Peer-Assessment for Manan's Essay:

Good Points: 

• He uses a range of examples from his music video to back up his points. For instance, when Manan discusses how his artist depicted the teenage lifestyle he refers to how they filmed a scene to match the lyric "when I walk into college with my headphones on" by then explaining that their audience then sees Josh wearing his headphones before walking into college. 
• He also refers to theorist Andrew Goodwin explaining how he followed his theory when creating their music video.
• He clearly explains how his genre fits in with his target audience and discusses the routes they took into researching and exploring what sort of genre of music the age range they were interested in currently listen to in today's day in age. 
• Another great thing that Manan does, is that he mentions that although factors of his music video do often portray a negative image on the artist he immediately backs this up by stating that the artist is a 17 year old merely highlighting the sorts of activities and partying antics that 17 year olds tend to do today. If anything the artist is clearly portraying 17 year olds in a realistic light. 

Improvements:

• Perhaps Manan could include a few more theorists or add some quotes from theorists who have discussed how genre is an important factor in music videos just to create a stronger answer for his essay. 
• Perhaps he could also add a few more examples from his own music video and a few more examples from real media texts that they looked at for inspiration. 

All in all, Manan has created a successful answer for his essay and by taking into consideration the improvements I have stated he would have created an every stronger, top band answer for himself. :) 

Genre Essay for "Hate This Part."

Genre for Music Video:

In this essay I will be discussing the genre that I have chosen to use in one of my production pieces, that is my music video for “Hate This Part Right”. Genre is often used as a way of distinguishing one style from another and some genres are successful because the conditions for the genre’s existence exist, for instance some people’s interests are served by its labelling and the generic ideas.

The genre theory, a “regulated variety” by critical theorist Neale explained how genre theory is to do with a circulation of expectations between industries, media texts and audiences which leads to a ‘regulated variety,’ which we took into consideration when creating our own music video. Both Khushel and I began our research process by analyzing and investigating real media texts, ensuring that we gained a better and wider knowledge of the conventions which are an essential for power ballads. The first thing I researched was Goodwin's theory where I used his ideas and put this into practice when analysing Keri Hilson's video "Knock You Down" ft Ne-Yo and Kanye West, as it portrayed a couples relationship breaking down. This was a narrative story line that both Khushel and I were interested in using for our own music video so it was important for us to examine this in real media texts. 

When choosing a song that fitted the genre of R&B, both Khushel and I came across the Pussycat Dolls ‘Hate This Part Right Here.' This song is a pop and R&B track sounding much like what we enjoy to listen to in the charts today. By choosing this song as a possible track for my music video, it opened the door to many editing and special effect ideas as the track is quite a slow song with sections of the chorus becoming upbeat, allowing me to create a faster paced editing. This song is a clever track to use in order for me to display some of the skills that I have picked up on and learnt over the last two years of my course, that is, using wire-framing and displaying two shots on top of each other, (the birds eye view shots of London at night and close ups of the artist’s features) by blending them together to create a shadowed effect. Additionally, I thought that by choosing this song I would be able to incorporate a narrative storyline to exemplify how the female protagonist is reminiscing over her relationship, coming to the realisation that it is going to come to an end due to the constant arguing between the duos. We created a narrative story line displaying this, heightening the emotions of sadness and heartbreak that the couple felt as they were aware that their relationship was about to come to an end. However, we juxtaposed the scenes of the breakdown of her relationship with sections of the artist singing and choreographed dance scenes, (allowing the artist to express herself freely and openly - releasing the build up of stress and sadness from within her relationship) which is exactly the look we wanted to create for our video.

What is more, is that because the genre of our video is Pop/R&B we thought closely about what clothing, locations, lighting and mise-en-scene should consist of and how we could mimic these traits in an R&B music video. Also, audiences who are likely to listen to this song – “Hate This Part” are also likely to listen to artists such as The Saturdays, Rihanna, Katy Perry and Pixie Lott all of who’s style of sound is Pop/R&B. Additionally, all of these artists have each released up-beat songs as well as power ballads similar to the Pussycat Dolls.

Clearly, it is crucial for artists to have a defined target audience and our intended target audience were those aged between 13-29+ as the narrative and performance concept of this video relates to those of this age group. Additionally, because the song is a power ballad with the chorus becoming more up-tempo we came to the decision that the narrative story line might relate to the older teens and young adults, i.e 17-25 whilst the performance concept being a choreographed dance scene would appeal to the younger generation, i.e 13-17 as they will find this more enjoyable and fun to watch. Therefore we wanted to add a narrative and performance concept to our music video to ensure that we engaged both the younger and older generation and provide them with exactly what they would like to see in a music video aimed at their age group.

The only disadvantage of this track is that because the song was recognized as being the albums best number it could have been difficult to re-invent the song in order to make it our own and we could have found difficulties in promoting this to our target audience, that is, people aged between 13-29. Additionally, another problem we may have been faced with, is the fact that because sections of the song are fairly slow and the beat of the song isn’t very fast paced, I would have needed to ensure that the shots depicting the emotion between the couple appeared interesting rather than dull and boring, resulting in losing our audiences attention. Our aim was to engage the audience’s full attention with an aspect of exploring the emotional sides of the song as well as incorporating a fun and enjoyable performance to watch as well and I would like to think we pulled this off well.

Additionally, when researching videos which fit the same genre characteristic as our music video, that is, R&B I found out how woman are represented through the lyrics and main footage in their videos. Women are portrayed in a negative light - as sexual objects by dressing semi-naked and wearing minimal clothing as they move and dance in a circular motion around the artist seductively, flaunting their body to their audiences. This scene is a cliché convention which has been re-used over and over again to exploit woman’s sexuality in music videos and can be seen in Mohombi ft Nelly's video "Miss Me."

Therefore, we decided that we didn’t want to be another group that exploits woman in music videos in order to draw in our audiences. We want to be able to take hold of audience’s attention by the talent and aptitude of the artist. We want the artist to feel as though their fans and audiences know them for who they are as a respectable and highly regarded singer and not for the exploitation of their sexuality and being known as “the hot one.” What is more, is that we want our protagonist and artist to be portrayed as someone who is well thought-of and decent and if anything an artist that encourages teenage girls and young adults to imitate and respect their idols.

All in all, I believe that in my advanced portfolio, we created a music video consisting of a clear and fluent story line that could be decoded easily, illustrating a girl who was strong enough when making the tough decision to end her relationship due to constant confrontations, as well as highlighting the emotion and intensity of the artist seeing her at her most vulnerable state as she came to the realisation that her relationship was over. I am certainly pleased with the final product and it could not have been achieved without Khushel or me and our own creative decisions and knowledge of real media texts fitting the genre of R&B. 

Explain how you used conventional or experimental narrative devices in one of your production pieces:

Explain how you used conventional or experimental narrative devices in one of your production pieces:

In this essay I will be discussing the narrative devices used in my production piece, that is, my music video for "Hate This Part". Both Khushel and I began our research process by analyzing and investigating real media texts, ensuring that we gained a better and wider knowledge of the conventions which are an essential for power ballads. The first thing I researched was Goodwin's theory where I used his ideas and put this into practice when analysing Keri Hilson's video "Knock You Down" ft Ne-Yo and Kanye West, as it portrayed a couples relationship breaking down. This was a narrative storyline that both Khushel and I were interested in using for our own music video so it was important for us to examine this in real media texts. Additionally, we wanted to create a relationship between the lyrics and the visuals, especially after becoming aware that the music is merely and extension of the lyrics which is one of the key issues discussed as part of Goodwin’s theories.

After analysing the lyrics, we realised that the lyrics exemplify how the female protagonist is reminiscing over her relationship, coming to the realisation that it is going to come to an end due to the constant arguing between the duos. We created a narrative story line displaying this, heightening the emotions of sadness and heartbreak that the couple felt as they were aware that their relationship was about to come to an end. However, we juxtaposed the scenes of the breakdown of her relationship with scenes of the artist singing and choreographed dance scenes, (allowing the artist to express herself freely and openly - releasing the build up of stress and sadness from within her relationship.)

The stylistic influences for our narrative story line have come from looking at scenes from films such as, "The Devil Wears Prada, The Break Up and The Holiday". As well as watching similar music videos which showcase a similar narrative device such as, "Taking Back My Love - Enrique Iglesias ft Ciara and Watcha Say - Jason Derulo." Additionally, we chose to incorporate intertextual references to our narrative which is identified in our first narrative scene, that is, the scene whereby the couple are depicted sitting apart from each other in the car. This shot was taken from Nicole Scherzinger's video "Don't Hold Your Breath". The shot draws attention to the vulnerability and emotion that is being heightened due to the artist coming to the realisation that her relationship is coming to an end. This shot allows the artist's fans to view the singer in a different light, seeing her at her more vulnerable state, allowing her fans to sympathise with her. This is predominantly the reason behind why I decided to create this shot based on the original used in Scherzinger's "Don't Hold Your Breath" video as I wanted my artist's fans and audiences to be able to empathise and sympathise with her and to be able to heighten the emotion that is being transferred through the scenes in the video. 

In terms of our narrative structure we decided to follow Todorov's five stage model theory. Todorov argues that "narrative involves a transformation. The characters or situations are transformed through the progress of disruption." Todorov's five stage model stands in the order of an 'equilibrium, disruption, recognition of disruption, attempting to repair disruption and a return of new equilibrium,' as we wanted our audience to have a clear understanding about what the narrative was about, by clearly understanding who was the hero, for instance the artist for leaving her partner and how the break up of the relationship became the 'return of a new equilibrium.' Although this theory is more conventional and fits mainly films it is still appropriate and fitting for music videos which follow a narrative story line also. 

Clearly, it is crucial for artists to have a defined target audience and our intended target audience were those aged between 13-29+ as the narrative and performance concept of this video relates to those of this age group. Additionally, we paid close attention to the uses and gratification theory making sure that our video consisted of a sense of identity, social interaction, entertaining and would be relatable to our target audience. Critical theorist, Hall explained how most texts can be read in different ways but there is generally a preferred or dominant reading that the producers of a message, that is, I intend when they create that message or story line. Hall also explained that the most popular media content will have a preferred reading that reinforces the status quo. 

We ensured that our video related and was entertaining for our age's group for the reason that this age range will most likely be familiar with the narrative story line and have sympathy for the breakdown of a relationship as everyone will have experienced this at some point during their lifetime. It will be aimed at the female audiences not only because the main protagonist/singer is female but because girls are more caring and understanding to the sensitive and emotional story line which the song narrates - a breakdown of a relationship and knowing it is coming to an end. Therefore it is more likely to engage a female audience. 

Additionally, because the song is a power ballad with the chorus becoming more up-tempo we came to the decision that the narrative story line might relate to the older teens and young adults, i.e 17-25 whilst the performance concept being a choreographed dance scene would appeal to the younger generation, i.e 13-17 as they will find this more enjoyable and fun to watch. Therefore we wanted to add a narrative and performance concept to our music video to ensure that we engaged both the younger and older generation and provide them with exactly what they would like to see in a music video aimed at their age group. 

However, a problem I may be faced with is the fact that because sections of the song are fairly slow and the beat of the song isn’t very fast paced, I would have needed to ensure that the shots which depict the emotion between the girlfriend and her boyfriend come across as being interesting rather than dull and boring, resulting in losing my audiences attention. My aim was clearly being able to engage the audience’s full attention with an aspect of exploring the emotional sides of the song as well as incorporating a fun and enjoyable performance to watch as well and I would like to think I pulled this off well.

What is more, it that without realising it we kept with the heterosexual message which was encoded into our text, i.e the boy and girl norm. We depicted in our video how as the relationship wasn’t working out, the woman was powerful enough to leave the man and even though she was isolated from leaving her boyfriend she was comforted by the crowd. Nonetheless, feminist theorists may suggest that the artist is only happy when being with her boyfriend, whilst others could say that she is the strong one as she pushed her boyfriend away.

All in all, I believe that in my advanced portfolio, we created a music video consisting of a clear and fluent story line that could be decoded easily, illustrating a girl who was strong enough when making the tough decision to end her relationship due to constant confrontations, as well as highlighting the emotion and intensity of the artist seeing her at her most vulnerable state as she came to the realisation that her relationship was over. I am certainly pleased with the final product and it could not have been achieved without Khushel or me and our own creative decisions and knowledge of real media texts fitting the genre of R&B.

Second Case Study: The Sketch Bank (Original Microseries)

The Sketch Bank (Original Microseries)

Jai Rajani - Creator and Director of The Sketch Bank

1.     What is the show about?

The Sketch Bank is an interactive online comedy sketch show pioneered by an upcoming comedy collective from London. Jai Rajani, the creator of The Sketch Bank, believes that it is a bad idea to waste a good idea. Jai created a bank where he and all his creative friends could deposit their ideas rather than waste them. And it doesn’t stop there if you have a like-minded comic brain, then audiences can sketch away and bank their deposits on the websites Sketch Bank audience deposit box. 

The Sketch Bank's official webiste - The audience deposit box.

2.     When it began and how long it ran for?

The Sketch Bank’s first series launched Monday 31^st January 2011 for nine weeks, a new episode per week. The episodes consisted of a variety of comedy sketches, whilst the season finally (episode nine) consisted of all of the comedy actors in the series to come together to perform in a comedy music video, that is, a JLS - Beat Again Parody where they changed the name to JLX Pee Again. The video received over 6,000 views.

The second series followed on Monday 19th September 2011 for 12 weeks, a new episode being released every two weeks. Again each of the episodes consisted of comedy sketches whilst the season finally consisted of another comedy performance, a Michael Jackson – Man in the Mirror Parody where the Sketch Bank Team changed the name of the track to Freshen Up.

The third series is currently being written and is set to be released in the summer of 2012. Also, series one and two were re-launched all in one go at the end of January 2012 to celebrate The Sketch Bank's first birthday.

3.     How many viewers it attracted?

The first series attracted over 10,000 views, whilst the second series attracted over 7000 views. They also set up an Extra Series which has so far attracted over 2,000 viewers where they released their bloopers from the series, an interview parody based on the JLX Pee Again and an extra comedy sketch on Bollywood meets BAFTA 2012 which is one of the Sketch Bank’s newest releases. The show has attracted in total to date, over 62,000 views across their YouTube channel, their Facebook, Twitter site, the Sketch Banks official website and some of the Casts own websites/bloggers as well.

The Sketch Bank's Facebook Page

The Sketch Bank's Twitter Page

The Sketch Bank's YouTube Channel

4.     How it was financed/sponsored?

The show wasn’t sponsored or financed. The team used guerilla filmmaking/independent filming where they had no budget and a small crew. They decided to take a more DIY attitude: Do it yourself. The show was all produced on favours and any expenditure used was Jai Rajani’s (the creator and director of The Sketch Banks) own money.

5.     Any controversy generated?

There was a small amount of controversy generated in the parody sketch made by the Sketch Bank Team. This was the JLS – Beat Again which was changed by the team to the JLX - Pee Again. This sketch was followed by a parody interview style sketch where they made some gay references about the band. A little bit of controversy was generated by the viewers as one of the real JLS band mates is rumoured to be gay, although there has never been statement released on behalf of the band discussing this issue.

6     How does the show reflect the ways in which the internet is changing both TV production and TV viewing habits?

As I am very good friends with the director and creator of the Sketch Bank, (Jai Rajani) I

decided to ask him how he thought his show reflected the way in which the internet is

changing both TV production and TV viewing habits and was happy to write a bit about

what he thought, this is what Jai had to say:

If it wasn't for YouTube, The Sketch Bank wouldn't be possible.  If the internet didn't exist, I would have had no choice but to take the idea and go down the tedious television route. The online world has changed the entertainment industry enormously.

The Sketch Bank, (amongst many other internet channels) cuts out the 'middle-man.' The distance between channel and consumer practically disappears.  My channel, can actually communicate directly to the audience. It happens via YouTube and social networks (Facebook / Twitter), and this is a very powerful position to be in. My team and I, are also in charge of decisions and have complete creative freedom - no more answering to a boss superior to us.

What's really interesting is that we can take more risks on the internet as the culture of viewing online is massively different. The viewers on the internet are so much more insensitive. Partly because if they want to express their dislike or disapproval for something, they can do it immediately - with a comment etc. Whereas on TV, if people take offence, they have to make phone calls, write letters / emails and go through a very formal system where the blame game begins and apologies are demanded. If something creates controversy online, it gets taken down in the worst case scenario. But on TV, once it's aired, it's aired... there's no going back.

The UK is far behind the US in terms of online entertainment. The Sketch Bank was scouted by an American company who wanted to stream adverts on our channel. They mentioned how so many people in America are earning a living off their YouTube channels - also with the help of endorsements. Companies in the US are far more likely to throw money into YouTube creatives / channels, than in the UK.

And finally, much of the credit is due to affordable equipment. Canon in particular have created many of the leading DSLR cameras that shoot video in HD, which gives filmmakers the ability to shoot professional cinematography. This is also followed by Apple computers with their pre-installed editing software or advanced and affordable software. So people can quickly excel and develop a portfolio of work.

It is thanks to this, I was picked up by a writing agent who saw potential in me and my product / show. She now wants to set me up on meetings with television AND internet teams. Although, where I stand today, it's very tempting to remain online due to the freedom and access to communicate with audiences.

First Case Study - BBC Eye Player:

Yasmin Stikz Movie
by: yasminamey22

Fig 1.0

Presentation notes: "Web 2.0 - Participation or Hegemony?"

• Intro and Basic Notes:

---> Has Web 2.0. really democratised our access to the media, switching the power from producers to audiences, or whether it has simply become absorbed into values of 'old media.'

--> Web 2.0. has been described as a medium which allows audiences to become producers of media texts. It requires web-based software, such as blogs, which audiences can use to produce and share their own work.

--> Yet, it can be argued that 'Web 2.0.' often referred to as 'We Media' democratises the media as anyone with a web connection can create and publish texts, (user generated content); we no longer have to rely upon professional or traditional 'old' media.

--> Some critics believe this had led to 'dumbing down' and 'culture of amateur' because anyone - regardless of ability can create texts.

--> With research into 'YouTube' people found that nowadays most clips were uploaded by fans rather than the traditional media companies themselves. In addition, YouTube allows users to create their own channels and is currently plugging channels by Rihanna, Beyonce and Katy Perry. Clearly, these artists are using the site as a promotional vehicle.

--> Additionally, Jean Burgess and Joshua Green concluded that there are 2 'YouTube's', they say it's a space where these 2 categories (traditional media and home video) co-exist and collide, but do not fully converge.

--> What they suggest appears to be happening is that 'YouTube' is now used more frequently as a commercial network for promotional and catch-up purposes that runs alongside and often dominates original, trivial 'user generated content.'

--> They also explain that even though we become used to watching television programmes on computers, mobile phones or music players, we still experience it as television.

• Co-opting the amateur:

--> This co-option of the 'amateur' is also clear in the way that it is structured by the dominant ideological discourse. For instance, although 'YouTube' has allowed ordinary people to become celebrities such as "Charlie is so cool like!" They do not have the same status as celebrities created by traditional media.

--> Graeme Turner argues, "Even when ordinary people become celebrities through their own creative efforts, there is no neccessary transfer of media power: they remain within the system of celebrity native to, and controlled by, the mass media."

--> Some say that without the help of traditional media Charlie McDonnell (Charlie is so cool like) cannot excercise 'celebrity power'; he is defined as a celebrity in the terms of traditional media only.

• Conclusions:

--> The real question is has Web 2.0. switched power from producers to audience? The answer is perhaps a "NO" but the balance has shifted as we - the audience - no longer have to rely upon the 'access' traditional media offered us, such as newspapers, letters, pages or radio phone-ins.

--> Instead, today we can easily produce texts ourselves even if we seem to be more interested in mimicking traditional media by becoming YouTube celebrities, or watching music videos and/or television programmes by our favourite artists.

Gauntlett and Wesch Animated Video By Yasmin and Manan:

Terrorz - Yasmin and Manan - Gauntlett and Wesch Video:
by: yasminamey22

Wesch's Anthropology of 'YouTube' questions:

1. Sum up Michael Wesch's main point about the web (or Youtube in particular) in one paragraph.

Michael Wesch explains how if three television networks had been broadcasting for sixty years, between 1948 – 2008, for every hour during those sixty years it would be equal to 1.5 million hours of programming and ‘YouTube’ have produced more than this in the last six months and they did this without producers, just with people like you and me, anyone in the community. On ‘YouTube’ today there is over 9,000 hours which are uploaded every day which is the equivalent of almost 400 almost on TV channels but it’s not completely as it’s more like 2,000 three minute videos and 88% of the footage coming onto ‘YouTube’ is new and original content. Youtube creates a new type of platform as it was launched on April 23^rd 2005 for the reason that before this time it was exceedingly hard to upload videos to the web, and now because of this site everyone can contribute to this craze, making their videos available for the world to see. Now everyone with a webcam now has a stronger voice and presence. It’s a celebration of new forms of community and types of community that we’d never really seen before. It’s a global connection transcending through space and time, it’s again a celebration of new and unimaginable opportunities. 

2. Write down your understanding of the following terms used by Wesch: 'networked individualism', 'the invisible audience phenomenon', 'context collapse', and 'connection without constraint'.

-          “Networked Individualism” = Explains how thanks to the internet, individuals can get in touch with other individuals for all sorts of purposes, bypassing institutions, agencies and so on. For example, although you as an individual is talking to yourself on a webcam, you create a community with viewers whom you do not know.

-          “The invisible audience phenomenon” = This is the idea of how an individual is never fully aware of who is watching your video and when your video is being watched online.

-          “Context Collapse” = This is the idea of never knowing when you will be filmed and where you may be filmed. For instance, in today’s climate nearly every person’s mobile phone can take photographs and record video’s which can instantly be uploaded onto the internet and distributed across websites such as ‘Youtube, Twitter and Facebook.’ So citizens who are filmed on these devices are never aware of when they will be filmed.

3. On the whole do you agree with Wesch’s ideas?

I do agree with Wesch’s ideas for the reason that he explains how everything around us constantly revolves around the uses of the internet. In today’s climate it is more accessible for anyone to upload and publish videos, photographs, news information and so on, onto the internet via websites such as ‘Twitter, Facebook, YouTube and Wikipedia’. Not only does this promote democracy but it is also a help in hand in helping communities come together and become united as one. I can relate to this due to the fact that being a music fan, I continually stream music, download music and so on. But with having the internet more accessible I can now tweet music I like via ‘Twitter’ where citizens will come together commenting on the music I have posted expressing whether they like or dislike it to and will also make suggestions on other music that I should listen to based on the kind of music I have tweeted about previously. It’s all about people coming together with a common interest.

4. How might Wesch's ideas be applied to the music industry (at least, the production of music)?

Wesch’s ideas can clearly be applied to the music industry due to the fact that websites such as ‘YouTube’ are nowadays far more accessible and can be used as a platform for citizens to be able to record and upload their own footage onto the site which can then be viewed and distributed across other sites possibly making citizens videos go viral! The website enables artists to promote their music online cheaply for those who can't afford to use or rent out professional and large recording devices or recording studios. Artists can now be found on ‘YouTube’ just by simply typing their name into the search box making it easier for anyone to be found on the website. Additionally, due to the increase of social media, artists can also promote and distribute their music via social networking sites such as ‘Twitter/Facebook’ to gain popularity with their fans and to get their music out into the world for everyone to hear.

Re-Draft of Intro, First and Second Paragraph for Media Essay:

How might the influence of new media be said to strengthen or weaken the public sphere?

The influence of new media can be said to strengthen or perhaps even weaken the public sphere due to new technologies and forms of convergence evolving, in particular, in the news industry whereby technologies such as mobile phones, laptops and small camera’s allow members of the public to become ‘an active role’ in the process of collecting, reporting, analysing and distributing news and information onto websites. Clearly, this has brought about the influence of new media as on one end of the scale it provides lots of opportunity for communication and debate, for instance, comments can be discussed about news stories on websites such as ‘Bloggers, YouTube, Facebook and Twitter’, whilst on the other hand there is that impact of anonymity – comments are unaccountable as in today’s climate people don’t necessarily have to say who they are on the internet and can express their more extreme opinions which they wouldn’t do as much if it were a face to face interaction. However, Habermas, a German sociologist, has written extensively on the way that information; news and events are processed in ‘the public sphere’ discussing the way in which news is talked about and discussed by the public sphere. For Habermas, the principles of ‘the public sphere’ are beginning to weaken in the 20^th Century, however forms of new media which have been used in Syria illustrating to the world what is going on via a mixture of eye witness accounts and footage of protests via their mobile phones and so on can be used to refute this statement.

Referring back to the impact of new media in Syria, we are now able to see how with a variety of eye witness footage being shot on mobile phones and in some cases, small cameras that have been smuggled into the country, the footage can usually be uploaded by computer shortly afterwards. Evidently, this is a convergence of new media, it is a platform whereby media can now be collected, reported and distributed across the internet. This shows that uploading content is the first step of how the influence of new media can be said to strengthen the public sphere as once the content has been uploaded onto the internet for citizens to view, the next stage is for the public to discuss this and share with others. Clearly, this allows the public sphere to bypass censorship from traditional media as the Syrian government originally banned TV/news feeds and cameras. According to Habermas, ‘the public is no longer made out of “masses of individuals” but organised people that institutionally exerts their influence on the public sphere’, and those “masses of individuals” are those who when creating media in the past had a big broadcasting company filled with individuals who were equipped with big recording devices, big camera’s and so on if you wanted to distribute news out to the world. Yet, in this particular case study it was the Syrian individuals who acted as journalists and were able to film events on their phones and distribute it out to everyone, which clearly is a form of citizen journalism and a way of highlight how the influence of new media in today’s climate is beginning to strengthen the public sphere.

What is more, is that Habermas believes that the mass media has resulted in censorship and repression, for instance, if you think about newspaper’s globally, “The Wall Street, News of the World and The Australian” all of these examples of papers are each owned by the same person, for instance, Rupert Murdoch. Habermas elucidates how this is damaging democracy because it’s an example of how certain ideas and ideologies of voices are dominating the world. However the headache for Syria, which has banned journalists, is not just from the protesters; videos taken by members of the army and security forces, often mocking those they are abusing or showing bloody dead bodies, have also leaked out due to the accessibility of being able to record footage on devices such as mobile phones etc which has added to the influence of new media. Nonetheless, even with a ban in Syria for journalists, Syria was expecting another internet outrage on Friday 10^th June 2011, as the week before they had experienced the internet being turned off across the majority of the country for the day. Yet, videos still emerged in areas where internet was still working and from other areas in the country just a day later highlighting that citizens do not want to feel oppressed by Syrian government.