Journalism: News Access And Source Power

Journalism: News Access And Source Power In the study of mass communication, there has been a continuous debate about the more or less powerful effects of the media on the public. This power is not restricted to the influence of the media on their audiences, but also involves the role of the media within the broader framework of the social, cultural, political or economic power structures of society. Ideally, a media system suitable for a democracy ought to provide its readers with some coherent sense of the broader social forces that affect the conditions of everyday life. However, it is difficult to find anyone who even remotely approaches this ideal (Gamson et al, 1992). The overwhelming conclusion is that the media generally operate in ways that promote apathy, cynicism and quiescence, rather than active citizenship and participation. This essay will explore the evidence that is offered that suggests why the nature of source/media relations matters in environmental issues and non-governmental organisations. It will also look at why communications and media researchers continue to investigate the topic and why source/media relations are important. Media discourse analysis has traditionally focused on the news product. These studies have not only yielded important insights into the structure (Bell 1991, 1998), function (Jaworski, Fitzgerald and Morris, 2003; Khalil, 2006) and effect (Fairclough, 1995; van Dijk, 1998) of media language, but have also described micro level aspects such as the mechanics of turn-taking, repair and pause length in news interviews (Clayman and Heritage, 2002). Recently, however, the scope of media discourse analysis has started to broaden to include the complex discursive practices that lie at the heart of the news production process. Additionally, with the advent of new technologies, crucial ingredients of the news production process are now being opened up to researchers, with corporate websites parading massive press release archives and internet based news agencies and e-mail distribution services spreading breaking news in real time to whoever is interested in it (Geert, 1999). News access and news selection are the yin and yang of news production studies (Geert, 1999). Cottle (2000b) distinguishes the sociological and a culturalist paradigm in theories of news access. While the former investigates news access in terms of strategic and definitional power, examining patterns of news access, routines of news production and processes of source intervention the latter theorises news access in terms of cultural and ritual power, [sensitive], to the symbolic role of news actors and how they perform/enact within the conventions and textual structures of news representation ritual, story, narrative (pp. 28-9). News sociology has a long standing tradition. Early, seminal studies of deviance (Becker, 1963), newsworthiness (Galtung and Ruge, 1973), news management (Schudson, 1978), hegemony (Hall et al, 1978) paved the way for political economy views of corporate control (Herman and Chomsky, 1988) and mediatisation (Thompson, 1995) on the one hand, and social constructionist approaches to news production (Gitlin, 1980) on the other. The classic newsroom ethnographies of the 1970s and 1980s (Tunstall, 1971; Tuchman, 1972, 1978; Gans, 1979; Golding and Elliot, 1979; Fishman, 1980; Erickson, Baranek and Chan, 1987) crystallised a radical moment in the historical development of news study. Taken together these studies forced attention to the structural and institutional forces at play in newsrooms, focusing on how news is an organisational and bureaucratic accomplishment of routine (Cottle, 2000a, p. 21). For example, Tuchman (1972) sees source dependence as a strategic ritual, borne out of a pro fessional ideology allowing journalists to frame their work as objective accounts of news events. According to Geert (1999), while this early generation of social scientists drove home the importance of professional routines, norms and settings of news production, other scholars have pointed to theoretical blind spots. With new technologies being introduced in newsrooms (Pavlik, 2000), come new concepts of journalistic practice (Carlson, 2007), leading to questions of continued theoretical validity and calls for updating newsroom ethnography (Cottle, 2000a; Zelizer, 2004). Schudson (2005) has warned against the dangers of a reductionist or determinist approach to the media in which the news production process is seen as the direct result of underlying economic and political forces. Such an approach does not account for the agency of journalists as social actors, which, given in todays changing news ecology, is especially pressing. Indeed, it could be argued that, from an analytical point of view, media sociology has largely disregarded journalistic agency in favour of organisatio nal and institutional levels of analysis. Recently, however, some scholars have pointed their attention to alternative theories of cultural production, most prominently, Bourdieus field theory (Couldry, 2003; Benson, 2006; Hesmondhalgh, 2006; Neveu, 2007). In contradistinction of grand sociological debates, cultural and anthropological studies of news production such as Peterson (2001) and Stà ¥hlberg (2002) apply notions of social mediation, cultural production and reflexivity in analysing the situated practices of media production and consumption. This burgeoning field which has come to be identified as media anthropology (Askew and Wilk, 2002; Ginsburg, Abulughod and Larkin, 2002; Peterson, 2003; Rothenbuhler and Coman, 2005; Boyer and Hannerz, 2006) theorises the ethnography of media production as an emergent effort, to talk about the agency of media producers within a cultural system while still recognising their embeddedness in larger structures of power, (Peterson, 2003, p. 164). van Dijk (1990) notes that a brief conceptual analysis is needed in order to specify what notions of power are involved in such an approach to the role of the news media. Social power as van Dijk explains is summarily defined as a social relation between groups or institutions, involving the control by a (more) powerful group or institution (and its members) of the actions and the minds of (the members) a less powerful group. Such power generally presupposes privileged access to socially valued resources, such as force, wealth, income, knowledge or status. van Dijk goes on to explain that media power is generally symbolic and persuasive, the sense that the media primarily have the potential to control to some extent the minds of readers or viewers, but not directly their actions. Except in cases of physical, coercive force, the control of action, which is usually the ultimate aim of the exercise of power, is generally indirect, whereas the control of intentions, plans, knowledge, bel iefs or opinions that is mental representations that monitor overt activities is presupposed. Also, van Dijk (1990) notes that given the presence of other sources of information, and because the media usually lack access to the sanctions that other such as legal or bureaucratic-institutions may apply in cases on noncompliance, mind control by the media can never be complete. On the contrary, psychological and sociological evidence suggests that despite the pervasive symbolic power of the media, the audience will generally retain a minimum of autonomy and independence and engage more or less actively, instead of purely passively, in the use of the means of mass communication. In other words, whatever the symbolic power of the news media, at least some media users will generally be able to resist such persuasion. Another notion in the analysis of media power is that of access. According to van Dijk (1990), it has been shown that power is generally based on special access to valued social resources. Thus, controlling the means of mass communication is one of the crucial conditions of social power in contemporary information societies. Indeed, besides economic or other social conditions of power, social groups may be attributed social power by their active or passive access to various forms of public, other influential or consequential discourse, such as those of the mass media, scholarship or political and corporate decision making (p. 12). Although ordinary people may make use of the news media, they generally have no direct influence on news content, nor are they usually the major news actors of news reports (van Dijk, 1990). Elite groups or institutions, on the other hand, may be defined by their broader range and scope of patterns of access to public or other important discourses and communicative events. Leading politicians, managers, scholars or other professionals have more or less controlled access to many different forms of text and talk, such as meetings, reports, press conferences or press releases. This is especially true for their access to media discourse. Journalist will seek to interview them, ask their opinion, and thus introduce them as major news actors or speakers in news reports. If such elites are able to control these patterns of media access, they are by definition more powerful than the media. On the other hand, those media that are able to control access to elite discourse, in such a way that elites become dependent on them in order to exercise their own power, may in turn play their own role in the power structure. In other words, major news media may themselves be institutions of power and dominance, with respect not only to the public at large, but also to other elite institutions. (van Dijk, 1990, p. 12). For some areas like risk and the environment as well as issues like trade unions which are non-governmental organisations, media discourse is to a significant extent, a discourse dependent upon the voices of official experts. Environmental organisations, non-governmental organisations, industry, scientists, and government offer their own particular competing accounts of the reality of the situation. Issues concerning differential access to the news media are crucial when considering who comes to define the event. Accordingly, the following examines news/source media relations as it relates to 1) environmental issues and 2) non-governmental and the various news sources involved in influencing the symbolic representation of public issues. News/Source Media Relations and Environmental Issues Over recent decades a growing environmental promotion industry has emerged, alongside an increasing emphasis upon environmental advocacy. A number of information crises (eg. The Exxon Valdez disaster in 1989) have forced sections of industry to take a more proactive approach to environmental communications as potent imagery has directed contradicted assurances that environment protection is not compromised by their activities (Anderson, 1991). At the same time, the public exhibit a growing sense of distrust of scientists (Beck, 1992). The sense of distrust has partly emerged from news media formats that favour confrontational dialogue among experts and offer the public little means of evaluating opposing viewpoints. There has been a tendency to display the debates in dramatic, sensational headlines rather than a considered approach that furthers public understanding of the issues (Anderson, 1991). The sheer complexity of many environmental issues acts as a major constraint, particula rly considering that relatively few journalists reporting on these matters possess a scientific background (Anderson, 1997; Nelkin, 1995; Peters, 1995). The news media possess a great responsibility in relaying scientific issues to the public, since they contribute a major source of information about science within our society (Adam, 1991). Through their mediation, interpretation and translation of otherwise in accessible knowledge into a publicly accessible form, news workers are not only prime sources of public information but also the principal social; theorists of contemporary industrial societies. As such, they carry a heavy burden, a responsibility they are poorly equipped to provide and that does not sit comfortably with their own self-perception. That is their understanding of themselves as harbingers of news, disseminators of matter of human interest and providers of a critical perspective on the more shady aspects of socio-political and socio-economic life (p. 125). Routine news media reporting of environmental issues is often mediated through the expert as the voice of authority. However, it is important to note the ways in which the news media present certain expert voices as being self-evidently authoritative whilst competing views are frequently portrayed as non-credible, irrational and partisan. This can have the effect of discouraging critical thinking and the brushing aside of lay views. However, as Beck (1992) observes there are some grounds for optimism since the media also potentially play a part of opening up the critique of science and exposing conflicts of opinion and ideological standpoints. At the same time research suggests that while official news sources may not automatically enjoy the most statistically prominent level of news coverage, they are far more likely to appear in news formats where they enjoy a larger degree of editorial control. Also they tend to provide analytical knowledge as opposed to subjective/experiential kn owledge (Cottle, 1999). It has been frequently observed that the news media representation of environmental issues is pre-occupied with bad news. Much environmental coverage is centred on events rather than issues (Hansen, 1990, 1999; Molotch and Lester, 1975; Singer and Endreny, 1987). This partly reflects the fact that much news coverage is based on a 24 hour cycle and especially applies to television news (Anderson, 1997). This orientation towards events may encourage audience members to place blame upon particular companies or individuals within a company, rather than see this in terms of broader structural problems. One such example is the Exxon Valdez disaster with event-centred coverage. Coverage of the oil spill tended to be framed around the allegation that it was caused by the drunken state of the Captain, Joseph Hazelwood. This played down other possible angles concerning cutbacks in maritime safety standards or the oil industrys poor capacity to clean up large oil spills in areas such as the Pri nce William Sound (Dyer et al, 1991; Hannigan, 1995). News media representations of the environment are also influenced by socio-political and cultural factors. Particular issues or events that capture attention tend to be mediagenic and can be easily situated within the established institutional framework. Often these resonate with deeply held cultural beliefs and values that operate at a powerful symbolic level. Another key aspect of news discourse, which particularly applies to television, is the reliance upon strong visual images to capture the audiences interest. In many cases the availability and quality of pictures becomes a central factor affecting broadcasters judgements about the news worthiness of a given environmental issue and is especially salient for short news bulletins. Political agendas and the perceived importance that politicians place upon particular issues also influence news values. Routine reporting on environmental issues is to a significant extent based around the voices of official experts, particularly indivi duals within government departments who are more likely to gain extended news actor entry through, for example, appearing in live interviews (Cottle, 1999). Since the late 1970s environmental pressure groups in countries such as Britain and the United States (US) have become increasingly in their approaches to the news media. Particularly, they have become more adept at packaging their material in media friendly ways. Some groups have enjoyed some notable successes in manipulating news values to their own ends, but this has imposed significant constraints in terms of how they have been able to frame issues (Gramson and Modigliani, 1989). Issue sponsors, such as environmental pressure groups, play a key role in communicating environmental affairs. These competing sources have differing levels of information subsidies in terms of resources such as cost and time, which affects how far the media rely upon them on as routine basis. Ericson et al (1989) note: News is a product of transactions between journalists and their sources. The primary source of reality for news is not what is displayed or what happens in the real world. The reality of news is embedded in the nature and type of social and cultural relations that develop between journalists and their sources (p. 189). Many studies of environmental reporting have found a tendency for official sources to gain the most privileged access to the media (Anderson, 1997). Molotch and Lesters (1975) seminal study of the press coverage of the Santa Barbara Oil Spill found that federal officials and industry spokespersons gained more access to the media, compared with local officials or conservationists. However, they note that initially an accident may bypass the usual routine bias towards official frames due to its unexpected nature. This suggests that non-routine environmental reporting may, in some instances, open up new channels to groups who may often be marginalised within the media. This was found to be the case in the United Kingdom (UK) national press coverage of the seal plague a virus, which killed a large number of common seals of the Norfolk coast in the UK during the summer of 1988 (Anderson, 1991, 1997). The way in which the seal plague came to serve as an icon for an environment in crisis s hares some striking similarities to the Exxon Valdez oil spill. The seal plague, with its emotive, visual appeal came to mark an issue threshold for environmental issues in the late 1980s. This was strongly linked to the cultural and political climate at the time. It generated much media coverage and one national mid market newspaper The Daily Mail launched a sustained campaign Save our Seals, which ran over several months. As such it can be seen that the reporting of environmental issues within the news media cannot be divorced from socio-political values regarding the environment. News/Source Media Relations and Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs) Just like environmental issues seek the piece of the pie when it comes to the media, NGOs also seek to have their stories told in the media. However, in discussing news/source media relations, it must be noted that over generalising when discussing NGOs must be avoided. As Deacon (2001) notes the relative importance of profile, resource and motives in the communications strategies of different NGOs is to some extent dictated by the specific context of their operations. Additionally, there are also structural variations, reflecting the different political and economic roles of various NGO sectors. Deacon address source/media relations as it relates to three types of NGOs namely, trade unions, the voluntary sector and quasi-autonomous non-governmental organisations (quangos). He points out the first broad acceptance that these disparate groups, organisations and movements have proliferated in many political systems over recent decades, and in doing so have assumed greater social and po litical significance (Deacon, 2001, p. 8). However, where there is disagreement is whether these represent positive developments. Some commentators construe them as revitalising pluralist democracy, or challenging centuries of elite control. Others see this change as more of a mixed blessing. In Berrys assessment interest groups are no less a threat than they are an expression of freedom (1984, p. 2). The second point of consensus relates to the reasons for the proliferation of these organisations. Various commentators point to, on the one hand, the widening of educational opportunities and concomitant rise of sophisticated citizenry (Mazzolena and Schultz, 1999), and on the other, emergent environmental, material, social and ideological conflicts both within, and between, advanced capitalist nation states (Blumler and Gurevitch, 1996, p. 126-7) These have produced a shift away from party-based politics, towards other forms of political engagements and the rise of issue politics. Th irdly, theorists from all perspectives acknowledge variation in these processes across different political systems, due to historical, cultural, structural and political factors (Eyerman and Jamison, 1991, p. 36). Additionally most accept that the influence of specific types of interest groups/pressure groups/social movements/ or NGOs tend to fluctuate over time (Deacon, 2001). The final point of agreement is that public communications are now integral to the operations of these political sources, and that the media have particular significance. Blumler (1989) labels this as the emergence of a media-centric model of pressure group activity. Deacon (1991) explains as the social and political roles of many NGOs expand so do the pressure and expectations upon them which in turn create a range of specific communications imperatives to do with establishing a political presence and attracting resources among others. For some NGOs, increased investment in strategic communication represents a defensive response to harsh political realities, in which they can no longer assume their views will have political resonance. Additionally, as a consequence of broader political, social and fiscal uncertainties, a diverse range of private and public institutions are becoming ever more concerned with image maintenance and achieving a prominent and positive public presence. In this new and competitive promotional environment (Wernik, 1991), media engagement has become a significant prerequisite for effective political engagement, particularly for those without direct access to the levers of political and economic power (McNair, 1998, p. 156 ). In what Blumler and Gurevitch label a communication dependent society certain organisations and institutions enjoy distinct competitive advantages in promoting their views and values. In particular, those with the greatest material resources at their disposal most notably state and big business can launch and sustain the most expensive and extensive paid media access. However, free media access can disrupt this market logic, providing opportunities for the resource-poor agencies to achieve levels of national and international exposure that even the best resource could not fund directly. Additionally there are also other considerations such as profile, resource and issue to be taken into account. However, as Deacon (2001) points out these various communications considerations will not apply uniformly across NGOs. For example, the precise blend of resource, profile and issue motives will vary depending on a range of factors, some of which will be highly context specific. The relative importance of profile, resource and issue motives in the communications strategies of different NGOs is to some extent dictated by the specific context of their operations. However, there are also structural variations, reflecting the different political and economic roles of various NGO sectors. For example, Deacon highlights that most quangos receive direct statutory funding, they will tend to place less emphasis on financial resourcing motives than voluntary organisations, where dependency on public and corporate giving is high, and their financial state is generally more parlous. On another level, trade unions will tend to be more comfortable with open issue campaigning than voluntary organisa tions and quangos, partly because of their primary political function, but also because they are not bound by conventions and regulations governing neutral public management and non-party-political charitable activity. Davis (1995) suggests that the salience of communications media strategies can also depend upon the nature and political context of the matter at hand. They are most crucial in policy struggles that are highly ideological and involve (at least for one participant) non-material, non-distributive goods: Policy battles that range over intangible goals and values, such as the abortion issue, tend to evolve into virulently zero sum affairs. Such zero-sum politics, because of the heated struggle for competitive advantage that often marks it, relies heavily on pre-decisional, communication oriented efforts to frame or construct issues (p. 28). Another significant factor can be the relationship between an organisation and the dominant institutions of state. In an influential categorisation, Grant suggests that pressure groups can be placed along a continuum that reflects their relationship to government. However as Deacon (1991), warns if media prominence can deliver advantages to NGOs, there are associated risks. The most obvious of which is receiving negative and hostile treatment, which can compromise an organisations reputation. In this respect some NGOs are more valuable than others. A trade union for instance, that can depend on the complete solidarity of its members has less immediate grounds for fearing the spate of media opprobrium than a charity that is entirely dependent upon public donations. On a less obvious level, there is the possibility that courting media attention, and playing the media game, can have an effect upon organisations core values. Miller (1997) suggests that this can be particularly threatening for radical organisations, there The suspicion within the organisation that newly visible spokespersons might become infatuated with their own celebrity and have sold out is never far from the surface. But this observation about the potentially corrupting influence of media logic also applies to organisations operating in the political mainstream. Blumler (1989) terms the risk of spurious amplification, a process by which inflammatory rhetoric and extravagant demands to make stories more arresting, distort what groups stand for, (p. 352). Until recently, evaluations of media coverage of trade union sector in the UK tended to fall into two camps the critical research position which enjoyed considerable theoretical dominance during the 1970s and the revisionist critique which emerged during the 1980s (Manning, 1998). More recently a third position has started to form which conforms to what Curran (1997) labels a radical pluralist perspective. The latter negotiates a position between the extremes of critical outrage and revisionist sanguinity (Manning, 1998; Davies, 1999; Negrine 1996). Although these studies also analyse the quantitative and qualitative dimensions of news coverage of industrial disputes, their main contribution has been to go beyond the texts to investigate the dynamics of news production directly by examining the links between journalistic practices and trade unions communications strategies. Such insights have been largely absent from most critical and revisionist accounts (Cottle, 1993). The value of this new perspective is illustrated by Davies (1999) case study of media reporting of the British governments proposal in 1992 for privatising the postal service. These plans were strongly opposed by the Union of Communication Workers (UCW), who instituted a carefully orchestrated public relations (PR) campaign against the privatisation programme. Davies content analysis revealed that although UCW sources came to be treated more positively or neutrally that either government or management sources as the dispute unfolded, the union received considerably less coverage than their political opponents. These results suggest that the recruitment of mainstream, media support to the anti-privatisation cause was due to elite divisions within the party of government and the vehemence of public antipathy. The union benefitted from wider political developments, it did not instigate them. However, by linking analysis of media reporting to an analysis of the unions communication strat egy, Davies shows the error of this interpretation. The unions PR strategy played a key role in galvanising public, party political, professional and expert opinion against the privatisation proposals, which in turn had significant effect on media framing. In particular, by commissioning polls and lobbying influential opinion leaders, the union bypassed the need for institutional legitimacy and direct access. Instead they gained a voice by using the legitimacy and access possessed by other sources: the public, economic experts, politicians and assorted neutral user groups, (p. 182). Mannings research also provides an overview of contemporary trends in media relations and identifies two ideals of union structure. On the one hand, there are unions where press and publicity functions are marginalised and rigidly trapped within a civil society service style hierarchy , and on the other, organisations that permit a higher degree of integration for their media and PR operations with their organisational leadership. These differences can in part be explained by the dilemma of incorporation unions have had to confront in their response to the harsh political realities they face. In this period of his research, Manning found a stubborn residue of suspicion within certain unions towards the media that readily characterised journalists as inevitable class enemies, working at the behest of state and capitalist interests. Thus, the embrace of promotionalism in this context is not an act of assertion, but of defence: attempting to avoid marginalisation in a changing political and economic context (Deacon, 2001). It is also clear from Mannings work that journalists perceptions of the political role and characteristics of trade unions frames their utilisation as news sources, and helps account for the predominant emphasis on their collective rather than constructive roles. A distinction developed by Peter Golding and Deacon (1994), identifies trade unions as advocates by jour nalists. As news discourse is inherently conflictive this can enhance their news value in political disputes. However, this clear perception of unions political role prevents their deployment as arbiters in news coverage. Therefore, to influence the terms of media debate at this level, Davies demonstrates in his case study, that trade unions often have to recruit the support of external experts to validate their arguments. Additionally, for such a strategy to work, it is often necessary to maintain a degree of public dissociation between the union and the expert, for fear that any links may erode the perceived authoritativeness of the latters proclamations. This trend contrasts with common strategies deployed within the voluntary sector, where publicists strive to encourage a situation of association between the work of a voluntary organisation and the views of significant public figures. The main studies thus far into reporting of the voluntary sector suggests that there is limited but indulgent treatment, based on an antiquated impression of the sector. As Brindle (1999) notes It is as if the media do not want the sector to grow up. Coverage remains very much stuck in the 1950s charity time warp of good cause fundraising, lifeboats, guide dogs and helping sick children. Even on the broadsheet national newspapers, there is a clear antipathy to stories that treat the leading charities as the big businesses they have become, (p. 44). Looking at trends in media reporting towards communications and media strategies in the sector, Deacon notes an increasing emphasis on public communication similar to that noted in the union sector is eviden t. However, the embrace of promotionalism appears more uneven. As Davies suggests, it is tempting to simply conclude that in free media just as in paid media, financial resources deliver insurmountable competitive advantages to those who hath. The fact that the media

William Shakespeares Hamlet Essay -- Shakespeare Hamlet Essays

William Shakespeare's Hamlet Hamlet is a play about intrigue, suspicion, treachery, and revenge. Its characters, the vast majority of whom are experienced members of the court, move through this world with varying degrees of ease, but all are accustomed to the forces at work. Hamlet’s reluctance to act out the revenge he knows is his duty does help the modern-day audience relate to him, perhaps, but at the end of the day he is still a part of this foreign culture, driven by customs and expectations very different from those that govern the life of his audience. There is one character in the play, though, who seems just as bewildered by the startling events swirling around her as the audience is. Ophelia’s main importance in the play is to act as a sort of emotional representative for the audience. We first meet Ophelia in Act I, scene iii, as preparations are being made for her brother’s departure. Laertes brings up Ophelia’s relationship with Hamlet and cautions her not to take the prince’s advances at face value. Laertes explains that as Prince of Denmark, Hamlet is not entirely free to declare his love for anyone without considering the potential effect on the country. Their father takes up the lecture later in the scene, citing Hamlet’s youth and gender as reasons why he should not be trusted. Poor Ophelia is rather dismayed at this, and even goes so far as to protest that â€Å"He hath importun’d me with love in honorable fashion.† (I.iii.99-100) Both of these warnings come as something of a surprise to Ophelia and to the audience, and for the first time Ophelia has fulfilled her role as unwitting expositor. Through her own ignorance and naivete, Ophelia has allowed other characters to explain things to the a... ...derstanding. Ophelia feels her way through the play, and the audience is quite capable of doing the same. This emotion-based view of the action is a deeper connection to the characters than one would obtain by trying to keep track of Hamlet’s brooding and ranting or Claudius and Polonius’s reasoned plans. Ophelia gives the play its emotional payoff, and by the time she exits the play, the audience is already emotionally attached on her behalf. That’s not to say that sympathy for Ophelia makes the audience side with Laertes—after all, Ophelia loved Hamlet, even if he did lead to her insanity. Rather, Ophelia manages to ensure that the audience has connected emotionally to the play in a way that no other character does, so that when we lose Ophelia enough of a relationship to the play has been established that the audience can’t help but care about the outcome.

Level 5 Diploma in Leadership for Health and Social Essay

   Review the range of groups and individuals whose communication needs must be addressed in own job role. In my role as Team Leader with Deputising Responsibilities, I have a wide variety of people and organizations with whom I must communicate. On a day to day basis I must meet the communication needs of the service users, with whom I would ordinarily use a relaxed and informal tone and, in some cases, short words and phrases to simplify my language. At the moment, all of our service users are fully verbal in their communications so no Makaton is required. When dealing with management, CQC, other agencies, professionals and parents or family, I would use a more sophisticated level of language but often find myself simplifying things here as well as there is a very wide range of understanding within this group. In all aspects of language (verbal, written, body, and facial) and with all interactions I need to be very conscious of matters of confidentiality and insure that I do not give out information that is not specifically sanctioned for dissemination to the particular audience in ques tion. Explain how to support effective communication within own job role. In my role it is important to develop and maintain good interpersonal relationships with everyone that I deal with; this provides a substrate for all levels of communication. One of the ways that I support others to maintain effective communication at my workplace is by providing easy access to, and easy to use, template documents for staff to use when they have information that needs to be passed on. I listen to staff needs in this area and this has helped to keep the system simple and accessible. Maintaining a feeling of unity between the shifts also helps to promote good communication from one day to the next. When dealing with staff, I try to use language  that makes them feel supported and part of a team. In some cases, it is necessary to simplify language for those staff that have English as a second language. It is also important to support these members of staff when asking them to prepare written reports or documents as extra help may be needed. In order to ensure good com munication I may ask a service user to tell me what they understood of the things that I have told them or an issue that has been discussed. For some service users I would write down the main points or answers to questions in order to provide a concrete response to an issue that has been a cause of worry, or if they are having difficulty remembering, as a visual reminder. When writing reports for management or other agencies, I try to be succinct and accurate enough to communicate the issues without going in to extraneous detail to unnecessarily lengthen documents. Analyse the barriers and challenges to communication within own job role. Within my own job role, there are many issues that prove to be obstacles to clear communication. Time pressures often mean that one issue arises before the previous one has been successfully concluded and documented. The service users often want staff support for the full number of hours that they are allocated and have no understanding that this time must include paperwork such as writing records of conversation or case file documents that are essential for other staff to be able to work effectively with them. The demands of confidentiality can also provide obstacles where some information may help one party to understand the issues being experienced by another party, but it is not appropriate or acceptable to share that information. The number of sources of information can also be a barrier to all of the information being shared between staff i.e., notice board, log book, communications book, staff folders, emails, diaries, records of conversation/observation, handover book, etc. W hen starting a shift, some staff may find it difficult to access the relevant information before their service user wants their support to commence. Evaluate the effectiveness of existing communication systems and practices. As a service that has been open just over a year, we are still refining the methods and systems of communication within the service for internal staff communications. There are several sources of information (as detailed above) where various types of information are held. The day-to-day information is passed from one team to another via the Team to Team Daily Handover book which is the first place to look when commencing a shift. This document then directs the team coming on shift to any other important documents relating to the events of the previous shift and this is working well at the moment. The information specific to each service user is kept in a Case File folder, the format of which has changed several times over the last year and this has lead to a considerable amount of work for team leaders and keyworkers, but this should lead to an effective and much more user friendly format in the future. We have also created one page summaries for each service user so that new staff o r agency workers can quickly familiarise themselves with the individual that they are about to support. The main obstacle to effective communications, both within the service and externally, is time pressure and the frequency of multiple issues arising concurrently. This makes it difficult for staff to record information fully and accurately and is an area where it is very important that the staff are supported to be able to complete this work. Lack of IT skills also impairs the effectiveness of document filing so staff need frequent reminders of how to title documents so that they are easy to trace from the digital repository. Complex computer systems also leave us with connectivity issue that mean staff and management cannot always access the required server for filing or retrieval so temporary folders are used until connectivity has been restored. This can cause problems if the issue is not resolved before the next shift arrive but can be passed on via the Team to Team book. Our IT systems are being overhauled at the moment. Compare the effectiveness of different communication systems for partnership working When working in partnership with the many external organisations that share the common goal of finding the best support and outcomes for our service users we have several ways of sharing information. Our primary method is  usually email, and this is preferred as it is a clear and traceable system that allows us to track what has been sent to whom, when it was sent, and if a response has been received. We do log phone calls and make written records of the conversation, but these are less concrete as they are only recorded by one side of the conversation and could be disputed. Minuted meetings are a very useful method as this enables professionals to come together and have input that can be acknowledged or disputed in real time and decisions can be agreed upon without the delay of waiting for written responses. This takes time and organisation to schedule at a mutually convenient time for all required parties and is not always practical for those residing at considerable distance fro m the planned meeting. Explain legal and ethical tensions between maintaining confidentiality and sharing information. The Human Rights Act, article 8 states that â€Å"Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence†. The Data Protection Act 1998 governs how we collect, store, share and dispose of information. The sharing of information is an essential part of providing high quality, person centred care and for running an effective service. As a service that holds a considerable amount of data on our residents it is important that we have procedures in place to protect the confidentiality of that information. It is a legal requirement and our moral duty to not share any of this data with individuals, companies or funding authorities that are not directly concerned with the individual in question. Even within our own organisation, we will remove identifiers (names, initials, dates of birth etc) from some documents before we share them with other dep artments and codes are often used to identify service users within documents in order to protect their privacy. There are times, however, when we also have a duty to disclose information about an individual if we know or suspect that a situation could arise where harm is caused to another person or group. In any such case we must decide â€Å"†¦whether the release of information to protect the interests of a third party exceptionally prevails both over the duty of confidence owed to the service user and the public interest in a confidential health and social care service† ( http://www.dhsspsni.gov.uk/confidentiality-code-of-practice0109.pdf ) This  could include, but is not limited to, the reporting of abuse to protect others from the abuser, or informing the DVLA that a service user is now taking medication that renders them unfit to drive if the service user is refusing to do so themselves. In all cases, an attempt should first be made to gain consent from the indivi dual concerned using communication appropriate to their needs. Analyse the essential features of information sharing agreements within and between organisations An information sharing agreement (ISA) is a set of rules for all involved parties to adhere to when sending, receiving, processing, storing and disposing of data. It should be structured to benefit the service users and they should be confident that their information is being handled in a secure and responsible way. It should be a clear document written in plain language that is easy to understand. The ISA should state why the information is to be shared, the organisations that are involved, the types of information to be shared and how this complies with the Data Protection Act (1998) and the Freedom of Information Act (2000). There should be clear guidance on the amount of information to be shared to guard against irrelevant or excessive information being included. Template documents for requesting and sharing information should be included as this will support the standardisation of data set to ensure information is being recorded consistently across the organisations involved.

Literature Review Wind Energy - 1866 Words

Pragnesh Bhakta Eng. 1302-016 Tracy Givens Literature Review, Wind Energy as an alternative to Fossil Fuels Introduction Granting that wind energy has many environmental benefits when compared to fossil energy, there are many arguments that have been exposed by researchers to critically and empirically show the sustainability of each source of energy. While the fossil fuel energy remains as the most used in the production of electricity required to run different industries, sources suggest that effective implementation and management of wind energy infrastructures can reduce the impacts that exist due to the high usage of fossil energy. This paper exposes an argumentative literature review so that to compare and contrast the arguments as seen from the past literature. The arguments exposed by the research will be intended to examine the hypothetical argument that a successful implementation of wind energy in any country is the solution to many economic and environmental challenges. 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