Birmingham holds the 3rd highest rate for 16-18 year olds not in education, employment or training

Birmingham is the core city with the highest claimant unemployment rate of 6.3%. Average for English core cities is 4.2%.

In 2013- according to Professor Paul Gregg “40% of unemployed were under the age of 25, this equals 10% of working age group, so it is a large percentage to make up”.

The local authority NEET statists from the quarter November 2013 to January 2014 reveal that Birmingham has the 3rd highest rate of 16-18 year olds NEET (not in education, employment and training) in the West Midlands region.

The statistics show that Birmingham has a NEET rate of 6.6% of 16-18 year olds, whilst Coventry came second with % and Telford and Wrekin coming top in the region.

The West Midland region itself comes second highest out of the regions for 16-18 year olds out of education, employment and training with 6%. This figure is only topped by the North East which had the highest rate of 7.6%.

Including all the regions, Newcastle came top city with a percentage of 9.8% which was one of the 5 locations making up half of the top NEET percentage for the age category.

Cities that scored lowest were Surrey, Harrow and Rutland all with 1.8%, with 7 of the 9 locations being London based.

Out of the 16-18 year old age categories, 18 year olds show the highest percentage across all regions being out of employment, education and training.

The data is an estimate of the number and proportion of young people not in education, training or work in each local authority and some people’s status were unknown and there these statistics are only an estimate.
Link https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/neet-data-by-local-authority-2012-16-to-18-year-olds-not-in-education-employment-or-training

My interview with Jamie Murray-Baker – a Production Engineer

Check out my interview with Jamie about apprenticeships and how they have helped him get to where he is today.

8 things you need to if you’re unemployed trying to seek employment in Birmingham

1. You are not alone. 5.8% of the UK are unemployed but good news this figure is the lowest it’s been in over six years.

2. Birmingham Metropolitan College and Solihull College are offering free courses as part of a new government scheme. They aim to help unemployed people get a job in the area they want and they won’t affect your benefits.

3. The BBC are offering help writing your CV. Employers receive an average of 60 applicants for every advertisement for a low-skilled job, and 20 for every skilled job. Your CV could be the difference in you getting the job.

4. Charities can help get you work ready. Many charities across the country offer a range of services designed to help the long-term unemployed get back into work. These services include job interview coaching through to team-building exercises and even concrete employment opportunities.

5. There are support groups there to help you. A local one is called Birmingham TUC centre for the unemployed which is based in Sparkhill.

6. Sandwell and West Birmingham NHS offer work placements for the unemployed in Birmingham.

7. There are organisations set up to help your age category get back into employment. YEUK is the leading campaigning and membership organisation dedicated to tackling youth unemployment in the UK. Whilst indirect helps the over 50’s get back to work.

8. Depending on who you vote for in the elections may give you a better chance of employment, here’s what the Labour party, Conservatives and Liberal Democrats aim to do.

Updated CV

CV -2014 dec pdf

Radio schedule

Sadly I cannot upload my two-way radio piece onto WordPress or my group live radio piece, hopefully soon I will add a link to sound cloud or mix cloud so you can hear these pieces. Instead for now I will leave you with my radio schedule.

BCU radio Script for Show copy

Work experince at Hattie and Flora

Over summer I was lucky enough to get the chance to do work experience at Hattie and Flora. Hattie and Flora is an events company which was created by Harriet and Jodie who have backgrounds in floristry and set design. They aim to style events whilst giving them a handmade touch. They have worked on events such as channel 4 corporate events, Jimmy’s farm, Jamie Oliver’s Feastival and Carfest.

I travelled down to London to their studio for two days each week for about 3 months. I did my work experience like this so that I would be on hand on their busiest days in the week and so that I got the chance to work on more projects.

I really enjoyed my time at Hattie and Flora and was made to feel like one of the team. I got stuck in straight away and got the chance to work on many projects including BBC’s Children in Needs – Dine and Disco where I got the chance to make and decorate furniture that would be used in Eliza Doolittle, James Blunt, Gary Barlow and The Stereophonics dressing rooms. I worked on other projects for Kew Gardens, a wedding and the muddy puddles caravan.

In my time at Hattie and Flora I made, and/or up-cycled many props including bunting, tyre flower holders, fake hanging baskets and painted, decorated and varnished a variety of furniture for various events.

I also learnt a lot about the events industry in my time at Hattie and Flora and learnt the structure of the business and their process of planning for an event.

http://www.hattieandflora.co.uk/

Week 7- Researching the Media & Cultural Industries

Researching the media and cultural industries is a key factor for media professionals. Companies often conduct or commission others to research media and culture in their production, distribution and dissemination in order to help them meet their goals.

To widen my understanding of researching the media and cultural industries I read “How to do: Media and Culture Studies” (Stokes, 2003).

The text is written for students, in order to aide them in developing their own research questions and helping them to understand which methods are most suited to exploring specific types of questions.

Key theorist include Karl Marx, who studied the economics of society in order to understand how society functions on all levels, including ideological (Marx and Engels 1964, 1974). His work has been the most influential in studies of how social structure of a society is reflected in its culture (Stoke, 2003). They expand this idea “The ideas of the ruling class are in every epoch of the ruling ideas, i.e the class which is the ruling material force of a society, is at the same time its ruling intellectual force” (Marx and Engels, 1974;64).

A key theory developed from that of Marx is Antonio Gramsci’s, who discusses the “importance of culture for monitoring the political power of a ruling elite” (Gramsci, 1971, 1985). Another discussed in Stokes’ text is Louis Althusser’s, he sees culture as one aspect of the ‘ideological state apparatus’, that contributes to the control of ideas of society by the people in power” (Althusser, 1976, 1984).

If I was going to investigate this topic further I would look at the research question “How is the BBC responding to changes in market conditions?” by analysing documents online and conducting interviews with staff.

In conclusion I have learnt ways to develop research questions that are feasible to answer. I also now understand that there are particular methods that one should be exploring depending on how the question is structured and generally have a better understanding of research methods. I will now think more thoroughly when composing research questions.

References

Stokes, J. C. 2003. How to do media & culture al studies. London: SAGE.

Week 6- Political Economy of the Media

Political economy is important to media professionals as it “concerns the nature of production and the wider social conditions under which it takes place” (Long and wall, 2012).

To widen my understanding of political economy I read “Media Studies: Texts, Production, Context” (Long & Wall, 2012, pp.168-185) and “New Media, Old News: Journalism and Democracy in the Digital Age” (Fenton, 2010).

The first text was written by Paul Long and Tim Wall, lecturers of Birmingham City University. The book is written for students and the section I read gives a general background understanding of how media businesses work. It explains how political economy fits in as one of the three approaches developed to study the three levels to understanding how media organisations operate. These are Political Economy, Organisational Study and Workplace Ethnography. The piece is unbiased, with no argument, instead providing students with the main theories, allowing them to form their own opinions.

For the second text I read chapter 2 “The Political Economy of the ‘New’ News Environment”. The piece relates more specifically to PR and journalism exploring how traditional business models for delivering news are in crisis. It looks at the effects of new media, the decline in readers and the loss of advertisers and how media organisations are trying to cope and resolve the problem. It argues that it could be the end of traditional newspapers as organisations are not sure what’s the right changes to make however understands that society could change again.

Capitalism was supposed to support the idea of a ‘free market’, free competition to all. However Marxist’s theory explores capitalism as not freeing everyone into a new period of increased wealth, fairness and freedom but instead giving wealth and power to a new elite (bourgeoisie) which exercise its own power in oppressing these requirements to maintain status from industrialisation at the expense of the landowning elite (aristocracy).

Murdock and Golding (2000) look further at power within the framework and are concerned to find the impact of economic dynamics on the range and diversity of public cultural expression and its availability to different social groups. Due to this idea many theorists have looked at ways the government and states oversee media management and regulations.

Vincent Mosco describes political economy as “the study of the social relations, particularly the power relations, that mutually constitute the production, distribution, and consumption of resources” (Mosco, 1996:25) and points to need to study the ways in which media products are made, circulated and experienced, and how powerful the different people involved are and what role they play (Long and Wall, 2012).

If I was to explore political economy further I would investigate “How is the BBC remaining relevant and sustainable in the digital era?” I would use an ethnography study.

In conclusion I now understand how companies run in terms of political economy as well as the main theories and the effects political economy is having on news companies.

References

Fenton, N. 2010. New media, old news. Los Angeles: SAGE.

Long, P. and Wall, T. 2012. Media studies. Harlow, England: Pearson.

Week 5- Political Communication and Political News Management

Media researcher are very interested in political communication, particularly with the growth of interactive media. David L. Swanson and Dan Nimmo (1990), define political communication as “the strategic use of communication to influence public knowledge, beliefs, and action on political matters.”  Many are interested particularly in the internet and if it is having an impact on the public sphere.  Democracy is currently struggling but people hope the internet will have a positive impact. Because they are such variations of democratic systems and cultures as well as social, technical and political changes happening around the world, it makes it harder for there to be a straightforward answer.

To widen my understanding of political communication I read “The Internet, Public Spheres and Political Communication” (Dahlgren, 2005, pp. 147–162) and “Public Opinion, Political Communication and the Internet” (Savigny, 2002, pp. 1–8).

The public sphere consists of many different spaces. Dahlgren (1995) believes that the public sphere consists of three main constitutive dimensions: structures, representation, and interaction. These help as an analytical starting point.

The negative points of the internet for political communication are the chaos it can bring, as well as the inefficiency and unpredictability of it. However the positive points are that it Increases the amount of political voices heard and allows for new modes of political engagement. Cultural heterogeneity may also suggest dispersions and openings that can be developed for democratic gains (Dahlgren (1995). Destabilization can extend political communication through horizontal civic communication as well as vertical communication between citizens (Dahlgren (1995) which links to discussion in the lecture.

Overall it seems that for political purposes the internet is minimal, being largely overshadowed by consumerism, entertainment, non-political networking and chat (Wilhelm, 2000). However the internet is becoming integrated with the established system of political communication, yet it is also being used to challenge established power structures.

The progressive and subversive role of the Net should not be overestimated (Kalathil & Boas, 2003); “closed systems” can short-circuit the potential gains to be had by online political conversation (Fung, 2002).

Dahlgren (1995) believes that on the internet must exist spaces in which citizens can belonging to different groups and cultures. In similarity spheres (cf. Fenton & Downey, 2003; Asen & Brouwer, 2001) think that we must take into account alternative or counter public, where political currents oppositional to the dominant mainstream can find support and expression

The problem this can lead to is fragmentation. Questions are being asked about how these public spheres will link and whom will make the decisions

It appears that public sphere does not necessarily guarantee democracy.

As Blumler and Gurevitch (2001) discuss “for those who have access and the political motivation, and who are living within open, democratic societies, the Internet offers very viable possibilities for civic interaction but clearly cannot promise a quick fix for democracy.

If I was to explore this topic further I would look into the question “How is the labour party communicating with its audience online?” I would research this using focus groups and interviews.

In conclusion I have learnt the basics in how political communications works online as well as the positives and negatives of it. I have widened my understanding of political communication and understand that the internet could in the future help democracy but it may not happen quickly.

References

Dahlgren, P. 2005. The Internet, public spheres, and political communication: Dispersion and deliberation. Political communication, 22 (2), pp. 147–162.

Savigny, H. 2002. Public opinion, political communication and the internet. Politics, 22 (1), pp. 1–8.

Week 4- Journalism, PR, and Promotional Culture

There has been a rise of promotional culture over the decades and it is therefore important that media professional are aware of it and its impact on journalism and PR.

To wider my understanding of promotional culture I read “The Media: An Introduction” (Albertazzi and Cobley, 2010) and “Mediated Politics, Promotional Culture and the Idea of Propoganda” (Corner, 2007, pp. 669–677).

The set reading spoke mainly about the news and promotional culture. It looked at theories and real life events to explore promotional culture and news. My found reading questioned how useful the concept of ‘propaganda’ is, in relation to contemporary politics and media–political relations.

Ayo Oyeleye believes that promotional culture is “A condition where public communication, including social interactions between citizens and major social institutions, is largely characterised by deliberate and systematic intent to influence people’s perceptions and disposition” (Oyeleye 2005).

Wernick (1991) believes that promotional culture is intimately intertwined with the expansion of the role of the media in societal decision making and development.

Robert Jackall believes that there are few areas if our social lives which are untouched by visual images, narrators, jingles, rhetoric, slogans and interpretations continually produced by experts (1996).

The rise of public relations is also related to the rise of prominence of corporate power often described as ‘neoliberalism’-“the doctrine that market exchange is an ethic in itself, capable of acting as a guide for all human action” (Harvey 2005).

Key theories from this are the Liberal Pluralist Theory- Media provide public sphere in which information is shared and the public informed. By this it is meant that the free market act as a watchdog on actions of government. Free competition for media space and political power mean that a variety of voices are heard (Gans 1980; Blumer and Gurevitch 1995; Signal 1986).
Contrastingly Marist theory sees media as agencies of control in which official messages are reproduced by journalists, the masses are indoctrinated and the stability of capitalism assured (Curran; Curran and Seaton 1995, chapter 16).

If I was to research this subject further I would research the question “In what ways is journalism using promotional culture?” by using a textual analysis and interviews with an expert in the topic.

In conclusion it is clear to me that the government, businesses and pressure groups are competing for media space however there are many theories related to promotional culture and to how it work. I personal tend to agree with Marist theory.

References

Albertazzi, D. and Cobley, P. 2010. The media. New York: Pearson Education.

Corner, J. 2007. Mediated politics, promotional culture and the idea of ‘propaganda’. Media, Culture \& Society, 29 (4), pp. 669–677.