JOUR1111: Annotated Bibliography
The 2011 London riots were heavily broadcasted in the international media. Investigations have uncovered that social networking devices were used to organise and rally looters. Because of this, British Prime Minister David Cameron proposed to restrict the use of services such as Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger to disadvantage rioters. While spokespeople from these social networking sites put up no resistance to this temporary shutdown[1], some journalists, social media and legal experts have ridiculed the suggestion. Facebook, Twitter and BlackBerry Messenger are associated with “Web 2.0”. Web 2.0 technology allows for “produsage”, a term coined by QUT Lecturer Axel Bruns. Here, he explains this relevance of this:
“Produsage demonstrates the changed content production value chain model in collaborative online environments: in these environments, a strict producer/consumer dichotomy no longer applies -instead, users are almost always also able to be producers of content, and often necessarily so in the very act of using it.”[2]
However, the issue at hand is, as PM Cameron told Parliament, that this “free flow of information can be used for good. But it can also be used for ill".
Below are four sources which comment on the use of Web 2.0 applications, especially in the case of the London Riots. These sources have been critically examined and referenced.
Harrison, J. (2009). Case Studies of Communication Campaigns using Web 2.0. Indooroopilly, Australia: HAS Pty Ltd. Ch. 1.
Dr. John Harrison brings his thirty years of professional practice in his writing and editing. Decades of experience in print, radio and television as an award winning journalist, editor and producer, identity him a credible and unbiased source in critiquing the changes in media – internet relations. The chapter outlines the changes in the way the web has been used, focusing on the Web 2.0 stage. This stage, it is argued, makes digital technologies more accessible to users in a way that causes the users to become producers, relatively unchecked in what they may publish. This “social media” is characterized by its inactivity, encouraging openness, participation, conversation, speed and connectedness. Harrison uses graphs and data to effectively argue that worldly participation in social media is rapidly increasing. By quoting Marshall McLuhan, Harrison illustrates his belief that social networking should be recognized as a legitimate form of communication and supports Prime Minister Cameron’s belief that the amplified “power of expression” that online networking facilitates can be detrimental to society as was the case in the London riots. Although this chapter was informative and unbiased, the author’s opinion on the advantages of web 2.0 and the death of web 1.0 were not made clear.
Keane, B. (2011). London Riots: The (Social) Media Is To Blame, Apparently. Retrieved 20th October, 2011. http://www.crikey.com.au/2011/08/10/london-riots-the-social-media-is-to-blame-apparently/
Bernard Keane reports for Crikey, an independent self-titled “fourth estate”, working to scrutinize the “performance and activities of business, the media, PR and other important sectors”[3], on politics, media, and economics. However, the informal terminology used in this piece, for example, reference to a “face palm moment”, suggests either incompetent authorship or an attempt to reach a younger audience. Though, as the article is written in an informal style, and is factually accurate, this suggests that this informality aims to connect with a younger audience. Keane makes reference to the comparison of the “Arab Spring” revolution which others made; however, Keane infers that this comparison is ridiculous. Quotes from The Daily Mail, The Sun and The Guardian, all of which reputable papers, also add to the article’s credibility. However, it’s independence is showcased when Keane notes their “attack” on the “competing medium” that is social media. This negative bias is particularly noted in Fairfax pieces. Keane goes on to defend Twitter from the allegations made against the site, explaining that it BlackBerry Messaging technology that was used to rally looters in London. This opposes Prime Minister Cameron’s proposal. To conclude, Keane states his opinon: “in short, the role of social media in events is highly complex and not clear at all, but that plainly hasn’t stopped the finger pointing”, and ends the article by questioning the responsibility of social media sites and censorship levels, and asking: Should these organizations comply with police and use confidential information to track criminal activity?
Wilson, A. (Presenter/Writer). (2011). Social Media During The Riots - Right Or Wrong? [SKY NEWS]. Season 811, Episode 0812. Available from http://www.youtube.com/watch? feature=player_embedded&v=KJOSZLH3rlA#!
Here, Conservative MP Louise Mensch, former Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott and Guardian journalist Paul Lewis join SkyNews journalist Andrew Wilson to discuss the Prime Minister’s proposal to shut down social networking sites in times of unrest when it could facilitate criminal activity. Lewis initiated the debate by stating that that a media blackout in a time of crisis would be oppressive to England’s freedom of expression, calling it a “hot headed and wrong knee jerk reaction”. As Lewis is employed as Special Projects Editor for the Guardian and has won awards for outstanding investigative journalism, it is inferred that his opinion is both reliable and accurate. As Mensch is a conservative party politician, her support of the state was predictable. However her point – that false alarms are all too easy to set up on twitter – was valid. Lord John Prescott firmly opposed the Prime Minister’s proposition, stating that social networking is a source of good as there are more people who reap the benefits of it than who are disadvantaged, including the police. This debate was informative, however it would have benefited from a prior defining of some terms, as some time was spent arguing over trivial matters.
The Economist. (2011). The BlackBerry Riots: Rioters Used BlackBerrys Against The Police; Can Police Use Them Against Rioters? The Economist, August 13th, pp 11 – 12.
The Economist magazine published its articles anonymously, it is difficult to research the journalist’s background and find a bias. As it is, the article is a factual piece and there is little bias to be found. Also, the Economist is a reputable and high quality magazine which secures the accuracy of information and credible viewpoint of the article.
The Economist assumes that their readers are of the opinion that social networking orchestrated the national unrest. The article investigates police using social networking against rioters and looters and questions whether this would be possible. The answer is affirmative: the Data Protection Act, which normally prevents companies from sharing such information, has a get-out clause for cases where it is clear that a crime has been committed. So too does this article refer to the revolutions in the Middle East, linking them with those in London through their connection to social media. However the scope and depth between the two are seen as wanting. As in Bernard Keane’s Crikey report, this article takes the viewpoint that, as Louise Mensch’s stated in the Sky News interview “any comparison between these riots and those in Egypt are so ridiculous as to be called laughable”.
By analysing these four different forms of media: academic and peer reviewed book chapter, less critiqued (and thus, less reliable) online article, television debate and published magazine article, it is possible to investigate and evaluate the value of British Prime Minister David Cameron proposal to restrict the use of social networking services. The sources suggest that perhaps a new code of ethics in the face of the emergence of web 2.0 technologies will need to be instituted.
Reference list
Black, S. (2011) About Crikey! Retrieved 20th October, 2011 from site http://www.crikey.com.au/about/
Bruns, A. (2010). Towards a Broader Framework for User-Led Content Creation. Retrieved 20th October, 2011 from site http://docs.google.com/viewer?a=v&q=cache:Lw8KhDXrl3UJ:citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/ download?doi%3D10.1.1.105.3421%26rep%3Drep1%26type%3Dpdf+Produsage+demonstrates+the+changed+content+production+value+chain+model+in+collaborative+online+environments&hl=en&gl=au&pid=bl&srcid=ADGEESgIgn-nFRkkCh- AwyiH2pCgsj8wN3M15f1kX7M5XzITxbZXipNKK29VCkBat1y_QALkpdFd4PHuyVgvTqEl2tSL9uZZmT14zIRCfE225UIaOgPR_7Fh5ZHdNv2AGhYXz-aHluJL&sig=AHIEtbTa5n4ZgRmZ0mEmNxdKVqJ74Jr3Hw
The Guardian (Producer). (2011). London Riots: Social Media Bosses Questioned – Video [THE GUARDIAN ONLINE]. Available from http://www.guardian.co.uk/uk/video/2011/sep/16/uk-social-media-chiefs-questioned-video
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