We ARE 1 TeaM !!!

 

 We are one team since the first semester.

We are AWESOME !!!

Juztin Chong Siew Fai

Danger Chai Wei Sien

Stela Chong Hui Zhi
Koh Jia Hui

Read more

Question 6: What are the impacts of globalization on the Net?

          Globalization is the act or process by which regional economies, societies, and cultures have become integrated through a global network of communication, transportation, and trade. It can also be defined as the process of integrating the world economically, politically and culturally and it sure has given some impacts to the internet.

          Nowadays, the Internet is possibly the most significant technological innovation of our time, playing a substantial role in the growth of globalization. The Internet facilitated the expansion of the movement toward a global village through the creation of cheaper, faster and easier means of communication, the provision of a vast pool of information, and the expansion of e-commerce. The Internet provides a cheaper, faster and easier method of communication, and enables the information to be delivered to a massive number of audiences conveniently. The internet is a much more affordable communication tool compared to the others such as telephone especially when you have to make long distance phone calls. As we know many users now possess microphones, web cameras and all the other necessary hardware or software that enable them to communicate with families, friends, or even business partner on the internet. All these allow them to speak, see and be seen and heard by the other person whom they are having a conversation with. Even emails are sent and received by another party in just seconds as compared to the old days where regular mails are being posted and it may take up to months to reach its destination and not to mention the risk of the mail being misplaced. Thus, people all over the world can stay in touch on a regular basis, communicate online everyday and even share files.

          The impact of globalization on the internet is that it has enabled users or peoples from different countries, regions and cultures to come together and communicate freely. The modernization and improvement in the business sector world have contributed a lot in improving the internet technology. Technology is perhaps the most visible aspect of globalization and in various ways its driving force. The internet technology is globally integrating and merging the people of the world. It is due to the globalization on the internet that has enabled people from everywhere to communicate and share information.

          The business world has improved their global competitiveness and productivity with more efficient electronic processing and instant access to information by having the internet. The market is now more competitive with consumers having greater choices. With the arrival of the internet technology, work with the foreign countries is more convenient and accessible now. The services of the Internet Technology Professionals have been dramatically impacted by the explosive demand in internet use and related technologies. The internet is impacted in a way that the services can be bought sold and delivered all through the internet. There can also be globally seen all over the world a better relationship between the clients and firms through the internet. The client can easily deal with big firms and industries by communicating via the internet, instead of face to face meeting.

          In a nutshell, the impacts of the globalization on the net has clearly brought people from everywhere to come together and share ideas on the internet easily and in a faster way compared to the old times.

( 561 words )

References

Ø  OpPapers.com. 2010. ‘The Impact Of The Internet On Globalization’. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: <http://www.oppapers.com/essays/Impact-Internet-Globalization/153512>.

Ø  Wikipedia. 2010. ‘Globalization’. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: <http:// en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Globalization>.

Read more

Question 5: Should journalists be free from constraints and law in order to ensure that their articles are objective and fair?

          Being a journalist is a profession full of dreams and desires, and since the beginning of the process to become one, one has to face the contrast between the academy and the real environment. This is due to the fact that journalism can be an advantage and a disadvantage also. That is, that everybody can look at the work that a reporter does, because this is the real meaning of journalism, to work for the community and for the public cause. Being a journalist is not what it turns out to be when it comes to the real world. This is all due to money, ethic and different ideals. This becomes a dilemma when the capitalist world is in front of one’s face and the differences are as clear as black and white.

          To become a professional is the main goal for those who begin a career, and if it is a journalism student, this professional status must be combined with passion and a big concept about the social importance, and the real manner to do journalism. To have this is very important. That is to have a notion about what is the truth. To tell or not to tell the truth has always been the main and most complicated dilemma for the people who work in this area. Journalism schools try to set some ethical bases for students and, since the beginning; validity and legitimacy in the job are the rules for the up and coming journalists.

          Lecturers and tutors are trying to prepare one for a future that may not exist, because the academy must be idealistic, and this is normal because you have to be prepared to be the best and to change the things that are not working in the professional atmosphere, but certainly the world has things that can hardly be changed. Then comes the real world. The truth, which was the most important idea and the rule to follow, becomes ambiguous. Economic powers are the first interested in your work; how you do it and what you say is your first regulation if you do not want to lose your job, because political and economic interests are after your work. You are supposed to be telling the truth to the entire society, but that truth is full of uncertain and confusing contents, as the society is, so, you have to work to translate those concepts in clear theories. Processing and transmission of the information is not the principle of journalism, but interpretation of it. Being a journalist, one should examine their own cultural values and avoid imposing those values on others. Most importantly avoiding stereotyping by race, gender, age, religion, ethnicity, geography, sexual, orientation, disability, physical appearance or social status. In other words, they are supposed to have an open mind to support open exchanges of views, to give voice to the voiceless.

Then we have constraints from owners, advertisers, government and the law.  Ministers will often put pressure on public service journalists to report things which are favourable to the government (even when they are not newsworthy) and not to report things which are unfavourable to the government. They can enforce public service discipline, to make journalists do as the government wants. This is especially difficult to resist in small developing countries, where there may be little or no alternative employment. In Malaysia for example, the press companies are mostly govern by non-profit company such as Media Prima and this Media Prima is going under politic parties. The press under this corporate will be more on pro-government, journalist will report more news on the party and government but not the opposite side. In this scene, journalists are more responsible on the ownership. (The News Manual, 2010)

In our opinion, we believe that journalists should be free from their constraints but not free from the law. This is because nobody is free from the law; law binds us all together and makes sure we do the right thing. Journalists should strictly hold a code lists specifics canons for journalists. They should seek truth and report it. Make sure the sources of the information are reliable to ensure the accuracy of the information. Besides that, it is important for a journalist to act independently, not involved in any association or activities that may compromise integrity or damage credibility in order to avoid conflicts of interest. Journalists should not hide the truth just because it is against to the company benefit. However, they have to be sensitive when reporting.

In short, the ones that control the chain around journalism should be more flexible. By restraining the truth is already not being objective and fair. And if the system does not change in the future, it will lead to a spiralling effect that may lead to a decline of political, economical and social power in our country.

( 831 words )

References

Ø    Day, L.A. 2003. Ethics in Media Communications: Cases and Controversies (4ed.). Belmont, CA, USA: Wadsworth.

Ø    Pranab Hazra. 2009. ‘Responsibility In Journalism’. Viewed on 15 November 2010. Available from: <http://www.ojr.org/ojr/people/phazra57/200902/1648/

Ø    The News Manual. 2010. ‘Chapter 58: Pressures on journalists’. Viewed on 15 November 2010. Available from: <http://www.thenewsmanual.net/Manuals%20Volume%203/volume3_58.htm>.

Read more

Question 4: ‘Criminals are drawn to the internet because the cloak of cyberspace is virtually impenetrable.’ Discuss the statement.

          The internet is a very attractive place for criminals to commit crime and to attract more victims to fall into their trap. The internet is merely a virtual extension of human civilization, and all things that can be encountered in real life, are now happening in the cyber world as well. Although there is no physical contact on the internet at all, people still tend to be drawn towards the dark side and at risk of becoming a victim of cyber crime.

          There are varieties of cyber crimes that can be committed such as cyber trespass like crossing boundaries into other people’s property or cause damage or in a short term it is called hacking. Next, cyber deceptions and thefts such as stealing money or resources, credit card fraud and violations. Cyber pornography is also a type of cyber crime where people breach the law of obscenity. Cyber violence such as psychological or physical harm to others such as hate speech and stalking is also a type of cyber crime. These criminals can be from a broad range of persons such as terrorists, students, amateurs and organized crime groups. These criminals usually have great knowledge of computers & the internet which enables them to commit crime of choice. Any of these technically orientated people has potential of committing cyber crime.

          The main reasons why the criminal are more likely to commit crime on the internet is because the internet serves three functional purposes, it protects theirs identity, ensure the successful completion of offense, and to facilitate an escape if necessary. Besides that, the internet offers a huge sense of anonymity, reaches a large number of users, and can be manipulated by savvy users hence it is much easier for the criminals to commit crime compared to in the real world. They see the internet as having more means and opportunity than the physical world has and they perceive the internet as a safer environment.

          Furthermore, the features of the internet allow people to commit crime without having to worry that they would be caught. The internet is very flexible on identity, allows people to achieve total anonymity, and transcends spatial boundaries. Besides, anyone or everyone can gain access to almost any part of the internet and it allows loose self-boundaries. Anyone can be whoever they want to on the internet by just creating a cyber identity and virtual appearance. The internet enables them to create a new identity and hide their real one. They can disguise as another person in many way possible where that can never do so in the psychical world. Strangers are likely to unite together in cyberspace to commit crime than in the physical space.

          In conclusion, criminals are drawn to commit crime on the internet because cyber attacks can take place anywhere anytime and it can happen in milliseconds compared to physical world and this gives them more opportunities to do whatever they want to without having to worry of being discovered as they can create as many identities as they want.

( 507 words )

References

Evan M. Axelrod Front Cover (2009) Violence Goes to the Internet: Avoiding the Snare of the Net [Online]. United States: Charles C Thomas Publisher. Retrieved from: http://books.google.com.my/books?id=HJqjm2fpXckC&pg=PA13&lpg=PA13&dq=Criminals+are+drawn+to+the+internet+because+the+cloak+of+cyberspace+is+virtually+impenetrable.&source=bl&ots=4rRJ0icA2y&sig=wK9BH9Ncu3p82w6qct_GoajTyPg&hl=en&ei=O9LxTPftJcnXcZ3h4ckK&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=1&ved=0CBUQ6AEwAA#v=onepage&q=Criminals%20are%20drawn%20to%20the%20internet%20because%20the%20cloak%20of%20cyberspace%20is%20virtually%20impenetrable.&f=false [Accessed 28th November 2010].

Read more

Question 3: The internet is a place where hate groups come to inhabit. Discuss with relevant example.

          A hate group is an organized group or movement that advocates and   practices hate, hostility, or violence towards members of a race, ethnicity, religion, gender, sexual orientation or other designated sector of society. Those organizations are mostly promoting their ethnic conflicts, and even ethnic cleansing. Many hate organizations are influenced by religious belief, such as Nation of Islam. Basically, religious cults use the internet to solicit victims who will surrender both their free will and their personal property and money. Besides, hate groups often engage in harassment and defamation and may be the catalyst for other types of physical world violence.

          According to a 2003 FBI Law Enforcement bulletin, a hate group, if unconstrained, passes through seven successive stages. In the first four stages, hate groups vocalize their beliefs and in the last three stages, they act on their beliefs. The report points to a transition period that exists between verbal violence and acting that violence out, separating hardcore haters from rhetorical haters. Thus, hate speech is seen as a prerequisite of hate crimes, and as a condition of their possibility. (Wikipedia, 2010)

          Nowadays, the internet has become a place for hate groups to inhabit. This is because the internet has evolved into a sprawling system of communication with attendant large-scale commercial, industrial, and social relevancies. In addition, the internet and the World Wide Web have been implicated as contributors to a culture of hate and violence. For example, hate crimes against the tragic shootings at Columbine High School in Littleton, Colorado, served to further focus attention on media that may play a part in motivating individuals to violent behaviors. (Leland, 1999)

          Internet has chosen by hate groups to inhabit is because of the young have shown a tendency to frequently use it, and this applies no less to young paranoids. A lot of worldwide hate groups use the internet to recruit young new members, maintain contact with existing members and coordinate activities. Groups like Aryan Nations, Knights of the Ku Klux Klan, Stormfront, The Watchmen, Skinheads, Zundelsite, and Odin's Law all use the Internet to try to recruit young members. Because most children do not have the cognitive skills to evaluate the nature of the information presented to them in Internet hate propaganda.

          According to Johnson and kaye (1998), the internet’s interactivity, anonymity and perceived credibility combine to create a powerful tool for persuasion. The internet has allowed hate group able to package their message in a visually persuasive manner and in the interactive environment of the medium the recipient of a persuasive message may become desensitized and more accepting of the message. Hate groups are able to present themselves better in a mainstream way and recruit more followers to support them and hence they can be more efficient.

          Hate organizations use Web sites to connect to their target audiences securely and easily. Besides, they used internet to launch their side projects. The critical public scrutiny has made hate groups increasingly seek a smaller public profile, making themselves more difficult to track and monitor and this will become harder to block those hate organizations legally from society because of their rights under the First Amendment when they work in private. The free market of internet has become a place for hate groups to present themselves. They can do whatever they want on internet because they are protected under the First Amendment. People will tend to join the groups because of the propaganda spread by the groups. To avoid this, younger should be smart when surfing internet.

( 604 words)

References

Ø  Henry Becker. 2007. ‘Internet-based hate groups aim to recruit minors’. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: <http://voice.paly.net/node/18203>.

Ø  Margaret E. Duffy. 2010. ‘Web of Hate: A Fantasy Theme Analysis of the Rhetorical Vision of Hate Groups Online. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: <http://www.sagepub.com/Martin2Study/pdfs/Chapter%2010/Duffy%20article.pdf>.

Ø  Wikipedia. 2010. ‘Hate group’. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hate_group>.

Read more

Question 2: Should parents allow their children under the age of 12 to go on the internet without adult supervision?

          Children use the internet for many purposes, including doing research for school papers and- projects, staying in touch with friends through e-mail and playing games with other children all over the world. There are endless entertaining possibilities online for kids looking for a way to spend their time and, while many of these options are safe, productive ways to spend time, others are not only not suitable for kids, they are also dangerous. But do children under the age of 12 really use the internet for doing research on papers?

          In Malaysia, there are no research requirements for children under the age of 12 because it is not included in their syllabus. All of their school work is provided by their respective teachers by the way. On the other hand, the internet these days is somewhat of a double-edged sword as it provides copious amounts of accumulated knowledge at the click of the mouse, but is also a hub for the negative side that is pornography, violence, racism, hate groups and many more.

          How do you expect a child under the age of 12 to understand between right or wrong? In our opinion, putting ourselves in the role as parents; we believe that parents should not allow their children to access the internet without adult supervision. We believe to let them use the internet unsupervised is like letting them dig their own grave. This is because the internet is filled with many porn sites, chat rooms, and sites that include usage of vulgar languages.

          Children love to use the internet to chat with their friends or make new friends and there are many chat rooms available to assist children in keeping in touch with or meeting other children. However, the “kids” that children are chatting with may not be children at all. They could be online sexual predators waiting for a child willing to give them personal information. Parents should protect their children from exploitation, especially in chat rooms. Children should treat people online as they would any other stranger. They should use their screen name only, and never give out any personal information. If parents have any concern that their children have been contacted by a pedophile, they should report it to their state police immediately.

          As a solution to this issue, our suggestion is to place the pc in a public area in the house and not in a private area like their room. This will be easier for the parents to check on their children and what web sites they are visiting. Other than that, we believe that parents should teach their children about the dangers in the world and how to keep safe from them. Prevention is better than cure.

          Alternatively, there are many filtering software that parents can use to control what their children are searching when the parents are not around. But, as we are in the tech savvy era; parents should be aware that their children can outsmart the filter software. This is why we stick to our stance and strongly disagree that parents should allow children under the age of 12 to go on the internet without adult supervision.

( 548 words )

Read more

Question 1: Discuss the impact of virtual communication in the dynamics and structure of real life community.

          Technology is important in this new era. The developments of computer networks are being used to connect people to people (Wellman, 1996). It allows people to interact with each other beyond the geographical boundaries.

          Differ from traditional communication, according to Howard Rheingold, virtual communities are the social aggregations that emerge from the internet when enough people carry on public discussions long enough, with sufficient human feeling, to form webs of personal relationships in cyberspace, even though it does not necessarily mean that there is a strong bond among the members. In short, a virtual community is a social network of individuals who interact through specific media, potentially crossing geographical and political boundaries in order to pursue mutual interests or goals (Marc.A.Smith and Peter Kollock,1999).

          The Internet allows more people to keep up with the latest news, and to follow events as they are happening around the world. We communicate virtually with one another on internet to seek for information and advice. Most of us rather seek help and advice on the Internet, than to discuss personal problems with a parent. However, the source of information from internet is not credible. This is one of the negative sides to the Internet, that it can cause people to find misleading information and half-truths, which can result in more fear, worry and anxiety.  

         

          The advancement of internet has created a platform for communication and social exchanges. We can expand our network by meeting new people all around the world with same interest or hold common belief. Besides that, they also allow us to keep in touch with our current friends especially those who are stay outstation or others country. It's convenient and practicable rather than using phone-calling or mailing. You can also reconnect with old friends that you lost contact with many years ago. We can now communicate with people all around the world virtually for free by using internet via e-mail, chat rooms, webcams and more. There are no boundaries on internet. Internet makes communication much easier. Virtual communities are very user friendly and don't need specialist knowledge.

          However, virtual communication is also giving negative impact on interpersonal communication. It influences the ways we communicate, and socialise with one another. Communicating via internet is just too convenient and easier. Those who are addicted to cyber world are not learning human interaction and this cause them to development problems in the short term and behavioural problems in later life. Thus, we can said that, internet decrease social interaction and detract people from face to face communication.

          In addition, virtual communication may lead to lie and deception. It provides too much freedom to the user. In traditional communication, we still able to judge a person or a message by notice at his or her nonverbal message such as body movement and eye contact. However, through internet, we cannot see their nonverbal messages. Deceptions are possible in virtual communities, due to the difficulties of confirming information about the participants, the identity on internet is flexible and no boundaries on internet. Therefore, it is important to be aware of the deception. Countermeasures can be developed such as requiring additional authentication and confirmation before taking actions. Users are advised not to believe others while communicating virtually.

          As conclusion, virtual communication has really changed the dynamics of social interaction. As anything, there are negatives, as well as positives. We should control and learn to protect ourselves, not too addicted and communicate wisely while using internet.

( 594 words )

References

ü  Dawn Hawkins. 2009. ‘How the Internet has had a negative impact on society’. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: < http://www.helium.com/items/1800483-how-the-internet-has-had-a-negative-impact-on-society  >.

ü  Howard Rheingold. 1999. ‘The electronic version of
The Virtual Community’. Viewed on 27 November 2010. Available from: <http://www.rheingold.com/vc/book/intro.html >.

ü  Marc.A.Smith and Peter Kollock. 1999. “Communities in cyberspace”. New York, Routledge.

Read more