Fox News and The Last Leg

Fox news is a right-winged American cooperation which is owned by Fox Entertainment Group. This is a clip from Fox News in which Steven Emerson is discussing how Birmingham is a 'no go zone for non-Muslims' and he also claims that "in parts of London there are actually Muslim religious police that actually beat and actually wound anyone who doesn't dress according to religious Muslim attire". I personally feel that this is a very biased, unprofessional report because Emerson is very discriminating of the Muslim religion, representing them as having very negative impacts on Europe and providing a false identity for Muslims as a whole, which easily-manipulated or even racist viewers are likely to believe. Additionally, he only provides one side of the argument and I believe this is strongly based on his opinion because he does not have any statistics or professional evidence to back up his points. 

This report was incorrect so Fox News had to do an on air apology, shown in the clip below. It is very un-professional for a news company apologise to their audience because they should not have to do it in the first place and it proves that their stories are unreliable and at times, completely incorrect. The fact that the reporter smiled at the end shows she had not taken the apology/event seriously and she appears to have a lack of interest and care regarding the matter, illustrating Fox news as disrespectful and careless, especially because they do not appear to consider the beliefs and morals of their audiences. 




'The Last Leg'

The Last Leg is a television show presented by Adam Hills, Josh Widdicombe and Alex Brooker ("three guys with four legs"). It first began in 2012 when it ran alongside the summer Paralympic games and it would give a different view of the days events compared to Channel 4's main coverage. It was very popular so since then, it has been a weekly show which looks at the main news events of the week, often in a humorous manner. It covers news stories in an entertaining manner and there is a significant amount of adult humour with features such as "The Bulls**t buzzer" and "di*k of the year" however what I found most interesting was how they mixed comedy with disability during the paralympics. 




In this clip, you can see that the show makes fun of disability in a comedic but friendly manner as it is not harsh or mean, meaning it is entertaining for both people with or without disabilities. It encourages audiences to get involved on twitter via the #isitok hashtag meaning they can ask a variety of questions based upon disability. I personally really enjoyed watching the clips from this show as they are very humorous and they give audiences an alternative view on disability or the weekly news which other shows or companies may be afraid to do in case they come across as rude or over-opinionated.  

News Article 14

GCSE'S TO BE SCRAPPED?

The head of the CBI says a date must be set in the next five years to scrap GCSEs and introduce an exam system with equal status for vocational subjects.

John Cridland, director general of the employers' group, says England's exam system is narrow and out of date. He proposes a system in which the most important exams would be A-levels, including both academic and vocational subjects, taken at the age of 18. Ministers are pushing for all pupils to take a core group of academic GCSEs.

"By the end of this parliament, I want to see the date for the last GCSEs circled in the secretary of state's diary," said Mr Cridland, who warns of a "false choice" between academic and vocational lessons. In a speech at the annual Festival of Education at Wellington College, Mr Cridland will set out an employers' blueprint for improving schools. He says that for too long "we've just pretended" to have an exam system that values vocational education, when in practice, exams have operated as stepping stones towards a university degree.

"GCSEs are past their sell-by date and should be retired." He says that the only purpose they serve now is to allow measurement of schools through league tables.

The proposal to scrap GCSEs comes as ministers are pushing for an even greater emphasis on academic GCSEs, with plans for all pupils to have to take core academic subjects. This announcement "misses the point that we need curriculum reform, not just exam reform", says the CBI chief. "The government must make a start on a full review of 14-to-18 education by the end of the summer."

How I feel about the news article:

I understand where John Cridland is coming from because many teachers at secondary schools are very concerned about their league tables which may be one of the reasons they pressure their students to do so well in their GCSE's. However, I believe they should not be removed as they are quite important for progression to A-levels and secondary school may be a waste of time if there are no exams at the end of the five years. 

A2 Coursework: Proposed Research Idea

The question: To what extent do video games demonstrate negative representations of women? 

The key areas I will be focusing on: 

• The sexualisation of women
• 'The damsel in distress' 
• Discrimination of women in games and the gaming community
• Advertisement of games 
• The impact of our dominant ideology 

Ideas for my approach: 

For my primary research, I would like to focus on the sexualisation of women and the 'damsel in distress' stereotype. I am thinking of backing them up with the case studies of Grand Theft Auto V and Princess Peach in the Mario series. For GTA V, I will focus on the iconography associated with females in the game (strippers, prostitutes, housewives) and I may look at the poster because it sexualises women and portrays them in a negative light. I will focus on the narrative of the Mario series and how the goal of the protagonist is mostly always to rescue Princess Peach, discussing how this may impact a young audience's beliefs on how women should be treated. 

For my secondary research, I plan on looking at the audience reception to my case study games and how their responses may be triggered by the negative representation of women. I will look at a variety of websites, newspaper articles, interviews and presentations in order to triangulate my sources and to have enough evidence to back up my points. 

News Article 13

Scottish schools have no black or Asian headteachers



This is how BBC news represented the story:

Scotland does not have any head or deputy head teachers from a black, Asian or ethnic minority background, according to Scottish government data.

There were also only 18 black or Asian principal teachers out of 5,403 secondary principal teachers. The statistics have been highlighted by the Liberal Democrats, who described them as "staggering". The Scottish government said it wanted to see a diverse workforce at every level of the education system. The issue was also raised by the EIS teaching union at its AGM last week. Despite there being tens of thousands of ethnic minority pupils across Scotland, the figures showed there were no black or Asian head teachers or depute heads at any primary, secondary or special schools.

Scottish Lib Dem education spokesman Liam McArthur said: "It remains too often the case that those holding top jobs in most sectors are not reflective of the diverse nature of our society. By better reflecting our diversity at primary and secondary education level we can make a positive change which lasts for generations. This is a staggering revelation. It warrants a detailed response from Scottish ministers."

How I feel about the news article:

I feel it is very important to have a range of ethnicities and races across the teachers working at the schools in Scotland as it helps to express diversity within their society and the actual teaching curriculum. As many of the pupils are likely to be black or Asian, I feel there should definitely be more teachers of the same because then their parents will display a much more positive attitude towards the schools and their relationship with the teachers. 

News Article 12

Google's Robot Cars Tested On Public Roads 



This is how BBC News represented the story: 

Google's purpose-built robot cars have been given the go ahead to drive on public roads and this summer, they will be seen on the roads around Mountain View, California which is where the search giant is based. The cars will have safety drivers on board who can take over if needed, meaning they are not completely autonomous. 

The systems engineer in the self-driving project, Jaime Waydo said: "Every moment has been building towards putting these cars on the roads where we can start learning even more from them.  Eventually the purpose-built robot vehicles will not have a steering wheel or any other control though detachable versions will be used during the forthcoming road tests. The top speed of the cars will be capped at 25mph (40km/h) during the tests. In preparation for their public debut the cars had been put through a series of demanding reliability and durability tests. Each vehicle has been clocking up thousands of miles each week on the test tracks - some of which resemble Californian highways and streets". 

Mixing with real-life traffic will help Google engineers refine the on-board software to cope with many situations the cars have not encountered during testing, said project head Chris Urmson in a blog post.

"Getting these cars out in to the public and allowing people to react to them, allowing us to see them out there, that's a huge deal and most importantly it's the necessary step to getting them to drive themselves," he said.

My Opinion on the news article

It has been represented by BBC news as an important development that has taken a lot of preparation to get it to this stage. I believe that as a society, we are becoming more and more developed regarding our technology and I am very unsure as to what to expect for the future. I feel that this is quite a risky creation and people will be very weary to use self-driving cars but if the correct precautions are taken, it could be quite exciting. 

News Article 11

CONSERVATIVES WIN MAJORITY 




This is how BBC News represented the story: 

David Cameron has returned to Downing Street with the Tories having defied polls and won the general election.

The Conservatives made gains in England and Wales and are forecast by the BBC to secure 331 seats in the Commons, giving them a slender majority.

Labour leader Ed Miliband said he would stand down on Friday, saying his party must "rebuild" with a new leader.

Lib Dem leader Nick Clegg has also said he will quit, with his party set to be reduced from 57 to eight MPs.

UKIP leader Nigel Farage is also quitting after he failed to win Thanet South, losing by nearly 2,800 votes to the Conservatives.

The Conservatives have now won the 326 seats needed to form a majority administration, meaning they are able to govern without the need for a coalition or formal agreement with other parties.

Mr Cameron all but declared victory in a speech after being returned as MP for Witney, in which he set out his intention to press ahead with an in/out referendum on Britain's membership of the European Union and to complete the Conservatives' economic plan.

"My aim remains simple - to govern on the basis of governing for everyone in our United Kingdom," he said.

"I want to bring our country together, our United Kingdom together, not least by implementing as fast as we can the devolution that we rightly promised and came together with other parties to agree both for Wales and for Scotland.

"In short, I want my party, and I hope a government I would like to lead, to reclaim a mantle that we should never have lost - the mantle of One Nation, One United Kingdom. That is how I will govern if I am fortunate enough to form a government in the coming days."

Mr Cameron later returned to Downing Street with his wife Samantha and is now having an audience with the Queen at Buckingham Palace.

Chancellor George Osborne said the Conservatives had been "given a mandate to get on with the work we started five years ago" and would follow the "clear instructions" of the British public.

However, Work and Pensions Secretary Iain Duncan Smith acknowledged that governing with a small majority was difficult.

"Whatever else we now do we keep it simple, we keep it focused and we absolutely stick to our manifesto commitments," he told the BBC.

He said the party would deliver an EU referendum as it was a "red line".

How I feel about the news article:

I feel that BBC News have not been biased towards the situation and the writer of the article has not made it clear whether or not they are pleased the conservatives got in. It is very factual and quote based however, not much is said about the other politicians and they have focused completely on David Cameron. 

News Article 10

Royal Baby No.2 Has Been Born



William and Kate, the Dutch and Duchess of Cambridge gave birth to their daughter at 08:34 BST on Saturday, 2nd May at St Mary's Hospital in London and she weighed 8lbs 3oz. The princess is fourth in line to the throne and bookmakers claim that Charlotte and Alice are the favourite names for her, followed by Olivia, Victoria and Elizabeth. William and Kate have spent the first night with their baby at Kensington Palace and they will spend the next few days there. 

Of course, this is a huge event which represents England as a place with great national pride, with almost all of the UK's national newspapers dedicating the entire front pages of their Sunday editions to the birth of the new princess. Additionally, Tower Bridge was among several London landmarks such as the London Eye and Trafalgar Square's fountains that lit up pink in the princess' honour. 



Party leaders also offered their congratulations regarding the birth of the princess and these can be seen in the video below: 




How I feel about the news article: 

I feel this is a very good story to represent how much pride England has as a Nation because it is clearly seen as very important by the media, with it taking up the front pages of nearly all newspapers. Even with the election coming up very soon, the politicians took time out to express their happiness for William and Kate which again enhances the idea of National pride but I also think that the politicians are trying to gain as much support from the public as possible and by congratulating the birth, they are helping people to warm to them.