Wednesday, October 9, 2019
Component-based development Term Paper Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 250 words
Component-based development - Term Paper Example I have had an interest in computer science ever since I was young and this interest has never faded to-date. So far I have successfully completed by Bachelor and Master Degree in Computer Science, with a bias in software engineering, earning first class honors in each case. I have also managed to successfully complete several projects including conducting an analysis of a new social network, website design and designing of software using UML 2.0. Having had practical experience in various work environments, I feel that I need to acquire more knowledge so as to gain the capacity to solve some of the complex problems that different organizations face with respect to software design and engineering. It is for this very reason that I decided to undertake a PhD related to computer science. I am most interested in Component-Based Software (CBD) engineering. My interest in CBD follows my appreciation of the fact that software is getting more and more complex, and the need for safety, reliab ility and scalability is true in the marketplace. With CBD, I am confident that I will be able to solve complex software issues for an organization at affordably and therefore to the organizationââ¬â¢s advantage.
Monday, October 7, 2019
Strategic Management Critically evaluate the contribution the paper Literature review
Strategic Management Critically evaluate the contribution the paper makes to the knowledge base on strategic management in org - Literature review Example Research findings reveal that specific and challenging, but achievable, goals are firmly connected to task performance and motivation but only a few are studied concerning the value of goal setting to complex organisations. According to Bassett (1993), studies on goal setting have usually included small teams of workers or large organisations. One of the current studies on the applicability of goal setting theory to complex organisations, and which is the focus of this critical review, is Francesco Ceresiaââ¬â¢s A Model of Goal-Dynamics in Technology-based Organisations. The author uses four major theoretical paradigms, namely, (1) goal setting, (2) management by objective practices (MbO), (3) workersââ¬â¢ motivation, and (4) organisational performance. The objective of the study is to create a systems dynamics (SD) model that will demonstrate the relationships between goal setting processes, product sales dynamics, workersââ¬â¢ motivation or commitment, and managing of the processes of goal setting. The researcher uses an imaginary Commercial Department (Alpha s.r.l.) to illustrate the reliability and validity of its causal loop diagram, or SD model in determining the correlation among the four theoretical paradigms aforementioned. ... A General Review of the Theoretical Perspectives in Ceresiaââ¬â¢s Study In order to accurately, critically analyse Ceresiaââ¬â¢s study, it is important to discuss first the different theoretical perspectives that have influenced the development of the studyââ¬â¢s objectives and focus. These theories elaborate the fundamental principles that guide the product sales and organizational performance of Beta s.r.l. Since each of these perspectives embodies some relevant assumptions concerning the appropriate structure for systems dynamics, employee, and management, an idea of the principles underlying them is highly useful. Goal Setting for Task Performance Goal setting generate more improved outcomes than failure to set goals. Nevertheless, the explanations are multifaceted. Difficult goals and several controllers and intermediaries should be established before better task performance occurs (Katzell & Yankelovich 1975). However, performance is not a fixed term. Furthermore, perf ormance is not the goal in itself. Sooner or later, workers should be rewarded or recognised for efficient performance if the organisation wants them to stay dedicated to their task and to the organisation, as well (Sengupta 2006). Employee satisfaction is linked to dedication and commitment. If goals are difficult, the enabling controllers are existent, and the intermediaries are functioning, task performance will be efficient and productive on any component the goal identifies as vital, such as quality, quantity, and so on (Curtis 1994). Three fundamental forms of ââ¬Ëspecificââ¬â¢ outcome measures can be applied to assess task performance in the work setting. These three are used in Ceresiaââ¬â¢s study (Meyers, Riccucci & Lurie 2001): (1) units of
Sunday, October 6, 2019
An act of kindness Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words
An act of kindness - Essay Example The author has rightly presented that kindness is not restricted to help someone with material things like money, food or clothes. Kindness also means to share someoneââ¬â¢s grief or pain or it also means to say a few kind words which could redress peopleââ¬â¢s grievances. Whoever performs an act of kindness, it is a message delivered from one heart to another generated from the inner self. The author tells that he cannot remember exactly in which class he was. But he does remember the very first act of kindness he did for someone. One day, the researcher was coming back home from his school that he saw a boy of his age begging on the signal. The author was surprised to see that why the child of his age is begging instead of wearing a school uniform and books in the hand. The author asked his father that why there is so much difference between the two of them. His father replied that they are poor children and they cannot afford to buy a uniform and school books. Their parents are forced to send them begging money and food so that they can feed their stomach. The author said to his father that he cannot see a child of his age begging on the road instead of studying in school. What could he do to help this urchin? His father said that if you really want to do an act of kindness and help the poor kid, you should compromise on something you have and you love. God will be very happy with your kind act. Suddenly, something clicked his mind.
Saturday, October 5, 2019
E-Marketing Case Study Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1500 words
E-Marketing - Case Study Example This is an essential component of implementing any marketing strategy by each of the above practitioners. However, with the extension of the 4Ps to envisage 7Ps, there was a better reflection of the market with the inclusion of people, processes, and physical evidence (Chaffey, 2009). Therefore, the product mix strategy is the total number of product lines that consumers enjoy from a specific company. Google provides industrial services as a form of its products. Some of the services include the provision of an advertising platform and the search technology service. Their products are categorized into business, advertising, and Google store solutions. The company uses the List price strategy, in order to determine the prices of its products. Prospective consumers are offered with the basic price or the normal price. In promotion, Google offers its search results with no accompanying advertisements, which attracts most users. Google applies the expansion strategy as the major product mix strategy. The internet is Googleââ¬â¢s place, where it offers the consumers the ability to utilize their services online. Being the largest search engine the company ensures that it makes its brand name the core product. The fundamental features of the products that Google prod uces meet the needs of the consumer. Positioning of the companyââ¬â¢s product in the internet market is the main source and determinant of the profits enjoyed by the company. For instance, it acquisition and partnership with a part of Yahoo has made it to have a market share of over 80 percent. Therefore, the position of Google as a company is the image that its products project. This image is compared to the competitive products and other products offered by other competing companies (Fernandes, Gouveia & Pinho, 2012). Facebook came into existence in the year 2004. Since then, the company has grown to be the largest social internet connectivity site that
Friday, October 4, 2019
The Information Systems Development Life Cycle Assignment
The Information Systems Development Life Cycle - Assignment Example The researcher states that in the photograph printing store, the components (phases) in the SDLC will be the steps to be taken to migrate to a new computerized and more accurate (tamper-proof) employee time-entry system and analyzes each step. Planning ââ¬â this is the very first or initial phase of the SDLC and ideas here are discussed such as what the proposed computerized system is expected to solve (problems like the lost punch cards, inaccurate timekeeping, and employee cheating ââ¬â punching for an absent employee). The costs will also be discussed and the time frame needed to fully implement this new system. Creating ââ¬â the hardware requirements will be specified including a software program to run the whole system. A total number of employees, backup systems, desired features and all other operational details are created at this point so that management expectations can be met. Testing ââ¬â the new system will be tried if there are kinks or bugs in it so rem edies and patches can be applied immediately prior to actual implementation and avoid future problems. Deploying ââ¬â once the new system is complete and fully operational (bug-free), it will now be implemented throughout the entire store and employees are required to use it. The new system can then be integrated into the firmââ¬â¢s payroll system to automatically compute wages and salaries for the employees based on their time records to generate a payroll.
Thursday, October 3, 2019
President Barrack Obama Essay Example for Free
President Barrack Obama Essay Every politician makes promises of what he or she will do when elected president and many of them do not see their promises through. President Barrack Obama is no exception and he made more than 500 promises to the people of United States of America if elected president. People should not except that promises politicians make to be a 100% fulfilled. However, president Barrack Obama has fulfilled a number of the promises he made to the people while others are to be fulfilled. The paper focuses on some of the promises the president promised during his campaigns for presidency and their state in the present day, a discussion if Obama would invade Iran and the new Arizona Immigrant Bill and whether he should get involved. How well does President Barrack Obama live to the expectations of the people? President Barrack Obama Barrack Obama is the 44th president of America and won the elections on 4th November, 2008 by a landslide win of 52. 9% against his opponent from the Republican Party, John McCain who acquired 45. 7% popular vote. During his campaign, president Barrack Obama made more than 500 promises to the people which were to be fulfilled after he was elected president. It has been one year and seven months since his inauguration on January 20, 2009. Albeit speculations about his promises as campaign tools for presidency, president Barrack Obama has undergone both positive and negative criticisms based on the same promises that defined him during his campaign and has managed to fulfill some of the promises he made to the people of the United States of America, while others stand to be fulfilled (Janny, 2008). I would say that the Obama reign and governance still has time to fulfill the promises it made to the people of the United States of America. Either way, critics would still be made about him either carrying out Bush practices to his administration and of being a president who used vague promises to the people of the United States in order to be elected president. Some believe that president Obama is the most widely criticized president of the United States of America for all times. All in all, the president deserves a pat on the back for the promises he has managed to fulfill, the promises he is still fulfilling and the promises he is to fulfill. Time would tell if his promises were merely campaign tools by the end of his era, which till then, president Obama has a lot to live to the expectations of the people of the United States of America, the people who elected him believing that he was the new dawn for America, an era of the youths to rule (Janny, 2008). Some may argue that president Obama has continued to carry on the practices in the retired president bush regime while others believe that Obama has carried out recommendable efforts to change the country. President Obama made promises to the people of the United States, but the people should not expect the promises to be fulfilled overnight. Some of the things he promised are becoming harder and harder to fulfill for instance the promise of the united states government being transparent, accountable and allowing the press to have access to government records. He promised to end the blanket of secrecy the Bush regime operated under by making the government act responsibly and become more accountable to the people it is serving and thereby making him the most liberal president of the U. S. (Janny, 2008). The promise of openness was signed during his first day in office and to present day still remains making it easier for the Americans to scrutinize the government for there is no secrecy that has been typical of past American governments. However, this promise has been challenged after the high court ruled out publication of torture article for the Guantanamo Bay detainees. The position for not publishing is because the information, if it were to be published would make United Kingdom questions the intelligence of sharing information with the U. S. This has added to the doubts as to whether presidentââ¬â¢s Obama promises were merely campaign tools (Stolberg, 2010). In the article ââ¬Å"Barrack Obama on the issues: what would be your top three priorities if elected? â⬠(2008), during his campaigns, he made one of his major promises to withdraw the United States troops from Iraq and end the Iraq war. Many citizens embraced the idea with open arms for they believed that the U. S. interference with Iraq was costing the country a lot of money which could be used to salvage other countriesââ¬â¢ priorities. He promised the people that he was going to make sure that United States troopââ¬â¢s combats were going to be out of Iraq within six months since his election as president. The promise to remove troops from Iraq came to pass during his first days as president of the United States of America when he ordered that United States military to start preparing to leave Iraq. Today, the presidentââ¬â¢s promise is getting closer to be fulfilled for he has already set the deadline for withdrawal of the troops as 31st August, 2010 for the promise to be executed on schedule. Alongside with the directives he issued in his first days as president, for the U. S. military to withdraw from Iraq, he believe that by withdrawing the United States military troops, the U. S. would be giving Iraq government autonomy and independence over the future of its people and country. Iraq government will have to deal with terrorist threats themselves and form their own government. This he said because he believed in the diplomatic way of solving conflicts and the U. S. as a mediator between the countries bordering Iraq for peace to be attained in the region. In the article ââ¬Å"Barrack Obama on the issues: what would be your top three priorities if elected? â⬠(2008), President Obama intended to close down the Guantanamo detention camp immediately he took over as president but this was hindered by a number of factors. The camp was to be closed within one year and terrorist suspects were no longer to be interrogated using torture methods. In addition, it was made illegal for the U. S. to have secret detention camps in other countries or for such camps to be built in the future. This involved the closure of CIA secret detention centers, further closure of the Afghanistan and Iraq detention facilities in the future. President barrack Obama, said that by closing the detention camp, it would allow the detainees who have been help up in the camps without fair trial the opportunity of fair trial or release. This was to ensure that the United States of America government practiced more ethical values of dealing with violence and terrorism other that the inhuman methods employed by the Bush administration. The promise still remains to be fulfilled as many countries have shown reluctance to receiving terrorists in their countries. Issues are still arising as to whether the terrorist after being delivered to other countries will be tortured. Arguably, some people believe that the terrorists are too dangerous to be released and therefore the promise stands to be fulfilled within the time that president Obama is in power. President Obama also promised that there would be no tax hikes for those people with an annual income of less than $250,000 which comprises of a large number of people because most of them barely make $100,000 along side his health care reform promise to include more people being insured. In the article ââ¬Å"Barrack Obama on the issues: what would be your top three priorities if elected? â⬠(2008), however, when tax on cigarette was increased, it made the promise during the campaign unrealistic because majority of those who use cigarettes barely make more than $250,000. Many people interpreted his promises differently for it is very unrealistic not to tax anything that the poor man uses. In addition, increase in tax on cigarettes leads to a decline on those people who use them especially the under aged since they cannot afford it. For a non dictator president like Barrack Obama not to dogmatically impose his ideas on the people, I tend to think that people are being unfair to him and are judging him too harshly. He has done a lot in light of the promises; he is being pushed from all sides by people who are wishing that he fails in his reign as president and also compressed to meet both the republicans and democrats demands of the government. When pushed too much, both internationally and domestically, Obama has ended up not doing anything and this has contributed to the down fall of the United States economy but there is time for him to correct his mistakes and carry on with the promises. What the United States of America people and politicians should be doing is to lend him a hand and not expect him to put the country on track single handedly. President Barrack Obama is also working with people who did not promise anything to the people of the United States of America and therefore they do not feel compelled to help him attain his goals (Janny, 2008). Speculations arise as to whether president Obama could invade Iran after it announced that it has started converting uranium into gas. It is believed that Iran is a step away from making nuclear bomb even after the suspension of such activities in Iran by the International Atomic Energy Agency. President Obama has considered asking other countries to request Iran into giving up through international community and solidarity into pressuring Iran give up its nuclear interests. When diplomatic efforts fails to make Iran cease its nuclear efforts, I think president Obama will result into invading the country through the military striking the productions sites of nuclear in Iran. Invading Iran will no doubt create bad relations of the U. S. with the Arab Emirates but president Obama considers it better than having a liberal Muslim state possess nuclear weapons. In addition to his countryââ¬â¢s troops been in Iraq, Obama is left with no choice than to invade Iran if international sanction do not compel the country to stop its quest for nuclear weapons (Janny, 2008). The new Arizona Immigrant Bill is believed to be one of the toughest bills on immigrants. Upon the enactment of the bill, immigrants will be identified, prosecuted and deported back to their home country if suspected to be in Arizona illegally. Immigrants in Arizona are to carry immigration documents which make it an offense not to have the immigration documents in the country. The police will have the power to arrest and detain those people who are in the country illegally. Many people are opposed to it feeling that it opens up the right to harassment of foreigners and any person suspected of being a foreigner thereby undermining the rights of people. Others are for the bill to be enacted and strict penalties be imposed on employers who hire illegal immigrants imposed. This is in line with the belief that most immigrants are taking up the rights of Americans in the workplace while Native Americans continue to suffer for they lack job opportunities which have been grabbed by the illegal immigrants. The bill is also anticipated to build a lot of racism and ethnic outline. Furthermore immigrants will fear reporting anything to the authority for fear of being deported to their country, which is not in line with combating crime in Arizona. Various organizations are opposed to the immigration bill and calls for its revoking for fear that it may spread from Arizona to other states and therefore jeopardizing public safety. President barrack Obama is opposed to the immigration bill in Arizona terming it as misguided and poorly conceived. I think the president should get involved in coming up with immigration reforms but only when he conjures up the democrats together with the republicans into putting in place immigration laws that are not unethical (Janny, 2008). President Obama health care plan was among the promises he delivered during his campaign. He sought to end the way insurance companies abuse the rights of the citizens of America. In the bill, the president aimed at creating and enacting rules that saw everybody being treated fairly when it came to health care and creating health care insurances for the people which are affordable. It was a concern for the president that many Americans could not afford health care insurance and thereby incorporated a promise on health care to broaden the number of people under insurance in the country especially those who are poor. One of the ways that affordable insurance is being maintained is through the tax increase on cigarettes. A large percentage of the money is being channeled to poor families specifically those families that have been victims of tobacco and could not afford health care insurance (Stolberg, 2010). I strongly agree with president Obamaââ¬â¢s health care plan. Through his plan more and more people are assured of obtaining medical cover. The move to provide the middle class with tax cuts ensures that those people who were never covered will be covered and afford health care in the united states of America. In as much as critics are arising as to whether universal health care is possible, what Obama is doing to provide affordable medical services affordable is commendable. Insurance companies will also be more accountable for they will have rules that are governing them not to deny health coverage to the people of America. The era where poor American could not afford the similar choices of medical insurance with prominent members of parliament are long gone through the Obama health care plan. The plan aims at providing leverage in terms of insurance with competitive prices of health care insurance and no longer will Americans be discriminated in light of provision of health care. With such propositions, it would be very unwise not to fully agree with what president Barrack Obama is doing for his country (Stolberg, 2010). ââ¬Å"Yes We Canâ⬠was the slogan during the campaigns for presidency which saw Obama defeat McCain and become the 44th president of America. Being a young presidential candidate, many youths believed in him and they voted him to bring about reforms in America. Obama widely campaigned and made more than 500 promises to the people of America. Some of the promises have been attained; others are in progress while others may seem to have been forgotten. It is however myopic to discredit what the president has done for his country and what he is trying to do. President Obama has many promises to fulfill and this is worsened by the way he is being judged on a daily basis. It is as if he is walking through the hawk eyes of a people that is relaxing and watching what one man alone can do for his country. By the mere fact that he promised to bring about reforms in the government and move away from practices that were during the Bush era, it does not mean that he will do it alone. The slogan ââ¬Å"Yes We Canâ⬠I tend to believe incorporated every individual who is an American citizen to work together to bring about changes in the country. In addition, his time as the president of America is not yet over and the president will do the best he can to fulfill his promises to the nation for the promises are geared towards the development of America and its citizens (Janny, 2008). References Janny, S. : ââ¬Å"The story of Obama, written by Obamaâ⬠. (2008, May 18). The New York Times, p. 1. ââ¬Å"Barrack Obama on the issues: what would be your top three priorities if elected? â⬠(2008, April 14): Washington post. Stolberg, S. ââ¬Å"Obama Signs Landmark Health Care Billâ⬠: (2010, March 23): The New York Times.
Newspaper Coverage Of Celebrity Crimes Media Essay
Newspaper Coverage Of Celebrity Crimes Media Essay Media has a significant influence on people and so do the celebrities. These effects can be both positive and negative. The kind of coverage of celebrities and celebrity crimes by newspapers and magazines can influence the opinion of the public on the celebrity criminals. This kind of influence can be greatly attributed to the process by which the news about celebrity criminals is evaluated and presented for the readers to analyse. This paper is going to look at the effects of the print-media coverage of celebrity criminals which could be biased or unbiased and its influence on the public accordingly, thus questioning media credibility. Introduction My interest in traditional form of media i.e., the newspapers has always been deeper than the other forms of media. Also, I believe that news in the newspapers is better evaluated and helps to form a strong opinion about issues and events that occur globally. This interest in understanding the impact of newspapers on public opinion developed even further when I read about coverage of celebrity crimes. The manner in which news is presented in the newspapers whether it is about national or international celebrity crimes is something that caught my interest. In addition to this, my interaction with people of different ages and status regarding celebrity criminals considerably inspired me to choose this topic for my research. Prosperity of both science and culture has made people familiar with supply of information in abundance. Modern media, such as the internet, mobile phones, television and the traditional media such as newspapers and magazines make news and variety of information easily accessible to us. However, the most common form of news is that about the celebrities and public figures. It has become very evident in the recent times that media pays too much attention to the personal lives of the celebrities (popular figures). Addition to this, the important factor is that most of the reports on lives of famous people are always focused on brilliant achievements, lavish lifestyles and exaggerated enjoyments which overstate the attractive part and understate the painstaking part. Therefore, the masses especially young people are often biased and tend to perceive celebrities as their idols. They happen to adore their idols with such passion and zeal that the amount of negative news and information about celebrities can even change their perception towards life. The extent and quality of celebrity news in the media appears especially inordinate today, multiplying and intensifying at such a rate that legitimate news has fallen in precedence (Brown, 31). Whether it likes it or not, the public knows more about Britney Spears and how many pills she swallowed than about many political issues (Wright, 1). It is a known fact that in India we treat celebrities no less than god. And the Indian media being very well aware of this fact ensures that celebs and celebrity crimes get a lot of coverage so as to garner attention of the masses. In this process of covering celebrity related news, media tends to sensationalize the stories, often focusing on irrelevant details about celebrities instead of the main crime that has taken place. This research informs about the news coverage of celebrity crimes, the faith of public on media (print media) and the manner in which the presentation of such news coverage influences their opinion. In this vein, analyzing the content presented by newspapers, as well as celebrity-news magazines, offered the clearest method by which to examine how news on celebrity crimes is covered and publicized. Researching articles on the major, relevant topics of media ethics, the role of celebrity news in Indian society and credibility of media was instrumental in gaining a better understanding of the subject matter. More emphasis was placed on researching relevant topics, as it is difficult if not impossible to determine the exact effects of media coverage of celebrity criminals through a study or direct observation. One can constantly see and read about celebrity crimes, however the influence of such news on public opinion is what really matters. Through analysing media coverage of celebrity criminals, especially the print media with the help of severalà examplesà of celebrity crimes will enhance the objective of this research paper. The purpose of thisà research proposalà is to s ee if media coverage of celebrity-crimes is biased and how this changes peoples opinion and perception on celebrities, thus questioning medias credibility. Articles and news reports covered by various newspapers (both English and regional), on the crimes committed by celebrities like Sanjay Dutt, Salman Khan, Shiney Ahuja, Saif Ali khan and many more were looked upon in this research paper. Also a survey was conducted to understand the effects of newspaper coverage of celebrity crimes and how it influences opinions of the public. The survey acts as a supplement to the newspaper articles that were analyzed to gain a better understanding of the objective of this research paper. The literature review provides Literature Review To understand the influence on the people of the portrayal of celebrity-criminals by media, it is important to understand the terms celebrity, crime, media bias and public opinion. These terms may not be connected with each other directly; however the understanding of these together would contribute in assessing the study of this paper. Celebrity The word celebrity is derived from the word celebrate, in that a person is supposedly famous because the community celebrates him or her (Rockwell, 20). The term celebrity indicates someone whose fame rests overwhelmingly on what happens outside the sphere of their work and who is famous for having lifestyle. The celebrity is thus constructed through gossip, press and television reports, magazine articles and public relations (Redmond Holmes, 99). Public Opinion Commonly the concept of public opinion is taken literally to mean the opinion of the public. While this is not incorrect, it constitutes a rather naÃÆ'à ¯ve understanding of the concept. A more sophisticated conception must acknowledge the element of publicity in public opinion: public opinion as distinguished from private opinion. Indeed public opinion is a shared aggregate phenomenon. It is a collective social entity, and publicity is necessary for its formation. It is the knowledge of the very existence of others who share values, beliefs and concerns that forges a host of discrete opinions into a viable social entity (Shamir, 1). Based on these factors there have been researches that explain how biased media-coverage plays a crucial role in forming biased public-opinion. Media has a fixed agenda of providing certain news in a certain manner so that it is perceived in the manner that print media wants it to be perceived as by the people. Through their day-by-day selection and display of the news, editors and news directors focus our attention and influence our perceptions of what are the most important issues of the day. This ability to influence the salience of topics on the public agenda has come to be called the agenda setting role of the news media (McCombs, 1). This theory of agenda setting is applied by the media and describes a very powerful influence of media its ability to tell people what issues are important. It explains the correlation between media and people the rate at which media covers a story and the extent that people think this story is important. Studies into the agenda-setting function of the press confirm that media have a great deal of influence upon political decision making and that they are especially influential in telling the general population what to think about (Kuypers, 5).à The media tends to be biased whenever it provides flawed or irrelevant facts to support a certain viewpoint. It is also biased when it frames certain issues in a particular manner. Such framing is done so that the issue is perceived in a particular way. According to many scholars our perception of a certain issue is more or less dependent on the way the issue is framed (Kuypers, 7). There are millions of events that occur globally in todays world. And to examine these events and report about them there are thousands of people around the world who are employed by media organizations. The media decides and tells us which issues are important and which ones or not. We have never physically witnessed the war situations of Afghanistan, Iraq or even Kashmir. Despite this we have the pictures of these events in our heads. The media reports inform about the latest events and issues that are taking place in the world and are inaccessible to us. Thus, most of our perceptions about the world are based on the second-hand reality created by the media organizations. There is no guarantee that this reality is an accurate picture of the world (Saqib Riaz, 1). This explains how gate-keeping is done by the media, wherein it chooses the newsworthiness of certain news and evaluates it based on a variety of reasons and preferences. The aspects of a certain event that are covered in the news and the kind of importance that is given to these aspects leads to significant differences in peoples perception of that event. The portrayal of news stories results in the peoples understanding of the journalists consideration of important issues and who the most prominent public figures of the day are. Thus from the details of the coverage of news stories and their evaluation by the media helps the public form their perception of these news stories and the public figures (McCombs, 7-8). Thus from the above literature it is evident that public opinion is formed on the basis of the kind of information that media prioritizes and later provides to the public. The media does set the agenda of what is discussed around the world on a daily basis. It chooses stories that are reviewed by the public regularly. Not many people seem to be aware that the stories they read are picked by the media organizations before getting printed. The impact of someone selecting the news stories for the masses to read can be positive as well as negative. Therefore, even when crimes committed by celebrities are covered by the media, it tries to change peoples opinion depending upon a positive or a negative coverage of that particular news. Media can manipulate news using a variety of strategies that can alter peoples perception. It can navigate their audience through what it feels is potent and viable concerning topics specifically related to celebrity crimes. The aspects that contribute in the assessment of opinions of the public are the audiences of the media, their lifestyle, interests and their level of sophistication. Nevertheless, there are many other dependent variables that create a different representation of truth. And through this, media has the power to influence peoples point of view. 2.1 Media and Celebrities Usually news about celebrities is considered to be soft news (entertainment) unless a crime has been committed by a celebrity. Media today places a lot of importance to celebrity news. Reports of soft news outweigh the amount of hard news that gets reported in todays mass media including the traditional media i.e., the newspapers and magazines. According to Bennett (2007), some of factors affecting the increase of soft news include the economics of the news business, journalists dependence on sources who control information, routine news-gathering practices, professional norms and a need to fill the news hole that has been created by 24/7 news coverage. Celebrity focused, soft news tends to be quick and easy to report about. Additionally, such stories have proven to be popular among audiences and are easy to dramatize. Celebrity stories may also serve the uses and gratifications of many audience members. Bennett (2007) suggests that in addition to learning, many viewers use news to satisfy their needs for curiosity and surveillance, entertainment and escape, and social and psychological adjustment. With the advent of the Web and the Internet, increasing numbers of citizens turn to alternative information channels that deliver politically packaged information in a format better integrated with personal interests and various citizen-action options (Bennett, 2007). This statement is valid not only for politics but all kinds of news information. There are websites, magazines, newspapers, television stations, etc. to suit every different need and people have the choice to visit only the ones that interest them. Therefore, the shift seen in news coverage from informative to entertaining cannot be blamed solely on the media. Celebrities become products and are endowed with expertise outside of their celebrated areas (West Orman, 2003: 118). The celebrity culture today expects that stars be spokespersons for all kinds of issues, as well as bear the responsibility for issues that are problematic. This power is not derived from within these stars, but rather from the audiences interest in them. Celebrities are expected by many to be shining examples of model citizens, yet their good deeds like activism are overlooked in favour of scandalous, dramatic, negative reports about them (Amanda Jones, 2009: 8). This sheds light on how media portrays celebrities. There are times when media will provide sensationalized news about celebrities to garner attention and increase readership. Journalist Caspar Llewellyn-Smith makes this point when he states that the guiding principle of celebrity gossip magazines is to show famous figures off-guard, unkempt, unready and unsanitized (Llewellyn-Smith, 2002: 120, cited in Holmes, 2005: 23) (Holmes Redmond, 2006: 184). According to McCrackens findings, the mass media are, in effect, making a concerted effort to provide unflattering coverage of celebrity personalities. It is these kinds of news stories that are increasingly present in our every day mass media outlets. Such stories provide the drama and sensationalism that media consumers are looking for (2009: 311). The above literature explains that media often portrays the celebrities negatively by presenting sensational news about them. The news coverage on celebrities and celebrity crimes done by the media is negative often to create drama and stir the publics interest. 2.2 Media Coverage of Celebrity Crimes The role of the press is to educate and create awareness amongst the masses, however in the recent times it seems to have switched this role with that of entertainment. Instead of focusing on the details of the crimes committed by the celebrities, media tends to divert the attention to the celebrities lives and sensationalizes the news about them. In covering the most titillating or personal aspects of a story, present-day coverage often trivializes more important structural and procedural issues. During the 2005 Michael Jackson molestation trial, the Los Angeles Times, which ran approximately 317 stories on the case, printed only two pieces focusing on the crucial new California statute that allowed prosecutor Tom Sneddon to introduce evidence of past allegations against Jackson. Much of the Times coverage offered almost daily trial updates, which consisted primarily of subjective descriptions of the personal behavior and appearance of the various witnesses and courtroom actors in t he case (Fox et al., 2007: 6).
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