New media [Fourth Edition]

This is the fourth edition of New Media: An Introduction, with the previous editions being published by Oxford University Press in 2002, 2005 and 2008. As the first edition of the book published in the 2010s, every chapter has been comprehensively revised, and there are new chapters on: • Online News and the Future of Journalism (Chapter 7) • New Media and the Transformation of Higher Education (Chapter 10) • Online Activism and Networked Politics (Chapter 12). It has retained popular features of the third edition, including the twenty key concepts in new media (Chapter 2) and illustrative case studies to assist with teaching new media. The case studies in the book cover: the global internet; Wikipedia; transmedia storytelling; Media Studies 2.0; the games industry and exploitation; video games and violence; WikiLeaks; the innovator’s dilemma; massive open online courses (MOOCs); Creative Commons; the Barack Obama Presidential campaigns; and the Arab Spring. Several major changes in the media environment since the publication of the third edition stand out. Of particular importance has been the rise of social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube, which draw out even more strongly the features of the internet as networked and participatory media, with a range of implications across the economy, society and culture. In addition, the political implications of new media have become more apparent with a range of social media-based political campaigns, from Barack Obama’s successful Presidential election campaigns to the Occupy movements and the Arab Spring. At the same time, the subsequent developments of politics in these and other cases has drawn attention to the limitations of thinking about the politics or the public sphere in technologically determinist ways. When the first edition of New Media was published in 2002, the concept of new media was seen as being largely about the internet as it was accessed from personal computers. The subsequent decade has seen a proliferation of platforms and devices: we now access media in all forms from our phones and other mobile platforms, therefore we seen television and the internet increasingly converging, and we see a growing uncoupling of digital media content and delivery platforms. While this has a range of implications for media law and policy, from convergent media policy to copyright reform, governments and policy-makers are struggling to adapt to such seismic shifts from mass communications media to convergent social media. The internet is no longer primarily a Western-based medium. Two-thirds of the world’s internet users are now outside of Europe and North America; three-quarters of internet users use languages other than English; and three-quarters of the world’s mobile cellular phone subscriptions are in developing nations. It is also apparent that conducting discussions about how to develop new media technologies and discussions about their cultural and creative content can no longer be separated. Discussions of broadband strategies and the knowledge economy need to be increasingly joined with those concerning the creative industries and the creative economy.

Getting a piece of the cloud

Introduction When it comes to sustainable economic development, it is hard to go past the thought of investment in information technology (IT). The foundation of sustainable economic development is sustainable infrastructure. This situation means that investment in IT is about developing sustainable IT infrastructure. An IT infrastructure is a set of IT tools on which organisations could develop applications to manage their varying business processes. At a national economic level, this is all about developing a national IT infrastructure to provide social and economic services to the various stakeholders. Current troubling economic times call for collaboration and centrality in IT infrastructure development. This notion has led to the idea of national broadband networks, sustainable telecommunication platforms, and national IT development plans and goals. However, these thoughts and actions do not directly impact the critical social and economic processes of organisations. That is, these thoughts set the tone and direction of actions

Academics in the policy process : engagement with Australian media policy inquiries 2011-2013

This paper critically evaluates the series of inquires that the Australian Labor government undertook during 2011-2013 into reform of Australian media, communications and copyright laws. One important driver of policy reform was the government’s commitment to building a National Broadband Network (NBN), and the implications this had for existing broadcasting and telecommunications policy, as it would constitute a major driver of convergence of media and communications access devices and content platforms. These inquiries included: the Convergence Review of media and communications legislation; the Australian Law Reform Commission (ALRC) review of the National Classification Scheme; and the Independent Media Inquiry (Finkelstein Review) into Media and Media Regulation. One unusual feature of this review process was the degree to which academics were involved in the process, not simply as providers of expert opinion, but as review chairs seconded from their universities. This paper considers the role played by activist groups in all of these inquiries and their relationship to the various participants in the inquiries, as well as the implications of academics being engaged in such inquiries, not simply as activist-scholars, but as those primarily responsible for delivering policy review outcomes. The paper draws upon the concept of "policy windows" in order to better understand the context in which the inquiries took place, and their relative lack of legislative impact.

At home on the outstation : barriers to home Internet in remote Indigenous communities

Indigenous Australians living in remote areas have little access to the Internet and make little use of it. This article investigates the various dimensions of Internet take-up in remote Indigenous communities in Australia and considers the implications for broadband policy. It focuses specifically on the circumstances and experiences of three remote Indigenous communities in central Australia. Residents in these communities provided significant insight into the social, economic and cultural aspects of communications access and use. This evidence is used to examine the drivers and barriers to home Internet for remote Indigenous communities and to discuss a complex set of issues, including: the dynamics of remote living, economic priorities, cultural engagement with technology, and the characteristics of domestic life in remote Indigenous communities.

Digital technology and public apology : responses by Indigenous Australians to a government saying sorry

Australia has had two recent public apologies, one to the ‘ Stolen Generation’ of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Australians and the second to the ‘Forgotten Australians' – people who had been removed from their parents as children and institutionalized. Both acts occurred in time when there was no Internet and peoples’ stories took years to collect and decades for their weight to carry the public momentum required to gain a public apology. Now, in a digital age, the reports and the testimonies held within them are available for all to read on the Internet. We all now know what happened and formal public apologies ensued. Both public apologies also draw attention to an emerging intersection between digital technologies, personal historical stories and public apology. Research has identified the potential of digital narrative, such as digital storytelling3 and videoed oral histories to assist in the production of digital narratives that can help to present the multiple voices and viewpoints of those affected by these subjects co-creatively (Burgess et al, pp.152-153). Not all Australians however have access or the skills to use digital tools so as to benefit from these technologies ⎯ especially Indigenous Australians. While the Federal Government is committed to helping Australians enjoy digital confidence and digital media literacy skills, experience inclusive digital participation and benefit through online engagement (Department of Broadband, communications and the Digital Economy, 2009) there are many initiatives that can also be undertaken locally by State funded institutions, such as libraries to assist. This paper highlights the outcomes of recent empirical projects undertaken at the State Library of Queensland (SLQ) in particular focusing on digital initiatives in Family History practices by Indigenous users, and a digital story project in response to the public apology to the Stolen Generation instigated by SLQ.

Fostering digital participation in regional and rural Australia

The deployment of high speed broadband around Australia offers opportunities to extend digital participation among and between regional and rural communities. Full realisation of these opportunities requires a greater understanding about community members’ current digital participation and development needs, to underpin innovative community-driven initiatives. This paper outlines the Fostering Digital Participation Project’s initial undertakings to determine current digital participation and the future digital aspirations of a number of regional and rural communities.

Old mastheads and new media : newspapers striving to adapt in Australia and South-east Asia

As a key element in their response to new media forcing transformations in mass media and media use, newspapers have deployed various strategies to not only establish online and mobile products, and develop healthy business plans, but to set out to be dominant portals. Their response to change was the subject of an early investigation by one of the present authors (Keshvani 2000). That was part of a set of short studies inquiring into what impact new software applications and digital convergence might have on journalism practice (Tickle and Keshvani 2000), and also looking for demonstrations of the way that innovations, technologies and protocols then under development might produce a “wireless, streamlined electronic news production process (Tickle and Keshvani 2001).” The newspaper study compared the online products of The Age in Melbourne and the Straits Times in Singapore. It provided an audit of the Singapore and Australia Information and Communications Technology (ICT) climate concentrating on the state of development of carrier networks, as a determining factor in the potential strength of the two services with their respective markets. In the outcome, contrary to initial expectations, the early cable roll-out and extensive ‘wiring’ of the city in Singapore had not produced a level of uptake of Internet services as strong as that achieved in Melbourne by more ad hoc and varied strategies. By interpretation, while news websites and online content were at an early stage of development everywhere, and much the same as one another, no determining structural imbalance existed to separate these leading media participants in Australia and South-east Asia. The present research revisits that situation, by again studying the online editions of the two large newspapers in the original study, and one other, The Courier Mail, (recognising the diversification of types of product in this field, by including it as a representative of Newscorp, now a major participant). The inquiry works through the principle of comparison. It is an exercise in qualitative, empirical research that establishes a comparison between the situation in 2000 as described in the earlier work, and the situation in 2014, after a decade of intense development in digital technology affecting the media industries. It is in that sense a follow-up study on the earlier work, although this time giving emphasis to content and style of the actual products as experienced by their users. It compares the online and print editions of each of these three newspapers; then the three mastheads as print and online entities, among themselves; and finally it compares one against the other two, as representing a South-east Asian model and Australian models. This exercise is accompanied by a review of literature on the developments in ICT affecting media production and media organisations, to establish the changed context. The new study of the online editions is conducted as a systematic appraisal of the first level, or principal screens, of the three publications, over the course of six days (10-15.2.14 inclusive). For this, categories for analysis were made, through conducting a preliminary examination of the products over three days in the week before. That process identified significant elements of media production, such as: variegated sourcing of materials; randomness in the presentation of items; differential production values among media platforms considered, whether text, video or stills images; the occasional repurposing and repackaging of top news stories of the day and the presence of standard news values – once again drawn out of the trial ‘bundle’ of journalistic items. Reduced in this way the online artefacts become comparable with the companion print editions from the same days. The categories devised and then used in the appraisal of the online products have been adapted to print, to give the closest match of sets of variables. This device, to study the two sets of publications on like standards -- essentially production values and news values—has enabled the comparisons to be made. This comparing of the online and print editions of each of the three publications was set up as up the first step in the investigation. In recognition of the nature of the artefacts, as ones that carry very diverse information by subject and level of depth, and involve heavy creative investment in the formulation and presentation of the information; the assessment also includes an open section for interpreting and commenting on main points of comparison. This takes the form of a field for text, for the insertion of notes, in the table employed for summarising the features of each product, for each day. When the sets of comparisons as outlined above are noted, the process then becomes interpretative, guided by the notion of change. In the context of changing media technology and publication processes, what substantive alterations have taken place, in the overall effort of news organisations in the print and online fields since 2001; and in their print and online products separately? Have they diverged or continued along similar lines? The remaining task is to begin to make inferences from that. Will the examination of findings enforce the proposition that a review of the earlier study, and a forensic review of new models, does provide evidence of the character and content of change --especially change in journalistic products and practice? Will it permit an authoritative description on of the essentials of such change in products and practice? Will it permit generalisation, and provide a reliable base for discussion of the implications of change, and future prospects? Preliminary observations suggest a more dynamic and diversified product has been developed in Singapore, well themed, obviously sustained by public commitment and habituation to diversified online and mobile media services. The Australian products suggest a concentrated corporate and journalistic effort and deployment of resources, with a strong market focus, but less settled and ordered, and showing signs of limitations imposed by the delay in establishing a uniform, large broadband network. The scope of the study is limited. It is intended to test, and take advantage of the original study as evidentiary material from the early days of newspaper companies’ experimentation with online formats. Both are small studies. The key opportunity for discovery lies in the ‘time capsule’ factor; the availability of well-gathered and processed information on major newspaper company production, at the threshold of a transformational decade of change in their industry. The comparison stands to identify key changes. It should also be useful as a reference for further inquiries of the same kind that might be made, and for monitoring of the situation in regard to newspaper portals on line, into the future.

Morphology, echolocation and foraging behaviour in two sympatric sibling species of bat (Tylonycteris pachypus and Tylonycteris robustula) (Chiroptera : Vespertilionidae)

We studied the wing morphology, echolocation calls, foraging behaviour and flight speed of Tylonycteris pachypus and Tylonycteris robustula in Longzhou County, South China during the summer (June–August) of 2005. The wingspan, wing loading and aspect ratio of the two species were relatively low, and those of T. pachypus were lower compared with T. robustula. The echolocation calls of T. pachypus and T. robustula consist of a broadband frequency modulated (FM) sweep followed by a short narrowband FM sweep. The dominant frequency of calls of T. pachypus was 65.1 kHz, whereas that of T. robustula was 57.7 kHz. The call frequencies (including highest frequency of the call, lowest frequency of the call and frequency of the call that contained most energy) of T. pachypus were higher than those of T. robustula, and the pulse duration of the former was longer than that of the latter. The inter-pulse interval and bandwidth of the calls were not significantly different between the two species. Tylonycteris pachypus foraged in more complex environments than T. robustula, although the two species were both netted in edge habitats (around trees or houses), along pathways and in the tops of trees. Tylonycteris pachypus flew slower (straight level flight speed, 4.3 m s−1) than T. robustula (straight level flight speed, 4.8 m s−1). We discuss the relationship between wing morphology, echolocation calls, foraging behaviour and flight speed, and demonstrate resource partitioning between these two species in terms of morphological and behavioural factors.

Echolocation calls, wing shape, diet and phylogenetic diagnosis of the endemic Chinese bat Myotis pequinius

We describe the echolocation calls, flight morphology and diet of the endemic Chinese bat Myotis pequinius Thomas, 1908. Orientation calls are broadband, and reach low terminal frequencies. Diet comprised 80% beetles by volume. Wing shape and call design suggest that the bats fly in cluttered habitats, and the possession of moderately long ears and the dietary composition imply they forage at least sometimes by gleaning. Myotis pequinius resembles a larger Oriental version of the western Palaearctic species M. nattereri. Phylogenetic analysis based on sequences of the cytochrome b gene of mitochondrial DNA (1,140 base pairs) from a range of Palaearctic Myotis species confirmed that M. pequinius is close to the nattereri group, and is a sister-species to the eastern Palaearctic M. bombinus. One bat sequenced from China could not be identified from available species descriptions. It was smaller than M. pequinius, and also differed from it in sequence divergence by 6.7%, suggesting the existence of additional, cryptic taxonomic diversity in this group. Our phylogenetic analysis also supports the recognition of M. schaubi as a species distinct from M. nattereri in Transcaucasia and south-western Asia. Myotis nattereri tschuliensis is more closely related to M. schaubi than to M. nattereri, and is best considered either as a subspecies of M. schaubi, or possibly as a distinct species.

Individuals, Innovation, and the Internet : Why Access is Essential

As each day passes, and as new and better devices and services are developed, more and more government and private services are being moved to an online format. This movement makes access to the internet an essential for 21st Century life. The internet has become so integrated in our lives that many of us cannot imagine how we could operate without it. This omnipresent ‘being’ affects all forms of ‘normal’ social and economic activity and does so in ways that we do not realize. Those with access are able to engage with government, business, and family and friends more easily, which can lead to an improved standard of living. For the disadvantaged, however – those with the desire but without the capacity – a lack of access can be socially isolating. "Between the idea And the reality Between the motion And the act Falls the Shadow – T. S. Elliott. “The Hollow Men” Engagement in the internet economy requires both physical access and the individual to have the necessary finances and skills to make and sustain their use. If governments and the international community want a fully functioning internet economy this requires that all individuals must be operating in it. That not all individuals do so means, very simply, that the internet economy is not fully functioning. The text contextualizes for policy makers and legislatures why it is essential to ensure that individuals have appropriate access to the internet and what can be done to achieve it. The interrelationship/overlap between why access is essential, how it can be achieved and the central role of the individual to the internet economy is explored and translated into the concept of connectedness. From this, solutions for ensuring connectedness for all individuals are developed. It is Dr Cradduck’s hope that in the not too distant future readers will puzzle over why texts such as this needed to be written.

Participatory action research for civic engagement

The future of civic engagement is characterised by both technological innovation as well as new technological user practices that are fuelled by trends towards mobile, personal devices; broadband connectivity; open data; urban interfaces; and, cloud computing. These technology trends are progressing at a rapid pace, and have led global technology vendors to package and sell the ‘Smart City’ as a centralized service delivery platform predicted to optimize and enhance cities’ key performance indicators – and generate a profitable market. The top-down deployment of these large and proprietary technology platforms have helped sectors such as energy, transport, and healthcare to increase efficiencies. However, an increasing number of scholars and commentators warn of another ‘IT bubble’ emerging. Along with some city leaders, they argue that the top-down approach does not fit the governance dynamics and values of a liberal democracy when applied across sectors. A thorough understanding is required, of the socio-cultural nuances of how people work, live, play across different environments, and how they employ social media and mobile devices to interact with, engage in, and constitute public realms. Although the term ‘slacktivism’ is sometimes used to denote a watered down version of civic engagement and activism that is reduced to clicking a ‘Like’ button and signing online petitions, we believe that we are far from witnessing another Biedermeier period that saw people focus on the domestic and the non-political. There is plenty of evidence to the contrary, such as post-election violence in Kenya in 2008, the Occupy movements in New York, Hong Kong and elsewhere, the Arab Spring, Stuttgart 21, Fukushima, the Taksim Gezi Park in Istanbul, and the Vinegar Movement in Brazil in 2013. These examples of civic action shape the dynamics of governments, and in turn, call for new processes to be incorporated into governance structures. Participatory research into these new processes across the triad of people, place and technology is a significant and timely investment to foster productive, sustainable, and livable human habitats. With this chapter, we want to reframe the current debates in academia and priorities in industry and government to allow citizens and civic actors to take their rightful centerpiece place in civic movements. This calls for new participatory approaches for co-inquiry and co-design. It is an evolving process with an explicit agenda to facilitate change, and we propose participatory action research (PAR) as an indispensable component in the journey to develop new governance infrastructures and practices for civic engagement. This chapter proposes participatory action research as a useful and fitting research paradigm to guide methodological considerations surrounding the study, design, development, and evaluation of civic technologies. We do not limit our definition of civic technologies to tools specifically designed to simply enhance government and governance, such as renewing your car registration online or casting your vote electronically on election day. Rather, we are interested in civic media and technologies that foster citizen engagement in the widest sense, and particularly the participatory design of such civic technologies that strive to involve citizens in political debate and action as well as question conventional approaches to political issues (DiSalvo, 2012; Dourish, 2010; Foth et al., 2013). Following an outline of some underlying principles and assumptions behind participatory action research, especially as it applies to cities, we will critically review case studies to illustrate the application of this approach with a view to engender robust, inclusive, and dynamic societies built on the principles of engaged liberal democracy. The rationale for this approach is an alternative to smart cities in a ‘perpetual tomorrow,’ (cf. e.g. Dourish & Bell, 2011), based on many weak and strong signals of civic actions revolving around technology seen today. It seeks to emphasize and direct attention to active citizenry over passive consumerism, human actors over human factors, culture over infrastructure, and prosperity over efficiency. First, we will have a look at some fundamental issues arising from applying simplistic smart city visions to the kind of a problem a city is (cf. Jacobs, 1961). We focus on the touch points between “the city” and its civic body, the citizens. In order to provide for meaningful civic engagement, the city must provide appropriate interfaces.

Frequency independence of ultrasound transit time spectroscopy

Recent studies have shown that ultrasound transit time spectroscopy (UTTS) is an alternative method to describe ultrasound wave propagation through complex samples as an array of parallel sonic rays. This technique has the potential to characterize bone properties including volume fraction and may be implemented in clinical systems to predict osteoporotic fracture risk. In contrast to broadband ultrasound attenuation, which is highly frequency dependent, we hypothesise that UTTS is frequency independent. This study measured 1 MHz and 5 MHz broadband ultrasound signals through a set of acrylic step-wedge samples. Digital deconvolution of the signals through water and each sample was applied to derive a transit time spectrum. The resulting spectra at both 1 MHz and 5 MHz were compared to the predicted transit time values. Linear regression analysis yields agreement (R2) of 99.23% and 99.74% at 1 MHz and 5 MHz respectively indicating frequency independence of transit time spectra.

Ultrasound attenuation computed tomography assessment of PAGAT gel dose

Ultrasound has been previously investigated as an alternative readout method for irradiated polymer gel dosimeters, with authors reporting varying dose responses. We extend previous work utilizing a new computed tomography ultrasound scanner comprising of two identical 5 MHz, 128-element linear-array ultrasound transducers, co-axially aligned and submerged in water as a coupling agent, with rotational of the gel dosimeter between the transducers facilitated by a robotic arm. We have investigated the dose-dependence of both ultrasound bulk attenuation and broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) for the PAGAT gel dosimeter. The ultrasound bulk attenuation dose sensitivity was found to be 1.46  ±  0.04 dB m −1 Gy −1, being in agreement with previously published results for PAG and MAGIC gels. BUA was also found to be dose dependent and was measured to be 0.024  ±  0.003 dB MHz −1 Gy −1; the advantage of BUA being its insensitivity to frequency-independent attenuation mechanisms including reflection and refraction, thereby minimizing image reconstruction artefacts.

Genetic determinants of heel bone properties: Genome-wide association meta-analysis and replication in the GEFOS/GENOMOS consortium

Quantitative ultrasound of the heel captures heel bone properties that independently predict fracture risk and, with bone mineral density (BMD) assessed by X-ray (DXA), may be convenient alternatives for evaluating osteoporosis and fracture risk. We performed a meta-analysis of genome-wide association (GWA) studies to assess the genetic determinants of heel broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA; n 5 14 260), velocity of sound (VOS; n 5 15 514) and BMD (n 5 4566) in 13 discovery cohorts. Independent replication involved seven cohorts with GWA data (in silico n 5 11 452) and new genotyping in 15 cohorts (de novo n 5 24 902). In combined random effects, meta-analysis of the discovery and replication cohorts, nine single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) had genome-wide significant (P < 5 3 108) associations with heel bone properties. Alongside SNPs within or near previously identified osteoporosis susceptibility genes including ESR1 (6q25.1: rs4869739, rs3020331, rs2982552), SPTBN1 (2p16.2: rs11898505), RSPO3 (6q22.33: rs7741021), WNT16 (7q31.31: rs2908007), DKK1 (10q21.1: rs7902708) and GPATCH1 (19q13.11: rs10416265), we identified a new locus on chromosome 11q14.2 (rs597319 close to TMEM135, a gene recently linked to osteoblastogenesis and longevity) significantly associated with both BUA and VOS (P < 8.23 3 1014). In meta-analyses involving 25 cohorts with up to 14 985 fracture cases, six of 10 SNPs associated with heel bone properties at P < 5 3 106 also had the expected direction of association with any fracture (P < 0.05), including threeSNPswithP < 0.005: 6q22.33 (rs7741021), 7q31.31 (rs2908007) and 10q21.1 (rs7902708). In conclusion, thisGWAstudy reveals the effect of several genescommon to central DXA-derivedBMDand heel ultrasound/DXAmeasures and points to anewgenetic locus with potential implications for better understanding of osteoporosis pathophysiology.

Solid volume fraction estimation of bone:marrow replica models using ultrasound transit time spectroscopy

The acceptance of broadband ultrasound attenuation (BUA) for the assessment of osteoporosis suffers from a limited understanding of both ultrasound wave propagation through cancellous bone and its exact dependence upon the material and structural properties. It has recently been proposed that ultrasound wave propagation in cancellous bone may be described by a concept of parallel sonic rays; the transit time of each ray defined by the proportion of bone and marrow propagated. A Transit Time Spectrum (TTS) describes the proportion of sonic rays having a particular transit time, effectively describing the lateral inhomogeneity of transit times over the surface aperture of the receive ultrasound transducer. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that the solid volume fraction (SVF) of simplified bone:marrow replica models may be reliably estimated from the corresponding ultrasound transit time spectrum. Transit time spectra were derived via digital deconvolution of the experimentally measured input and output ultrasonic signals, and compared to predicted TTS based on the parallel sonic ray concept, demonstrating agreement in both position and amplitude of spectral peaks. Solid volume fraction was calculated from the TTS; agreement between true (geometric calculation) with predicted (computer simulation) and experimentally-derived values were R2=99.9% and R2=97.3% respectively. It is therefore envisaged that ultrasound transit time spectroscopy (UTTS) offers the potential to reliably estimate bone mineral density and hence the established T-score parameter for clinical osteoporosis assessment.