Ways of Seeing Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words - 1

Ways of Seeing - Essay Example you agree with Berger that women, unlike men, are continually watching themselves being watched by others and making adjustments based on how they perceive that others see them? I think that Berger is right that many women watch themselves being watched by others and make adjustments in what can be seen because of the perceptions of others about them. Women do this because, as Berger correctly said, women are raised to become â€Å"women† according to how the public sees them, specifically, how men want to see them. As a result, many women want to be beautiful because this is what society says should be their primary goal in life- to be attractive so that they can be seen and be rewarded by men’s ownership of women. Third, what do you think Berger means when he says that "Nudity is a form of dress?" Here are some paintings of nudes, some of which he discusses in the book and some others that he does not discuss. As you look at these paintings, do you find yourself agreeing or disagreeing with him about the culture of nudity in Western civilization? ( the pictures that was mentioned in above will be uploaded) again provide a short paragraph please. Nudity is a form of a dress because it is a dress that men want to put on women, the dress of passivity and submission to male sexual desire. I agree with Berger that the culture of nudity in Western civilization is a process of telling women how they should act when they are seen by men. Nudity is not about women’s expression of their identities, including her sexuality. Nudity, as Berger shows, is a submission to men and their desires. Nude paintings are then in â€Å"languid† poses that are not about women actively showing their identity and sexuality, but women who are â€Å"available† to pleasure men. Nudity is about the culture of men who want to control women, not only sexually, but socially. Berger believes that art is valuable when it is original or unique. I believe that what gives art value is that is

People and Organizations Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2000 words

People and Organizations - Essay Example Assembly lines were dedicated to the production of a single thing, implying the development of dedicated machine tools and workers, operating individually rather than as a work team, were responsible for the performance of single tasks within the assembly process. The implication here is that the said philosophy is funding upon the division of a single project/process into its constituent elements and the total dedication of man and machine to the efficient and timely execution of those single tasks. The Fordist production system, as defined in the above, reduced the cost of automobile manufacturing by 90% and led to the evolution of mass production and the associate mass consumption, and consumer culture. Although incontrovertibly efficient, however, it was not flexible and led to the accumulation of significant inventories. This, however, does not imply that the Fordist system has passed out of existence since several of its elements have been integrated into contemporary organizations and management systems. These elements are lack of specialization, as in workers and employees being able to fulfill a number of tasks if and when required, control over the business processes, efficiency predicated on the division of single projects into its constituent parts, calculability, predictability and, importantly, the organization as an efficient machine. In the final analysis, therefore, while the Fordist system of production may have been replaced by others more compatible with current requirements and realities, its philosophical elements have survived and have been integrated into organizational management. II Despite their positive impact upon production and their contribution to the evolution of more efficient and effective organizations, Taylorism and Scientific Management were, as a result of the controversy they inspired, replaced by the human relations approach to management. Following a brief overview of both, the differences between the two approaches shall be elucidated. Scientific management adopts an objective, rational approach to organizational management, such as which decentralizes socio-cultural and human factors and considerations. This approach advocates the division of labor in the production process for the attainment of maximum productivity, even as it insists upon the separation of the physical from the mental tasks. The aforementioned practices are predicated on the belief that the work process is measurable, in that the componential elements of a single process can be quantified, just as the steps involved in the completion of each can be measured. The implication here is that through the rational quantification of work process steps, the calculation of the time it tales to complete each, the work process can evolve into a semi-automatic and highly efficient phenomenon. Scientific management, as may have been determined from the preceding, marginalizes the human factor, to the extent of rendering the work process an unthinking and routinised one wherein workers are isolated one from the other. Its focus on the rational, leading to its failure to acknowledge the human factor was a source of criticism and controversy. More importantly,

A Reality Check In Contemporary Indian Media Media Essay

A Reality Check In Contemporary Indian Media Media Essay The paper discusses the evolution of the Gatekeeping Model over the years and examines how the traditional roles of gatekeeping have witnessed a change. From editors and reporters, the news and information is now being filtered by corporate houses, sponsors, advertisers, politicians and in case of the social media, the audience themselves. The research also offers an overview of the trend of cross media ownership in India and how the sponsors are influencing the information carried where corporatization of the media has affected the flow of news. Besides, it also studies the idea of gatekeeping in India in the context of social networking where the users themselves are gatekeepers. The paper suggests that the traditional methods of gatekeeping have decayed and hence it should be understood in novel contexts keeping in mind the rapid growth of new technologies and different ways of mass communication. Keywords: Gatekeeping, Advertisers, Social media, Indian media. Which news is more valuable? Twenty one persons killed and dozens injured in train collision or The speeding train kills seven elephants. Most people would say both are equally important but the people who are actually involved in the process of news selection and placement will be holding a different view. One of the news stories will be given more value than the other and so would be placed accordingly in the news paper. One of them might take a position on the front page while the other might have to be satisfied by being on some inside page. Most of the times, the stories with comparatively less value might not even get a chance to be published if the space on the page is not enough. Everyday numerous events take place that need reporting but not all of them can be published in a news paper or be flashed on a TV screen or announced on a radio set. The idea of gatekeeping seems logical at first since there is a limitation of time and space in publications and channels and very sim ply put, not everything can be shown or published. Thus, some kind of filtration is but natural. However, there are conscious processes involved which decide what has to be transmitted and what has to be withheld. The earliest concept of gatekeeping has assigned this conscious role to the editors of media houses. Traditionally, such decisions were based on the principles of news value and making such decisions used to be the major task of a gatekeeper which was taken up by the editor of a news paper. Every story that used to enter the newsroom had to go through the scrutiny of the editor and only after the editor approves, it was allowed to be published. Hence, it can be said that an editor used to have the final say in what is to be sent to the readers and what not. Editor was the sole authority holding the gate through which the stories pass. The traditional theories and models on gatekeeping also laid emphasis on the importance of the role of an editor in the paradigm of news communication. The famous model of gate keeping given by D.M. White(1950) focused only on the role of an editor as the man who made decisions. However, his theory was criticized when the other factors influencing the decision started gaining recognition. The editors started losing their say in the news selection process as the media got locked into the power structure, and consequently as acting largely in tandem with the dominant institutions in society. The media thus reproduced the viewpoints of dominant institutions not as one among a number of alternative perspectives, but as the central and obvious or natural perspective (Curran et al, 1982). The element of biasness affects the information that is received by the reader. The editor is required to keep in mind a number of things other than the news value principles for letting a story be published. The flow of information is being regulated by the gatekeepers who are not directly involved in the news gathering process but are the managers and the owners of the media firms or the advertisers or other stake holders. Money and power are able to filter out the news fit to print, marginalize dissent, and allow the government and dominant private interests to get their messages across to the public (Herman and Chomsky, 1988). The political affiliation of a media outlet determines the ideology it would stand for and hence the gatekeeping will be done accordingly. The gatekeeper moulds the stories in a way that satisfy the interest of a political leader or a group and so changing the angle and slant of the real truth. Mass media content is influenced by media workers socialization and attitudes. Their professional training, personal and political attitudes and affiliations lead them to produce a social reality (Riaz, 2008). To a certain level, gatekeeping is very important for communication planning but as the news media has been overpowered by the top tier of corporate, it is becoming more of a negative term. Commercial advertising is the principal source of revenue for media and is very important for ensuring the survival of the media houses. In fact, the biggest regulators of the flow of information are the commercial organizations providing financial support to the media outlets in the form of advertisements. This has not only changed the nature of flow of news but also the entire set up of a news paper. Twenty five years ago, we could never imagine that first page of a newspaper in India would be full page advertisement. The news paper today looks more of a product catalogue than a news journal. On one hand, the globalization and liberalization provides a better scope of mediating while on the other it has given rise to commercialization of news. The profit making motive of the owners and publishers has led to backroom negotiation and encouraged payola which further leads to withholding of information and possibilities and hence preventing the readers from realizing the importance of truth in order to create the desired effect in the society. This can be easily related to agenda-setting. The gatekeeping today, is a vital part of the agenda-setting function of media as it is vastly used as a helping tool by the agenda setters. According to the agenda-setting theory, because of the fact of paying attention to some issues and neglecting and ignoring some others, the mass media will have an effect on public opinion (Riaz, 2008). For example, while watching a cricket match on television, one cannot watch the action taking place in the whole ground and also the spectators present in the pavilion from every angle at the same time. Even though today the information is coming from all corners, newspapers still remains as the top most trusted source in India and so the editorial decisions made in the dark without proper justification is not only an irresponsible act but also a corrupt practice. Keeping the gate is a serious responsibility and if the gatekeepers integrity is lost, the news paper too will loose its integrity. The gatekeeper has the power to forward the selected news items to the consumers. Therefore, the gatekeeper must have a moral justification of selecting a news story over the other because with power comes the accountability. News comes from the people and goes back to them. People are the ultimate source and the consumers of information. Hence, it is very important to ensure that the interests of the people are met. But the commercialization of media has led to conscious manipulations in sending back to the public what they are interested in and what can be discussed.Gatekeeping today can be called as one of the barriers to communication because the gatekeepers decide the nature of thoughts that will be created in the minds of the people and dictate what is worthy of the attention of the receiver. Here, one can raise an eyebrow and can ask for ones right to information. There has been numerous instances where biased gatekeeping created false or skewed notion of an institution, event or an individual. These will be discussed later in the paper.    Gatekeepers of news and information: The theoretical underpinning The gatekeepers model has been the bedrock of many communication studies in India and abroad and it has been the most debated theory as well. Communication scholars like Wilbur Schramm have outlined the basic tenets of the process of communication. A message is sent by a sender to a receiver through a channel and the receiver gives feedback making the communication process a dynamic and continuous one. However, the gatekeepers model has been seminal in the sense that it has identified influences of the institutional roles of editors on the information, especially information in news form, being passed on to readers, listeners and viewers. The evolution of the Gatekeepers theory has been charted by Chris Roberts, a Doctoral student at The University of South Carolina in a paper titled Communication Theory and Methodology Division Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication presented in August 2005 at Communication Theory and Methodology Division Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication San Antonio, Texas. Roberts has termed the concept as the vanilla ice cream of mass communication theory. He says- this is so since it may not be everyones favourite, but nearly everyone can tolerate it and while it may have an unremarkable flavour, it serves as a building block for other theory and methodological approaches. In post-war America in 1947, it was Prussian scholar Kurt Lewin who coined the term gatekeeping. He concluded in a study of sweetbreads on Iowa housewives that they are the gatekeepers who control what food enters the channels that ultimately bring it from the garden or super market into the household and onto the dining-room table. Each channel is walled into sections surrounded by gates the decision-making points that determine whether the food will enter the channel to start with, or move to the next section. But there are forces which exert pressure along the way to accept or reject food. He however added that the theory holds not only for food channels but also for the travelling of a news item through certain communication channels in a groupà ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ (Lewin, 1947). It was in the same year 1947 that David Manning White decided to observe how an editor of a newspaper chooses or leaves out news. Aided by a telegraph wire editor Mr Gates for his study on a newspaper titled The Peoria Star, White proposed the flow of communication in 1950 which was later integrated into Lewins theory(Figure-I). The theory was published in Journalism Quarterly, 27. FIGURE I http://www.utwente.nl/cw/theorieenoverzicht/Theory%20clusters/Media,%20Culture%20and%20Society/gatekeeping.doc/gatekeeping-1.gif White suggested that a news source has several items some of which are filtered by the organizations editors who act as gatekeepers. The news that thus reaches the audience is selected consciously. However, editors can also publish only what is provided to them by the sources like news wires. This aspect was elaborated by Dr Walter Gieber in 1956 whose dissertation at the University of Wisconsin expanded Whites early study to 16 wire editors. Where Gieber differed from other scholars was that he gave equal importance to the processes surrounding the agents who act as gatekeepers. Chris Roberts outlines that in Giebers theory, these gatekeepers are passive and reactive, unable to do much to influence the copy they receive. A very key factor in the news flow process was overlooked by White which is the organizational influences like work culture, work routines and story deadlines which were also noted by Gieber. The Westley-MacLean model (Figure-II) introduced the idea of gatekeeper C and feedback between the three centres. According to them, C filters some component of the message which is being sent to B. But feedback between the sender and receiver remains all throughout. FIGURE II http://communicationtheory.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/11/westley-and-macLean%E2%80%99s-model-of-communication-diagram.jpg (Available at: http://communicationtheory.org/westley-and-maclean%E2%80%99s-model-of-communication/) Here, X1 and X2 are news items which reach the client A (media house, reporter) who passes it on to audience B. There is the intervention of C, a gatekeeper who can also receive some news directly (X3, X4). Westley and MacLean have suggested that communication begins when receivers start to give feedback (f) according to their own surroundings. This model was applicable for both interpersonal and mass communication and identified the very important element of feedback despite the presence of a gatekeeper. If we take an example from India, a newspaper reporter might get news and the editor might edit it before publishing. But whatever information reaches the audience is acted upon by them- the thriving Letters to the Editor section, especially in the Hindi press, being a good example of that. But if one talks about gatekeeping, it should be kept in mind that it is not only about the selection and presentation of news but also about gathering of news from various sources. J T McNelly(1959) focused not on editors but also on reporters, who according to him were the first of the multiple gatekeepers(Figure-III). According to him, news can be modified in different ways and by different authorities. FIGURE III C:UserssargamDesktopDocs n FilesThird SemDev CommShowcases-McNelly-and-News-Flow-4.jpg Available at http://www.alanmachinwork.net/Showcases The scenario in contemporary Indian media industry In terms of investment in men and machinery, the Indian media industry has become a corporate structure both in operation and management. And it has witnessed a definite transformation from a mission to a profession. Commercialization of media is almost complete and all sorts of manipulations are being used as are done in the case of product marketing. This has tremendous impact on gatekeeping functions also. It has given rise to many gatekeepers of news and information apart from traditional gatekeeper like editors. Today, there are different powerful gatekeepers who influence the media and their coverage because of either their economic clout or influence. Broadly speaking, the gatekeeping scenario in the Indian media has undergone a change due to three key factors, viz., Cross-media ownership, Corporatization of media, Popularization of social media. Gatekeeping in cross media ownership situation Post the reforms of 1991, the Indian economy has opened up many sectors for private entrepreneurial interest. Since the last two decades of liberalization, the phenomenon of concentration of wealth has been marring the economy. A 2009 study India 2039 an affluent society in one generation funded by the Asian Development Bank has shown that a handful of 50 people (50 billionaires in a country of more than 120 crore) controlled wealth equivalent to 20 per cent of Indias Gross Domestic Product(Available at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/programs/ai/rti/international/laws_papers/india/india_2039_an_affluent_society_in_one_generation.pdf). The corporate world has been able to carve its own huge space in the economic domain of the country in a short span of time. This space has also in a sense intruded into the media in a hegemonic manner. Both in the print and electronic media, the corporate sector has become an investor and a power to reckon with. Quoting a research conducted by Dilip Mandal and R. Anuradha, that has been published in Media Ethics (Oxford University Press, 2011), Paranjoy Guha Thakurta, (member of the committee set up by the Press Council of India to check ethical and legal violations by the media) has elaborated how the boards of directors of a number of media companies now include (or have included in the past) representatives of big corporate entities that are advertisers(Guha Thakurta, Media Ownership Trends in India, The Hoot, July 3, 2012). The board of Jagran Publications has had the Managing Director (MD) of Pantaloon Retail, Kishore Biyani, McDonald Indias MD Vikram Bakshi, and leather-maker Mirza Internationals MD Rashid Mirza; besides the CEO of media consulting firm Lodestar Universal India, Shashidhar Sinha, and the chairman of the real estate firm JLL Meghraj, Anuj Puri. The board of directors of HT Media, publishers of Hindustan Times and Hindustan, has included the former chairman of Ernst You ng K. N. Memani and the chairman of ITC Limited Y C Deveshwar. Joint MD of Bharti Enterprise Rajan Bharti and MD of Anika International Anil Vig are a part of the TV Todays Board of Directors. The board of directors of DB Corp (that publishes the daily, Dainik Bhaskar) includes the head of Piramal Enterprises Group, Ajay Piramal, the MD of Warburg Pincus, Nitin Malhan, and the executive chairman of advertising firm Ogilvy Mather, Piyush Pandey. NDTVs Board of Directors has Pramod Bhasin, President and CEO of the countrys biggest business processing outsourcing company GenPact as a member of its board of directors. The idea behind giving such details is to show the constant overlapping of corporate and citizens interests. News and information published/broadcast was traditionally meant to inform, awaken or entertain people which now has become a tool for publicity, public relation, relationship management and veiled advertising for the corporate firms. They do so through having an i nterest in media houses via investment and ownership. As Guha Thakurta has said, Instead of media houses relying on advertisers to fund quality journalism, the relationship becomes insidiously reversed. Advertisers and corporate units begin to rely on news outlets to further their interests. In 2003, Bennett Coleman Company Limited (publishers of the Times of India and the Economic Times, among other publications) started a paid content service, which enabled them to charge advertisers for coverage of product launches or celebrity-related events. Radiagate and the control of information by the corporate media In late 2010, Open magazine published records of leaked telephonic conversation between corporate lobbyist Nira Radia and influential media persons, politicians and corporate houses which seem to point to a nexus between the three sectors in the appointment of ministers and in important corporate deals. Among the mainstream newspapers in India, newspapers The Hindu and The Pioneer were one of the first to publish the records and carry the story. However, a highly conscious process of selection went into the coverage of what came to be known as Radiagate. Many news publications and news channels did not carry the story at first and the tapes leaked were also allegedly selective. In an article Media ethics: Why we need both panic and a pinch of salt (Tehelka Magazine, Vol 7, Issue 48, Dated December 04, 2010), Shoma Chaudhary has pointed out how the media is under immense pressure while reporting a story. She says that one of the most damaging symptoms in Indian media today is its slav ish relationship with corporate power. Political misconduct is often brought to book, corporate crime almost never. Big business has its tentacles everywhere. Almost all the premier publications and channels The Times of India, Times Now, The Economic Times, CNBC etc come across as compromised in differing percentages, she has stressed. Therefore, even if the editors and reporters wish to play out the role of gatekeepers, they have corporate concerns in mind since the private sector has become a major source of revenue for the media houses. Prominent media houses have a diverse set of people with varying financial interests investing in them and thus proving to be a huge financial support which is how the corporate sector can also be considered a gatekeeper- a force that controls or influences the selection and consequent flow of information. Senior Associate Editor, The Hindu Business Line, Rasheeda Bhagat has discussed the media blackout of the issue pointing out that the TV cha nnels (employing journalists allegedly involved in the scandal) remained silent on the issue for long. (Those Living In Glass Houses, The Hindu Business Line, November 23, 2010). Though the print and electronic media tried to control the information, the traditional role of gatekeeping by the editors or even the new role of gatekeeping by the corporate sector eventually failed when it came to Radiagate. This was due to the alternative of social media which proved to be a powerful tool in mounting pressure on the government to start investigating in the 2G scandal. Face book and Twitter helped people to access opinions of fellow citizens and thinkers while the leaked tapes were also available online on video-sharing websites like YouTube. Advertorials have been another form of corporate intrusion into the business of news and information. They are actually advertisements furthering the commercial interests of a corporate house, a firm or an organisation presented in the manner of a piece of news or an editorial. Bart Pattyn (Media Ethics: Opening Social Dialogue, 2000) says that advertorials employ a language not directly persuasive but more oriented at conveying information about the product. Generally, the editor has no role to play while an advertorial is being carried since it is the advertising department of the media house which decides in this matter. While it is not illegal or unethical to publish or carry them, many experts feel that the concept of advertorials has made media houses compromise on their ethics since they try to avoid conflict of interest between them and the sponsors. The level of investment that the advertisers and sponsors have achieved indicates that they have become the main source of reve nue for media houses. However, Professor J. J. Soundararaj (Try Advertorial to Overcome the Challenges of Commercial Clutter, Excel International Journal of Multidisciplinary Management Studies, Vol.1 Issue 2, November 2011) points out that advertorials are costly. Hence not all firms can afford them. Thus, it is the financially sound organisations that use this method of promotion. Hence, this can be another example of how the corporate sector is acting as a gatekeeper and controlling and selecting what information should reach an audience. Politicians as gatekeepers Several politicians in India today run a news channel or publication. Commenting on this trend, journalist Archna Shukla studies the case of Piccadilly Group, owned by Kartikeya Sharma which manages Hindi newspaper Aaj Samaj and runs news channels under the name of India News. (We also make TV news, The Indian Express, August 19, 2012). Sharma is the son of Congress leader Shri Vinod Sharma. It is said that Sharma senior took a vow to launch his own newspaper and TV channel after he felt that it was media activism that led to his son Manu Sharmas conviction in the Jessica Lal murder case of 1999, Shukla says. In the South India, AIADMKs J Jayalalitha owns Jaya TV while rival DMKs M Karunanidhi owns Kalaignar TV and his nephew Kalanidhi Maran owns Sun TV. Mediapersons have pointed out how they give favourable coverage to the political parties of their owners. Election Commission officials have said that they do not receive complaints about paid news in Tamil Nadu since the party affiliations are already clear. Even if the channels are not owned directly by the politicians, the evil of paid news has hit the Indian media showing how anyone with money can be a gatekeeper. Guha Thakurta has pointed out that many candidates have fixed rates in case they want a newspaper to impart favourable coverage during elections. There have been instances when even the government and its machinery have controlled the flow of information for safety and strategic purposes. Gatekeeping of information can also be beneficial in instances where the media goes overboard with reportage. During the coverage of the 2008 terror attacks in Mumbai, the editors at first went ahead with the complete coverage focusing only on Nariman House and Trident Hotel, completely sidelining the attack on Chhatrapati Shivaji Terminus. Television channels broadcast gory images and were also in competition with each other for exclusive footage which interfered with the ongoing army operations. The government and military authorities had to finally intervene to urge the media for a balance and controlled coverage. People as gatekeepers: The rise of social media It is very interesting to note that in areas untouched by technology (like many villages), the tradition of sitting together to discuss the days happenings is strong. Here, the better read people in the village or those who own a radio or television set can gatekeep and let out selective information to fellow villagers. Hence, the audience itself doubles up as a gatekeeper. The same phenomenon can be noticed in areas completely engulfed by technology. India has been witnessing a growing craze for social networking with more than 50 million Indians registered on leading networking site Facebook. The very idea of social media activities like chatting, posting and blogging is the concept of Freedom rather freedom from censorship. A blog is a free platform where people or bloggers themselves are gatekeepers who control information and decide what their fellow netizens will read. A tweet by a celebrity (as a note on social networking site Twitter is called) can be read by anybody followin g the celebrity. The followers can also comment on the tweets and there have been instances of uncontrollable and harsh commenting on scams and scandals on Twitter. Commenting on the social media scenario today, noted filmmaker Shekhar Kapur says: As Newspaper and Media empires fade, Gatekeepers as we know them, are being replaced by Platformers that enable communities to share ideas, thoughts, knowledge, news, between themselves at an unprecedented speeds, letting them transact   and exchange even real goods and services between themselves. Communities will now reject Gate Keepers that thrive on a system that tries to control that flow. Social networking has become a rage precisely because of the free flow of information it allows on an immediate basis. There is no editing authority which can delete or control what a user writes on several websites. As a result, one can also come across inappropriate content online showing how people themselves have the power to gatekeep and decide what can be filtered. In the wake of the recent misuse of social networking websites by groups trying to spread rumours regarding dangers to lives of the residents of the north-eastern states in India, Union Minister for Information Technology Kapil Sibal has called for some regulation to avoid such instances. As a result, a few websites have agreed to share user information with the government authorities. Conclusion The concept of gatekeeping in India has undergone a transformation due to the trend of cross-media ownership, corporatization of the media and increasing popularity of social networking websites. Consequently, the traditional role of gatekeeping by the editors or reporters are now being performed by sponsors and advertisers who influence content selection due to their economic clout and politicians who own news entities or have significant financial holdings in them. A platform where the audience itself can gatekeep is the arena of social networking where the absence of strong censorship allows users to generate the desired content and share it with fellow users. Examples include Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, Orkut and others. The Indian authorities have recently called for some kind of regulation in this arena to prevent the misuse of this platform. Disregarding the older concept of gatekeeping, it is now recognized that gatekeeping is exercised at almost every stage in the whole process communicating news. Earlier, due to the lack of space and time the editors used to leave out or ignore so many things but today, in the era of information over flow, the gatekeeping starts from the very first stage i.e. from the place of origin of event. The sources give some information and leave some and so the people who are the source of events act as a gatekeeper; a reporter is a gatekeeper as she might not send the full information to the newsroom or might send biased information and the chain goes on and stops back with the people as the consumers of the news by choosing what to consume and what to leave. So, the earlier notion of editors as the only gatekeeper is no more true. Some exogenous factors like pressure groups and flak (Herman and Chomsky, 1988) are also keeping the gates and mark their presence by pressurizing the media outlet s to stop certain information from being conveyed to the citizens. For an example, Salman Rushdies Satanic Verses received the highest level of criticism by the religious pressure group accusing Rushdie for blasphemy. This not just banned the readers to read this book but also did not allow Rushdie to openly address the public. Not allowing people equal access to information is also a form of gatekeeping. This creates information gap and disparity between the haves and the haves-not of knowledge. In a democratic set up like India, everyone should have the right to equal access to information. For example, the Internet service providers including both private and government provide higher speed at higher prices. Therefore, somebody who cannot afford higher prices cannot have the information. Similarly, the uploading speed provided is much less than the downloading speeds. This again acts as a gate for the citizen journalists who wish to share some important piece of information they have with the world. The power of gatekeepers seems to diminish in a modern information society. The Internet defies the whole notion of a gate and challenges the idea that journalists (or anyone else) can or should limit what passes through it (Shoemaker et al, 2001). The statement is an eye opener for many, who have still not r ealized the power of internet to control the information at various levels, and which is indeed proving out to be real in the current scenario. As after its unparalleled debut in the information sector, it has set a bench mark for its competition, and in a very short span, the internet became one of the most viewed and dependable source and controller of information, with a global consumer base at its disposal, and hence a very powerful gatekeeper.

Ibsens Roles Essay -- essays research papers

The movement from nineteenth-century Romanticism to twentieth-century Realism in art and literature sought to accurately reflect real life instead of idealizing it. Playwrights all over Europe and America rebelled against the established standards of a "well-made play". They shocked, as well as horrified their audience, by abstaining from writing a resolution, or an "ideal ending" in their plays. These innovators insisted on presenting social issues in a dramatic scenario, and imposed their discussions onto their audience. Norwegian playwright Henrik Ibsen, the "Father of Realism" was one of the main advocates for social revolution. He was notorious for weaving controversial topics into his plays, as well as for including female leads. He knew very well that society’s oppression over women was a prime example of the hamper it placed over every person’s potential. Writing about women allowed him to make a universal call, not only to wo men, but to every sentient being. His plays cried out for the individual’s emancipation. In A Doll’s House , Ibsen portrayed the altruistic nature instilled into women by society, the consequential stunt of their development, and the need for them to find their own voice in a world dominated by men. For ages, society has taught women to set aside their own needs and to focus on those of her husband and children. Women have been forced to be passive, gentle creatures who must also be willing to sacrifice themselves for others. Nora, the protagonist in the play, expresses her intention in protecting her husband at any price, "Torvald, with all his masculine pride--how painfully humiliating for him if he ever found out he was in debt to me." Nora will not admit to Torvald that she has saved his life, for he will most likely acquire an inadequacy complex for his inability to be in control over every aspect of his life. She prefers to be deprived of the credit she deserves than to hurt Torvald’s manly ego. She allows Torvald to treat her like a mischievous little spendthrift although he is not aware that "she had scrimped and skeletonized her own needs so that Helmer and the children had been deprived of nothing" (Salomà ©, 46). Nora has selflessly given up any extra money for herself so that her children ... ...surpass those needed to carry out menial tasks at home. When Torvald calls her a "blind, incompetent child", Nora assertively responds, "I must learn to be competent, Torvald". Because Nora was always submitted herself to Torvald’s expectations, she is not aware of her own capacity. Only by leaving Torvald and her seemingly happy home, will she have enough focus on her own person to discover her own potential for success. The family is a microcosm of society; any problem that can arise within this institution is a direct reflection of a problem faced by society. Ibsen takes advantage of this knowledge and focuses on women and their shackled autonomy. He certainly is a master at presenting us a glimpse of ourselves in our daily life experiences, and leaving us questioning society in the end. By using Nora as the protagonist in A Doll’s House , he shows people that a hint of selfishness is much better than blind altruism, that choosing to reject this knowledge will only be self-destructive to a person, and embracing this knowledge can help one break out of society’s manacles and into a quest for freedom.

Admission Essay for Medical School

Since my childhood, I have been dreaming to be a doctor. I believe that a doctor has a noble job because it extends a helping hand to those people who are in need; especially the sick one. Doctors are believed as the living heroes because they are always on duty to lend services for the ill people.Every time I can see people who are seriously ill, suffering from pain and look hopeless my heart really goes out with them. I constantly remind myself that serving them is such a noble profession. The cries and pains of the patients’ eyes that I see every time I visit a hospital really register on my mind and when I remember them, it pushes me to pursue my dream and that is to be a doctor.Moreover, whenever my mom and grandparents are sick, I am really the one, who attends to them and if there are chances to render services in the civic works, I also volunteer.The three people who brought impact to my life are my grandmother, my bestfriend and my mom. Among these three, it is my mom who really brought change and has really affected my life. Well, my grandmother encourages me to have difference in this world by serving people who are in need. I have witnessed how my grandma cares my grandfather when he is seriously ill.I can really see the love and concern; thus, she is constantly reminding me that if I serve people, it should be done in love. That line really inculcates in my mind.   On the other hand, my bestfriend really motivates me to believe that I can do the things which I thought I can’t do; like having a thought that going to a medical school is impossible because I know the qualifications are really high but she let me believe and realize that I have a heart in serving people.Moreover, it is really my mom who has a great impact and influence to me why I want to pursue this career. As I look back my childhood days, I can’t help myself to laugh with those nonsense choices that I have made. Those memories are still fresh in my mind and I can’t remember any incident which I don’t pout every time the day of Monday is coming up, the first day of school.   Monday up to Friday is my â€Å"terrible† days of my life when I am still a child.I need to wake up early so that I will not be late for school and be able to catch the school bus. I need to make many assignments, unending assignments for every subject and I really find them a waste of time. I can still remember how my mom wakes me up by saying â€Å"honey, you have to wake up now†¦You will be late for school.† It is my mom who really pushes me to go to school.I try to ask my mom why I need to go to school when I can learn many things by playing with my friends and watching television. But my mom would answer me that it is different if I am in school because I can learn how to read and write.She also adds that good education is the only wealth that they can leave, with my dad, to me that can’t be stolen by anybody and if I rea lly dream to be a doctor, I should also do my part. I attempt to reason out but then, I am just a loser because my mom would not listen to my sentiments and she just continually sends me to school.She tries to encourage me a lot in order to make me enthusiastic with my studies but then, in my own thinking, going to school is just irrelevant and boring, totally boring! But in a long run, I discover that going to school is a lot of fun especially when my Science teacher starts to discuss about the parts of human beings, its systems and functions.It makes me wonder how these parts function. From that moment, I start liking going to school. In addition, there is one incident that my mom gets sick. I am so worried but when I remember what my Science teacher teaches us on how to take care the sick people, I am relieved.The edge that sets me apart from others who apply to Xavier University school of Medicine, Bonaire is that I am a very patient individual and have the passion to serve othe rs; thus, doing extra mile for the benefits of the many.I am very dedicated and serious to my studies and always ready to learn new things. I am a type of student who does not easily give up when the going gets tough but continues to pursue until I will know it. Furthermore, I am also a graduate of Dentistry which is a good ground for my medical studies.

Product Proposal Template

Product Proposal Template †¢ [Bulleted lists and bracketed text are descriptive, and should not appear in final documents. ] †¢ Assume your proposal will be one of many reviewed by potential investors. It should be accurate, concise, and self-contained. Don't assume the reader is familiar with you or your product. †¢ The proposal should be well organized, clearly written, and flow smoothly from one item to the next. The style and information should be consistent, even if different people write different parts. †¢ Use graphics (charts, diagrams, etc) where they can be more effective than text (â€Å"a picture is worth a thousand words†).Do not use cutesy or unnecessary pictures. †¢ Include or attach tables or spreadsheets for lists and comparisons. Product Proposal for [Concept] Executive Summary †¢ Write the summary last, not first. †¢ Summarize all key ideas from the proposal in less than one page. †¢ Describe the product in the first p aragraph. †¢ Do not use graphics, tables, etc. Overview 1 Introduction †¢ Describe the product, its key features and functionality. 2 Abbreviations and Definitions †¢ List and define all abbreviations and non-standard terms used. 3 Background Describe any background required to understand the product or its importance, including market or technology trends.Market Analysis 1 Needs Analysis †¢ Describe who needs the product, and why. †¢ For each market of interest, describe key characteristics, including size. †¢ Summarize the customer’s total cost. Include hardware unless you are assuming that your customers already own the necessary hardware. 2 Competitive Analysis †¢ Describe competing products, and their relative strengths ; weaknesses. †¢ Include or attach a table to summarize key characteristics. †¢ Use text (or subsections) for details not easily captured in the table. Feature or Characteristic |[Proposed Product] |Competitor( s) | | | |[#1] |[#2] |[#3] |[#4] | | | | | | | | Requirements 1 Actors ; Use Cases †¢ Describe the general categories of people who will use the product. †¢ Describe any external systems that will interact with the product. For each actor, describe why and how they interact with the product. †¢ For each actor, describe any special characteristics or background.†¢ Include or attach a table to summarize which actors perform which use cases, especially if there is overlap. |Use Case |Actor(s) | | |[#1] |[#2] |[#3] |[#4] |[#5] | | | | | | | | Requirements †¢ Include or attach a table (or a full spreadsheet) to list and describe key requirements, such as: o hardware or software (platform dependencies) o performance o networking o concurrency o data storage o internationalization (multiple languages, currencies, time zones) o error handling ; security o testing ; documentation o installation Category |Requirement |Priorit|Phase |Cost | | | |y | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | 3 Deliverables List and describe items that must be completed in order to complete this product, such as: o hardware components o software components o packaging ; documentation o licenses, user names, passwords Design 1 User Interfaces †¢ Describe the user interface(s). †¢ Include or attach sketches or mockups of GUI screens where applicable. 2 UML Design Diagrams†¢ Describe the key data objects and relationships (data diagrams). †¢ Describe any complex interactions among actors and product components (interaction diagrams). †¢ Describe the logical and physical architecture (deployment diagrams). Include or attach diagrams where applicable. 3 Other †¢ Describe any other design issues, such as: o novel algorithms or data structures o significant challenges or risks o 3rd party components you will use (commercial, open source, etc) o potential patents Project Plan 1 Team and Organization †¢ Describe each member of your team and their roles and responsibilities. †¢ Describe any missing skills you will need to make this product successful. †¢ Describe how your team is organized. 2 Estimates ; Schedule †¢ Describe the expected project schedule. Include or attach applicable tables or planning diagrams, such as: o work breakdown schedules (WBS) o PERT/CPM networks, Gantt charts, etc. (if applicable) |Date |Owner |Action or Deliverable | | | | | | | | |Resource ; Budget Requirements †¢ List and describe any needed resources (equipment, facilities, services, etc). †¢ List all costs required to build and deploy the product, including: o Supporting hardware and software that must be purchased o Effort by developers, testers, writers, etc o Sales and marketing †¢ List expected revenue sources and projected revenue. †¢ Describe your expected profit margin. †¢ Include or attach applicable tables or spreadsheets. Category |Item |Count |Unit Cost |Total Cost | | | | | | | | | | | | | 4 Risks †¢ List and describe risks that could affect features, schedule, or cost. For each, estimate probability and impact, and describe possible responses. †¢ Include or attach applicable tables or spreadsheets. |Category |Risk |Prob |Impact |Response | | | | | | | | | | | | |References †¢ List citations for any published material (including books, articles, product documentation, and web pages) used when preparing the proposal, whether or not they are quoted or cited elsewhere in the proposal.