Media Guardian-Benazir Bhutto killed in attack at rallyHélène Mulholland, Allegra Stratton and agenciesThursday December 27, 2007Guardian Unlimited




A bomb explodes next to the vehicle of Benazir Bhutto, who was killed at a rally in Rawalpindi in a gun and suicide bomb attack. Photograph: John Moore/Getty Images
The former Pakistani prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated today, the Pakistani interior ministry has confirmed.
Bhutto, who was the leader of the main opposition party, died after bursts of gunfire followed by a suicide bombing. It was carried out minutes after she delivered a speech at an election rally in Rawalpindi, near the capital, Islamabad.
Bhutto was rushed to hospital for emergency surgery but died at 6.16pm local time (1.16pm GMT). At least 20 others were killed.

On hearing of Bhutto's death, her supporters smashed the glass doors of the hospital and chanted "Dog, Musharraf, dog".
A police officer who was at the scene said the bomber repeatedly tried to get close to Bhutto's party and began shooting before blowing himself up.
An Associated Press reporter on site saw body parts scattered at the back gate of the Liaqat Bagh park where Bhutto had spoken.
The blast comes two months after suicide bombers struck a parade celebrating Bhutto's return from exile, killing more than 140 people, in the southern city of Karachi.
Hours earlier today, four people were killed and three wounded in a clash just outside Islamabad between pro-government supporters and backers of the former prime minister Nawaz Sharif.
Hundreds of riot police had set up security checkpoints today as Bhutto held her first campaign rally there since returning to Pakistan two months ago.
She had planned an earlier rally in the city but Musharraf forced her to cancel it over security fears.
The violence comes 12 days ahead of parliamentary elections. Opposition leaders are already claiming the election will be rigged against them, something authorities deny.
After the gunfire at the separate Sharif rally, Sadiq ul-Farooq, a spokesman for Sharif's party, said: "Nawaz Sharif and his procession are safe, but we have received reports that a few people were wounded and maybe a few suffered fatal injuries." All the injured were believed to be from Sharif's Pakistan Muslim League-N group. Imtiaz Ranjha, a spokesman or the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Q party, condemned the attack but accused Sharif's supporters of provoking it. The party called for those involved to be punished.
Bhutto's death comes at the height of a parliamentary election campaign following eight years of military rule under President Pervez Musharraf that ended with his resignation from the army.

This article is about Benazir Bhutto and how she died. Her death was planned, allegedly by President Musharraf. I think it was too because he was intimidated by her. I think this is very sad on her because she did not deserve to die. Also, on the news it said she got shot on the neck and chest whilst she was getting into her vechile.

News values-Galtung and Ruge

The BBC newstop five stories saturday 5ish.
1.the gas commision story-trying to reduce greenhouse gases (conference in bali) about a contract to be signed in 2009, america was hestitating to take part in the 2 year programme
2.banks loan= debts- People of britian are are in debt because of high interest loans from banks.
3.President musharraf and benezir bhutto
4.humpback whale found dead
5.local support for a footballer-who is an illegal immigrant and governement wants to send him back.

Frequency:the BBC news lasted 10 minutes and then went to the local news.gas commision was the first story shown and lasted 5 minutes.
Threshold: the greenhouse gas story it affects everyone world wide.
meaningful:All stories exept musharraf and the little girls story with 4 legs and arms all affect the people in the u.k the bankloan debt story and the footballer headlines directly take place int he U.K
unexpected:the little girl story and the humpback whale story (not major news, jus for entertainment and because it is unusual).
Continuity:American agreement greenhouse gas story will be continously covered
Composition:hard and soft news:hard :greenhouse gases story soft:the bank debts and footballer.
Reference to Elite nations: the greenhouse story because the US have finally agreed to do something about their carbon footprint.
Reference to Elite persons:gordon brown and president musharraf
Negativity:bank loans/debt, whale story, the footballer and the girl with 4 legs and arms.

Channel 4 news tuesday 18th. frequency, channel four news lasts an hour.
1:Northern Rock taxpayers exposed
2:New lib dem leader elected
3: New president elected for South Africa
4: BBC censors word from Christmas fairytale
5: Amy Winehouse arrested

Reference to elite persons - new president elected for South Africa
Composition - Amy winehouse being arrested(celebrity news)
Threshold- northern rock having continuous problems. Also the new Lib Dem leader being elected. persuading the nation in voting for them in the next election.
Continuity - The northern Rock and Lib Dem election

Media guardian story


Walsh defends The X Factor result



Walsh: 'Leon won by a margin of around 10%'. Photograph: ITV/Rex Features
The X Factor judge Louis Walsh has dismissed suggestions that contestant Rhydian Roberts was unfairly beaten in Saturday's final, saying that surprise victor Leon Jackson "won by about 10% of the total vote".
Walsh told MediaGuardian.co.uk he felt that Leon, a Scot, won "fair and square" over his Welsh rival Rhydian and tipped the public vote in his favour with his emotional appeal to the audience during Saturday's final.
"Rhydian is a better singer, there's no doubt about that in my mind, but Leon's last [video clip] when he made an emotional plea to the public probably pipped it for him," he added.
"He spoke about doing it for his mum and having a better life and it seemed very genuine and I think the public responded to that. He seemed absolutely sincere," Walsh said.
"As far as I am aware, of the 7 million plus people who voted, Leon won by a margin of around 10% which is pretty clear as far as I'm concerned."
The number of complaints to Ofcom from disgruntled viewers who felt they were unable to vote for Rhydian during Saturday's final rocketed from 80 yesterday to more than 1,100 by 4pm today.
An ITV spokeswoman confirmed that Leon won by a 10% margin, insisting that the broadcaster was happy to take the unusual step of revealing the figure to demonstrate the absence of "bias" on the night of The X Factor final.
The spokeswoman said that the margin was 1% when the voting was between Leon, Rhydian and the English duo Same Difference early during Saturday's The X Factor final, but increased to 10% by the time the final vote closed.
"We know there are many Rhydian fans who are disappointed that he did not win, but the simple fact is that Leon won The X Factor fair and square," ITV added in a statement.
"Rhydian and Leon were both very strong finalists, so it is not surprising that they both had avid fanbases and that people voted in their millions. However, Leon performed strongly across the series and was the outright winner on the night by a full 10% of the vote."
In his emotional final interview before voting closed on Saturday night's ITV1 final, Leon told viewers that he hoped to win to give his mother, a single mum who lives on a council estate, a "better life".
Leon also impressed on the night by performing a duet with Australian star Kylie Minogue.
Asked if he felt that voting was divided into Welsh and Scottish voters, Walsh said: "I think that is how people vote in these situations."
He added that he was pleased with the vote for Leon because "Rhydian is going to have a massive career anyway".
ITV said: "A tiny number of mobile customers did experience problems getting through because of high call volumes but there were no other reported faults on the lines and viewers can be reassured that this would absolutely not have affected the outcome of the show.
"As all numbers go through to the same lines and vote platform it is impossible for there to be any bias in favour of or against a particular contestant."
An Ofcom spokeswoman today confirmed the 1,100 complaints figure, which is expected to rise further, adding that the regulator would look into the issues. She declined to give a timetable for the investigation into The X Factor.


this is about the x factor phone ins and how a lot of people rung in sayin that they could not get through whilst trying to vote for Rhyddian. I understand how frustrated these people may feel because if they wanted Rhyddian to win then they must be angry because he never won and people tried to make him win by ringin but could not get through so they must be angry because all those people that could not get through could have made a difference to make him win.

Ms jones rep of Asian-Goodness Gracious Me

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7vbnGGHFQ9g&feature=related (4:30)

-accent
-gossips
-racist
-care about reputation
-competitive
-suggests Indian women are housewives because they are at home during the day and one is holding a cleaning cloth.
-suggests women do not have a say, they are both arguing over who their sons will marry assuming the girl does not have a choice.
-traditional, clothing, idead about marriage.
-

Anti-drink ad 'not effective'

James Randerson, science correspondent
The Guardian,
Monday December 10 2007

A drinks industry-funded campaign to encourage responsible drinking in the run up to Christmas is ill-conceived, according to researchers who have studied young people's attitudes to alcohol.
"The Choice Is Yours" campaign features two adverts each depicting a very different night out. One ends in drunken behaviour, embarrassment and a hangover, while the other shows the positive and sociable side of responsible drinking.
But the researchers say that the drunken antics depicted in the "bad" night out are seen by most young people as part of a bonding experience with friends.
"I don't think it will be really effective," said Professor Christine Griffin of Bath University, who led the study.
She said that even nights culminating in a trip to casualty are often seen as a badge of honour by young drinkers. She said that focusing on the longer-term consequences of drinking would be more effective.
The researchers gathered information on attitudes to drinking by conducting 10 structured focus groups with men and women aged 18 to 25, plus four interviews. The research will be published in the International Journal of Drug Policy.
The £3m "The Choice Is Yours" campaign is funded by Diageo. The company's latest ad campaign for Guinness, which was filmed in the Andes, cost £10m. The company said: "We're proud of our adverts. They are strategically sound, evidence based and not designed to simply grab headlines."

This article says that the advert about dangerous drinking is not effective because what the show as a 'bad' night out is the way youngsters socialise nowadays and what they see as 'fun'. Instead they should include the consequences of dangerous drinking.

I partially agree that the advert should include the consequences of dangerous drinking instead of the hangovers etc because everyone knows that happens and it is just part of the experience/fun of the night out. People will not stop drinking from embarassment, drunken behaviour and a hangover because they know thats what happens when you get drunk.

Effects Theory
suggests the audience is 'passive'-believeing the media. Associated with the 'hypodermic needle model' which suggests the audience is being injected with ideologies and as a result creating a hegemonic society because the ruling class will pass down their ideologies and values, and because the audience are 'passive' they will believe them.

Media guardian:

Heat pays out in Jordan row
Chris Tryhorn and Stephen Brook
Guardian Unlimited
Tuesday December 4 2007
Katie Price - aka Jordan - has withdrawn her complaint about a Heat sticker mocking her disabled son Harvey after the magazine apologised in today's edition and made a donation to charity.
The Press Complaints Commission has now dropped a formal investigation into the sticker, which showed Harvey's face and was captioned "Harvey wants to eat me".
Today Heat published an apology headed "Harvey - sorry" on its letters page, admitting it had made a "mistake" by printing the sticker of Harvey, who is blind and has a hormone problem that causes weight gain.
"It was never our intention to cause offence to Harvey's family and friends nor to you, our readers," the apology said. "In particular, it was never our aim to make fun of Harvey's disabilities.
"We now accept that the decision to include this sticker was a mistake and we recognise that it has caused offence, not only to Katie and Peter Andre, but to a number of readers.
"Immediately following publication, we apologised unreservedly to Katie and Peter. We wish to apologise publicly to Harvey, Katie and Peter for any embarrassment and distress caused.
"Heat has voluntarily decided to make a donation to The Vision Charity, an organsiation that Katie and her family have worked with over a number of years, as a mark of its regret."
Last week Price and her husband, Peter Andre, lodged a complaint about the sticker, one of 50 given away by the Emap-owned magazine.
They cited clauses 6 and 12 of the PCC's code of practice, which deal with the protection of children and discrimination.

I think this is so wrong of Heat to do. Its expected from a trashy magazine like that anyway, but this has gone too far because i think its so rude. No one would want someone cussing their child, especially if they had a disability. It is expected for magazines like this to pick on celebrities because that is what happens if youre a celeb, but not an innocent child. And i think Katie should not have withdrawn the complaint, she should have sewed them so they would have been even more publicly humiluated and their reputation would have gone down the drain, which is what they deserve after this.

Denis McQuail
Information - The news, newspapers,
Learning - documentaries, books, news.
Personal identity ?
Integration and social interaction?
Entertainment - films, comedies, internet.

Blumler + Katz (1974)
Why audience members might consume a text
4 main reasons :
Diversion-escapismt from reality.
as a route of escapism from reality. I would usually watch a film or comedy, such as fresh prince of bel air or friends, as this has nothing to do with real issues which are going on. i also use the internet for escapism.

Personal relationships-i watch two soaps, Eastenders and neighbours.

Personal identity-constructing individual identity and characteristics from characters in the media


Surveillance- informational programmes, such as the news.
i like to watch the news once a day to know what is going on. I usually watch BBC 24 because you can watch it whenever.

Turner Broadcasting's Casey Harwood on the digital future: from CNN to Nuts TV
Turner's European digital media boss told the Broadcasting Press Guild that he was looking at taking Nuts TV onto the continent.
November 27, 2007 8:00 AM
When it comes to mustering a strategy for a massive multi-media business then few can top the task of Casey Harwood, senior vice president of digital media at Time Warner-owned Turner Broadcasting Europe.
Harwood's role - or at least the breadth of discussion at a Broadcasting Press Guild lunch grilling yesterday - touches on everything from aspirations to launch a CNN documentary and lifestyle channel on-demand, the Nuts TV experiment to its recent YouTube and Bebo deals.
The importance of Nuts TV
Because of Turner's powerhouse business operation in the US the company, says Harwood, takes a bit of an attitude of "risk in the regions" where it can "afford to take a few bets".
An example is Nuts TV, the Freeview channel based on the lads magazine brand owned by sister company IPC.
"It moved us out of our comfort zone," he explains, referring to the four hours of live studio-audience based content the show provides, as well as access to participation TV, gambling and ad-funded programming the venture dips its toe into.
"If we were to replicate it 40 times around Europe it would be a big business," he says in an off-the-cuff manner, noting later that there isn't necessarily a "single solution" for all markets.
When the show moves to the BSkyB and Virgin platforms Nuts TV will be bolstered to 12 hours and will start to feature long-form programming ("even four hours of live TV is an awful lot").
And the "dual viewing experience" philosophy means that there is no desire just to replicate Nuts magazine on-air. "We are not wedded to Nuts forever, there could be breakout strands," he explains.

This article is saying how Casey Harwood wants to distribute Nuts TV across Europe. I think this should not happen. if it does, they are making all these porny things everywhere, even though they already are in Europe, however, they are contributing to the increase of it. and when people know it has come from England, they might think of England differently.

Audience profiling:
Checkpoint one: what is demographic profiling? grouping an audience into: age, gender, geographical area, class, economic status and religion.

Checkpoint two: what is psychographic profiling? categorising audiences in terms of needs and motivation rather than simply demographic factors, this way consumer cans be targeted directly through their needs and desires, which is more effective for advertisers.

Checkpoint three:why do you think advertisers create these niche nicknames? it is an easy way to define target audiences.

uses and gratifications
checkpoint one: what four motivations for choosing a text did Blumer and Katz suggest? Diversions, personal relationship, personal identity and surveilance.

Checkpoint two: what is cultural code? importance of certain soci-economic differences in shaping the ways in which people interpret texts. the texts appeal to different people in different ways.

BBC staff edge closer to strike

Owen Gibson
Guardian Unlimited
Tuesday November 20 2007
BBC staff moved a step closer to strike action today after the first in a series of meetings between unions and management ended in stalemate.
The corporation was seeking to make 440 redundancies at production arm BBC Vision in the first tranche of two rounds of cuts that will ultimately account for 725 job losses.
But union sources said management had received only 303 expressions of interest from people inquiring about the terms of redundancy and were determined to press ahead with compulsory cuts to bridge the gap.
Bectu and NUJ officials will meet with news management tomorrow, where the gap between the number of expressions of interest and the number of redundancies is expected to be much smaller, before a joint union meeting on Thursday at which they are likely to press for a strike ballot.
Overall, BBC director general Mark Thompson plans to cut 2,500 posts, with an overall total of 1,800 redundancies due to some staff being redeployed.
He is keen to conclude the process swiftly but unions have consistently warned they would ballot for industrial action if compulsory redundancies were enforced.
Union officials have also said the complex redundancy terms, with some staff barred from being re-employed for a period of time, mean that staff should be given longer to make up their mind.
BBC Vision is facing the largest overall number of redundancies, with factual programming taking the biggest hit as more programmes are outsourced to independent producers under the Window of Creative Competition.
There will also be fewer programmes made overall, with Thompson ordering a 10% cut in the commissioning budget as part of a policy to make fewer programmes with more impact across more platforms.

I think the BBC should go on strike because it is not fair that they are making so many redundancies, especially if they are barred from being re-employed because this means they will be left unemployed and is not loyal of the BBC to do. And strike will be bad publicity for the BBC so they may re consider making so many people redundant. In a way i am glad they are cutting the [rogrammes down because sometimes they show junk, for example, my family, it used to be good, but now it is annoying and they could put something better on.

Effects theory
checkpoint one:
The rise of media industries on society. it says that society controls nearly everything including culture. The mass audience is manipulated by society (the ruling class) = the audience is less able to criticise what they have been shown because it has been commodified to fit the capitalist system.

checkpoint two:
Desensitised means less sensitive. it is when repeated exposure will make the audience less sensitive as social attitudes and expectations change over time. This relates to media as movies and documentaries will be shown in contemporary society rather than in previous years where there may have been ethics.

8. Ed Richards


Richards: aiming to work with the BBC Trust to find 'appropriate solutions' to the problems of viewer trust in British TV

Job: chief executive, OfcomAge: 41Industry: regulationStaff: 776Salary: £308,930 (including bonus, benefits and pension payments)2006 ranking: 77

Ofcom chief executive Ed Richards faces a critical few months which will test not just his own ability but the effectiveness or otherwise of the three and a half-year-old regulator.
Ofcom's recent interventions read like a list of the industry's biggest stories of the year so far - the Celebrity Big Brother race row, the premium-rate call-TV scandal, and BskyB's purchase of a 17.9% share in ITV.
The Big Brother controversy ended with a landmark ruling from the regulator saying that Channel 4 had made "serious editorial misjudgments" that were "compounded by a serious failure of the compliance process".
Critics claimed Ofcom had made errors of its own by failing to react quickly enough to either the Big Brother row or the TV phone-in scandal, which began with Channel 4's Richard & Judy and spread to other broadcasters like a virus.
Ofcom is looking into Sky's purchase of a stake in ITV as well as the satellite broadcaster's pay-TV plans for Freeview, and has opened more than 20 investigations into irregularities on premium-rate phone-ins and interactive services.
"The next few months are going to be absolutely crucial for Ed Richards," said one of our panellists.
"He has more to say about the shape of the media landscape over the next 12 months than almost anyone else on this list, but I fear he is going to be weak rather than directional."
Also in Richards' in-tray: what to do with analogue spectrum; the future funding of Channel 4; sharp practice in the cut-throat broadband market; the future regulation of commercial radio; the provision of public service content in the digital age; TV product placement; HDTV. The list goes on. And on.

Previously the regulator's number two, Richards succeeded Stephen Carter in the top job in October last year.
The new regime made its first significant decision last year when it banned junk food advertising around children's TV programmes.

A quintessential New Labour man - Greg Dyke famously referred to him as a "jumped-up Millbank oik" - Richards has worked for both Gordon Brown and Tony Blair.
Criticised for being too close to the government and the BBC - where he worked for Lord Birt as its controller of corporate strategy - Richards dismissed accusations of New Labour cronyism as "tittle tattle".
Richards is one of this year's biggest risers, up nearly 70 places to number eight. He was lower last year because he had not yet been appointed to replace Carter as head of Ofcom.
Carter, a one-time candidate to be chief executive of ITV, is now chief executive of City PR firm Brunswick.

iPhone sales are in line with expectations, says O2 chief

Richard Wray
The Guardian
Tuesday November 13 2007
Mobile phone company O2 claims to have sold "tens of thousands" of iPhones over the weekend after its launch in Britain.
Its chief executive, Peter Erskine, predicted that the UK pre-pay mobile phone market will decline this year for the first time in the history of the industry as the mobile phone companies focus on users willing to sign a contract.
Customers buying an iPhone, for instance, have to sign up for 18 months. He said iPhone sales through O2 stores are outstripping those from Carphone Warehouse and Apple's own stores, with "tens of thousands" sold through the O2 store network. There have been reports over the weekend that O2 and Carphone stores have seen lacklustre sales but Erskine said "the initial feedback is we are in-line with our expectations".
Erskine stressed it is "early days" and refused to give an exact sales figure, adding that reports of sales of more than 100,000 were exaggerated.
Asked about speculation that people were put off by the price, he added "that's certainly not what we are finding".
The number of customers who have gone into an O2 store since the iPhone went on sale on Friday night is three times higher than the same period last year.
While many of these new visitors had come to play with the gadget, Erskine said he hoped overall sales would increase as staff tried to sell this wave of shoppers additional items. "It's the old story in retail: if you can get them in you can sell them something," he said. "What I don't know yet ... is how much extra we are selling ." UK chief executive Matthew Key expects to sell more than 200,000 iPhones in the Christmas and new year period.

This story is saying that the iphone is selling well and that more people have gone into O2 stores this time of year than last (more than 3 times of the people), and they hope to continue selling loads of more over Christmas. I think that the iphone is going to sell more over Christmas because obviously people are going to be buying gifts, and for teenagers, even young adults, this would be the perfect gift because nowadays technology what everything is about.

Marxist and Pluralist Consequences:

Profits will only exist by exploiting workers-->the value of the object is higher than the value of the employee.

That is not right, the audience is more active and are now more media literate. They are aware of what they are watchin g and are more selective.

But programmes have been dumbed down so ulimately the media still have control over audiences as they show programmes that are known to be 'dumbed down'. So therefore people cannot oppose what they see.

They may be 'dumbed down' but that does not mean there is a lack of media sources for an audience to gain knowledge and make up their own mind on a situation.

There are many media sources out there but a lot of it is owned by one person (eg Murdoch) passing down his values and beliefs. By dmming down texts (Adorno) it makes the audience passive in what they watch (hypodermic needle model).

But the uses and gratifications theory is when they audience is active, with the growth of the internet we are still able to read news from different sources and magazines and newspapers do not neccesarily have to be one of Murdochs.

But it is quesionable as to were these sources come from. Note the correlation between media conglomerates, the mass availablity of texts and then consider its reach to the audience; in the hands of the wealthy companies, we are fed texts.

People go out and read/view the media, if they don't like what they hear thet can simply choose another text: the entire media is NOT owned by one person.

Media guardian article 5

Radio 4's Today: the BBC move has affected shows such as the flagship news programme. Photograph: Graeme Robertson
BBC radio executives have abandoned the controversial rebranding of the corporation's news bulletins, which drew scores of complaints from listeners.
In a move that was also criticised as pointless tinkering by many staff, news presenters on the BBC's main radio networks were told last month that in future they had to highlight the fact that the bulletins were produced by BBC news.
Presenters on Radio 4's Today programme were instructed to begin their bulletins with the words "BBC news" and end them with the phrase "BBC news for Radio 4", instead of the old sign-off "BBC Radio 4 news".
The head of BBC radio news, Stephen Mitchell, said the "subtle change" was introduced as the BBC needed to "simplify" the identity of BBC news.
However, scores of listeners complained on the BBC's online message boards.
"Thanks for the clarification, I used to think Sky produced news bulletins on the BBC," one said.
Another added: "The fact that anyone at the Beeb spent time contemplating this change makes me very angry. What a waste of my licence fee."
A third commented: "Sounds ridiculous. Forget about branding, chaps, most of us who tune in do so because it is Radio 4 and we know we'll get the news read properly, not someone presenting it."
Following the outcry from listeners, Tim Bailey, the editor of Radio 4's 6pm bulletin, yesterday sent staff a new memo saying there had been a "change of plan".
With "immediate effect", he said presenters would now begin bulletins with the words "BBC News at x O'Clock" and end them with "BBC News".
"So for example at 1800 - BBC News at six o'clock. This is Corrie Corfield. Good evening," he said.
However, the further fiddling has angered staff at a time when they are preparing for hundreds of redundancies within the news division.
"I can't believe BBC news pays someone to sit around and think about stuff like this," one source at the corporation commented.
A BBC spokesman said:" We felt the words needed a slight change to get the result that sounds best on air."

I think they should have stuck to the original script because this has obviously angered their listeners. they do not need to reinforce or mention that the news comes from the BBC, it is not as if no one knows who they are, they are already established well enough.

In what ways do I agree with Pluralism?

To a certain extent i agree with pluralism. This is because the media have choices within the market. There are now a wide range of well established supermarkets, for example, Sainsbury's, Tesco, Asda, Morrisons and Waitrose who all compete with each other over cheap prices, however people can chose which one they prefer. This is also like tv, there are a range of channels which people can chose from. These points show there is not a pluralistic society.

media guardian story
New channels galore as BBC aims to rule the world - with help from Doctor Who and the Teletubbies
· New stations part of drive for £222m profits in 5 years· US is key target in scheme for global expansion
Leigh Holmwood and Owen Gibson
The Guardian
Monday October 29 2007
The BBC's commercial arm, BBC Worldwide, is to launch a further 30 channels internationally, as well as a high-definition outlet and an on-demand service in the United States, as part of the next stage of its aggressive expansion plan.
The launches, which will be based on four thematic brands - BBC Entertainment, with shows such as Doctor Who; BBC Knowledge, featuring programmes such as Top Gear; BBC Lifestyle, with What Not To Wear; and children's outlet CBeebies, featuring the Teletubbies - come on top of 21 channels it already plans to launch before the end of this financial year.
There will also be a mixed-genre high-definition channel, while Worldwide also looks after the distribution of BBC World, the international news channel, which is due to relaunch next year. The 30 new channels will launch over two years from the beginning of April. They will join existing brands such as BBC America and BBC Canada to take Worldwide's channel count to nearly 70 in more than 160 countries.
The launches come as Worldwide, which has been given the task of doubling the profits it pumps back into the BBC to at least £222m within five years, is pushing for rapid growth across its businesses.
It recently bought a 75% stake in the Lonely Planet travel guide firm for around £75m as well as opening a production hub in India - the third of eight planned around the world, following offices in Australia and the US, which makes the highly successful American version of Strictly Come Dancing. Worldwide will also benefit from the controversial decision to allow advertising on the bbc.com website, which is due to bring in £70m a year, while it also plans 15 "passion-based" global portals based on brands such as Top Gear as well as a commercial version of its video on demand service, iPlayer.
The US is a key target of the expansion plans, with Worldwide aiming to build on the success of its BBC America entertainment channel with a simulcast high-definition version, which is due to launch early next year. BBC America is now available in 58m homes in the US - up nearly 15m in the last year - while a new strategy of concentrating on contemporary programming, at the expense of classic shows such as Benny Hill, has seen ratings reach their highest peak since 2003, with the drama Robin Hood recently pulling in its biggest ever audience.
Worldwide will also launch its four thematic channels as branded video on demand services through BBC America, while there are also plans to expand BBC World, which is currently only available in New York, across the country.
An American-focused news programme, BBC World News America, was launched on BBC World in the US and BBC America at the beginning of October, doubling that channel's news ratings. The programme has already made a splash with an interview with former president Jimmy Carter, in which he attacked vice-president Dick Cheney. Worldwide is looking to launch its channels in nearly every other major territory globally. The first in Europe are due in Poland in December, with four channels going live, with France, Germany and Scandinavia set to follow.
In Asia, Malaysia and the Philippines will follow 10 channels launched in the continent in just five months, while two are due to go live in Latin America this year. Launches are also planned in Africa, while the new high definition channel is planned for developed markets such as Japan, South Korea, Australia and Italy.
"There is not a market we are not looking at," BBC Worldwide's managing director of channels, Darren Childs, told the Guardian. The new channels would commission locally produced content as well as broadcasting core BBC shows.
"We are not doing expat channels any more," Mr Childs declared. He said the ambitious roll-out of channels would help build the BBC brand internationally as well as challenging the big American media companies such as Viacom, owner of MTV, and Turner, which broadcasts CNN.
"It will take us three to five years to take us to the scale of our competitors, but I am confident we can do it," he said.
"We are taking on the big American channel providers and there isn't another UK competitor who can."
He said the BBC's plans had been met with enthusiasm by global channel providers. "This is a brand-led business and we are trying to build the BBC brand overseas by understanding our audiences better than our competitors," he said.
Worldwide's aggressive expansion has met with criticism from some quarters, particularly from the online world over its plan to sell advertising on bbc.com. "Where it is not helping UK plc is in doing anything that has a negative impact on private businesses in Britain," said Hugo Drayton, chairman of the British Internet Publishers' Association.
"Selling ads is not very helpful and is clearly detrimental to others." The BBC still wanted to "park its tanks on every lawn. It is too big and too insensitive to the needs of commercial operators."
Worldwide's managing director of digital media and director of strategy, David Moody, dismissed the concerns. "No business wants more competition. People want us to be only moderately successful but we have very clear instructions to go out and use our commercial returns to subsidise the licence fee."

i think this is a good idea of splitting their programmes into certain channels according to the genre of the programme. Financially it will also make them well known, not only here but in America too. overall i think it is a good idea!

Am i a marxist??
I think the Marxist views are true. the proletariat are being taking advantage of and exploited and they are unaware of the situation, and the borgeioise are taking advantage. i do agree that the media dumb down their media issues, especially the news on ITV, who sometimes include irrelevant stuff like about singers which is 'news' but there are more important things happening in the world.

Marxism
1. Difference between the Proletariat and Bourgeoisie?
Two types of bourgeoisie: the wealthy bourgeoisie who do not work themselves but employ others,eg, Bill Gates. Then there is the petty bourgeoisie,they have high status and employ people to work for them but also work themselves. the Proletariat are usually working class who get expoilted by the higher classes.

2: Difference between the ISA and RSA?
The ISA (ideological state apparatus) are institutions which pass down norms and values they are usually informal and many people are unaware of them, eg. religion, family and education. RSA (repressive state apparatus) still pass down norms and values but they are more formal for example the police.

Globalisation debate:
Dick and Dom are having a conversation about the issue of globalisation

Dick: i dont get it, whats wrong with globalisation?

Dom: people lick Murdoch, who own 40% of newspapers only puts what He wants to be in them, therefore we are forced to think what he thinks.

Dick: everyone can think for themselves, you can buy the other 60% of newspapers or just make up your own mind.

Dom: its like the hypodermic needle model, people are fed info through the news and people think the news is trustworthy so they believe it, especially Sky News which is owned by Murdoch.

Dick: so we have a hegemonic ideology within the media, but if people cant make up their own minds that just makes them dumb! we can make up our own opinions

Dom: people who dont know much, for example, people who dont live in England may not know as much as we do about england, so when they hear something on the news about england, they might believe it, even if it is rubbish, therefore, these monopolies have restricted our choices!

media guardian article 3

'Upset' Ant and Dec give profits to charity after phone-in scandalJames Robinson, media correspondentSunday October 21, 2007The Observer
ITV stars Ant and Dec last night made an unprecedented apology over rigged phone-in votes in a competition on their programme, and announced that they would donate profits from their next series of Saturday Night Takeaway to charity.
In a statement, Ant McPartlin and Declan Donnelly said: 'It is important to us that people understand that none of the shows highlighted in the findings of ITV's independent review were made by our production company, Gallowgate, and that there was no financial benefit to us from the phone lines within those shows.
'Our roles as executive producers are purely creative ones. We are not involved in running the phone lines, the logistics of the competitions or selecting winners.
'We are deeply upset about what the review uncovered. However, we welcome the full disclosure of these problems, not least because we can be sure that our viewers have the opportunity to get their money back.'
They had spoken to ITV chairman Michael Grade about the review's findings and were confident that ITV would not allow the problems to be repeated.
Grade is under increasing pressure this weekend to force the resignations of those involved in the systematic rigging of phone-in programmes. He said he would have resigned if he had been chief executive of ITV when the rigging took place. But, unlike Peter Fincham, who resigned as Controller of BBC1 after a row over a documentary about the Queen, no one at ITV has left.
The Observer can reveal that the heads of Britain's biggest broadcasters met last month to discuss the crisis. BBC director-general Mark Thompson, Grade, Channel 4 chief executive Andy Duncan and Jane Lighting, his opposite number at Five, met at Broadcasting House on 26 September.
The summit was called to discuss how to restore public trust in broadcasting and hammer out a set of best practices. Sources say they could lead to the introduction of an industry-wide code of conduct.
Last week, an independent report by auditor Deloitte found that several ITV shows, including The X Factor, failed to count viewers' votes cast after lines had closed. It also found that production staff at Saturday Night Takeaway, which was heavily criticised by Deloitte, routinely ignored poll results on editorial grounds. The company has promised to reimburse viewers and said the affair is likely to cost it £18m.
At last month's meeting, how to handle the fall-out from recent scandals was also raised. 'There was a feeling that the "drip, drip" of revelations was having a negative effect and we wanted to see if there was anything we could do to mitigate that,' said one source. He emphasised there was no attempt to co-ordinate last week's announcements. Grade reacted angrily to an allegation by Liberal Democrat spokesman Don Foster that the decision to publish Deloitte's report on Thursday, when the BBC revealed 2,500 job losses, was an 'attempt to bury bad news'.
News of the meeting comes as the Serious Fraud Office confirmed it had asked industry regulator Ofcom to hand over documents relating to its investigation into GMTV, the breakfast TV franchisee, after receiving complaints from the public.
GMTV, which is 75 per cent owned by ITV, was fined a record £2m by Ofcom this year after admitting that millions of viewers taking part in phone-in competitions entered after lines had closed.

i think it should go to charity because sooo many programmes are doing this, 'without knowing'. i think it is done by purpose and when they get sussed they say its an accident etc, of course they know whats going on behind everything. majority of phone ins should be going to charity anyway, its not as if ITV need that much money.

Bertelsmann AG is a transnational media corporation founded in 1835, based in Gütersloh, Germany. The company operates in 63 countries and employs over 100,000 workers (as of June 30, 2007).

It is now the second- or third-largest global media conglomerate in terms of revenue. It has over 76,000 employees. Its holdings encompasses book and magazine publishing, film and music recording, online services and other interests.

Bertelsmann consists of 6 corporate divisions:
RTL Group, a European broadcaster
Gruner + Jahr (a magazine publisher, the biggest in Europe)
BMG (Bertelsmann Music Group, which mainly consist of 50 percent in Sony BMG)
Random House, the world's largest trade book publisher

Direct Group, the world's largest book and music club group
arvato, an international media and communications service provider

In 2004, BMG and Sony entered a 50-50 joint venture. BMG Music Publishing, the world's third largest music publisher, stayed owned by Bertelsmann and became the world's largest independent music publisher. As of 2005, Sony BMG's share of the music market stands at 21.5%.

Bertelsmann made headlines on 2002, when it announced it would acquire the assets of Napster for $8 million.

It holds 75% of magazine publisher Gruner & Jahr. Bertelsmann has a controlling in RTL, the Luxembourg-based broadcaster (22 television stations and 18 radio stations across Europe).

Kirandeep & Hammad

Holby criticised for binge drinking scene

Mark SweneyThursday October 4, 2007MediaGuardian.co.uk

Holby City: criticised for a scene in which two characters down shots of tequila.
Drinks' industry body the Portman Group has made official complaints to media regulator Ofcom and the BBC over an "irresponsible" scene in Holby City promoting binge drinking.
The Portman Group, the eight-strong industry body that has members including Diageo, Carlesberg and Stella Artois-parent Inbev, made the complaints about a scene featuring two medics who "down" five shots of tequila in a bar after a stressful day at work.
The industry body is accusing the programme of showing alcohol misuse and a "highly irresponsible portrayal of excessive and rapid drinking".
The scene also implied that their boozing would lead to a sexual encounter, argued the Portman Group.
"We appreciate that programme makers want to mirror some aspects of real life but they should avoid the encouragement of harmful, rapid and excessive drinking," said David Poley, chief executive of the Portman Group.
"We would not advocate censorship, nor deny that storylines of alcohol misuse can be used to good and positive effect. But in this case, the characters drank far too much and the harmful consequences were not shown".
The Portman Group argued that if an alcoholic drinks producer were to encourage excessive drinking or suggest an association with sexual success, it would be a clear breach of the alcohol advertising and marketing rules.
"There are strict controls on alcohol advertising and marketing but the impact of these rules is being diluted by irresponsible programming," added Mr Poley.
A BBC spokesman said: "Holby City takes the issue of the negative effects of alcohol abuse very seriously. On occasions when it does deal with alcohol within a storyline we always seek to handle the issue sensitively.
"The series is in the middle of a storyline in which a key character, Kyla, has spiralling problems in her personal and professional life because of alcohol - a storyline that fully and realistically depicts the negative impact of alcohol dependency in the workplace.
"Kyla has now been seen to seek help for alcoholism and the audience will see how she fares on the road to recovery."
From the start of next year, a new rule in the Portman Group's Code of Practice will also prevent the encouragement of rapid or down-in-one drinking

Call to prosecute anti-Muslim Facebook groupRiazat ButtFriday September 28, 2007Guardian Unlimited
People accusing Muslims of drugging, beating and raping Sikh women should be prosecuted for inciting religious hatred, an expert on religion has told Guardian Unlimited.Philip Lewis, who is the Bishop of Bradford's aide on interfaith matters, was responding to claims posted by a group on the social networking site Facebook.The group is called STOP OUR SIKH SISTERS BEING DRUGGED, RAPED, BEATEN AND USED FOR PROSTITUTION and claims that Sikh, Hindu and white girls from the ages of 13 to 22 are "being held against their will, drugged and gang raped" for the "pleasure" of Muslim extremists.There is no evidence on the site to support the claims and Singh Kaur, the group's creator, provides no information about sources. But the group has attracted 2,900 members with nearly all of them young British Sikhs.Dr Lewis said: "If there is a serious concern being raised then it's a matter for the police. If there is not a case to be answered, people need to be prosecuted."It is pernicious rumour-mongering that needs to be exposed. It's a form of slander. It is exacerbating relations between communities."He said the issue was not on the radar of religious groups in Bradford, one of the "hotspots" cited by the group.A Scotland Yard spokesman said there was no evidence that such activity was taking place in London, another allegedly "affected area".One anti-racism activist urged people to either come forward with evidence or stop agitating.Rob Deeks works for Aik Saath, a project that brings together Sikh, Muslim and Hindu youths from the Slough area, in Berkshire. It was set up after clashes between young people from different Asian communities.He said: "Whoever is behind it is doing a good job of stirring up ill feeling. What's more worrying is there are 3,000 people who believe these claims."The Facebook row is the latest salvo in an ongoing dispute between Hindu, Sikh and Muslim communities about forced or aggressive conversions.Senior figures from Hindu and Sikh groups have accused Muslims of using underhand, sometimes violent, methods to convert girls to Islam. There has never been a formal investigation and there is no official complaint on record.However one Sikh organisation said there was evidence of "heavy proselytising" on university campuses. Indarjit Singh, from the Network of Sikh Organisations, said: "The community is very concerned."
http://media.guardian.co.uk/newmedia/story/0,,2179379,00.htmlThis article is about a group on facebook voicing their opinion on muslims who are trying to convert Indians, mainly females. the significance of this is that it is causing some contraversy because some people think it is not right to have the group there as it may come across as racist. Personally,i dont think the group is racist it is just raising awareness because the issue needs to be addressed as it is becoming more of problem in todays society and needs to stop soon.

HBO

(Home Box Office)

About HBO:

HBO is aired in Latin America, Hungary, the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Romania (and Moldova), Poland, Slovenia, Croatia, Serbia, Bulgaria and South Asia(Bangladesh, India and Pakistan). HBO plans to launch international operations in Europe (France, Spain, Germany and Italy).
HBO has already begun to deliver content to cable customers in the UK on the Tiscali TV IPTV and Virgin Media Cable platforms via HBO On Demand, showing programming which has already been aired in the UK along with programming never seen on UK TV before.

The texts it produces:

Rome, Sopranos, BIg love, Six Feet Under, Entourage, Lucky Loui, The Wire, The Comeback, Deadwood, Family Bonds, Curb Your Enthusiasm, Sex and The City, Da Ali G Show, Oz, Real Time with Bill Maher, Def Poetry, The Bad Boys Of Comedy.

http://www.hbo.com/corpinfo/faq.shtml



Who owns HBO?

Charles Dolan (founder):






In the early 1970s, Mr. Dolan founded Home Box Office Inc (HBO) the first premium programming service in the cable television industry. After selling Home Box Office to Time-Life, Inc. (now Time Warner)
Charles Dolan was one of the first to believe in cable sports programming and twenty-four-hour news channels. He is best known as the owner of Cablevision Systems Corporation, a large cable television operator in the New York City area.

http://www.answers.com/topic/charles-dolan

However, Dolan sold HBO to Time Warner Inc. who also own CNN.

Officers:Chairman and CEO: Richard D. (Dick) ParsonsPresident, COO, and Director: Jeffrey L. (Jeff) BewkesEVP and CFO: Wayne H. Pace
Competitors:News Corp.,Viacom, and Disney.

HBO also had a couple of joint ventures:
First, with the formation of TriStar Pictures with Columbia Pictures and CBS. Columbia later bought the two-thirds interest of the studio.

Then, HBO merged its The Comedy Channel with Viacom's HA! cable network to form Comedy Central. In 2003, Viacom bought HBO's half of the Comedy Central channel and merged it to its MTV Networks unit.

HBO also had a joint venture with Liberty Media and many major cable companies in Movietime channel (now E!). In 1997, The Walt Disney Company and Comcast purchased control of E!.

In 2005, HBO and New Line Cinema launched Picturehouse, an independent film distributor. It was formerly Fine Line Features when the company was fully owned by New Line.

http://www.answers.com/topic/time-warner-inc?cat=biz-fin

History of the institution:

In 1965, cable pioneer Charles Dolan won the franchise to build a cable system in lower Manhattan. The new system, named Sterling Manhattan Cable by Mr. Dolan, was the nation's first urban underground cable system. He laid underground cable beneath the streets of Manhattan because television signals were blocked by many tall buildings. Time Life Inc., in the same year, purchased 20 percent of Dolan's company.

In September 1973 Time Life, Inc. completed to pay service. HBO was soon the fastest show in America on 14 systems in New York and Pennsylvania.

On December 13 1975 HBO became the first TV network to broadcast its signals via satellite when it showed the "Thrilla in Manila" boxing match between Muhammad Ali and Joe Frazier. On December 28, 1981, HBO expanded its programming schedule to 24 hours a day, seven days per week. HBO was one of the first cable TV networks to broadcast a high-definition version of its channel.

Originally, HBO was part of Time Inc. When Time merged with Warner Communications in 1989, it became part of Time Warner and still is now.

http://www.answers.com/topic/hbo-4