Scotland rejects independence

·         The Scotland “No-to-independence” campaign declaring victory

·        The First Minister of Scotland was defeated with just small margin of votes, but assuring another referendum is possible in the future

·      David Cameron said that he was happy that Scottish people had decided to reject the independence

In the news from the Scottish newspapers, The Herald, the article highlights on the Yes-to-independence campaign defeats. In its article, the first thing they mentioned was the numbers of voting, where both political parties were only separated by small margin, which was 55% to 45% votes. Then, they continually talked on number of turnouts, where just 84.6% of Scottish people that actually made their way to the polling centres and casted the votes.

Nicola Sturgeon, The Deputy First Minister, who led the Yes-to-independence campaign, accepted defeat although the result have not fully declared during that time. Together sharing the disappointment, was Alex Salmond, as he chose not to fly to Aberdeenshire, although he was expected to attend at the count – which the count after all not on his side, as his constituency had strongly rejected the independence with 60.3% to 39.3% votes. 

The rest of the article was full of fact and figures to tell further on the results of the Scottish independence referendum. The important figures behind Better Together campaign was barely mentioned in the articles, but a short paragraph from the Prime Minister David Cameron and Deputy Prime Minister Nick Clegg were included. Towards the end of the article, The Herald also quoted comments from the highest donors to the Yes-to-independence campaign, Lottery winners; Chris and Colin Weir.

On the other hand, The Telegraph also wrote their own article regarding the Yes-to-independence defeat. In its article, the first thing they highlighted was the percentage of voters that reject independence. Compared to The Herald’s article which basically mentioned the figures and details of the voting results, The Telegraph was seen to just write down the winning percentage (55%).

Subsequently, they talked about David Cameron’s comments on his winning; along with the announcement of the increasing in Sterling value, due to the success of Better Together campaign. 

Unlike in The Herald, opponents’ stories were broadly portrayed in the article. For example, Salmond’s moments of defeat and his comments were all included in detail. Salmond was said to resign himself as leader of the Scottish National Party and he believes this is not the end to his fight for Scotland independence. 

The same happened to Nicola Sturgeon, where her comments during her moments of defeat were included in the article. While an upsetting atmosphere surrounding the Yes-to-independence campaign leader; the man behind the successful Better Together campaign, Alistair Darling, was quoted to thank all the voters who supported the team.

The rest of the article focuses more on Cameron’s plans for a new constitutional settlement for the UK. Towards the end, there were still writings on Salmond’s defeat, and the article was ended with an opinion quoted from the Scottish Conservative leader, Ruth Davidson.

One of the UK newspapers, The Guardian has wrote on the reaction on Edward Snowden’s whistle-blower act from one of the leaders from the US.

In their article on the leader’s reaction towards Edward Snowden, the news focuses on the statements that were coming out from John Lewis, the U.S. Representative for Georgia's 5th congressional district. The first thing they mentioned in the article was Lewis’ opinion, where he referred Snowden as “continuing the tradition of civil disobedience”. Then, they asked this member of the Democratic Party, whether Snowden has now involved in an act of civil disobedience, which he replied by nodding his head. Which later he added "If you believe something that is not right, something is unfair, and you are willing to challenge customs, traditions, corrupt laws, then you have a conscience. You have a right to challenge those laws and be prepared to pay the price."

Although rough reaction was expected from this US leader, but it was barely portrayed in the article. When being asked whether Snowden’s act was a crime, Lewis just reacted by saying “many of us have some real, real, problems with how the government has been spying on people”. Through this article, John Lewis shared that he has been arrested numerous of time, even in the time when he has been in Congress. “Sometimes you have to act by the dictates of your conscience. You have to do it”, he added.  The rest of the article was full of story that relates important figures with surveillance.

On the other hand, USA Today wrote their own article regarding leader’s reaction towards Edward Snowden, by focusing on the comments made by President Barack Obama. In their article, the first thing they highlight was when Obama labelled Snowden who was charged with three felonies as “not a patriot”. Unlike in The Guardian’s article that barely portrayed sense of hatred towards Snowden, the USA Today also quoted Obama to say “there were other avenues available for someone whose conscience felt stirred” referring to Snowden, in its article.

The rest of the article was about Obama announcing an idea for better oversight of the surveillance programs, which he said will help in balancing and guarding Americans safety and privacy. Obama also touched on immigration issue, the terrorist group al-Qaeda and addressed new Fed chairman during the conference.

Despite the different opinions from both important figures on Snowden in the articles, they are actually practice the same political views as both of them are from Democratic Party.

Blogpost 4 - Christmas

Christmas, between commercialism tension and moral tension

Commercialism vs Christmas

One of the US newspapers, New York Daily News has wrote that the story of Jesus has been overwhelmed by commercialism and other non-religious things.

In their article about the commercialism and Christmas, the news focuses on the recent reality where more people are viewing Christmas as a day where gifts are exchange and people are getting together.The first thing they mentioned in the article was the percentage found by a poll, where 69% of believers have said that they have attended Christmas worship services, but only 54% believers that will obligatorily go to the church, which signify quite a worrisome figure for Christmas. Subsequently, they continually talked about the same-sourced poll, where one-third of the respondents were revealed to regard Christmas as a cultural celebration, rather than as a religious holiday. 

Although the title of the news suggested it was about commercialism and Christmas, but the commercialism topic was not entirely discussed in the article. There were certain time the issue of commercialism was brought up, but just on the surface, like when the news reported that the New Yorkers were mainly agreed that due to the overwhelming commercial appeal during this festive season, Christmas has lost its sacred spirit. It also included in this article, that for many celebrators, they are getting into the Christmas spirit by spending some green - referring to the American dollar.The rest of the article was full of facts and figures from Pew Research Center poll in order to further emphasize the fact that Christmas is no longer a religious holiday.

On the other hand, another article from BBC News, wrote his opinion regarding the tension during Christmas might be because its the time of the year where people have to start to fork out money from their own pockets. In their report, the first thing they emphasized is the fact that in spite of credit crunch, the nation’s High Streets still can see shoppers shop for Christmas. Being one of a few news article that does not see commercialism as the reason of the holiday tension, BBC News wrote that people tend to fail in adjusting the financial status with their wish to make others happy.  

The rest of the article focuses more on the consequences of excessive spending during Christmas time may lead to a miserable time especially when the time comes for the debts to be paid. They included one psychological term “cognitive dissonance” to explain the stage when consumers have conflict between their thought and action. In its article, he added that due to the over-flowing marketing influences, people tend to enter into transactions, even after knowing very well that they are not able to afford it. 

Blog post 3 - Advertisement

“Like a girl” campaign by Always

• 53,454,595 views on YouTube for “like a girl” campaign
• The Always advertisement campaign on improving young girls’ self esteem is widely accepted
• Despite the positive acceptance, critics are flowing in as the company was seen as producing another marketing strategy, rather than morally helping.

One of the leading UK newspapers, The Telegraph was one of the many supporters of the Like a Girl campaign. 

In their article about the acceptance of the public, the news focuses on the “like a girl” campaign success. The first thing they mentioned in the article was the stereotype that surrounds “like a girl” phrase. Subsequently, they talked about how the phrase used to be negatively described by people, and how the meaning of phrase “like a girl” was recently being explored through a social experiment.

Always, the sanitary towel company, was barely mentioned in the article, as this noble campaign has nothing to do with the company’s product, like panty liners and pads. The one time they mention the company was when they described about this movement that has started since May, where they portrayed the company as a party who commissioned the social experiment video.

The rest of the article is talking on how #LikeAGirl hash-tag has positively spread widely. Besides that, a few moment of realizations on how people had been sucked into this cliché stereotype have been included, to further emphasize the success of the “like a girl” campaign.

On the other hand, an award-winning article site, The Daily Beast wrote her own article regarding the campaign as they were the first article to condemn Always campaign. Being the only newspaper to have a different stand in this, The Daily Beast has received mix comments from its readers.  

In their article, the first thing they explained is on the advertisement itself - where they described the content of the campaign video. Unlike The Telegraph’s article which barely mentioned the responsible brand behind the successful campaign, The Daily Beast wrote a lot on Always company. Apart from labeling the campaign as “shamelessly emotionally exploitative” in its article, they also quoted Amanda Hess at Slate. Where, she shared her visit to Always “like a girl” campaign website, and basically just found links to Always- company products. 

The rest of the article focuses on other successful advert campaigns. They mentioned the Bodyform’s 2012 advertisement and HelloFlo’s 2013 Camp Gyno video and positively commented both adverts. The Daily Beast stated that both adverts as “more admirable and successful” because both adverts deal with the reality of what it means to be a woman rather than conveying a philosophical message, and declaring a specific product can helps in building self-confidence.

Despite the different opinions on the "like a girl" campaign, the campaign is actually quite a great idea in empowering young girls, but nonetheless, the Always company have to start to walk the talk and actually helping towards that.