MediaScape: 13 July 2015

In the good “old world” embargoes used to be timed particularly to print deadlines of newspapers. But that was the old world; the world itself has changed – digitalisation has accelerated news cycles. The ancient relic called the “news embargo” ought to have disappeared by now, but it hasn’t. A researcher now says this will take time, and the embargo still makes sense. Sonja Gruber, an editor at the business department of the Austria Presse Agentur (APA) in Vienna, says that the...

Some four out of five (79 per cent) students in Ireland admit accessing social media at school, with 44 per cent of students accessing it between one and five times in every school day. More than 1,000 individuals between the ages of 13 and 18 participated in the BT Young Scientist Survey. When asked about the duration of the average single visit to social media sites, 26 per cent claimed to spend between two and five minutes on social media per visit. One third of the respondents admitted...

The global media has turned a blind eye to the issue of human trafficking, focusing on conflict around the globe instead. It is estimated that some 2,5 million people are victims of trafficking each year but the issues are not covered in great depth by the world’s media. Incidentally, last week marked world human trafficking awareness week. The United Nations, which is at the forefront of the fight against human trafficking, should be able to increase awareness on this issue but even in...

An overwhelming 74 per cent of media and entertainment (M&E) company CFOs from Canada say going digital is a top priority for growth. But the right data and analytics are key to delivering the insights that enable game-changing decisionmaking. For the first time since the recession of 2008, M&E CFOs have shifted their primary focus from cost reduction and operational efficiencies to optimising the organisation for growth. According to the EY report, It's showtime! Digital drives the agenda, data...

People can accurately detect the personality traits of strangers through Facebook activity; however, changes to the social media site in the past three years could be making it harder to do so. Researchers from the University of Kansas sampled 100 Facebook users, paralleling the demographics of the social networking site, and asked them to fill out a personality survey. A group of coders looked at each person’s Facebook activity, 53 cues in all, to see whether certain personality types were...

Online networking can play a positive role in subjective well-being through its impact on physical social interactions. Can, of course. But, the overall effect of networking on individual welfare is significantly negative. That's because participation in social networking sites (SNS) might destroy social trust, while on the other hand, face-to-face interactions are positively associated with happiness, and online networks are not. Researchers Fabio Sabatini and Francesco Sarracino, for their...

Nowhere to be “scene,” women protagonists have less than one-third of all speaking roles in film and are largely absent from powerful positions, according to a United Nations-backed survey released recently. The study argues for the involvement of more female filmmakers in the industry, and for greater sensitivity to gender imbalance on screen. “The first-ever global study of female characters in popular films reveals deep-seated discrimination and pervasive stereotyping of women and girls...

Social networking programmes designed to help people lose weight could play a role in the global fight against obesity. Analysis by researchers from Imperial College London combining the results of 12 previous studies shows that such programmes have achieved modest but significant results in helping participants lose weight. The paper is one of 10 reports on global healthcare policy written for the World Innovation Summit for Health (WISH), an initiative of Qatar Foundation, and published early...

Less than one in five (18 per cent) people online follow the show they’re watching on television via Twitter. Traditional TV viewers in the US, dubbed "couch potatoes" in a recent report, are the largest segment but only account for one third (33 per cent) of people online who watch TV. Very focused on TV when watching it, they never phone or text people about what they’re watching and hardly ever use social media. None of this group uses Twitter trending topics or hashtags on a weekly basis...

More than 75 per cent of Zimbabwean women own a mobile phone, only 18 per cent of women in Niger listen to the radio on a daily basis, and approximately half of women in Côte d’Ivoire watch TV daily. The Broadcasting Board of Governors, together with Gallup, recently hosted a research briefing about women’s media consumption habits across seven African countries, and how those choices affect their lives. “We have to understand the culture and sociology of Africa as we look at its media...

Women are severely underrepresented on international TV news and are frequently framed as victims as opposed to political leaders, business people, and other high-achieving public figures, according to new research from Media Tenor International. “Not only do women represent only 11 out of the 100 most visible people on international TV news,” says Racheline Maltese, a researcher at Media Tenor, “these women only get 3 per cent of the news coverage, highlighting the gender imbalance on TV...

Almost three in five people (57 per cent) in Australia are calling their family and friends less frequently since the rise of social media. According to a survey of more than 1,000 Australians, nearly four out of five (79 per cent) believe social media and technology are causing us to lose the art of conversation. Some two-thirds (63 per cent) say it's easier to text a friend or a loved one instead of calling for a chat. And, three out of five Australians (60 per cent) wish they received more...

Enterprises around the world are preparing to enter the digital age, with over USD 30 trillion in market capitalisation across eight key verticals ready for disruption. The prediction comes from globalisation advisory and management consulting firm Zinnov, which in September launched its study 'Enterprise Digital Transformation-The next era is already here'. The study has identified the market size for digital transformation, areas that demonstrate high potential for digital transformation, and...

Most media researchers, parents and pediatricians agree that exposure to violent media can increase aggression in children, according to a new study. It found that 66 per cent of researchers, 67 per cent of parents and 90 per cent of pediatricians agree or strongly agree that violent video games can increase aggressive behaviour among children. Majorities of these groups also believe that children’s aggressive behaviour can be fuelled by viewing violent video games, movies, TV programmes, and...

Readers abandoning print newspapers in favour of online news may want to consider the effect it’s having. A study conducted by a researcher at the University of Houston (UH) finds those who read printed news publications read more news and also remember more news than those who read news online. “As the US public gets its news more from online newspapers and less from print, new questions have arisen about the differences of both reading experiences,” said Arthur D Santana, an assistant...