via a popular website as it is easy to describe something as "easy to use" for example my microwave is easy to use, but it's not got an article on BBC News.

I thought this article would be relevant to the media course because it is a brand trying to advertise their product using a news article to cover up the fact that it is basically an advert that is making you aware of the product and how great it supposedly is. It could also link to what we spoke about in class where big industries will do favors for other big industries in order to gain more:recognition, power and money. 

By Lewis Jordan