Collect at least five articles from English Language Newspapers on a common news story. Write an analysis that compares and contrasts, headline text, article structure, an over view of what you think of are the key themes, details or features.

Introduction.

The topic that I have chosen to analyse is the recent school killings in Germany.

On Wednesday 17-year-old Timothy Kretschmer turned a gun on classmates and teachers at his Albertville School in Winnenden, Germany killing 15 and injuring many more.

To analyse this story I am going to look at The Irish Examiner, The Irish Daily Star, The Irish Daily Mirror, The Guardian and also Germany newspapers Spiegel and Bild to give a comparison on how local media in Germany dealt with the story. To provide an accurate and fair comparison all articles used are from the same date  – 12/03/09.

There are many theories that determine what makes a story newsworthy. Keeping these theories in mind I choose this story and these publications because of proximity, impact on audience, violence and timeliness. Because of proximity – ie the distance from the event I decided to choose German publications, International publications are relevant but a German publication would give the proximity effect. Impact on audience – clearly this was a shocking story, not the first of its kind but it still made an impact and also made front page of all publications. Violence- this crime was especially violence and taking the famous saying “if it bleeds it leads” I decided this story was relevant. Timeliness – this event happened and was unfolding as I was analysing each story.

The Irish Examiner.

Appearing on right side of the front page this story didn’t make much of an impact. Shared with headlines such as “builders engage in fraud to sell houses” and “Ruby…Ruby..Ruby” this headline did little to stand out with “Teenager kills 15 in shooting rampage” hidden in the right column it could easily be missed on a first glance of the front page.

However, page 2 and 3 were dedicated solely to this story with sub-heads like “Killer was ‘quiet boy with liking for guns’ and pull quotes “I thought this only happened in America” attracting readers’ attention.

The main picture was of kids mourning outside the school. Other pictures included a picture of the killer, a photo of the killer’s home and coroners removing a body bag.

The main article on Page 2 titled “I thought this only happened in America” details the views of witnesses, a mother, a police chief, two local reporters and a neighbour of the killer. While no facts were confirmed these statements express the shock, trauma and confusion felt in the aftermath of the event.  On this page there was also a timeline of events from the initial shots at 8.30am right up until the killers death at 12pm.

There was also a side-bar detailing mass murders that have occurred over the past 13 years including the Columbine and Virginia Tech killings. A second side bar showed a profile of the gunman titled “Killer was a quiet boy with liking for guns” alongside a profile picture of the boy.

Told from the perspective of Dustin a friend of the killers this article profiled the gunman as being from a well off family, with few friends and having an excellent shot “he always hit the bullseye”.

The Guardian.

The Guardian gives a UK perspective on this story and unlike the Irish Examiners front page dedicates much of  its front page to this story. Divided into three main columns the middle column presents a photograph of the killer titled “Germany in shock, the boy who killed 15”. Like the Irish Examiner Pages 2 and 3 are dedicated to this story. Titled “Are you not all dead yet?” the headline stretches across both pages capturing the readers’ attention.

The pictures are of the aftermath, body bags and bullet holes in a window. Although taking up more space these images are less affective than the images of school kids in shock and mourning that appeared in The Irish Examiner. Similarly there is a time line of events shown centre page.

The content of the main article is a lot more technical and detailed than The Irish Examiner’s report with extra information including the room number of the classroom where the shooting took place, the name of the pistol used, a quote from a survivor who warned her boyfriend to stay away saying “Don’t come to the school – he killed everyone”, the fact that a teacher sacrificed herself to protect a student and also a detailed account of the gunman’s movements after leaving the school. The Guardian details a VW car-jacking and the fact that the killer escaped towards a psychiatric hospital and killed two VW customers and one staff member along the way. The details of these other killings were not disclosed in the Irish Examiner’s main article but were briefly mentioned in the Timeline.
An extra feature in the Guardian was a short article on gun ownership in Germany with a brief explanation of the law and other school killings.

Overall the Guardian gives its readers a detailed report of the event. While not appealing to readers who may only want a short synopsis of the events it covers all aspects of the event.

The Irish Daily Mirror.

This Irish tabloid leads with the headline “She died saving her kids” on the front page. Shared with stories about Jade Goody and Cheltenham this story takes up half the page. The focus of this story is on a teacher who died to save a student. A detail ignored by The Irish Examiner and briefly mentioned by The Guardian leads this article and attracts the attention of the reader. The main story continues on Page 4 and 5 giving up Pages 2 and 3 for celebrity news. The headline on page 4 “Are you all dead yet” is identical to that from the Guardian and a good choice to attract readers. Unlike the two broadsheets above this tabloid does not dedicate these pages solely to this story. The page is shared with articles detailing two other shootings, one in Alabama and the other a Lithuanian man who committed suicide.

For photos the Irish Mirror used a class photograph with the killers face circled in red. Other images included a group of school kids mourning and the body bag photo that appeared in The Irish Examiner. Giving extra details that were not in the Irish Examiner such as the classroom number this article was more detailed and could be compared to the article from the Guardian for its use of information.

However, there is an absence of the timeline of events and history of killings that appeared in the above papers. The only extra detail disclosed is that the killer left the school two years ago and “No one was sorry to see the back of him when he left”. Although effective this story doesn’t stick to the original headline of “She died saving her kids” there is only a brief mention of the teacher and no photograph of her. Was she thirty years old or sixty? Was she a mother or a grandmother? It may have been too soon to disclose this information at time of print but I feel if this was the case the second headline “Are you all dead yet?” from page 4 would have been a stronger front-page headline and wouldn’t give the readers false expectations. These details have since been released  (http://www.bild.de/BILD/news/bild-english/world-news/2009/03/13/school-shooting-victims/hero-teachers-killed-trying-to-save-kids.html) so I feel that The Irish Daily Mirror acted too soon considering their lack of information regarding this.

The Irish Daily Star

This paper leads with the German massacre on the front page with the headline “Full Moon Massacre” the use of language and alliteration portrays an image of blood and devastation to the reader immediately catching their attention. The front page briefly details the killings and the story is continued on page 4. Like the portrayal of the story in The Irish Daily Mirror this story shares its page space with the killings in Alabama and also a Grenade attack in the Ukraine. While no extra details are given that have not been released in the above papers there was one detail, which can be considered more as speculation. Explaining the headline “full moon massacre” there is a suggestion at the end of the article that “some experts say that ‘lunar madness’ can affect people’s behaviour and that crime and suicide rates are highest on days with a full moon”. While to some this may sound ridiculous and there is no direct proof this addition appeals to regular readers of the Star which has a readership based on celebrity gossip and trivia.

Spiegel

The final publication that I have studied is Spiegal a German news source. Spiegal portrays all of the above information – the sequence of events, the details of the massacre, the account of the heroic teacher… The one thing that Spiegel discloses that was not in any of the above is a detailed account of the day through the eyes of witnesses. Titled “A totally normal teenager” we read day’s events through the words of classmates Sandra, Linda, Martin and Stefan (names were changed for the article). Beginning with the shock felt by Sandra as she first heard the gun go off and then witnessed the massacre the story tells of the trauma felt by all who knew the killer.. The photographs used are all the same as in above publications. Looking at German newspapers gives a good comparison to both Irish and UK media sources. Another German media source Bild was the first source to suggest a link between the shootings and female victims. With the headline “targeted girls because he hated them” the article provides names and photos of female victims including Chantal (16) and Jana (14) and the article suggests that “The fact that the vast majority of female victims is notable.”

Conclusion

To conclude I believe that The Guardian provided the best overall account including everything a reader would like to know and many details that other publications missed out on. Spiegal was fast on getting together detailed accounts of the day. Although appealing to their target readers with catchy headlines the tabloids did little to keep the readers attention and finally The Irish Examiner left out a lot of details that even some of the tabloids had noticed to pick up on.

Chocolate Part A

Justification

The ads I have chosen to analyse for this assignment are chocolate ads. Slogans are central to all of these ads and whether you believe it or not when someone says “How do you eat yours?” “Here today goo tomorrow”, “Probably the crumbliest flakiest chocolate” “Have a break have a KitKat”, “Its not Terry’s its mine” or  “quit your jibba jabba fools Mr T is watching” your mind will suddenly flash back to the ad in question. Advertising has clearly become central in the sales of ads with companies paying millions just to get their product out there.

Where I found my images

• Cadburys Wispa “thank you” ad from Now magazine on 13 April 2009. I chose this ad because Cadbury’s have spent so much money on campaigns that I thought this is a good example to use. Even after the excitement of the return of the Wispa has died down this campaign lures the customer in reminds them that the Wispa is back just in case they had forgotten. I will also look at Cadbury’s crème egg, gorilla and airport run way campaigns.
• I have also chosen both Mars’ “tones less packaging’ ad from Now magazine and Nestle’s “Proudly putting our eggs in one basket” ad from Love it magazine on 6 April 2009 campaign. I will compare both of these to each other as essentially they are trying to get the same message to the consumer.
• I will also look at Nestles Kit Kat “Have the perfect break at 107 calories” ad from Best magazine on 14 April 2009, which clearly fit in with the readership reading about an “Amazing new diet. Day on day of loose 14lbs

• Finally I will look at the Terry’s chocolate orange television advert and how it has evolved and change since its primary years of advertising with Dawn French. I found this advertisement at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g-XzKjVKCzg

Target Audience of Images.

Chocolate sales are highly competitive and the target audience of these are chocolate consumers throughout the world.

According to thinkbox.com the ads are directed at making sure “you still remember the ad next year”

Popularity of images

Google searches of these images brings up varied results from over 39,100 results for Cadbury’s alone to 24,600 for Terry’s chocolate orange.

Part B

There are several different terms used when describing a product from lighting to composition, addresser to addressee. I will analyse my ads with reference to these and Russian linguist Roman Jakobson’s breakdown of the act of communication.

1. Cadbury

Back in the 80’s Cadburys didn’t go to great lengths to advertise. One of their adverts contained the following text. “Ah Cadburys dairy milk chocolate, chocolate made with luscious ladles of milk if we took away Cadburys smooth creamy milk chocolate you’d think we were nuts…”
These days however Cadburys take part in million dollar advertising campaigns.

The Wispa campaign cost millions to promote and resulted in the return of the Wispa. The ad I choose contained text saying ‘Thank you for storming Glastonbury and thank you for the face book campaign. Thank you for buying it and thank you for living it…. While some may see this as a simple thank you letter it is in fact much more.

The addresser (Cadbury) is communicating with the addressee (chocolate consumer and magazine reader) with the aim of this and the message to the addressee is to remind them that the Wispa still exists. Now that the campaigning is over the addresser clearly does not want the addressee to forget the product.

With a frame of photos from the campaigns surrounding the text this ad captures the readers attention and holds it for quite a while whilst the reader is looking at each of the photos. Counting over 50 photos in the montage I think this is a good way to capture attention.

The angle and distance of this ad is normal: neutral with the picture being a straightforward full on close up view of the ad.

There is no straightforward composition of this ad. It is no set up as a photograph. Like many other Cadbury ads it is instead a photo shopped image composition. For this reason dept of field is also irrelevant. All the images used in the border and clear and in focus.

It is interesting to look at Cadbury’s recent advertising history as one of the biggest chocolate producers they are constantly working at promoting their product.In August 2007 Cadbury embarked on a £6.2 million campaign. Created and directed by Juan Cabral the aim was to prompt a higher brand engagement from the public and was  “founded upon the notion that all communications should be as effortlessly enjoyable as eating the bar itself.” The campaign featured a gorilla beating the drums along to Phil Collins’ “In the air tonight”. The success was followed by a remix featuring Bonny Tyler’s “Total Eclipse of the Heart”. At the same time Cadbury released their “Airport trucks” campaign featuring – Queen’s “Don’t stop me now” which was later replaced by Bon Jovi’s “Livin on a Prayer” .In January 2009 these ads were replaced by the dancing eyebrows campaign. While the above ads were popular this ad has resulted in a backlash of haters across the world leading to comments such as,“I hate those creepy children” and “I’ve seen the ad several times and never realised it was for chocolate”. However according to The Daily Telegraph “The one-minute film for Cadbury’s Dairy Milk chocolate is thought to have been viewed more than four million times on You Tube and similar sites in its first three weeks”. It has twice the number of viewings as the firm’s previous gorilla campaign.

2. Nestle and Mars

This year both Nestle and Mars took advantage of the Easter egg season to launch their new green campaigns. Again with both of these ads both the addresser (Nestle and Mars) and the addressee (consumer) are the same as Cadbury. However the message communicated is different. Both of these ads are trying to communicate the message that their Easter products are eco- friendly.

Nestles ad, which features a Smarties Easter egg titled “Same size egg, 25% less packaging, No plastic. Also featuring thumbnail sized logos of Rolo, Aero and Kit Kat eggs the ad suggests that the campaign is right across their line of eggs. The print on the bottom left suggests that the new packaging is “easier to recycle and better for the environment”. With the reassurance that “whilst we have reduced the packaging, we haven’t reduced the chocolate”.

In contrast the Mars advertisement was on a simple white back ground with no clutter. Choosing a Mars bar egg as their main image Mars also use thumbnail pictures to represent Malteasers and Snickers eggs. The text used it also simple and kept to the bottom of the page the amount of text used is far less in contrast to the Nestle ad and simple says “We’ve reduced the amount of packaging …by 39%, a total saving of 39 tonnes of plastic and 114 tonnes of cardboard. This text is far more detailed in what exactly they have done. While we learnt that Nestle reduced their packaging by 25% the consumer has no idea what exactly this means for reducing waste.

Straight on shots of the products left little room for the consumer to imagine what was going on in the background. The Nestle ad, which is full of colour, can draw the consumer to it whereas the Mars ad focuses in on the actual product. The angles of both ads are neutral and the composition was also normal with no blurred background. Both Easter e.g. boxes were positioned at an angle to give a 3d image. Another difference comes with the angles of the shots. Whereas the Mars ad is shot straight on the Nestle ad is taken from above so as to include the detail on the top of the box also making the box more “life like”. Also the thumbnails in this ad are shaped in the shapes of boxes rather than the straight on shots in the Mars ad which appear just like logos rather than being a the shape of an actual 3d box. There is also a wide dept of field in the Nestle ad with everything being in focus from the logo at the front to the box and the hill. However the background sky is blurred. Dept of field is no relevant in the Mars ad as the background is plain white however a shadow behind the main box image indicates dept in the ad.

Also using a photo manipulation of the Mars Easter egg the main image taking up the page replacing the words Mars with “Tonnes” and the names on the bars with “less” and “packaging” so there is no way a consumer will miss the message.

3. Nestle Kit Kat

Nestle in Best Magazine with their ad for Kit Kats. Focusing on the consumer target group, which is 20 something females focused on weight loss the ad, is simple and says “Have the perfect break at 107 calories”

At the bottom right of the page the slogan “Have a break, Have a KitKat” is used just in case the consumer doesn’t know what the product is. The majority of the page is taken up by images of unwrapped KitKat bars. With two central to the image others are clear in the background. Again the addresser in this ad is Nestle the chocolate company and the addressee is the chocolate consumer who is concerned about their weight. This is indicated by the “have a perfect break at 107 calories” slogan.

The shot is a wide-angle shot of KitKat with all the KitKats being in focus. Layers upon layers of stacked KitKats indicated the debt of field. The lighting is low key with a focus on lighting coming from the top right shinning down on the middle KitKat highlighting the upper right hand side of the bar.

4. Terry’s Chocolate Orange.

Terry’s chocolate orange has been become a household name through the Dawn French adverts and her slogans “its not Terrys its mine”. Along the way phrases such as  “When you whack a Terry’s Chocolate Orange, Good Things Happen” “tap and unwrap” “It’s not Terry’s, It’s yours”, or “Don’t tap it… Whack him!” have been used. The newest advertisement for Terry’s chocolate orange is filmed in a busy office setting. Titled the “count down advert” the female character cracks open her chocolate orange and when answering her phone she turns around. With her back to the chocolate orange her work colleagues all steal a piece. The slogan “round but not round for long” plays on the description of the round chocolate orange and also the fact that everybody wants some of it and it didn’t even last until the end of her brief phone call. The addresser in this ad is again the chocolate maker and the consumer is the addresser. The message communicated is that the chocolate is so good that everyone wants some and it will not last long. Unlike my above images this ad is not a still image so there is a lot happening. There situation is an office and the camera angle keeps panning around in a circle. The camera angle could in fact be considered to also represent the roundness of the chocolate. The ad circles around the main character in the pink shirt with shots of the chocolate on her desk interrupting this motion every few seconds. As the time moves on these shots show less and less chocolate. A clock is also used to indicate the passing of time whilst fellow office colleagues pop out from all angles of the screen to get the chocolate. The debt of field is mostly focused on the one thing be it the main character, the clock or the chocolate. The lighting is clearly artificial office lighting with florescent bulbs.

Part C focus groups.

Interview schedule

1. Introduce yourself to the group and conduct a short icebreaker activity so as to relax the group and get them to know each other. Such activity could be anything from says three things about yourself two true one false and get others in group to guess which is false or else to keep it more focused to chocolate you could split the group into pairs and get them to match a picture of a bar of unwrapped chocolate with the brand logos and see who could finish first.
2. Have each member of the group take a short computerised 10-15 survey. Showing them ads of the chosen chocolate and asking them to recognise the brand and getting them to indicate how they feel about the chocolate.
3. After this have a group discussion on the survey. By this stage all members of the focus group will have been introduced to the products visually. You could perhaps use this practical session as an opportunity to taste the product as a group and discuss this. By doing this and the above you have both confidential computerised data as well as a group opinion.
4. Conclude the meeting and thank everyone for taking part.

The purpose of the focus group is to find out how successful the advertising for the product is.

For the focus group I would choose a mix of consumers from different parts of the country, different ages, different race and background. Unlike cars chocolate has a very wide target audience so getting a mixed group would give the best possible result of how the average consumer views the product.

Generating my questions.

As I mentioned above I would like to have both a computerised survey as well as a group discussion.For the computerised survey I would ask questions such as those listed in the survey below.

For the group survey I would give each group member some chocolate to taste and ask how he or she feel it tastes. This is a good way of getting feedback especially for new products. While we have already gotten the technical details out of the way in the computerised survey this group survey would give the group a chance to relax and feel about the product. Below are some of the questions I would ask.

1. Are you?

• Male
• Female

2. How old are you

• 18-24
• 25-34
• 35-44
• 45-54
• 55+

3. What region do you live in?

• Munster
• Leinster
• Connaught
• Ulster

4.What is the occupation of the main income earner in your household?

• High managerial, administrative or professional – e.g. doctor, lawyer…
• Intermediate managerial, administrative or professional e.g. teacher
• Supervisor, clerical, junior managerial, administrative or professional
• Skilled manual worker e.g. mechanic, electrician, lorry driver
• Farmer with over 50 acres
• Farmer with under 50 acres
• Housewife/ house husband
• Unemployed
• Student
• Retired on a state pension
• Retired on a private pension
• Prefer not to say

5. How often do you purchase chocolate?

• Daily
• Weekly
• Less often
• Never

6.Where do you purchase your chocolate?

• Lidl
• Aldi
• Supervalue
• Tesco
• Dunnes Stores
• Other

7.Thinking about the chocolate you buy which of the following brands have you bought in the past month?

• Cadbury
• Nestle
• Mats
• Terry’s

9. What brand was the last bar of chocolate you ate?

• Cadbury
• Nestle
• Mars
• Terry’s
• Other

10. Have you seen this ad before? (repeat for other ads)

11. If so how did it make you feel?

• Happy
• Sad
• Angry
• Lonely
• Tired
• Hungry

12. When thinking about the following factors which brand comes to mind?

• Best Taste
• Value for money
• Best range
• Best price
• Best Advertising

The above are just some questions that can be asked. The questions give answers, which will provide the researcher with accurate information to base their results on.

The major period of film (noir) production is usually taken to run from The Maltese Falcon 1941 to Touch of Evil in 1958” Describe the major stylistic characteristics of the cycle paying particular attention to moral ambiguity, the noir ‘look’, gender, violence and the city.

I will examine the stylistic characteristics of film noir including moral ambiguity, the noir ‘look’, gender, violence and the city. To do this I will make reference to The Maltese Falcon, which begins the noir period, Double Indemnity and A Touch of Evil, the film that ends this era.

Film Noir is the cinematic term used to describe movies made in Hollywood during the early 1940’s and late 1950’s. Film noir of this period is commonly associated with low-key black and white visuals and is said to be inspired by German Expressionist cinematography. The noir genre usually depicts a world of crime and darkness with central protagonists whose thoughts and motives are defined by ambition, lust and greed.

Based on the novel of the same name by Dashiell Hammett, The Maltese Falcon marks the beginning of the Noir Period and is set in San Francisco in 1941.  Centered on the murder of investigator Archer the story quickly evolves into the hunt for a valuable falcon.

Gender is a major defining characteristic in film noir and can be seen in all of the above-mentioned films. Gender presents itself in the form of the femme fatale and a male protagonist. The female character/ femme fatale can be described as being “deadly to man” a direct translation from the French term. The femme fatale may often lead to the falling of the male character. The femme fatale is characteristically a seductive woman “whose charms ensnare her lovers in the bonds of irresistible desire, often leading them into compromising, dangerous and deadly situations”. The female figure pushes the male and tests his limits to see how far he can go. Adulterous affairs are also a main theme of gender and often involve the femme fatale.

Gender in The Maltese Falcon is presented in the form of the femme fatale Brigid O’Shaughnessy. Presenting herself as Miss Ruth Wonderly who we later identify as Brigid O’Shaughnessy the character played by Mary Astor is a true to life femme fatale using her looks and charisma to get what she wants. In her first appearance Miss Wonderly claims to be looking for her sister who has disappeared and is involved with a man called Floyd Thursby.  Miss Wonderly wants to find Thursby in the hope that her sister may be with him. After receiving a tip off Archer follows her hoping to get her sister back but ends up being murdered. Instead the news of Archers murder spreads quickly and business partner Spade played by Humphrey Bogart asks his secretary to go to see Mrs. Archer.

The femme fatale does however lose her charm and sense of authority when at the end of the film Spade stands up to her and threatens her future by suggesting that he is going to turn her into the police. Insulted by this prospect Brigid tries her charm but it is too late as she is soon taken away by Detective Polhaus. Angered by the fact that she killed Archer, Spade is strong and no words or flirting can help Brigid now.

Violence and intimidation are also central to this film. From the initial murders of Archer and Thursby to Cairo holding Spade at gunpoint, O’Shaughnessy beating up Cairo and the murder of Captain Jacobi the violence continues throughout.

Lighting is central to this film and provides a stark contrast between interior and exterior settings. The majority of the outdoor scenes are filmed during the nighttime with figures being cast in dark shadows. Street lamps are also used. This type of lighting highlights the serious mood throughout the film.

Moral ambiguity is essential to this film. Of the three films I have studied it is perhaps the most corrupt with characters even betting against their own. Wilmur is set to take the blame for the murders of Archer and Thursby whilst his colleagues Cairo and Gutman get the Falcon. Wilmur has little choice in this decision as he is simply offered up by his colleagues and given no say in the matter.

In the end Spade is left all alone. His plans have worked and he has the statue. He may have lost the girl but he has been left with “The stuff that dreams are made of.”

The Maltese Falcon is not the only film of the period that is centered on manipulation and the quest for an falcon. Murder my Sweet shows a similar theme with the search for and the mission to find a jade necklace with many more movies following on with the same theme.

Set in LA in 1944 Double Indemnity has examples of all the above film noir characteristics. The femme fatale is presented in the form of Mrs Phyllis Dietrichson (Barbara Stanwych) who cons insurance broker Walter Neff (Fred MacMurry) into committing fraud and murder.  From their very first encounter she has him under her wrath with her “ankle bracelet’ and charm and the tales of her abusive husband – oil worker Mr Dietrichson. Casually mentioning the possibility for life insurance on her husband, Phyllis Dietrichson starts on her mission to kill her husband. Suspecting the fraud Neff is at first taken back but it is not long before he suggests, “you’re going to do it and I’m the one to help you”. Having conned Mr Dietrichson into signing the insurance forms they start having secret meetings in supermarkets finalising the plans for the murder. Set backs along the way including Mr Dietrichsons broken leg threaten the plans but on the 15 June it all goes ahead.  The day is planned perfectly with both Neff and Phyllis covering their steps along the way. With plans to have Mr Dietrichson die in a train accident Walter puts a similar navy suit to the one Dietrichson is wearing on the day. Checking in his car he covers his alibis and steps along the way. Hiding in the back seat of the Dietrichson’s car he waits for the signal of the horn blowing 3 times before he rises up and strangles Mr Dietrichson. The plan has started to unfold and it is now time to continue with the train set up. Acting as Mr Dietrichson Walter boards the train and using his cigar smoking as a distraction sends a fellow passenger off to get him some while he jumps off the back. Disposing of the body on the tracks Phyllis and Walter make it look like Mr Dietrichson had simply fallen off.

Their plan has gone perfectly and now Walter has got the girl but not for long. Insurance brokers Keyes and Norton question the accident and suggest a possible suicide motive. As the investigation continues the murder plans are unveiled.

It is not long before Walter finds out about Phyllis’s relationship with her stepdaughter’s boyfriend Nino and her suspected involvement in the death of the late Mrs Dietrichson. Finding out the truth makes Walter realise his mistakes and it is then he realises how it all went wrong. In his final confession he admits “I killed him for money and for a woman. I didn’t get the money and I didn’t get the woman”. Admitting his part in the murder Walter admits “it was a crazy story with a crazy twist to it one you didn’t figure out.” And enforcing the fact he could have gotten away with it he says, “you know why you couldn’t figure out this one Keyes. Because the guy you were looking for was too close, he was right across the desk from you”.

Trapped in a plan of murder Walter was vulnerable and at the end this is clear. He thought he could get the woman but she was using him by being a characteristic “femme fatale”

Violence is also prevalent in Double Indemnity apart from the obvious violent streak where Mr Dietrichson is murdered there is violence throughout from a violent marriage to a violent boy friend and a violent end for both Walter and Phyllis.

The excuse used for murdering husband Mr Dietrichson is that he is violent towards Philis who although not obviously threatened physically she is controlled by her husband who expects her to sit at home and knit all day and ignores her when he is present. Step daughter Lola’s boyfriend is also violent and shows similar characteristics to her controlling father. Phyllis can also be viewed as having a sneaky violent streak if what is said by Lola about her involvement with the late Mrs Dietrichsons death is true.

The true violence is seen towards the end of the film however when Phyllis lies in wait with a gun. Expecting trouble she is prepared and when threatened by Walter she shoots him. However her emotions get in the way when she cannot bring herself to fire a second shot and this results in her death at the hands of Walter who takes the gun.  At this stage Walters strength emerges and he is no longer vulnerable to her female charm. From this moment he is powerful and regains control over the situation.

The noir look is clear in the film from the use of shadows to the presence of certain props. In many noir films the characters smoke and drink whiskey and this film is no different. The drinking of bourbon is first evident in the scene where Phyllis calls to Walters’s apartment and they drink and talk about their plans. The smoking of cigarettes can be seen throughout including the final scene of the film where Keyes lights up for Walter to have one last smoke. Shadows are evident portraying the dark noir look. In the scene at the house when the insurance forms are being signed Mr Dietricson disappears up the stairs. With his body out of sight the shadow can be seen moving upwards conveying his ascent up the stairs. During Walter and Phyllis’s final encounter shadows also play a major role. Sitting in a dark room Phyllis settles down for the night with only the light of a cigarette and the shadows from the streetlights to brighten the room. The darkness conveys her mood at the time and it is then that the evil approaches and the stand off between her and Walter begins. This is in a stark contrast to the first day they met at the house when the sun was shining. This conveyed a different situation and the lust felt in the first encounter compared to the anger in this final scene.

Moral ambiguity also plays a part in noir films. In this film we have The Insurance Salesman setting up insurance fraud. He doesn’t appear to have any worries about this issue even though he is essentially committing fraud against his own practice. Also we have the set up of Nino for the murder of Mr Dietrichson. While many would have issues with others taking the blame Walter is just happy to have his name in the clear. Stepdaughter Lola is also morally ambiguous in her set up of Phyllis. While the viewer will never know the truth about the circumstances around the late Mrs Dietrichson’s death Lola is quick to volunteer her step mother’s involvement.

Centred around the Mexican Border in 1958 Touch of Evil begins with newly weds Mike and Susie Vargas who are celebrating their first night out in “her country” America. After the explosion involving a car, which kills a US developer, Lawyer Mike Vargas is drawn into the murder investigation after a Mexican national is convicted of the crime. A touch of Evil is generally accepted as being the last in the Noir Genre although some have argued that Odds against tomorrow (1959) and Psycho (1960) mark the end of the epitaph.

Unlike other noir movies this film is not lead by a femme fatale. Instead the character of Susie Vargas is a portrayed as an independent female who is not afraid to be on her own while her husband is off fighting crime. She has no ulterior motive unlike the characters of Mrs Phyllis Dietrichson in Double Indemnity and Brigid O’Shaughnessy in The Maltese Falcon. Her independence is however threatened when she falls the victim of a set up involving the Grandi family. She is not out to get people or trick instead she is the victim. Unless you count the prostitutes who the cops are using for information there are no female characters in this film that have any control over the men. While there is no female femme fatale in this film the character of Hank Quinlan is so manipulative and corrupt and used to getting what he wants that he could in fact be considered to be a “femme fatale” character.

Moral ambiguity plays a big part in the film and can be seen throughout. At the beginning of the film Mexican Sanchez is set up for the dynamite found in his apartment despite there being none there where Vargas checked. This incident leads Vargas to believe that Hank Quinlan may have been involved in planting evidence in other cases. The series of set ups is central throughout the film and is used again later when Cop Hank Quinlan murders Uncle Joe whilst Susie is drugged on the bed in the same room. This leads to her arrest and despite protesting innocence she is taken without question that she is guilty. Set ups in this movie were not frowned on and could in fact be considered by some to be common practice.

Violence and intimidation are central to this film. From the initial murder of US property developer to the final demesne of Hank Quinlan violence can be seen throughout taking with it other victims along the way. The initial intimidation can be seen when Susie Vargas is handed a note by The Grandi brothers who then lead her to Uncle Joe who tries his best to scare her. Speaking Spanish to an American woman is also intimidating and with no idea of what they were saying she was isolated and alone. Leaving she returns to her husband who suggests staying in a Motel out of town.

Mexicans who try to throw acid in his face but hit a poster instead also intimidate Mike Vargas. Later on in the film the Grandi brothers intimidate the motel worker who is portrayed as being stupid and naïve as their plan to kidnap Susie Vargas is unveiled. Intimidating him with their leather jackets and authoritative attitudes he is afraid to step in and tell them who’s boss. In the end Hank Quinlan meets his maker in a set up between Vargas and Menzies. Menzies agrees to meet Quinlan and wearing a wire his aim is to get a confession. The plan goes awry however when Quinlan discovers the wire and shoots Menzies. In the stand off that follows between Quinlan and Vargas it seems to be that Vargas will be shot however Menzies returns with one final shot taking down Quinlan and his manipulative ways.

Unlike the above films Touch of Evil is different in terms of location. This movie gets out of the city as we see Susie Vargas travelling down a country road to the Motel.

The Noir Look is also present in this film with the recognised props of cigarettes and bourbon being used in many scenes. Lighting is also used in this film and is even seen as a method of intimidation. Whilst undressing Susie who is clearly visible in the light is teased and tormented by a shadow in the darkness shining a flashlight in her direction.

From the street lamp lighting, the moral ambiguity and the femme fatale to the violence and corruption the above films all fit into the category of film noir and are prime examples that represent the era. From a Falcon, to an insurance claim and the quest for innocence the motives were all different but in the end these films all share the same characteristics that define them in this genre.

Days of free education are over as parents pay up.

Parents in East Cork speak up about school contributions and how they are now being asked for more than ever as budget cuts leave schools with no other choice.

Research has found that parents are now being expected to pay more to schools due to cuts made by the government. In a country of free education the term free is no longer true when parents are being asked to pay more and more for their children’s education. With the increase of college registration fees and the likely introduction of college fees one must acknowledge the fact that the years of free third level education are coming to an end. However after investigating it becomes obvious that free education stops long before third level is even considered.

One school in Dublin has asked parents to contribute a total of €440 annually per student. Research across 5 schools in East Cork showed that education system was no different here.  Talking to parents and students it soon becomes obvious that the situation is one of great concern.

Possibly the worst offender is St. Aloysius college in Carrigtwohill, Cork. With 649 students attending the school the amounts asked for in voluntary contributions have increased significantly in recent years. Each year a fee of €130 for office costs is expected per student. After this contributions for school activities and maintenance work are added throughout the year. Also included are requests for development funds for science labs and computer rooms. In the past year one parent believes that she has contributed at least €410 to the running of the school. Having had other children attend the same school she believes, “funding at this stage is out of control”. She was never asked for so much during the years of her other children’s attendance. On the 17 April she received yet another letter requesting €120 for her daughter to pre-register for sitting the leaving cert. This contribution, which is due in less than two weeks time, is additional to and not instead of other school fees and exam fees. Angered by this she says, “it has never cost me so much to say ‘yes my child is going to attend school’ I have no idea where this idea came from but this is not acceptable”.

Her daughter Amy* a 4^th year student at the school says, “I feel guilty handing notes to my parents but I need to go to school so I have no other choice”.

While the other schools still ask for contributions the amounts differ greatly. St. Mary’s, Midleton ask for just €120 to cover administration costs and rarely ask for more than that.

All these schools are public and not private fee paying schools but in the end it is hard to differentiate. A parent of a child from a fee paying school indicates that once the initial payment is made at the beginning of each year the parent is not asked for any more contributions until the next school year.

This situation could be considered to be fairer on the parents who know at the start that once the fee is paid there will be no further surprises popping up looking for money.

Attempts were made to contact the schools in question – St. Aloysius College, Carrigtwohill, St Mary’s Highschool Midleton, St Colemans Community College Midleton and CBS Midleton.

Unfortunately none of the above were willing to be questioned giving responses such as  “tell us exactly what information you have received?” and “we don’t deal with the media”. Were they trying to hide something or just didn’t have the time it is hard to know.

It has to be said that schools are not entirely at fault budget cuts leave them with no other option. Whether the schools loose subject choices, teachers or facilities is all dependent on the school in question. However schools are doing their best to fight back.

Research released by the ASTI on April 9 details how second level schools may have to introduce charges on students studying certain practical-based subjects. During this research the ASTI found that 12 out of the 20 schools questioned stated that “they would have to seek financial contribution from the parents of  “students taking physics, chemistry and home economics because the abolition of grant aid for these subjects announced as part of Budget 2009”.

Outraged by this ASTI General Secretary John White believes: “The research shows that the cutbacks are not only impacting on tangible resources such as teacher numbers, funding and subject choice, they are penetrating the very soul of the school – the ethos of the school. The research makes it clear that the entire school community will suffer because of the cutbacks – students, parents and teachers.”

Further study revealed that 11 schools stated that budget cuts meant that they would be reducing the subject choice at leaving cert level and nine schools revealed plans to reduce subject choice at for the junior cert cycle.

Should the education system be really run like this though? In other countries systems are different and parents happier. Talking to a parent with children in public education in the UK it soon becomes obvious that there are clear faults in our system.  This parent indicates that she is not expected to contribute to the school apart from voluntary contributions for swimming lessons and school trips”.

This is a complete contrast to here where parents are expected to contribute just for their children to attend.  Where the future of the education system is going is hard to tell. However, it is clear that parents are not going to pay up forever and the government is going to have to make some decisions.

*name changed to protect anonymity.

“The pace of technological development and the changing patterns of consumer behaviour, are the most important challenges facing the modern media firm”. Discuss.

I will discuss the above statement and in doing this I will look at the Irish media firm Thomas Crosbie Holdings (TCH) and compare it to the International media firm News Corporation.

I will look at the challenges that both firms are facing and how each business is coping with these challenges.

Thomas Crosbie Holdings was first established in 1872 when Thomas Crosbie took over the Cork Examiner after the death of its founder John F. Maguire. By this stage Thomas Crosbie was the editor and had been working at the paper for over 30 years after starting work there at the of 15. In 1899 Thomas Crosbie died leaving his business to his son George. Major expansions to TCH began in the 1990’s and by 1994 the company revenues for The Examiners publications unit were worth €20 million. By this stage the company had shown interest in investing and it went on a buying spree, in which acquired it 17 more titles between 1995 and 2005. Before the company was limited to just The Examiner, Evening Echo and Waterford News and Star and now expands across radio, Internet, print and website areas too. The Western People in Mayo was the first acquisition back in 1995 and the most recent has been WLRfm and Beat Fm in Waterford just last year. In 2000 TCH made its first deal in Northern Ireland by buying the Newry Democrat and three years later the company bought The Irish Post in Britain from Jefferson Smurfit for £1.7 million.

While all was well for TCH the new millennium brought its own deal of financial problems to the company. After losing over three quarters of a million in 2002 the group struggled through and the next year. These years were a threat to the business and observers began considering whether TCH had tried to conquer too much too fast. However in 2004 pre-tax profits has risen almost 50 percent.

2004 brought with it other changes too. The company’s printing operations were being closed down after almost 153 years in operation. A new company was being set up in the Mahon area of Cork to print the papers. In this same year TCH also decided to sell ads on all its websites including motornet.ie

Two years later in 2006 TCH conquered its last newspaper acquisition. By this stage there was just one remaining Independent regional paper. The Echo group including the Wexford Echo and New Ross Echo with a total circulation of over 22,000 was bought this year.

News Corporation was founded in Australia in 1979 by Rupert Murdoch. In the beginning News Corp or News Limited as it was known then was created from the assets that Murdoch inherited after his fathers death. This one newspaper which was called the Adelaide News has since expanded into the worlds largest media firm. In the early 1970’s the headquarters moved to New York where they are still located today. Almost forthy years on the corporation’s revenue is worth over $28 billion and has shares in publishing, media, radio, tv and print companies. Amongst the many International companies owned by News Corp are The Irish Sun (Ireland), The Sunday Times (UK), The New York Post (US), The Wall Street Journal (US), 20^th Century Fox (and related Fox companies) and Myspace.

One of the greatest challenges facing all media firms including the two I have mentioned was the introduction of the internet. The first idea for a system like the internet came about in the late 1940’s. However it took many years for the internet as we know it to be established. The introdution of the internet has posed both great threats and opportunities to media firms. Print based media firms have come under the greatest threat. Before a newspaper would be printed daily/weekly and the only competition was radio and television. However now with the internet we have a new system wherby news stories can be put up online and accessed by anyone with an internet connection. This “virtual” newspaper is especially threatening as it provides a cheaper and easier way for readers to get their information. The introduction of free wi-fi interest net access areas has speeded up this process and made online information even more readily available.

As a result of the internet the majority of daily newspapers internationally have had no choice but to develop their own websites so that their loyal readers will read The Examiner online or The Wall Street Journal online instead of going to another paper which has a website.

In recent years TCH has developed websites to tackle this new internet nation. The Irish Examiner website was first set up in the mid 1990’s. TCH did face the same threats as other media firms internationally but saw this as new system as an opportunity to expand further into the media system. Since then TCH has set up many other internet services including RecruitIreland.com which provides a job search database for those looking for jobs. Other internet services run by Thomas Crosbie Holdings are Motornet.ie, Breakingnews.ie, Rugby.ie and Golfline.ie All of these appeal to a variety of different target audiences nationwide and so give TCH a good grip on the internet media market.

This years JNIR (Joint National Internet Research) survey supports this above statement. Results of this survey show that visitor numbers to the Irish Examiner website have increased by 17% in the past year. Breakingnews.ie perfomed similarly with a 16.4% growth. In the overall figures of users, TCH’s websites compare favourably to the other competitive news media sources in the country. 74.6% of Irishexaminer.com users are in the upmarket ABC1 category compared to competitors like RTE.ie’s 66.7%  and 75.9% of IrishIndependent.ie’s market. These results show that TCH media are top of their game and are coping with the challenges that are brought with the internet. Commenting on these results, Angela Crowley, CEO of TCH commented on the success of BreakingNews.ie which has 77% of this market. “We have completed a significant investment in the redesign of the BreakingNews.ie site and branding. The content and site design have improved considerably as s result of this investment and this is reflected in our JNIR performance”. There are future plans to invest in the redevelopment of Irishexaminer.com in 2009.

News Corp has also embraced the Internet as a media firm. One of News Corp’s greatest success stories is its ownership of Myspace. While the company does have direct online media firms Myspace is in a league of its own when it comes to providing the public with what they want. News websites exist because they need to but Myspace is an invention, which exists because it is what the people want. Myspace is a social networking site that was first developed in 2003 and was taken over by News Corp in 2005. At the time of this takeover Myspace was said to be worth $327 million. Now three years on the company has grown to an estimated value of $15billion. News Corp tackled competitor websites such as Youtube.com and Myslide.com by adding them to their own website in the form of widgets. By making these features available Myspace keeps a firm grip on Youtube and other competitor websites. Along the way similar networking websites such as Bebo and Facebook have been set up but according to Techcrunch.com Myspace still remains top of its game and is still first place in the international user market with Facebook coming in second and Bebo in third place.

Whilst in the beginning TCH’s primary focus was on print media this has changed in recent years. The company has shown a great deal of interest in the ownership of radio stations. While the radio industry has been around for a long time it has taken a long time for this company to make the move. It may have taken years but once TCH got a taste for the radio industry it didn’t just stop at one. Now the company owns/part owns Cork’s Red Fm, Waterford WLRfm and Beat 102-103 fm and Mid West Radio. Radio poses great challenges to the print media industry. Print media has its disadvantages in that the majority of newspapers only produce one daily edition. They present the news as it is at the time of publication and updates are not available. Radio on the other hand can provide updates as they come in via news bulletins on the hour. This is challenging for print media as half way through the day their top story may be considered “old news”. Of course print media has its advantages too as the story can be read and reread and visual aids in the form of images and survey charts. While print media does has its advantages TCH did see the advantage of owning another form of media and in recent years has taken the plunge and now has another section of the competitive media industry.

In September 2007 TCH received approval from The Competition Authority to hold a majority shareholding in both WLR and Beat 102-103. Through this the company has acquired a 75% shareholding in Beat 102-103 and WLR. Commenting on this achievement TCH Managing Director Anthony Dinan said “We can now proceed with building and developing our business. The addition of WLR FM and Beat 102-103 FM will greatly enhance our portfolio of businesses and brands.” The company also has 36% shareholding in Red Fm in Cork and 15% in Mid West radio in Mayo.

Radio media firms are not the only firms that TCH has taken over in recent years. The company has also acquired shares in several print media businesses nationwide.

In 2004 TCH bought The Roscommon Herald. A long-standing print media firm that had been operating since the 1800’s. According to Group Managing Director Anthony Dinan this was the company’s “Eleventh acquisition in nine years”. Other takeovers include The Echo Group (which includes the Evening Echo) in 2006,

Takeovers have proven a great success for the company but so also has the establishement of a new print publication called The Sunday Business Post. The first edition of the paper appeared in November 1989 and according to the Audit Bureau of Circulations the average weekly circulation was 53, 871 in 2007. The paper appeals to the business market and describes itself as being “Ireland’s Political, Economic and Financial Newspaper”. Aimed at the middle to upper working classes this paper caters for a different target audience. At the time there was a niche in the market for a newspaper looking at issues such as politics and money and The Sunday Business Post filled this gap.

There are many similarities between TCH and News Corp. They both own radio stations, newspapers and websites. In terms of these TCH does have a strong grasp on its national market and News Corp is conquering the international market. While the companies are quite similar News Corp is years ahead in that it has spread to the international market. Starting off an Australian based company News Corp now has shares in the UK, Irish, US, Asian and Australian market. By spreading itself amongst so many companies News Corp has had opportunities to own more types of media firm. Owning 20^th Century Fox and its related news stations and networks has opened up a lot of doors for News Corp. They now own their own cable channels and studios. Outside of the direct media market News Corp also has shares in the Australian and New Zealand National Rugby League, The Brisbane Broncos and The Colorado Rockies. News Corp also part owns Harper Collins Publishing company.

So while the impact of technological development and the changing patterns of consumer behaviour are the most important challenges facing the modern media firm I believe that both of the firms I have looked at have embraced these changes and used them to their advantage. Whether it is through News Corps Myspace invention or TCH’s radio and internet focus both companies have not been afraid to try new things along the way.  Both media firms have struggled at times along the way but I do believe that TCH now has a strong grasp on the Irish Media market with potential to expand internationally and News Corp is above all others in the international field.

CPL’s profits up as their share prices fall but a

tough year is expected ahead.

CPL resources strive through the credit crunch despite rising levels of unemployment and labour costs. The company’s sales and revenue increases are highlighted in the release of the company annual report.

The report highlights a profit of €52.5 million for the year ending June 2008, a 7% increase on the previous year. Revenue is also up 32% to €257.6 million.

Speaking about these increases, Chairman John Hennessy said; “the global economic downturn and it effects on the labour market have had an effect on the company but the company is responding appropriately to these challenges by managing the costs.” It is by cost management that the company has grown in profitability over recent years.

CPL Resources Plc is Ireland’s leading provider of recruitment and Human resource outsourcing solutions. The company specialises in providing permanent, temporary and contract recruitment to leading service companies in the IT, Agricultural and pharmaceutical industries.

While revenue has increased share prices have been decreasing rapidly over recent weeks. The company has struggled to hold its share values, which dropped to a record low last week at 1.29cent a decrease from 5.4 cent for the same period last year. Share dividends have been set at 2.5 cent and are to be paid out at the end of October.

John Hennessy concluded his statement by saying that he expects the year ending June 2009 will be challenging and that the effects of the Irish economic downturn on the labour market “would be evident for some time.”

Chief executive for CPL Ann Heraty believes that “some of the weakest areas are construction related positions as well as banking and investment banking”. She added that other sectors including technology and foreign investment were “holding up reasonably well”.

In recent months CPL has opened new offices in Brno, Czech Republic, Krakow and Barcelona and has future plans to expand the business more. Speaking about this Ann Heraty said, “I suppose its globalisation but what companies want nowadays is a cross-Europe service”.

CPL is already planning for the year ahead and acknowledge the challenges that they will fact in the coming year. They are currently “looking for new ways to deliver value and outstanding service to our clients and candidates”.  CPL also intends to respond to changing market conditions whilst managing their cost basis.

Challenges aside CPL believes that it is in a good position financially and resourcefully “to take advantage of any opportunities that may emerge to add to the business, through organic growth or acquisition, in specific markets and sectors”

Overview

In my article I looked at parts of the Annual report for CPL for the year ending June 2009. I was most interested in looking at increases/ decreases in profits and also the share prices. I was also interested in looking at how CPL plans to survive through the economic downturn. After finding all of these and writing the article I looked at how other publications covered these same questions and if they mentioned things that I had missed out on. Most of the articles I found were centred around the release of the annual report in the first week of September. There has been little coverage of CPL in the media since.

The best article that I found covered this issue was the Sunday Business Post on September 07, 2008. This article was published right after the release of the annual report and provided a detailed analysis of the outcome of the report. With the headline “CPL aiming to thrive through diversification” the Sunday Business Post highlighted the fact that CPL will face challenges in the coming year. The article looked at how CPL are aiming to tackle these challenges, “the company wants to build market share in Ireland”. Quotes were used from both CPL Chief Executive Ann Hearty and Goodbody analyst John Goode. I think that it was a good decision to use quotes from John Goode as it gave an unbiased perspective on the company.

Another good article I found was one published by The Irish Times on the 6^th of September 2008. This article presented all the main figures from the annual report including the 7% increase in pre-tax profits and the gross profit. These figures were backed up with quotes from CPL Chairman John Hennessy and also John Goode the analyst from Goodbody that The Sunday Business Post also used. Whilst the first half of this article looked at the figures the second half looked a the challenges facing CPL in the coming year including the increase in unemployment and also CPL’s strategy for the year ahead.

On the same day as the Irish Times article The Irish Independent published a similar article, which looked at the same sales and profit figures. Unlike the above two publications a source from Goodbody was not used. Instead this paper used David Jennings analyst at Davy Stockbrokers who provided a critical analysis of the findings. In particular David Jennings looked at recruitment saying “Temporary recruitment fared better, relatively, down just 5pc in the second half”.

The Irish Independent also used quotes from CPL chairman John Hennessy, which reiterated the fact that the next year will be challenging. Quotes from Chief Executive Ann Hearty were also used to describe the challenges of the last few months “It has certainly been a year of two halves”. The one thing that the Irish Independent did cover which I had not noticed in the above two publication was the expansion of CPL into other countries including Barcelona and Krakow. This is something that I had covered in my own article but The Irish Independent is the only publication that I could find that acknowledged this point.

Recruiter (UK) covered CPL on the 17 September 2008. This was a short article of just over 100 words which compared CPL Ireland to Belfast firm Forde May Consulting. The main point of this article was that “The economic downturn in Ireland is not affecting staffing firms north of the border yet”. Although this article did not take a detailed approach to CPL’s challenges due to the economic downturn I think that by comparing it to a similar company was quite effective.

The first mention of CPL I could find by the Irish Examiner was on October 22 2008. In this short article The Irish Examiner stated that CPL were positive on expectations. They backed this up with a quote from CPL saying “The global economic down turn and its effects on the labour market have continued to have a marked effect”. This article didn’t go into any background detail or name any sources.

While the above five articles all mentioned CPL and the challenges it will face I think that The Sunday Business Post, The Irish Independent and The Irish Times all provided the best analysis of this. At the time of these publications I could not find any other publications that looked at as much detail. Since then there have been articles by The Daily Mail and the Financial Times as well as The Irish Examiner and Recruiter which I mentioned above but they all just provided limited detail and analysis.

Write a 500 word news report on the budget, happening on Tuesday 14^th October 2008. Include in it the response of at least two interest groups and two opposition political parties.

____________________________________________________________________

Little protection offered for low-income families in Budget 2009

Lower income families are to suffer the most in the wake of Brian Lenihen’s budget, which was announced in the Dáil yesterday.

These changes will not affect high-income families. But from next year lower income families will most definitely struggle to financially survive every day life.

The most severe changes include.

• €300 increased cost for a secondary school yearly bus ticket.
• €1,500 the fee for college registration – up from €900.
• Leaving and Junior cert fees up 8% to €109 and €103.
• Class sizes will be one teacher to 28 pupils up from the current 27:1.
• Children’s allowance will be halved for 18 year olds in 2009 at a loss of €1000 and abolished in 2010.
• The school books grant will be abolished.
• The qualifying age for Disability Allowance is to be raised from 16 to 18.

Families will also suffer the 1% income levy, increased petrol charges and the 20% increase in bed charges in public hospitals the list is endless.

In response to the issue of aborting the school books grant Norah Gibbons, Director of Advocacy for Barnardos said: “Tackling literacy is the key to supporting children in disadvantaged areas to stay in school and progress their education. Why are these grants singled out? What will replace them to assist tackling the very serious literacy problem faced by as many as 1 in 3 children in areas of disadvantage?”

The labour party expressed remorse to the families who will suffer greatly as a result of this budget. Labour party spokesperson Joan Burton lashed out at minister Brian Lenihen accusing him of being “hard necked” and “shameless”.  Talking about those affected by the Ministers changes she added; “Middle class and working families haven’t just taken a hit. Middle class families have been mugged by the Minister.”

The changes will affect the lives of children of all ages but will be particularly harsh on the parents of 18 year olds. In that one year from the ages of 18-19 a parent will loose out on an initial income of €1000 children’s allowance in 2009 and €2000 from 2010. In this same year a parent may have to pay for college fees that will be increased by €600. Added to this is an extra 8% leaving cert exam fees, an extra €300 transport fees and any income the child may make in a summer job will be subjected to the 1% levy. Speaking for Combat Poverty Kevin O’Kelly claims “There is evidence that older children cost more and have a higher poverty risk than younger children, so the decision to cut child benefit for 18 year-olds does not make sense.”

While the full effects of this budget are not yet known it is evident that children will suffer more than the ministers who have to take a 10% pay cut. Speaking at the Dáil last night Fine Gael Education Spokesman, Brian Hayes TD, added “The reality of this Budget is that children are being asked to pay the price for the economic incompetence of Fianna Fáil.”

IS THERE IS NEED FOR A PRESS COUNCIL IN IRELAND AND WHAT POWER DOES IT HAVE?

The introduction of the Press Council at the start of this year was meant to be a big step towards media censorship in Ireland. Many journalists worried. Would their views be ripped apart and would their working lives become difficult with them having to give every word they wrote a second thought?

Since its introduction the Press Council received 30 complaints during their first month from members of the public and many more since but we have to ask do we really need a press council and what power does the Press Council that is currently in operation in the country really have? In finding the answers many more questions will have to be asked.

So of course the first question has to be What is the Press Council? The press council has received a lot of coverage in business papers but to a normal working person what does it mean and what power does it give us the newspaper consumer? Well in 2003 Michael McDowell Minister for Justice decided that the defamation laws be reformed and a statutory press council established. We are still waiting for the defamation laws to be changed but as of January 2008 Ireland now has a Press Council. The council which is operated by 13 members aims to “make sure that newspapers and magazines comply with an agreed set of ethical standards and behaviours” These regulations are listed in the Press Councils code of Practice and include issues such as Respect for Rights, Truth and Accuracy and Privacy. According to the Press council website any member of the public can make a complaint about the contents of all daily and Sunday newspapers, the Irish editions of UK newspapers, Irish published perdiocals and Provincial and Regional newspapers. The complaint should be made in writing indicating which code of practice has been breached and why. The complaint should also include a copy of the article in question and any correspondance that has been made between the individual and the publication in question in relation to the article. Upon receiving the complaint the Press Ombundsman will look at the details of the case and decide if it is valid. Reasons for dismissing a case may be that the “complaint relates to an issue of taste or decency”. If the complaint is valid the Press Ombusdman will act as a mediator between the individual and the media source until an agreement is made by both parties.

So why is the Press Council so important then? Well in the past it was seen as a must for an Irish Journalist to be part of National Union of Journalists (NUJ) this is no longer the case. It may look good to be part of the NUJ but it is no longer essential. With NUJ membership comes a code of conduct which all members have to sign before joining the union and must then abide by these rules in their daily life as a  journalist. Without being a member of the NUJ there is no code of conduct. The Press Council has therefore set up its own code of conduct which is very similar to the NUJ code. The codes are there to protect the rights of and are in the best interest of the public. In relation to this the NUJ states “A journalist does his/her utmost to correct harmful inaccuracies”. In relation to the same matter the Press Council in its own code states “In reporting news and information, newspapers and periodicals shall strive at all times for truth and accuracy”. Both these codes are clearly very similar. The need for a code of practice be it that of the NUJ or the Press Council is essential in media regulation.

Back to the question do we really need a Press Council?  Well back in 2005 it was undoubtibly said that we do. Many may remember the Liam Lawlor case where his translater Julia Kushnir was accused of being a prostitute by many Irish papers. The details of this case are not so important what matters is the reason why so many Journalists and editors felt that they could get away with saying something that was so harmful to the womans reputation without checking that it was true before going to print.

During this week in 2005 Vincent Browne wrote for The Sunday Business Post the reasons why he felt such a statement was justified by the Journalists. He said “they did in the belief that: No libel action could ensue from the defamation of a dead man”. This may be the case but the most interesting thing that Vincent Browne said was “there would be no other comeback, for there was no sanction of any kind on the media here for such gross, reckless and cruel infliction of hurt on the already grief-stricken family of Liam Lawlor”. Of course this wasn’t the view of Vincent Browne himself but the media in charge of such claims. However it still seems to be a way of justifying the wrong done in the case. As he adds later on in the article Mr Browne suggests the idea that it was all done for profit. Sure who cares if a dead mans reputation is destroyed. If it makes money then it has to be worth it.In the end this situation is a perfect example of why there should be a Press Council in Ireland.

The above is just one of so many examples that can be used to highligh the fact that we need a press council. Another is the fact that the media are allowed at the scenes of crimes, accidents and funerals. When grieving a loved one who died tragically would you really like a Journalist peeping over your shoulder with a camera? Many wouldn’t but the way things are nothing can be done to prevent this. One extreme example of media photography being taken too far was seen recently in The Star on February 25 2008. The paper showed the scene of a bus crash which killed 18 people in India. One of the pictures showed two dead bodies hanging out of the windows of the bus. The caption “Mangled: Dead bodies hang out of the bus…” Of course this wasn’t an Irish case. The incident happened in another country but there is nothing to prevent such pictures being taken and published in this country. We have to consider though if the same could happen if there was a school bus crash in Dublin and a paper published a picture of two lifeless school kids hanging out the windows of the bus. This hasn’t happened yet but there have been similar incidents in past years. Stephen Price of The Sunday Times looked at this earlier this year and found one case where a photograph of a suicide victim in the Liffey appeared in the Star back in 1998. This may have been ten years ago but nothing has changed in the way the media is regulated. In this same article Price talked to the editor of The Star Ger Colleran who summed up his newspaper’s approach: ‘As far as practical Journalism is concerned, the issue of privacy is rarely, if ever, considered”.

A final situation that has to be looked at that is in the interest of the public is the fact that other bodies in power such as doctors are censored in the work they do. Take for an example a plastic surgeon who is performing a facelift on a middle aged man. If the man face is badly scared beyond healing during the operation the doctor will come under critisism from the medical board. There will be an investigation and the situation will possibly end up in court. If a journalist comes out with the claim that the middle aged man was a paedophile when in fact he wasn’t and spread his face across the front page of the paper then there is not much that can be done. The man can sue but the paper will probably consider this as the worst case scenario. In the end even if the man received compensation his image will be ruined. His face is destroyed by the media the same way the first mans face was destroyed by the surgeon.

Of course these examples are just a few of so many which show that the country needs a Press Council. However, the way things stand right now the Press Council is not much good. Changes to the defamtion law which should have happened before the set up of the Press Council have still not happened. The result of this is that the Press Council cannot take away the power of an individual to go to his/her lawyer. The individual can choose to go to the Press Council but can still go to the lawyer after. An example of this would be where an individual feels that the paper has been defamatory. The person can go to the Press Council and use them as a mediator between themselves and the paper. They can use the Press Council to get an apology from the paper and after this can go along to their lawyer. With the apology from the paper the individual with the help of their lawyer can go to court and since the paper has already admitted it was wrong then the case will obviously be strong than without an apology. The result of this will probably be a large windfall for the individual.

So to conclude. Do we need a Press Council in Ireland? The answer to this is most certainly yes. However in reference to the power of the Press Council in Ireland there is a lot to be done before the Press Council can gain any power over the censorship of the media in Ireland.

While the popularity of some ideologies may grow and fall nationalism never goes out of style. Discuss.

Ideology refers to the beliefs and expectations which are imposed on the world in order to give it a structure and meaning. Ideology usually results in the creation of a political group whose purpose is fulfilling these expectations. One example of ideology is global warming. Unlike nationalism it is not a thing of the past and has only come to light in the past 20 years. There is no proof that it will still exist in 100 years time. It is a thing of the present and may like many other ideologies be short-lived.

Nationalism on the other hand never goes out of style. I will illustrate this point with reference to different types of nationalism including Liberal Nationalism, Religious Nationalism, and Expansionist Nationalism.

Nationalism can be described as “ loyalty and devotion to a nation or ethnic group that places emphasis on promoting the interests, cultural and social values, or religion of one group above all others” (http://www.juniata.edu/faculty/tuten/islamic/archive/glossary.html)

There are many different types of nationalism. Liberal nationalism for example is the oldest form of nationalism. The goal of this type of nationalism is to construct a world of independent nation states. Each nation has its own language, religion and culture and liberal nationalism means that this one nation defies the beliefs and culture of a different nation. The nation does not want to be controlled by another nation as this would affect its individuality as a nation. While the ideal solution is that each country has its own nation state this does not mean that the countries are to compete against each other. The countries need an identity to function properly but countries also need to be able to work together. Europe could be considered to be an example of this where different international nation states work together.

Religious nationalism is one of the most common forms of nationalism. It can be found in the majority of countries across the world and is both a modern and old-age form of nationalism. This is a prime example of how nationalism never goes out of style. “Religious nationalism defines the nation in terms of shared religion, usually along with other factors such as culture, ethnicity, and language” (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nationalism) Northern Ireland is a good example of religious nationalism and also how nationalism never goes out of style. The conflict in Northern Ireland is caused by both a clash of culture and religion between two countries. Religion is a major issue here with the majority of Protestants wishing to be ruled by Britain and Catholics by Ireland. While this land war and conflict started way back in the 18^th century it has been around ever since. It has disappeared at times and been forgotten about but it is an example of how nationalism never goes out of style. Key events include Bloody Sunday in 1972 which claimed the lives of innocent men women and children who were shot at by the British Soldiers. Another historical moment is the hunger strike in the 1980’s where republican prisoner Bobby Sands refused food and so started the hunger strike which lasted over a year and resulted in the deaths of many prisoners.

These events didn’t just happen in the 70’s and 80’s but can also be seen more recently. The Omagh Bombing in 1998, less than ten years ago claimed the lives of 29 people.(http://cain.ulst.ac.uk/events/omagh/events.htm). The conflict still continues today. While the “troubles” may have calmed down there is still opposition to British Rule in many parts of Ulster. Catholics still fight Protestants and they remain separate in the communities. Just a few years ago Catholic children were bullied by Protestant children on their way to school. With children growing up in this environment where the opposition is seen as inferior there will never be an end to religious nationalism.

Expansionist Nationalism has been described as one country claiming another territory which it believes belonged to them in the first place. “Expansionist nationalism asserts the state’s right to increase its borders at the expense of its neighbours. Usually, this declared right originates from the opinion that a territory should include all people of the same nationality” (http://home.mtholyoke.edu/~nmwoods/israel.htm)

A good example of expansionist nationalism is the treatment of Jews by the Nazi’s in Germany. Expansionist Nationalism is based on the fact that one group of people sees themselves as more superior than another group. In the case of the Jews and Nazi’s it was a “them and us” relationship. The Nazi’s saw themselves as “us” where as the Jews were just considered “them”, a lower class inferior group and the only solution was to kill this lower class group. Unfortunately we all know how this ended and how the Nazi’s killed so many Jews. It all began with the “them and us” belief. The Nazi’s boycotted Jewish shops and the Germans were required to shop elsewhere. The Jews were sent to different schools, had different transport systems and were not allowed near the Germans.

“In 1935, the Nuremberg Laws were passed. The Jews lost their right to be German citizens and marriage between Jews and non-Jews was forbidden. It was after this law that the violence against the Jew really openly started. Those that could pay a fine were allowed to leave the country. Many could not.” (http://www.historylearningsite.co.uk/Jews_Nazi_Germany.htm).The violence escalated until all Jews had either fled the country or been killed.

Expansionist nationalism didn’t stop here. The “Them and Us” theory has roots all over the world. Often seen as “The White Man’s burden” it can also be described as being racially motivated. In the US it can be seen in the treatment of coloured people by white people. The white people see themselves as being better and they see all other races as being inferior.

In particular this was seen in the South. The black people were seen as criminals. They were sent to different schools and shopped at different shops. In shops white person was always served first and often black people were hung for crimes they did not commit. Many stood up for their rights as black people. Rosa Parks was one of them. She is most remembered for standing up for her right to sit anywhere she wanted on a bus in Alabama in the 1950’s. This was a turning point for nationalism but does not mean that “The White Man’s Burden” does not still exist today.

These are just a few examples of the hundreds of types of nationalism. Nationalism has existed from hundreds of years ago right up until the present. While Nazi’s Germany may be gone, the people have not forgotten. This can be seen through the hatred that the Germans still have for the Bavarian’s. Same applies for Nationalism and the “troubles” in Northern Ireland. This form of nationalism has lasted over a hundred years and still exists today.

Some forms of nationalism may lie dormant for years but they always come back. Unlike ideologies there is always a past, present and future for nationalism.