Briefing paper on rural housing free essay sample

Britain has experienced a series of affordable housing crisis in the early 1980s and early 1990s (Bramley, 1994). As Andrew Stonell (2010) stated â€Å"Localism works-all over the country there are villages very keen to have low-cost housing for local people and they are prevented by the planning system from having it.† This briefing paper refutes Stonell’s claim and is written to the North Eastern Farming and Rural Advisory Network, which is one of new Rural and Farming Networks. The purpose of this paper is indicating the scale and causes of the rural housing crisis, and demonstrating how the planning system enable the process of affordable rural housing, then some recommendations on solve the delivery problems in rural areas. Background According to Milbourne (2006), rural housing associates complex economic with socio-cultural processes in countryside areas. Housing in Britain is distributed through the market mechanism, the Labour Administration launched â€Å"communities plan† in 2003, focusing on ‘stable housing markets’ to create encompassing, vibrant and sustainable communities (Gallent et al . We will write a custom essay sample on Briefing paper on rural housing or any similar topic specifically for you Do Not WasteYour Time HIRE WRITER Only 13.90 / page , 2008). However, the housing price has been increasing over the years, the stock growing 185,000 per annum. Planning Policy Statement 3 (DCLG, 2006) provide information about the scale of housing crisis. Few areas had high house cost in the early decade, such as London and the South East, but currently there are lots of areas are facing high housing price problem. First time buyers find it quite difficult to buy a house in the market, and this circumstance occurs in most rural areas and smaller settlements. Moreover, the Countryside Agency (2003) reported that almost half of the rural people would have to undertake over 50% of their income in order to afford a home with a mean cost in their district. An estimation has been made by Countryside Agency, in the prospective 10 years period, a demand of 1000 new units of rural affordable housing are need (Countryside Agency, 2003). The  particular causes of rural housing crisis mainly include the following issues: Changes in demography: from 1981 to 2000, rural districts increased by 11.65%, while urban areas had a growth of 4.2%. Unequal income distribution among rural people.  Lack of housing supply and tenure accompanying increasing housing need Financial deregulation.  Uneven and inadequate forms of access to rural housing .  A failure of land-use planning: policy priority on landscape preservation Urban people settle down in rural areas: improvements in transport have made it easier for urban people’s commuting and retirement to the countryside â€Å"Right to buy† has decreased the number of affordable rented housing for low-income people by local councils. During 1985 to 1990, 91.000 houses were sold in rural areas. Analysis of how the planning system affect affordable housing delivery In the past 10 years plenty of new policies and legislations have been implemented to concentrate on the role of local government, and the manipulation of planning system, focusing on housing quality and the delivery of affordable rural housing (Gallent et al., 2008). Affordability connects the price of housing with the cost that households afford to pay. Housing affordability refers to a ratio of average housing cost and mean income per month (Gallent et al., 2008). Low housing affordability is might caused by the priority of planning system, which works against the market demands. It tends to preserve rural landscape rather than deliver land for housing, but the planning system has been changing with the demands of rural people. It can be seen from figure 1, low affordable housing is a common phenomenon in urban and rural areas. During 2006 to 2007, the ratio of housing prices to income reaches to the peak. Since then, the housing affordability has become higher from 2008. Housing planning system played a positive role in delivering affordable rural housing (DEFRA, 2012). Figure Currently, Planning Policy Statement on June 2011 made plenty of improvements to provide affordable housing. Instead of â€Å"Right to buy† regulation,  affordable rented housing will be provided to tenants with a maximum of 80% of the total market rent, and available on both fixed term and regular lease (PPS3, 2011). Affordable rent houses will be let by registered providers and the increase of low cost rent houses would provide decent homes to low-income residents and rural people from other villages. To meet the demand of sustainable development in rural areas, PPS7 required government should follow the planning objectives and regulations set out in PPG3, and the purpose is to provide rural people a decent home. It also indicated that housing requirements and assessment of local affordable housing need should be recognized by local planning authorities. Make sufficient land available and strictly control new house building will promote the construction of low cost houses and make good use of the land. Milbourne (2008) also highlighted that tracing the cooperation with new partnership will lead a wider series of agencies to afford suitable housing in the countryside. PPS3 (2006) indicated that local authorities are not supposed to formulate affordable housing providers in planning conditions and obligations, a discussion will be needed on how to provide affordable housing and long term arrangement. This planning system will control the housing prices and conditions, in order to prevent the malpractice in housing delivery. Case studies In this section, various case studies are used to demonstrate how planning system enable delivery process. In order to underpin the delivery of Community Led Affordable Housing, some criteria were set out in the Local Development Framework, supported by local communities. One piece of criteria is good design, affordable rural housing must be designed to fit local context (Taylor, 2008). Village design statements implemented by the local community are adopted by local councils as Supplementary Planning Guidance to fit into the local landscape. One exemplify of good design enabling housing delivery is Kettlewell. In 2000, four affordable houses were built in Kettlewell, a sensitive site in the Yorkshire Dales National Park. They were constructed by special materials using a mixture of traditional and modern techniques. The match to landscape and appropriate prices attracted local residents. Home Housing Group owns these five affordable houses. The whole cost were about  £380,000 and local Kettle residents have priority of  these homes (Countryside Agency, 2003). The local government in Lake District has realized, the affordable housing shortage is a national problem, and the demand of housing is much more serious in the Lake District National Park. To find out the needs of local residents and viable land to develop, a survey called Windermere Housing Needs were conducted on parishes. And consulting work to housing control staffs were carried out. In accordance with PPS3 (2011), local government formulated strict Core Strategy and Supplementary Planning Document (SPD) on Housing Provision. According to the amended version of SPD on Housing Provision (2011), local government aims to facilitate 900 housing delivery from 2010 to 2025. Furthermore, the Lake District will only allow new houses that commit them to meet the identified local demand or community affordability. The priority is to promote the local affordable housing delivery and Policy CS18 clarifies how to give this priority through the National Park. Conclusion and recommendations Overall, the housing crisis is a national issue, especially severe in rural areas. Demographic changes, lack of housing supply, policy priority, and other significant factors would lead to rural housing problem. Despite there are some defects exist in the affordable housing delivery process, the housing planning system enable the affordable housing provision. Local Development Frameworks including PPS3 and PPS7 formulate efficient planning policy on providing affordable housing, such as rented houses, making sufficient land available and controlling the power of local authorities. Some examples on Kettlewell and Lake District were used to demonstrate how planning policies encourage the affordable housing delivery process. To enable more affordable housing in rural areas, some suggestions will be discussed. Firstly, landowners should takes the lead on affordable housing scheme, the property size and prices should follow the policy provision, and the housing market should be controlled by local government. Secondly, local authorities should cooperate with other landowners, providing more lands for housing. The ownership of land can be shared and a joint-stock system can be built, thus the shortage of housing supply will be solved without losing landowners’ benefit. Thirdly, empty property such as living places above shops can be converted to provide housing for local people. The government  should concentrate on the landuse and avoid emerging brownfield. If more low cost housing was provided, the affordable housing crisis will be relieved and rural residents could own decent homes.

Childbirth, Childhood and Adolescence in the Middle Ages

Childbirth, Childhood and Adolescence in the Middle Ages What do you really know about medieval children? Perhaps no other period of history has more misconceptions associated with it than the Middle Ages. The history of childhood is also full of misconceptions. Recent scholarship has illuminated the lives of medieval children as never before, dispelling many of these misconceptions and replacing them with verifiable facts about life for the medieval child. In this multi-part feature, we explore various facets of medieval childhood, from childbirth through the teen years. Well see that, though the world they lived in was very different, medieval children were in some ways very like the children of today. Introduction to Medieval Childhood In this article, we dissect the concept of childhood in the middle ages and how that influenced the importance of children in medieval society.   Medieval Childbirth and Baptism Discover what childbirth was like in the middle ages for women of all stations and classes and the importance of religious ceremonies like baptism in the Christian world. Surviving Infancy in the Middle Ages The death rate and average lifespan in the middle ages were drastically different from what we see today. Discover what like was like for an infant as well as the realities of child mortality rate and infanticide. The Playful Years of Childhood in the Middle Ages A common misconception about medieval children is that they were treated like adults and expected to behave like adults. Children were expected to do their share of household chores, but play was also a prominent part of medieval childhood.   The Learning Years of Medieval Childhood The teenage years were the time to concentrate more intensely on learning in preparation for adulthood. While not all adolescents had schooling options, in some ways education was the archetypal experience of adolescence. Work and Adolescence in the Middle Ages While medieval teens might have been preparing for adulthood, their lives may have been full of both work and play. Discover the typical life of a teen in the middle ages.

Film Analysis Paper Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words

Film Analysis Paper - Movie Review Example Some of the key characters of the film are Maximus the gladiator or warrior, portrayed by Russell Crowe. Commodus the young Roman Emperor is well played by Joaquin Phoenix. Apart from them, Connie Nielson did the role of Lucilla a capable daughter of the Emperor. And Oliver Reed and Richard Harris are the other significant actors in the film. The film Gladiator is interconnected with the Roman power and ruling strategies and the life style of the people placed and different categories. Marcus Aurelius who an aged emperor of Rome decides to entrust the power of his kingdom to Maximus who is an efficient and respected General of Rome. But Commodus kills his father Marcus with a suffocating hug and further wants to execute Maximus. Whereas, Commodus fails to kill Maximus who flees from the land while latter’s wife and child are mercilessly killed. While escaping Maximus is captured and taken into slavery where he is trained as gladiator and finally moves to Rome with the motive of defeating all even the emperor. In spite of difficulties and hurdles he accomplishes his dream and dies after becoming victorious. This adventures movie is the fruit and result of the Excellency acting too. The actors remarkably contributed, especially Maximus while portraying the character of general undertook many adventures fights. While on the other end, marvelous performance of Commodus playing a negative role also gained the attention of the viewers. Lucilla and Aurelius and the little kid too demonstrated their talent in making the film a unique in every sense. Movie is widely appreciated for its filming techniques. The remarkable areas of this technique go to the image or camera techniques and the sound effects. Shots from different angles and positions made the film eye catching such as close up, medium, long, parallel, high angle, ground and reverse shots. According to Barsam and Monahan, ‘editing juxtaposes individual shots, orders them into scenes, and

Carrefour Company Analysis Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 1

Carrefour Company Analysis - Assignment Example Cost leadership strategy focuses on the supply side of an enterprise and comprises of an integrated set of actions taken to produce goods or services with features that are acceptable to customers at the lowest possible cost in the market. Product differentiation alternatively creates a perception in customers’ minds that specific brands are unique and have superior qualities with respect to the image, reputation, reliability, designs, and quality compared to the similar other products in the market (Baroto et al., 2012). Niche markets are the narrow market segments having specific demands that are isolated due to geographic location or socio-economic factors. The principal risk factors in the retail industry are categorized as follows; 1) business environment: Political and social environment, Economic environment and market volatility, Environment, pressure and regulatory changes, Changes in the sector and the competitive Environment, Natural disasters and climate change, Terrorism and crime 2) strategy and governance: Strategy definition, adjustment and implementation, Compliance and fair practices, Corporate responsibility, Environment, Disputes/Litigation 3) operations: Relevance and performance of economic and business models, Operational and financial control of growth and expansion, Partnerships and franchising, Control of the supply chain, Product quality, compliance and safety, Safety of people and property, Human resource management, Continuity, integrity and confidentiality of information systems and Control and valuation of assets and 4) financial: Market risk, Liquidity risk, Interest-rate risk, Foreign-exchange risk, Equity risk, Quality of financial management, budgets and reporting and Credit risk. Specific business strategies have been articulated and designed to remain the long-term profitability of the company while successfully managing these risk factors.

The Process of Procurement of Materials in the Implementation of a Research Paper

The Process of Procurement of Materials in the Implementation of a Project - Research Paper Example Depending on the type of the project to be worked on, the process of procurement may be considered for direct goods, or indirect goods, or tangible or intangible items. For example, in relation to the production and manufacturing industries, the procurement process occurs for direct or indirect goods, direct goods referring to the materials required directly in the manufacturing process, while indirect goods might not have a direct need, yet have an indirect influence on the process as a whole. An example of a tangible item that might be needed for procurement is the software for a computer. In the cases of other services, the procurement is needed for designing a project, the manufacturing process, the installation techniques as well as the maintenance of the work done. Thus projects that are based on contracts generally involve the procurement strategies and techniques (Kovacs, 2004, pp.7-8). Project procurement is considered as an intricate and difficult process of making a purcha se of the necessary equipment for different needs in different industries. Thus suitable personnel are required for the achievement of this work. The management of the project involves setting up appropriate measures to distribute the roles and responsibilities of the staff in the different parts of the procurement process for a particular project. The items for procurements would vary with different industries. While the selection of the materials to be procured is considered, it is of utmost significance that the materials are essential and match with the requirements of the respective projects (Kovacs, 2004, pp.8-28).

Understanding The Term Of Agenda Setting Media Essay

Understanding The Term Of Agenda Setting Media Essay Maxwell McCombs and Donald Shaw first coined the term agenda-setting in their article The Agenda Setting Function of the Mass Media (McCombs and Shaw, 1972). However the McCombs credits Walter Lippmann as the intellectual father of agenda setting (McCombs, 2004: 3). Walter Lippmanns thesis Public Opinion  [1]  described the concept of a pseudo- environment; an imagined reality of the world constructed from the media we consume. Lippmann suggested that man lives in a fictitious world, hence whatever we believe to be true picture, we treat as if it were the environment itself (Lippmann, 2007: 7-10). Walter Lippmann speculation that the Mass Media played an important role in the publics understanding of the world they inhabited. The influence that he implied suggested the mass media agenda played an important role in influencing/shaping the public opinion or public agenda. Hansen writing 88 years later reaffirmed this relationship theorised by Lippmann, suggesting the media play a role in educating the public: While the roles of formal education in acquainting us with the public word and image vocabulary of the environment should not be overlooked, much, maybe most, of what we learn and know about the environment we know from the media. Hansen utilises the Habermasian concept of a public sphere, suggesting that the mass media provide a public arena for national and transnational debate of environmental issues: Since the emergence and rise of the modern environmental movement in the 1960s, the mass media have been a central public arena for publicising environmental issues and for contesting claims, arguments and opinions about our use and/or protection of the environment. (Hansen, 2010:6) The issues discussed within this public arena, can be described as the media agenda. However as much as the mass media provides a forum for discussion, it is not all inclusive. Environmental issues have to compete against each other for widespread coverage. As the environmental agenda, isnt always at the forefront of the public agenda, often multiple environmental issues are fighting for limited coverage from the press: While many issues compete for public attention, only a few are successful in doing so, and news media exert significant influence on our perceptions of what are the most important issues of the day. (McCombs, 2004:2) McCombs, Lippmann and Hansen all suggest that the media dictate to some level, what are the most important issues of the day. The conundrum becomes; how do the cultural gatekeepers decide which issue is the most important on the media agenda, and thus deserves media coverage? What influences the Media on environmental issues? To understand these questions it is necessary to address the fundamental obstacle for environmental issues to overcome to become newsworthy. Visual media utilises imagery as a source of legitimacy. However as environmental problems develop over a long period of time they often appear invisible: a large proportion of the processes associated with the most difficult environmental problems tend to be inaccessible to the senses, invisible until they materialise as symptoms (Adam, 1998:12; Hansen, 2000: 56). Hence although some environmental issues may be more serious in the long-term, they are not always deemed newsworthy as they have no iconography attached to their cause. Pressure groups utilize the issue of invisibility by creating spectacles and press stunts in order to make the invisible issues visible. Greenpeace in particular are hugely successful at utilizing iconography  [2]  . Iconic images of icebergs, crashing into the sea or Fathers for Justice scaling the Houses of Parliament can define an issue, and penetrate public consciousness, much easier than text based media. However Hansen argues that the effects of visual spectacles are short term; they only allow the issue to gain visibility as a trigger to create wider media interest for the issue: The newsworthiness of environmental pressure groups would soon wear off it had to rely solely on their creation of spectacular protest performances[they] are of course eminently newsworthy and visually striking, but they are not sufficient for remaining on the media agenda or for maintaining media visibility in the long term. (Hansen, 2010: 53) Hansen argues that successful pressure groups are able to maintain visibility of the issue in the media by targeting issues that are already being discussed in the forums which the media regularly report on (i.e. Political forums, e.g. Parliament) (Hansen, 2010:53). This would suggest that the media agenda is directly and indirectly influenced by policy agenda, suggesting a symbiotic relationship as the media influence the public agenda, which in turn influences the policy agenda by terms of voting. James Dearing and Everett Rogers (Dearing and Rogers: 1996, Rogers and Dearing: 1988) visualised this concept [see figure 1] suggesting that all three agendas are interlinked: exposure through the mass media allows a social problem to be transformed into a public issue (Dearing and Rogers, 1996:4). When something becomes a public issue it is propelled into policy agenda through the government; who represent the majoritys best interests. However the mass media commentate on the policy agenda so pressure groups are able to exploit this cycle, by elevating topics they deem to be of most importance higher on the media agenda and in turn policy agenda via public pressure: The agenda-setting process is an ongoing competition among the proponents of a set of issues to gain the attention of media professionals, the public, and policy elites (Dearing and Rogers, 1996:6). Figure However the relationship between the three agendas is not without its flaws; For environmental issues to be addressed by the press, they must propel themselves as the most important issue on the agenda to the media. However this does not correspond to levels of importance or seriousness to the public: The relative prominence of a social issue is not in any way a simple reflection of levels of public concern; it is heavily influenced by the activities of issue sponsors such as politicians, or successful interest or pressure groups (Anderson, 1997:30). The notion that issues that appear in the media agenda are not necessarily the most important suggests other actors play a role in setting the agenda. So whilst we rely on the news to dictate what picture of the world we consume, the news agenda can be influenced by amongst other factors, celebrity endorsements. Dan Brockington (2008) suggests industrial society has only a fleeting interest in the environment: their rare glimpse of the environment is often through highly romanticized representations of the environment rather than their own experiences. Hence celebrity endorsements of environmentalism help to replace the lack of experience in society: celebrity support for conservation fulfils a modern social need. The alienation from nature that characterizes capitalist urban living drives the demand for celebrity involvement in conservation (Brockington, 2008:558). Criticisms of the agenda setting model Agenda setting theory is based on long term effects. In order for an issue to become central in terms of public opinion, McCombs argued that the frequency or prominence of a given issue in the mass media, placed significant influence on how important the issues was perceived by the public: Those issues emphasized in the news come to be regarded over time as important by the public (McCombs, 2004:4-5). However McCombs analysis of the prominence of a given issue doesnt take into consideration how the issue is framed within the mass media: Social movements have increasingly focused on the media since it plays such an influential role in assigning importance to issues facing the public. But gaining attention alone is not what a social movement wants; the real battle is over whose interpretation, whose framing of reality, gets the floor. (Ryan, 1991:53) Issues are at the mercy of the press, when they are pushed into the media forum. Different papers frame the issues within their ideological constraints. What becomes essential for claimsmakers and pressure groups, is the ability to manipulate the mass media, so the issue at hand remains at the focus within the different ideological representations. The quantitative approach also only looks how many times an article was published, not how many times the article was read. Obviously circulation figures are a rough guide that an article is being read by a high percentage of that readership. However this is no guarantee that the article is digested. This becomes a bigger problem when considering new mediums such as the internet, is that the quantity of articles on environmental issues is so vast that it would be inconceivable to assume that prominence related to prevalence to the public. Robert Burnett and P. David Marshall suggested that the problem readers have is filtering the vast amounts of information they have access to, to find the right news stories (Burnett and Marshall, 2003: 153). Since then digital news has grown significantly in popularity; the problem thus becomes how can the media influence public opinion when the public have become their own filters, so can solely digest stories based on their interests rather than only being able to choose from a limited set of stories in a newspaper based on an editors choices. Another criticism of the quantitative analysis model favoured by McCombs is that it doesnt take into consideration how something gets adopted by the media. Anderson argued that agenda-setting theorists such as McCombs do not look at the initial triggers that cause issues to be included into the media agenda: Agenda-setting studies have tended to ignore the whole process through which social issues are taken up by the media (Anderson, 1997:25). Within Dearing and Rogers Model, the public are not deemed to be pivotal for the agenda setting process. However when considering the trigger that propels an issue into the media and policy forums (specifically on environmental issues) it can sometimes be attributed to a small group of public individuals who insight direct action, to spark wider interest. Brian Doherty et al. describe direct action as: Protest action where protesters engage in forms of action designed not only or necessarily to change government policy or to shift the climate of public opinion through the media, but to change environmental actions around them directly. (Doherty, Paterson and Seel, 2000:1) The term public is contestable itself; how do differentiate between ordinary members of environmental non-governmental organisations and members of a concerned community? Within different contexts we can all be described as the public. Protesters can be seen as belonging to the public, so the direct action that often provides the trigger for the uptake of issues into the media agenda could be described as coming from a small proportion of the public. The key component of agenda setting research should then be considered minority influence. The minority groups or opinion leaders disseminate their concerns on certain issues by influencing others by empowering their causes by form of protests, publicity stunts and media performances. Environmental Agenda Setting Looking specifically at the Kingsnorth Six case study and applying the Agenda Setting theory to it, we can expose the complexities involved in the agenda setting process and how they may or may not be relevant when looking at it through the perspective of a non-governmental organisation, deciphering whether they are successful in utilising the media to fulfil their aims. The Kingsnorth Six direct action protest involved the David Pepper claims that environmentalism is less a coherent movement and more of a turn in late-twentieth-century thought arguing that in its simplest definition an environmentalist; is one who is concerned with the environment. Thus the majority of the West can be described as environmentalists (Pepper, 2000:445-6). Whilst openly sharing oppositional views is widely acknowledged as a social taboo, the amount of active environmentalists are less popular. Hence by gathering attention to the Kingsnorth case, Greenpeace could turn a minority cause and propel it to the masses, thus gaining the issue serious political significance by bringing it to the environmental sympathisers domain; as nobody wants to be seen as actively damaging the environment, for fear of commercial and political repercussions from the sympathizing majority. Hutchins and Lester argue that journalists have an environmentalist bias as it is in their readers interest: Journalists acknowledge the saliency of environmental issues to readers and audiences because of the threats posed to natural environments and peoples wellbeing by degradation and the unchecked activities of capital. (Hutchins and Lester, 2006:434) Environmental issues have been of particular relevance since global warming was posed as a theory, ever since it has been at the forefront of media and science agenda, seeing with it the rise in popularity of political parties such as the Green Party in the United Kingdom yet also a rise in green policies. Environmental concerns transcend all classes so are useful for the media in targeting large concerned audiences. This scaremongering tactic validates the work of pressure groups and non-governmental organisations and disguises the profit motives of the media reporting it. However Hutchins and Lester ignore two key oppositional concepts: the influence of corporations as advertisers and journalistic objectivity. The first point can be dismissed as only one corporation is being targeted the money lost from attacking E.ON can be easily filled by other businesses from other sectors. The second point journalistic objectivity, allows a platform for debate, whereby environmental sceptics are allowed an equal platform to discuss their opinions. This creates a dilemma similar to the religion versus science debate; influential sceptics are allowed to pollute the influence of pressure groups with little grounding in scientific fact or common sense. The media is more than a site for environmental action; it plays a significant role in shaping debate and influencing outcomes. It is here that representations are determined, images softened or distorted, and power granted or denied. (Hutchins and Lester, 2006: 438) Hutchins and Lester bring up a fundamental point of the nature of the media in influencing outcomes of protests. Whereas the media validated Greenpeaces protests, specifically broadsheets such as The Guardian, projecting the Kingsnorth Six onto hero status; even premiering the Nick Broomfields short documentary A Time Comes: The Story of the Kingsnorth Six (Broomfield, 2009). This presented the Kingsnorth Six as ordinary members of the public with no activist history, whom simply wanted to right a wrong. Dieter Rucht describes how in some rare instances the mass media can potentially be considered an ally for the social movements such as The Guardian in this case. However he warns that social movements would be wrong to rely on this as the mass media carry their own agenda different from the aims of the social movement (Rucht, 2004: 55). The protest/publicity stunt clearly intended to insight media interest. Nick Broomfields short documentary (Broomfield, 2009) highlights the directness of Greenpeaces tactics to achieve press coverage. The activists assumptions of the media reaction were highlighted by a quote from Ben Stewart one of the Kingsnorth Six: because my parents live near there (Kingsnorth Power Station), I gave them a ring and said you might see on the news that I am on top of this power station (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). This arrogance becomes justified when noting the previous newsworthiness of Greenpeace protests in gaining media attention (Carroll and Hackett, 2006:87). Stewart then goes on to state Greenpeaces exact intentions, emphasizing the performance aspect of the protest by having what is implied as press conferences on top of the chimney: I got up and did the interviews with the media and tried to justify it (the protest) to the public when we were up there, and of cause this thing is always a bit controversial (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). Then implying that it would disseminate the issue into public discourse/forums: you get lots of public ringing into the talk radio stations saying were nothing (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). The whole direct action performance comes across as merely being a platform to receive media coverage to then disseminate their issue into the agenda. However Greenpeaces performance tactics resonate well with the medias agenda as they provide the media with pre-packaged news stories: Greenpeace has always been inherently fascinating and newsworthy as far as the media are concerned. It presented them with totally pre-packaged, simplistic but very powerful images of confrontation that were very new and exciting (Gallie cited in Anderson, 1997:35) The Kingsnorth Six protest certainly did this; providing photographs, videos and interviews to the various interested media. Allowing Greenpeace to remain in control of how their imagery was framed and represented. On an interview with ITV Meridian Tonight Stewart justified their actions by highlighting Greenpeaces agenda on E.ONs proposed plans: Gordon Brown wants to build a new one of those carbon dinosaurs and thats why were up here, were trying to stop that happening (Stewart in Broomfield, 2009). The telephone interview from the top of the tower to new stations emphasises the link between performance and agenda setting. Whereas the protest may give the guise of trying to shut down the Kingsnorth plant in order to stop the polluting power station, the primary objective of the press stunt prevails: securing communication with the media, thus allowing Greenpeace to dictate the news agenda. However their story only reached local level on television news coverage, receiving coverage from ITV Meridian Tonight and BBC South-East Today. Contrary to the regionalised coverage of the initial protest the subsequent trial received national attention on the respective channels. This would imply that the Kingsnorth Six protest functioned as a trigger to greater media coverage rather than gaining the substantial media coverage needed for an issue to become adopted into the national media and public agenda. It would be easy to assume that Greenpeace had expected more coverage than they received initially. However the issue was already in the political forum, with the Governmental body The Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform due to release a white paper on the carbon capture and storage regulations. This reflects Hansens sentiments (mentioned earlier), suggesting it is a deliberate tactic to target issues already in political forums (Hansen, 2010:53). Critiques of Greenpeace reaffirm Hansens observations. Chris Ross writing for Greenpeace highlighted some of myths surrounding the Brent Spar case study; that Greenpeace had the potential to act on issues that they themselves stood to gain positive framing, in other words easy battles: Greenpeace had given little though to the issue it was going to tackle, or its consequences. In short, the Brent Spar was a good photo opportunity for an organisation faced (in some countries) with a decline of its membership and visibility. (Ross, 1998:40) This could be said of the Kingsnorth Case, Greenpeace knew that the proposed plans were controversial within the economical and political climate, so had predicted an easy win which would create a good photo opportunity. This is not to say that Greenpeace was not interested in the issue beforehand, but simply chose a strategic target out of the many environmental criminals in the world. Greenpeace should not be solely attributed with pushing the Kingsnorth case into the media, public and policy agenda after all other non-governmental organisations were also active such as Climate Camp and Friends of the Earth. This poses the dilemma; did Greenpeace activate this protest network by projecting the struggle into the agenda? However it is evident from the polaric media representation of the protests that the Greenpeace protest yielded a greater media influence (than the Climate Camp protests) due to its previous validation within the media because of previous successes in gaining media attention (Carroll and Hackett, 2006:87). Whereas Climate Camp was undermined by their history of negative encounters with the police. The Kingsnorth Six Coverage/ Analysis On October 8th 2007 six Greenpeace representatives climbed the 200 metre high smokestack at the Kingsnorth power station in Medway, Kent, attempting to paint the words Gordon bin it on it. Whilst another 20 activists chained themselves to the stations conveyor belt, immobilising it from burning coal. The Kingsnorth Six as the media labelled them (see fig.2 ), successfully managed to draw significant media attention from October 2007 till September 2008 when the activists were acquitted of the charges of causing  £30,000 of criminal damage to the smokestack on the defence that they were acting to prevent climate change, a landmark case in legal history  [3]  . Figure : 5 members of the Kingsnorth 6 Greenpeace activists. Greenpeace aspired to highlight the plans of the government and the German energy corporation E.ONs proposed plans to build a new coal powered power station at Kingsnorth which was proposed to be operational by 2012; the first of its kind in Britain since 1986. Greenpeace claimed itself that the ensuing direct action led to the postponement of E.ONs plans. Much like the Brent Spar case in 1995, as Hansen described: Greenpeace succeeded in stiring up sufficient media, political and public interest (Hansen, 2000:57) to force E.ON to reconsider its position. The question is how much responsibility can Greenpeace claim? Did the subsequent media coverage really have the effect that Greenpeace claimed? Hansen (Hansen, 2010) repeatedly coins the term claims-maker in reference to pressure groups suggesting that groups such as Greenpeace take a conservative option in their choice of issues to propel into the spotlight. He suggests that claims-makers choose topics which are already involved in policy agenda or Legislator: Most of the issues on which successful pressure groups campaign and successfully gain media coverage are issues which already have an institutional forum rather than completely new issues which have not been problematised in some form or other before. (Hansen, 2010:53) This would suggest that Policy Agenda influences the pressure groups choice in agenda: as they are more likely to have success in influencing the three agenda setting processes if they are able to frame and elaborate existing issues that are already in the public domain (Hansen, 2010:54). Hansen suggests that Greenpeaces spectacular protest performances are great at creating a visual spectacle; however they are not sufficient at maintaining media visibility in the long term (Hansen, 2010:53). In other words apart from the newsworthiness of the Kingsnorth-Six stunt, the more important factor in agenda setting, was the subsequent trial that kept the Kingsnorth issue visible. Hansen suggests that it is not as simple as just setting the agenda as McCombs suggested, the quantity is not of coverage is irrelevant if the coverage is framed in the wrong way: While an environmental pressure group such as Greenpeace has the ability to secure media coverage for its claims its capacity to influence or control the way its claims are framed and inflected by individual newspapers is more questionable. (Hansen, 2000:71) Hansen looked at a selection of the three traditional types of newspapers from the British press: Daily Mail, Daily Telegraph and Daily Mirror and their respective Sunday editions (Hansen, 2000: 58). Analysing each newspapers output over the period following the Brent Spar protests to determine how the coverage was framed; looking specifically at the gulf between commanding attention for an issue and securing legitimacy (Hansen, 2000:56). He found that individual media exert ideological work upon their differential accessing of sources and their differential choice and promotion of particular lexical terms (e.g. Greenpeace as terrorists, a nuisance, undemocratic) (Hansen, 2010: 57). Hansen implied that Greenpeace media coverage was at the mercy and scrutiny of each outlets ideological allegiance. Although the initial protest is the most visible in terms of photos and iconic moments, in its initial aftermath the majority of press coverage was localised. A search of the Nexis newspaper database shows none of the national newspapers covered the protest in the week following the incident, with the majority of coverage remaing on local television broadcasts and regional newspapers. Between October 15th 2007 and September 10th 2008 there were 42 articles containing the keywords Kingsnorth and Greenpeace. Of these 19 were from The Guardian and The Observer and 10 were from The Independent (both of which could be described as having an environmental bias), hence only 13 were from other UK national newspapers. Applying McCombs quantitative methodology of agenda setting stating that the most prominent public issues are synonymous with the most important public issues (McCombs, 2004:5) One could conclude that Greenpeaces publicity stunt had failed to garner notable national coverage of the Kingsnorth plight compared to its previous successes of gaining the presss attention (e.g. Brent Spa). However out of the mediocre coverage 76% was from UK national newspapers with a history of environmental concern; echoing once again Ruchts notion that the media can potential act as an ally for social movements (Rucht, 2004:55). The Observer notably, exclusively broadcasted Nick Broomfields documentary, which utilised, among others David Gilmour on the soundtrack. Whereas there was a total of 21 national newspaper articles covering the Kingsnorth-Six trial verdict between the 11th and 15th of September 2008; suggesting the mainstream coverage was more interested in the verdict of the court on the Kingsnorth Six; as the result could set a precedent for future environmental policy agenda. Therefore in this case the Kingsnorth-Six stunt was more successful in becoming part of the media agenda in its aftermath. In Hansens Claims-Making in the Brent Star Controversy (2000) He suggests that the Telegraph utilised a negative overlexicalisation of descriptors to describe Greenpeaces actions (Hansen, 2000:62). Throughout the Kingsnorth coverage The Daily Mail, The Mirror and The Express conformed to this convention, often sensationalising the news with doom-mongering extrapolations. The Daily Mail framed the verdict of the case with a negative sensationalist set of descriptors, being highly critical of the ramifications that the case may have for the future of civil order. Whilst being highly critical of Greenpeaces actions the focus was shifted from the agenda of climate change, towards the unlawful nature by which the activists disseminated their message; framing the Greenpeace activists as potential threatening to the public: Green Light to Anarchy; Greenpeace Verdict will Encourage Lawbreakers, Warns Widdecombe (Sears, 2008:12). Hansen observed a similar instance/tactic in the Brent Spar case whilst analysing the framing of civil protest suggesting that The article served a functionlinking together and interpreting a series of vaguely related events or activities as symptoms of a deeper problem or social malaise (Hansen, 2000:61) Emily Highmore: What Greenpeace did was hugely irresponsible (Cited in Sears, 2008:12) So is it OK Now to Kill Gary Glitter? (Littlejohn, 2008:17). So next time some self righteous vegan in cycling shorts is caught smashing up a Range Rover in the name of the polar bears, dont be surprised when they try to use this not guilty verdict as their Get Out Of Jail Free card (Littlejohn, 2008:17). The Mirror NOT LAWFUL.. JUST AWFUL. (Routledge, 2008:29) This is judicial lunacy. It opens the way to all sorts of violence by flat-Earth nutters bent on halting the construction of vital new generating capacity. (Routledge, 2008:29) The Express Judge is an Ass for this Ruling. (Hamilton, 2008:31). The judges direction clearly encourages politically motivated acts of mayhem and is a threat to public order (Hamilton, 2008:31). In all of the above examples the verdict is framed as being giving anarchic powers to Green protesters, sensationalising the potential ramifications. The Greenpeace activists are seen as the Villains disturbing the peace and creating disharmony in the legal system. The Judge and Jury are thus portrayed as the Anti-Heroes being too easily swayed by the glamour of the environmental celebrities paraded by Greenpeace in defence. The Independent For the jury that acquitted the six activists may have done more to frustrate the Governments plans to build coal-fired powered stations than the pressure group has achieved in years. (Lean, 2008:54) The People are Ahead of the Game on Climate Change. (Lean, 2008:54) The Daily Telegraph severe embarrassment to the Government (Clover, 2008:33). So the Greens are Right About Coal (Clover, 2008:33). The Guardian Climb Every Chimney . . .: The Kingsnorth Six Admitted Causing  £30,000 Worth of Damage to a Coal-Fired Power Station Yet a Jury Still Refused to Find Them Guilty. The Verdict Has Left the Governments Energy Plans in the Balance, Says John Vidal, and Given a Huge Boost to Climate Change Protesters. (Vidal, 2008:4). The Maidstone verdict has changed all that and could prove a turning point both for the protest movement and industrial policy (Vidal, 2008:4). If I was E.ON or Owned an Airport, Id be Very, Very Worried: Activists from Other Groups Hail the Kingsnorth Victory. (Van Der Zee, 2008:7) Mel Evans a Climate Camp activist: When you take the arguments to a jury, then they respond in this way because they can see what the reality is. (cited in Van Der Zee, 2008:7) Goldsmith accused the government of a profound lack of imagination when it came to examining alternative energy solutions (Henley, 2008: 6) Beyond all Reasonable Doubt: How Four Witnesses Put the Government in the Dock. (Henley, 2008: 6) The above examples utilise the David versus Goliath analogy or as Vladimir Propp would suggest the Hero character type, suggesting that the case stood as a shift in the

The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeares Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework

The Manipulation of Perception in Othello This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall. When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend. Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona. Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true. The Manipulation of Perception in Shakespeare's Othello :: GCSE English Literature Coursework The Manipulation of Perception in Othello This paper contains 237 words of teacher’s comments. What one perceives is influenced by one’s environment. The setting and commentary surrounding events changes our perception of them. Any innocent gesture can be perceived in the wrong way with enough persuading from someone else. Even if someone has total faith in another person's innocence, they can be persuaded to doubt them through the twisting of events. Once just a small amount of doubt has been planted, it influences the way everything else is seen. This occurs throughout the play, Othello. In this play, Iago influences Othello's perception of events through speeches and lies, making him doubt Desdemona's fidelity. Iago uses his talent of manipulating events to exact his revenge on Othello. Iago's twisting of events in Othello's mind leads to the downfall of Othello as planned, but because he fails to twist Emilia's perception as well, he facilitates his own eventual downfall. When Iago first sets out to deceive Othello, he tells him, "look at your wife; observe her well with Cassio" (3.3.196). He knows that if he can plant enough doubt and jealousy in Othello's mind, Othello only needs to look at Desdemona being friendly with Cassio to suspect infidelity. After this, when Desdemona asks for Cassio's reinstatement, it looks as though she is trying to get something better for her lover, as opposed to just helping a friend. Iago talks about jealousy and deception in this same scene, but never gives any proof or direct descriptions of Desdemona's betrayal. Yet we know that Othello's perception has been sufficiently influenced to make him angry and sick by the end of this conversation. He tells Desdemona he has a headache, but he refuses any help from her. When she puts her handkerchief to his head, he pushes it away saying, "your napkin is too little" (3.3.285). This takes on more significance later on in the play when we find out that this handkerchief is the first token of love Othello ever gave to Desdemona. Also in this scene, we see how much Othello had trusted, loved, and believed in Desdemona. He says, "I do not think but Desdemona's honest" and "If she be false, O then heaven mocks itself! I'll not believe't"(3.3.223, 275-6). But he does suspect her, and it seems these statements are only there to convince himself that she really is true.