Weekly News Article 5

The co-pilot of the crashed Germanwings plane, Andreas Lubitz, had received treatment for suicidal tendencies before getting his pilot licence, investigators say, but not recently.

Lubitz, 27, is suspected of deliberately crashing the plane in the Alps, killing all 150 people on board. Officials in Duesseldorf said the investigation to this point had revealed no clue to any motive. So far, DNA strands of 80 of the victims have been found.

Duesseldorf public prosecutor Christoph Kumpa said that "several years" before Lubitz became a pilot he "had at that time been in treatment of a psychotherapist because of what is documented as being suicidal". But he added: "In the following period, and until recently, further doctor's visits took place, resulting in sick notes without any suicidal tendencies or aggression against others being recorded."

Mr Kumpa added: "There still is no evidence that the co-pilot said beforehand that he would do what we have to assume was done and we haven't found a letter or anything like that that contains a confession. " "We have not found anything in his surrounding [environment] - be it personal or his family or his professional surrounding - that is giving us any hints that enable us to say anything about his motivation."

There had been some media reports that Lubitz had problems with his vision, possibly a detached retina. But Mr Kumpa said there was no documentation on any eyesight problems that were caused by an "organic illness".

There has also been widespread speculation about Lubitz's romantic life. One unconfirmed report has suggested his long-term girlfriend was pregnant, while an ex-girlfriend revealed that he vowed last year to do something memorable. "One day I'm going to do something that will change the whole system, and everyone will know my name and remember," she quoted him as saying.

I think that what has happened to all 150 people is horrific but I don't think it should be considered a suicide because then it seems like the co-pilot is the only to be remembered and the only one to have died. I do feel that the quote that his ex-girlfriend gave is a bit of a coincidence and I think this is the reason he deliberately crashed the plane.

Weekly News Article 4

Elton John calls for D&G boycott over same sex parents comments

Elton John has called for a boycott of Dolce and Gabbana after the designers made what he called "archaic" comments on in vitro fertilisation and same-sex parents.

In an interview with Italian news magazine Panorama, the designers called children born of IVF "synthetic" and said they opposed adoption by same-sex parents. The musician, who has two children with his husband born through IVF, criticised the designers for "wagging your judgemental little fingers" at the fertilisation method.

Fashion designer Stefano Gabbana has since responded, saying that "it was never our intention to judge other people's choices."

After Elton John used the hashtag #BoycottDolceGabbana more than 30,000 twitter users tweeted it showing their support for IVF children. 

I disagree with Dolce & Gabbana's choice of words towards IVF children and I think that being such huge fashion designers they need to watch what the say because it will come out to the public. I don't agree with what they said and think it is very insulting for those both straight and gay who have had to have children through that process. I don't think anyone should refer to IVF as 'Synthetic' whether they are famous or not but because they are in the public eye they defiantly shouldn't have said it without thinking their would be consequences or a backlash.  

Album Cover Analysis - Nicki Minaj

Pink Friday is the debut studio album by American recording artist Nicki Minaj, released on November 19, 2010, by Young Money,Cash Money and Universal Motown. It features guest vocals from Eminem, Rhianna, Drake, Will.i.am, Kanye West and Natasha Bedingfield. Pink Friday debuted at number two on the US Billboard 200 selling 375,000 copies in its first week. It ultimately reached number one and spent 73 consecutive weeks on the chart. As of February 2015, it has sold 1,930,000 copies in the United States alone. Nicki Minaj did however release her first mixtape on July 5th, 2007 called Playtime is over. She was originally signed with Young Money Entertainment and Dirty Money Entertainment. 

Based on the album cover I would say that the audience is young females, aged from 16 - 25. The colour pink is often linked to girls so it therefore comes across as very feminine. The colour of the album cover also however links to the name of the album 'Pink Friday'. The colours make me presume that Nicki Minaj is very feminine however she looks quite airbrushed in this photo and she looks quite like a doll/Barbie. This perhaps signifies how society sees her as fake, so she is showing herself how the media would usually see her. She is wearing a bright pink wig and lipstick, this tone is brighter than the rest. This would put the attention on her face rather than the rest of the image.

The writing on the album cover is quite subtle as it is very small. However because it's directly at the bottom away from the images at the top it is noticed easily. Also although the colour is a light grey it still stands out against the background also at the bottom. The word 'Pink' is written in the colour pink and is the only word to be a separate colour, it is the same shade and the image above. The colour pink has connotations with innocence so perhaps the word pink is highlighted to show that like a doll she is innocent.

The PinkPrint is Nicki Minaj's latest album. It was released on December 12, 2014, by Young Money, Cash Money and Republic Records. Minaj co-executively produced the album alongside Birdman, Lil Wayne and Ronald Williams. It was recognized as Minaj's strongest project to date, and was ranked as one of the best albums of 2014 by several publications. It debuted at number two on the U.S. Billboard 200 with first-week sales of 244,000 copies. In February 2015, the album was certified gold by the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), for sales exceeding 500,000. In the United Kingdom, the album debuted at number 22 on the UK Albums Chart.

This album again uses the colour associated widely with females; Pink. This suggests that the audience is young females again aged from 16-25. The finger print looks like it has been created from some sort of makeup I would guess that the makeup is nail varnish because it is worn on your nails which are linked to your hands to the finger print is close to it. The finger print is probably Nicki Minaj's and I think this has been done to show that she knows her identity. Everyone has their own unique fingerprint so this cover shows she finally found who she is and wants to be and this is represented through the fingerprint. 

The cover is very simple and uses the colours white and pink like her first album cover did. They link in that the both use the word pink in the name to show the femininity of the product. I think that they contrast because the first cover shows her as a doll unsure about her identity and making herself look how society would want her to look but now she has found her identity and has decided who she is. I think the second cover is also trying to how that people are finally accepting her for who she really is and she is now allowed to be herself without the result of so much controversy. 

Computer Games Industry

When Was It Started? 
The first recorded game that was created was by A.S Douglas in 1952. He created a graphical version of Tic-Tac-Toe. However The official digital video game industry began in 1971 with the release of the arcade game, Computer Space. The following year, Atari, Inc. released the first commercially successful video game, Pong, the original arcade version of which sold over 19,000 arcade cabinets. 

Since then computer/video games have allowed us to become submersed in our own versions of reality (simulation games e.g. The Sims) and to entertain us throughout out everyday lives. Hundreds of genres (Action, Horror, First person shooter, sports etc.) and consoles have emerged allowing us to try different methods of playing from the Playstation controller to the Xbox Kinect that doesn't need a controller to be 'controlled'.

By Who? Where?

Computer Space is a video arcade game released in 1971 by Nutting Associates, created by Nolan Bushnell and Ted Dabney, who would later found Atari Inc.

How big is it?

The worldwide the game industry in 2007 was valued at $44.9 billion. This number was expected to grow 9.1% annually to $48.9 in 2011 and $68 billion in 2012, making it the fastest-growing component of the international media sector. 

What were the key milestones for the industry? 

The first key milestone was in 1971 when the introduction of video games were shared with the home market with the release of the early video game console, the Magnavox Odyssey. 

The Magnavox Odyssey

However, both the arcade and home markets would be dominated by Pong clones, which flooded the market and led to the video game crash of 1977. The crash eventually came to an end with the success of Taito's Space Invaders, released in 1978, sparking a renaissance for the video game industry and paving the way for the golden age of video arcade games.pace Invaders would go on to sell over 360,000 arcade cabinets worldwide, and by 1982, generate a revenue of $2 billion in quarters, equivalent to $4.6 billion in 2011.

Narrative, Representations and audience.

All video games have different narratives, contain different representations of the characters and have a variety of different target audiences.  
One example of a video game's narrative, representation and audience is GTA 5. Gta 5's narrative surrounds 3 men and tells their story through their life of crime. 

Many representations of different people are shown. One representation is of race. One thing that I have noticed after playing the game is that any black people are all shown to be criminals. If you enter the downtown neighborhood all characters are black and usually attempt to shoot you. Where as the white people tend to live in the rich neighborhood.
No religions are shown throughout the game and only one disabled person is met who tends to be cranky, mean and never leaves the house, just as some stereotypes of disability states. 
The women in the game are also shown in a negative light. Although not a character in the game the woman on the poster is shown wearing a bikini and another is shown leaning over a car. The women both seem to be shown as sexual object for men meaning that the target audience is most likely young adult males. By using these female character's it would attract more men to the game. These things have been created because of the dominant ideology, White, Middle Class, Middle Aged, Straight men. This is also who the game is predominantly aimed at.

Another game is The Last Of Us. In this game the narrative is to survive the apocalypse and to lead a young girl to safety.

In this game the protagonist is a White male called Joel and one of his main goals is to protect a young girl named Ellie. Throughout the game Joel is the only playable character and sets out to get this young girl to safety. As Joel is constantly protecting a girl it makes men seem more powerful and strong as if one of their main abilities is too protect whereas the women seem helpless and weak. The young girl is seen as the 'damsel in distress'. No religions, disabilities, or race are shown in this game. The vast majority of characters are white and any characters of another race do not have a developed story line so their representation is unknown. This is again down to the dominant ideology. Due to the protagonist being male the target audience is most likely men. 

Weekly News Article 3

Big Hero 6-style robots may not be far away, says UHI 

Personal healthcare robots such as Baymax in Disney animation Big Hero 6 may not be far from becoming reality, a Scottish university has suggested. 

In the film's futuristic world, Baymax is a robot with a soft synthetic skin who can detect medical conditions.The University of the Highlands and Islands said a lecture next month will suggest a new era of smart healthcare devices could be imminent.

It  will be considered how the "internet of things" - a concept that promotes linking medical devices and even domestic appliances such as washing machines to the internet - could improve healthcare in remote and rural areas of Scotland.Prof Kamel Boulos said: "In this age of 'internet-of-things', there is no reason why the populations of smaller and rural settlements should be left lagging.

"They can also help people better help each other and can play a major role in reducing the social isolation of older people."

Prof Kamel Boulos will deliver his lecture at the Alexander Graham Bell Centre, a new £6.5m facility for digital health and life science based at Moray College UHI, on 2 April.

Early versions of a robot teddy bear now being put through its paces in a children's hospital in the US were tested in the Highlands. An updated version of the bear has been fitted with pressure sensors on two of its paws and several touch sensors throughout its body parts. The screen of the smart phone device in the robot's head shows animated eyes and the robot can use the phone's internal speaker, microphone and camera for sensing changes in a child's wellbeing.

Robot teddy bear Huggable made in the US

I think that a robot that was able to detect any medical conditions would be extremely useful and would be able to help these conditions get treated quicker. It would defiantly help the chance of survival if someone was diagnosed with a life threatening condition so would save lives.

Revision Plan

Monday	Representation - Gender, Age, Race, Ethnicity
Tuesday	Representation - Issues, Events, Disability
Wednesday	Audience - Target Audiences, Understanding audiences, How do media texts appeal
Thursday	Audience - Audience theories, what affects audiences?, how audiences are constructed
Friday	Visual, Technical, audio codes and narrative of different texts - Print Based Texts
Saturday	Visual, Technical, audio codes and narrative of different texts - Moving Image Media
Sunday	Past Exam paper practice

Weekly News Article 2

Fight MH370 - Angry families reject report

Families of those missing on Malaysia Airlines flight MH370 have rejected a report issued on the first anniversary of the plane's disappearance. The Interim report gives no new clues as to what happened to the plane. One relative described it as "useless."

It does reveal that an underwater locator beacon battery had expired a year earlier, but it is unclear whether this affected the search. The airliner was flying from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing when it vanished. Malaysia and Australia say they remain committed to finding the missing plane. As families of the 239 passengers and crew held remembrance ceremonies on Sunday, some expressed their frustration with the report.

It contains masses of technical information about the missing aircraft, its maintenance record, the background of the crew, and the various air traffic control and military radar tracking records of the plane, says the BBC's Jonathan Head.

"We don't accept the announcement from Malaysia on January 19 that said the event was an accident," said the woman in the Malaysian capital, Kuala Lumpur, who did not give her name. Tan Tuan Kee, the father of missing passenger Tan Chong Ling, told the BBC he believed his son was still alive. "I'm concerned that our government will stop searching for the aircraft," he added.

Earlier this year, the Malaysian government declared flight MH370 to have been lost with all on board, in a move it said was necessary to start processing compensation claims for the families.

My opinion is that if the government knows any information about the plane and why it disappeared then the families of the victims have a right to know what has happened to their loved ones, so that whether they have sadly died or are alive their families could finally be at peace knowing the truth about the disappearance of the plane and those inside.

Weekly News Article

16 Year Old Rebecca Watts has been missing from her home in Bristol since February 19th 2015

23rd February 2015
Concern is growing for a 16 year old girl missing from the Bristol area since last Thursday. Rebecca Watts was reported missing after not returning to her home in St George, Bristol. Officers said it was "out of character" for her to not contact somebody if she had planned not to come home. She is described as white, 5ft 4in tall with long red hair.

27th February 2015

A lake is being searched as police attempt to locate a teenager who has been missing for more than a week. Rebecca Watts, 16, was reported missing after not returning to her home in St George, Bristol, eight days ago. Police are searching the lake in St George park. They have previously searched Troopers Hill nature reserve. 

28th February 2015

Two people have been arrested in connection with the disappearance of 16 year old Rebecca Watts from Bristol. About 150 people joined a search for the teenager, during which a laptop was found. She was known to have had a laptop with her on the day of her disappearance. 

1st March 2015

The police have now searched three houses in Bristol to search for missing teenager. Police said houses in Wilton Close, Southmead, the city's Barton Hill district, and family home, were all "lines of inquiry". Forensic teams have now ended their search of the Barton Hill property for the night, but police presence will remain overnight. Meanwhile, police have said a laptop computer found by search teams in woodland on Saturday is not related to the inquiry.

2nd March 2015

Two people have been arrested on the suspicion of the murder of missing teenager Rebecca Watts. A 28 year old man and a 21 year old women were arrested on suspicion of kidnap on Saturday and further arrested earlier, Avon ans Somerset police said. Officers can hold the pair for another 36 hours. They are also appealing for details about the movements of a car.

(UPDATE)

3rd March 2015
Four men and one women have been arrested on suspicion of assisting an offender. Police have been given an extra 24 hours to quiz a 28 year old man and 21 year old woman on suspicion of murder. Officers went to a house at Barton Court in the Barton Hill area of the city after receiving new information Monday night.



A coffin was removed from the rear of the property on Barton Court on Tuesday lunchtime and was taken away in a private ambulance. Floral tributes have been placed outside Becky's home and the Barton Court address.
Det Supt Courtiour added: "This is devastating news for Becky's family and friends and our thoughts are with them. We will continue to offer every support we can to them during this terrible ordeal."

4th March 2015

Police have until this afternoon to question two people suspected of murdering missing teenager Becky Watts. Becky's stepbrother Nathan Matthews, 28, and his girlfriend Shauna Phillips, 21, have been named locally as those being held on suspicion of her murder. Ms Phillips was taken to hospital after "feeling unwell in custody", Avon and Somerset police have said, she was later brought back to custody. Police have until 3:00PM GMT time to either charge or release Matthews and Phillips.

(Update)
Nathan Matthews, the stepbrother of missing 16 year old Becky Watts, has been charged with her murder. His girlfriend Shauna Hoare, 21, also known as Shauna Phillips, has been charged with attempting to pervert the course of justice. The pair, of Cotton Mill Lane, Bristol, are due before magistrates on Thursday at 10:00AM GMT.

Award Ceremonies

What Are They and What Are They For?
Award Ceremonies are formal occasions at which prizes are given to honour achievement in a specific field. For example the Grammy's give awards to those in the music industry. The awards given are to give recognition to those in the industry, and to show appreciation to someone for their work. I will talk about 3 different award ceremonies those being: The Grammy's , Golden Globes and The Brits.

The Grammy's (2015)

This year was the 57th annual Grammy awards and were held on Sunday February 8th at the Staples centre, Los Angeles, California. Rapper LL Cool J hosted the show for the fourth consecutive time. The Grammy's award those in the music industry in 83 different categories including: Album of the year, Song of the year and best new artist. During the awards a series of different artists perform for the audience between the award announcements. 

Some of the 2015 winners were: 

Sam Smith - Best New Artist

Paramore with Ain't It Fun - Best Rock Song

Pharrell Williams with Girl - Best Urban Contemporary Album

Kendrick Lamar with I - Best Rap Performance

Beyonce ft. Jay Z with Drunk In Love - Best R&B performance 

Golden Globes (2015)
The Golden Globes 2015 were the 72nd annual Golden Globes. It was held on January 11th 2015 and was hosted by Tina fey and Amy Poehler. It took pace in the Beverley Hilton Hotel, Beverley Hills, California. The Golden Globes honours the best in American Film and Television. It consisted of 25 different categories with 5 nominees in each catergory including: Best Motion Picture - Drama, Best television series - comedy or musical and Best Director - Motion Picture.
Some of the 2015 winners were:

Eddie Redmayne in The Theory Of Everything - Best Performance by an actor in a motion picture - Drama
The Grand Budapest Hotel  - Best Motion Picture - Comedy or Musical
How To Train Your Dragon 2 - Best animated feature film
BoyHood - Best Director - Motion Picture
Transparent - Best Television series - Comedy or Musical

The Brits (2015)
The Brit awards give out awards for excellence in music. They mainly focus around British artists but do include a few International awards.The 2015 Brit awards were held on 25th February 2015. This was the 35th edition of the British Phonographic industry's annual pop  music awards. The were held at the O2 arena, London and were hosted by Ant & Dec. It consists of 12 categories including: MasterCard British album, British group and international female solo artist.
Some of this years winners were:

Royal Blood - British Group
Mark Ronson ft. Bruno Mars with Uptown Funk - British Single
Paloma Faith - Best female solo artist
Sam Smith - British breakthrough act
Ed Sheeran with X - MasterCard British album