Hurley launches India's Hello!

Further evidence that celebrity culture is making the world a smaller place was prominently displayed on Delhi newsstands yesterday as the first Indian edition of Hello! magazine was launched with Liz Hurley on the cover.
Featuring the same glossy photographs and gushing prose on Hurley's lavish marriage to Indian businessman Arun Nayar as the current UK edition, its publisher promised a similar mix of celebrities, royalty, sports stars and business leaders.
Most Indians identify celebrity with Bollywood actors, but Hello! said it hoped to change that perception by also focusing on industrialists, socialites and leaders in other diverse fields.
About 80% of the content will focus on Indian celebrities.
The editor of the monthly Indian edition, Ruchika Mehta, said the magazine was "the big daddy of the fine life", promising "the larger-than-life romances, the 'bling' homes, the to-die-for fashion and class, the 'giga-gorgeous' women and men, all packaged into a high gloss monthly".
The Indian market is seen by global magazine publishers as an important target for expansion. An increasing number of familiar titles are already available, including Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, Seventeen, Maxim, Time Out and Hello!'s rival OK.
India's large number of English speakers, rising incomes and greater media penetration have attracted companies including Financial Times owner Pearson and Independent News & Media.
But foreign media firms have been slow to make big investments, opting instead for small stakes or licensing deals in a fragmented market dominated by regional language titles and family owned firms that are reluctant to cede editorial control.
Media ownership laws allow foreign ownership of non-news titles, but impose a 26% ceiling on news publications.

My Comments...

Personally i feel that an edition of 'Hello!' magazine will do well in India. Just as any other country the population will adore the opportunity to recieve celebrity gossip in a high spec glossy magazine. Although, considering its more up market appeal it's hard to see whether everyone will understand the concept. Launching the first edition via the use of Liz Hurley and her marraiage to Arun Nayar the editiors have considered a good approach to try and intergrate to cultures.Having originated from the west 'Hello!' in India may be popular throught the aspirational effect it may have on its target market to be more like those in the west.

'YouTube faces $1bn lawsuit for alleged breach of copyright...'

· MTV's owner takes on Google over site's TV clips
· Case is latest move in fight with established media

MTV's owner, Viacom, launched a surprise attack on Google yesterday, filing a $1bn (£520m) lawsuit against the internet giant and its YouTube video-sharing website.In documents filed with a US district court in New York, Viacom - which runs TV channels including MTV, Nickelodeon and Paramount Comedy - accused the Silicon Valley firm of "massive intentional copyright infringement" on YouTube, which Google bought last year for $1.65bn.
The lawsuit is the latest flare-up in a running battle between the two companies over a host of clips taken from TV which have subsequently appeared on the video sharing site.
Popular programmes such as The Daily Show with Jon Stewart, the anarchic comedy South Park, and children's favourite SpongeBob SquarePants have all been the focus of contention as Google tried to negotiate its way through the choppy legal waters.
But the process of taking down illegal clips has developed into a cat and mouse game, with TV producers attempting to catch copyright infringers as soon as they post a piece of video online. Viacom says that more than 160,000 individual YouTube clips have infringed its rights so far, and is concerned that these have been viewed more than 1.5bn times - depriving the company, it says, of valuable advertising revenue.
The case revolves around copyrighted videos taken from television by users and uploaded to YouTube. Viacom sees Google's procedure for flagging up copyright infringements as inadequate and accuses the Californian firm of dragging its heels to profit from illegal activity.

My Comments...

Personally i think that legally and proffesionally speaking it is wrong for 'YouTube' to feel as if they have the freedom to exibhit anything that they want on on this site. Fair enough it is a popular and easy way for everyone to access the media but perhaps for future reference they should consider gaining permission from certain companies before deciding to put particular videos up as they should consider the fact the this is the way that these companies make their money...it's actually quite selfish of 'YouTube' to not have considered such attributes regarding other companies and their rights.

eSsaY QueStioN..x

‘Using the comparison of these two texts as your starting point, explore the media issues and debates which they raise…’

You will need to address:

• Key concepts
• Contextual factors
• Media theory

‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, by Gil Scott-Heron is a rap genre music record from 1972. The date of its release highlights the fact that it was one of the earlier records of this genre to be publicised. This track portrays a view of society where ethnic minorities were seen to be under represented within the media, which displays a hegemonic view about society suggested by Karl Marx where media production was predominantly white owned and therefore portrayed accompanying views. ‘The revolution will not be televised’, as the title of this track and considering it’s repetition within the track highlights this fact as a clear message to its intended audience which would presumably, primarily be the African American community of all ages at the time. However, today we would be more likely to link the rap genre with mostly male teenagers from perhaps 15/16 – 24 years of age whom aspire to be or identify with the artists that they listen to. This idea of Personal Identity where the audience may construct their own identity from characters in media texts is suggested by Blumer & Katz ‘Uses & Gratifications Theory’.

The content of this track in comparison with the rap records released today emphasize upon the fact that the issues and topics that were discussed in tracks of this nature at the time are completely different from what we associate rap music with in today’s society. For example, in this track Gil Scott-Heron raises issues about the under or misrepresentations of the black community whereas a typical rap record today would usually be associated with the likes of money, drugs, crime and women for example Jay-Z’s ‘Big Pimpin’, identifying a shift of priorities almost as many would argue that black culture is now more popular but the representations of the black community that we as the audience consume are perhaps inappropriate or wrong.

‘Your Revolution’, by Sarah Jones from 1998 presents exactly this view in the form of a contemporary and post modernist text. She has used the method of intertextuality and pastiche in order to express her views about what has become of the representations and portrayals of the black community in mainstream media. Although her track also discusses a form of ‘revolution’ like Gil Scott-Heron’s ‘The Revolution Will Not Be Televised’, she focuses largely upon ‘the female revolution’. ‘When it finally comes, It’s gonna be real’, depicts the view that the female revolution has not yet happened, creating a sense of female empowerment through this text. This empowerment is also recognised through the explicit sexual references which she makes, ‘Your revolution will not happen between these thighs’, challenging the subordinate stereotypes of women.

Jones’s criticism of other mainstream black artists portrays her anger of what has become of the black community; she takes overt shots at artists such as Foxy Brown, LL Cool J and Biggie Smalls suggesting that they have taken inappropriate advantage of their position in the media. This suggests that such artists have conformed to the roles given to them by society where a black person is narrowed down to being seen as having one of three characteristics: black person as entertainer, trouble maker or dependent as suggested by Stuart Hall.

Both texts convey a form of ‘revolution’ taking place. Where Heron proposes the fact that black people are not given the opportunity to be represented within the media, Jones proposes the view that in fact they are now represented in popular culture but in a negative light.

CuLt oF tHe CeLebRiTy..x

What is a 'sleb'?

A 'sleb' is the term given to a 'c list' celebrity. Such celebrities are those that have become famous from reality tv shows such as 'Big Brother' whom claim a celebrity status from merely sppearing on these shows as opposed to true 'a list' celebrities.

Looking at an edition of a national tabloid, in what ways are celebrity related stories presented in this edition? Account for these representations...

(1) Story: 'Britney Shears' - shocking photos that prove tormented star needs help...
This news story is on the front page of the 'News of the World', where two accompanying photographs are also shown. This article presents Britney to be a self destructed and insecure mother whereby she appears to be irresponsible. They have not taken a very sympathetic approach towards her post natal depression and perhaps the reasons why she may have become this way where she appears to genuinely need help she is portrayed as asking for what she got. This is negetive publicity and tarnished her past success.

nEwS VaLuEs..x

What is 'gate keeping'?

The gatekeepers are predominantly the editors whom are responsible for selecting and ordering news broadcasts or selecting and planning the newspaper layout. This is the process of deciding the stories considered for inclusion in the paper and rejecting others.

What do we mean by 'bias'?

In terms of news values this is the fact that the way every news story/report is presented is influenced by the backgrouds and attitudes of the interviewers, photographers, writers and editors based around it.

Galtung & Ruge...

Frequency : The time span of an event and the extent to which it fits the frequency of the newspaper's or news broadcast's schedule.
'Cut Carbon Emissions By 60% - Londoners given 20 years target to go green'

Thereshold: How big is an event? Is it big enough to make it into the news?

Unambiguity: The message is clear just in the title of the article. although the article is only small the message is still given in brief in the title.

Meaningfulness: How meaningful will the event appear to the receivers of the news? Hartley stresses in this context what he refers to as “cultural proximity”. Events happening in cultures very different from ours will not be seen as being inherently meaningful to audiences here.
'Girl Guides See Future Blighted By Sex Bias And Pressure To Be Thin'

Unexpectedness: This is unexpected because you dont expect a baby especially to die and then come back alive.
'Public View Us As Sex Obsessed, Archbishop tell Anglican Synod'

Consonance: Does this event match the audience’s expectations? Journalists have a pretty good idea of the angle from which they want to report an event, even before they get there.

Continuity : Once an event has been covered, it is convenient to continue to cover it – the running story.

Composition: This is a matter of the balance of the news. It is a master of the editors’ judgement, more than anything else. A different news broadcast will have a different agenda in terms of ‘hard’ and ‘soft’ news, for example, usually dependant on the perceived target audience.

Reference to elite nations:This again relates to ‘cultural proximity’. Those nations which are culturally closest to our own will receive most of the courage.

Reference to elite person: The media pay attention to important people. Anyone the media pay attention to must be important (cult of the celebrity).
'Prime Suspects Triupmh at Oscars'

Personalisation: Events being seen as actions of individuals.
'Husband Doctored Virtuoso's work to save her legacy'

Negativity: Bad news is good news in terms of what is reported.
'Serbia Guilty Over Srebrenica Masscare'