Social Media Engagement – Self Reflection

Whilst conducting the blog and using twitter to post news reports as well as using it to browse interesting articles I realised how easy twitter, as well as other social networks, are to use in order to gain information on certain events. In addition to this, making a blog and making posts doesn’t feel as if many people will access them or even read them, but a few of the posts I have made have even been liked, shared as well as commented on.

For example, my post about Facebook being used as another way to identify someone when they are trying to enter a nightclub; I had a doorman reply to my post and he thanked me for my opinion. He also gave me more information he had on the event. This social media engagement has shown me how easy it is to provide my own views and opinions and how people want to hear what I have to say.

Additionally, I did find it hard when thinking about what I should post about. But as I am writing for a blog, I could comment on other journalist’s or events that have happened and provide opinion pieces. Furthermore, it gave me a chance to show what I’m interested in and post about certain news stories which I believe should be spoken about in more detail, such as the Madeleine McCann story. I posted my own views as well as those from people I had spoken to, to back up my own opinion.

This social media engagement for the blog as well as for twitter provides a great opportunity for budding journalists to begin getting to grips with what most journalists are using nowadays as the internet is the first source people turn to, whilst at work or whilst travelling as they can access it easily without having to pay for a newspaper or magazine.

News stories could be worse than gore-fest horror films

Reading stories such as the one about Clifford Lown are extremely disturbing. Especially when they’re local.

Clifford Lown, 49, of Epsom, Surrey, was convicted of abusing two children between 1987 and 1997 and a third child in 2010 following an Old Bailey trial. Lown handed in a video of him raping a woman in 2004 as he believed this would help his defence.

Judge Charles Wide QC stated, “It was a symptom of your grotesque misunderstanding and your lack of sympathy that you didn’t realise how other people would react to such a video, thinking bizarrely that it might help you,” he said.

“That just demonstrates how utterly distorted your thinking is.”

Lown has been sentenced to 19years in jail, which is six years longer than the normal sentence. He was found guilty of three acts of indecency with a child, four counts of rape, and one of sexual assault of a child.

Stories such as Lown’s are shocking and these types of stories are what make some of the world hate the news and try to avoid it. My high school history teacher told me that when she reads the news, she feels like killing herself. Dramatic and over the top, yes, but she does have a point. Not everyone wants to know about murders or rapists and news nowadays has become extremely graphic.

News such as this story makes me wonder why journalists, Doctors and theorists question whether violent films or video games make people commit crimes when we see worse stories in the news. Horror films such as Saw or Hostel are not as bad as some of the true stories we hear on the news, such as the war in the Middle East, rapists in local areas, people being chopped up and thrown in rivers or about spies being murdered and put into bags.

These aren’t fictional stories we hear about, and it makes you wonder, how can you trust anyone when someone is capable of doing that to another human being.

Furthermore it is stories like these, that we read about everyday, that make us become desensitised to other violent stories. Why be afraid of a horror film when there’s something worse happening down the road?

Violation of privacy?

BBC Newsbeat posted an article earlier today about bouncers asking people at the door to check their facebook pages as well as their I.D. Is this a bit over the top and invading your personal life?

Some door staff have commented saying, “Why is it so wrong for people to have to prove the ID is actually them? If you’re not doing anything wrong you shouldn’t have a problem.” This statement is quite true as, the bouncer is only going to be checking your name and photo, like they do with an I.D, it’s only if you’re using a fake that you should be alarmed.

Young adults in Southampton and Ireland have received this treatment, such as Charlotte Neal, 20, from Southampton who said the first time she was asked she didn’t even think about it.

A doorman from Worthing said that he thinks that the fine for letting someone in and serving them alcohol who’s underage is around £5000, so no wonder some doormen are asking to see their Facebook pages, especially when, even if the person is 18 or above, their pictures may not look like them any more.

In my opinion, I think this is a great idea, however some teenagers who have fake I.D end up changing their Facebook names as they following the clubs they attend on Facebook anyway, especially when they want to be on the guestlist.

Nick Pickles, from the campaign group Big Brother Watch, said he was against the idea of checking Facebook accounts.

“Not only is it ridiculous from a security point of view, it’s an affront to the basic rights of people to be able to live their lives in private,” he said.

Pickles goes on to say that they should make sure people have good quality I.D.s and that nightclubs shouldn’t use the excuse to snoop into other people’s lives just because of a bad quality.

However, how exactly are bouncers snooping into their lives? They are just asking to see their Facebook page, therefore this statement seems a bit ridiculous. In addition to this, most clubs nowadays have equipment which checks to see if the identification they are using is real, and this is why the bouncers need to check Facebook pages at times. Not because of a fake I.D, but because teenagers are borrowing one another’s I.Ds as well as using those they find in clubs.

In addition, Paul Martin-Beades, the director of Akira Training, which trains about 250 door staff a year, said checking Facebook accounts was unacceptable.

He said all staff approved by the Security Industry Authority (SIA) are taught about the law and human rights and would know it was wrong.

“Only the people involved can say why they do this but they would never have been taught to do it.”

I think that it is acceptable for bouncers to ask to check someone’s Facebook if they really believe it is necessary, but do you think the same?

If you were in their shoes, what would you do to avoid your club being fined £5000 for serving underage drinkers? When that amount of money is at stake, taking a couple of seconds to check someone’s Facebook doesn’t seem unacceptable, especially if they are unsure if you’re lying about your identity.

Express yourself

I’ve always been slightly unsure of what I want to do as a career. After studying the News & Journalism unit, as well as Fact & Fiction, during my last year at Bournemouth University I’ve realised that Journalism is a great career choice.

As I’ve said before, there are many different types of journalism, but I’ve always been interested in films. Films, especially horror, fascinate me. I’ve loved horror films since I was a child and I hope to go into that industry in the near future.

Empire Magazine intrigues me because they show more opinionated pieces as well as reviews about films and that’s what I love reading about. Furthermore, being able to access news stories online is great because you may not always want to go out and buy the publication, such as a newspaper or magazine.

Although, unlike most people, I don’t like to rely on the opinions I receive from the publications. Such as a review on Empire may slate a film, but it makes me want to go and see it and provide my own review. That’s what journalism makes me want to do; show what I think about the films, as every opinion matters.

Especially with horror films as they are usually seen as a waste of time or apparently have no real plot. But in my eyes, horror films are more interesting than romantic comedies or action films as they show ideologies and represent the contemporary events happening in society at that time.

For the past five years I have always thought about doing this myself, expressing my opinions about what I think and feel about certain events, and that’s why I always thought about going into directing or screen-writing for films as they are a great way to express your own opinions, even in a subconcious way as Stuart Hall stated in 1973 about how producers embed messages for the audience to read and decipher for themselves.

I think Empire Magazine and Total Film are great because they also allow others to comment and give their own reviews and ratings. They give the readers a voice and a way to express themselves which is great. Film journalism doesn’t need to be exaggerated, it just needs to be truthful which is an amazing way to show your own opinion.

Breaking Dawn – Part II, The finale is nearly here

Empire Magazine have released images from the finale of the Twilight Saga. We finally get to see Bella after she has transformed into a vampire, and in all honesty I cannot wait.

I’ve read all the books and in my opinion Breaking Dawn is possibly the best. The book has more action and drama in than the previous three books and to see in adapted into a film is going to be fantastic!

Breaking Dawn Part II will wrap up the story about Bella, Edward and Jacob as well as the Cullen’s and the rest of their family. In addition to this, it will show the Cullen’s rounding up their vampire friends in order to protect Bella and Edward’s child, Renesmee, from the Volturi as they have been wrongly informed that she is an ‘immortal child’ (a child turned into a vampire), which happened before and resulted in catastrophic events.

Empire Magazine states that director Bill Condon is still putting the pieces of the puzzle together and wrapping up the film. He said, “A film is a lot like a puzzle, with each piece – each shot, no matter how brief – needing to fit exactly with the ones around it. Our Part 2 puzzle is finally coming into full view, and in a few weeks we’ll be heading back north to pick up some additional shots – the last tiny missing pieces. We’re not shooting any new scenes or dialogue, just some technical work with some of our cast and stunt actors.”

Breaking Dawn is hitting cinemas in November this year!

Here’s the trailer:

Madeleine McCann stories continue

BBC News

After five years Madeleine Mccann’s story is still being updated on the news. After watching the ITV news, Kate and Gerry McCann stated that they feel confident and more positive that they will find their daughter. She was four when she went missing from the family’s holiday apartment in Praia da Luz, in the Algarve, whilst Kate and Gerry dined with friends nearby.

Whenever I hear about this story, I just want to know why her story is more important than other missing children in the world. In addition to this, there are mixed views on the truth of their story. In the past her parents have even been accused of killing her themselves.

Martin Stevens stated that, “Why were the other children left behind and Madeleine taken from the hotel room? Plus, they were allegedly slightly drugged so that they would be sleepy and go to bed so the parents could go out. The story just seems a bit fishy.”

The Madeleine McCann story, in my opinion, seems as if it hasn’t been investigated into properly, and in addition to this, it appears as if the story is just to make money, as Newspapers know that a story about this child will sell. Especially as it has been five years since she went missing, as if they are seeing it as an ‘anniversary’ which needs to be exploited.

Burtepp is back

Tim Burton and Johnny Depp have collaborated in around nine films in the past two decades. The pair work fantastically together and the results of their collaborations always received great reviews.

The next of their collaborations that we are yet to see is the upcoming Dark Shadows, set to be released on Friday 11th May, which is based on the gothic-horror TV series, Dark Shadows which aired during 1966–1971.

Dark Shadows, directed by Tim Burton features, of course, the talented and beautiful Helena Bonham Carter, as well as Michelle Pfeiffer, Eva Green and Chloë Grace Moretz. Moretz is also said to be starring in the remake of 1976′s Carrie which will be released next year in March.

But back to Dark Shadows, Johnny Depp stars as Barnabas Collins,  a 200-year-old vampire, and Michelle Pfeiffer as his cousin Elizabeth Collins Stoddard, a reclusive matriarch of the Collins family.

At the beginning Barnabas breaks the heart of a witch, Angelique Bouchard, who turns him into a vampire and buries him alive during the 18th century. In 1972, Barnabas is accidentally freed from his coffin and returns to find his once-magnificent mansion in ruin.

The manor is currently occupied by Barnabas’ dysfunctional descendants (Pfeiffer, Carter Moretz), all of whom are hiding dark and horrifying secrets.

The film looks like a classic Burton masterpiece and I cannot wait to go and see it.

Check out the trailer here: