Southern Rail Strike: Commuters face chaos in 48-hour walkout

I found this story on the main page of the BBC News. It was published on 13th December 2016 on the financial tab of the news.

It has been written regarding the Southern Rail Strike and the effects it's been having on the commuters, in particular the fact that rail passengers are facing travel chaos as striking train drivers bring the Southern network to a halt.

Members of the Aslef union walked out for 48 hours at midnight. A further 24-hour strike is set for Friday.
About 300,000 passengers usually travel on 2,242 Southern services every weekday. There will be no trains on any route and people are being warned not to travel.
The government said it may consider banning strikes on the railways.
Transport secretary Chris Grayling dubbed the action as a "deliberate act of militancy" and said he would examine possible changes in legislation "very carefully."
Aslef and the Rail, Maritime and Transport (RMT) union said ministers had prevented Southern from negotiating properly.

Analysis by Chris Mason, BBC Political Correspondent
Ministers say they have no legal power to halt this dispute but are pointedly publicly entertaining the idea of changing the law, albeit without offering any detail about how they might do this.
Chris Grayling told the BBC he would look at all the options when this strike was over, and while he wasn't "ruling anything in" he wasn't "ruling anything out" either.
The general secretary of the Aslef trade union, Mick Whelan, said the strike wasn't politically motivated - but a response to what he called "ill conceived" changes "fraught with danger".
Passengers have suffered months of disruption in the dispute, which is about whose job it should be to open and close the train doors, but this is the first strike by Aslef drivers.
It has closed most Southern routes although there is a limited Gatwick Express service to and from London Victoria.

London Mayor Sadiq Khan said Southern rail passengers had been "abandoned by the government".
He tweeted: "You deserve a better service".
Simon Wells, Aslef's assistant general secretary, said: "This isn't just about safety, it's about having a decent service.

"What they are looking to do is replace the existing guards in the future with zero-hour contracts and agency staff. There is no guarantee there will be a second person on the train."

"We want to see driver-only operation ended across the whole country."

On Monday, the Court of Appeal rejected an attempt by Southern's parent company Govia Thameslink Rail (GTR) to halt the action.
Passenger services manager, Angie Doll, said: "The strike today is totally unjustified and totally unnecessary considering the small changes we want to make.
"We need the unions to work with us to modernise the railways. "

Brexit: EU's negotiator says deal needed by October 2018

I found this news article on the main page of the BBC News. It was the main story and was written regarding the idea that the UK will have to reach a Brexit deal with the European Union by October 2018, according to the EU's chief negotiator for Brexit.

Michel Barnier told a press conference on Tuesday that negotiations "would be shorter" than two years, because the proposed deal needed to be ratified.

He said a taskforce of 30 people had been set up to make sure the EU would "be ready" when Article 50 was called.

He warned against "cherry picking" on issues such as the single market.

Speaking at the press conference in Brussels, Mr Barnier said: "Time will be short. It is clear the period for actual negotiations will be shorter than two years.

"At the beginning, the two years included the time for the council to set guidelines and to authorise negotiations. At the end, the agreement must of course be approved by the Council and European Parliament. Finally the UK will have to approve the agreement - all within the two year period.

"All in all there will be less than 18 months to negotiate. That is short. Should the UK notify by the end of March as Prime Minister Theresa May said she would, it is safe to say negotiations could start a few weeks later and an article 50 reached by Oct 2018."

The chief negotiator said he had spent time speaking with members from all European states and the Brexit negotiations had been informed by four main principles.

These included the "determination for unity" and a pledge to not start negotiations before being notified of Article 50.

But he added: "Being a member of EU comes with rights and benefits. Third countries (non members as the UK will be after Brexit) can never have the same rights and benefits since they are not subject to the same obligations.

"The single market and its four freedoms (which includes freedom of movement) are indivisible. Cherry picking is not an option."

A former EU commissioner, Mr Barnier led the EU's banking reforms and was dubbed "the most dangerous man in Europe" by some in the financial services industry.

But after he championed capping bankers bonuses, he won respect as a tough but even-handed negotiator.

Mr Barnier has refused to take part in any pre-negotiations before Article 50 is triggered, but he did meet Brexit Secretary David Davis for coffee last month.

Speaking in November in Brussels, he said: "Don't ask me to tell you what will be at the end of the road, we haven't begun to walk yet."

\i decided on housing this story for my weekly news. because it is one that is now concerning not only the whole country, but also all the other countries which are part of the EU. The topic of the news article is one which I am interested in and can relate to as Britain leaving the EU can have an impact on me due to the idea that I am not British and the decisions of the government can have an impact on the decisions me and my family will have to make in the future. In addition, it relates to the representation of Britain.

Documentary - Amy

During our A2 Media studies, we have been concentrating on British music, and in particular the case stusy of Amy Winehouse. Therefore, in order to get a better insight and understanding about the singer, we watched the documentary Amy. This being a 2015 British documentary film about the life and death of the British singer-songwriter. It was directed by Asif Kapadia and produced by James Gay-Rees, George Pank, and Paul Bell and co-produced by Krishwerkz Entertainment, On The Corner Films, Playmaker Films, and Universal Music in association with Film 4. 

The film covers Winehouse's life and her struggle with substance abuse, both before and after her career blossomed, and which eventually caused her death. The movie presents us with the reality behind all the flashing lights and "amazing rich" being, that the celebrities have to live out every single day. Amy's daily struggles were dismissed even by the people who were the closest to her, especially when her father decided that she does not need to go to Rehab (inspired her to write the song"Rehab") even though doing so might have helped to stop the further development of her addiction and so preventing further break down and maybe even death. Later on in the movie, we are also presented with her father in the dark light once more, when he visited his daughter on vacation with a camera crew so that he would be able to record his own show, not taking it into account that Amy was struggling and only wanted her family close to her. The pain she felt through this as well as the drive for money within her father was even more highlighted when Amy said that if he wants the money she can just give it to him.

Furthermore, the way Amy is treated by her manager and even family, when her career develops higly, implies to us how selfish the industry really is. The artists have no say in what they really want and even if they do, none of if is taken into account, an example being shows when Amy was "forced" to go to Serbia for a show by being carried on to a plane while being asleep drunk. She hiwever, was able to stand up to the situation and decided to not perform while walking around the stage. This clearly angered the management as straight away the rest of her tour was cancelled. In addition, this scene in the movie also shows that the audience are not consideret of the artists and their well-being as it was known publicly that Amy was struggling yet the audience can be heard to shout remarks such as "you either sing or give me my money back." 

Overall, I think that the movie is a great and very deep documentary and should be watched by everyone, not only fans of Amy Winehouse. This is because it shows us how difficult being a celebrity really is and how far reality is from what we are shown in the media. 

Songs I remember from being younger:

Basshunter - Now You're Gone
Cascada - Everytime we touch

Teach my language in British schools says the Polish PM: Suggestion comes as Downing Street tries to make an ally ahead of Brexit talks 

I found this news story on the main page of the Daily Mails News. It was published on 28th November 2016 by James Slack, a political editor for Daily Mail.

•  Beata Szydlo suggested 'teaching Polish as a language in British schools'
•  Downing Street is hoping the Polish PM will be an ally at the Brexit talks
•  Yesterday they laid wreaths at the Polish War Memorial near RAF Northolt 

 

Beata Szydlo used a televised Downing Street press conference to make the surprise request of her counterpart Theresa May.

She spoke of ‘the option of teaching Polish as a language in British schools’ after the topic was also raised in a meeting of senior politicians from the two countries.

The suggestion comes as Downing Street is keen to make an ally of the Polish leader in advance of Brexit talks formally opening.

Polish should be taught in Britain’s schools, the country’s Prime Minister declared yesterday.

Beata Szydlo used a televised Downing Street press conference to make the surprise request of her counterpart Theresa May.

She spoke of ‘the option of teaching Polish as a language in British schools’ after the topic was also raised in a meeting of senior politicians from the two countries.

Neither Number Ten nor Mrs May gave any response to the request, which did not contain any detail and which follows a huge influx of children into UK schools from Poland.

Last week, Poland’s Foreign Minister Witold Waszczykowski made a similar request of the government in Irel, where large numbers of Polish children also live.

Almost 700,000 pupils in Britain – one in 15 nationally – have a parent who is a citizen of another European country. The number has more than doubled since 2007.

Of those school-aged children who arrive in Britain from EU countries, the highest number come from Poland, followed by Germany and Lithuania.

The two Prime Ministers said they had enjoyed ‘excellent’ talks at the special summit in London. 

Mrs May added that she was seeking an ‘early’ deal to allow Polish citizens and those from the remainder of the EU to stay in this country following Brexit.

But she said that, until the rest of the EU had agreed to protect the rights of Britons living abroad, the deal could not be signed off.

Mrs May declared: ‘We are two leaders determined to make the most of the relationship between our countries.

‘I firmly believe that if we all approach Brexit in the same constructive and positive manner, then we can secure the right outcome for the United Kingdom and for our European neighbours too.’

She confirmed plans to send 150 British troops to Poland to help ‘deter Russian aggression’ in Europe. They will be deployed in April close to the Polish border with the Russian enclave of Kaliningrad.

Mrs Szydlo stressed that there had been no negotiations over Brexit during the Downing Street talks.

These would be a matter for the UK and the EU, and would be initiated only when Article 50 was tabled, she said.

But the Polish leader said that Warsaw would insist on ‘reciprocity’ in the rights and privileges accorded to UK citizens in Europe and EU citizens in Britain.

Mrs Szydlo added that she hoped Brexit would result in new relations between Britain and its former EU partners based on ‘mutual trust’.

She also thanked the UK for its response to ‘very sad’ alleged hate crimes against Poles after the Brexit vote, including the killing of Arkadiusz Jozwik in Harlow, Essex.

The Polish PM said: ‘I would also like to thank you for the support given by the British Government to those members of the Polish community who have suffered after the very sad incident in hate crimes in the United Kingdom.

‘You reacted immediately and we continue working together in order to make sure that the Polish community is safe.’

Channel Identities

• BBC1 - This is a non commercial TV channel. this mans that it has no Advertisement and is funded by the TV licences people pay. It is one of the most popular channels and has a range of shows as BBC1 has to conform to certain ideas across all programmes. these are to inform, educate etc. It is also more informative than BBC2

• BBC2 - Self funded like the BBC, Show similar content to the BBC but additionally show offshoot or spin off shows. It is more serious/upper class than BBC1

• ITV - This channel is directed at a younger audience than the BBC. It shows a high number of reality/game shows which are much more relaxed and informal therefore, leading ITV to be more about comedy and entertainment than learning. The channel is also supported by commercials, by selling slots to the highest bidder for advertisements.

• Channel 4 - Channel 4 describes how their identity has always been about transformation and movement. The channel is commercially funded and provide a wide ranges of different TV shows however, those are mostly game shows, sitcoms and soaps. TV shows that are shown on the channel are usually created by third party production companies rather than producing its own shows.

• Channel 5 -

• Netflix - Digital multichannel, funded by monthly package fees based on families, modern form of entertainment. Offers a variety of genres, of both TVs and Shows.

• Amazon Prime Video - Amazon Prime Video has a very similar identity to the one of Netflix. It is also funded by people who purchase memberships and packages in order to be able to have access to the wide range of TV shows and movies that they have on offer.

• Sky - This channel is owned by Rupert Murdoch and is commercially funded.

Course Work Production Proposal

‘An exploration on how women are represented in print based media with detailed reference to Women’s Health and Vogue.’ 

PREVIOUS

Last Year for my production piece I concentrated on an audio-visual. Therefore, I produced a Thriller Trailer for a movie called ‘Locked’ as a group project.  

 

 

THIS YEAR

 

This year I am going to be producing a project individually. As my research is based on a research of female magazines I am planning on producing a print based project, this being a front cover of a female magazine as well as a double spread from the magazine.

 

In terms of the layout and actual idea of how I want the magazine to look like, I have to ideas between which, I need to decide, and these are:

 

Idea 1

My first idea is to make the magazine in a less formal house style and based on fashion, beauty, healthy lifestyle, and holidays/adventures.

The front cover would be at a beach location and the double spread would be either an interview or a description of a travel adventure of the female presented on the front cover.

 

 

Idea 2

More focused on female entrepreneurs, achievements, life goals, empowering young females and helping to break the ongoing stereotypes of females being weak and in need of a male character in order to achieve success.

The double spread would be based on an interview with a young female entrepreneur and how she is coping with her young life as well as, starting to run a business.

 

 

Weekly News

Donald Trump denies transition disarray after sackings

I was able to find this news article on the BBC News webpage. Throughout, it discusses the transmission to the White House of the new US president – elect.

In the story it is explained how Donald Trump has defended his handling of the transition to the White House, amid reports of disarray in his team.

Mr Trump tweeted that the process of selecting his new cabinet and other positions was "very organised".

US media say two senior members of the transition team working on national security have been forced out and Donald Trump has already replaced New Jersey Governor Chris Christie with Vice-President-elect Mike Pence as head of the transition team.

Media reports say Mr Trump's son-in-law and close adviser Jared Kushner was behind the change.

Mr Christie was New Jersey attorney general when Mr Kushner's father was tried and jailed in the state for tax evasion, illegal campaign contributions and witness tampering in 2004.

Former Congressman and House intelligence committee chairman Mike Rogers, who was handling national security for the transition, announced on Tuesday that he was leaving.

He and another member of the national security team, Matthew Freedman, were sacked, according to the New York Time.

Mr Rogers is thought to have been close to Mr Christie, while Mr Freedman is said to be a protege of Paul Manafort, Mr Trump's former campaign manager who quit in August.

I decided upon picking this news article for my weekly news this time as it was the largest news article on the main BBC page and so straight away caught my eye. In addition, the idea of it being written regarding the new US president- elect means that it is a current issue and so reading it and analysing it would help me keep on track with the current updates on the topic.

Television Scheduling

Television Scheduling is the description of the times at which different programs are shown on the TV. It is significant that the different channels make thought through decisions when predicting which programmes viewers might watch together in blocks, going from one show to another on the same channel on the same night as the ratings of the show can depend on the time it is shown to the audience.

There are however different types of TV Scheduling, this includes:

• Inheritance – scheduling a new programme after a popular programme in the hope it inherits some of the audience
• Pre-Echo - scheduling a programme before a popular programme in the hope that people tune in earlier and see the end of the new programme and like it then watch it the next time it is on.
• Hammocking – scheduling a programme between two popular programmes so it benefits from both

In addition, some channels also sometimes rely on Channel Loyalty , which is when an audience will stick with one channel all night, although this is much less common in recent years.

British TV Case Study –

GoggleBox

Gogglebox is a British reality show that has aired on Channel 4 since 7 March 2013. The show features a number of families and groups of friends from around England and Wales, who react to British television shows from their own homes.

The show won a BAFTA award in 2014 and a National Television Award in 2015 and 2016. Series 7 began airing on 19 February 2016 and was the longest series to date with 17 episodes ending on 10 June 2016.

Recently in class, we watched an episode of the series, and more precisely series 8, episode 5.

Straight away from the opening, we are presented with an advert of sofas, relating to the products, which, are shown within the individual episodes, as well as showing us families and individuals, directly linking the advert with the cast of the show.

At the start, we are also introduced with the different families who we will be seeing throughout the episodes. The cast is of a variety of ages, gender and ethnicities meaning that more people can relate to the show. However, when taking a closer insight into the show it can be clearly identified that most of the cast is still however, mostly of a white background. 

Weekly News

Rurik Jutting, British banker, guilty of Hong Kong murders

 

I found this story on the BBC News web page. It was published regarding the British banker Rurik Jutting who has been found guilty of murdering two Indonesian women in Hong Kong, in a case that has gripped the city.

A jury took around four hours to find an expressionless Jutting, who denied murder but admitted manslaughter, guilty on both counts.

He was sentenced to life in prison for the killings of Sumarti Ningsih and Seneng Mujiasih.

Their mutilated bodies were found in Jutting's apartment in November 2014.

Murder carries a mandatory life sentence in Hong Kong.

In a statement read out by his lawyer, Jutting expressed remorse for the killings and accepted his actions were "horrific".

"I remain haunted daily both by memory of my actions... and by knowledge of the acute pain I have caused their loved ones, not least Ningsih's young son," he said.

"The evil I have [done] cannot be remedied by me in words or actions. Nevertheless, for whatever it may be worth, to Ningsih's family and friends, and Mujiasih's family and friends, I am sorry, I am sorry beyond words."

But Deputy High Court Judge Michael Stuart-Moore, who noted the trial had been "made to dredge into depths of depravity" over Jutting's actions, said he did not accept the apology as he sentenced him to life in prison.

Mr Stuart-Moore said he believed Jutting posed an "immense danger... if he is ever again given his liberty beyond the prison gates".

"On each offence I pass a concurrent life term... You'll go to prison for life," he told Jutting, who was escorted from the courtroom by three officers.

Ms Mujiasih's family said they were "devastated" and that they hoped Jutting could be executed "if possible", but Ms Ningsih's mother Suratmi welcomed the sentence.

"I feel that the right decision has been made, he tortured my child," she told the BBC. "I lost my daughter and I will never be able to meet her again, the pain and agony of that will never go away. He is an evil man.

"I want him to take responsibility for what he did and ... financially support her son and our family.