A little thought...

Credits: Relational Context of Teaching

Based on what I posted so far, I learned and realized a lot of things.

The one obvious thing is that we cannot assume that what happens in the West or Asia does not happen all around the world. It is just not the same as globalization is the main thing which brought us together. One good example is the evolution of E-book mentioned in the previous post where the opposite effect happens here in Asia. That same goes for  privacy laws and the act of stereotyping in publications. 

 However, those publications referred in those postings do follow certain rules which govern them. Those publications, either print documents or screen documents, have the same principle applied to them. This principle is the design features which differs according to types of document. According to Reep (2006, p.134), "design features increases the usefulness of documents [in terms of] guiding readers through the text, increase reader's interest and create a document that reflects the image you wish readers to have".

Also, being a journalist, blogger, editor or even a book author; we have our own rules and regulations which govern us. Problems happen to us when we break those ethical rules such as stereotyping, altering images to create false news, creating gender issues in our writings and being bias. We need to remember that any single thing which we voice out whether through print media, on-screen media or even through our own voice needs to follow the ethics of journalism.

Credits: Mc Closkey Patent Law

In Malaysia, the ethics of journalism according to the Canon of Journalism is as follows:-

1. The primary responsibility of the Malaysian journalist is to report facts accurately and faithfully and to respect the right of the public to the truth.

2. In pursuant of this duty he shall uphold the fundamental freedom in the honest collection of news and the right to fair comment and criticism.

3. He shall use only proper methods to obtain news, photographs/films and documents.

4. It shall be his duty to rectify and publish information found to be incorrect.

5. He shall respect the confidentiality of the source of information.

6. He shall uphold standards of morality in the performance of his duties and shall avoid plagiarism, calumny or slander, libel, sedition, unfounded accusations or acceptance of bribe in any form.

7. He shall avoid publication of news or reports, communal or extremist in nature, or contrary to the moral value of multiracial Malaysia.

8. It shall be incumbent upon him to understand public and national policies pertaining to the profession.


Besides that, the trend of publication is also evolving from time to time. Today, document designer have to think of attracting readers to the electronic document from the traditional print document. There are different principles between these two medium. For an electronic document, "readers can choose different pathways depending on their interest" (Walsh 2006, p.32). Readers can click on a numerous tabs or links available on the website which lead to different pathways. They can know the content of the document with a glance. Compared to print document, "readers will go through different levels of decoding, responding and comprehending at affective and cognitive level, critiquing and analyzing" (Walsh 2006, p.25). Therefore, a large effort is needed to put in convincing readers to change to a new medium which requires a total new reading path and level of decoding information.

Nevertheless, the day will come when digital media would play a dominant role as technology continues its relentless march. This trend is already evident in universities and colleges in that all students now require basically a laptop and some PC skills in order read digitized researched works.






Reference:

Eye on Ethics 2012, Canon of Journalism (Malaysia), viewed 3 November 2012, <http://www.eyeonethics.org/journalist-code-of-ethics-in-asia/canons-of-journalism-malaysia/>.

Reep, D 2006, Technical Writing, 6th edn, Pearson Education, New York. 

Walsh, M 2006, 'The Textual Shift: Examining the reading process with print, visual and multimodal texts', Australia Journal of Language and Literacy, vol. 29, no.1, pp.24-37.



 # Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.

A Contradict View towards evolution of E-Books

I still remember the days where we complain of backaches due to the heavy bags which we have to carry to school. School bags are often damaged due to excessive weight from those thick and old textbooks carried inside it.

Today, most students especially in tertiary education goes to university empty handed. The reason behind this is due to the emergence of e-books and digital forms of their textbooks which can be accessed through their PCs, Ipads, Tablets and even smart phones.

E-books in the eyes of Westerner

 

Credits: Lowyat

Looking at the Western countries, e-books are well-accepted and that change the way the whole publication industry works. The traditional hardcover publication is decreasing year by year as most readers turned to e-books. According to the report by the Association of American Publishers, "the net sales revenue from e-books exceeded that of hardcover books in the first quarter of the year" (cited in Indvik 2012).

Acceptance of E-books

E-books is accepted well due to several reasons.

The rapid introduction of new technologies in those countries has contributed to e-book's popularity. As mentioned by Streitfeld (2012), "electronic books have been around for more than a decade, but took off only when Amazon introduced the first Kindle e-reader in 2007".

Credits: Pocket-lint

The e-reader has eased the user's convenience in locating and reading those e-books. Today, the e-reader also provides many functions such as downloading songs, movies and videos. Users are also offered a variety of e-readers device to choose from such as  Sony e-reader and Apple's Ipad. As many choices of e-reader device dominates the market, it seems to have become a trend that everyone have to follow so as to become up-to-date in society.

Also, there are more choices of books available through e-books compared to the hard copy due to the absence of publishers. As many authors are often rejected by the publishers to publish their book, they now can publish their own piece of inspiration online and make available to all readers. It works by "digitally format their own manuscript, set a price and sell it to readers through a variety of online retailers and devices" (Donahue 2011). Therefore, readers can access more publications online while authors can easily get their manuscript published and reach its users easily. 

E-books in Malaysia

On the other hand, here in Malaysia; the opposite effect occurs. E-book have a slow increase in sales revenue here compared to the Western countries. This shows that the Asian people has yet to accept e-books compare to the traditional print materials. They still hold a very strong bond to their traditional hardcopy books.

Today, we do have our own e-books retailer offering electronic books online but it does not seem to lead to the e-book being popular here. According to Yeoh (2012), Malaysia do "has independent e-book stores such as  “e-sentral”, “ebuuk” by Maxis and also from MPH Online website". 

Reader's preference towards reading materials

In Malaysia, readers still prefer to buy hard copy materials and carry them around compare to the electronic books. One of the reasons is that readers could not feel the special feelings which they have with electronic books. According to Julius (cited in Ng 2012), "printed books allow a 'more personal experience' over digital ones". Readers still prefer to flip and touch the pages of printed materials when reading those books. This is because the reading habits is formed since young and it is hard to change overnight. Compared to the Westerner, Asians are more loyal and resistance to change especially in accepting new technologies.

Moreover, Ipads and Tablets are relatively expensive to Malaysian in terms of purchasing power compared to Western countries. This lead to only those who are in the middle to high income people can afford to own one. Even if they can afford to purchase one, they are unlikely to purchase e-books compared to downloading music and movies. This is because we do not have strong reading habits such as those Westerners do.

I personally prefer the hard copy printed materials because it's easier to read. Reading through those electronic devices makes my eyes tired easily especially when reading those journal articles. I also love to flip the pages of printed materials as I have the personal feeling of knowing which page I am in.

Local newspaper goes virtual

 

Credits: PR Web

However, as more electronic version of printed publications become available, we need to switch our reading habits too. In Malaysia, virtual full version of local newspaper is now available through the publications 's own apps for a fee which is cheaper than purchasing the physical printed newspaper.

For instance, Star publication had offered a 'Bundle Package' where for a fee of RM30 a month, users can obtain the printed newspaper, E-newspaper and the E-flavours magazine; a food magazine under The Star publication.

Credits: The Star

With this e-paper, users can read all editions of Star newspaper which differs according to location such as Metro Perak.


Fred not, printed publication of newspaper will still be continue for your enjoyment. Having this virtual publication will not change the traditional way of the locals receiving their printed copies. According to Mr.Ho Kay Tat; the Group managing director, "We have no intention to take over the delivery from vendors for as long as there are vendors willing to do it" (cited in StarBizWeek 2012). This means that you still can purchase your daily dose of Star publications from your local vendors whom you might be their loyal customer for years. 


E-paper versus printed paper.


You choose.






Reference :

Donahue, D 2011, Self-Published Authors Finds E-Success, USA Today, viewed 3 November 2012, < http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/life/books/news/story/2011-12-14/self-published-authors-ebooks/51851058/1>.

Indvik, L 2012, Ebooks Sales Surpass Hardcover For the First Time in U.S., Mashable Business, viewed 3 November 2012, < http://mashable.com/2012/06/17/ebook-hardcover-sales/>.

Ng, J 2012, Asia sees slow e-book uptake, ZD Net, viewed 3 November 2012, <http://www.zdnet.com/asia-sees-slow-e-book-uptake-2062300384/>. 

StarBizWeek 2012, The Star innovates with e-Paper and iSnap, Star Online, viewed 3 November 2012, <http://biz.thestar.com.my/news/story.asp?file=/2012/4/21/business/11139736&sec=business>.
 
Streitfeld, D 2012, Cut in E-Book Pricing by Amazon is Set to Shake Rivals, New York Times, viewed 3 November 2012, <http://www.nytimes.com/2012/04/12/business/media/amazon-to-cut-e-book-prices-shaking-rivals.html?pagewanted=all>.

Yeoh, O 2012, The E-Book Evolution, Onn Yeoh, viewed 3 November 2012, <http://oonyeoh.squarespace.com/sun-column/2012/7/4/the-e-book-evolution.html>.

# Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.

Woman, the forever victim in sexist stereotype

Credits: Guardian

Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge as mentioned in the previous post where images of her being topless was published by some French magazines further ignites another issue with the publication industry.

This time, it is regarding sexist stereotype of female on the front cover of the publication. In the West especially French, images of females often won the position in the front cover of the publication. According to Hill (2012), "the Duchess of Cambridge and her sister Pippa Middleton were two of the women most likely to be pictured on newspaper front pages".

 

Credits: Guardian

In my opinion, they were highly published on the front cover as they are well known icons in the country where everyone; in fact the whole world knows them, better than any entertainment industry celebrity where some readers may not know them at all. However, they are not being well positioned when appear on the front cover. Most of the publications only published them on the front cover for certain issues which puts their position down.

 The reason behind these articles are due to the presence of male writers and auditors being the majority of workers in the media industry. A research was carried out by the industry body Woman in Journalism (WIJ), "study reveals 78% of front-page articles are written by men, and 84% of those quoted or mentioned are male" (cited in Hill 2012). When the articles are written by male, they are likely to choose female as a topic of focus especially to entice the curious public to read it.

A cure to the problem:

Anti-Sexism Training

Now, the French government is trying to remove this bad image from them by sending government cabinet for Anti-Sexism Training. The Anti-Sexism Training will cover "a 45 minutes gender equality sensitization session where they will be trained to identify sexism in daily life and taught how to avoid sexist stereotypes in political communication" (Ayrault cited in Adamson 2012).

This type of training session is good as it reinforced the image and importance of gender equality in a developed society. As the members of the cabinet are often being watched by its citizens, they will need to play a good role for others to follow. This step also shows that the French government is looking seriously into the gender issues which will tarnish the country's reputation if left uncared.

"Subjective construction of gender in the media" seminar

In Argentina, a university had proposed a plan to organize a 6 months seminar in learning the course of 'non-sexist communication'. This course, which is proposed by Argentina's National University of Entre Rio's School of Communication, will "include topics such as communication, gender and subjectivity, the importance of non-sexist language in the media, and gender violence and the media" (ENINEWS 2012).

Such course is good to be implemented as the journey of becoming a journalist starts from  tertiary education. When students are being taught to be non-sexist throughout their course in the university, they will be less prone to do such mistake of stirring up gender issues when they work for any publication in future. This is because such action is opposed to what is being taught to them that they may find it unacceptable to do so. As many people said, we need to nurture our future leaders way back from the root itself. Implementing rules to stop them halfway through their action is that difficult.

Sexism in Asia

 

While here in Asia, the sexism problem is under control where the government is playing its role in controlling publications which will stir up a sexism issue. 

Credits: MediaEthics.org

In Sri Lankan, one of its local newspaper had to apologize to the public for publishing a cartoon which portray a stereotype in gender equalities. According to Smith (2012), "Lakbima News apologized on Sept. 16 for a Sept. 9 cartoon that was slammed as unacceptable [which] depicted the Indian Prime Minister underneath an uplifted sari of the Chief Minister of Tamil Nadu and looking up".

Credits: Groundviews.org

The cartoon published by Lakbima News

The cartoon received much criticism from its citizens after it was published. As we from the Asia are more conservative in nature, these type of images are unacceptable in our society compared to the West. Therefore, there is more tendency for the publisher to apologize to the public for its actions than in the West because it might lose support from its readers if no action is taken by the company. Also, the government is more strict in taking action against such cases which will cause an uproar in the community.

Compared to the West, some of the citizens especially male will accept such publications but not here in Asia. Such cases has occurred since long ago and due to no actions taken by the authorities against these publications, those publications company take such publications as a normal thing which they need to publish to get their sales.

Therefore, rules and regulations of content of publications in the West should be strictly enforced by the authorities. The authorities need to take immediate action against any publications which publish materials or images which shows sexism stereotype without further delay.


At the end of the day, have our journalists remember the ethics which they have to follow?

Credits: Sublimal

Reference:

Adamson, T 2012, French government gets anti-sexism lessons, CBS News Online, viewed 2 November 2012, <http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-505245_162-57542815/french-government-gets-anti-sexism-lessons/>. 

ENINEWS 2012, WACC Welcomes Study of Non-Sexist Communication, WACC, viewed 3 November 2012, <http://www.anglicanjournal.com/nc/other/news-items/article/wacc-welcomes-study-of-non-sexist-communication-11120.html>. 

Hill, A 2012, Sexist Stereotypes dominate front pages of British newspapers, research finds, Guardian, viewed 2 November 2012, <http://www.guardian.co.uk/media/2012/oct/14/sexist-stereotypes-front-pages-newspapers>.

Smith, S 2012, Sri Lankan Newspaper Apologizes for Sexist Cartoon after Complaint, Daily Media Picks, viewed 3 November 2012, <http://www.imediaethics.org/News/3426/Sri_lankan_newspaper_apologizes_for_sexist_cartoon_after_complaints_.php>.

# Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.

Privacy law on celebrity's private affairs

Us Weekly, OK! Magazine, Star Magazine, in Touch....



Credits: Living Barefoot and Crazy





Credits: FavTweet 



These are the familiar names of magazine for the readers from the Western countries. 

For the Malaysian readers, I am sure that you have heard of Galaxie magazine.

Credits: Twilighters Malaysia

These magazines put celebrity news as a focus and most of it deal with celebrity's personal life. Publishing contents regarding celebrity personal life may attract a lot of readers but this kind of publishing material may invade their privacy rights. Photographers tried their best to capture photographs and create sensational news from those images to the extent that they hide and use super lenses to capture the celebrity's personal life in their private home and on vacation.

For instance, some French magazines such as Closer and Chi  had published images of Kate Middleton, the Duchess of Cambridge topless when she was on a private vacation with Prince William (Schmidt 2012). This news had created a huge debate over the issue on the privacy laws and privacy rights of individuals.

Credits: Examiner.com

According to Linter (2007, p.172), "violating privacy is still wrong unless outweighed by some vastly compelling public right to know". In this case, Kate Middleton is on her private vacation with her husband and she has the right to keep her private matters from the public. Also, a celebrity's private affairs does not have a compelling public right to know matters.

The actions made by those publications has broken the French privacy law. According to Fraser (2012), "France has a strict privacy law that makes it a criminal offence to publish information on a person's private life without the express permission of the person concerned". Therefore, it is an offence to publish images of celebrity's private without their consent as what those French publications did to Kate Middleton.

Privacy law in Malaysia

Here, in Malaysia; we do have our own privacy laws. According to the recent Federal Court case of Sivarasa Rasiah v Badan Peguam Malaysia & Anor [2010] 3 CLJ 507 at 519. Article 5(1) of the Constitution provides that “No person shall be deprived of his life or personal liberty save in accordance with law" (cited in Foong 2011). Therefore, we have our own rights for our own privacy.

As we Malaysians are more conservative in nature, such cases of publication of private life of  a celebrity do not happen here. Most of our magazines publish news about celebrity on their current and future productions and even where there is news about their private life, the news are mostly derived from the celebrity's own public announcement.








Reference:
Foong, CL 2011, Right to privacy in Malaysia: Do we have it?, Malaysian Insider, viewed 1 November 2012, http://www.themalaysianinsider.com/breakingviews/article/right-to-privacy-in-malaysia-do-we-have-it-foong-cheng-leong-loyarburok.com.

Fraser, C 2012, Analysis: Are French privacy laws really strict?, BBC News, viewed 1 November 2012, http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19595796.

Linter, K 2007, Global Regulatory Issues for the Cosmetics Industry, Elsevier Inc, United States of America.

Schmidt, RH 2012, Royal Exposure: How much privacy should Kate and Harry expect?, Examiner.com, viewed 1 November 2012, <http://www.examiner.com/article/royal-exposure-how-much-privacy-should-kate-and-harry-expect>.

# Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.

The Art of editing and altering images

Today, all types of publications such as magazines use edited and perfected photographs only as part of its norms and practices. Readers are being exposed to those images continuously throughout their life that they don't realize that it is being altered from the original but accepted that as a good standard of quality photographs taken. This has raised the issue of ethics in editing images where is there a boundary to this practices.

According to an article by Haughney (2012), edited images has changed the realistic nature of the environment where images of " skies are made brighter, animals become flawless, grass is made to look greener and, in a recent issue of Women’s Health, sheep was made to look whiter.

The dog's ear was edited to remove the water particles

The sheep that was edited to make it look whiter

 Credits: New York Times

This is indeed true where all images made to look flawless include non-human subject and the scenery used as image background. In fact, there is a limit to this practice. Under the National Press Photographers Associations (NPPA)'s Code of Ethics, "editing should maintain the integrity of the photographic images' content and context as well as not manipulate images or add or alter sound in any way that can mislead viewers or misrepresent subjects".

Misleading images lead to false news

The type of images which can be edited depends on the context and purpose of the images. News related images cannot be edited as the public depends on the news published. Misleading photographs can create  fake news which will create chaos. News images "can be computer-enchanced only for the purpose of producing the closest possible likeness of what the photographer actually saw" (Irby 2004).

For instance, the recent images of Irene Hurricane which had been Photoshopped created  chaos in the public as it mislead the public about the actual condition which happened in New Jersey.

Credit: Mind Blowing Facts

 Credit : Gregory Michael

The photograph above altered by adding a shark in the water has created a fake news that the Irene Hurricane has swept the dangerous marine life into the neighborhood in New Jersey. The distribution of this image has created fear among those online readers who saw this picture. According to Zennie (2012), the fake images "has spread across social media at a viral pace, shared by tens thousands of shocked people on Facebook and Twitter".


Editors of these photographs probably got the idea from the recent movie, "Bait" where natural disaster had swept sharks into the supermarket.

Credits: Meld Magazine

Editing of images permitted in certain circumstances

On the other hand, images can be edited if the editing does not mislead the readers. For instance, removing the red eye from the photograph captured.

Before red eye removal

After red eye removal

 Image credit: Design Mentor Training

This is because such editing work does not altered or manipulate the original content of the photograph. As shown above, the baby in the 'after red eye removal' image is the same as the before edited image but with the baby's eye fixed. The red eye on the image is due to the flash from the camera being reflected on the eye of the subject. Therefore, editing photographs is permitted when the image is unflattering due to the camera's mechanism fault.

I strongly agree that a border line should be put to the art of editing images. Photojournalist should follow the rules that are bound to them. Such rules are available through the National Press Photographers Association. This is to make all publications credible to the readers and the public who depends on the news. Altering images which change the content means creating false news that cheat the public. This act will cause the publisher and editor of such news to lose their loyal readers and being criticized badly by the public when the truth is known. If the editor insist on publishing extreme altered images to please their eyes and the eyes of the readers, a clause should be put together with the images to tell the readers that the image may not be the same as the real fact. But isn't that telling a lie? Yes. It's up to their decision.

Food Styling, making dishes fit for the camera

Additionally, there is one type of magazine where most of the image captured seems to be unrealistic where the subject of photo shoot is being manipulated or 'arranged' to resemble the real thing. It's the food related magazine and the recipe or cookbooks.

credit: Bon Appetit

Now, have you wondered why the dish that you cooked does not come out as pleasant to the eyes as the one given in the cookbook even through you followed strictly the instructions given? Well, that's because those pictures in the cookbook is styled to look mouthwatering.

Credit: Cannele et vanille

For instance, the food in the image above had been styled where the food is being carefully arranged with the right angle and condiments to make it look appealing.

Such people who are specialize in this field are called 'Food Stylist' and their work deal with 'Food Styling'. Basically, their job is to style the food or dishes to be fit for the camera. According to Manley (2011), food stylist starts their job by buying all the ingredients needed, cook the dish and end with styling it for the camera.

As most of the consumers rely on the pictures when ordering food or when purchasing certain products, the product purchased may not be the same as the ones illustrated. This often resulted in frustrated consumers where they feel that they are being cheated by the advertisements.

Xia Xue, a famous Singaporean blogger has demonstrated the art of styling a raw chicken into an oven roasted chicken.

The raw chicken indeed looks like a cooked roast chicken after being styled. So, the image produced from such production must state a clause that ' the image is for illustration only' and it may not resembled the end product.

Being a wise consumer, we must be alert towards all publications and do not follow or trust blindly what is being advertised.




Reference:

Haughney, C 2012, 'Who Can Improve on Nature? Magazine Editors, New York Times, viewed 31 October 2012, http://www.nytimes.com/2012/07/21/arts/magazine-editors-and-photographers-on-retouching-photos.html?pagewanted=all&_r=0.

Irby, K 2004, 'Austin American-Statesman Photo Manipulation Policy', Poynter, viewed 31 October 2012, <http://www.poynter.org/uncategorized/22849/austin-american-statesman-photo-manipulation-policy/>. 

Manley, R 2011, The Glamorous Life of a Food Stylist, BBC Food, viewed 1 November 2012, <http://www.bbc.co.uk/blogs/food/2011/10/the-glamorous-life-of-a-food-s.shtml>.  

National Press Photographers Associations 2012, NPPA Code of Ethics, viewed 31 October 2012, http://nppa.org/professional_development/business_practices/ethics.html.

Zennie, M 2012, 'Ravaged homes, submerged subways... and now sharks? Sandy spoofs flood the internet', Mail Online, viewed 1 November 2012, <http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2226091/Sandy-memes-Sharks-post-Sandy-spoof-pictures-flooded-neighborhoods.html>. 




# Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.

Screen vs Print Document Design

As said in the previous post that blog has helped organizations to market their products and bring them closer to the consumers. But organizations do not ignore the print media to promote their products. They utilize both online and print media at the same time. The promotion through the online media exists in the screen document form which is very different from the print document form.

Differences between screen document and print document design

Before the emergence of internet, the print documents design principles were heavily emphasized. With the advent of internet which creates importance in on-screen documents, the print document design principles were challenged as it may not be all applicable to the on-screen document design.

The following discussion will use PowerPoint slides to represent on-screen documents while magazines will represent print document design. The application of theories to PowerPoint slides and magazines below may not be applicable to other types of on-screen or print documents. 

The PowerPoint slides shown below are extracted from my own group's presentation slide for Issues in Publication and design (IPD) summary review presentation. 

The traditional print document design theories:

1. "reading path are from left to right, top to bottom" (Kress & Leeuwen 2006, p.177). 

As the reading path of readers are being said to follow such rules, documents are being designed to place old information on the left while new information on the right and promises of a product or information on the top while the actual information or product is placed at the bottom of the page (Kress & van Leeuwen , p.186).


For instance, the snapshot of the Cleo Malaysia September 2012 edition below shows the reading path of top and bottom where the picture of the couple on the page shows the feeling which users can feel when using the promoted product, Enchanter perfume. The wordings and the bottle of perfume at the bottom of the page shows the actual product being promoted. Therefore, readers will look at the top to the bottom and the concentration is at its peak at the bottom of the page as they are being loaded with new information.

Enchanter advertisement on Cleo Malaysia September 2012 edition

However, on the PowerPoint slides, the reading path may be different depending on the design and layout of the slides.

The PowerPoint slides below shows a reading path from the top to the bottom which is the same for a print document. However, the layout of the information is not the same as on a printed magazine as all information on the PowerPoint slide are new information which is to be presented to the audience. Therefore, there are no layout of new versus old information on a PowerPoint slide. Also, the concentration is peak throughout the reading from top to bottom due to the new information.

A slide extracted from my group's IPD presentation

2. "Text in the the document is created through strategies of essay composition" (Bernhardt 1986, p.65).

Information on magazines are typed and printed in the form of an essay with its attractive introduction, comprehensive and detailed points with supporting materials and a good conclusion.

The snapshot of the Timeout KL magazine September 2012 edition below shows that the information provided to the readers are in the form of an essay with full sentences. From far, the paragraphs looks very lengthy but readers of this magazine will be interested to read them as they are bought for reading.

A snapshot of Timeout KL September 2012 edition

The situation will be different with regards to information on a PowerPoint slide.

Referring to the PowerPoint slide below, the information is summarized to one or two sentences with a mixture of full sentences and bullet point form. However, the main points are being put in a point form with one to two points in one PowerPoint slide. Also, the examples given for a point are also summarized where full sentences may not be used.

A slide extracted from my group's IPD presentation

3. "The inverted pyramid, Diamond, The Wall Street Journal form and a modified Diamond form of writing structures" (Fensch 2001, p.164).

The writing structure in magazines as shown on the snapshot of Timeout KL September 2012 edition below shows a Diamond form of writing structures. The information in the red box is the opening, the blue box represent 'The Middle' and the green box represent the end segment. The information between those coloured boxes are 'The Breaks'.

 The opening box means the opening story of the article where the sparks of the story start there. Comparing with other forms of printed document, The Diamond form "gets more and more detailed, valuable and more complex [unlike]...the usual inverted pyramid form of writing" (Fensch 2001, p.127).

Application of 'Diamond' form on an article from Timeout KL September 2012 edition.

The writing structure is different for an on-screen document. The writing structure of a Powerpoint slide emphasize on featuring only the main points in bullet or numbering format. The main points of the PowerPoint presentation are shown below which is the bold words in purple while the small font text in black are the description and examples.

A slide extracted from my group's IPD presentation

4. Display Units

According to Farkas (2005, p.11), "the display unit for most print documents is in page [while on-screen document] the display unit for web is HTML and for PowerPoint is slides".

A power point slide.

A print document in Cleo Magazine August 2012

The example given for on-screen document is a PowerPoint slide while the print document is a page from the Cleo Magazine Malaysia August 2012 edition. The sample of print document show below is the content page of a magazine which denotes the content in each page of the magazine. Thus, we identify the different content in the magazine through pages. On the other hand, the content in a PowerPoint is identify through the slides.

The power point slides in print document form

  
Moreover, when the on-screen document which is the PowerPoint slides is transferred into a print document form, the display units turns from 'slides' to 'pages'. As shown above, there are six slides in a page and sometimes the display units of 'slides' can be used together with 'pages' when the transfer of publication form occurs as the slides numbers are still visible when printed out on a paper. However, it is up to the user to decide the numbering of slides whether from left to right or top to bottom when the slide number is not visible in the print document.

References:

Bernhardt, SA 1986, 'Seeing the Text', National Council of Teachers of English, vol.37, no.1, pp.66-78, viewed 19 September 2012, <http://www.jstor.org/stable/357383>

Farkas, D 2005, 'Explicit Structure in Print and On-Screen Documents', Technical Communication Quarterly, vol.14, no.1, pp.9-30,

Fensch, T 2001, Writing Solutions: Beginnings, middles and endings, New Century Books, United States of America. 

Kress, G & Leeuwen, TV 2006, Reading Images: The grammer of visual design, 2nd edn, Routledge, New York.

# Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.

Food reviews on blogs as an advertising medium

As said in the previous post that blogs have served as a news platform for readers who create a need to identify credible blogs to rely on. This change in habit of obtaining news occurs everywhere around the world especially among young people. According to a study conducted by Pew (cited in Biagi 2012, p.263), "there is a large numbers of Americans under age 30 turned to the Internet for news and [surprisingly] in fact people of all ages read the news online".

Print documents given to the public is a waste

This phenomenon has lead to organizations trying to reach its consumers and potential consumers online instead of the traditional advertisements through television, newspapers and printed brochures, pamphlets and flyers. The traditional way of advertising is not effective in reaching its audiences as they find a way to avoid advertisements.

Very often, flyers and brochures given to the public whenever they pass by the shop or promotion booth are wasted as they are purposely being left at the venue or thrown into the dustbin without looking at them. This is due to either the receiver of the printed promotional materials being a wrong person targeted or they are bored with the documents itself as they have seen it many times. Sometimes, it is because the public does not like to hold a stack of brochures or pamphlets when walking around especially in a shopping mall where most of the shops will have flyers to be given away.

This bad habits do not only revolves around Malaysians but also people in other countries as well. In Singapore, pamphlets and brochures are also being left or thrown on the event floor before the visitors leave the event venue. STOMP has reported about the mess left by the visitors after the Singapore IT Fair 2011 at Suntec city.

Mess after Singapore IT Fair 2011 at Suntec city by STOMP

Advertising through blogs is effective

Organizations have come out with the way of reaching its audiences which is through blogs and it is more effective. The advertisement on blogs comes in the form of 'review post' or 'advertorial'. Sometimes, bloggers do not differentiate the review post with their own personal post but putting it together in one blog post. A research conducted shows that "81% of shoppers who spends more than $500 online each month use products reviews when they make buying decisions" (Solomon, Cornell & Nizan 2010, p.215).

Advertising on blogs is vital for organizations in F&B industry

This new form of advertising and promotions is applied fully by all organizations dealing with food products which includes restaurants and cafes. In the past, we are stuffed with flyers of new menu offered or opening of new restaurants when we are out in town or even in our mail box at home. Also, we often see a food review section on the weekend edition of the newspaper. However, they are seen as not effective where as said, flyers are being thrown away. Additionally, Bridgeland & Zahavi (2009, p.201) mentioned that "newspapers reviews have gradually lost much of their former influence". Therefore, the advertising trend had changed from print documents to on-screen documents which is through blogs.

 Getting the food reviews on blogs

Usually, high traffic and well known bloggers are contacted by the Marketing team of organizations when there is a new introduction of products or new promotions offered. Then, bloggers will be invited to a special bloggers gathering or private event where they will be briefed about the products or promotion with samples of the products given to them followed by a photography session of the products. The details of the functions held vary depending on the types of organizations.

Advertisements of Mooncakes through brochures

 

Benefits of advertising through blogs 

This changed in trends had proven to be a success. Bridgeland & Zahavi (2009, p.201) supported that "now customers typically find good restaurants via the Internet reviews of other customers, by local dining blogs or by professional review books like Zagat and Michelin guides".

Due to the emergence of young people following blogs for news or simply being a fan of the blog, advertisement through blogs is able to reach the audiences as they do not reject or avoid blog post being posted on the blogs they follow even though it is a form of advertisement. This new trend had helped organizations targeting their products to young people even though the products may not appeal to young people in the olden days. 

Blog advertisements changed reader's behavior

This new form of following food reviews on blogs has typically changed young people's behavior. They are willing to drive more than 30 minutes and sometimes an hour to the restaurants reviewed on blogs. People also travel to other states of the country especially in Malaysia just to try the local food there which they saw on food blogs. This has made them travel and purchase goods which people around their age would not go or buy in the past.

For instance, young people today knows a lot about traditional or festival food such as Mooncakes. In the past, they do not care to take a look at the Mooncakes booth but today, they just go straight to the particular shop and placed their order. This is because Mooncakes reviews are everywhere on the internet by food bloggers. Organizations offering the product had get the bloggers to review their products way before they are launched in public. 

Dragon-i Mooncakes review on XiangCool.com

Dragon-i Mooncake review on Chasing Food Dreams

Dragon-i Restaurant has host a blogger gathering on its Mooncakes offering. As shown above, two different blogs which are XiangCool.com and Chasing Food Dreams reviewing Dragon-i's mooncakes promotion.

ParkRoyal Kuala Lumpur's Mooncakes review on Big Boys Oven

Other organizations such as ParkRoyal Kuala Lumpur uses this advertising strategy too where its review on its Mooncakes are reviewed by bloggers on their blogs as shown on Big Boy Oven's blog above. 


This new trend of food review had cause many food blogs to appear on the Internet as well as online network specialized in food reviews where the general public can post review of any restaurants which they visited on the network by becoming a member which is free of charge. The emergence of these food review networks has helped organizations in this field in a form of free advertisements besides gaining popularity. Examples of Food Network in Malaysia are shown below.

Malaysia Most Wanted FOOD network

Dine Malaysia.com network

Open Rice Malaysia network

The emergence of food networks are also happening in other countries such as in Hong Kong and Singapore as shown below.

Open Rice Hong Kong network

Hungry go Where Singapore network

References:

Biagi, S 2012, Media Impact: An introduction to mass media, 10th edn, Wadsworth Cengage Learning, United States of America.

Bridgeland, D & Zahavi, R 2009, Business Modeling: A practical guide to realizing business value, The MK/OMG Press, United States of America. 

Solomon, M, Cornell, L & Nizan, A 2010, Launch! Advertising and Promotion in Real Time, Flat World Knowledge Inc, New York.




# Warning: The description in this blog may contained information which may not applicable to all users. The owner of the blog is not responsible for any loss cause by any misinterpretation of the content posted.