Five teenage girls are driving a campaign to end sexual harassment at gigs

Daily Mail

A group of teenage girls are fighting to put an end to sexual harassment at gigs.

The five music fans – Hannah, Anna, Anni, Ava and Bea – are tired of having their nights out ruined by being groped by people in the crowd, and are determined to make a change.

Now they are encouraging bands and musicians across the country to speak out in support of the Girls Against campaign.

These girls are fed up of with having nights out ruined by being sexually harassed. Girls Against are raising campaign support from UK bands and musicians. Hannah Camilleri, 17, formed the group after she was assaulted at a gig. 

Hannah Camilleri, 17, formed the campaign after she was groped at a gig by the band Peace in Glasgow.

She was pinned against the barrier in front of the stage and assaulted for five minutes by one of a group of men standing behind her.

‘Every time I tried to push him away he would push his full body weight into the barrier. I am not a very big person so I couldn’t do anything,’ Miss Camilleri told BBC Newsbeat.

This story is generally very interesting as no woman should be subjected to grouping anywhere and the fact that a group of young girls are standing up to this issue - particularly at concerts and gigs - is quite inspiring, especially as the leader of the group is only 17 years old. A very young age to be experiencing such harassment and a very young age to be campaign against such an issue. Their 10 point plan includes aims such as raising awareness; listening to people who tell their stories and how it’s affected them; working on establishing a solid safety plan for gigs; and planning on branching out to festivals and clubs.

The group of 5 girls are aware that sexual harassment will be "difficult to conquer" however they will continue to "encourage suggestions to solve the problem".

The 20-Year-Old Councilman Hoping To Change His Hometown For The Better

Going onto the news this week all I could see was the very depressing updates on the Paris attacks and to be honest, I didn't want to write about such a depressing story twice in a row. Whilst researching, I made a vow that I would find a news article this week that was uplifting and inspiring. It took a while but...

20-Year-Old Jewell Jones seeks to foster relationships between the police and the community

Huffington Post

Jewell Jones is a city councilman who still needs to finish his homework each night, but he has big ideas for improving his community.

The 20-year-old made history when he was sworn in Monday as the youngest person to ever sit on the City Council of Inkster, Michigan, a town nestled on the outskirts of Detroit. Jones, who represents the city’s 4th District, is also a full-time student at the University of Michigan-Dearborn.

Now if isn't inspiring then I don't know what is. Jones states he "begun dabbling in politics" around the age of 8 and that his parents "would drag him around different things in the community" meaning that serving people in his local area became very natural to him. 

Some people have questioned his experience and ability to lead, Jones says, because of his young age. But he isn't worried about being unprepared. "I have quite a lot of responsibility and roles right now that I've had for quite some time now," Jones said. "It kind of molded me to be good at this job."

This story is so inspiration on the level that being so young and being so involved with his local politics is amazing. Did I also mention he is an African American?

This alone adds to why this story is so heart-warming as he completely smashes the typical young black male stereotype in the US. Additionally, the past 5 years haven't been at all appealing to the black community due to the many deaths and murder of African American males and women mainly at the hands of police and law enforcement officers which is also another reason why Jones' campaign to create better relationships with the black community and police officers so amazing. And comments from other readers under the article agree with me....with many applauding him for being a "fine young man" and others "wishing him all the success in the world". You never know, you could be looking at your second African American US president. 

Tis The Season To Be Merry

4 Christmas Adverts

Coca Cola

First and foremost, the ever so classic Coca Cola Christmas ad. Everyone knows when this ad comes on, Christmas is very very near. The ad is aimed towards children and younger audiences as it shows children glaring out of windows admiringly, grabbing their parents and running towards the amazing sight of the infamous Coca Cola truck glistening with bright lights and lighting up the street as it goes along. The positioning of the advert can be argued to be preferred reading as the intended audience, the children, are supposed to believe the "magic of Christmas" and that its a very festive season to be with family along with excitement and joy

John Lewis Christmas Ad

The second Christmas advert to be mentioned is the John Lewis 2013 Christmas Ad. What's Christmas without a John Lewis ad? This one personally touches my heart, who doesn't love wide eyed animals and cartoon. This particular ad spreads the "the gift of giving idea" and again aimed towards children and more so positioned towards negotiated reading more so than preferred as children may believe that animals are cute and adorable but very unlikely to believe that they go around gathering themselves around a tree on Christmas morning, 

Marks & Spencer 2015

Another favorite and not just because it involves food. Marks & Spencer put a christmassy twist on the ever so popular anthem of 2015, Clean Bandit - Rather Be. Aimed towards adults, M&S showcase a range of mouthwatering dishes and desserts, wines and spirits which would make anyone want to purchase their Christmas turkey from M&S. With slow motion effects and high detail,  Marks & Spencer emphasis how much care and effort they put into their food whilst giving you that festive feeling. This ad is positioned more towards preferred reading than anything else as M&S want you to believe that your Christmas dinner can look just as amazing as the ones advertised

Media Coursework

Our AS Media Studies consists of us creating a trailer, script, poster etc on a movie plot based around the genre of a thriller.

Here is my 'bowl' which i produced on Tumblr where I have gathered all my ideas and findings onto something of a moodboard.

The One

Isis attack on Paris may be an 'act of war' but retaliation may not be lawful

The Guardian

The French president, Francois Hollande, described the Paris attacks as an “act of war” that must be “mercilessly” countered and on Monday, France launched a major airstrike against an Islamic State stronghold in Raqqa. The attacks have renewed calls from some for greater military intervention in Syria; up to and including the launch of military forces on the ground. But is it lawful for countries to engage in greater military action against Isis?

Written by a Mr Paul Ferrel, he is familiar with international law as he co-founded the Detention Logs website and has produced stories and investigations for the ABC, Crikey, PBS and New Matilda. He states how "Every country that attempts to pursue greater military action will still need to navigate its own domestic legal systems" and that this may " require approvals from parliament or congress" 

This story in particular about the Paris Attacks interests me as its taking into consideration the after effects of this tragic attack and how the aspect of war is real and that this could turn into something more than anticipated.

BARNARDO'S BREAK THE CYCLE

BREAK THE CYCLE CAMPAIGN

2008 Break The Cycle Campaign advocated by Barnardo's came under high scrunity after a record number of complaints were issued. Repeated scenes of violence including a child being slapped attracted 840 complaints although the ad was ruled not to have breached the ASA's code.

The aim of the advertising campaign was to increase public awareness of Barnardo's and drive their 'Believe in Children' message however it caused serious concern amougst the public as many felt it was too graphic and violence was too disturbing to be shown on daytime television however the ad escaped being banned despite the many complaints

Million Mask March

Remember, remember the 5th of November

MILLION MASK MARCH

This article shown by the Telegraph talks about the infamous Million Mask March. The Million Mask March, where anti-establishment protesters don Guy Fawkes masks in hundreds of cities around the world, has been described as “the largest world protest”.It is organised by Anonymous, the anarchic ‘hacktivist’ network linked with cyber-attacks against governments including the US and Israel, multi-national corporations such as PayPal and Visa, child porn websites, the Church of Scientology, the British National Party and defenders of media copyright, among others.

The article describes the events of the night and the aftermath. The subheading 'Fifty people arrested after three police officers hospitalized during anti-capitalist march' draws readers into civil disorder on such a night which generally to do with fireworks.

The main reason why this article interests me is because last year, there was little to none coverage on the Million Mask March, many only knew due to social platforms such as Twitter or Facebook; otherwise there was no major news coverage at all. However this year, the Million Mask March was more recognized all the media outlets but it was strongly demonized before it had even begun. Like any other protest, there are always the naughty few who turn the peaceful protest into a roaring riot and those are the few who get demonized and therefore ruin the purpose of the protest, those are the few who find themselves on sites like the Telegraph with commentators arguing that the whole movement is pointless and senseless.

 The Million Mask March to hit back at austerity measures and perceived inequality brought about by the Government, so it's somewhat understandable why the media does not want this to be brought to public attention as it may spark interest which why they make distribute the idea that the whole movement is senseless.

APPS THAT SPY???

"Apps on Apple and Android smartphones leak lots of users' information to third parties, research has suggested"

SPYING APPS?

BBC News article reveals that majority of our mobile applications leak our information to third parties. Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Harvard found that a whopping "73% of the Android apps shared users' email addresses, and 47% of the iOS apps shared location data". The article, published on the 5th of November, comes just days after the recent Snapchat scare in which the popular app, on both iOS and and Android, RESERVE THE RIGHT to store and use your pictures and "selfies". This came  as a to shock to thousands of users as many saw it as an invasion of their privacy as pictures are supposed to be deleted after the time limit runs out.

The fact that personal information and data are being leaked or kept without consent is something that consumers are starting to take notice of and it's not sitting well with them. There has also been recent speculation about the Government being able to access your internet history and track the sites you have visited. 

CENSORSHIP

Censorship is the suppression of speech, public communication or other information which may be considered objectionable, harmful, sensitive, politically incorrect or inconvenient as determined by governments, media outlets, authorities or other groups or institutions.

Censorship

The parameters of the term censorship have been changed and manipulated very much over the years. Television and movie ratings have become more lenient against violence and indiscretion because these things are now seen as entertainment. Is this appropriate for our youth? Should children be exposed to these images so early on? How does censorship in the media affect adolescents? Children are the future of our society and need to have some understanding of real world occurrences. Ultimately, censorship can only be determined by the parents. The media cannot filter every bit of controversial images.

The government can retain people from seeing content in the media by eradicating it and only letting the public see what the government want them to see. Censorship can happen on a massive level like that or on a more local level where religious school remove ‘The Big Bang’ from the school curriculum so the children don’t have different beliefs on how the Creation story.  Censorship has loads of different areas from black inappropriate content to removing content so people only know one way or limits their opinions on something. Censorship can be editing parts from television/TV shows, prevention of advertising, promote/restrict political/religious views, prevent slender and libel. Censorship is a good thing especially for protecting children. In our society we are in a digital world and children, from a very young age, are using the internet and because of this, children are being exposed to material that they can access easily that is inappropriate for their age for example damaging to them growing up mentally, but how do we know what is “too much censorship” and do we actually need it?

The Chinese government is just one example of the authorities going too far in regards to censoring their media. The Chinese government has long kept tight reins on both traditional and new media to avoid potential subversion of its authority. Its tactics often entail strict media controls using monitoring systems and firewalls, shuttering publications or websites, and jailing dissident journalists, bloggers, and activists. In comparison to the UK where British citizens have a negative right to freedom of expression under the common law. In 1998, the United Kingdom incorporated the European Convention, and the guarantee of freedom of expression it contains in Article 10, into its domestic law under the Human Rights Act.

Overall, it can be argued that censorship is needed to a certain extent for example; protecting children of a certain age from violence, porn, drugs etc is something that should be carried out as children of particular ages should not be exposed to that through TV shows or the internet but instead should be educated about it in schools or by their parents. However censorship can be used too excessively in the instance of China and North Korea for example North Korea’s state-run press is the most repressive media environment in the world according to Freedom House, an independent media watchdog organisation. The government owns all the media, does what it can to regulate and censor all communication and limits the North Korean people’s ability to access information. There is no free internet, and accessing contraband communication is seen as a “crime against the state” and can result in prison, a stint in a labour camp and even death.