Audience positioning on a new and relevant level

Audience positioning is always an area that students struggle to comprehend; it's not sitting on the sofa in front of the TV!  It takes into consideration who we side with in a narrative, balance, bias, what we are(n't) shown and so on.  

The video below takes this to a new level and literally positions the viewer as a refugee using their phone to escape atrocities and striving for something better.  The use of a point of view position allows full engagement; the verisimilitude of the device, messages, whatsapp etc doesn't allow your focus to deviate and is very clever. 

The video is best viewed on a mobile or hand held device.  

Meet the Superhumans - Yes I Can!

With the Olympics and Paralympic Games in Rio just around the corner, Channel 4 have done themselves proud once again in relation to the representation of disability in the media.

Whether you're looking at institution and ethos, identities or representation, this trailer is a must see for media studies students. 

There has been some controversy around the trailer with some saying it's too glamorous, or others saying it misrepresents people with a disability as they are made out to be special humans with magical powers; The superhumans.  The fact that this particular social group is being represented in the media is a step int he right direction and lessens the stigmas attached.

The Objectification and Scrutiny of women has hit a new level

https://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2016/jul/13/jennifer-aniston-fed-up-women-essay

Jennifer Aniston, star of Friends and an A-lister celeb, will always face scrutiny due to her position - however, I must admit that the press has hit a new low - do we care if she is pregnant or has just eaten too much?  The Guardian newspaper released a video which certainly raises some interesting points which can be accessed on the link above.

If you're studying representation of gender, the female identity, or the idea of celebrity, this is a must to write about contextually!

Pokemon Go! A good idea?

The concept of a new Pokemon Game will certainly hail both new and old audiences and the concept of the new geo tagging game seems a great idea and feat of new technology.  However, the safety aspects and issues it flags up, particularly for more passive and let's say, stupid audiences, is quite shocking.

The discovery of a dead body, the potential risks audiences face in terms of their safety - getting run over, phone jackings...... is this game a good thing?  Put it this way - nintendo are laughing all the way to the bank since their shares have gone up 50% since the release of the game.  That's until, something goes wrong...

I Pickachu-oose not to play this game personally!

Is Video Game Violence Dead?

Some might say that Video Game Violence is a thing of the past - or is it?  Perhaps it is just something that is still happening, the media just choose not to tell us much about it any more - hegemony at work!  The documentary below is about the story of Breck Bednar, an innocent teen gamer who became friends with someone online that ended in tragedy; it's still relevant, the risk is still there and this is certainly still an issue and debate in the media.

What actually is the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war?

If you don't know about it, then you need to!

The Chilcot Report is an independent inquiry looking into whether or not it was right to go to war in Iraq for the second time in 2003 and what lessons can be learnt from this event.

The video below shows a short, condensed and easy to understand timeline of events to help you.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36707153