Dissertation – 2011 and The Collapse of Media Ethics: Public Shaming and The Boundaries of Disclosure

Since the downfall of the Press Council and its replacement with the Press Complaints Commission (PCC) in 1991, there has been an increasing tension between journalists and public figures over the disclosure of their private information. Public shaming in this form has become an emerging tradition in the media, as the definition of privacy has become an ever-shifting notion in our increasingly invasive popular media culture with the likes of reality TV shows and social media. With the introduction of the Human Rights Act (HRA) in 2000 as well, public figures are now able to go straight to court on privacy matters, which has ‘encouraged a new wave of challenges to the media on privacy issues in the UK courts’ (Tambini and Heyward 2002: 4).

Content Analysis: The Reporting Of Amanda Knox in the Case of Meredith Kercher’s Murder

On 1st November 2007, British exchange student Meredith Kercher was murdered in her shared apartment in Perugia, Italy. The case received worldwide press coverage, particularly in England and Italy, and has been of high media interest on an international magnitude for over four years. However, since the release of suspect Amanda Knox on 3rd October 2011 the media’s shift in the spotlight has left Kercher’s family to believe that, ‘Meredith has been hugely forgotten’ (Kington 2011). So why did this change of focus from the media happen? And how and when did it first come into place?

How has Stranger Collective adapted to survive as a small, independent business as the role of Journalism itself is changing?

(Published on Liquid News Room)

For my BA(Hons) Journalism course at University College Falmouth, I am undergoing a three-week work placement at Stranger Collective, a creative service and copywriting agency based in Penryn, Cornwall. Starting out as a bimonthly lifestyle publication titled ‘Stranger’ that launched in September 2004, the magazine offered a flavour of life in Britain today, shining the spotlight on the talent of young people in Cornwall, focusing on the creative side of Cornwall’s culture with a mix of music, film, environment, current affairs, surf, skate and fashion. The last printed edition of the magazine was published in August 2007 after 16 issues; Stranger now continues through Stranger Collective, publishing features, reviews and news on their website, and creating one-off print projects, such as zines, produced to coincide with local events and festivals.

Discuss The Ethical Implications For Journalists Raised In Trying To Balance Article 8 and Article 10 of The 1998 Human Rights Act.

The Human Rights Act (HRA) came into force in October 2000, giving effect in the UK to the rights set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR). Article 8, The Right to Privacy, and Article 10, The Right to Freedom of Expression, are the two most important articles for journalists in the UK. A journalist’s right to express their views publicly always needs to be balanced against another’s right to private life, but many ethical implications are raised when trying to find a balance between the two. How do we know when somebody’s private life comes in the public’s interest to know, and how do we define the difference between the two? This conflict has become widely debated in the role of journalism, demanding a balance to ensure the best standards in reporting.

Are The Characters of “Skins” Realistic & Do They Influence Teenagers’ Lives?

Skins is a British ‘dramedy’ portraying the lives of a group of teenagers in Bristol. The TV programme first aired on 25th January 2007 on E4; a channel renowned for its diverse and controversial programming. The programme has had four series so far, with a new cast for the last two series, and two more series currently in production. It focuses on a group of friends, aged 16-18, during their two years in sixth form and deals with the situations that teenagers are faced with, using comic exaggerations of characters to give a comedy edge. The programme deals with issues such as family problems, sexuality, drugs, death, teen pregnancy, mental illness, eating disorders and relationships.

In what ways is the practise of journalism influenced and affected by objectivity?

Objectivity is an important aspect which needs to be considered in the practise of journalism. It is seen as a professional ideal which has become a troubling debate in modern journalism, leading to many questions. Does objectivity undermine the press as being the eyes and ears of the public? Or is it better serving the public to offer a variety of views? These questions only lead to a more complex one. Is objectivity even possible? The influence of objectivity needs to be explored closely to identify whether its effects on journalism are positive or negative and to conclude whether journalism can truly be objective.

Compare and contrast the ways in which George Orwell and Margaret Atwood use a central character to portray a dystopian society. Which of these is the more compelling character and why?

(This essay was written for my English Literature A Level in 2009, but I wanted to upload it just as something to look back on.)

The two novels that I have been studying are Nineteen-Eighty Four by George Orwell and The Handmaid’s Tale by Margaret Atwood. Both novels are dystopias showing a corrupted society in which conditions of life are extremely bad. Dystopian literature investigates how the human desire to create a perfect world can go wrong. Authors create dystopias to comment on and criticise features of their own society. George Orwell and Margaret Atwood both use a central character to convey these dystopian societies in which their novels are set in. Nineteen-Eighty Four is narrated in third-person to tell the story of Orwell’s main character, Winston Smith, whilst The Handmaid’s Tale is narrated in first-person by Atwood’s main character, Offred. These protagonists are given many similarities and differences in the ways in which they are presented to help portray the dystopian societies in which they live. I am going to compare and contrast these techniques to evaluate who is the most compelling character and why.