Global Media News

Oxford Uses Virtual Reality to Treat Phobias in UK

Looking down from the heights of the top floor . . . .

The University of Oxford is treating Acrophobia or the fear of heights with immersive VR technology. 

A study published in the Lancet Psychology  showed success treating the fear of heights using new software created by Oxford VR called "Now I Can Do Heights" and HTC Vive headsets.

The study focused on Acrophobia because it is a very common phobia: "One in five people report having had a strong unreasonable fear of heights during their lifetime."  Oxford professor of Clinical Psychology, Daniel Freeman, led the study which included 100 formally diagnosed adult volunteers. 49 of the volunteers were randomly assigned to the VR  group. There were a total of six 30-minute VR sessions led by at VR avatar coach who guided the subjects through several scenarios simulating a fear of heights such as leaning over open atrium of a 10-story building, crossing a shaky rope bridge, and rescuing a cat from a tree.  One quirky scenario involved riding a whale.  

Image: Oxford VR

The BBC  reported that “About 70% of the VR group no longer had a fear of heights, while unsurprisingly, all of the people in the control group, who received no treatment, still did." One VR group participant, Fay said: “Heights don’t worry me now. I recently managed to get a 30m-long escalator at Helsinki Airport and I was absolutely fine”  Another participant, Dick, a retired paramedic, had similar results. He was finally able to relax, looking over a shopping center balcony which “would have been impossible before” his VR therapy.

The international media response has been overwhelmingly positive, including The New York Post and NBC News. I also read an AP news article story in Long Island Newsday. 

This Virtual Reality therapy is a groundbreaking opportunity to help people conquer their fears and phobias. I had thought Virtual Reality was strictly for gaming and entertainment and was quite surprised to learn of this study. I have also experienced fears of heights, which included amusement park and water park rides. I am hoping that this VR therapy will be available in the United States and other countries.

According to The Oxford Student, Professor Freeman suggests other uses for VR therapy will include the treatment of psychosis and addictions. I hope they will help other phobia sufferers to conquer their fears. Psychological fears including agoraphobia and the fear of public speaking may one day be conquered due to this groundbreaking technology.

Social Media-Free September in UK

The Royal Public Health Society of the United Kingdom is supporting a national boycott or cut back of social media during the month of September.

This new social movement is targeting the users of social media applications: Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and Snapchat. The campaign known as Scroll Free September is targeting social media addicts that continuously use social media.

The National Health Service of England has supported the campaign due to the rise in young people’s mental health issues. The Royal Public Health Society sights statistics to support their new movement. According to the RSPH, “Half of users aged 18-34 think going “cold turkey” for a month would have a positive effect on their sleep and real-world relationships and almost half (47%) thought it would be beneficial to their overall mental health.”

 According to rsph.org.uk , the campaign includes five alternatives to choose from for the month of September:

• Cold Turkey is giving up all social media.
• Social Butterfly is giving up social media during social events, which includes parties.
• Night Owl is giving up social media every night after 6:00 PM.
• Busy Bee is giving up social media in school or work.
• Sleeping Dog is giving up social media at bedtime.

All of these  alternatives will give people a chance to reconnect with people and their daily lives.

A BBC reporter interviewed UK teenagers and adults that admit to using social media constantly. 15-year-old Rianna feels that she has to keep up with social media discussions. She suffers from phone addiction, which affects younger people as well as adults. Her 14-year-old friend Emma makes a statement about her generation. She states, “I think I do use it too much, but it’s a habit. It’s definitely distracting”.

British comedian 42-year-old Russell Kane admits that he is in counseling for Internet addiction. His response is, “I’ll throw something out there. I’ve had six counseling sessions for internet addiction… because it’s affecting my life.” These responses show how Internet and social media addiction is interfering with the lives of people of all ages.

According to BBC’s follow up article, an estimate of 300,000 people are participating in the campaign as of the first week of September. While the response has been positive, there has been some criticism. BBC reports that young people with disabilities use social media to connect with people and need to participate on a regular basis. Sky News expressed a similar concern for senior citizens. Social media helps seniors stay mentally alert and feel part of the community.      

As a constant social media user, I believe that this social media cutback movement is very important. This social movement is a wake-up call to social media users who connect to social media on a constant basis. Users need to be aware of their life surroundings and interactions with other people. This campaign has motivated me to cutback on my social media usage, especially on my smart phone.

Can tech provide a solution to help limit social media screen time? One new app that promises to help is Apple’s new feature called Screen Time which allows users to monitor their time usage and set their own limits regarding social media. This is a great tool for social media users because they can be aware of how long they use these applications on a daily basis.

I support The Royal Public Health Society of the UK for their social movement that identifies social media and smart phone addiction. They are putting a stop to this growing addiction and making it clear with September’s Boycott that people need to put their phones down and escape their distractions.

Radio Life in the UK

The United Kingdom is located within the northwest region of Europe. It is argued as Europe's most influential country with individual countries of England, Scotland and Wales which is also known as Great Britain. Northern Ireland is a distinct region that make up the rest of the United Kingdom.

Radio in the United Kingdom is a lot like radio throughout the world, where the goal is to reach a broad range of audiences, painting pictures for listeners with the latest news and entertainment and music as they go about their everyday lives. According to Radio and Telly, a team in the UK that provides relevant and accurate information to UK consumers, “Radio in the UK started back in the early 1920’s with just one tiny BBC radio station in Chelmsford, Essex. The last 30 years have led to several hundred radio stations, with a huge variety of formats and audiences.”

On media.info, a worldwide site for media contacts, information and analysis, the top five radio stations throughout the UK are BBC Radio 2 with 15.5 million listeners every week, BBC Radio 4 with 10.5 million, BBC Radio 1 with 9.9 million, Heart with 9.0, and Capital FM with 7.5 million listeners. The BBC stands for British Broadcasting Cooperation, and it is one the most respected broadcasting organizations in the United Kingdom.

There are 11 branches of radio within the United Kingdom mentioned by BBC News. BBC making up 8 of those branches. They include, “Radio 1 new music station, Radio 2 adult music station, Radio 3 cultural network, Radio 4 flagship speech station and news and sports on station Five Live. All five make up 1 conglomerate branch.

The second BBC branch is BBC Radio Scotland, third, BBC Radio nan Gaidheal, a Gaelic-language station for Scotland, fourth, BBC Radio Ulster, for Northern Ireland,  and fifth being BBC Radio Wales. The last three are BBC Radio Cymru, for Welsh-language listeners, BBC Asian Network for Asian communities in the UK and lastly, BBC World Service, a major international broadcaster, heard worldwide via shortwave and increasingly on FM relays, which programs in more than 30 languages.”

The other three divisions that make up the 11 branches not under the BBC include, Absolute Radio a national commercial pop and rock station, Talk Sport, a national commercial sports station and Classic FM, a national commercial classical music station.

Just as here in America, the United Kingdom has radio access online for people who are not in cars or have physical radios. You can pull up your favorite station online and listen in live whenever you like. Radio has had a resurgence in popularity, as stated by EJC, the European Journalism Centre. They claim “more than 90 percent of people over 15 years of age which equates to about 46.3 million people, listen at least once a week. However, it is national, rather than local, stations which have increased their popularity.”

 

British Journalist John Cantlie, Captive by ISIS, Appears in New Video

"A video grab from the YouTube film believed to show hostage John Cantlie walking round the Iraqi city of Mosul. Photograph: PA"   

     ISIS has released a new propaganda video featuring British journalist John Cantlie reporting on the conditions ISIS is working through on Aleppo in Syria.  The video seems to be propaganda to show that ISIS is still strong and well, despite the bombings and attacks made on their lands.  

"The photojournalist presents the documentary-style clip in English, claiming that “life in Mosul is business as usual” and that media reports suggesting the city is “depressed” and “living in fear” are “misleading”." (The Guardian) 

"Cantlie also shows a religious school and a court, where he explains that Islamic Sharia law "is 1,400 years old. And it is the rule of God, the rule of Allah. And therefore it cannot be changed." He cites, for example, that the punishment for robbery is having one's hand cut off."  (CNN) 

    British journalist, Cantlie has made several videos for ISIS while hostage, but this latest video leaves wide room for speculation on his life, calling this "the last of this series.  This gives people around the world an erie feeling and a reminder that Cantlie is still at risk of survival.  Many people have bashed Cantlie, claiming that he is a trader for making these ISIS videos, creating these propaganda videos to lure others from the West to join ISIS.  He has been held hostage for over two years by ISIS, becoming captive in November 2012.  Cantlie is dressed in casual civilian wear in the latest video, as to show he is just a ordinary citizen speaking of the every day activities he views around him.  Being hostage, Cantlie, strangely calm in the recent video series for ISIS, and is clearly under duress, doing all that he can to stay alive.  

"Cantlie refers to the latest video as "the last film in this series." He does not discuss his fate as a hostage, though he has previously commented on threats to his life. The videos he is forced to make are well liked in the jihadist community, considering that a number of accounts on social media have advocated for ISIS to keep Cantlie alive so he could continue creating the propaganda films."  (Newsweek) 

Pleas for Cantlie's freedom have been sent to ISIS by his family members.  

"His family have repeatedly called on Isis to set him free, with Cantlie's father Paul, 80, sending a message to Isis appealing for his son's freedom. He died shortly afterwards.

Jessica Cantlie, his sister, has previously appealed for “direct contact” with the extremist militants holding him."  (independent.ie)  

For those of you who are curious to watch the recently released video by ISIS with British Journalist Jogn Cantlie, you can check it out here, using the link.

If you would like more information or would like to help out by joining in demonstrations, there is a FaceBook page called "Free John Cantlie".

Latin American Press Pushed To Censor Their Work

A de facto license can be used to limit the freedom of the press in Latin America Congresses and judicial systems are under the power of elected presidents and aid in the censorship of press.

Independent press in Latin America have are under major pressure to censor their work because of rules being forced on the media.

The de facto license by the government can win over money and elections, inevitably silencing the media. The government wants to control all media outlets including, newspapers, TV, radio, and print. Those who are opposed to the governmental ideas on media are certain to face jail time. Several incidents have recently happened where writers are sentence to time in jail.

The president of Ecuador, Rafael Correa has gone all out in the mass raid to censor journalist work. Jaime Mantilla is a publisher who was sentenced to 3 moths in prison after defaming the presidents second cousin.

Media Censorship In Dubai

Media Organizations in Dubai are subject to strict content control by the government.

In Dubai the news is incredibly analyzed before the papers hit the news stand. Editrs scans news articles for any vulgar material. Most of the foreign newspapers are viewed as racy and have to be edited. Anything that doesn't meet Dubai's media standards is marked out with a dark line. Magazines, newspapers, books, you name it, has to be regulated before clearance. Although the telecommunications law guarantees freedom of speech, political media cogent is monitored daily. 

The governed are not getting full use of their rights to Freedom of Speech. The 1996 telecommunications law that guarantees Freedom of Speech is overshadowed by the serious regulation of political media. Journalists rely on self- censorship in order to avoid sanctions. The journalists who sensor their work tend to avoid criticizing political leaders, ruling leaders, religion, morals, or government policy. 

The city of Abu Dubai is home to 2,369,153 people. The hot weather and seven star hotels drives traffic to vacationers. The city is a big tourist attraction and is set up to stay that way. The media is censored in order to mold the idea of the city. Its goal is to attract celebrities and investors.  The press are supported by government funding. Neighboring countries such as India censor any reading materials such as magazines, books, or news papers. If the reading materials don't meet the consent of the countries media regulation agency, ( the National Media Council) whole articles can be removed.

A wealthy Indian news editor, Prem Singh says, "Nude pictures and anything [written] against these countries, especially Dubai. Anything against Islam." Prem would mark over any breasts that are too exposed in news papers or magazine before they are sent to UAE. As reported by Press Reference,  Most of the radio (13 AM, seven FM, and two short-wave) and television (15 total) stations available outside the free-zone are owned by the government with a few notable exceptions. These stations broadcast to around 820,000 radios and 310,000 televisions in the country. 

References:

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18292869

BBC News Country Profiles. Available from http://news.bbc.co.uk/ .

Read more: http://www.pressreference.com/Sw-Ur/United-Arab-Emirates.html#ixzz3aGlcWl7k

Afghan Journalists Censor Their Own Work

Afghan rebels have sent threats to journalist about the media releasing news.

Media censorship is known to be forced globally by several different governments. Usually a government puts restrict on the internet and other media outlets to control the news. There are several groups that run to protect the freedom of the press and strive to release news for the public about corruption, land grabbing, violence against women, and human rights abuses.

"A Human Rights Watch reporter, Patricia Gossman released Tuesday, Jan. 20, 2015, said journalists increasingly face threats from Taliban insurgents and corrupt government officials". Journalist are trying to protect themselves from the threats by censoring their work. They fear that their will be no support because many of the Taliban attacks are ignored.

According to Human Rights Watch there was an increase in journalists after the fall of the Taliban in 2001. Since then there have been a rise of new media outlets in Afghanistan. These new media outlets are owned by political and religious figures, to broadcasting behemoth TOLO TV, owned by Afghan-Australian entrepreneur Saad Mohseni. According to the independent news outlet, Stars and Stripes, TOLO controls as much as 45 percent of the national market.

Since 2012 The Afghan Journalists Safety Committee reported 68 threats from pro- government forces and 63% of cases of the government being guilty of the reports. Self- censorship has become a "survival mechanism" since the government had failed to adhere to a "rule of law", said Gossman.  Rebels or corrupt government leaders would harass journalists at their offices, forcing them to apologize for critical reports, written against them. 

According to Nazifullah Salarzai, a spokesman for Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, the Afghan government takes threats to journalists seriously, and he encouraged media to report any harassment to government officials and that any government officials caught threatening journalists would be brought to justice. 

 

Sources

http://www.stripes.com/news/report-afghan-journalists-self-censor-to-survive-1.324786

Censorship Of Journalists In Hungary

Jounalist platforms are constrained in Hungary. Jounalists are charged taxes to write articles on news media. The independence of journalists is diminishing. 

The citizens of Hungaray are against the new amendments because they are being forced to pay internet taxes. Tamas Bodoky is editor and chief of  the investigative news website, Atlatszo. Tamas was awarded for his invasive use of technology at the Index Awards. He received the 2015 Index on Censorship Freedom of Expression Award for Digital Activism. Atlatzso uncoververd the cases of state control in the media, election fraud, government corruption, and misuse of public funds.  "Atlatzso means transparent in Hungarian" says Bodoky. The website strives to promotes free press in Hungary. 

Tamas wanted to bring to light the injustice of the citizens in Hungary and expose the challenges that they are facing. The website's team produce investigative reports and fights freedom of information for the press. Before Atlatszo, journalists were giving up on challenge their work because it was being restricted.  

Delhi Bus Gang Rape Documentary Banned in India

 

  In 2012, a 23 year old female student in Delhi along with a male companion were victims of a vicious assault. The young woman had been brutally gang raped on a public bus for several hours before being left to fight for her life in a hospital. In the end her injuries were so bad that she died from them. Wishing to shed light on the crime, director Leslee Udwin interviewed one of the rapists in prison and made a documentary about it. The documentary titled "India's Daughter" has been banned from release in India.

    Every country has problems with different forms of censorship, but one must wonder with India being the world's largest democracy, why is free speech being stifled? The home minister Rajnath Singh conveyed a feeling of shame brought to his country by the words of the rapist, Mukesh Singh. He and many others believe that the film glorifies the criminal and gives him a platform to share his sick and perverted views on women's place in Indian society. As noble of a gesture as this might be, banning the film undermines a much larger problem in Indian culture; despite being such an advanced nation, India is another in a long list of countries that suffers from misogynistic societal norms. 

    These norms include but are not limited to the popular South Asian practice of "Eve Teasing". Eve Teasing is in its simplest form, sanctioned sexual harassment. Women in South Asian
countries experience constant verbal abuse, groping, pinching, pushing, and poking from men who are just having "fun" in one of the most juvenile ways they can. There's a slew of laws and practices that value men over women in this culture, and perhaps that is the reason why showing this movie has been banned; it might not be that the country will be ashamed that five Indian men committed such an atrocity, but rather that the views expressed by these rapists coincide with views expressed by many people who have been raised in the same culture. The director (right) of the documentary has said that her work can be used as a "powerful tool for change".

    The documentary has been unofficially screened in the slum homes of the rapists, and will hopefully be shown to more upper class Indian residents to enlighten them not only to the mindset of the men who committed the crime, but also to the underlying problem that as long as societies throughout the world, not just in India, continue to devalue women, these atrocities will continue to happen.

China Makes It Difficult For Tech Companies to do Business

 China New Information Gathering Idea Rejected By the U.S 

Chinas new ideas promote gathering the information of tech companies users. The laws they are trying to in force require tech companies to turn over "snooping" mechanisms to the Chinese government.   The United States is against the act of China trying to enforce laws to collect user data. China's inquiries are mainly about tech companies encryption keys to their codes for personal data. The sharing of user data can threaten the U.S of economic cyber espionage.  In an interview Obama stated his concerns for China requiring tech companies to give personal data to their firms. 

"This is something that I’ve raised directly with President Xi," Obama said. "We have made it very clear to them that this is something they are going to have to change if they are to do business with the United States." (BBC)

Obama spoke on cyber security and consumer protection at Stanford University. Obama felt it would be critical for any international company to prosper while collects data to keep track of user data. He stated, "I don't think there's any U.S or European firm, international firm that can get away with that whole sale turning over of data".

China is concerned with any possible threats from religious extremist or separatists. "Beijing has argued the need to quickly ratchet up its cybersecurity measures in the wake of former NSA contractor Edward Snowden's revelations of sophisticated U.S. spying techniques." (reuters.com)