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“Nothing travels faster than the speed of light with the possible exception of bad news, which obeys its own special laws.” (Douglas Adams)

Newspapers today are no longer delivering news alone. They spice it up together with the writer’s opinions, the photographer’s images and with the editors decision on what is considered as ‘news material’. It seems like your knowledge on today’s news is dependent on these people and their own point of views.

The reason I decided to open this essay with such a remark is the fact that I chose to compare between two newspapers: a broadsheet and a tabloid – the Financial Times and the Daily Mirror. Both newspapers were published on January 30^th 2008 but they have nothing in comment as if it belongs to different dates or even countries.

It is important to remember that both papers are meant to deliver news; the discourse is similar: each target a certain part of population and need to compete with other papers. Thus offers the best product possible to attract its readers.  I will focus on the front page of each newspaper and discuss their layout, typography, content, and language.

Layout and typography –

Financial Times is a broadsheet, thus his front page is twice as big as the Daily Mirror. Printed on a pale pink paper in an old style manner, the biggest letters are the paper’s name written in black serif font letters. The overall look is conservative.

The Daily Mirror’s logo is the word ‘Daily’ on relatively small letters, underneath it the word ‘Mirror’ 3times the size of it with the letter ‘M’ bigger that both lines together. The font is sans serif, bald, with a black stroke and a white fill on a red background, which stands out from the rest, plain white paper it is printed on.

It is important to say that the font size of the DM’s name and the main article’s heading is almost the same size and having a sans serif black font; it centres the attentions of the reader at once. The FT the main article is not as appealing in size and font; it is much smaller and is not as centred.

The DM’s front page is divided to two windows of equal size. The top one contains the logo, an advertisement that offers freebies and a big celebrity picture. The other window is the main article and it contains another much smaller photo. The FT on the other hand is divided by columns and boxes that frame the page’s centre. In the frame are three headings for articles, news briefings, stock market details and an advertisement. The main central block contains two main stories and a politician’s photograph.  Five more photos, though much smaller, appear evenly throughout the page.

Content-

The Financial Times aims at a higher socio economic and the upper class population and as such offers his readers what they are interested in- articles about politics, business and finance. The Daily Mirror on the other hand aims for different part of the population- middle class, blue collar and as such presents his readers with more culture, gossip and human-interest articles.

The FT supplies information on international and local news , currencies and interest rates. The main story is on the French SocGen scandal. The advertisement in the lower part of the page is for Intel, stating that the company is environment friendly. The price of the paper is stated under the logo- 1.50£; In the centre, a big photo of Giuliani , a republican politician

“If tabloid papers have not by now banished political-economic content, they have been steadily marginalising it…the British tabloids concentration on human interest

material and entertainment is almost exclusive and has robbed readers of the choice of reading news about political, social and economic affairs …news in the traditional sense of the word..” (Sparks, 1992) 

There is not much room for data in the Daily Mirror’s front page. The huge title of the main story leaves only a little cubic space for the story itself, which continues on other pages. The centre photo is of a worried looking Cheryl and comes with a quote and redirection to more of her story in other pages. Last is the advert for Disney’s new feature High School Musical offering  the readers free trading cards, also on a different page. Under the logo the cost is printed- 40p.

Language used-

Tabloids seem to be focusing more on the emotional side of stories, in the DM’s main article about a lottery winner the focus is on the fact he is about to die from a heart defect. Sometimes it is pure gossip, it is represented by ‘poor Cheryl who is leaving Ashley’.  Ian Connell explains ‘Tabloidisation’ as “to have been used to designate a series of processes that are transforming supposedly rationalist discourses into sensationalist discourses.”(Connell, 1998)

To help the reader relate to the story and its protagonist, the language used is very simple and informal. Connell phrase it as ‘conversationalising’.

FT’s language use is on a higher level, as if stating that one should finish college before approaching the paper. The broadsheet still applies the rules of conversationalising, but in this case, it speaks to and relates to a different part of the population. The formal language is a set standard and if the FT were using the same language as the DM its readers would have bought the Observer. It is not to be said that there is no room for journalists opinions- they have their own columns for that use but not on the front page.

Newspapers today are no longer delivering news alone, every newspaper delivers his own point of view and targets a different audience, and it is important the this audience will know that they only get part of the information. By having a variety of papers broadsheets and tabloids one can make up his own mind for what is important and suitable for him.

– http://alonsae.multiply.com/journal/item/34

MANILA, Philippines – It is conventional wisdom to think that our competency in English gives us a clear-cut advantage in the BPO (business process outsourcing) industry. After all, English is practically our second language, so doing business with Westerners should not pose a problem at all. This kind of readiness has made us a worthy competitor in the global business arena.

However, recent National Achievement Tests (NAT) administered to public schools paint a picture that may threaten that competitiveness. The DepEd reports that there has been a 21.36 percent increase in NAT results from 2006 to 2009. The 2009 NAT revealed a rise in Mean Percentage Score (MPS) of only 66.33 percent from 54.66 percent in 2006, which equates to an improvement of 11.67 percent. The percentage gains were in all subject areas and point to a steady improvement in the primary education of the country’s public school system.

So this kind of progress is supposed to be a good thing, right?

Maybe. Maybe not. Because a 66.33 MPS (from 54.66 in 2006) is still a rather low score. In fact, it’s at the “near mastery level.” What’s more alarming is that mastery is only at 14.4 percent among grade 6 students and 1.1 percent among fourth-year high school students, which means below-mastery scores are a staggering 85.6 percent among the former and 98.1 percent among the latter.

What could be the reason for such “below mastery levels”? In a 2007 interview, Dr. Yolandda Quijano, head of the DepEd’s Bureau of Elementary Education, attributed “reading problems as the main culprit for the poor performance of some students in the NAT.”

This is definitely a cause for alarm because if the upcoming generation cannot read properly, then there is a big chance they will have difficulty writing and speaking well — simple but vital tasks in maintaining that competitive edge in BPO work. If a new generation of professionals is plagued with poor reading comprehension — and all of its consequential handicaps — our share of the BPO market could very well shrink.

To address this concern at its very core, students have to be trained at the earliest age to read well. This means access to a wide variety of quality books at their schools and a program that encourages reading for pleasure — because the surefire way to develop good reading comprehension is by making reading a habit.

Doing so will ensure that our upcoming generation and those after that will be prepared for any challenges that lie ahead. After all, you can’t go wrong with a generation of good readers to take care of business.

– http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=551732&publicationSubCategoryId=82

Not so long ago, college students lived in a world without Facebook, the social networking site that launched in 2004 and now has over 500 million users. For today’s college students, Facebook has become as commonplace as school sweatshirts and dreary cafeteria food.

But is Facebook good for college students? Has it added a valuable element to college life, or does it detract from a quality educational and social experience? Here are some arguments on both sides of this debate.

Resolved: Facebook is Bad for College Students

College students have always had study distractions, from video games to parties to the cute girl in the front row. But Facebook really takes distraction to a new level. Bored college students can spend hours reading their friends’ updates, looking at pictures, playing Farmville or whatever the latest game is, and doing all kinds of things other than their homework. And thanks to mobile devices and laptops (which come to class allegedly so that students can take notes), the Facebook distraction can go anywhere a student can go.

Another problem with Facebook: it promotes student drama. College students have always been fighting about who’s dating who and who’s dissing who, but previously this generally stayed within groups of friends and dorm room floors. Today, angry students can vent drama to the world before common sense sinks in and prevents them from hitting “share.” Amusing as this may be for some, this kind of public drama certainly does not promote friendship or civility.

In relation to both of these issues, some might argue that Facebook distracts students from paying attention to more important social concerns. College is a time when many students hope to concern themselves with politics, philosophy, art, and other matters more serious than drunken pictures from Ashley’s party.

And speaking of Ashley’s party, another problem with Facebook and college students has to do with TMI, or “too much information.” Now that parents and professors and future employers and just about everyone else is on Facebook, it isn’t really private anymore. It can be tempting to post incriminating photos, obnoxious status updates, assorted drama, and other things that shouldn’t be viewed by one’s 1,245 friends.

Resolved: Facebook is Good for College Students

On the other hand, Facebook is a fantastic social networking tool, and can be used to help students communicate with each other about all kinds of things. Fall asleep in history class and need someone’s notes? Looking for a tutor or a study partner? Need a ride home for the weekend? Need a lead on a campus job? Wondering where the party is? Moreover, since many professors are on Facebook too, this may be a good place to ask a quick question about an assignment.

Perhps even more importantly, Facebook can continue to serve as a networking resource after college, when it comes time to look for a job. Those hundreds of college friends on Facebook, who live all over the country and the world, will work for hundreds of companies in the near future. That constitutes a significant network.

Facebook has also proven to be a great resource for high school seniors and others who need information about schools. Need to know what a school is really like? Log onto Facebook and find some school fan pages, and ask students about their experiences. Once students are admitted, Facebook is a great place to meet classmates ahead of time and to get to know college roommates.

Since many college students are away from home, another advantage of Facebook is that it gives students the opportunity to stay in touch. Students who are homesick can keep in touch with family members and friends back home, and students who are in long distance relationships can have an easier time feeling connected.

As for the issue that students are tuning out more serious issues to hang out on Facebook, there’s the matter of political organizations and other groups that have a Facebook presence. Students who want to get involved in campus or off-campus organizations, or who want to learn more about issues and ideas, may be able to find information and a network of like-minded people on Facebook.

Ultimately, Facebook is what students make of it. For many, it truly does serve as a distraction that makes it hard to study, and for many others, it’s a valuable social networking tool (and, of course, for many students, it’s both). At any rate, Facebook has greatly changed how students interact on college campuses in a very short period of time, and until something else comes along, it appears to be here to stay.

-By Naomi Rockler-Gladen (suite101.com)

MANILA, Philippines – A few years ago, after joining a Mexican cruise with my family and learning that a sleepy Mexican town (Puerto Vallarta) became an instant blazing tourism destination when a Hollywood movie starring Richard Burton, then married to Elizabeth Taylor, was shot there, I wrote an article strongly urging our government to look into how we could attract foreign filmmakers to shoot their movies in the Philippines. In South Korea, the Korean Tourism Organization (KTO) offers fantastic special deals for filmmakers who want to shoot in Korea, especially showcasing tourist attractions. For this reason, South Korea has become a favorite for international filmmakers like Vishesh Films of India (this country has the largest film industry in the world in terms of number of films produced and released each year) and consequently saw the upsurge of visitors to Korea.

But in addition to foreign movies filmed there, the meteoric rise in the number of international tourists in Korea has also been strongly attributed to Korean telenovelas. In an international convention of lawyers I attended late last year in this Asian nation, I was astonished to learn that Korean telenovelas are a hit not only among us Filipinos but people of all races. (I had always thought that it was the strong presence of Koreans in the Philippines that brought about this extraordinary phenomenon among Filipino viewers; how wrong I was!)

A Japanese delegate shared that wives of top government officials spend most of their vacations in South Korea because they are so enamoured of the tourist spots featured in Korean dramas. This same delegate expounded that even ordinary housewives would bring their teenage children (as young as 16!) to South Korea for plastic surgery as birthday gifts, inspired by the beauty of Korean actors (male and female!) who reportedly have been surgically enhanced. My Malaysian friend Sarah Huang says she and her mother never miss any show of their favorite Korean drama series. I heard the same from our Taiwanese, Chinese, Indonesian, African, Sri Lankan and even Russian friends!

Here in the Philippines, I was astounded to find so many of my friends — fellow lawyers, doctors, politicians and businessmen, who have been ardent followers of Koreanovelas. These people, who definitely can afford to travel for leisure, now have Korea as one of their preferred destinations. My daughter and her nerdy friends at Philippine Science High School, my co-employees in congress, my relatives, and so many others within my zone of comfort and trust — are all equally dependable resource persons on these drama series. They all plan to visit Korea someday.

I conducted my own research and tried to find out why Korean telenovelas have become so popular worldwide (so much so that viewers dream of going to Korea) that they even overtake, in terms of ratings, the local drama series. And here is what I have gathered:

1. Korean telenovelas, most of the time, focus on good values. The all-time favorite Jewel in the Palace was adopted by the Yau Ma Tei Catholic School in Hong Kong as a medium for imparting values of hard work, determination and patience to the schoolchildren. Here, the heroine is a maid who rises up to become the only female doctor in the Emperor’s Court.

2. Korean telenovelas show the country’s culture, traditions and very interesting history such as in Princess Hours. The grandest palace in Seoul, the Gyeongbokgung Palace (said to be the “Versailles of Asia”) is also famous as a film location not only for movies but also for period television shows as my husband and I were informed during our short visit.

3. Korean telenovelas are lovely to watch because they are usually shot in breathtaking scenic spots promoting the beauty and magnificence of Korea — our travel brochure just needed to mention that the Jeju Folk Village Museum in the honeymoon destination Jeju Island was a location for the drama series Dae Jang Geum for it to be immediately signed up in full by swooning delegates’ spouses.

4. Korean telenovelas have interesting plots and are fast-paced and well-scripted.

5. Korean telenovelas dwell on positive universal themes of endless love, quiet sacrifice, love at first sight and romance with a touch of comedy like in Sungkyuwan Scandal. These make the viewer feel good and light. Contrast this with the sickening kidnappings, murders, evil schemes and other vengeful acts in some of our current Filipino teleserye.  6. And most importantly, for the young viewers, the actors are all very good-looking.

Koreanovelas would not be as successful as they are were it not for the support of the Korean Tourism Organization and the South Korean government. It is clear that there is here a very aggressive marketing scheme so that we find in almost any country in the world Korean telenovelas being dubbed in the vernacular of the country where it is shown. There is unmistakably, a partnership between their Tourism Offices and teleserye producers so that tourist attractions are almost always highlighted.

With the current crises in troubled international tourist spots, travelers will be looking for other places in the world to visit. This is the right time then to show to the international community that we have the most awesome scenic spots like Boracay, Mindoro, Cebu, Bohol, Ilocos, Baguio, and even in so many of our undiscovered and rustic provinces like the Kalinga-Apayao; the most talented and most beautiful actors and the most brilliant people in the television industry. With the full support from our government, tourism organizations, and the millions of Filipinos working abroad who can be our ambassadors of goodwill, Philippine telenovelas (and movies, for that matter!) can definitely compete with those of our close Asian neighbors.

-By Dot Ramos Balasbas Gancayco (The Philippine Star)