Violence In Televison Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2250 words

Violence In Televison - Essay Example Moreover, children in society tend to emulate whatever they see on television as a means of living their life for example, with superhero movies there have been so many cases of children trying to imitate superhero powers and jumping off buildings in an attempt to fly. Violence refers to extreme aggression being executed by physical or mental force and occurs when a person gets very angry and is not able to control his anger and is depicted a great deal on television. Due to the same, it does have an impact on society and contributes to violence in society in many ways. (F, Seymour, and Robert D. Singer) 1: Therefore, the following questions is posed; does violence shown on television in the form of television shows, movies and even advertisement have an impact on the minds of both adults and children and subsequently contribute to violence in society? Television programs today have an array of subjects ranging from criminal activities to investigative shows where crimes being commit ted in neighbourhoods, among families and even on a global scale are depicted and appeal to viewers the most. (Henrey J Kaiser Foundation) From the point of view of the channel or the directors of the show, such shows are mostly in the form of thrillers and suspense which tend to arouse a great deal of interest in the minds of the audience and are thus good for increasing the ratings. However, these shows depict a great deal of violence, which is harmful for audience of all ages to watch. Moreover, the shows may also have explicit violent content which may scar the minds of people. The shows easily portray scheming, violent physical activity, criminal activities such as theft and murder and thrive on these subjects where the criminals are normal people living ‘normal’ lives by the day and committing such activities by night. This obviously has a very negative impact on the audience. These shows that display such explicit violent content tend to get ingrained in the mind s of the viewers as they begin to use the language as used in the show, however offensive it might be and tend to act in the same manner as the actors on the show in similar situations. (Anderson, Kerby) For example, if on the show a man becomes violent and aggressive in a petty issue like parking his car or talking to the traffic police, people watching the show tend to use the same angst while dealing with a similar daily situation because they feel that using aggression will get them what they want which may be equal to what treatment the actor got on the television show. (Huesmann, L.R, and J. Podolski) Moreover, if children tend to view these television series and shows the effect is even worse on them because they are at a stage in their lives where their minds are still growing and developing and they are gullible towards all kinds of situations. Many parents and older people do not think twice before letting their children sit with them and view television serials that might not be suitable for them. Violence being shown on television thus gets imprinted on their minds and this violence tends to come out in society when they deal with similar situations. 2: Are children affected worse by violence shown on television as compared to adults? Children, more than adults, are not able

Why states act through formal International Organizations Essay

Why states act through formal International Organizations - Essay Example The paper tells that in the earlier centuries, humans spread out to new geographical territories for various purposes. These territories with the passage of time evolved into civilizations, kingdoms and eventually into states or countries. However, this ‘evolution’ part was not a smooth affair, as certain territories wanting to annex more territories and also to dominate others, indulged in wars and other aggressive actions. These aggressive actions led to major wars including two World Wars. On the positive side, from the last few centuries, especially from the second half of the 20th century, states have become more ‘civilized’ and are acting in a more controlled manner. This happened and is happening due to various factors and one of the key factors is the formation of formal International Organizations (IO) by the states themselves. States wanted to develop omnipresent overseeing organization or organizations, which can handle a state’s ‘int eraction’ with other countries in sensitive issues, pre-empt any detrimental actions carried out by one state against others, warn and act against states and their governments, when they act against their own people and also to manage social welfare issues like health, education, refugee issues, science, etc. This formation of IOs have actualized a positive environment throughout the world, with the countries acting with self-discipline, minimizing aggressive overtures, and at the same time indulging in welfare activities. However, this is not the scenario all the time, because certain countries without following the tenets of the IOs continue to act aggressively and unilaterally. Even amidst these dishonouring of the IOs, countries tend to obey and act through IOs for certain valid reasons. Historical Background The earliest precursor or the historical prototype of the present day International Organizations is the Delian League. According to Zweifel (2006, pg.31) Delian Lea gue was started around 4th century AD as an association among the Greek city-states, dominated by Athens, with the main â€Å"purpose of facilitating military cooperation against their common enemies†. Although, other regional groupings were formed by the territories to oversee and manage the relations among themselves throughout the last few centuries, nothing materialized on a large geographical scale. One of the main reasons why that did not actualize is because of the absence of sovereign states all over the world particularly in Europe. The evolution of territories and kingdoms into states or modern-day nations did not start till 17th century, with the complete evolution taking place mainly in the second half of the 20th century. According to Archer (2007, pg.4) the key turning points for the formation of IOs were the Peace of Westphalia, 1648, which ended the Thirty Years War and the Treaty of Utrecht in 1713. Before that, the concept of European unification based on Ch ristianity dominated the political circles of various European territories. However, when that did happen, it facilitated the formation of sovereign state system in Europe, and later throughout the world. Thus evolved states also understood the need to actualize a natural law or entity that can guide and manage the relations between them, and in that direction created bilateral, trilateral and even quadrilateral agreements. However, those agreements among states and did not enlarge maximally. However in the next few centuries, nothing concrete evolved due to various historical reasons including conflicts among the various states, imperialism, etc, etc. Although, international cooperation in terms of collective action happened with the Concert of Europe (1815-1914), Geneva Convention in 1864 and even Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU) in 1889, it was not until after the First World War, that the work for the development of International organizations got started. Because of the unpreced ented suffering caused by the First World W

Quality Performance of Streaming Video(s) over Networks

Quality Performance of Streaming Video(s) over Networks   ABSTRACT Video-based sharing services have gained a rapid fluctuation in users over recent years with the help of the ever-growing internet availability, reaching even the most rural of areas, gaining an increasing share in the multimedia market. Online streaming videos should fulfil strict quality of service constraints. Internet streaming relies upon packet transmission; there are varying influences such as delays, packet loss, transmission errors, data loss and bandwidth restrictions that all influence the quality and playability of a video. This causes serious problems for the end user as the producers of videos rely on the end-users. Therefore, the results of this paper can help users determine whether they can view videos in a high quality whilst preserving smooth video transmission. With the use of detailed diagrams, we can see how the network reacts to buffering, low network speeds and congestion in-order to keep sending video data. Keywords: YouTube, streaming, video, video streaming, network measurement, QoS, TCP, RTSP INTRODUCTION During the last 10 years theres been a significate growth of the internet video streaming websites such as YouTube (USA), Vimeo (USA), Twitch (USA), Daily Motion (France), Vevo (USA) have grown exponentially in popularity and by viewing the growth of the internet and more and more gadgets connecting to the internet [6], they will keep growing. YouTube alone have over one billion users [4], which in return equates to billions of video requests every day. Global Consumer Internet Video for 2016 is 29,046PB (petabyte), the year 2017 is estimated at 38,297 with a steady yearly increase of 14,000PB[7]. This therefore causes a strain on the internet service providers (ISPs) to increase bandwidth in order to provide stronger/wider and faster broadband connectivity to accommodate such growth. This in comparison to File sharing such as peer-to-peer which includes the likes of BitTorrent which in 2016 was calculated at 5,938PB and has declined to 5,858PB in 2017 with a slight variance there-on -after. In North America alone, YouTube accounts of 17.9% of bandwidth whereas the likes of BitTorrent only account for 2.7% [8]. The most important part of accumulating a vast growth of users and popularity is the fact that YouTube is free, from viewing videos, upload your own videos, streaming live or following your favourite channels. It can all be done by signing up to a free account, this ensures that the website can be viewed by a wider audience rather than those of that can legally pay and older, there is a small compromise to pay in the form of adverts randomly placed in-between or at the beginning of videos. Coupled with the fact that YouTube has now offered to pay YouTubers real currency for the popularity of their own videos ensures an even higher number of users.   They have recently launched a premium service called YouTube Red, which is their premium service to those willing to pay $10 a month; the benefits include Google Play Music subscription, ad-free videos and premium content not available to free users [9]. YouTube does not have many competitors that can match its popularity but there are some in the likes of Vimeo who have over 100 million visitors per month [10] and a more artistic community where promotional and corporate videos are prohibited, they have four tiers of accounts; Free, Plus, PRO or business each varying is ways from their counterparts. However, a very important difference between the two in the way videos are played. Vimeo uses a constant rate factor (CRF) of 20 whereas YouTube incorporates variable bitrate mode, which allows for lower overall bitrates while maintaining quality. YouTube allows 60fps, 4K 3D, Vimeo does not, and this is a reason why Vimeo is not as large as YouTube. YouTube has a leading edge compared to others in the respect that where others have strictly controlled content, normally professionally produced, YouTube does not; videos can be uploaded by anyone whom has access to the internet. Interne t Connection has high unpredictability rates in the regards of latency and speed reliability, which all depends on location and ISPs with traffic times, network infrastructure and work load. Videos viewed via the internet is more problematic compared to say, television, thus, YouTube infrastructure manages playback using various methods. BODY Transmission from client to server YouTube uses Real-Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP) is an application-level protocol, which controls delivery of data with real-time properties; it enables controlled, on-demand delivery of real-time data, such as audio and video [11]. The server starts by sending small RTP (Real-Time Transport Protocol) packets, the data in a bitrate chosen, is sent to the client where their buffer is loaded only slightly before playback occurs. This ensures that not too much bandwidth is used in case the user decides not to continue playing the video, as users dont have a static internet connection, if the user or YouTubes servers recognise inconsistencies in the connection e.g. packet loss, an altered bitrate can be used instead e.g. the server sends the video but in a reduced encoding rate. When it comes to video playback, smooth transmission is key, without it users grow tired of continual pausing, dropped frames etc. and leave, this cannot do. Therefore, the use of TCP ensures pre-fetching and buf fering to ensure smooth playback. As bandwidth is something of an issue when loading videos constantly whilst ensuring smooth continuous playback, TCP guarantees reliable transmission for a no-loss of frames. It also has probing bandwidth and congestion control which will attempt to use all available bandwidth for fetching content as soon as possible. However as YouTube has introduced live streaming in 2015 which opts for UDP (User Datagram Protocol), an application layer protocol, UDP is used because minimum pre-fetching can be done where buffering and pausing is somewhat of a nuisance and should be reduced at all cost as everything is live. It is conjoined with RTSP, another application layer protocol which helps with video streaming. A major drawback of using UDP is that firewalls from ISP or companies are not in favour of allowing the protocol, which cause video traffic and throttling problems. However, with the advantage of lower overhead, the compensation of a few dropped pack et will suffice. In order to deliver videos the use of Content Delivery Networks (CDN), it works by using a globally distributed network of proxy servers, whose job it is to serve content to end-users (the users who are watching the videos) at high performance, where, when a user clicks on a video it is served from the nearest Data Centre from their geolocation. YouTube, before the buyout from Google used LimeLight Networks (LLNW), afterwards Google built their own CDN. Most CDN servers are configured to support web services, therefore streaming over HTTP goes hand in hand, and most firewalls are configured to allow HTTP traffic. The usage of DASH (Dynamic Adaptive Streaming) over HTTP is common practice where the video is split into chunks of various resolutions thus, the player can easily switch into another resolution when the internet bandwidth changes which equates to smooth playback. Video Playback Quality As of January 2015, YouTube migrated to HTML5 for its default web player. YouTube first checks to see if the clients browser supports both, HTML5, H.264 codec or WebM VP8. Many browsers support an in-built flash player, which removes the need for installation of Adobe Flash Player, which has seen a decline in usage, with the amount of resources it requires and security flaws [14]. In addition, as devices such as Apple do not have support for flash there is a large market excluded. The use of HTML5s Adaptive Bitrate (ABR) is key [Figure 1]; it allows the player to switch resolutions based on users network quality. This has reduced buffering by more than 50% globally and as much as 80% on heavily congested networks [15]. YouTube switched from progressive downloads to adaptive bitrate streaming to allow for switching of quality without the need to re-buffer and start from the beginning. YouTube is constantly analysing connection speeds between the client and server, when it detects the bandwidth is deteriorating, a lower bitrate video stream is selected, in order to create a seamless playback experience for the end-user the buffer stream is loaded a few seconds ahead of your current position. From the users perspective, the key trait of a network is Quality of Service (QoS) of the content they are streaming. Whilst using HTTP, video transmission is reliable, HTTP reassures the user that there is no packet loss or video disturbance. Experiments Buffering over various internet speeds With the use of Wireshark, various experiments were done to see how packets are send from YouTube to client whilst watching a video under different network conditions and playback quality. To extract only YouTube video packet data, the filter tcp.port eq 443 was used, all graphs were set to a tick interval of 1 second with a pixel per tick of 10 and the units used in the graph are packets/Tick with a scale of 10000, all data is coming from Wi-Fi only. Buffering Time over Wi-Fi connectivity (No Throttling) using a forced 720p video Figure 2, displayed above shows a YouTube clip, which spans a total of 8:36 minutes. The graph depicts a burst of data thats sent initially on load. After the few second burst, the data rate reduces considerably. YouTube server initially sends the video as soon as possible for the initial buffering before significantly reducing the sending rate. Once the video has buffered fully, the rate of packet sending drops to near zero. Buffering Time over 3G connectivity (1.5mb/s, 750kb/s) using a forced 720p video Figure 3 depicts how a YouTube video is loaded whilst on a 3G connection; the clip used is the same as Figure 2, for comparative reasons. The burst seen in the graph spans for a greater period than on a faster connection. The video instantly plays but YouTubes server loads data for longer before finally reducing the frequency of data being sent. The player buffers for a quarter length from the current position of the playing position before finally stopping for a brief moment to allow catch-up, which can be depicted on the graph where the throttle rate drops to This is mainly due to QoE, which is based on human perception, where the user doesnt care for statistics such as packet loss etc. but rather in the quality of their video, they want to be able to view the video as soon as possible and at the best quality that is available. Buffering Time over GPRS connectivity (50kb/s, 20kb/s) and the effects of having a reduced bandwidth Figure 4 depicts the packets that are received whilst on a GPRS connection, reduction in the transmission rate in-turn has resulted in bandwidth significantly reduced, the impact almost certainly forces re-buffering to occur, which reduces the QoE for the user. This results in a longer queuing delay at network nodes and increases server-to-user delays, as the graph shows, the amount of data stored by the inbuilt players buffer is diminutive, as the initial burst did not store enough on load, the video is constantly buffering and playing leading to an endless need to re-buffer to continue. This can be seen at seconds; 120, 145 165, with seconds; 135, 150, 160 being the periods in which data is being transmitted, which consequently dont last long as periods of re-buffering flow directly afterwards. Video delivery over various video quality Figure 5 shows how a single video is re-loaded and buffered from the users current position. Each time a quality change is introduced, the video stops for a brief moment and the buffer pool is restocked with the new video quality data. The higher the quality of video, the more data is introduced initially to ensure that the video starts immediately, as the graph depicts, the lower the quality, the less of an initial burst is needed, as the size of the video is equitably reduced too, YouTube therefore can send all the data for the video quickly. As the video quality is higher, the size of the video being transmitted will also be higher. Network Speed Download Upload Regular 3G 750 kb/s 250kb/s Good 3G 1.5 Mb/s 750 Kb/s Regular 4G 4 Mb/s 3.0 Mb/s Compare this to a mobile phone when outside using data connection for example, 3G 4G connection, as there are many more collisions and obstructions whilst outside compared to a consistent Wi-Fi signal, the results are very different. With the location of the user a key aspect of reliable data transmission and how close the user is to the radio tower. Quality Duration 1080p 0 100s 720p 101s 200s 480p 210s 300s 360p 301s 400s 240p 401s 500s 144p 501s 600s By using network-measuring tools, figure 6 depicts the measurements taken for a single video to load over various qualities via regular 3G, good 3G and regular 4G connection. The results vary compared to Wi-Fi where the transmission is reliable, there are fluctuations in the transmission and the amount of data being sent, whereas Wi-Fi could send a considerable amount in the initial burst of the loading, 3G and 4G do not. Starting with regular 3g, 1080p, 720 and 480p quality videos spend a considerable amount buffering. There was not an initial burst of data that YouTubes servers transmitted, as network speeds were low, the first few seconds where spent buffering and then the video played, the video soon after paused, as buffering had to recommence to gather more data. The results show that in the initial stages of buffering with 4G connection, the amount of packets being sent are high, this is to ensure the user is able to view the video as soon as possible without interference, as the bandwidth is high, a large amount of packets can be sent, this ensures no pausing. YouTube servers application layer is not greedy where it feeds the TCP stack at a rate given by the private throttling algorithm. The TCP layer manages the buffering, when the transmission rate at TCP layer is reduced, the data that cannot be transmitted begins to be stored in the buffer, which can be seen in the 144p portion from 510 seconds onwards. However, when the buffer is occupied, the TCP layer is blocked from sending more data. This can also be shown via YouTubes stats for nerds feature [Figure 7], where when the video is done buffering to the max size of the video file, the network activity drops to a dead 0. With the more limited bandwidth of 3G connectivity, the video has to buffer for longer as with the capped transmission rate, not as much video data can be sent with more frequent throttling. Conclusion Overall, it is clear that the higher the quality, the more bandwidth is needed in-order to view the content with no interference. Limiting bandwidth had effects on the overall quality where YouTube would automatically decrease or increase the quality accordingly. Looking at the graphs produced, choosing to view content at a high quality on speeds of, for example, 3G will result in a in-viewable experience where the end-user will have to wait considerable amounts of time to even view small portions of content. The results of viewing video show that YouTubes progressive download algorithm starts by transferring an initial burst of data at the end users maximum available bandwidth and then uses a sophisticated throttling algorithm to implement a data rate that is more suited. This is key in making sure the user gets to view the video as soon as possible without tirelessly needed to pause and wait for the buffer pool to fill again. QoE is an important factor that YouTube have taken into consideration to ensure that even if the user has a limited bandwidth, by using DASH, they are always able to view the video even if it is at the lowest quality available. For smooth transmission of high quality video, bandwidth should be atleast >=3mbps. Where enjoyable watching on medium quality should start at least 1Mbps. References Yabe, M., Yokota, S. and Nakajima, T. (2006). A Quality Evaluation of High-Speed Video Streaming on Congested IP Networks. IEEEXplore, [online] p.1. Available at: http://ieeexplore.ieee.org/document/1593437/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Tech-faq.com. (2017). How Television Broadcasting Works. [online] Available at: http://www.tech-faq.com/how-television-broadcasting-works.html [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. Thetoptens.com. (2017). Top 10 Best Alternatives To YouTube TheTopTens ®. [online] Available at: https://www.thetoptens.com/best-alternatives-youtube/ [Accessed 13 Mar. 2017]. MakeUseOf. (2017). 21 Amazingly Interesting YouTube Facts in 2016. [online] Available at: http://www.makeuseof.com/tag/21-amazingly-interesting-youtube-facts-2016/ [Accessed 14 Mar. 2017]. Youtube.com. (2017). Statistics YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/yt/press/en-GB/statistics.html [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017]. Provider, S. and Papers, W. (2017). The Zettabyte Era Trends and Analysis Cisco. [online] Cisco. Available at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/vni-hyperconnectivity-wp.html [Accessed 19 Mar. 2017]. Provider, S. and Papers, W. (2017). White paper: Cisco VNI Forecast and Methodology, 2015-2020. [online] Cisco. Available at: http://www.cisco.com/c/en/us/solutions/collateral/service-provider/visual-networking-index-vni/complete-white-paper-c11-481360.html [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. Rosoff, M. (2017). Netflix and YouTube are Americas biggest bandwidth hogs. [online] Business Insider. Available at: http://uk.businessinsider.com/which-services-use-the-most-bandwidth-2015-12?r=USIR=T [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. Edwards, L. (2017). YouTube Red is now live: What is it and is it worth paying for? Pocket-lint. [online] Pocket-lint.com. Available at: http://www.pocket-lint.com/news/135686-youtube-red-is-now-live-what-is-it-and-is-it-worth-paying-for [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. DaCast. (2017). Youtube Competitors: Top 5 Alternatives for Video Hosting DaCast. [online] Available at: https://www.dacast.com/blog/youtube-competitors-top-5-alternatives-video-hosting/ [Accessed 20 Mar. 2017]. The Internet Society (1998), (1998). Real Time Streaming Protocol (RTSP). [online] Network Working Group, p.1. Available at: https://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc2326.txt [Accessed 21 Mar. 2017]. Chotaliya, C. (2016). Which streaming protocol does Youtube use?. [online] quora. Available at: https://www.quora.com/Which-streaming-protocol-does-Youtube-use [Accessed 21 Mar. 2017]. Support.google.com. (2017). Recommended upload encoding settings YouTube Help. [online] Available at: https://support.google.com/youtube/answer/1722171?hl=en-GB [Accessed 21 Mar. 2017]. Blueberry Consultants Custom Software. (2016). Why Nobody Uses Flash Anymore. [online] Available at: https://www.bbconsult.co.uk/blog/why-nobody-uses-flash-anymore [Accessed 21 Mar. 2017]. The Verge. (2015). YouTube drops Flash for HTML5 video as default. [online] Available at: http://www.theverge.com/2015/1/27/7926001/youtube-drops-flash-for-html5-video-default [Accessed 21 Mar. 2017]. Figure 1 Video Used: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Nq2Kum-eG8g Szigeti, T. and Hattingh, C. (2017). QoS Requirements of Video > Quality of Service Design Overview. [online] Ciscopress.com. Available at: http://www.ciscopress.com/articles/article.asp?p=357102seqNum=2 [Accessed 30 Mar. 2017].

Is Perception Reality? :: essays research papers

Assignment: Is Perception Reality? A few years ago I moved to Arizona. I was to be the office manager of a Real Estate Appraisal firm. Unbeknown to me the Company owed back taxes to Internal Revenue Service. The IRS came in and seized all of the Companies bank accounts and assets. All of a sudden I had to scramble to find a new job. I did not immediately find work as an appraiser but took a job with the Arizona Department of Corrections. What I thought to be true and what the reality was; were two different things. I believed that the individuals incarcerated were being punished and were not able or allowed to do much of anything. Additionally, I believed that they basically sat in a jail cell and read books, drew pictures or wrote letters. I also believed that they were law abiding while in prison. In other words, I believed that they were limited in not being able to break the law. Additionally, I assumed they had virtually no contact with the outside world. I completed some traini ng in self-defense, first aid, conflict resolution, Radio Communications, etc. I was then sent to Cell Block 6 AKA Death Row. This is where my perceptions began to give way to reality. I found that almost every inmate (as called by officers and staff) had a Television and that free cable was provided with many movie channels available. Most had stereos with many CD’s. They were required however, to wear headphones while listening to their music. I was surprised to find that the law mandated many privileges to the incarcerated individuals. Three hot meals a day were served the inmates. Also, family members could send them care packages at Christmas up to about 100 lbs., containing homemade food and clothing items. In addition, there is a prison store that the Incarcerated could order items from. A list of items would be filled out by the inmate with an account # and each week the items would be delivered to them. Many ordered their favorite food items such as; Corn Chips, Twin kies, cookies, candy, etc†¦ Family members could send them money that was deposited to their account for future purchases. If an inmate had no money he could apply for welfare and get money from the state. Family members were also allowed contact visitation on a weekly basis.

The Clash of Civilizations: a Summary of Samuel Huntington’s Controversial

POLI 100 – F10N01 Gabrielle Bishop The Clash of Civilizations: A Summary of Samuel Huntington’s controversial Political Analysis and its Critics â€Å"Culture and cultural identities, which at the broadest level are civilizational identities, are shaping patterns of cohesion, disintegration, and conflict in the post-Cold War World† – Samuel Huntington POLI 100 – F10N01! Gabrielle Bishop In a 1993 article published in Foreign Affairs, Harvard Professor of Government and Political Scientist Samuel Huntington made a prediction for the 21st century that would go on to be both disputed and supported by experts around the globe.As the Iron Curtain of ideology of the Cold War had fallen, Huntington theorized that a new â€Å"Velvet Curtain† of culture would rise1. While the Cold War divided the world up into â€Å"communist and democratic† societies, the 21st century would feature con? icts between â€Å"clashing civilizations†, whose disputes would be rooted in various ethnic, cultural, and/or religious differences 2. In 1996, Huntington wrote a book titled: â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order†, which expanded upon these points. Some were intrigued, others, extremely offended.But, few could ignore the controversial predictions Huntington made about the future of global politics. Huntington divides â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations† into ? ve parts, the ? rst of which is titled as: â€Å"Part One: A World of Civilizations†. In this chapter, he identi? es the six principal civilizations that make up the world, as well as two other â€Å"possible† civilizations3: 1. Sinic4: Includes China and the Chinese communities in South-East Asia. Vietnam and Korea are also in this group. 2. Japanese: Huntington stresses that Japanese civilization is very distinct, and does not necessarily ? in with other â€Å"Far Eastern† nations; having split off from China betw een 100 and 400 AD. 3. Hindu (Also referred to as â€Å"Indian† or â€Å"Indic†): Huntington notes that while there are Muslim communities within India, Hinduism has been essential to the culture of the subcontinent since for almost 4,000 years. 4. Islamic: This civilization emerged around 700AD in the Arabian peninsula, and quickly spread across North Africa, the Iberian peninsula, central Asia, the Subcontinent, and Southeast Asia. Many unique Islamic â€Å"sub-cultures† exist because of this (ex: Malay, Turkic, Persian, etc. 5 5. Western (formerly known as â€Å"Western Christendom†): This civilization is widely viewed as having emerged at around 700AD, Huntington states, and comprises many states in Europe, and North & Latin America, as well as many European settler countries (such as Australia and New Zealand) 6. Latin American: While this civilization has its roots in European civilization, Huntington states that its corporatist & authoritarian cult ure is what truly sets it apart from Europe and North America. 7. Orthodox (possibly): Huntington mentions brie? that some other academics consider the Orthodox Russian civilization to be separate from Byzantine and Western Christian civilization. 8. African (possibly): Huntington also mentions that most scholars do not consider there to be an African civilization, with the exception of French Historian Fernand Braudel6 . He notes that North Africa is part of the Islamic civilization, and that Ethiopia has been known to constitute a civilization of its own7 . He theorizes that because of their rapid growth of identity, Sub-Saharan Africa could indeed become its own civilization, with a chance of South Africa being its â€Å"core state†8.In choosing to identify civilizations in this way, Huntington received a number of rebuttals; such as the one from Fethi Keles (who teaches in the Anthropology department at Syracuse University)9. In â€Å"The The Antinomies of Samuel P. Hunt ington: Some Anthropological Reflections on the American Pundit†, Keles criticizes Huntington for being â€Å"Eurocentric†, and too general; for not recognizing that cultures are not so simple that they can be categorized into six (or, eight) different civilizations 10.Keles also notes that Huntington never once cited a foreign-language reference (a detail first noticed by anthropologist Hugh Gusterson)11. Feles instead proposes that he â€Å"[pay] more attention to detail, of the sort provided by anthropology† 12. Only then, she states, will his predictions improve from a â€Å"constantly risk-running sort to a relatively risk-averse one†13. Huntington begins the next section, â€Å"Part 2: The Shifting Balance of Civilizations†, by stating that the power and influence the West once held is now dying14.Although the civilization did experience success with the collapse of the Soviet Union, Huntington argues that the West has become â€Å"exhaustedà ¢â‚¬ 15. He brings to light two opposing arguments: (A): That the West still holds a monopoly over economic consumption, military strength, and technology;16 and, (B): That the West is losing its influence and power. 17 Huntington takes the side of Argument B, and expands on it further. He notes that while the West’s power and influence may indeed be declining, it will be a very slow process and is therefore not an immediate threat presently to global forces 18.Huntington stresses the growing role religion is now playing in global politics. He notes that religion often gains popularity in response to a society’s changing needs. He mentions, for example, how many South Koreans have abandoned their traditional Buddhist beliefs in exchange for Christianity as their nation has become increasingly urban and economicallybased. Kang Jun In criticizes Huntington in his article: â€Å"Confucianism and Democracy in East Asia: A Critique of Samuel P. Huntington’s Third W ave†, published in Korea Journal in the Autumn of 1999.In states that Huntington is guilty of arguing that â€Å"East Asian countries which have Confucian tradition can attain the ‘salvation of democracy’ only by self-denial – the denial of their own tradition – and ‘assimilation’ of modern Western culture. †19 , quoting him saying â€Å"Confucian democracy may be a contradiction in terms, but democracy in a Confucian society†20. Ultimately, people â€Å"need new sources of identity, new forms of stable community, and new sets of moral precepts to provide them with a sense of meaning and purpose†21, Huntington argues.Huntington also notes that Muslim societies, contrary to their Asian counterparts, have expressed their culture through the resurgence of religion, noting that Islam â€Å"embodies the acceptance of modernity, rejection of Western culture, and the recommitment to Islam as the guide to life in the modern world†22. This is largely because of the emergence of a large, devout and young generation of Muslims has been paired with an authoritarian style of government. In â€Å"Part 3: the Emerging Order of Civilizations†, Huntington notes that during the Cold War, countries were either labelled as â€Å"communist† or â€Å"non-communist†.Now, countries who cannot easily identify themselves have entered into an identity crisis 23. Because of this, many new international organizations (Ex: the European Union, the North American Free Trade Agreement, the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, etc). came together; uniting nationstates under common â€Å"ancestry, religion, language, values, and institutions†, and in doing so, distanced themselves from different nations who did not share these characteristics 24. However, not all nations have been successful in identifying with one particular culture, Huntington states, referring to Mexico, Turkey, Russia, a nd Australia 25.These states, he says, could be described as â€Å"torn countries†26; countries which are torn between multiple cultural identities – the tradition cultural identity they’ve held, and the new cultural identity they wish to adopt. â€Å"A torn country†¦ has a single predominant culture which places it in one civilization, but its leaders want to shift it to another civilization. They say, in effect, ‘We are different peoples and belong in different places’†27. In â€Å"Chapter 7: Core States, Concentric States, and Civilized Order†, Huntington states that a small, powerful number of core states will be the centre of a new structure of civilizations.France and Germany are examples of these states in the European Union. He goes on to describe â€Å"core states†, the divide between Western Europe (Protestantism & Catholicism) and Eastern Europe (Orthodox Christianity & Islam), and the lack of a core state in Isl am. In â€Å"Part 4: Clashes of Civilizations† (arguably the most important section of the book), Samuel Huntington predicts that â€Å"In the emerging world, the relations between states and groups from different civilizations will not be close, and will often be antagonistic. 28 He hypothesizes that the three principal roots of conflict will be arise from the interaction of the following: 1. The arrogance of the West; 2. Islamic intolerance; and 3. Sinic assertiveness 29. As the chapter progresses, Huntington states that Islam and Christianity have almost always been at odds with each other, and that the Islamic and Western civilizations will inevitably clash in the 21st century. There are a number of reasons for this, from the Muslim population growth placing large numbers of unemployed and dissatis? ed youth in the hands of Islamic extremists; to the West? attempt to â€Å"universalize† its values, culture, and military (thus generating intense resentment from Mus lim communities), to an exaggerated view of differences between the two civilizations as a result of increased communication and interaction between them30 . ! Huntington notes that with the emergence of Asia and China? s growing economies has come an antagonistic relationship with the United States31. He predicts that the combination of China? s growing military with Asia? s growing economy could indeed result in an international con? ict. He also notes that the con? cts of the 21st century will be fought along â€Å"fault lines† (such as Islam vs. Christianity). He goes on to provide a list of fault line characteristics: †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ †¢ â€Å"Communal conflicts between states or groups from different civilizations Almost always between people of different religions Prolonged duration Violent in nature Identity wars (us vs. them), eventually breaks down to religious identity Encouraged and financed by Diaspora communities Violence rarely ends permane ntly Propensity for peace is increased with third party intervention†32 In the final Chapter of the book, â€Å"Part 5: the Future of Civilizations†, Huntington oncludes that the West needs to be prepared to accept the growing influence of rival civilizations, if it wants to remain a global political power. As previously cited, Anthropologist Fethi Keeles was very critical of Huntington’s approach, in her piece published in the Journal of Third World Studies. Quoting Edward Said, a prominent critic of Samuel Huntington, she noted: â€Å"What culture today – whether Japanese, Arab, European, Korean, Chinese, or Indian – has not had long, intimate, and extraordinarily rich contacts with other cultures? 33 She then accuses him of being â€Å"indifferent to the complex nature of the multicultural world†, and argues that in his analysis he failed to address intra-cultural or civilizational variation34. ! However, Somali-born human rights activist and former Dutch MP Ayaan Hirsi Ali begs to differ. She argues that the greatest advantage of Huntington’s civilizational model of international relations is that â€Å"it reflects the world as it is – not as one wishes it would be† 35. â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations†, she states, â€Å"is a classic that should be taught in every international relations and history class — until a new world emerges. 36 No matter what the reader’s background is, it is difficult to argue that the nations of the world are not facing any forms of international conflict in the early 21st century. Where many critics choose to differ is on the grounds of the origins of said international conflict, asking: are the growing international conflicts truly due to opposing civilizations, or are the issues simply ideological? Samuel Huntington says these conflicts are predominantly rooted in culture and religion, and that the 21st century will inevitably be a period ch aracterized by â€Å"the Clash of Civilizations†.Bibliography: Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Print. Charron, Nicholas. â€Å"Deja Vu All Over Again: A Post-Cold War Empirical Analysis of Samuel Huntington's ‘Clash of Civilizations' Theory. † Cooperation & Conflict 45. 1 (2010): 107-27. EBSCO Host. Web. Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. † Foreign Affairs 89. 6 (2010): 198-99. EBSCO Host. Web. Perry, Glenn E. â€Å"Huntington and His Critics: the West and Islam. † Arab Studies Quarterly 24. 1 (2001): 18. EBSCO Host.Web. In, Kang Jung. â€Å"Confucianism and Democracy in East Asia: A Critique of Samuel P. Huntington’s Third Wave. † Korea Journal 39. 3 (1999): 315-37. Print. Hendrickson, Holly. â€Å"Book Summary of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington. † Beyond Intractability – More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado. Web. Keeles, Fethi. â€Å"The Antinomies of Samuel P. Huntington: Some Anthropological Reflections on the American Pundit. † Journal of Third World Studies. 14. 2 (2007): 131-43. Print.Sullivan, Anthony T. â€Å"Has Samuel Huntington’s Prediction Come to Pass? † Journal of the Historical Society 2. 2 (2002): 169-78. Print. Endnotes: Huntington, Samuel P. The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1996. Print. 1 2 3 4 Huntington 28. Huntington 45-46. Huntington had previously labelled this civilization as â€Å"Confucian†, in his 1993 Foreign Affairs article. He decided to use â€Å"Sinic†, as he felt Confucian teachings were not at the core of the civilization he was describing. (Huntington 1996:45) 5 6 7 8 9 Huntington 45. Huntington 47.Huntington 47. Huntington 47 . Keeles, Fethi. â€Å"The Antinomies of Samuel P. Huntington: Some Anthropological Reflections on the American Pundit. † Journal of Third World Studies. 14. 2 (2007): 131-43. Print. 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 Fethi 131. Fethi 142. Fethi 142. Fethi 142. Huntington 82-83. Huntington 82. Huntington 83-90. Huntington 90-91 Huntington 91. In, Kang Jung. â€Å"Confucianism and Democracy in East Asia: A Critique of Samuel P. Huntington’s Third Wave. † Korea Journal 39. 3 (1999): 319. Print. 20 21 22 23 Huntington 308; 308-310. Huntington 97. Huntington 110. Hendrickson, Holly. Book Summary of The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order by Samuel P. Huntington. † Beyond Intractability – More Constructive Approaches to Destructive Conflict. Conflict Research Consortium, University of Colorado. Web. 24 Huntington 126. 10 POLI 100 – F10N01! Gabrielle Bishop 25 26 27 28 29 30 31 32 33 34 35 Huntington 139. Huntington 138. Huntington 13 8. Huntington 183. Huntington 183. Huntington 211. Huntington 218. Hendrickson web. Keeles 143. Keeles 143. Ali, Ayaan Hirsi. â€Å"The Clash of Civilizations and the Remaking of World Order. † Foreign Affairs 89. 6 (2010): 198-99. EBSCO Host. Web. 36 Ali 99. 11

Journalism Code of Ethics

Thousands of journalists all over world voluntarily embrace the journalist code of ethics as a critical set of values and guidelines required to be a professional and morally upright journalist. The Society of Journalists (SPJ) says that â€Å"the code is not intended as a set of ‘rules’ but as a resource for ethical decision making†. Because it is not legally enforced, it is up to the integrity of the journalist to uphold the code of ethics. It is not possible to ensure that all journalists abide by the code of ethics.There will be some, who could not stand by their codes, values and integrity when they are in the face of economic and social pressures, and choose to tread the grey areas instead. People do not become bad journalists in a day. It’s a slow fade when black and white is turned to grey. We must be very careful not to give ourselves away to unethical acts, and disregard our morals in order to get a good story or some physical rewards. In Singapor e, we are blessed to have good, ethical journalists, who present very transparent news.The same cannot be said for many journalists in other parts of the world. Breslin’s (1997) study found the following: In Japan, journalists voluntarily and regularly curtail their truth-telling through the practice of self-censorship — not from coercion by the government, but by their own press organizations that cover government. In the People's Republic of China, journalists — like all essential workers — are in the employ of government and pay homage to the truth, but place a lower value on pursuing with any aggressiveness or perseverance.In Korea, journalists most often recognize truth as the word of government, and identify themselves with the elite ruling forces and identify their role as helping to ensure harmony between the rulers and the ruled. Their closeness to government is often measured by the amount of cash in the â€Å"white envelopes† they receiv e from their sources. Journalists cannot live in the clouds, doing what they think is right without pressures being put on them. Often, journalists face pressure from a variety of sources, all trying to make the journalist behave in a way which is not the way the journalist would choose.Journalists are imperfect and fallible. But we must attempt to resist the pressures and take a stand. As such, it is important to review the current journalism code of ethics, and find out whether it is still relevant and sufficient. Indeed, the code of ethics should reflect values, challenges and realities of journalism. However, â€Å"too many of them are mostly lists of do’s and don’ts (usually more don’ts), rather than helpful guides to making ethical decisions in situations that aren’t as simple as the policies sometimes make them† (Buttry, 2010).Also, with much of the articles and stories done on digital social platforms, the current journalism code of ethics is lacking guidelines on the use of social media. The journalism code of ethics attempts to direct journalists from difficult situations but as the saying goes; it is easier said than done. The scenarios portrayed are too vague and unrealistic. A journalist may find himself in various situations where the code of ethics fails to address. As such, the code of ethics is insufficient. I would recommend an update on the code of ethics with new rules to become more applicable to modern day journalism.When using social media as a platform for a story, be aware of the group who might be misrepresented because they do not use social media as often. For the section headlined protecting sources of information; if a journalist assures a source that he would keep the informant’s identity a secret, he must keep his word under all circumstances. I would like to add, do not publish critical opinions from people seeking confidentiality. The motives of sources should always be questioned. Peo ple who wish to express personal opinions in the media should always stand behind their opinion. Objectivity and fairness.A journalist must always be objective when he writes a story. I would like to add, keep an open mind to all views, even views that we are uncomfortable with. It is in reality, harder to write objectively if the subject interest or disgust us. Suppose men like Hitler and Osama bin laden whom many consider to be evil, are still living among us today. And suppose an update comes in and says that Hitler is now confirmed dead! Or Osama bin laden successfully unleashed another major terror act upon innocent citizens. And yet, the journalist must refrain from cheering or groaning in disgust and report fairly.Also, journalists should be fair to all sources. Official and unofficial sources can both be of equal validity. The line between economic pressure and doing a favor can be rather thin at times. The same scenario stated in the study guide; if you work for a small-tim e newspaper, which is in financial difficulties, you might be asked by an advertiser to write an article in favor of a particular product, company or even a person in return for buying advertising space in your newspaper. It will be against the integrity of the journalist to praise said product, company or person if he does not believe in them.He would be yielding to economic pressure if he complies. However, if the same journalist deems the product, company or person to be acceptable to him and the public and thus agrees to do the advertiser the favor, is it still against journalistic ethics? As such, I would propose a new rule; a journalist while in full knowledge that the product, company or person is of little or no benefit to the public, must never promote or write favorably about that product, company or person, to be better than it is. Acceptance of gifts is prohibited. A journalist should not demand payment in cash or in kind for journalistic work.And he cannot accept them e ither, even if they come without demand. This is necessary to ensure fairness and credibility. However, the code of ethics offers no guide regarding how a journalist should donate to support a cause or a political group. A journalist is still a person with rights, and his job does not make him any less of a citizen of a democratic society. Referring to the controversial issue where Keith Olbermann donated $7200 of his own money to three candidates running for public office. The incident resulted in the dismissal of Keith Olbermann from MSNBC.Greener (2010), posted: â€Å"Who among us needs to get their employer's permission before making an open and legal political donation? † The code of ethics does not address how journalists may give, only on what we can or cannot receive. It is understandable, that the very nature of the job views any donations by a journalist to be a bias towards the organization. Thus the need for more transparency. I would propose a new rule: A journal ist may contribute freely to any charitable cause, as long as he does it openly and state the details on any articles related to the topic.What should a journalist do if he were to start a personal blog? In this new digital age, the code of ethics is not sufficient in covering the area of digital social media. Do the same rules apply as if the journalist was writing for an official paper? Can he have freedom of speech in his personal blog? Or is he still held accountable for every word. This new rule should be introduced: A journalist may post freely on his personal blog. But due to the nature of his job, he should not comment on any topics he discussed on his official medium, so that he does not compromise his professional integrity.A journalist should be responsible for whatever he writes. The purpose of reporting objectively and fairly is to ensure as little people as possible get hurt or affected by what we write. Even so, it is inevitable that people can get offended sometimes. So, a journalist must admit mistakes and correct them publicly. Print is not the only platform for journalists. Other mediums include photography, video, graphic art designs, audio etc. Due to the different methods of communication, more rules and guidelines are required.A lack of skill or knowledge about different media should not be an excuse for a lapse in ethics. In conclusion, a journalist is held accountable to his own integrity and morals. The journalism code of ethics is merely a guideline, for journalist to consider when they bump into situations in their professional work. Journalism is not as simple a job as what the general public thinks. Much is required of a journalist; commitment, responsibility, compassion, an inquisitive mind. These are merely the beginning of the many attributes a good journalist requires.Of course, one cannot become a good journalist overnight. A professional journalist is built on confidence acquired through experience, by overcoming obstacles a nd holding onto ethics. References Brislin, T. (March 6-8, 1994). An update on journalism ethics in Asia: Values and practices as context for meaning in Japan, China and Korea. In Jounalism Ethics in Asia. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www2. hawaii. edu/~tbrislin/asiaeth. html. Buttry, S. (November 7, 2010). Journalist's code of ethics: time for an update?.In The Buttry Diary. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://stevebuttry. wordpress. com/2010/11/07/journalists-code-of-ethics-time-for-an-update/. Greener, R. (November 5, 2010). Keith Olbermann suspended by MSNBC: Like ‘Louie† – I'm shocked! . In The Huffington Post. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www. huffingtonpost. com/richard-greener/keith-olbermann-suspended_b_779736. html. SPJ Code of ethics. (1996-2012). In Society of Professional Journalists. Retrieved November 19, 2012, from http://www. spj. org/ethicscode. asp.