Communications and Media

It has been argued for long that the mass would rarely take opinions from ostensible leaders, but they obtain them from people who are much like them. They address situations and speak in the name of these masses.  This paper is a summary of the research and theory that seeks to explain the two-step theory of communication. It gives a brief history of the concept and how the thinking about it may have changed over time. The current state of thinking has been summarized while criticisms and limitations of the theory have been identified.

The theory of two-step of communication theory was introduced in a study which was conducted in the year 1944 that focused on decision making process during a presidential election campaigns. Katz and Lazarsfeld came up with this theory after they discovered that voting behavior on individuals was mostly influenced by informal personal contacts, more than it was influenced by the exposure to radio, newspaper, or other forms of mass communication. In more general terms, informal social relationships played a big part on ways that individuals selected content from the media campaign (University of Twente, 2004).

The theory was first developed by Paul Lazarsfeld, Bernard Berelson, and Hazel Gaudet when they published a paper that analyzed voters decision making process in the 1940 presidential election campaign. The publication in the peoples choice suggested that any piece of information in the first instance reached opinion leaders who later filtered the information they gathered and channeled it to their associates. The theory in fact asserts that there are two distinct stages in which information from the media is conveyed. In the first place, there are individuals who pay attention to any information from the media, these individuals were referred to as opinion leaders. They receive the information from the media and then pass it to others, but in their own interpretation in addition to the actual content from the media (Baran  Davis, 2003).

According to Griswol (n.d.), the opinion leaders have a very great influence in getting people to change or influence them towards a certain attitude and behavior on certain information. This showed that the flow of mass communication was not as direct as previously held. The earlier interpretation had it that, information from the mass media reached their target group directly. Although much research has been undertaken in the ability of mass media to reach quite a large number of people since 1920s, this communication theory that was first published in The Peoples Choice in 1948, led to a deeper understanding of media-audience relationship dynamics. This led to the conclusion that face to face encounters with people of influence affected people more than the mass media. It was viewed that information from the media flowed to the opinion leaders who then passed it to the other less active portion of the population.

The thinking on this theory started to change when researchers wanted to know the qualities and the scope of extent to which these opinion leaders had influence on their associates. It was found out that the opinion leaders were not always influential, and their level of influence varied with the variation of topic in question. It was also noted that the opinion leaders were well distributed in the community across various groups and social classes. Another important fact that was pointed out in these studies was that the opinion leaders were very much similar to the people in whom they had influence upon (University of Twente, 2004).

The concept that information from the media did not reach the target directly was adopted but the original study was not adopted as it appeared to have various flaws and faults. The researchers had designed an objective way in which the flow of influences would be measured. A major fault was identified in the way in which the researchers dealt with the flow of influences and specifically the methodology deficiencies. However, the theory provided an agreeable explanation for the flow of information from the mass media. It was now believed that the opinion leaders did not replace the media on taking the information to the target, but rather they guided discussions of the media. They acted to reemphasize the role of the group and interpersonal contacts (Baran  Davis, 2003).

Lazarsfeld and his fellow researchers gave characteristics of personal contact which intensified the validity of the theory. The characteristics included casualness in which any individual would only tune to a speech on a radio with a specific interest on it, but conversations that pop up are in most cases met by an audience that is open to the conversation. Flexibility to counter resistance is another characteristic where the researchers suggested that in a conversation there is opportunity to counter resistance of which the same is not offered in the media. Personal contact was also seen to carry more trust than media as people would be in a position to judge the genuineness and honesty of the person through body language, voice intonation among others (Lazarsfeld, Berelson  Gaudet, 1948).

Griswol (n.d.), suggests that in personal communication, there can be more persuasion without conviction as friendly insistence in most cases generates action. On the other hand, the formal media lacks this aspect in persuading individuals without really convincing them. Another important characteristic which has greatly acted for personal contact according to the researchers is that there are numerous information channels which appear distracting and confusing to targets of such information. It becomes cumbersome for an individual to evaluate all the information in order to generate relevance and make a decision according to the evaluation. The simpler way to this arduous task remains to be use of a peers analysis in order to make ones decision.

The two-step flow theory of communication has maintained its relevance after more than sixty years since its introduction. In some recent, studies setting of agendas has been addressed as being a component of a two step flow of communication. In these current studies, participants were studied in order to determine their strength of personality. This was done to overcome the difficulties which result from actual flow of communication theory, as attempts were made to determine individuals whose personal communication has impact on agenda setting. This type of individuals was then referred to as the archetypal opinion leaders, and has great control on the flow of information.
This aspect has currently been applied in advertising. The advertising industry is well aware of the existence of influentials, as they are currently referred, and measures are put to ensure that the information has effectively reached these influentials (University of Twente, 2004).

In order to summarize criticisms on this theory, Deutschmann and Danielson warned that the theory should be used with caution on issues regarding mass communication. This was from their findings that initial mass media information was relayed directly to the people and did not need to be conveyed to the target by the opinion leaders. This led to the formation of one-step theory of information. Another theory that emerged was from another criticism that there were more than two steps stages before information finally rested on the target audience. This theory was also known as multi step flow theory of communication or diffusion of innovation theory (Suresh, 2003).

After a thorough study of the existing situation at Plasto Packaging, the following is the analysis report. The manufacturing process has always been predominantly dependent on manual operations for fact finding, productivity and quality level. The workforce though justifies a mix of male and female, males occupy the operation and utility while females inspect and do packaging. Owing to the weaker interpersonal relationship and male dominance, the women members are blamed for wastages for incompetence. This low attitude always maintains the productivity at minimum level. To avoid this, the inspecting team should also have a mixed ratio.

The Plastic industry is ever changing. Waiting for a utility worker to get trained for quality operation does hamper productivity. As the industry is time and quality based, wasting the optimum productivity for six months per man is unprofessional. In anticipation, a continuous training can be given and deployed on need basis. The compensation for every grade has to be revised for betterment. As female members are prone to stress, any direct reporting of rejections to the bag making supervisor would lead to misunderstanding among the other members.

Notwithstanding the work culture, the women least enjoy this job and turnover is high. BSL has recommended for good wages for those in the handling of toxic chemicals and plastic recycling (Career guide to Industries 2010-11). The automation of technology would right size the workforce in standard production and dependency for regular machine maintenance. The compensation for remaining workers has to be increased with higher benefit coverage. Today as plastic bags are being banned, a better business alternative has to be in place to give them hope.

Digital marketing is one of the most popular methods of marketing campaigns nowadays, it has been considered to be a medium of highly integrated marketing, and is highly inexpensive .One of the primary objectives of the digital marketing campaign includes building brand awareness, increasing website traffic and generating leads and sales.  If the objective of the digital marketing campaign is to increase overall brand recognition or to find and develop new clients and leads than a banner advertisement on a high traffic website frequented by the target segment would be the most effective strategy.

Banner Advertisements
If the objective of the campaign is to generate leads or orders the feeder medium is the strategy of an online campaign, the advantage to a banner ad campaign is that it combines the best attributes of advertising and direct marketing .Banner advertisements have been described as small advertisements that are placed on a website and the objective of a banner advertisement is to generate traffic to the company website.

Banner ads often have to compete for attention from other ads on the same website therefore it becomes imperative that the designing team makes the ads graphically stand out from the other banners ads. Most banner use a variety of colors, sizes  and animated graphics to distinguish themselves.

The Banner advertisement campaign can only be perceived as successful based on the number of click throughs   that it is able to achieve. These click throughs have to ensure a response of some kind from the visitor this can either be achieved through on page response that ensures that the visitor gets an answer to a question, receives a piece of information or actually places an order. It could also lead to a web response form that would continue to entice the customer with the offer and encourage the client to complete the form to qualify for the order or it could also five more information about the product and convince the client to complete the order.

The success of the post click through conversion rate of the banner advertisement is also of importance. Clicking on a banner is not a complete action, the prospect needs to go one step further and fill out the form at the other end to make an enquiry or a purchase, Even if there is a high conversion rate, banner as campaigns with a low click through rate might actually end up being successful. But if the conversion rate is unsuccessfully low even the highest click through rates wont make a difference. 

Therefore Jones (2008 ) has suggested that in order to ensure the success of a banner ad campaign  the traditional rules of advertising and marketing should be applied. Setting advertising goals and measuring objectives, establishing budget parameters ,determining target audience, researching available websites that target that audience, developing a media schedule and creating the banner advertisement, placing the advertisement, measuring the effectiveness, analyzing the results and refining the campaign . 

There are a number of options available in a banner advertisement which includes static ads that remain on a particular page of a website. Animated Banner move between files and rotating websites rotate every time there is a new visitor to the website and are generally used in high traffic websites.The success of the digital marketing campaign is highly dependent on the nature of the target segment involved. Understanding the needs of this target segment, the regions and markets involved and the particular products that are being currently sold to these target markets play a huge role in the success of the digital marketing campaign.

 If the market of the target customers is new, the campaign should be directed towards branding and impressions based advertising. Therefore the company can pay on the basis of the number of times the advertisement is viewed by a potential client as it becomes important to introduce the company to the target segment and they can measure their success based on the number of times the site where they have placed their advertisement is viewed and not on the basis of the number of times the company site is visited or an actual sale is made.

If the market is in its growth stage, the marketing campaign should adopt a strategy that increases cost per click to ensure traffic to the client website in order convert the brand presence of the company to brand exposure, it also helps as they can use the referral for other tie ups. In the maturity stage the customers are aware of the company and its product and merely ensuring traffic is not sufficient, it is important that the marketing campaign actually converts in to a transaction.  The marketing campaign should focus on building relationships with the target segment as the clients are already aware of the company and its products.  The digital marketing campaign that is now created has to ensure that the maximum benefit is generated from the best partners and is placed strategically against their biggest competitors.

The digital marketing life cycle has been described by Botha (2008) as
Attracting visitors through banner advertisements,  by placing strategic banners advertisements, at websites that see a high volume of visitors from the target segment.

Engage the Visitor Once a potential client has clicked on a Banner advertisement it is important to keep the interest of the client by giving them offers that seem attractive or lucrative to the client at that point of time and required carefully crafted web content and positioning the company product in the correct manner. Retain the Visitor Often the first time visit of the client, does not convert into a sale. Therefore it becomes important that the content of the campaign is interesting enough to ensure a repeat visit from the potential client.

Learn from the visitors and customers Ensure that the visitors and customer give a valid feedback on the effectiveness of the digital marketing campaign. Regular feedback from them can ensure that we can find out what the customer thinks, what they perceive and what they require.

Relate to the customer the digital marketing campaign must relate to the customer and must ensure a long term relationship with the client. The purpose of this strategy is to ensure that the client remains loyal to the company by the need satisfaction of the client through the various products offered by the company

The Digital Marketing Campaign Cycle
The digital marketing campaign cycle begins at the stage wherein the banner advertisement is conceptualized. This is done through the process of creating an appropriate advertisement for the product and involves identifying the needs of the client and creating a suitable banner advertisement for the product. The second step involves the placement of the advertisement at suitable websites that see a high number of visitors from the target segment and ensures that potential customer click on the banner advertisement.

Once the customer has clicked on the banner advertisement there is the need of targeting and qualifying visitors which can be done through qualifying surveys that funnels the client according to the specific user interest and thus reduces wasted clicks by excluding disinterested individuals. This refined targeting further improves the efficacy of a digital marketing campaign.One Common problem with many successful digital campaigns they are unable to convert interest into sales. Too many companies craft beautiful traffic generating banner ads but are unable to convert the visitors to their site into actual sales.

This can be achieved taking the customer though various stages in the marketing process and identifying their various needs though links that direct them to price ranges, product ranges and offers that would entice the client to purchase a product. Once the client has decided to place an order, the client should be able to expedite the process by order forms that helps the client fill in the various details required to complete the order placement and also has access to various methods of completing online payment i.e. payment through visa card or access to online accounts like PayPal.
It is important that the client is secure about making payments through the company website by ensuring the client that their details will not be misused by the company to their affiliates. Once the payment has been confirmed, an invoice must be sent the email address of the client, with the order details and confirmation of the time period within which the client will receive the delivery as per company norms. Post Sales Service It is important to ensure that once the sales has been completed, the company is able to ensure loyalty from the customer and repeat sales by giving them good service and making the entire sales process a memorable one for the client. A satisfied client translates into an increased profitability for the company and leads to the success of the digital marketing campaign.

Conclusion
The disadvantage to banner advertisements is that they give a limited amount of information and have very short lifecycles which lasts only a few seconds, making it difficult to trace a previously viewed banner advertisement. Clicking on the Banner advertisement also means that the user has to move away from the page that he was currently browsing which has led to a decrease in the click-through rate of banner advertisements in general. It must also be noted that most advertisers are having problems with the Impression Based Advertising and have to consider a new revenue model in order to improve their Cost per Action Model.

The dawn of the 21st century allowed mankind to witness unprecedented innovation and advancement in the sector of technology and the expanding influence and proliferation of technology also manifested itself comprehensibly in the current form of digital media network that is seen today. Any person possessing enough rationale will be able to understand that the technological renaissance that has engulfed us from all sides has revolutionized the scope of the relations between broadcast digital network and the society in all ways. During all this time when our surroundings were increasingly becoming Techtronic formats and functions of magazines, books and other prominent public institutions also experienced considerable development.

In one way in which the visage of such public institutions has altered is that the advent and consequent invasion of technology has provided them the opportunity to augment their degree of interaction and connectivity with their respective target audience. With the emergence of the internet a concomitant progress was witnessed in the former role played by public institutions, it transformed from unidirectional to multi-faceted. Content that was earlier limited to the publication of paper now took a digital form and was available to various websites which led to a phenomenal increase in the accessibility of the displayed content. In addition to this the digital revolution has also proved very advantageous in increasing the potential of feedback from its readers and target audience which was not a prime feature in the conventionally used mediums of communications. The increase in this quality and availability of feedback has allowed many publishing institutions to improve their content in terms of quality and reach which proved beneficial for these institutions. Many magazines and books also provided their users the facility and convenience to have online editions and electronic editions of books and magazines, this feature was later also introduced in newspapers which gave its readers the convenience of having online editions through which newspapers could not be accessed through the internet but also provided them the facility of keeping themselves updated with the latest happenings taking place.

It is worth mentioning here that very few magazines and newspapers charge any money for their subscription which has in turn increased the number of people accessing their content and subsequently providing their feedback. The direct and unhindered participation of people in public polls and survey reports can be published directly and transparently on the respective websites of the electronic and print publication and broadcasting institutions which further increases the connectivity of people with the concerned medium of interest. Lets have a look at some of the ways in which the revolution of the digital media has affected the degree of social relationships and the influence it has imposed in the development and subsequent modification of various publication institutions (The Age 2010, p79).

Digital publishing
In the past when such diverse technological facilities were not at everyones disposal book, magazines and other publication material was not available print and other related content and material was only restricted to print form. But with the advent of the internet this convention has undergone substantial change. Today, news and magazine content can be updated as soon as any new news breaks in, the facility was not available over two decades back but today provides an added advantage to users. It is a general belief that news is a timely piece of information and therefore stale news has no significance in any way, but with such facility at hand previous clippings and news published in earlier editions are stored in the form of archives for customer convenience so that they can access to any news or event they want. With so much done and so much in pipeline I think it is useless even thinking that digital network media has not affected the functioning of publication institutions. Some other fields of innovation where the digital media has imposed many encouraging ramifications are discussed below.

Archiving
With the advent of digital archiving users are provided the convenience of accessing data irrespective from the time it had occurred. Previously the limitation in this way as far as this convenience is concerned was that in order to extract the desired information a person had to physically search the archives of the previously published contents of news that were related to any particular issue in various newspapers and magazines if an issue was being investigated. In this aspect internet with its available and accessible facility of digital archives has proved very beneficial for people involved in the field of reporting and journalism (Kaplan 2010, p 53).

The E-Reader
The electronic reader or the e-reader when abbreviated is defined as the electronic device that is designed primarily for the purpose of reading digital books and periodicals and uses e-ink technology for the display and the reading of the available content.  As the technological bubble inflated a simultaneous rise in the advent of electronically available editions of books, magazines and newspapers all publication institutions realized that in order to compete and survive the looming technological competition it was mandatory to step into the internet world and provide options that cater greater connectivity and interactivity for their users at all levels. In contemporary times electronic version of newspapers and magazines are very easily available and accessible at their respective websites which has provided greater number of people to view their content through online means. Some of the very famous websites that initiated this ground breaking step of providing electronic version of their online content include Amazon and Apple Ipad. The facility of electronic content and material allows greater convenience to all users to directly access subscribers and also provides publishing institutions the facility to directly access their consumers (Scully 2009, p 236).

In addition to the myriad benefits that the advent of the digital media network has provided at the disposal for publication institutions another aspect that needs to be discussed is the impact that this technological development has imposed on the society and people on the whole and to what extent has it provided different groups of the society various conveniences and facilities of interacting and forming relationships with different members of the society. With the development of digital media another category which began to germinate steadily in the beginning and then experienced rampant and uncontrollable growth was the sector of social media (Stilgherrian 2010, p134).

Social media or in more simple the media of the society, for the society and of the society is the kind of media that allows users the opportunity to interact among themselves insulated from all organizational restrictions and bonds. It allows people of similar age group to share their perspectives, content and opinions through various platforms that are available. Due to the global nature of the internet and the degree of innovation that has taken place in social media users communication is not only limited to local scale but has crossed all boundaries and hurdles in transforming this world into a true global village where there are virtually no physical boundaries. The advent of social media has allowed users all over the world to generate user-generated content through which novel frontiers of communicating with each other have been explored. Some of the ways through which social media has not only revolutionized the available platforms of communication but has also provided a completely novel dimension to it includes

Blogs
A blog or blogs is derived from the word log through which any individual can create his or her own web page explaining his or her specific opinion about any issue, or it can be used for any other dysfunctional purpose also. In a nutshell a blog is a platform where anyone can voice their perceptions and perspectives.

Use and creation of blogs is a very simple task. With the increasing accessibility of social media the number of blogs has increased phenomenally, users irrespective of any editing can easily publish and publicize their content with the help of blogs. Their simple way and method of creation is also another reason due to which the number of blogs has increased in recent times. But care should be taken while reading these blogs, mainly because since most of the material displayed at such blog spots are user generated manifesting the perceptions and perspectives of a single entity which may not be accurate and their credibility is always susceptible to question( Kozik 2007,p523)

Facebook
Social media and its subsequent expansion are directly correlated with the presence of social networking websites such as Orkut, Facebook and Twitter to name the most prominent ones. With the help of these websites people belonging to diverse social, economic and cultural backgrounds are able to communicate with each other. With their rising popularity all these websites especially facebook and twitter began to provide their users greater facilities and multimedia options through which the enticing features of the websites raised to new levels.

The concept of argumentative topics and communities is also a pioneering feature of these websites through which people especially youngsters develop the attitude of tolerance and resistance to the opinion that is different to their own and challenges their rationale. Moreover such websites are also used by a large number of small scale organizations to advertise their products and schemes to attract viewers and users which has also helped in boosting the economic standing of such companies (Foxtel 2010).

Conclusion
In conclusion it can be said that both kinds of media irrespective of the fact that it belongs to digital to social media have played a pivotal in modifying the participation of publication institutions in the life of a lay man who does possess little acquaintance to the usage of electronic devices that are present around him and does influence him in various subtle and manifested ways. The influence and role played by social and digital media does not end here as all these innovations where on one hand has increased the accessibility to people all over the globe to grab information within an eye wink has simultaneously played a vital role in increasing the level of social awareness and intellectual ability of people. They are now exposed to a wide variety of diverse perspectives of proficient expertise which help them in myriad ways to formulate their own opinion in a balance and unprejudiced way hence without any out skeptism the digital network media has had a profound impact on the role of publication institutions in all ways possible.

Literature review
According to Saran and Kalliny (2009), there are many theories which explain the organizational behavior relative to changes in the structures. Saran and Kalliny (2009, para. 4) continue to explain that there are many variables potentially affecting the implementation process including corporate culture issues, such as formalization, decentralization, functional differentiation, leadership, job satisfaction and job involvement and organizational dynamic issues, such as resources and communication. The review of literature about this topic focuses on these key areas by providing historical and contemporary issues that have been captured within the scope of this research.
INCLUDEPICTURE httpdocsdrive.comimagesacademicjournalsajm2009fig1-2k8-719.gif  MERGEFORMATINET

Source Saran and Kalliny (2009)
Communication is one of the most essential things that an organization requires to prosper in any market especially during turbulent business environments. Dubrin (1997) was of the opinion that communication is a very important aspect that unites all systems of the organization. Managers spend most of their time communicating with different stakeholders to create an efficient flow of activities. Knowledge management is very vital to managers since the efficient operation of any organization depends on how information is managed. The long term survival of any organization depends on the ability to manage information and knowledge for the efficient communication. People exchange, process and use information through the system of knowledge management (Bakan et al, n.d.).

Organizational structure defines the various divisions within an organization and establishes a system of coordinating the various resources for the achievement of the goals and objectives. Decision making process follows the structure of the organization to ensure all responsible individuals make the appropriate decisions. The managers create a system of collecting information and ideas from all stakeholders during the process of decision making to ensure all parties are included in the decisions of the organization. All the forces to the organization must be considered during the decision making process, that is, environmental forces, technological forces and the strategies being adopted by the organization. The restructuring process must ensure that the managers create systems which make maximum use of the resources available to the organization. The definition of tasks, allocation of different resources and the arrangement of resources as well as tasks should match the structure, goals and objectives of the organization. Organizational structure provides the systems to be followed during division of labor, when delegating authority and responsibilities, when establishing units of command, and the span of control. The structure of the organization defines the strategies to be adopted when delegating authority and responsibilities (Porter, 1985).

The use of technology is encouraged in developing organizational structures which match the needs of an organization. The use of information communication technology has increased as the need for efficiency in both private and public corporations intensifies. Technology helps people learn about the use of better knowledge about improving their systems. Good governance in organization requires the establishment of a clear organizational hierarchy to define the roles of each individual involved in the activities of the organization (Wade, 2002).

The use of technology has been encouraged by many organizations to adjust the existing structures to fit new strategies that are required for improved performance.  When new technologies are adopted, the management must introduce other structures to ensure their implementation takes place efficiently. The people working in an organization need to be educated and persuaded about the new technologies being adopted by the organization to ensure they utilize them for the benefits of all stakeholders (Evan  Black, 1967). The technology must be relevant to the goals and objectives of the organization. The organizational factors must be well studied and analyzed to introduce a better system which is in line with all systems of the organization. Increase in technological innovation has attracted much attention especially due to the existence of scarce resources within the organization. Managers reshuffle the workers in their organization as well as creating other structures to ensure the organization adopts the new technologies being introduced (Rogers, 1995).

Saran and Kalliny (2009) are of the opinion that implementing new technologies is complex and involves uncertainty. The uncertainty brings about conflicts between different stakeholders of the organization due to the new structures introduced. The uncertainty may create resistance from the people involved in the activities of the organization. The management must conduct adequate research about the best strategies to implement the technologies to ensure minimum resistance emanates from the individuals working in the organization (Rogers, 1995). However, Gill (2003, pg. 316) identified that many organizations do not conduct adequate research before implementing their new technologies and this has led to low success rate, given the importance of the same in a very dynamic and ever changing business environment, where customers not only demand new products and services but also newness in the product offering.

Implementing new technologies requires introducing changes within the structure of the organization and behavior change is essential to ensure all stakeholders readily accept the new ideas. Behavior change is difficult where there is uncertainty about the technologies to be adopted. This may hinder implementation of the innovations. Organizations take a longer period to adapt to new changes compared to individuals. Fariborz (1991) suggested that the revolution in technology being observed today requires organizations to integrate the variables of the organization with implementation strategies. He continued to explain that technologies are the main vehicles of change and that individual, organizational and environmental factors affect the implementation of many technologies and innovations. Accepting change is the basis of introducing new technologies within the organization (Saran  Kalliny, 2009).

For an organization to adapt to new technologies there is need to link the organization to the appropriate technologies which match the structures within the system. The innovations and technologies adapt to the organizational and industrial structures with time and the management must be patient enough to allow the new systems become incorporated into the processes of the organization (Van De Ven, 1986). There is a learning process involved in the adoption of new strategies. The old systems must be done away with to ensure the people do not revert to them. The culture of the organization should be adjusted to accommodate the new changes. Changing the culture requires changing the attitudes and values of the people involved in the activities of the organization. Changing the culture is not an easy thing and many people will become opposed to these strategies since there are gains and losses to many people when new systems are introduced. The culture of an organization defines the values, norms, and attitudes that people have. The management must create structures which match the culture of the organization. The culture determines the best strategies to be adopted by the people working in an organization. The managers have a responsibility to establish a culture which suits the needs of the workers and other stakeholders of the organization (Bridges, 1991).

The implementation of innovations and technologies requires a process to ensure all the stakeholders respond to the new systems successfully. The process starts from acquiring knowledge about the new systems, forming attitude about it, adopting or rejecting the new decisions, implementing and confirmation. Until the decisions are implemented, all activities prior to this involve mental processes. The installation of the ideas into real sustainable process is the final stage which determines the success of the management to implement its strategies (Pierce and Delbecq, 1977).

Corporate restructuring allows the managers bring changes within the organization to accommodate new and better structures which improve the performance of an organization. The need to globalize domestic markets has forced many organizations to adopt better structures to create new market opportunities, overcome threats from organizations and diffuse models of business that relate to globalization. To improve the costs and revenue structures of the organization, managers have developed variety of objectives to ensure all aspects of management are captured (Jones, 2002).

Formalization within the organizational structure provides the procedures to be observed when conducting the various activities by the individuals working in the organization. Organizational hierarchy describes the jobs and the amount of freedom provided to the stakeholders of the organization (Cohn  Turyn, 1980). For the effective adoption and implementation of new technologies, the formal structures must be followed when performing duties within the organization. All systems of the organization should be properly coordinated to ensure the implementation of the new ideas is successful (Kim, 1980). Formal procedures are introduced within the organization to reduce stress which may originate from confusion that occurs when systems are not properly coordinated. Formal structures provide the lower level employees of the organization with equal opportunities to avoid discretion in the allocation of duties and rewards. The planning process requires the management to create a properly coordinated system that will bring about successful implementation of new technologies (Zaltman, Duncan  Holbek, 1973).

The use of communication is expressed in the organizational hierarchy where formal communication procedures are established. All people must adhere to the communication structures that the management has established for effective operation of activities. The organizational chart provides the flow of authority, information and other resources. The managers restructure the organizational structure as need arises and provide new roles to different individuals. Restructuring the organization requires creating a proper system so that all individuals can adjust accordingly (Bakan et al n.d. Porter, 1985).

The global recession that affected all global economies in the world forced many organizations to adopt new strategies to improve their performance as well as ensure the corporate survival in the global markets. Many organizations have restructured their systems to adapt to the new changes brought about by the effects of the recession. To reduce the increasing costs of production, managers are adopting a downsizing strategy (Harman, 2009). The reduction in sales volume in the global markets provides managers with the decision to create better systems and structures which improve the image of the organization in the global markets (Dewar and Dutton, 1986).

Hitt et al (1994) established that over the last two decades, many organizations have carried out extensive re-structuring process to cope with the changing global markets. The media and communications industry has been characterized by increasing competition in both local and global markets. Organizations need to restructure their activities to accommodate the changes in the global markets. Gregory (1999) provides that corporate downsizing has been implemented by a large number of American firms in an effort to become more flexible and responsive to increased competition. The strategy to down size many organizations have not been responsive to the strategy of reducing the costs of production. The impacts of downsizing upon the employees of these companies have been worse. Cases of stress among the remaining employees have been reported by organizations which have used downsizing as a strategy to restructure their systems. Other negative impacts related to downsizing are reduction in career opportunities and reduction in the loyalty to the company by the employees. The loss of very important employees is another risk associated with downsizing organizations (Hitt et al 1994).

Decentralization of authority is an important aspect when implementing better hierarchies which ensure the organization is successful in its efforts to create a better structure. Decentralization allows all members of the organization to participate in the decision making process. Employees are able to translate the decisions made by their managers into specific plans of actions. For effective communication, the management should introduce a decentralized system to ensure all members of the organization contribute towards the activities of the organization. Decentralization ensures that all decisions are implemented successfully by establishing different work centers where different individuals can contribute their ideas. Workers are ready to own decisions when they participate in the decision making as well as implementation process (Jones and Jennifer, 2003).

Proper leadership strategies within the organization should be adopted when implementing the new technologies. Leadership refers to the ability of the management to influence the subordinates to contribute willingly to the goals of the organization. The managers should have the skills of influencing others to accept the new structures for the success of the organization. Managing change within the organization requires proper leadership skills so that the managers can influence their followers about developing new behaviors to adapt to the new systems of the organization (Robbins, 1998). To ensure the employees accept the new technologies, the management should ensure the employees are satisfied in the jobs assigned to them. Job satisfaction creates the willingness to perform duties without being forced and motivates the employees to improve their performance (Herzberg, Mausner and Synderman, 1959). Functional differentiation allows the management to introduce better systems within the organization. Kimberly and Evansisko (1981, pg. 693) define functional differentiation as a process which represents the extent to which an organization is divided into different units, normally measured by the different number of units under the top management.

The extent to which an organization differentiations its structures determines the success in implementing technologies. The communication process is made efficient by a high differentiation of the processes. The top management has the role of ensuring all employees comply with the established rules for the efficient operation of the differentiated units of the organization (Baldridge and Burnham, 1975). To ensure employees are satisfied by the various duties assigned to them, the management should differentiate the organizations units and allocate jobs according to the skills and experience of the individual employees. The use of technology in different units should ensure that the subordinates are allocated the appropriate units to avoid conflicts (Ahls, 2001).

Based on my career goals and personal aspirations, I see myself working in a corporate and business environment preferably as a member of the marketing team. If I assume that I am already in this situation, I am holding the position of a marketing specialist. The office environment can be described as corporate and professional which consists of a relatively huge number of employees across different age groups (Yuppies, middle-aged and seniors), gender (males, females and members of the third sex or gays) and races (Caucasians, Asians, African-Americans and Latinos). As a marketing specialist, my responsibilities are focused on the promotion of the companys products and services, implementation of promotional work plans, coming up with innovative methods to become competitive in the market, studying consumer behaviour, market trends and exploring avenues for business growth and development amidst the presence of competitors.

As a member of the companys marketing team, I am working with several other employees under the same department. Apart from that, being a marketing specialist also involves interaction with the other employees from other departments which include the creative team and operations department. Given this scenario, it is apparent that communication is an integral part of my job. I have to coordinate and work with other employees in order to become efficient in my job. Apart from that, being a part of a particular team, which is the marketing team, means that I have to practice good communication skills, proper attitude and professionalism in order to become productive. These are also important in order to avoid having miscommunications, conflicts and arguments with the other team members and employees considering the fact that I am working in a multi-cultural environment. Given this particular situation, it is extremely necessary to be able to relate to all kinds of employees regardless of age, sexual orientation, race and ethnicity. Naturally, not all people share the same beliefs and culture. These are differences that need to be understood and taken into consideration. Respect for ones character, personality and sexual preference can go a long way in building professional working relationship. As long as there is respect between the employees, conflicts can be handled in a mature and ethical manner.

One of the most important skills that I have to practice in order to become efficient and successful in communicating with others is my listening skills. Listening as a way to acknowledge someone often increases self esteem. It is a way of saying to the talker, you are important and I am not judging you. That is why listening is such a powerful force in human relationships (Burley-Allen 5). It is by way of good listening that I can enhance work relationships even with difficult co-workers.

As much as possible, I avoid gestures and statements that can trigger conflicts and arguments. Even if there are ideas and opinions that are different from mine, I make it a point to respect what others think. I avoid saying sarcastic remarks and I do not interrupt people when it is their turn to speak up. If conflicts or misunderstandings arise, it is best to look for suitable solutions without turning other people down. Learning how to compromise and becoming more sensitive to others feelings can solve a lot of issues and can lead to harmonious relationship in the workplace.

Professionalism is a highly regarded virtue that needs to be developed by anyone who wants to become successful in dealing with co-workers. In order to maintain professionalism, I do my best to avoid distractions. No matter how difficult it is, I try my best to never mix up my personal life with my career in order to maintain my focus and composure at work. I also want to be able to motivate others through goal setting. I believe that this is the right attitude in order to get the job done. The problem is that when personal concerns get mixed up with work, focusing on the goals becomes difficult and this can affect job competency. There are some co-workers who cannot tolerate job incompetence. This can lead to problems in the work place and can ruin my career as well thus I make it a point to leave my problems outside the office premises. Your workplace personality is the mirror image of your self-image. It determines how you act in front of your co-workers and how you thrive and compete in the organizational culture (Perkins 6).

Lastly, I do my best to develop friendship with my colleagues. I believe in the importance of interaction and taking the time to know them in a deeper level without necessarily invading their privacy or making them feel uncomfortable. It is necessary to respect each others space in the workplace. However, building friendship can also help in strengthening teamwork as long as balance between social interaction and career is maintained.

There are many groups of people that form communities all over the world. The real understanding of communities has not been clearly elaborated and there is a need to show the composition and example of a community. The major components of a community include social practices, history language and art among others.

A community is composed of a group of people who share a common understanding. The groups of people reveal themselves and are uniquely identified by their language, customs laws and traditions. The groups of people forming a community have common rights, privileges or interests and they live together in the same place with the same laws and regulations governing all of them.

The Egyptian community is found in Africa and it is one of the most populous countries in Africa with an estimated 78 million people (2008). Most of the people live near the banks of the river Nile in an area of about 40,000 square kilometers with their main economic activity being farming. The Egyptian community has five thousand years of recorded history and its complex and stable culture influenced later cultures of Europe, the Middle East and Africa. A community has religious beliefs and this is practiced by all of the members in the community.

The Ancient Egyptian religion was mainly influenced by their tradition and they did not question their beliefs which had been handed down to them since they did not desire to cause change to their community. Their religion was a polytheistic which is a belief in many gods and it hosted around 700 different gods and goddesses. Their main tradition was the one of Divine Kingship which is the belief the Pharaoh was their King (a political ruler) and also their god. All the people respected the Pharaoh and he was associated with Horus, son of the Re the sun god. The Egyptians believed that when the Pharaoh died, he became Osiris and would help the Egyptians in their after-life. The Pharaoh represents the Egyptian community and this is well known throughout the world.

Communities have moral values which are practiced by the Egyptian community. There are greetings when people meet and handshakes are the customary greetings among the individuals of the same sex. They are usually limp and prolonged and they are always given with a smile and direct eye contact. When there is creation of a relationship it is usually common to kiss one cheek and then the other while shaking hands and this is practiced by the same gender. Greetings between men and women, the woman must extend her hand first and if she doesnt the man should bow his head in greeting.

The Egyptian community is part of the Arabic Speech community of about 250 million people who spread from Morocco to Oman. Egypt became an Arabic-speaking community which was a result of the Muslim conquest in the seventh century with the replacement of the earlier languages taking several centuries. The Arabic language is characterized by diglossia since there is a substantial difference between the written and spoken language. The major forms of entertainment which include the radio and television impose the Cairo-spoken language which is used as the standard dialect. The most common foreign language in the Egyptian community is English followed by French.

The main dominant art elements are derived mainly from the aspects of Egypts history especially the Pharaonic and Islamic periods. The three Giza pyramids together with the Great Sphinx represent the most important elements of the Egyptian community. The nineteenth century Mohammed Ali mosque which is built on top of a medieval citadel is also an attractive and important piece of art and is visible from different parts of Cairo.

The main dish in the Egyptian community is foul. This is a dish of cooked fava beans with low heat and seasoned with salt, oil, lemon and cumin. This is mostly taken for breakfast. The other common dishes are the tamiyya and koshari. The Egyptian community has been there for many years with more than 3,000 years of Egyptian culture. There are different communities in the world with each community having its own set of unique attributes and social practices which identifies the specific group of people as a community.

Both Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcom Little, better known as Malcolm X were major figures in the civil rights movement in the United States.  Despite fighting for the same cause, which is to see that all individuals in the United States are indeed equal regardless of race, both men take a different approach in furthering the cause.  They both decried the injustice committed against the black people by the whites and wanted to see it come to an end.  It was for this reason that the civil rights movement gained momentum in the 1960s.

The most obvious difference is the stance they took in pursuing their goal.  Little, who became Malcolm X after converting to Islam, puts emphasis on self-empowerment among the black people, as well as other racial groups in the US for that matter that they should use any means necessary to win their freedom and equality if society would continue to marginalize them.  In trying to understand why Malcolm X was rather militant in his appraoch to the point of being  nationalistic,  one has to understand that he was born and raised in a ghetto where life was rough which resulted in the murder of his father and his mother committed to a mental institution.  In as much as he deplored the racists, he also deplored whites who pretended to sympathize with them and pay lip service to their support of their cause.  It is for this reason why he wanted thje blacks to empower themselves because he felt nobody will do it for them (Breitman, 1965, p.26).

King was brought up in a well-to-do family in spite of their race and he  borrowed  the approach taken by Mahatma Gandhi of nonviolent resistance as the means to accomplish their goal owing to his avocation as a minister who eschewed violence.  King agreed with Gandhis principle that the oppressors need to see the evil they are committing to make them stop for to fight back would make them further justify their actions.  If Malcolm X were to have his way, he could have dragged America to another civil war, especially if he intended to use Islam as a vehicle to advance his cause, whereas King used a combination of Christian faith and Gandhis teachings which is compatible to the former (Vander Lei  Miller, 1999, pp. 84-85).

Both men were assassinated for they were seen as a threat by their opponents.  In the end, the civil rights movement was successful when the government passed a series of laws that once and for all ended segregation.  The impact was not immediate and its effect was felt gradually through the passage of time and the proof that it was successful was evident with the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States.  And if one were to ask who would get the credit, the most likely answer would be Martin Luther King Jr. and his Gandhi-like approach in furthering the cause for equality.

In her essay News to Me Twitter and the Personal Networking of News, Kate Crawford (2010) writes about the intrinsic relationship between traditional news mediums and the new age concept of micro-blogging and networking. Instead of simply being an arena to publish ones personal insights, it has become a vehicle for citizen journalism, which can be defined as the act of a citizen, or a group of citizens, playing an active role in the process of collecting, reporting, analyzing, and disseminating news and information (Bowman and Willis, quoted in Crawford 2010 229).

But, despite this changing atmosphere in media and social involvement, I still believe that there remains a wide discrepancy between the legitimization of such sites like Twitter as an accurate source of news. One would be the experiential quality of the messages posted on Twitter. In addition Crawford says, Journalism may be an unnecessarily restrictive framework to apply to these experiential accounts, which often relate an affective, impressionistic moment of what was seen and felt, designed to be shared with a distributed social group (Crawford 2010 240). When Mike Wilson survived a Continental Airlines 737 crash, he tweeted Holy fcking shtI was just in a plane crash This post might inform people of what had happened but it remains a prejudiced scope that questions the intentions of the person involved.

Clay Shirky (2009), in his defense of the print media, says, Print media does much of societys heavy journalistic liftingShirky 2009 online). This and journalisms encompassing quality cannot be completely be conveyed through the limited capacity of Twitters 140-character boards. Though an individual would like to partake in a more democratic news system, Twitter lacks the facility to provide an avenue for it.  Yes, these headlines like Wilsons tweet after surviving the plane crash may serve as a jump-off point to larger news, but in reality, it is not enough.

Also, Twitter users cannot fully be citizen journalists because of  the overarching issue of the breadth of ones online community. Whereas news can be proclaimed through a wide scope, Twitter users can only share their news among their immediate community. For example, a user had become witness to a crime and had tweeted it. Unless this account is re-tweeted, it will never reach the greater public. This news importance solely relies on the reactions of his immediate community. In a sense, it gets filtered out depending on its significance to his followers.

Lastly, the authority of citizen journalists has come to be questioned. As mentioned by Terry Flew and Jason Wilson (2008), there is, among journalists a different kind of citizenry that is developed by their unique understanding of one ideology, a system that doesnt work through anonymity. This authority should be known and found like to prevent a misunderstanding of sources, as exemplified by Twitter activity on the Tehran situation. What most people fail to recognize is that some of the most active tweets about the incident do not come from Iran, but rather on American soil. This changes the atmosphere of the posts completely.

Overall, there might still be some aspects of the site that needs polishing, but for now we cannot argue that it remains as the perfect tell-all of the heart beat of a people.

The Choice of News and Content in the Media

METHODOLOGY
The essay is based on a critical analysis of five selections of news articles under the breaking news section in the Sydney Herald Morning and the Herald Sun newspapers. The analysis is contextualized within unfolding events both locally and internationally. Further, the paper examines choice of language, content and news items in relation to the nature of the specific events they report about. Within this analysis, artistic forms such as irony, symbolism and narration are explored, viz a viz the professional dictates of journalism such as adherence to truth, facts and objectivity.

The selection of the particular articles was based on their relevance to current affairs in international relations and issues of moral controversy in society. They also reflect a conscious effort by media houses to sensationalize news reportage as a strategy of keeping abreast with competition in the industry. Finally, the paper discusses how the relevant domains of media reporting, namely legitimate controversy and deviance, are blended to make news not only a presentation of an array of hard facts and a dry recollection of events, but also a souped-up rendition of truth to capture audience interest.

Journalism is indeed an art form that blends facts with narrative techniques to make news. While most journalists tend to consider themselves as gatherers of facts rather than story tellers (Schudson, 2003, 177), the reality of print media reportage is that though unwittingly, the reporter does not merely report the occurrences of actual events. In addition to the recollection, compilation and presentation of facts about daily events, they employ narration techniques that make a chronology of facts a story-like rendition of events. This s because by themselves, facts, however accurate and chronological, do not make an effective audience-interest arresting reading. And yet, for the thematic concerns to reach the targeted audience and achieve the desired effects, the eventfact-news must be packaged in a form that appeals to the audience, and presents the news in a lively, curiosity-provoking and interesting manner. By examining the choice of news and content in journalistic reporting in general and the Australian print media in particular, the paper argues that journalism is a blend of true stories, news and narratives, which are employed to achieve effective communication.
The making of a news worthy item out of a heap of facts begins with the reporters conception of the underlying aspects that make a story of particular interest. It should contain leads that invoke audience curiosity and desire to know about something. Essentially, facts and events of common consensus are not news on the other hand, they become news when the reporter goes beyond public knowledge of the facts to give them a new meaning. In the Sydney Morning Herald article US weighs new options against North Korea, the writer hints at a more serious motive by Washington than the mere condemnation of the attacks on a South Korean ship by alleged North Korean militia men. In a subtle reference to the USs intrusive nature on foreign issues, it implies a possible Washington-led military action upon North Korea. By quoting the thinly veiled threat by US Secretary of Defense Robert Gates that Washington is assessing additional options to hold North Korea accountable and pledging full support to South Korea at a difficult hour (Luce, 2010), the crux of the matter is not just a demonstration of Washingtons benevolence towards the bereaved South Korea. Were that the issue, it will not make news since it is expected that terrorist attacks should be condemned universally. On the contrary, it is the implicit suggestion that the US has already made a Pyongyang-Seoul conflict a

Washington business that makes the news of the story. The suggestion that the USs response to the crisis is an additional option apart from UN protocol alludes to the formers tendency to violate international laws on foreign aggression, echoing the USs arrogant invasion of Iraqi in early 2003. It implicitly suggests that the UN is toothless where America is involved.

At the same time, news reportage portrays a relationship of issues within a wider perspective. The unfolding of a specific event points to a wider scheme of interrelated events, which makes facts and news a set of narratives. In this regard, the story NZ protesters throw shoes over Gaza (Sydney Morning Herald June 5, 2010) relates to the anti-American sentiments running deep in the larger Arab world, mainly on account of its support of military and political campaigns against Muslims. In this particular incidence, the outburst was provoked by the Israel military attacks on a Gaza bound aid-ship. However, in the bigger picture of the situation, the US is blamed for its military and financial support of Israels operations in the Middle East. Thus, the relationship of facts and events between the US pledge to support South Korea and Israel against their respective political enemies is, in reality, a US war against its perceived enemies around the world. Similarly, the throwing of shoes itself is a symbolic portrayal of the wide-spread disgust and hatred of America in the Arab world. It is a statement of the long-standing enmity between the former and the latter, which recalls the experience of former US president George W. Bush on his visit to Iraqi in 2008. The symbolism portrayed in this incidence suggest an ongoing conflict, indicating that it is a story with legs (Schudson, 2003 177), with implications of similar new developments in future. The bottom line of the argument, then, is that the real news is not the facts about emerging events as reported, but the story about developing events as narrated. In summary, if the US ignores a UN protocol, oil her tanks and head east, then it will not be an isolated event, but a continuing narrative of the USs foreign military policy and political agenda. 

As much as news items try to make a delicious reading, they also aim to make a commentary on public life and issues of national interest. The demand for specific stories is due to their public relevance, or connection to certain issues that are of public concern. Moreover, they make moral criticism of perceived perversion of societal norms. For instance, the article AFL footballer Jason Akermanis egged for comments on gay players (Herald Sun, May 25 2010) is both a portrayal of public life about public figures and a commentary on their moral behavior. AFL players are figures of public interest, and ass such, their character is subject to public scrutiny. The choice of the incidence as a possible interesting news item stems from the fact that homosexuality is a controversial issue in society. More importantly, the controversy is delicious news when it involves prominent figures in society who finds themselves in a moral dilemma. Recently, the scandalous revelation of Tiger Woods sexual escapades made breaking news in the US not basically because infidelity is a moral vice, but largely because it involved a famous celebrity. Likewise, the throwing of eggs at Akermanis house is not news entirely due to the novelty of the egg-throwing incidence, but rather because of the high profile personalities involved, making an a perfect case of public interest.

A common aspect in news reportage is the prevalence for astonishing and outrageous incidences. But since reporters could not concoction fairy tales or fictitious exaggerations to make horrifying news, they select news events that are uniquely out-of the way and extraordinary enough to make a awesome reading. The two articles, Bad laws, not bad whores sex workers and Staff at a Queensland zoo are sacrificing their pay to keep the zoos lions and other animals from starving by the Sydeny Morning Herald and News.com respectively, fulfill these requirements of a holy shit story (Schudson, 2003).

In the former case, it reports of a demonstration by sex workers in Sydney to end whore-phobia and claim their human rights, whatever they are. The extraordinariness of the situation is that commercial sex is regarded as a violation of societys moral values, and symptomatic of a wider breakdown of social order. Thus, it will be astonishing for perceived elements of social decadence to claim a right to in a society, which, should it be accorded them, will threaten the moral decency that governs human societies. The display of slogans such as whore-power and sluts unite is blatantly outrageous, in the sense that giving power to the whores and the establishment of unity among sluts is not only deviance to the structures of society, but also a mockery to the normal order of things. At the same time, it portrays the paradox of social institutions charged with the dispensation of justice, which ignores the blight of marginalized groups. It highlights the impossibility of creating a perfectly just society, in which all groups will be equally represented. Regardless, however, it captures the harsh reality and wicked sincerity of the sex workers argument, by noting that We are human beings, we are people, we do a job and we are continually vilified for that job, and the head-on punch line that What we want society to see is that sex work is real damn hard work, and ... we provide a service like any other industry (Smith, 2010).

In terms of the cultural view regarding media reporting, the stories demonstrate a tendency by the media to promote a culture of biased portrayal of some sections of society. Thus, the choice of content in some instances show implicit attempts of prejudice and stereotyping along racial lines. For instance, the reference to the demonstrations in Auckland over the Gaza conflict conveys subtle messages about the tendency by the Arab world and their sympathizer to resort to violence and guerrilla tactics to air their grievances. It suggests their lack of decency in human interactions, by the total disregard of dialogue in resolving disputes. It paints a picture of a hooligan society with rebellious elements, to whom an intellectual dialogue is of little value. Reading between the lines, the story blurs the line of distinction between a terrorist and a normal public demonstration, leading to a further distortion of the character of the Arab world and Muslims in general. The news that the crowd burnt the US and Israel flags and then addressed by various speakers, including Palestinians, an Irishman, a Turkish man and several others with friends in the flotilla (NZPA, June 5, 2010) is not just an informative insertion for public consumption. On the contrary, it serves the purpose of linking the demonstration to the usual suspects with terrorist connections.  As Elizabeth Bird and Robert Dardenne (1997) argue, there exists a degree of pretense that every news item reflects the facts of recorded events. In reality, the facts are presented in such a manner that they serve a grand plan of portraying certain sections of society in a certain light, perhaps for purposes of propaganda.

In the News.com story, the essence of the articles weirdness lies in the decision of the zoo owners to cut employers salary so as to feed animals. It takes some degree of crookedness in reasoning to assert that in No way is our animals health or their food ever, ever compromised and that they (animals) are No. 1 and the humans are No. 2. (Jenny Jattke, qtd in News.com, 2010). Under normal circumstances, the value of human beings supersedes that of any other creature by all means. While the circumstances in question are a bit abnormal from the acute scarcity of food for the animals, it is normally expected that, to borrow the horses mouth, In no way, is human health or their food, is to be ever, ever compromised. The inversion of values and hierarchy of importance departs from natural law, thus making a theme worthy weaving into a news story.

Nonetheless, both stories evoke a moral dimension in relation to human behavior. The news items belong to the category of moral values, which suggest that there ought to be a law (Schudson, 2003 181) to direct human behavior. The show of outright deviance to the appeal of common sense in the animal case and mockery of moral values in the whores demonstration for legitimization of vice in society are the elements that make the juice of the story and by extension, worthy reporting news.
In conclusion, the print media industry presents a system of purposeful communication to achieve certain effects in among the target audience, such as to communicate moral lessons. While the aim of reporters is to gather and present facts about events as they unfold, it is practically impossible to communicate them in their raw form. Consequently, the presentation of facts and news about events is woven into narrative forms and stories that appeal to readers interest and provoke audience curiosity. Similarly, reporters choose themes that depart from ordinary circumstances, due to the appeal of astonishing revelations. However, the culture within which news stories are manufactured also influence the choice of content, such that it serves a wider purpose of creating certain cultural and racial images among readers.

Appendix
The nature of news reporting sometimes hinges on individual style of the journalist. Chibnall, S. (1981). The production of knowledge by crime reporters, notes that Six reporters put through a court session could not come out with exactly the same story. This perhaps explains the elements of disparities in news rendering that distinguish various media houses, in terms of content choice and form.

There is evidently a close relationship between social structures and mass media institutions. Western democracies lean towards a liberal ideology of mass communication, which is embedded in the concepts of free press and freedom of expression. To a large extent, this could be the main factor behind the fragmentary mature of the mass media industry, due to the presence of tolerance of diverse ideas, and lack of stringent media rules applied in communist and most Arab countries. In addition, the degree of media flexibility and press freedom reflects the state of human rights, since a free press represents the voice of the commons more effectively.

The political process of any country hinges heavily on media institutions. It is through the media that political ideologies are disseminated and impressed in the public psych. Similarly, the media has considerable influence on political campaigns due to its wide reach. Accordingly, news stories featuring political aspirants could be a disguised advertising strategy. However, since politics is inherently a competitive process, it is likely that candidates must have a monetary value, either directly (payments to media houses) or indirectly (economic policies affecting the industry and popularity-newspaper sales), to earn publicity. It is here that the relationship between mass media and economics, explaining why media houses could prefer some candidates over others.

Hersey, J., 1981, The legend on the license. Yale Review, observes that it is the writer of fiction who could invent a story, but the journalist could not. As such, they generate stories about events rather than create them. Given the need to narrate facts as news stories, it is a bit difficult to draw a line of distinction between hard news, which is aimed to inform about unfolding events, especially in breaking news, and soft news, which diverts a little from facts.

The media sometimes feeds racial conflicts, as noted by media scholars Charles Husband and Paul Hartman.

There is a tendency by British media to encourage derogatory elements about foreigners, particularly those of black origin (Schudson 2003, p 183). While news articles headlines may refer to official sources, the content tends to be interpretive of motives and facts. These elements of interpretative extend to graphic expressions such as caricatures, which convey sentiments of hatred across religious and cultural borders. The recent portrayal of Prophet Mohamed as a terrorist in a western media portrays the potential of news to create racial conflicts, leading to the conclusion that media institutions sometimes function as instruments of promoting cultural prejudice and stereotypes. 

Internet boom of 1990s sparked a proliferation of contemporary strategies in marketing with various companies both established and new start-ups seeking to develop strategies that fully exploited the e-commerce technologies. During this time, a medium or even a small cottage industry managed growth in the industry via repackaging and retooling of traditional marketing strategies by taking into account the pitfalls and the potential opportunities afforded by new e-commerce technologies together with the momentum they created (Bidgoli, 442). Many companies since then have depended on new technologies to develop their brands. TVs and radios have been used extensively in contemporary marketing strategies primarily to make sure that consumers of a given product develop an emotional bond with the product in question. Contemporary marketing strategies aim to increase the market share of the company and at the same time to make sure that the customers emotional ties with the brand makes them to form a habit for purchasing more of it.

Emergence of new technologies has increased competitiveness in advertising industry with different countries using the technology differently. The reason why most companies are turning to new technologies in marketing is due to the fact that most people are connected online since like in 2006, 64 Europeans and 73 of Americans were online. This is seen to be more interactive as they can use applications such as MSN Messenger and Facebook for connection (Bernoff and Li 2009, 10). The main objective of this research paper is to give a comprehensive and a clear analysis of contemporary marketing strategies that use recent technological advancement. The discussion comprises the manner in which enterprises employs social-networking media in advertising their products and the different marketing strategies in different countries.

Introduction
Marketing is defined as the activities dealing with flow of both services and goods from the producers to the consumers. Still with the inclusion of new technologies in advertising, companies have to employ the classic advertising components of place, price, product and promotion also referred to as the 4Ps. Advertising management process revolves around selection of target markets, analysis of advertising opportunities, and management of the marketing effort and development of a marketing mix. Whatever the technology a marketer uses, there is always one aim of the advertising effort satisfaction of the consumers needs and wants. This means that irrespective of what method of marketing strategy is used determination of the consumers needs and wants is a must. This goes hand in hand with the effort to use technology to make sure that the product becomes a success.

Determination of the success of products under these strategies calls for correct pricing strategy when introducing the product in the market. Traditional pricing strategies largely depend on marketing expenses and product manufacturing cost. Of late, information-based technologies have emerged and new approaches have been enabled via the fundamental aspect of pricing and new product development. E-commerce platform and internet-based technology are used by brand managers to check on the response of consumers in their new product pricing. The new technologies have enabled consumers to visualize new products in a better way before they are introduced into the market.

Main body
Guerilla marketing
According to Bidgoli (2010, 441), some of the marketing approaches in application today include brand management, social media, guerilla marketing, permission marketing and viral marketing. All these depend on the latest internet-based technology in advertising the services and products. Guerilla marketing involves aggressive and grassroots tactics in promoting either a service or a product. This is a strategy that assumes marketing effort is conducted using a shoestring budget. It therefore means that its a strategy that takes advantage of almost free web resources suggesting the use of public forums to promote services and products. Its one of the contemporary marketing strategies that engenders online community sharing low-cost, simple and effective advertising strategies. It involves printing of coupons on sticky notes then placing them front doors of the products potential consumers. This may also involve active participation in wikis, blogs and discussion groups. Internet users are able to share insights, collaborate on content or even share various experiences still connecting for pleasure and business matters. The social media is also referred to as Web 2.0 or social computing (Strauss and Beal 2009, 9).

Permission marketing
E-commerce adoption has grown and both consumers and enterprises are becoming uncomfortable with the e-mail volume they receive in a day thus compromising their privacy. As customers share more information with their e-commerce companies, they risk experiencing identity theft, spamming and fraudulent credit card activity from individuals and companies advertising products to them. Technologies for ensuring the privacy may continue to become easier to use and thus consumers will increasingly have that ability of controlling private information access through a seamless interface. This shows that until we get to that time businesses will be forced to use the permission marketing strategy that ensures that consumers only receive messages they have interest in. This is a marketing strategy where customers have to choose what materials they have to receive via filling in a form with select materials. This is single opt-in. Incentives in permission marketing also include winning attractive prizes by participating in online games (Bidgoli, 442).

Viral marketing
Viral marketing is another strategy that has emerged with the technology advancement. This was mainly via the Hotmail success. In this strategy, customers of a given company are used as the marketers. As the customers use the services and products of the company, they keep spreading word to other potential consumers regarding the productsservices of the company. In this case, the marketing message spreads just like a virus via every customers social network. According to Bidgoli (2010, 442), Hotmail managed to sign up 12 million users in only  one and a half years when they inserted the tagline Get your free e-mail at Hotmail. Recipients of e-mails could easily click via the Hotmail web site and set their personal e-mail accounts. Social media is one excellent platform for viral marketing. An idea may catch fire the moment the promotional messages are sent to lists of friends (Marketing.about.com 2010, 1).

Web 2.0
Social media enables grassroots advertising efforts to open up possibilities of circumventing traditional advertising channels. This is particularly evidenced in the use of digital media in distribution of products like music through the Web. for example, comedian Dane Cook achieved mainstream success without going through the traditional round robin of late night talk show appearances as a struggling comedian (Bidgoli 2010, 442). In fact social media has made it easy for customers in obtaining ongoing news and promotions concerning services, products or even a company through automatic feeds to their browsers and desktops by using RSS protocol. Moreover, these RSS feeds in social media usage do integrate rich media like audio clips, pictures and videos. An advertising enterprise achieves such integration via copying and pasting the links such as Flickr or YouTube on its sites. These are social media promotions that can also be enhanced through inputs from different users including the customers. The enhancements may be in form of metatags, media uploads and comments and these have the advantage of making the site even more visible to various customers. If it is well managed, social media hold great promise in advertising of e-commerce efforts.

Blogs
According to Chaney (2009, 55), the best known tool in social media marketing is the blog. Blogs have been in use than any other social media marketing tool. They have an advantage in that they facilitate inclusion of several other forms of social media like social bookmarking, podcasts and videos. Even though there is no tool that fulfills all marketing needs, blogs are normally applied as headquarters and operations base for forays into other social media applications. Even though blogs may be relatively old, today they seem new again. They are being used as vehicles in content marketing and still appear to be great niche market penetration tools. They are also magnets for search engines meaning they form search engine optimization (SEO) of their own (Chaney 2009, 65).

Relationship marketing
In their efforts to make their customers loyal, companies are using relationship marketing where even employees are used as marketers. Relationship marketing involves creation of healthy relationships between the company and its customers and the suppliers (Joe.org 1988, 1). It calls for the companies to determine what their customers want early so that they dont provide them with information that may turn them away. In this strategy, existing customers are highly valued and it involves striving to maintain them. The cost of maintaining these existing customers is low compared to that of finding new ones. In this strategy, willing customers agree to create a buzz on a given product of the company. Buzz marketing is effective in attracting new customers as the gap between the company and its products is bridged. Successful companies like Build-a-Bear Workshop and Microsoft are already using their customers to create buzz for their products. Toronto-based Agent Wildlife describes itself as marketing firestarters dedicated to the idea that todays consumers trust, pay more attention to, and act on the opinions of their social networks more than any other source of influence (Snow, Mackenzie and Kurtz 2009, 37). Many companies have established their blogs as the way to communicate with their customers. Using such social media applications helps companies to know what consumers think and talk about their products. It is true that effective relationship marketing applied by companies uses information technologies like computer databases which record price preferences, tastes and lifestyles of the customers (Snow, Mackenzie and Kurtz 2009, 38). 

According to Comm, Robbins and Burge (2009, 142), online advertising has spoiled everyone in the world of business. Today, marketers can not only target where their ads will appear by ensuring that they are viewed by only those who will find them interesting but also they can easily track the behavior of their targets after they launch them. Marketers can today measure how many of their target customers view their ads, those who click on them in order to learn more and of course how many of them purchase as a result of viewing the ad. This explains why Google is worth billions of dollars via its AdSense system. Companies portray their brands with their profile where they do create a sidebar on the left of a page and this is sent to its followers in different Web sites. These followers not only click on the ads but they also end up purchasing the products.

Twitter
However, when companies use Twitter to build their brand, they only want the followers to remember them but not to make them type a URL in their browse making a right away purchase. In this case, an advertiser produces a design that endeavors to make the brand memorable to sum up the business. For example, Southwest Airlines uses its planes tail as the photo and the sky is the background. Users can thus understand easily whose page they are on and know what it does. On the other hand, Mars in branding of MMs used two pages and keeps changing the design of the pages to make sure the image of the brand aligns the current campaign. In Valentines Day 2008, Mars used Twitter to promote its idea that green is the color of love but not red. This was a memorable design. Others like Whole Foods Market use a plain green background. This matches with its green image and further uses the logo as the picture (Comm, Robbins and Burge 2009, 147).

According to Marr, Jue and Kassotakis (2009, 35), some companies still in the time of wait and see are not aware that their competitors have turned to social media to enhance their execution speed. Most employers today have opened doors for their employees to use social media. The 2008 data showed that 69 of them allowed their employees to use the social media. The mostly used social networking sites include Facebook, Linkedln and MySpace and they are applications used frequently by organizations for business purposes. According to Marr, Jue and Kassotakis (2009, 35), almost 63 of companies today use outward-facing social media when building brands with potential consumers.
However, according to Weber (2009, 211), even though Facebook is used by many young people, it cannot be taken as one site where people go to purchase a companys products but they mostly go there to chat with their teens. It cannot be seen as a vibrant search engine about brandproduct information. But still, even though it may not work like other social network sites it is still social. A good example is Victorias Secret Pink where thousands got involved in its Facebook page. Recently, it was reported to have almost 400,000 fans. The target was college teens and they could tell their friends about the products which included tee shirts, hoodies, sweat pants and jackets. Facebook has given these customers a chance to express themselves and play with the brand. Holtz, Havens and Johnson (2009, 189), explain that social networking sites like Bebo, MySpace and Facebook have enabled online interaction where community members may connect, share messages and photos. This is a marketing strategy used to create business connections and friendships. Moreover, Schawbel (2009, 56), shows that even professionals are now promoting companies and products using Facebook. Further, it is reported that almost 44 of employers use social networks such as Facebook to check profiles of potential employees. CIA is also a company that relies on Facebook to recruit employees in the National Clandestine Service. This shows the power of Facebook in advertising.

Marketing strategies vary in different countries
Basic marketing aspects of retail promotion, tour support, video, press and radio are used to market in different countries even though importance of each varies from one nation to the other. Many foreign countries have varied structure of the radio industry compared to the one in United States. MTV for example is popular in both Asia and Europe and has been approved successful in promotions but still it is beyond reach for many. Tour support is one of the most popular and important aspects for U.S. acts promoted in foreign countries. Music genre is different in various countries. These are vagaries that explain why marketing strategies have to be the way they are in different nations (Allen, Macy and Hutchinson 2006, 302).

Just like the issue of language, advertising in any market must be modified so that it gets to suit the target market. Attitudes in culture related to good manners, behavior and family life or even sexual equality vary in different cultures. There are legal restrictions that forbid comparative advertising and also have restrictions on broadcasting time. Media do vary in various cultures (Rugimbana and Nwankwo 2009, 159). A product life cycle position varies in different cultures and this is an implication that product decisions and marketing mix have to be adapted accordingly. Moreover, the level of literacy in some cultures may call for the relaying of some promotional information in graphs. This means that undifferentiated marketing strategies do exists in different countries just like what fast food chain MacDonalds does. There are however some closer inspections that indicate that there are differences in the product mix of this company in various overseas regions (Lancaster and Reynolds 2002, 230).

Jagpal and Jagpal (2008, 533) explain that every companys marketing policies must vary across cultures due to international differences like cost structures, competition, distribution channels and consumer preferences. Companies use varied pricing strategies across different nations. For example, before launching their business operations in China, most mobile phone firms like Nokia relied on price-skimming strategy in Europe and could maximize profits in the long-run. These strategies were such successful as there was no threat from copycat products. In addition, these companies could use monopoly pricing as their intellectual property had proper protection. But when they tried to employ the price-skimming strategy in China, this was not successful as necessary conditions couldnt hold, that is, there was inadequate intellectual property protection and copycat products flooded this market rapidly. 

Optimal product placement in retail stores varies in different nations. For example, the UK do-it-yourself chain, BQ displays switches, cables, sockets and conduits in its UK outlets not by brand but by end use. But when the same merchandising strategy is applied by BQ in China, results are very low volumes in sales (Jagpal and Jagpal 2008, 534). The main problem was that Chinese product buyers are not consumers but tradesmen. This shows in China, this is a country where advertising of products especially electrical ones cannot be categorized by function.

According to McDonald and Harris (2009, 81), across European countries, promotion policies are influenced by legal conditions and thus promotion and advertising activities vary. For example, there is variation in terms of what is permitted to be stated on product quality and social mores. These cultural differences call for different promotion types. There are technical factors like differences in demographic and geographical coverage of television, connection to internet, telephone ownership and newspapers and thus there is influence on adoption of promotion package. McDonald and Harris (2009, 82) conclude that the use of 4Ps in European marketing shows that strategic decisions on entry mode and standardization versus segmentation have very important influence in marketing. On the other hand, differences in technical, legal, cultural and economic conditions have influence on selection of options for place, pricing, product and promotion (Doole and Lowe 2009, 121). Where brand expression differs between the host and the home country, marketing mix is expected to differ too. But price component is the one that is most likely to differ between the products home and the host country (Gelder 2009, 169).

According to Kotabe and Helsen (2009, 465), internet rapid growth has a growing effect on international marketing. Internet marketing strategies have both moderating effects and direct effect on impact of marketing mix decisions. In countries where internet has spread, Web has allowed for more transparency in pricing and still permits differentiation opportunities across cultures. Most developing countries are ahead of others in the use of email and internet and thus the differences in their strategies in marketing using the different technologies.

The tendency has been development of marketing strategies for an individual country. This is the polycentric approach with the assumption that every country is different and thus must have a unique marketing strategy. However, there are firms that develop strategies that are common in different countries but with exception in regard to currency domination and language. Companies like Dow and DuPont (U.S.), Asahi (Japan), Rhone-Poulenc (France) and BASF and Hoechst (Germany) compete with standardized products globally and these are sold at low prices. But such strategies are less than global and most of them are developed for major economic regions like Asia, Europe and the United States (Jenster, Hayes and Smith 2009, 132).

Conclusion
Conclusively, marketers irrespective of whatever technology they use, they must consider the differences between markets. Choice between adaptation and standardization across countries must consider differences and similarities in consumer behavior and attitudes in a given market. Using the international market approach in standardization calls for identification of consumer segments with no differences across cultures on their tastes and preferences in a specific product. This may allow for standardized marketing program in different countries and cultures. When using standardization however, a marketer must be very cautious in drawing conclusions on similarities between markets since too much of standardization may give your competitors room to meet the local needs in a better way (Dacko 2009, 496).