HIV/AIDS And Stigma | Essay

HIV/AIDS And Stigma | Essay HIV/AIDS is one of the challenges to human life and dignity. It affects all levels of society and has a massive impact on global economic and social development, (Rowden, 2009). Studies have been conducted on its impact on human life and how it could be controlled. This review was conducted by exploring literature from a variety of sources for published articles on HIV/AIDS and its stigma. Literature from research covering a period of 8 years from 2002-2010 was extracted from Assia, PubMed, Sage, British Medical Journal, Cochrane and Absco-host, and reviewed for the study, objectives, methodology and key findings. Relevant books, journals, documents and reports from organisations such as UNAIDS, and the World Bank were also reviewed. Both qualitative and quantitative data was used to present the information. Despite facing a lot of criticism on its top-down approach, the biomedical model remains the dominant concept in health and illness. Its credibility lies on its scientific methods and expert knowledge used to diagnose or understand illness and treatment. This model views the body as a machine composed of different parts working together for it to function. If one part is not functioning properly, the aim is to find what is wrong with it through diagnosis and fix it by prescribing medicine, (Taylor Hawley 2010:12). Focus is therefore restricted to the physical illness of an individuals body and the scientific understanding of disease, making the approach heavily based on pharmacology. While pharmacology is beneficial in the treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS, it is criticised for promoting the privilege of the biomedical model, further enhancing undermining of alternative approaches to health and healing. The biomedical approach may be inappropriate to some communities and create fe elings of helplessness and vulnerability therefore affecting the success of the intervention. (Global Health Watch, 2008, Farmer, 1999). Lay concepts of health and illness are diverse and complex than those of the medical model. They focus on peoples experiences of health and illness in relation to their overall life experiences and are embedded within local social and cultural structures. Unlike in the biomedical approach, indigenous approaches seek to heal the whole person by linking the illness with the persons social and economic background, (Taylor, 2003). However critics of this model argue that lay concepts are difficult to evidence and research hence they remain marginalised and scarcely recognised as legitimate knowledge, (Taylor Hawley, 2010:13). On the contrary, Taylor, (2003) argues that lay perspective is crucial knowledge for public health as it identifies roots of illnesses for possible long term prevention and treatment for the larger population as compare to individually focused interventions. Influence of power systems such as the dominance of the medical model hinder progress on preventions and treatment of diseases such as HIV/AIDS and stigma as they govern relationships between health structures and lay people. Goffman, (1990), and Parker and Aggleton, (2003),s theories of stigma in helping us to understand how stigma is constructed and its influence in peoples lives view stigma and discrimination as functional systems which maintain boundaries between those in power and those without. Through such power, social inequalities are developed leading to creation of social norms. These formulate stigma by governing interactions between people and reinforce power structures that serve to maintain control of the powerless, (Farmer, 2005). Both theories have been widely used in HIV related stigma to highlight how prejudice, negative attitudes, abuse and maltreatment directed towards PLWHA have hindered the progress of prevention and treatment. Research highlights that stigma and discrimination in health care settings deriving from social power imbalances contribute a great deal in keeping people away from accessing HIV/AIDS treatment and care. Patients felt greatly affected by health workers feeling uncomfortable with them and treating them in an inferior manner. In Tanzania, some discriminatory and stigmatised practices such as gossiping about patients HIVs status, neglect, verbal abuse, testing and disclosing HIVs status without consent were noted, (D.C Synergy, 2005). Similarly in India, health workers were disclosing patients HIV status to their families without patients consent, (Mahedra et, al, 2007). Harassment, avoiding and isolation of HIV-positive patients and testing without counselling are common features of stigmatisation in most studies. Some health workers wore protective clothing even if there was no physical contact during interactions. Fear of being identified as infected with HIV also influenced people t o prolong testing for HIV and only accessed services when their illness was at an advanced stage, (Bond and Aggleton, 2002; Kinsler et al, 2007; Varga et al 2006; Kalichman and Simbayi, 2003). In Zambia, HIV-positive health workers were hiding their HIV status from their colleagues in fear of being stigmatised, (Dieleman et al, 2007). While most of the literature on HIV/AIDS and access to health services is negative, there is evidence of the value of supportive and de-stigmatising HIV services in some parts of the globe. Brazil has been hailed as a model by PLWHA. They reported supportive inclusive structural systems that create healthy environments that promote active participation of different groups in society and the government, (Caltado, 2008). In South Africa where most people believe in traditional healing, Aids Activism has made a positive significance in HIV/AIDS prevention and treatment by translating and mediating the biomedical approach within local ideological frameworks which are easily understood and acted on by the locals, (Colvin, Robins, 2010). Literature reveals that collaboration between lay perspectives and biomedical approach is essential for successful control of HIV/AIDS and stigma. There is no cure for AIDS but Anti-retrovirals (ARVs) can prolong life by lowering levels of HIV in the body therefore delaying the process between HIV and AIDS, (Robin, 2009). Although ARVs are now readily available in most countries, numbers of newly infected people are rising. According to the World Bank, 60 million people are living with HIV/AIDS worldwide. Access to treatment has increased dramatically but for every 100 people on treatment, 250 become newly infected, (World Bank, 2010). As such, pressure is now rising on the effectiveness of only relying on the biomedical approach for treatment and care of HIV/AIDS. While lay perspectives are considered effective, this cannot be confirmed as true with HIV/AIDS care. In South Africa, despite people heavily relying on traditional healing approaches, HIV prevalence continued to rise. Significance towards effective control of the epidemic has been noted with the increase in accessibility of ARVs, (Colvin, 2009). In the UNAIDS Report On The Global AIDS Epidemic 2010, in 7 countries, five of them in Eastern Europe and Central Asia, HIV incidences increased by more than 25% between 2001 and 2009. Sub Saharan Africa, although still remaining the most highly affected by the epidemic, figures either stabilised or showed signs of decline owing to positive behaviour due to increased services that are embedded in local culture. The report affirms that stigma and discrimination, lack of access to services and bad laws can make the epidemic worse, (UNAIDS, 2010). Due to the challenges presented by HIV/AIDS to global public health, Baum. (2008:241) calls for collective participation of all sectors in the fight against this deadly disease. She asserts that community level mobilisation where there is partnership between lay people and structures is the effective way of combating HIV/AIDS and stigma. This is further supported by Farmer, (1999:90), who does not condone the dominance of the biomedical perspective in health and healing. He believes that lay people have a significant role in the process of health improvements and emphasises on the importance understanding lay peoples experiences as essential knowledge for successful interventions. He holds that health care services should be accessible to PLWHA without fear of being stigmatised. Educating health care professionals about the impact of stigma on patients and policies that encourage inclusion of PLWHA in decisions that affect their lives are some of the key factors of effectively tackli ng the epidemic. Parker and Aggleton, (2003) also claim collective participation between lay people and health structures as key to successful anti-stigma services. Relationships between health structures and PLWHA could also be improved by engaging lay people through advocacy. The Greater Involvement of PLWHA, (GIPA) principle emphasises the need for involvement of PLWHA at all levels in combating HIV/AIDS because they understand their situation better. Therefore their voices could be heard well if their needs were presented by people in the same situation, (UNAIDS, 2007). In the Zambia study, professionals living with HIV/AIDS are in a better position to advocate for people accessing services. Baum, (2008:550) affirms that advocacy involving public health practitioners is an effective way of influencing structural barriers in public health. Literature has highlighted the contested nature of concepts of health and healing underpinning access to services providing treatment and prevention of HIV/AIDS and its stigma. The biomedical approach conceptualises health and illness through science and expertise with focus on the individual. Lay concepts view health and healing as embedded within local social and cultural structures and therefore seek to address public health for a wider population. Literature suggests that neither approach in isolation is effective in prevention and care for HIV/AIDS. Arguments have centred on the importance of collaboration of the models. Therefore there is need for intervention programmes to develop holistic approaches that are underpinned by the two models but it is also important to understanding each of the concepts in its own right.

Fake News and Online Regulations

Fake News and Online Regulations The dissemination of fake news by online is a threat to democracy. Should online platforms therefore be subject to regulatory control? Professional journalism plays an important role in our democratic societies by acting as a public watchdog over the concentrations of power, ensuring the accountability of these institutions, and informing us of important occurrences.[1] However, fabrication, fakery and falsehood have been a part of journalism since the first journalists put quill to parchment.[2] Therefore, statutory laws and regulatory bodies aim to ensure journalism is impartial and accurate. However, journalism today is experiencing fundamental transformation due to technological advancements; consequently, the public now acquires news through digital platforms as well as traditional sources. A 2016 survey found that 35% of people in the UK now use social media to access the news, for those under 35 years old, 41% used Facebook and 20% used Twitter as a weekly source.[3] Online platforms have created more news sources to larger audiences, but this has also opened floodgates of inaccurate information pouring into our news feeds by deskilled journalists. The phenomena of citizen journalism and ‘we media’ have accelerated the pattern of random and instantaneous digital dissemination of information.[4] These activities have contributed to blurring the lines between truth and falsehood, and created fake news, which puts professional journalism under pressure. On 30th January 2017, The Culture, Media and Sport Committee launched an inquiry into fake news and called for submissions to be made suggesting ways to respond to the phenomenon of fake news. Various regulatory bodies, and institutions including the LSE Media policy project have shed some light on this topic.[5] Fake news can be best understood as ‘the misinformation (the inadvertent sharing of false information) and disinformation (the deliberate creation and sharing of information known to be false)’.[6] These types of content are being created as a result of: poor journalism, parody, provocation, passion, partisanship, profit, political influence and propaganda.[7] They are published on news sites and listed by digital intermediaries (groups consisting of news aggregators, social networks, search engines, and digital application stores) [8] causing fake news to spread across the globe. The concerning issue is the channels through which most people gain their news from are currently subject to no statutory laws, editorial guidelines nor regulation by organizations such as the Independent Press Standards Organisation (IPSO). However, there is a wealth of evidence supporting the scale, dissemination and effects of fake news. The debate has gained significant prominence since the 2016 US presidential elections. Statutory regulation of digital intermediaries A YouGov survey commissioned by Channel 4 found that only 4% of people were able to correctly identify fake news.[9] This inability is concerning as many people, especially the young, acquire knowledge, and form opinions, by what they see and read on the internet. Statutory regulation would therefore be the most direct response to the challenge of fake news;[10] under this approach digital intermediaries would be treated as publishers even if they have not played an active part in the commissioning or presentation of such content.[11] Such an approach may be necessary as a study analysing how social media can improve citizens’ knowledge of political preferences proved that there is a remarkable ability for social media to forecast election results.[12] This proved to be the case during the EU referendum, where 7% of those that voted for Brexit regretted their choice later. [13] News reporters found voters claiming they voted leave because they believed lies or false promises[14]; it is most likely that the sources of these false statements were from unregulated online platforms. Therefore, enforcing legislation on digital intermediaries would hold these platforms directly accountable, ensuring they take their civic duty seriously.[15] Fake news is also a concern on Twitter where ‘Twitter bombs’ (the act of sending unsolicited replies to specific users via Twitter in order to get them to pay attention to ones cause), are being launched within days of the elections.[16] Despite Twitter’s attempts to shut them down it has been ineffective as these users create fake accounts, fake replies and fake grassroots movements.[17] These tweets target deskilled-journalists online, pressurising some to moderate their views. Democracy is threatened if people’s views are influenced by false statements in the guise of news. Aside from political motivations, the spreading of fake news was also noted by users retweeting fake images of the Hurricane Sandy disaster[18], and pictures of the of Osama Bin Laden’s dead body.[19] Such action usually goes unnoticed unless someone has detected and reported the issue. This response is different for newspapers because they are subject to the IPSO, or a similar body. Journalists employed by regulated publishers are required to uphold the values enforced in the Editors’ code of practice. This aims to ensure accuracy of information and a standard of professional journalism is maintained[20] . However, digital intermediaries are not held accountable by any body, like the IPSO, even though they have a large audience that is affected by fabricated stories. Therefore, it is crucial that these organisations take some responsibility in resolving this issue.[21] Without implementing any strict regulatory initiatives such incidences would occur daily and remain unquestioned, leaving users to believe false information. Statutory regulation would therefore fill the gap in the law, bringing clarity and holding digital intermediaries responsible for their part in disseminating fake news. There is no doubt that intermediaries play a dominant role in the global public sphere, but perhaps we need to address the question of whether we should continue to consider them as mere intermediaries.[22] Unlike news providers, intermediaries have no investment in journalism and are therefore more likely to filter out news. This limits users’ understanding of the world, as they are insulated from opposing views. The risk is that these ‘filter bubbles’ (restrictions of a users perspective) will promote misperceptions by hiding the truth,[23]   which supports the economic models of intermediaries because digital programmatic advertising follows users through their ‘clicks’, ‘shares’ and ‘likes’.[24] By learning from the past actions of a user, news feeds will only show similar material in their next use. Requiring digital intermediaries to change their approach by bursting this ‘filter bubble’ would not be in their commercial interests, as the bubble’s content is what keeps users engaged. Statutory regulation would therefore enforce strict rules on how intermediaries should enforce mechanisms to detect and filter fake news instead of opposing views. Moreover, ensuring impartiality and accuracy is important especially during election time. ‘A BuzzFeed News analysis found that top fake election news stories generated more total engagement on Facebook than top election stories from 19 major news outlets combined’.[25] This imbalance illustrates the significant role digital intermediaries play in today’s society, and therefore it is particularly concerning if their news content is fake. If newspapers and broadcasting media organisations are obliged to follow strict guidelines on impartiality[26] and accuracy, then why should it be any different for online platforms?   For example, Section 319 of the Communications Act 2003 requires TV and radio broadcasters to comply with the standard objectives set by Ofcom. This includes, reporting ‘with due accuracy’ and not ‘misleading’;[27] furthermore, Parliament ‘requires Ofcom to develop rules with respect to broadcasters’ wider editorial coverage of elections’.[28] Similar regulations on intermediaries would ensure information is not personalized to a user’s preferences, thus maintaining impartiality and accuracy, whilst avoiding the risk of disseminating fake news to users. Statutory regulation of online news providers The dissemination of fake news by online news providers has proven to be a great concern as anonymous individuals are inventing fake news for the purpose of generating clicks and earning revenue.[29] Such behavior has been identified in Macedonia, where teenagers were found to be making money by creating fake news on US presidential candidates and promoting it via social media.[30] If statutory regulation is placed on digital intermediaries, then the same could be done for online news providers, as the same news from online news providers will be shared via digital intermediaries. This was proven to be the case as various US sites claimed to be exposing ‘Russian propaganda’,[31] was shared via other online platforms which influenced voter behavior in the US elections.[32] Examples such as as this suggest ‘misleading, biased propaganda’ is also part of the fake news phenomenon.[33] It is therefore important to set statutory regulations for both, as this type of de-skilled citizen journalism is a threat to democracy especially because people’s views are being influenced by biased and inaccurate information.[34] Furthermore, news outlets that only have an online presence, such as AOL news, Vice, and Huffington Post, are not subject to any regulatory controls as they are not members of regulatory bodies like IPSO;[35] even though they are subject to some statutory control such as defamation,[36] copyright[37] and data protection laws,[38] control is not the same as the additional regulatory standards most UK press (with a physical and online presence) comply to. Without belonging to any recognised regulator, publishers may have to pay exemplary damages under the Crime and Courts Act for defamation or other relevant claims;[39] therefore, it would be in the interests of online publishers to join a recognized regulatory body. Interestingly, Wikipedia recently banned Daily Mail as an unreliable source and excluded it as a source of reference. Wikipedia claimed the newspaper to have a ‘reputation for poor fact checking and sensationalism’.[40] These claimed characteristics are another concern for UK journalism, as IPSO regulates Daily Mail (Associated Newspapers Limited) [41] yet they are still being labelled as an unreliable source. This indicates the ineffectiveness of IPSO as it failed to ensure the credibility of a publisher they regulate. Such failures generate an inclination towards statutory regulation of online news providers as regulatory bodies are not enough, to ensure that newspapers report accurately and without exaggeration. Not only do such flaws lose the public’s trust in professional journalism’ but they also create a society that is vulnerable to fake news. There is also no evidence to suggest that the levels of   accuracy are rising or that the self-regulatory bodies set up by the major publishers, and IPSO, are having any identifiable positive effect.[42] Hence, it may be necessary to set up statutory regulations of online news providers which will create a more direct and stringent approach to tackling fake news. The Leveson Report[43] suggested that such statutory regulation would be necessary to underpin the process of recognition, and reinforce the importance of statutes guaranteeing press freedom.[44] However, three years on from the publication of the Leveson Report, the landscape of press regulation is still fragmented and confused,[45] and it may therefore be necessary to re-consider these suggestions. The implementation of statutory regulation, combined with independent regulatory bodies, should be extended to intermediaries and online news providers. Such a framework is an essential stepping stone towards a regulatory regime that is entirely fit for purpose in this new era. The negative issues with this initiative would include costs, and whether a consensus by major publishers and online platforms can be formed. Self-regulation by digital intermediaries An alternative to statutory regulations would be to enforce a self-regulatory system for digital intermediaries which would allow them to have significant control in filtering fake news according to methods they believe are most effective. Mark Zuckerberg, although first dismissing the idea that fake news influenced the US election, later acknowledged the role of social media in helping promote fake news, and proposed ways in which Facebook could help resolve this issue.[46] Actions include taking an approach that ‘will focus less on banning misinformation, and more on surfacing additional perspectives and information, including that fact checkers dispute an items accuracy’.[47] Other ways Facebook could reduce fake news without resorting to  censorship include; nudging, crowdsourcing and reducing the algorithmic bias.[48] Nudging involves monitoring what users are writing in a new post; if the content includes words they may regret posting, it notifies them. Crowdsourcing allows users to evaluate news sources by indicating ratings. Lastly, the most important solution is to reduce the algorithmic bias. This involves trying to diminish filter bubbles that create an â€Å"echo chamber†, where similar ideas bounce around endlessly which is a problem when the echo chamber blocks out corrective or fact-checking information.[49] Although, some digital intermediaries have already taken steps to tackle the issue of fake news, it would be ineffective to give them sole responsibility. More useful would be to establish a governance mechanism, such as an independent board, that could check whether the algorithms accord with acceptable principles.[50] This view is supported by the Trust Project, which suggests that algorithms alone will struggle to root out fake news, unless they can quantify indicators of trust elements, which can help set a ‘kitemark’ for trustworthiness.[51] This suggestion includes being able to distinguish the intentions behind the news, and whether it is genuine, or inaccurate reporting. Therefore, remedies based solely on technological fixes or market-driven corrections will not, on their own, address these problems. Additionally, judgments of this kind need to be carefully reviewed hence, an independent body should be established to perform this role. This approach will ensure tech platforms maintain transparency in the work they carry out to tackle this public issue. Firstly, there is no guarantee that only one country’s statutory regulation would work as technologic advancements allow users to create and access online news sites from anywhere in the world. If users can create fake news, they can create fake identities, which raises ‘concerns for verification, accountability and accuracy’[52]; therefore, alternative solutions may be needed to tackle the problem effectively. This view is supported by Dr Tambini from the LSE, who states that the unprecedented number of fake news sites is a huge and far-reaching problem that cannot be dealt within existing legal categories.[53] Therefore, a possible solution to tackling fake news would be to establish a global regulatory body that could operate across borders. Taking such an approach would not hinder the freedom of expression nor create restrictive frameworks, as a global collective regulatory body would find common ground, respecting the rights of all democratic institutions, and ensure that accuracy of information could be maintained across online platforms. Whereas, it would be difficult to establish statutory regulation without hindering the right to freedom of speech, which must be balanced against the risk of giving states excessive powers over the expression rights of individuals and organizations creating such content.[54] ‘The only category where there may be an argument for statutory regulation is the category of deliberate falsehood with intent to compromise national security’.[55] However, such a high standard will be difficult to meet and not tackle the phenomena of fake news. Instead a global regulatory system is more likely to create an effective solution that can monitor all types of fake news. However, the major concern with creating a global regulatory body is forming a consensus to establish one, and deciding some universal criteria of what constitutes as fake news. Regardless of the flaws in a global regulatory body, it is likely to be the most effective solution for a global problem. A further concern that must be addressed is the misuse of the term ‘fake news’. The term ‘fake news’ has been used by public figures and politicians to justify politically motivated attacks on journalists and press freedom.[56] ‘What was once considered a symbiotic relationship between politics, media and the public is turning from a Golden Triangle into a Bermuda Triangle’. [57] Representatives from the White House and President Trump have used this term on numerous occasions to accuse media reports that oppose Trump’s views.[58] Moreover, in the UK, headlines such as, ‘we invested  £10bn extra in the NHS last year’, and claims that, ‘Corbyn would order Labour MPs to vote for the government’s bill triggering Article 50’,[59] were later found to be false. Nonetheless journalists claim to have correctly interpreted quotes from politicians, but due to the lack of clarity, and changing views of the politicians, their journalism was labelled as ‘fake news’.[60] This labelling is no fault of their own, but it definitely damages their reputation as credible sources in the eyes of the public. A global regulatory body could establish mechanism which safeguard online journalists and individuals that may have complaints to online content. These mechanisms would be similar to the way the press is currently protected by regulatory bodies such as IPSO, Ofcom, and Advertising Standard Authority which provide all individuals with a complaints procedure to resolve disputes.[61] For online news sites created by individuals, however such protections and remedies are not available. In these cases, the only way the news sites could safeguard themselves from possible accusations of creating false news would be to become members of such bodies. A global regulatory body could protect and hold online journalists accountable for their reports, and scrutinise claims by politicians in the public eye. This protection could be extended to the existent online press, to further safeguard them from accusations and ensure accuracy. Traditional gatekeeping mechanisms, such as national statutory laws and self-regulatory frameworks, can ensure online platforms are subject to similar frameworks as newspapers and the broadcasting media are, but this approach would ultimately fail because the internet has no borders- allowing online platforms to operate globally, across multiple jurisdictions.[62] Fake news created in a different country, would still be accessible and impact users from other countries, (as proven to be the case with Macedonia). Therefore, the issue of fake news can only be tackled effectively by all democratic institutions through the creation of a global regulatory body. 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(LSE-Media-Policy-Project, 7 February 2017), accessed 11/April/2017 [6] Claire Wardle, ‘Fake news It’s complicated’, (First Draft News, 16 February 2017), accessed 9/April/2017 [7] Ibid [8] Michael Wise, News Plurality and Digital Intermediaries-EJO (European Journalism Observatory-EJO, 28 August 2012), accessed 13/April/2017 [9] Jessica Goodfellow, ‘Only 4% of people can distinguish fake news from truth, Channel 4 study finds’ (The Drum, 6 February 2017), accessed online 11/April/2017 [10] Impress, IMPRESS Submission on Fake News Page , (Impress press, 10th March 2017) accessed 11/April/2017 [11] Ibid [12] Ceron et al, Every tweet counts? How sentiment analysis of social media can improve our knowledge of citizens’ political preferences with an application to Italy and France [4 April 2013] 16(2) New Media & Society, pp.340 358 [13] Lizzie Dearden, Brexit research suggests 12 million Leave voters regret their choice in reversal that could change result (The Independent, 1 July 2016) accessed 13/April/2017 [14] Ibid [15] Clive Thompson, Why Facebook and Twitter have a civic duty to protect us from fake news, (WIRED UK, 24 February 2017), accessed 11/April/2017 [16] Metaxas et al, Manipulation of social media affects perceptions of candidates and compromises decision-making [26 Oct 2012] 338(6106) Social Media and the Elections pp.472-473 [17] Ibid [18] Gupta et al, Faking Sandy: characterizing and identifying fake images on Twitter during Hurricane Sandy [2013] In Proceedings of the 22nd International conference on WWW ’13, pp.729-7637 [19] Newman et al, Social Media and the News: Implications for the Press and Society, (OUP, 2014), pp.139 [20] Ipso, Editors’ Code of Practice, (The Independent Press Standards Organization), accessed 10/April/2017 [21] UK Parliament, Select Committee on Communications Corrected oral evidence: Children and the Internet (Data.parliament.uk, 22 November 2016), accessed 11/April/2017 [22] NMA, CMS Select Committee ‘Fake News’ Inquiry: NMA Response (News.media.uk.org, 30 March 2017), accessed 11/April/2017 [23] R.Kelly Garrett, Facebooks problem is more complicated than fake news (The Conversation, 17 November 2016), accessed 11/April/2017 [24] Ibid [25] BBC, Fake news: How can African media deal with the problem? (BBC News, 16 February 2017), accessed 11/April/2017 [26] Brian Mcnair, Journalism and Democracy: a millennial audit [2000] 1(2) Journalism Studies pp.207 [27] Communications Act 2003, Section 319(2)(d) and (h)†¨ [28] Ofcom, Review of Ofcom list of major political parties for elections (Ofcom.org.uk, 16 March 2015), accessed 12/April/2017 [29]   Jonathan Goldsbie, Craig Silverman, the man who exposed the fake-news racket in 2016 (NOW-Magazine, 22 December 2016) accessed 11/April/2017 [30]   Andrew Byrne, Macedonia’s fake news industry sets sights on Europe (www.ft.com, 16 December 2016), accessed 11/April/2017 [31] Steven Nelson, ‘Publications Called Russian-Propaganda Distributors Consider Suing Anonymous Experts’, (US-News, 29 November 2016), accessed 9/April/2017 [32]Adam Johnson, ‘Why are media outlets still citing discredited Fake News Blacklist?’, (FAIR, 1 December 2016)

The Scop (beowulf) :: Epic of Beowulf Essays

The Scop After Julius Caesar lay claim to Englisyou do not want to receive this notification, click the Options link on the top horizontal menu bar. On the Options page, click the Preferences link. Scroll down to the Confirm Sent Messages option and select Noh soil, the Britons were subject the Northern coasts remained to become settlers and tillers of the soil, and Anglo-Saxon part of the Anglo-Saxon body of folklore and legend. It was not long until various warrior-kings had a â€Å"singer†, or scop attached to their courts who could recite and sing a body or oral literature- particularly about the warrior-king’s glorious deeds. In the late sixth century, Augustine came to England at the request of Pope Gregory. Gregory advised his monks not to disrupt England’s pagan customs, but to proceed with conversion gradually. Consequently, the question arises concerning whether Beowulf resulted from the traditions handed down by the scops, or whether the poem was a product of the monasteries. Some critics claim that it is an amalgam of both elements. Since the poet gives us a valuable portrait of the scop in all, they reason, the scop had a storehouse of old folktales, legenyou do not want to receive this notification, click the Options link on the top horizontal menu bar. On the Options page, click the Preferences link. Scroll down to the Confirm Sent Messages option and select Nods, and heroic deeds performed by great heroes of the past. Hrothgar’s scop was able to sing Beowulf’s praises the day following the defeat of Grendel, and in the song, he includes the older â€Å"Lay of Sigemund†. The scop’s purpose was to honor his noble patron or others who past and be able to sing them at the pride of the tribe depended upon a long genealogy of heroes. Additionally, the scop defined the moral values of his society by singing about heroes and about those who acted in non-heroic ways. His songs endorsed models of behavior. By example, he taught that certain actions were profitable to the group, and and criticized those who failed to perform according to the expectations of the group. course, do not recognize the code which includes the wergild option. The Scop After Julius Caesar lay claim to English soil, the Britons were subject to numerous invasions, mostly from Scandinavian tribes to the north of England. Many Scandinavian tribes who raided the Northern coasts remained to become settlers and tillers of the soil, and Anglo-Saxon society continued to be reasonably well organized, aristocratic, and of folklore and legend.

Golda Meir Essay -- essays research papers fc

Golda Meir   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The state of Israel, established on May 14, 1948, had many great leaders that helped it to become a state. One of them was Golda Meir. Golda Meir was one of the most energetic and hardworking women in the world. Without her help, it is possible that Israel would have never survived as a state in an area surrounded by Arabs. With all of the hard work that Golda did for her country, she still had time for a family.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  When Golda Meir (born Golda Mabovich) was in my opinion one of the most energetic and hardworking women in the world. If she set out to do something, whether it was to wash her families clothes or to create a Jewish state in the land of Israel, the job was never left unfinished. As a child, she decided that she wanted there to be a Jewish state, where any Jew would not be refused citizenship. She spent her whole life working to achieve this goal and in 1948, her dreams came true.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  After Israel became a state in 1948, there was constant fighting between the Israeli's and the Arabs. Without her help, The Israeli's would have possibly never survived as a state. In the beginning, Israel hardly had any weapons. Golda Meir once again decided she wanted to help Israel so she went to the United States and She went to other countries to try to help Israel out with this problem by raising money. In the US, she gave speeches at universities and she contacted the head governmen...

Freud and Psychodynamic Theory :: Papers

Freud and Psychodynamic Theory Freud was born on May 6, 1856, in the Moravian town of Freiberg, then a part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, today a part of Czechoslovakia. He was born into a family full of enough complexity and confusion to give him significant material for his ruminations on the individual mind and its connections with others. His mother, Amalia, an assertive, good-looking woman, was twenty years younger than her husband Jacob. She was his third wife; he was forty at Freud's birth. Freud's siblings were two half-brothers, grown-up, a constant reminder of the oddity of his position. His own confusions, hatreds, love and desires from this period appear to have had significant impact on his later work on development. Components Of Personality Id As the baby emerges from the womb into the reality of life, he wants only to eat, drink, urinate, defecate, be warm, and gain sexual pleasure. These urges are the demands of the id, the most primitive motivational force. In pursuit of these ends, the id demands immediate gratification: it is ruled by the pleasure principle, demanding satisfaction now, regardless of circumstances and possible undesirable effects. If a young child was ruled entirely by his id, he would steal and eat a piece of chocolate from a store regardless of the menacing owner watching above him or even his parents scolding beside him. The id will not stand for a delay in gratification. For some urges, such as urination, this is easily satisfied. However, if the urge is not immediately discharaged, the id will form a memory of the end of the motivation: the thirsty infant will form an image of the mother's breast. This act of wish-fulfillment satisfies the id's desire for the moment, though obviously it does not reduce the tension of the unfulfilled urge. Ego The eventual understanding that immediate gratification is usually impossible (and often unwise) comes with the formation of the ego, which is ruled by the reality principle. The ego acts as a go-between

Move N Store Inc.:”Pack and exhale”

Mission Statement: â€Å"Pack and exhale† – Offer peace of mind to customers by providing most efficient and reliable moving and storage services available. We strive to exceed customer’s expectations by building relationships between you and our team to consistently meet your needs. By utilizing the highest standards of design, development and management, we will provide facilities that consistently deliver satisfaction, value and peace of mind for our customers. Company Description: Establish a self-storage business in the US and India that offers portable moving solutions, packing services and off-site storage solutions for residential and commercial customers. Move N Store Inc. offers long and short term storage in a warehouse type of facility with climate controlled and non –climate controlled floors. Some of the key features at each facility are: * On-site managers who reside at the facility and operate from the office from 9AM – 5PM. * Automated / Controlled gate access to the facility so the facility is accessible 24/7. Loading bay with large garage doors accessing the loading dock, so that vehicles can be parked directly outside the elevator lobby for ease of loading and unloading. * Surveillance cameras on each floor in several areas for customer safety. * Individual door alarm for each unit. * Well lit aisles and lobby areas. * Completely fenced facility. * Boat, RV or Car parking in some facilities based on geographic al location and customer. A good marketing plan should focus on three objectives: increasing occupancy, increasing tenant value to the facility, and improving marketing efficiency. It should also be based on results and flexible. It will clearly outline specific activities to accomplish those three objectives, with deadlines. The marketing plan will provide strict guidelines for logo usage, copy creation and offers so that the plan has a consistent and recognizable look and feel. The plan will also discuss how the marketing is going to be tracked for effectiveness and what constitutes â€Å"effective† so that quick, smart decisions can be made throughout the year. The marketing plan will be comprehensive and focused on the target markets that produce the best results. It will be a combination of building relationships in the community, customer referral, key influencer referrals, search-engine marketing, social networking, Yellow Pages ads, and niche marketing specific to the local community. The marketing plan will be implemented on a consistent basis with tracking and measuring to make ongoing improvements. Online marketing will become an important part of the marketing plan as it attracts new customers and allows existing customers to maintain their accounts. As stated in an article by Carr, June 8, 2010: When was the last time you opened a phone book? Do you remember what ad was on the last billboard you saw? You have probably thrown away or recycled all of the bulk mail unopened that you’ve received in at least the last year. I think there’s an important reason for all of this. All of these forms of advertising are relatively invasive and, at the moment the potential customer is receiving the message, they’re not actively in need of or searching out your product or service. On the other hand, internet marketing – more specifically, search engine marketing – is a different story. The potential customer is actively seeking out a solution to their problem. They’re hoping that they will find your product or service to solve one of their problems. This means, as a business owner, it is critically important to the sustained growth of your business that you pay close attention to your online presence and aggressively try to improve it. Start a social media campaign, set up an email auto-responder, and, most importantly, discover which keywords you should be targeting and go after them with whatever resources you have. The top three tactics that will be used are: Internet marketing, database marketing, and community-network creation and maintenance. The plan will include having an effective search-engine marketing program. Second, there will be a comprehensive program to target key influencers in the area surrounding the facility; these key influencers can be real estate agents, chambers of commerce, business-networking organizations, apartment communities, housing communities, etc. Lastly, will be a program to reach out to the community and become a credible organization that helps others. Through helping others the business will become known throughout the community which can help improve business. A brief outline of the marketing plan is as follows – On a Daily basis, do the following: * Track all incoming calls to determine their sources. Keep track of the total number of calls, sources of the calls and the percentage of calls that turned into visits. * Speak with the store manager once a day to see if he needs any help. Supporting the manager keeps him/her motivated. Make at least five to 10 outbound calls each day to drum up business from commercial accounts. All managers should have a quota of outbound calls to make. * Send out postcards to those people who called during off hours. Use a caller ID device to record the phone numbers of people who call when the office is closed. Use an online reverse directory to get their addresses. Then mail them a postcard with a time-sensitive offer. On a weekly basis, the marketing plan is: * Call all the â€Å"centers of influence† in town to remind them of the facility’s presence (i. e. call the real estate offices, truck-rental places and all of the other businesses who have the potential to send you business. * Play ’Mystery Shopper† by getting the District Manager’s to call the facility and disguise their voice to hear how your employees really handle themselves when they talk with customers. * Look for opportunities to get coverage by the local media. There are countless opportunities to piggy-back storage onto a current-events news story. Find one angle each week and send out a press release. * Consider running specials to rent slow-moving units. Look at the units that aren't moving and make weekly adjustments if necessary. Waiting until the end of the month may not give the management enough time to properly react to competition or the changing market in the local area. On a monthly basis the facility shall perform the following activities: * Call and/or visit competition to see what they're up to. This is an activity that needs to be done at least once a month. * Conduct regular training sessions with managers to keep them up-to-date. Conducting monthly meetings for managers and other employees makes a lot of sense. Read industry trade magazines to keep abreast of current issues. Owners and managers must be committed to staying up-to-date with the latest industry information. * Schedule a monthly coaching session by phone with an outside self-storage expert, employees and managers like to listen to experts above owners. Using an outside expert to give basic feedback is a great idea. * Go to monthly networking events, such as at the chamber of commerce. Managers and owners should make an effort to get out into the community to network. Review occupancy rates by unit size to make necessary price adjustments. * Hold a contest for store managers, and vary them from month to month. Give them some realistic goals to shoot for and then reward them for meeting those goals. This strategy is inexpensive and effective. On a quarterly basis, marketing plan for the store shall include: * Hold unannounced, random events for customers to thank them for their business. For example, wash the car of each one of your tenants who comes into the facility on a given day. * Create seasonal fliers. Fliers are inexpensive and effective and can be created for any or all services at the facility. In addition to handing those out off-site, fliers can be designed to be placed under people's unit doors to announce various promotions. * Direct mail can be tested on a targeted group within five miles of the facility. Direct mail and Value-Pak mailers can be effective. * Find an additional item to sell at the office based on customer feedback. * Play â€Å"Undercover Boss† by working at the facility one day each quarter to find out how things really work. Owners sometimes never even see their storage facilities. Working at the facility is the single most-effective means for owners to understand what really goes on in their businesses. On a yearly basis, marketing plan for the store shall include * Attending the annual self-storage conference and expo in Las Vegas and taking store managers along. * Having a qualified consultant do an external marketing audit of the facility. * Review financial numbers with a qualified expert to see what areas of business can be improved. Some ways to measure the effectiveness of advertising are : Using website stats – using a website counter to figure out how many visitors have viewed the website. As stated in an article by Kathleen, â€Å"At the very least you should be aware of what keywords are bringing traffic to your site, how many are coming directly by typing in your domain name, and other referring pages. More detailed info such as bounce rates, visitor paths, landing and exit pages will all give you additional information to assess what marketing value your website is providing. Use Direct Mailed Surveys – Mail surveys to current customers and customers who have made enquiries to figure out which areas need to be improved and work on those areas. Ask people how they found about the business – If a cold call is placed and if it is not known where the person came from, it is good to figure to where the person came from. Was it the sign in the yard? An ad that was placed in the paper? Crai gslist? Check the response on ads – When ads are run continuously, stop the ads to figure out if it has made a change in revenue. If there are no changes, then there is no point in spending dollars on the ad campaign and it would be better to divert the funds to other options. Call reporting – this is a methodology to ensure if incoming calls were being handled appropriately and in the most effective manner to hook more tenants. This system tracks how many calls were received from print and internet advertising, a report usually provides details such as time of day you receive the most calls, where the calls originate and the length of the call. It can also be helpful in measuring how many after-hours calls are being missed. Call-tracking and recording programs – These programs help management play back calls whenever they choose to without the employees’ knowledge. If all call recordings are reviewed for the exact nature of conversations and how they are being handled, the management can begin working on refining the sales process. Other strategies that can be used in addition to advertising are: * Participating with the local community in hosting events such as food drives, charity auctions, provide storage for boy/girl scouts, provide assistance during natural epidemics such as storage for people who have lost homes during a storm or flood. Sponsor cookouts for a local fire or police station. * Partner with local baseball or football teams and provide tickets to customers based on a raffle each month. * Advertise on Valpak, Craigslist, GroupOn (for coupon discounts) and other local magazines. * Use social media network such as Facebook or Twitter for promotion. * Build LEED or environmen t friendly facilities to show responsibility towards the community and world as a whole. * Provide an online payment system for customers to pay their monthly rental fees. Some ways to measure customer satisfaction are as follows: 1. Survey Customers This is probably the only way to get customer feedback, surveys can be provided in several ways (through mail, email, or over the phone). In order to get the best information, customers should be allowed to answer questions on a weighted scale (as in â€Å"Rate your experience on a scale of 1 to 5 with 1 indicating complete dissatisfaction and 5 indicating complete satisfaction†). Repeat customers may have to survey again to see how their experience changes over time. . Understand Expectations The business must make an effort to discover the expectations of customers in terms of both service and products in order to ensure that their needs are met. 3. Find Out Where You’re Failing If customer requirements are not being met, the management needs to find out where the failure is occurring. Are the products less than what is advertised? Are employees making promises that cannot be met? Are custo mer service representatives dropping the ball on dispelling customer concerns and managing their complaints? Whatever the case, it is important to know where the lines of communication are breaking down so that relationships with customers can be mended. 4. Pinpoint Specifics Whether a customer is satisfied or not, the data collected will need to accurately assess what is working and what isn’t. So inquiries into level of satisfaction should include more than just the overall experience. The business needs to determine the products or services they purchased, what they liked or disliked about their sales interaction, how the actual purchase compared to their expectations, and any suggestions they have for mprovement. 5. Assess the Competition As part of the survey process, the business may want to consider inviting customers to compare and contrast similar products or companies to find out what they are offering. This helps in understanding what is lacking in the business. As stated in an article by Kevin Cacioppo, â€Å"Customer satisfaction is the state of mind that customers have about a company when their expectations have been met or exceeded over the lifetime of the product or service. The achievement of customer satisfaction leads to company loyalty and product repurchase. † He also states that: In addition to a clear statement defining customer satisfaction, any successful surveying program must have a clear set of objectives that, once met, will lead to improved performance. The most basic objectives that should be met by any surveying program include the following: * Understanding the expectations and requirements of all your customers. Determining how well your company and its competitors are satisfying these expectations and requirements. * Developing service and/or product standards based on your findings. * Examining trends over time in order to take action on a timely basis. * Establishing priorities and standards to judge how well you've met these goals. Gap Analysis is a popular assessment tool to find out the ‘gap' between what exists verses what is needed or desired. The steps involved in this are – * Identification of customer expectations, Identification of customer experiences, * Identification of management perceptions, * Evaluation of service standards, * Evaluation of customers’ communications. Gap analysis generally refers to the activity of studying the differences between standards and the delivery of those standards. For example, it would be useful for a firm to document differences between customer expectation and actual customer experiences in the delivery of medical care. The differences could be used to explain satisfaction and to document areas in need of improvement. Other tools to bridge gap in customer expectations and experiences could be by sending mail-in surveys to customer to get feedback on the service received, going out of the way to make sure a customer’s needs are addressed, providing top notch customer service are also ways to bridge gaps. Bottom line for any small business such as Self Storage is getting to know customers, listening to their concerns, making customers feel appreciated and personal touches such a learning their names might be important in retaining business and building relationships.

Describing the Social and Cultural Dimensions in My Organization Essay

Social and cultural theories strive to explain how people relate to each other and/or the surrounding environment. Organizational culture represents a common perception held by the organization’s member. This was made explicit when we defined culture as a system of shared meaning. Therefore, those individuals with different backgrounds or at different levels in the organization will tend to describe the organization’s culture in similar terms. Most large organizations have a dominant culture and numerous sets of subcultures. A dominant culture expresses the core values that are shared by a majority of the organization’s members. When we talk about an organization’s culture, we are referring to its dominant culture. It is this macro view of culture that gives an organization its distinct personality. Subcultures tend to develop in large organizations to reflect common problems, situations, or experiences that members face. These subcultures are likely to be defined by department designations and geographical separation. The purchasing department, for example, can have a subculture that is uniquely shared by members of that department. It will include the core values of the dominant culture plus additional values unique to members of the purchasing department. Similarly, an office or unit of the organization that is physically separated from the organization’s main operations may take on a different personality. Again, the core values are essentially retained but modified to reflect the separated unit’s distinct situation. If organizations had no dominant culture and were composed only of numerous subcultures, the value of organizational culture as an independent variable would be significantly lessened because there would be no uniformity in the interpretation of the values that represented appropriate and inappropriate behavior. It is the â€Å"shared meaning† aspect of culture that makes it such a potent device for guiding and shaping values in the cultural behavior. But it is not to be ignored that the reality which many organizations contained also has subcultures that can influence the behavior of their members. The field of sociology focuses on cultures that are ethnically or geographically defined. However, the study of any culture is referred to as â€Å"a group of people who work (or play) together and journey towards a shared meaning and assumption†(Griswold, p.133). Griswold (1994) also shared that â€Å"culture† is one of those words that people use all the time but have trouble defining. Peterson (1979) states that when sociologists talk about culture, they usually mean one of four things: norms, values, beliefs, or expressive symbols. Norms are the way people behave in a given society; values are what people hold dear; beliefs are how people think the universe operates and expressive symbols are representations of the culture. Moreover, Lincoln and Kalleberg (1990) hold that â€Å"the quality of relationships between workers and their co-workers is positively associated with commitment and satisfaction.† If the people within a school do not connect and work together toward a common goal or passion, the culture is said to be stagnant or unproductive. Lincoln and Kalleberg provide three models of organizations. The consensus model holds shared goals and values within an organization that are the norm and dissidence is a problem requiring correction. The cleavage model has distinct groups within an organization that have different interests, especially fault lines that exist between job levels. The fragmentation model shows that are riddled with ambiguity where people hold multiple perspectives. It is plausible that most working environment can fall under all three models or have factions of each model within one department. I am now attached with SMK (P) Methodist, Pulau Pinang as an operational clerk. My services here include the basic operation of the school administration and also involved accounting for the staff and stock inventories in the school. I am under the Ministry of Education and the Jabatan Pelajaran Pulau Pinang. My school consists of 42 academic staff, 8 non-academic staff and 640 students. We have a unique ethnic diversity whereby most of the teachers are Chinese, four Indians and ten Malays. The students are also diversified into the three main ethnicity in Malaysia with minimal number of mixed ethnic students. My Principal is a Chinese lady. Her name is Wong Soon Kee. She is a very fierce and strict head of department. I do not have a very close rapport with her. She does not have very much concern for the teachers as well. It has been a very stressful environment for me and most of the staff here. But, the teachers have been very helpful and understanding to me. They are very friendly and accommodative towards me. At the office, there is a typist and a general worker to assist with my work here. This really helps ease my work and release my pressure of working here. My works is about service conformation of the teachers and support workers, prepare salary and pension worksheets and do the necessaries if there is any changes. My work also involved accounting such as preparing the accounts, paying bills, and bookkeeping. Every month, I have to settle the bill and make orders for items needed by the school. Any bills that I received will have to be settled in 2 weeks time which is a very short dateline for me. However, it is the ethics of the Jabatan Pelajaran Pulau Pinang. We have to abide by the rules set by the upper hands. If I have any meeting by the JPN, I will meet up with my friends from other schools. During this time, we will exchange our experiences about work and how to handle certain situations that arise. It is very useful and helped me a lot to improve my performance to do better than before. Every year, auditors from Jabatan Audit Sekolah will come to school to do auditing on the school accounts. They will take a week to check the accounts and identify whether all the transactions are according to the rules or not. Nevertheless, there will never be a session where they had never found any errors. If we had done a lot of errors, our school will be categorized under â€Å"Audit Bersyarat† and the JPN will send us for a course on how to improve our accounting skills to upgrade our performance. With the teachers’ high spirit and determination to guide the students, the PMR (Penilaian Menengah Rendah/Lower Secondary Assessment) and the SPM (Sijil Pelajaran Malaysia/Malaysian Certificate of Education) results are very encouraging. Most of the students show fortitude and willpower be it in their academic or co-curricular activities. All these achievements had helped them to be successful and quite a number of them had furthered their studies abroad. As a conclusion, a social and cultural dimension in an organization is important. It is because, it portrays the relationship between employees in completing their daily tasks and ensuring that the tasks are done well with high quality. Culture Beginnings and the Impact of Founders as Leaders spring from three sources: 1. beliefs, values, and assumptions of founders