The Current Situation: Isreal and Gaza

Israel was originally a Jewish State and has been under the rule of many different civilisations including Persian, Roman and Byzantine to name a few. In 132 AD the Bar Kokhba revolution against the Roman Empire failed and about half a century later the Byzantine Emperor ordered a massacre and exile of the Jews causing possibly the lowest population ever.

After WW1 the League of Nations approved the British Mandate of Palestine with the purpose of creating a home for the Jewish people. In 1947, the United Nations approved the partition of Palestine. One Jewish and one Arab. In 1948, the Jewish state declared independence of the British Mandate of Palestine.

After declaring independence the surround Arab countries declared war on Israel refusing to accept its independence. Since then many disputes and wars have followed, in which Israel essentially winning and keeping its independence. However, since 1948, the Jews have created a growing established economy and are rated highest in the Middle East for Human development and freedom of press. So it is fair to ‘steal’ and destroy what the Israeli Jews have worked for?

Since 2002 Hamas, which is a Palestinian Sunni Islamist paramilitary organisation and now a parliamentary party, has fired more than 6,000 rockets and mortar shells at Israeli towns and settlements. Hamas won an election in the Gaza strip and took power in 2007.

Hamas was voted in by about 2/3 of the Palestinian residents of Gaza through fear and a need of a strong disciplined party to fight for their rights. When elected Hamas quickly dominated the Gaza Strip which forced the other party Fatah, to disband the unity government and create a new government without Hamas.

Hamas are said to have done a lot for their Palestinian population including providing public services, mosques and schools. Although their true disregard for their citizens is shown in their deployment of Qassam rockets from densely populated areas in the knowledge that retaliation from Israel would cause many civilian deaths. This would cause bad publicity to Israel through the hostile and condemning world media.

As fundamentally anti-semantic, Hamas are creating a terrible impression of the Israeli Jews, through media creating moral panic in the international communities with death tolls and apparently lack of aid. Although Hamas continued firing rockets at the cost of an Israeli barricade blocking aid workers.

It has been reported that Hamas have sufficient stores of food and aid, these factors show how corrupt this tyrannous organisation is who terribly suppress journalists or anyone who opposes politicisation of sermons at mosques.

The human right watch have declared the rocket attacks are an unequivocal violation of the laws of war and illegally wreak punishment upon groups of innocent civilians. I think we need to bear that in mind as the world condemns Israel for their so called disproportionate retaliation.

What we really need to think about at this stage is who are feeding this problem, who stands behind the weapons? US State dept have stated that Iran is funding Hamas and possibly training Hamas soldiers. Iran in my opinion is part of this organisation in order to detract attention from themselves to create weapons of mass destruction. In addition the Israel and Syria Peace talks will now collapse, ensuring Syria will not detach from Iran, therefore Hezbollah keeping strength through Syria.

In my opinion Israel forces on mass should go through Gaza with a fine tooth comb, remove all weapons and block the secret tunnels from Egypt to stop the weapon imports.

Let's all jump on the eco band wagon!

It seems that saving the environment and being ecological has turned into another celebrity fad. It is interesting though how the nation tries to encourage people to use less plasic bags, thumbs up for that!

However, it would surely be more efficient to re use your plasitc bags rather than buying a new bag,(with the label THIS IS NOT A PLASTIC BAG) which is not made out of plastic, but i guess our consumerist ways will never end, especially when most people are trying to look like fashionable eco warriors when really they are just being plain stupid! a good example of this would be a celebrity. You would think a person with so much status and power would try a little bit harder to show people, id like to see the day when Victoria Beckham re uses a tesco carrier bag.

So for those of you who want some eco tips, re use bags dont buy more, recycle clothing and buy clothes from charity shops, re use sandwhich bags and dont buy lunch (think about cutting down on packgaging) remember the less you buy the more money you save and hopefully we can stop the amount of industrial waste we have all over the world!

Please make criticisms or agreements on this issue: )

Freedom of speech, does it still exist?

Press Focus: Media Law Article

Urgent Change needed in Libel laws to defend Journalists Journalists are calling out for a change in the present libel laws which govern the publishing of defamatory statements. Freedom of speech seems to be dissolving, as the claims against publications win court cases due to the complicated and hard to prove libel laws and defences. Claimants who believe they have been defamed and hold stature and wealth, can easily afford to pay the court fees, and can be awarded huge damage payments. In cases of defamation the Journalist or publication has some defences, although these can be very hard to prove in court. In these times, a Journalist must collect evidence to support and prove their story in court.

Evidence of the high fees Lawyers are now charging for claims of libel in court, has led Labour MP for Rotherham, Dennis MacShane, to call for limitations on their legal fees. These high fees ensure poorer members of society are not able to defend themselves from defamation or claim damages caused by these defamatory statements. Modern libel and slander laws originally descended from English defamation law, the law’s history is somewhat obscure. Civil actions for damages were frequent as long ago as the reign of Edward I (1272-1307), the first fully reported case of libel being widely accepted as punishable within common law was tried in the reign of James I (1566-1625). Inside defamation (also called calumny and vilification); there are two forms from which the common law origins of defamation derive. Libel, which is committed by publishing a defamatory statement in a permanent form or slander, which covers defamatory statements of unrecorded speech.

Although a statement may be derogatory, certain circumstances allow this to be permissible in the law. In some defences against defamation the claimant has a much easier position proving defamatory statements in a court of law. The claimant must prove to the jury, that the statement complained of was defamatory, that it refers to the claimant in question and that the statement was published, in order to claim for damages. For the defendant, usually a journalist, proof against defamation, as decreed by law, is much more difficult, the main reason for being the fact a court views defamatory statements as false unless the defendant can prove otherwise.

Although as a journalist you can always document your evidence to bring before the jury but as some cases show this is not always enough. Director of the English branch of PEN, Jonathan Heawood, said in December, “We don’t want to be scared of making those statements because a really wealthy individual or corporation can simply slap a writ on you” This statement truly describes the feeling among publishing writers in society today, a fear of having the book thrown at you for freedom of speech. When a journalist has made a true mistake there is the defence ‘offer of amends’, however a claimant may challenge the defence by proving the writer or publisher did indeed know the words were defamatory and false or did know the words referred to the claimant.

Another defence against defamation is ‘justification’, in Taylforth v News Group Newspapers (1994), The Sun were able to successfully use ‘justification’ against Ms. Taylforth as they had a police witness to give evidence for their defence that the claimant and her partner were seen having oral sex in a parked car. A crucial issue today and a strong defence, is ‘fair comment’ in which a defendant must prove the statement complained of was not a fact but an opinion, that it was a matter of public interest, any facts the comment was based on are true and the comment was made without malice (which essentially means it was made honestly). Although ‘fair comment’ can be just as difficult and prejudiced as the other defences for example; In Galloway v Telegraph Group Ltd. (2006), the court of appeal denied the Telegraphs appeal against the Labour MP’s victory stating he was not received money from Saddam Hussein’s regime. They remained to say a headline featured, which read “damming new evidence” was not a comment but a statement that the Telegraphs evidence stated Mr. Galloway was guilty. Journalism’s purpose is to inform the public of issues within the public’s interest, but the law and juries the way they are now are strangling freedom of speech with particular and detailed conditions of publication.

In 2006, the Evening Standard criticised Gordon Ramsey’s television programme claiming some scenes were faked, once proved to be a false claim Ramsey won £75,000. Although mistaken it is difficult to decide whether the Evening Standard were not merely investigating, perhaps mistakenly for the public’s interest. Human right lawyer Geoffrey Bindman backs a review of the libel law, he said “There is a difficult balance to be struck between freedom of expression and the protection of the innocents from damaging falsehoods and invasion of legitimate privacy. In Britain, the pendulum has swung too far towards censorship” As we can understand from this human rights lawyer that freedom of speech and the defence of fair comment are rapidly disappearing or becoming more obscure. In the Cruise v Express Newspapers (1998) court case, Mrs. Kidman and her husband of the time Tom Cruise, won a 6 figure sum from the Express. This was after the paper falsely claimed their marriage was only to hide the fact they were both homosexual. The paper was obviously derogatory and could cause damage to their reputation and livelihood; however the claimants being wealthy A-list celebrities hardly needed a 6 figure damages sum. This is why some critics are unhappy with the concept of a jury, ‘plucking from thin air’ a figure for compensation and damages.

Another very serious and undermining problem within the libel laws as they stand presently is a growing problem which critics are calling ‘libel tourism’. As Junior Justice Minister Bridget Prentice said in December in Parliament, the Government would also [like to] examine whether the civil law should be changed after MPs complained that wealthy foreigners were using British courts to silence investigative journalists. These problems, details and corruptions within defamation law are causing a disruption in the fine balance between the News and the Law. Investigative journalism is also greatly suffering with journalists scared to report, the government must act now and stop these phenomenal fees and courts cases over libel, slander and defamation.

Lingustic Signs Theory applied

This is my recent essay using the theories of signs and linguistics to decode a magazine advert for perfume. Theorising Mass Media: Semiotic analysis

The idea of semiotic analysis was first thought of by Ferdinand De Saussure, (1857-1913), a Swiss linguist who is known for his ideas which helped to develop the analysis of linguistics during the 20th century. Saussure tried to set scope on his study of linguistics, instead of studying language by the usual schools of theory like psychology, sociology and physiology; he decided to focus on a clearly defined object of study.

This object of study he called a ‘linguistic sign’, using Saussure’s ideas to analyse linguistics critics realised language is nothing more than a system of signs accepted by society. This idea is promoted by the fact a linguistic sign in one language or linguistic system usually has no meaning in another. Saussure explains, “A linguistic system is a series of differences of sound combined with a series of differences of ideas” (Storey, 2006, p.357) This idea of the system is reinforced by the fact it is not consciously entered into as we learn language as a child and have no other choice available and are also too young to choose.

In Saussure’s analysis of linguistic signs there are two components of a sign, firstly the vehicle which expresses the sign, the pattern of sounds which make the word, or the pattern of shapes and colours used in a photograph to represent the object. This pattern is called the ‘signifier’. The second component is the ‘signified’ which is mental concept or concepts called forth when processing the signifier, as Jonathan Bignall explains, “When you perceive the sign cat... you perceive a group of marks, the letters c, a and t which are the signifier... which immediately calls up the... concept of cat in your mind” (2002, p.12) Saussure states that a linguistic sign that has no connection with its sound, shape or the object it signifies is arbitrary. In the example above the sign for cat is arbitrary. Saussure also explains that the relationship of the two components is such that one cannot exist without the other. Another key theorist in the ideas of semiotic analysis is the American philosopher Charles Sanders Pierce, (1839-1914). Pierce explains signs best in the context of explaining logic, “Namely, a sign is something, A, which brings something, B, it’s interpretant sign [signified] determined or created by it, into the same sort of correspondence with something, C [referent], its object, as that in which itself stands to C.” (Jaquette, 2003, p.172)

Pierce used different terminology when explaining sign relations, however the meaning is the same. Pierce’s developments and distinctions on Saussure’s ideas are more relevant for the analysis of visual media using semiotic theory. One of Pierce’s most valuable distinctions is a development into the arbitrariness of a sign; signs characterised by this arbitrariness Pierce calls symbolic signs. Bignall describes Pierces ideas on visual media, “a photograph of a cat looks recognisably like a specific cat. The arrangement of shape and colour in the photograph the signifier... has a close resemblance to its referent... The signified is the concept of the cat” (2002, p.15) It is difficult in visual media to separate the signifier, signified and referent, therefore photographic media seems for realistic than linguistics.

Roland Barthes, (1915-80), a French literary critic, theorist and semiotician, influenced the development of many schools of theory including semiotics, structuralism and Marxism. Barthes further builds on the ideas and foundations of semiotics; his ideas and developments help us to analyse contemporary media using semiotic theory. Barthes explained that as signs are used to describe and interpret the world and therefore seems to simply denote or label it. However, along with the denotative functions of the sign to communicate facts, there are some extra associations, connotations. Connotations are concepts and ideas which come from the audience’s social experiences of the sign.

Just as Saussure states a sign cannot be separated from its significations, Barthes states signs cannot be separated from the addresser’s values, as the addresser always uses the sign for a specific purpose in a particular context. Related to connotation and denotation is what Barthes calls ‘myth’, he explains that for him, myths are dominant ideologies of our time. As Bignall explains, “ways of thinking about people, products, places or ideas which are structured to send particular messages to the reader or viewer of the text” (2002, p.16) Barthes argues that the two orders of signification, (denotation and connotation) combine to produce ideology. Barthes also argues it is more difficult to make a clear distinction when analysing images; an image uses focus and composition, among other things, and a viewer must determine things such as depth and size, in relation to signs within the picture.

An unedited photo could be called a definition of what the machine, a camera, is pointed at. This Pierce calls an indexical sign. However the advances of digital technology and it’s ever growing frequent use, are eroding the viewer’s confidence in the objectivity of photography. John Fiske makes the differentiation, “Denotation is what is photographed; connotation is how it is photographed” (1982, p.86)

The ideas of Barthes and other modern semioticians will help with an analysis of a modern picture; in the case of what I will analyse, a contemporary visual advertisement.

The image shows a female figure dressed elaborately, with many adornments including a variety of jewellery. The portrait posed figure stands in a blurred natural setting, as she looks confidently at the camera. The brand name, product name, catchphrase and product itself are superimposed into the image, enforcing the purpose of the advertisement. Advertised within the picture is a female perfume, using the idealised female figure to promote the addresser’s values, and the idea that this product will make the buyer an ideal woman.

Linguistic signs are seen within the image, such as the product name ‘princess’; a signifier naturally inseparable from the signified, the concept that anyone wearing this perfume like the figure will become youthful, royal, wealthy, dominant and the desire of men. Another linguistic signifier is scrawled in the bottom left of the image in the form of a handwriting statement, ‘Born to Rule’; like the previous both are in an archaic fanciful font. Drawn forth by this signifier is the signified, which enforces similar concepts of grandeur, female power and idealised beauty.

From the ideas of the semioticians, Pierce and Barthes, we are told that within visual media the components of a sign; the signifier, the signified and the referent cannot be easily separated. This creates an effect of reality; this can be seen in this arbitrary image as the advertisement has little to do with the product itself; however the viewers can be easily fooled by an idealised image. However I will deconstruct the visual signs within this advert to see how they relate to the audience of a fashion magazine, and separate the components in order to analyse the visual signs through the process of semiotic decoding.

The jewellery readily identifies itself to the reader; the jewel encrusted crown, silver and gold necklaces and crown shaped ring reflect the appearance of the product itself, and this represents the signifier. The referents in the image are physical metal bands representing wealth. The signified brings to mind femininity, wealth and beauty. The connotations Barthes describes as ‘myths’ which force the viewer to assume that this is a “privileged way of life” (Bignall, 2002, p.16). The pose held by the female is a sign itself, with signified ideas of confidence, feminine seduction. The direct gaze into the camera stereotypically represents female power and dominance over men. This pose is a myth structured to send a message to the viewer; this woman is independent, powerful and desirable, giving the viewer no alternate choice.

The blurred natural background, crown, elaborate dress and even linguistic signs connote a mythical fairytale narrative and scene, although this is merely an advert. The signifier is defined by the theorists as the shapes and colours on the flat surface of the image, the addresser has not used a huge variety of colours, and however, each colour has direct connotations.

The use of purple in both the jewels and the product connotes royalty, mystery and nobility. With the natural background and colour purple, the viewer is drawn to thinking of the delicacy of purple flowers, this signified has connotations of the delicacy of femininity.

The Grey colour of the female’s clothing, relate to the understated and simplistic silver necklace, the colour and its stark cool appearance, connote modernity, technology and futuristic style. The silver of the necklace denotes wealth and style, and the gold jewellery denotes wealth also, but with connotation of riches as gold is more precious than silver; they show power and position of the female figure.

The addresser has used a repeated heart motif; this geometric shape signifier represents femininity due to the stereotypical ideals that women are emotional, romantic and how women enjoy the romantic genre. This signified makes the viewer relate to ideologies of women and women’s interests The reason for these constant signs which reference the lifestyle and appearance of the female figure (and therefore buyer), rather than the product itself, is explained by Judith Williamson, “Advertisements are selling us something besides consumer goods; in providing us with a structure in which we, and those goods, are interchangeable, they are selling us ourselves” (Dyer, 1982, p. 116) These connotations signify the addressers intended ideas, because they are set for the particular audience’s social experiences and knowledge. All these signs are used as Barthes explains; to structure particular messages enforcing the addressers intended values and ideas upon the viewer.

Barthes also explains in his view that denotation and connotation combine to produce ideologies, a combination of facts, labels and the viewer’s social experiences. This image is mythical and stereotyped using contemporary dominant ideologies of women and beauty. For adverts in particular, and I feel particularly for this image, Gillian Dyer explains, “Ads are what some critics call ‘specific representation practises’ and produce meanings which cannot be found in reality” (1982, p.114) This describes who the ideologies and meanings we find when analysing advertisements have no real correlation in the real world or reality; these myths are used to control and influence the viewers.

Barthes explains that ideologies are ideas of ‘the Bourgeoisie’, which Barthes explains are, “the class of people who own or control the industrial, commercial and political institutions of the society. It is the interests of this class to maintain this stability of society, in order that their ownership, power and control can remain unchanged” (Bignall, 2002, p.24)

The ideologies used in this image are stereotypical notions of beauty, desirability and the idea sexual attraction is power. The female figure is shown to be tanned, slim, with messy hair and dark eyes; this is reinforcing how women should be, the stereotypical definition of a woman, and appearance being most important for a woman.

The image also contradicts the stereotypical notions of femininity, showing the female as dominant not passive, ‘Born to Rule’, she is not shown with a male partner but alone and independent. The image appears to be contradicting the social norms and stereotypical ideas of a patriarchal society; the female is stated to be ‘Born to Rule’ and is shown wearing a crown.

However the social norms of femininity are changing and this picture shows this as she looks directly at the camera standing alone. In contemporary society women do have power, can work and be self sufficient. David Gauntlett comments, “young women have a wide range of other assertive ‘girl power’ role models to choose from in magazines, movies and pop music” (2008, p.12) Although there are some connotations of modern femininity, the advertisement is still conforming to social norms. The female is still the object of male gazing and shown in a male’s opinion of femininity and beauty, although it is hard to differentiate between the two in society.

A feminist reading could be that the female shown is passive; she is trying to seduce men and therefore bowing down to their wants and wills. This is evident through the signified connotations of messy hair, tilted crown and the nervously mannerism of the pose playing the necklace hiding her face somewhat. She is not beautiful and desirable, merely submissive, a promiscuous woman with a facade of false royalty; although the linguistic signs promote power being promiscuous in a feminine reading would not be seen as powerful but as degrading. By creating a structure of myth and ideology, the addresser manages to lead the viewer with enforced and repeated signs into false and stereotypical values, purposely created, to sell a lifestyle and therefore the product.

Essay written by Danielle George(dee) December 2008

News coverage during the war!

Recently i have been studying the type of news coverage during the 1st gulf war and the war in Iraq. It saddened me to find out from undercover filming what was really going on and how the US military told bare face lies (this is fact) to all the journalists who had been embedded among the soldiers in Iraq.

The fact that journalists get to go with the army and report everyday makes you believe that you know what is really going on however if you take a step back you will realise that all these SELECTED journalists from the best institutes have a lot to loose. Living on a personal level with the soldiers makes it almost impossible for journalists to report anything in a negative light, after all these people are feeding, clothing and protecting them.

Obviously we cant just let journalists roam free and put the army in vulnerable position but even the where abouts of the journalists and where they get posted is controlled. for example all the journalists will get posted to the same place, this means that in a confined space there is no room for radical and opposing stories, only enough for all the stories to be somewhat similar, so this makes it easier for the army to filter the similar stories. Which brings me on to AL JAZEERA, a fantastic realistic view news broadcast which was set up in quatar for similar minded Arabs with opposing views to the control they live by. Although Al Jazeera may be rejected by some countries you must ask yourself why. This broadcast does not follow the typical conventions of news programming. Not motivated by political agenda however still discussing these issues on a level where no other channel would go.

AL JAZEERA openly accepts criticism of Arab governments and giving the view of the people ( not what we are brainwashed to believe what the public think). So it brings me on to say i would recommend watching this channel on sky TV and you can see for yourself what you make of it. Please leave some comments on what you think of it, im very open to criticism and debate : )

We don't own this earth it owns us! What are we doing? How can we be so lazy?

Global warming is a serious problem affecting our modern society, some choose to ignore it and others make a difference, which are you? Some natural factors have affected global warming it is not just humans! (Although we are at least major catalysts):

• The change in land masses and the constant moving of these land masses affects ocean currents and wind which in turn affects climate in different areas around the world.
• The tilt of the Earth is another factor, although widely thought the Earth's tilt is unchanging it is said that the angle of the tilt changes by little more than half a degree each century, this change is called precession. In the time of the Egyptians when the pyramids were built (around 2500BC) the pole was near the star Alpha Draconis rather than Polaris (the Pole Star). Precession affects seasons and climate, more tilt means colder winters and warmer summers, less tilt means milder winters and cooler summers.
• The vast stretches of open water that cover 71% of the earths surface also have an effect on the climate. Ocean phenomenon such as the Pacific Ocean's El Niño, which is a change in the temperature of surface water in the tropical Eastern Pacific, can affect climate and weather worldwide for a period of time afterwards.

We as humans are separating ourselves from nature by disrupting the harmony and destroying the beauty. We have developed several technological ways of polluting and harming the enviroment some of the most effective are as follows:

• Through our growing numbers, demand and greed we are taking more and more from the enviroment and putting less back. Humans have been affecting the build up of green house gases such as carbon dioxide since we began, cutting down trees reducing the amount of plant-life breathing in the carbon dioxide. Since the end of the 19th century (the industrial revolution) we have been increasing the amount of CO2 in the air through the invention of the motor engine and increase in burning of fossil fuels, on top of that cutting down frightening numbers of trees, this is now having an effect are we too greedy to care?
• Methane levels have over doubled since the industrial revolution, this is caused by livestock and Paddy feilds.
• We are also affecting something underground we cannot see happening, this is called permafrost. Permafrost is a solid structure extending as far down as 2,000 feet in some areas, it is made from frozen soil filled with roots, sticks, plants many of these said to date back as much as 30,000 years. Permafrost holds about 14% of the worlds carbon and if this starts to melt the carbon will be released but also the ground will become soft causing havoc to anything built above these areas found in Alaska, Canada, Siberia and Scandanavia.

TO BE CONTINUED

International Peace Conference

December 10th 2005, 10am-8pm

Royal Horticultural Hall , London , SW1P 2PE

Delegates from Iraq, USA and Uk will join at this conference to renew their bonds of solidarity and express their joint opposition to the war

To be part of this peave conference you must book your position, visit www.stopwar.org.uk!!!

Postmodernism

For the past 20 years sociologists have been identifying the developments and trends which, they claim, show that modernity is fragmenting or dissolving. They argue that it is being replaced by a postmodern society in which sociological concepts are becoming irrelevant. The two main characteristics of postmodernity:

Work We no longer find ourselves in a society working side by side with others on strict and long hours. This post modernism is a society in which we have flexible working hours to suit our lifestyles. Some of us even chose not to work or even work from home.

Culture The media has a huge influence on our society today. Advertising, film, fashion and music have become central to how we organise our lives. Most of us are media saturated. We are able to change out lifestyles down to our appearance in postmodernism. Ethnicity has become a blur and it is hard to identify individuals due to fashion and traditions which have been shared among us.