noorhangriffiths

[noorhangriffiths]

I am a volunteer journalist at Restorative Change as it is an organisation which follows the Domestic Abuse Restorative Family Approaches.

They have launched a new campaign to fight against men domestic abuse, I have created this flyer to prompt our event at the University of South Wales, Atrium Campus.

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Does the concept of the ‘public interest’. In relation to journalism ethics, need to be reminded? If so, how exactly?

·      Introduction:

The meaning behind the word ‘public interest’ got misused in a lot of cases and it is not easy to define since not all the public are interested in the same subjects. Jane Johnston (2017: np) throughout her article she found a different definition of the public interest from a variety of people and one of them was Christ Wheeler expressing his opinion by saying that this term is used a lot, nevertheless, it is the least explain and understand.

There has been a long process of arguments regarding on how much freedom to give to the media for expression and where do we draw the red line and respect the individuals’ private lives and stop leaking private information. The structure throughout this essay consists of ten points analysing and investigating the meaning behind public interest.

·      The meaning of public interest:

The historical meaning of public interest means according to The Ethical Journalism Network (undated: np) is what for the good and matters to each person in society. Though in recent decades, it is come to be used with the meaning of what interests the public, which means gossip as it is human nature as a lot of us like to gossip, however, in most cases, a lot of people see it that it is not in the public interest.

Since day one, journalism was all about making sure to inform the people on what is happening in any subject so they can have a democratic society. Lynette Sheridan Burns and Benjamin J Matthews (2002: np) shared their opinions regarding public interest or public good, they are the people who have the rights from the journalist to tell them the “things they need to have the right to know” about.

·      Freedom of expression for the public interest:

Each person has their own thoughts and ideas and everyone should have the chance of expressing themselves especially if it is in the public interest. Ashley Savage (2016: 262) urges in her book that every individual have the right to freedom of expressions, however, this “freedom of expression “can be very difficult to justify when a piece of particular information does not apply for the interest of the public. You always have to have a reason why you want to publish certain information.

Because of this freedom a lot of people are in a position of authority to leak private information’s and they think they have the right to interfere in someone’s life using the excuse that it is for the public interest, although, in most cases a fair amount of people see it as it is just interesting to the public and filling the gap in the news pages.

In my opinion, freedom of expression is fundamental in a decametric society. Once there is regulation on freedom of expression there will be no point of delivering news because people will doubt the accuracy of the news that is presented to them because of the regulation.

If we will have restricted laws on a journalist it will be a big dilemma because there will be a lot of stories will be uncovered, therefore, there will be people outside will feel a bit comfortable doing what they want, as they know the attention they may receive from the media will be diminished. Sport Direct scandal is one of the examples when a journalist uncovered how the staff were being treated in the warehouse and not been paying the minimum wage when the owner Mike Ashely is the 22ndwealthiest individual in the UK.

·      Media dilemma:

The past years the media industry especially the journalists is facing a very big dilemma David E. Morrison et al (2007: 311) in there book Media and Values the authors strongly believe the media mainly the press have a significant dilemma whereby the general public simply do not have trust for the press, for instance, the police force is well trusted throughout the country to be able to intrude into privacy as they are doing this within the confines of the law.

The reason why media outlets especially the press cannot be trusted with this invasion of privacy is, they are not acting on behalf of the people’s interest but rather “what they do is largely done out of self-interest, even though it might be in the public interest.”

I believe that in that the media industry in this era up to a certain level they think about themselves regarding their income and how to attract people’s attention to read on online articles and how to get more clicks so in that way they can attract more advertising companies. Daily mail was exposed by rewriting news stories from other websites and published them on their website.

The House of Commons (2003: 11) believes these are the two main methods for media intrusion. A lot of these methods can be illegal but the journalist always justified it that he or she did it for the public interest. However, can a journalist get away from getting important information in an illegal way?

The parliament publications (2012: np) which I agree on published what Nick Davies said that he sees the journalist as a normal citizen who does not have the right to break the law but, he referred that all of the citizens have the right to break the law if it is an extreme circumstance under very morally sensitive situations. The thought of me agreeing on what he said because I think most of the better quality stories come from breaking the law and the rules.

·      Method of newsgathering:

The first form is unethical newsgathering which includes the use of long lens cameras, hidden cameras, phone hacking or interference of emails to peer in or around private fields. Which it affected a lot of people’s lives in a direct way, for example, the famous case of the phone hacking when editor Rebekah Brooks hacked Milly Dowler phone when she was kidnapped.

The purpose of a long lens so the objects can appear magnified. It is used in most cases for famous people to see what they are doing within their personal lives. The second method is the traditional method, trying to gather private information from the public, for example, the police, BT, private detective agencies.

·      BBC survey regarding public interest:

In the UK most of the different media industry intrudes in people’s lives but not all of them does this frequently. To know more about the relation between the media industry and public interests. I found different surveys searches that the BBC did (2002: pp) which relates to media and public interest. On the first table, it showed if the main media truly serve the public interest. BBC TV had the highest percentage however, Channel 5 got a low percentage of public interest as it had mixed opinions on it.

The media covers a lot of material so table number two shows how much media coverage should be given to certain subjects. It showed the public is interested to know about the details of a serious crime rather than watching the lives of film stars which is called ‘reality TV’. The last table shows peoples opinion on different types of media that tries to intrude people’s private lives. It is been known for years that the tabloid newspapers do this so they took the highest percentage.

·      Publishing private information and revealing someone’s identity:

Confidentiality is a serious test of ethical journalism and it should be respected. It must be the number one moral in any journalist and be reiterated often. The reason why is because not only can it affect people’s lives in a direct or indirect way but, furthermore, there is an enormous amount of people who do not want to be the highlight of the day.

Nevertheless, I believe there are some circumstances where journalists have to reveal a person’s identity. Ethical Journalism Network (undated: np) suggested that journalist have one exception to intrude into private lives. Firstly, people who heavily rely on their public image for their income, for instance, politicians. Secondly, people who have a duty to the public like, police officers, doctors, and teachers.

The second point is justified by that their private affairs could have an essential effect on their public responsibilities. An example of this, the Metro newspaper published about the MP Andrew Griffiths sexting a barmaid and her friend. Within this point, I disagree with the Ethical Journalism Network up to a certain point.

Every job has public responsibilities and everyone relays on their image for their income. Digging in someone’s private life just to find if they are doing something wrong is known to be unethical, furthermore, it is hard to deny that it is interesting. Even if a journalist did not dig into a person’s life that does not mean it stops there.

As Philip Petit said in his book (2001: np) “In all cases, someone lives at the mercy of others. That person is dominated by those others in the sense that even if the others don’t interfere in his or her life.” Additionally, there should a law just for protecting the person’s identity in some cases just because it could take a person’s life or he/she could put their lives in danger and some of them they take their own lives just because they are on the spotlight.

Jacintha Saldannha is a big example of that, the nurse who committed suicide three days after falling for a phone prank as part of a radio show. Her identity was realised by the media, till this day no know knows the reason why she did that, but, in my opinion, I think it was widely reported thus, a lot of the people feel pressure from the media, therefore, they will feel the pressure from other people around them.  

In my opinion, leaking privet information can be justified if privet information is important. Every a journalist has to have considered when revealing the person’s identity to the world, even if a journalist thinks that person has to be identified because they did something good or bad, because there is a fair amount of people out there does not want to identify if they did something good. Unless a person is potentially dangerous to society then their identity should be revealed.

Journalists are trained to get certain information, for example, name, age, address and occupation. Because of these information, I believe it gives context to a news story. But, if the journalist is not careful and irresponsible there intervention can have very serious consequences.

·      How to know what is in the public interest:

It is difficult to know if a certain news story whether it is in the public interest or interest of the public. That is why ICAEW (undated: np) did a report on public interest. They created a diagram (refer to diagram 1) that outlines the seven significant parts. In the last point “implementation” It gave a quick solution for a journalist to know whether this subject is a public interest or not. And that is to think of the effect of the publication and if society will benefit from it or not.  

If the journalist started to apply this rule there will be a lot of cases not covered. I strongly agree with ICAEW point, to illustrate my argument here is an example. Back in 2017  and after what happened in Grenfell Tower most media tried to focus on covering the humanity side story, here is one example out of a hundreds, ITV recently shared a story of one of Grenfell survivor and this is the headline of the report “Grenfell survivor recalls last phone call with friend killed in blaze” (2018, np) as a result of these many stories, the society is standing with them and fighting for their rights.

I can conclude that you cannot know if a news story is in the public interest or not because each individual will have a different reaction to it. In the end, the journalist is working for the people and as David H. Weaver and Lars Willnat (2012: 161) believe in their book “The journalist finds it important to be representative of the public.” in the end, the journalist is working for the people and has a strong voice on behalf of them to deliver new stories.

·      The relationship between news values and the public interest :

News can be divided into lots of categories such as sports news, politics news and so on, that shows how much news values can be found in each news story and how much the public is interested because if they are not, the media would not have a whole category for a certain thing. According to David E. Morrison et al (2007: 261) “Public interest and news values interact in the most complex manner.” They explain further sometimes news value “masquerades” as a public interest and vice versa. In my view, there is a direct correlation between news values and public interest.

The simplest way to define public interest is that anything that can be made newsworthy can subsequently be within the public interest. I believe in each story it can affect the public in a direct or indirect way.

To explain my point further, here is an example, the next day of Bonfire night 2018, Metro newspaper published on their first page about a group of people were laughing and mocking as they burned a model of Grenfell Tower (refer to image 1). The majority of people will say that it is just an informative piece of news and it does not affect them in any way.

What I think it is much more than an informative story because it may have affected them in an indirect way, as they are now aware that there are people out there who are mocking others tragedies and those who read this news story would subconsciously take this into consideration when there are informing others of their problems. The neighbourhood of these group of people who are living there is definitely been effected when the read this news.

News generally falls into one of three categories, positive news, negative news such as a women dying unexpectedly while visiting gym (refer to image 3) and finally informative news which people may not see much particular interest in, though, they still required to be informed just to know what is happening around them, Brexit is one of the biggest examples for this category (refer to image 4). Jeremy Iggers (2018: 8) backs up what I said, the reason why journalism is surviving it is that of the public, therefore, the public needs journalism to know themselves and what interests them. I believe news is very necessary in modern times and journalists being at the forefront of the news industry are also a necessity.

·      Conclusion:

In conclusion, the journalists have a strong voice on behalf the people and because of that they need always to maintain their work ethics thus they can defend their actions in the public interest according to Stuart Allan (2009: np) there are two vital value journalistic morals, one, is always telling the truth, too, act in the public interest and their good. Furthermore, always knowing how much do you have freedom of expression and lawyer refer to a lawyer so you can know how much you can push.

Image 1.

Image 2.

Image 3.

Image 4.

Table number one.

Table number two.

Table number three.

Diagram one.

Bibliography.

Anon. (2018)Grenfell survivor recalls last phone call with friend killed in blaze. Available at:

https://www.itv.com/news/2018-10-08/grenfell-survivor-recalls-last-phone-call-with-friend-killed-in-blaze/ (Accessed on: 11th October 2018). Np.

Anon. (undated). Is it in the Public’s Interest?.Available at: https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/the-public-interest(Accessed on: 11thOctober 2018). Np.

Anon. (2012) CHAPTER 3: Legal and regulatory issues. Available at: https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/ld201012/ldselect/ldcomuni/256/25606.htm(Accessed on: 15thOctober 2018). Np.

Anon. (2012) Available at:  https://ethicaljournalismnetwork.org/the-public-interest(Accessed on: 15thOctober 2018). Np.

Anon. (undated). ACTING IN THE PUBLIC INTREST: A FRAMEWORK FOR ANALYISI.Available at: https://www.icaew.com/-/media/corporate/files/technical/ethics/public-interest-summ-web.ashx(Accessed on: 15thOctober 2018). Pp

Anon. (undated). What are your thoughts on reality Television shows?. Available at: http://www.teach-nology.com/poll/71.php(Accessed on: 15thOctober 2018). Np.

Allan, S. (2009) The Routledge Companion to News and Journalism. Taylor and Francis e-Library. Available at:            

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=YHSNAgAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=why+is+public+interest+important+journalism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLitjYufDeAhWSzqQKHW1LDu4Q6AEIMzAB#v=onepage&q=why%20is%20public%20interest%20important%20journalism&f=false (Accessed on: 25th November 2018). Np. 

Burns, S. L. and Mathews, J. B. (2002) Understanding Journalism. 3rd edn.SAGE. Available at:  

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=6EdQDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=why+is+public+interest+important+journalism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjLitjYufDeAhWSzqQKHW1LDu4Q6AEIODAC#v=onepage&q=why%20is%20public%20interest%20important%20journalism&f=false (Accessed on: 25th November 2018). Np.        

House of Commons Culture, Media and Sport Committee. (2003). Privacy and media Intrusion.Volume 1. Available at:  https://publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm200203/cmselect/cmcumeds/458/458.pdf (Accessed on: 23th October 2018). Pp. 11.

Iggers, J. (2018) Good News, Bad News: Journalism Ethics And The Public Interest.Routledge. Available at:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=MJVLDwAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover&dq=what+is+ublic+interest+journalism&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwjtm-Wx1-reAhUTW8AKHdtwDv0Q6AEIKDAA#v=onepage&q=what%20is%20public%20interest%20journalism&f=false (Accessed on: 23th November 2018). Pp 8.

Johnston, J. (2017) Whose interests? Why defining the ‘public interest’ is such a challenge. Available at: https://theconversation.com/whose-interests-why-defining-the-public-interest-is-such-a-challenge-84278(Accessed on: 25th November 2018). NP.

Morrison, E. A. and Svennevig, M. (2002) The Public Interest, the Media and Privacy.Available at:  http://downloads.bbc.co.uk/guidelines/editorialguidelines/research/privacy.pdf(Accessed on: 11th October 2018). Pp.

Morrison. D. E. Kieran, M. Svennevig, M. and Ventress, S. (2007) Media & Values: Intimate Transgressions in a Changing Moral and Cultura.Intellect Books. Available at: https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CdYgPMblyEUC&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false(Accessed on: 19th November 2018). Pp 261.

Morrison, E. D. Kieran, M and Svennevig, M. (2007)Media & Values: Intimate Transgressions in a Changing Moral and Cultural Landscape. Intellect Books. Available at:  https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=CdYgPMblyEUC&pg=PA294&lpg=PA294&dq=various+media+are+to+intrude+into+people’s+privacy?&source=bl&ots=qqW3GSDee3&sig=VrRbGSDF0eN8LC-kG6eCOkFvC9U&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwip1_z9qYjeAhXVFsAKHdSbBd8Q6AEwB3oECAMQAQ#v=onepage&q=various%20media%20are%20to%20intrude%20into%20people’s%20privacy%3F&f=false(Accessed on: 24th October 2018). Pp. 311.

Petit, P. (2001) A Theory of Freedom: From the Psychology to the Politics of Agency. John Wiley & Sons.Available at:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=HF22ZfDpBvoC&pg=PT161&dq=is+it+okay+to+interfere+someone+life&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwi4i_6D0dneAhXJL1AKHbAEAb0Q6AEINjAC#v=onepage&q=is%20it%20okay%20to%20interfere%20someone%20life&f=false(Accessed on: 16th November 2018). Np.

Savage, A. (2016) Leaks, Whistleblowing and the Public Interest: The Law of Unauthorised Disclosure.Edward Elgar Publishing. Available at:  https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=bWnPDAAAQBAJ&printsec=frontcover#v=onepage&q&f=false(Accessed on: 11th October 2018). Pp. 262.

Weaver, H. D. and Willnat, L. (2012) The Global Journalist in the 21st Century. Routledge. Available at:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=qVffowsrMRMC&pg=PA161&dq=role+of+journalist&hl=en&sa=X&ved=0ahUKEwiompm5kfDeAhWQsKQKHZANDhAQ6AEIVzAH#v=onepage&q=role%20of%20journalist&f=false (Accessed on: 25th November 2018). Pp 161.

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The effect of Brexit on businesses

Thousands of EU workers are employed in business around Cardiff. We sent out our reporter Noorhan Al-ani to Cardiff City Centre as managers are concerned about how Brexit will affect their business as there is a possibility with no- deal Brexit. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sNgd4o-Ru_Y

DUR- 2:07

IN- I am standing

OUT- Future holds for them

Social media post- 

https://twitter.com/NoorhanAnii/status/1085577706438311936 

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The effect of Brexit on businesses

Whether small and private or big and well-known, businesses are concerned about how Brexit will affect their trade.

Bill’s in Cardiff Central is a part of a big chain of restaurants that has over 70 buildings across the UK. One of the managers, Kimberly Glosser, said: “It is actually scary to think about what we would do if Brexit was actually going to happen.

“It will affect businesses, not just us, but everywhere in Cardiff, everywhere in Britain. The majority of our staff are not from Wales, so I think it will massively affect British businesses.

“Everyone is trying to block it out because the idea of this happening seems surreal and it seems that nobody actually has put a plan in place.”

Natalia, who is a Polish waitress working at Polish café ‘Ania’ in Adamsdown, believes Brexit will not complicate working and living in the UK. She said: “If you are a hard working person, you will find a job anyway, it does not matter if you are British or Portuguese or Polish.”

Dr Robert Campbell, an Academic Manager at the University of South Wales in Cardiff, explained how Brexit, whether it happens or not, might affect the university.

He said: “I worry, personally, that students from European countries may not feel welcomed because of the changes that Brexit will bring into British education. However, I have not personally seen any evidence of that yet and they get a great welcome here and in Wales.

“Yes, we would, of course, regret any drop off in students applying because although we are not a business, much of our income is from student fees and we need to balance our books in order to deliver all the good teaching and research.” 

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The Big Issue sellers set to take card payments as bosses react to dwindling sales

The Big Issue magazine sellers will soon be able to take card payments as well as cash.

With sales of the 28-year-old street magazine having dwindled, bosses at the Big Issue Foundation are looking to make buying the £2.50 publication more convenient for consumers.

It is also hoped the card machines will help vendors keep track of, and manage their money more effectively.

The Big Issue sales manager David Rees said: “We are looking at the future of money. Last year was the first year people spent in the UK spent more on cards than in cash.

“We are now looking at how to improve the future for vendors and if we can get them good access to card machines.”

But those selling The Big Issue in Cardiff voiced concerns about having to use the machines.

Morris Richards, a former builder, said: “I do not want a card machine, eventually I might have one if I am still in the game that long.

“If you sell a few magazines and it goes into your bank account, the bank wants to know where your money is coming from.

Dean Williams, another seller, added: “I’d probably get more sales but it is down to trust.

“Will people trust giving out their cards and details to total strangers? I would not if I am honest. I am a bit sceptical when it comes to cards on the street. “

The Big Issue was founded to offer homeless people, or those at risk of being homeless, a chance to earn their own income.

The hope is that they will then find it easier to re-integrate into mainstream society.

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USW chaplain named gay role model of the year

The Associate Chaplain at the University of South Wales (USW), has been named Stonewall’s Gay Role Model of the Year.

Reverend Ray Vincent is a Baptist Minister at the University and has helped assist LGBT students as well as running the LGBT network.

He came out as gay in 1966 when he was 30 years old, three years before homosexuality was decriminalised in the UK.

Rev Vincent said: “I want to be an encouragement to other people and to reassure them. For a lot of people, it still isn’t all that easy to be lesbian, gay, bisexual or trans. People still find it very problematic because of the attitude of others.”

After receiving this award, he feels says he feels more challenged to help people embrace themselves. He is very passionate about making people feel comfortable and helping them be true to who they are.

He said: “It’s best to have the kind of society where everyone is accepted for who they are.”

He also said: “You can’t change people’s behaviour and attitudes just by passing laws. The laws are there to stop people doing things they shouldn’t do. It’s not so easy to change people’s basic attitudes.”

Rev Vincent does a lot of campaigning and hopes to raise more awareness for the LGBT community.

The award is part of Stonewall’s annual awards list that recognises gay, lesbian, trans and bisexual role models in the workplace.

Twelve Welsh companies made it to the UK’s Top 100 LGBT inclusive employers, with the National Assembly coming first in Wales and fifth in the UK.

Rev Vincent believes that this award is great for people who are thinking of coming to the University of South Wales as it shows a welcoming and accepting community, no matter who you are.

Maximus Brodie, second year Media Production student at USW, said support for the LGBT communities is very important, especially for students.

He said: “It didn’t surprise me when Ray won this award for his work with the LGBT community, especially with his work for the University. It’s a very inclusive University which is part of the reason I picked coming here and to such a diverse city like Cardiff.”

Max believes that the University and inspirational people like the assistant chaplain getting this type of recognition are wonderful for students thinking of studying at USW. He said: “I think it’s very vital that universities like ours get this coverage.

“We’re in 2019 and more and more people should be comfortable for who they are. Seeing places like USW and people like Ray  getting this recognition would probably encourage many people to come to this uni knowing that they’ll be safe and they have someone to talk to.”

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Citizens' Assembly with the new First Minister

Mark Drakeford is the new First Minister of Wales has been making big efforts to try and show that he is a different kind of politician who listens to the members of the community. We send out reporter Noorhan Al-ani to a community event at Cardiff University to see how he dealt with solving some of the problems hitting local communities.

TV PKG:

 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dDSi3d4e82k

Links to social media posts: 

https://twitter.com/NoorhanAnii/status/1096792881849880577

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The Big Issue magazine is going to provide their vendors card machines so people do not need to carry cash to buy the magazines. The organization says is still working on raising the budget for the technology. Noorhan Al-ani has more. 

TV/ PKG

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=72i5ePjCW5w

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Suddenness protestors have gathered in Cardiff to highlight the problem in their country. They urge the Uk Parliament to act on the Suddenness regime. Noorhan Al-ani reports.

TV PKG:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AjBjRCj9amI

Links to posts on social media:

https://twitter.com/NoorhanAnii/status/1089667639805440000

https://twitter.com/NoorhanAnii/status/1089664431989182465

https://www.instagram.com/p/BuBhZRinNTe/

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Cardiff music venue Gwdihw is to close at the end of Januar 2019, as the landlord decided not to renew the venue’s lease.

An employee at the venue James Dan expressed his opinion and what will happen next for Gwdihw Cafe Bar.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eeL_vnfD9LE 

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Me, Morgan Mortan and Bethan Amy James wanted to know how TV programmes affected Barry island business.

So we went to Barry Island and spoke with some of the business owners. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zrX9cx_q08U 

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Refill is a campaign encourages people to refill their reusable water bottles. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RBadz07NR_8 

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The All Wales BAME engagement programme hosted a seminar at the Bute Community Centre to discuss racism in Welsh schools and the lack of representation in the curriculum.

Through the seminar, alternative approaches to racism and stereotyping were introduced to promote equality. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57GuSAgwlI0 

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Funeral Poverty.

The funeral business is a one billion pound industry but there are a lot of dilemmas within this trade. Having an average funeral is an expensive business for the individuals and it can cost anywhere between £3000 up to £10000.

Ahmed Alssessi who is a funeral director in Cardiff talks about the main issues of funerals when he faces while providing the service to the families.

“The lack of supply of land, the cemetery can only provide graves for the next five years, I complained to the council recently, the plan is now, they only going to provide a bigger cemetery in Throne Hill.”

Ahmed believes this is not enough as all of the funerals directors especially for the faith funerals “They all look for a quick funeral on the same day or the next 48 hours and because of the regulations the funeral directors cannot do that."

He explains further the main reason why they cannot do this "There are no weekend services for the Registration of Death office in Penarth or Barry, therefore, we cannot registrant the death certificate."

In Cardiff, there is the Registration of Deaths office but funeral director are facing a big issue with it "From Monday to Friday we can only book a funeral if we register the death before 10:30 am as offices Opens at 9:00 am and the process takes three to four hours to complete.”

In Reading University a brief articles regarding funeral care (2018: 1) shows the UK faces more cultural diversity and therefore leads to diversity within funeral tasks.

The second main problem that Ahmad is facing is lack of education “People are not educated enough about how much funeral costs and how to properly handle a death.

But at the same time people should not be too educated about it because they might not be afraid of death therefore, they will not fight for own life, preparing yourself for your own funeral expensive is fundamental as the cost is going up.”

The SunLife found out in 2018 that the funerals in total cost £9,204. They predicted the cost of funerals will go up dramatically over the years, in 2023 the funeral over-all will charge £10.441.

https://www.sunlife.co.uk/how-much-does-a-funeral-cost-in-the-uk-today

Because lack of support and education Ahmad faced a lot of situations of people who struggle to accept the death of their loved ones and because of the long waiting they have to wait to bury the person it affected their mental health.

“There was a 29-year-old woman who her daughter passed away, one day at 6 am she called me to tell me that she is committing suicide.so I called the police and we managed to rescue her life at the last minute.”

https://youtu.be/7RC3f7VoYak

I asked one of the members of the public, James Dan, his opinion about funerals and the expensive “It is a necessary thing to have a ceremony to give someone a send-off. In grief, you spend a fair bit because you do not want that person down even they left. When you asked me the question I should put a budget from now.”

https://youtu.be/ZA45C3h75Wo

It is not only funerals directors or the council who benefit from the funeral business but also the average person, for instance, a makeup artist offers on Instagram “resting makeup service.”

People on Twitter expressed their opinions on how funerals are expensive and because of that, they prefer being cremated as it is less expensive.

Angelaliz_ twitted “I don’t want a funeral just cremate my body funerals are super expensive.” While Atrummedic expressed their opinion on Twitter “Can we discuss how expensive family funeral are?!.”

Other people on Twitter like Prachaelh expressed her opinion on how the public should start to support the individuals by paying funerals, food or their therapy.

“It is sudden and shocking, family members who are unable to work, covering siblings or close family member who may need therapy, food for those who do not have the time or energy to cook.”

[noorhangriffiths]

Gareth Thomas a former Welsh professional rugby footballer, was a victim of a homophobic attack by a 16- year old boy on a Saturday night in Cardiff.

Morgan Mortan, Morgan Huw Richards and Dan Rhydderch wanted to know what the LGBT organization thoughts on this incident. Therefore, I spoke with one of the members of the staff of Unite the Union.

[noorhangriffiths]

Camp America.

Young people are increasingly choosing to take time out after school or university, often to travel. One of the popular destinations in the USA and hundreds of would-be travellers explored their options today as Camp America recruitment fair came to Cardiff.

Morgan Morton and I want to know what Camp America offers and why so many young people are so keen to this kind of opportunity.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dQzzVV4thXk&t=1s

[noorhangriffiths]

Does newspaper have a future?

There are debates about two words who are often getting linked, commodification and tabloidization. In this era we are witnessing commodification, it argues that journalism now it is all about making money and it had become a commodity to be sold rather than public good, the idea that journalism is all about seeking and speaking the truth is fading more and more with time. The ‘tion’ word indicates processing and changing and that things are changing right before our eyes.

In the chart A we can notice significant changes from the 1940s till now, the first thing that you will notice when you hold a newspaper from the 1940s is how tiny the print is and how light the papers are as shown in picture 1.

Chart B we can notice the upmarket papers (broadsheet) their growth has been modest in sales and the downmarket (tabloid) have grown the most and we can notice a general increase of the tabloid culture. The Sun newspaper sales more copies than any other newspapers as chart C shows us gradually who sales more although, in the chart, D demonstrate sales of different years of each newspaper, overall the trend is being towards the tabloid becoming more prevalent and dominant.

Chart A.

Picture 1.

Chart B.

Chart C.

Chart D.

According to Richard Sambrook (2017, np) newspapers are in an era of technology and they are trap by the social media intruders and are taking readers and profits. A website called  Future Exploration Network (undated, np) predicated UK newspapers will die by the year 2019, which it does not seems like that. I believe 20 years from now the broadsheet newspapers will be gone and the tabloid needs an extra 30 years to completely disappear from the UK if they stay on the traditional way.

An essay wrote by a student (2015, np) stating the reason why newspapers could live longer in other countries because of the low Internet availability in developing countries, and in some of them, the situation is not going to be changed in coming decades. Utilizing from Internet usage statistics (Internet World Stats) in the Middle East, Africa and Oceania/Australia the availability of the Internet is very low, comparing to Asia, Europe and North America. Northwestern University in Qatar (2016, Pp 83) found out that newspaper is dropping and challenging news online in the middle east as when can see from the charts. I think to avoid this issue, the government should make the people pay a newspaper licence and post it on social media days after they publish it on paper.

The 20thcentury has been a big era for the British newspaper. I believe newspapers provide an important service for the world and it is the first draft of history. If newspapers do not vanish in the future, they will probably change their format and reduce the number of printed copies as the figures show how much people read on mobile.