The New Global Community

Anirban Bhattacharya asked:


One can observe a rise of websites in native languages. They integrate local and international news and facilitate news to readers on the internet. Hindi being the mother tongue of more than 40% Indias (and is one of the most spoken languages of the world) features as a language of a horde of upcoming news portals.

Hindi is the national language of India and is one of the strong uniting threads of this culturally diverse country. And going by the count of NRIs (Non-resident Indians) populating the diverse parts of the globe, evidently, there exist several websites that cater to the needs of local and international news in Hindi.

Be it Indian sports news, political news, entertainment news; these websites compete in delivering information piped hot. Thanks to the IPL fever, many websites with provision of sports news in Hindi also offer the service of live video streaming.

Hindi newspapers in India have a wider circulation range (in comparison to other languages, including English) and have the highest number of readers in the country. It is a common language of a good percentage of the population in India irrespective of the class or other societal divisions. India, with a vastly improving internet *********** arte and a growing number of over 80 million internet users show a growing prospect for a wide Hindi portal reader/subscriber base.

NRIs who cannot easily avail news about their locality, find a novel way of being connected with the local happenings of their country through websites offering news in Hindi. While international entertainment, politics and sports news can be reached at easily, Indian (moreover local) entertainment, political news can also be availed easily despite of being stationed at a place far way from India.

Region-specific news offered by websites in Hindi comes in handy for ones to stay attuned to the information about their locality. By delivering region-specific entertainment, politics and sports news in Hindi, these websites provide sumptuous information to the people living away from their region.



Dolly

Nisha Garg asked:


Onset of mobile phones and Internet have brought downright changes in communication industry. The good news is that these alterations have arrived in the form of improvements. And drastic cost reduction is one of the notable changes that occurred in international calling plans has evidently proven this fact. Along with mobile phone technology, land line communications are also undergoing evolutions and the latest entry to this communications technology is called as VoIP.

The voice over Internet protocol (the same abbreviated as VoIP) is an Internet based communicating technology which involves broadband or high speed Internet connections and any phone like mobile phone or VoIP enabled soft phone. Due to inclusion of broadband Internet connection to this method of making calls, this VoIP communicating process is also known as Internet Telephony.

Advent of VoIP procedure has rendered international unlimited calling plans with a host of advantages, such as extensive network coverage, improved voice clarity, easiness of deployment, availability multifarious plans, variety of free and value added extra facilities etc. However, the main advantage that tops all these and and other convenience of VoIP calling plans is huge reduction in call rates. With cheapest calling plans, one can easily call India or call Pakistan.

Most of the VoIP service providers facilitate their subscribers with services including creation of caller ID, facility of 3 way conference calling, call waiting, call forwarding and call history and a lot more without charging extra for these. Therefore, people are switching over to VoIP based calling plans from POTS calling system to talk for prolonged period and to take advantage significant pocket saving benefits.

The VoIP calling technology was the brainchild of some computer enthusiasts who had brought this technology in the mid of 1990’s. They had thought of a specialized Internet based technology that would help them in voice communicating between users who would have both computers and specific voice equipment.

Officially, this VoIP based services launched in the market in the year of 1996, but it was not before 1998 or 1999, when this technology has become quite an interesting topic in multiple publications discussing latest technical trends. And later on after 2001, number of business and residential subscribers to register for VoIP calling plans started to increase and widespread as soon as they started realizing cost saving benefits and high class performance of VoIP technology.

Contrary to common assumptions, reasons why VoIP is rolling up popularity and greater number of both business based and residential clients can be many. Some of those reasons are stated in the following-

1.Low cost of VoIP international calling plans is always and undeniably the most prominent reason why people are looking towards installing or switching over to these services. You would be glad to find out that usually minimum range of most of the VoIP based calling plans is around $9.95 per month.

2.VoIP service providers charge no extra cost for modem and for installation of the device. The modem is commonly delivered within a period of five to ten days. Nonetheless, you may also purchase the modem from any local store if you are not willing to wait and start chatting. In this regard, the VoIP service provider will credit user’s account.

3.Many of the subscribers want to take VoIP services for the reason that VoIP local calls in North America covers Canada and USA into its arena. Even some of the VoIP service providers include Latin America, Western parts of Europe and some regions of Asia into the vicinity of local calls.

Because VoIP international calling plans are extremely customers oriented and keep on inducing various advantageous plans, this technology has taken the whole world for a storm.



Twila

Martin Day asked:


nefit of running an annual employee survey has for a long time been widely accepted but many organizations have been put off by the amount of effort that is required.

Many organizations who have bit the bullet and conducted their own internal employee satisfaction surveys have often relied on word-processors to allow them to design and compile a survey, then gone through the effort of printing and distributing the survey and spent time chasing and collecting the completed surveys and then even more time transferring the survey response information into a meaningful management report.

Fortunately with the introduction of the Internet and hosted survey websites like http://www.surveygalaxy.com/ what was once a time consuming, resource hungry, long winded and cumbersome process is now slick, quick and easy.

This document provides a step by step guide to help implement a survey that will bring considerable benefits to any organization.

Step 1 – Identifying The Need

The reasons an organization would need a survey are as wide and they are long. Listed here are a few of the common reason why employee satisfaction surveys are conducted.

Event Driven

If your organization is about to embark, or is going through, a change management program employee surveys can assist in managing the change, measuring the effectiveness of the change, help to deliver a ‘message’ and gather valuable feedback throughout the change cycle.

For organizations that are experiencing rapid growth employee surveys can monitor internal communications and management structures to ensure that employees are aware of their reporting and management responsibilities.

Where an organization is suffering from poor moral brought on by either internal or external influences an employee survey can be used to identify the specific concerns of employees so those concerns can be properly addressed.

Where there is an increase in turnover of staff employee surveys can help an organization identify the underlying cause of employee unrest and through their findings help find solutions.

Periodically

As part of a periodic assessment, surveys will help an organization review their personnel and monitor on an individual level job satisfaction, training and career development.

Employee surveys also offer senior management the opportunity to look at the soft underbelly of their organization to confirm that their ‘top down’ view of the organization matches the reality and ‘bottom up’ perspective.

With the help of employee surveys an organization can establish good employer/employee communication that will in turn bring both direct and indirect benefits.

Step 2 – Management Buy-In

Management buy-in is always desirable for any initiative and many will argue that it is essential to ensure a successful employee survey, however, in some instances the findings of an employee survey can lead to kick-starting a management that has grown complacent and detached from their employees.

Some organization may be fortunate in that the senior management recognize and drive the need for employee surveys, while in others the management may need to first be convinced of the direct and indirect benefits an employee survey will bring.

The level of management commitment to an employee survey will have some bearing on the nature of the survey and to some extent will help determine what questions are to be asked and the manner they are asked.

A management that is supportive of the initiative may require feedback on specific areas of the business or they may give the go ahead because they feel confident that the results will only confirm that the level of employee satisfaction throughout the organization is high.

In nearly all cases it is good practice to at least try and get management to buy-in to the employee survey from the very start as they have a lot to gain and are in a position to effect any change that is later identified as being required.

Step 3 – Designing The Survey

Designing a good survey will take some time and effort but by following the basics of survey design and concentrating on the ‘need to know’ questions and removing the ‘nice to know’ a survey will rapidly take shape.

Determining the exact questions that should be asked will be entirely dependent on the individual organization, its structure and the previously identified primary need and objectives of the employee survey.

When considering what questions to ask consideration should be given to how the results are to be analyzed. For example there may be a desire to ask for individual comments but these types of answer formats can be very time consuming and cumbersome to analyze and should therefore be avoided or used sparingly.

With online surveys it is generally better to do a few smaller surveys than one very long survey as the longer the survey the higher the drop out rate will be.

Step 4 – Proof Reading And Testing

Grammar, Spelling And Clarity

Before publishing the survey make a careful check for spelling and typing mistakes and incorrect grammar. If available it is always better to have someone who has not been involved in designing the survey to proof read the survey with clean eyes, if no one is available try to take a break before checking through the survey again.

Say What You Mean And Mean What You Say

When checking the survey you need to consider the survey from the viewpoint of the respondent, you may know what you mean by each question but will the questions be clear to the employee?

Allow The Employee To Answer Truthfully

For closed questions where the employee will be required to choose from a number of available responses have you allowed the employee to answer accurately? Make use of responses like ‘Don’t know’, ‘No comment’ or ‘Not Applicable’ where you have made the question mandatory but the employee may not be able to answer.

Consider allowing the employee to include an ‘Other’ answer but also appreciate that ‘Other’ answers will add to the complexity when analyzing the survey results.

Don’t Require A Response To Questions That May Not Have One

Check that for any questions that you have made mandatory you do require an answer, for example open questions such as asking for additional comments should not be mandatory unless you definitely require the respondent to write a comment.

Check You Will Be Able To Analyze The Data

Check through the survey again but this time looking at how the results of the survey will be analyzed. Consider how you are likely to want to analyze the survey data, have you asked the right questions to be able to perform detailed analysis? For example if you wanted to view the detailed response data from the perspective of the different genders, or maybe departments, check you have asked the employee to indicate their own gender and/or department.

Don’t Ask Anymore Questions Than You Need To

Consider all the questions in the survey and look for questions that are not ‘need to know’.

Test The Link And Try Completing The Survey

Publish the survey and then send the survey’s link to a number of people who will be willing to test the survey. By completing the survey yourself you will get a feel for how the respondent will view the survey. From your own and others feedback stop and make adjustments to the survey as required.

Repeat this process until you are happy with the survey.

Check The Data

Take time to view the online summary results of the test data and confirm that the data is being collected in a manner that can be properly analyzed and that will give meaningful results.

Step 5 – Promoting And Deploying The Survey

Where all or the majority of employees have access to the internet or company intranet deploying the online survey is as easy that ABC, either via email or by establishing a link to the survey from your own website or Intranet.

Where there are some or many employees that do not have direct access to the internet there are a number of alternatives that can be used from issuing the survey in printed form, providing a shared terminal or giving them an incentive to complete the survey at home.

Anonymous Responses?

There is a choice to allow all surveys to be completed anonymously. Allowing a survey to be anonymous may encourage employees to speak their minds enabling the survey to provide ‘a warts and all’ report, in turn giving management an opportunity to address underlying problems before they become serious.

However, allowing anonymous comments also allows employees to be more cavalier and flippant with their responses. Some organizations would therefore only want to consider comments where employees are prepared to stand by their convictions and that will also provide an opportunity to follow up the specific concerns of individual employees.

The decision to allow anonymous responses or not will, among other factors, be down to the individual organization, the specific nature of the survey, the surrounding circumstances, the management style and the existing employer/employee relationship.

Step 6 – Monitoring The Survey

While the survey is in progress you will be able to view the summary results online and also monitor in real-time the number of surveys that have been both started and completed.

If after a few days the number of completed surveys falls short of the expected target it is advisable to send periodic reminders to employees asking them to complete the survey.

Step 7 – Analyzing The Results

There are no hard and fast rules for analyzing the data. Much depends on the individual survey, the questions asked and the number of responses.

Most surveys will benefit from many of the results being displayed in graphical as well as tabular form.

When first analyzing survey data often a number of ‘headline’ results will immediately stand out that will provide you with a general overview and, providing the right questions have been asked, give you an instant assessment of the mood throughout the organization as a whole.

Where the results give areas of concern a more detailed analysis may be advisable. For example if employees were asked if they felt the organization provided equal opportunities to both genders and 25% gave a negative response it would be useful to know the gender split of the organization and also to look at what the gender split was of the 25% that answered negatively. Was the negative view shared by employees of both genders, evenly spread throughout the organization, or of a particular gender from a particular department?

There is a method of reporting that presents the result data in tabular and/or graphical form allowing those who are interested in the results to view the raw data.

Often used as a compliment to the first, another method is to interpret the results and provide an analysis of the data and offer a view as to what the meaning is behind the results, what circumstances may have contributed to the results being as they are and, where the results indicate a negative, what initiatives could be taken. Such analysis if done by a single individual is likely to be very personal, if done by a committee it is still likely to be objective and therefore open to interpretation.

Step 8 – Further Action

Probably the most important step is the last. An employee survey will either confirm that the perfect organization exists or it will highlight areas that are less than perfect by identifying individual and common concerns.

It may be that further more detailed surveys are required that target specific areas. For example the survey may reveal that employees working in a particular department are collectively unhappy, but the reasons for their dissatisfaction may not be clear. A smaller, specifically targeted follow-up survey may help reveal the root causes.

When employee surveys are periodically run an organization that has taken steps to address issues will see their efforts reflected in subsequent survey responses. Almost all organizations have some problems and it helps an organization’s moral to see that a channel is available that will allow problems to be highlighted, addressed and resolved.

Summary

These guidelines are intended to help an organization conduct successful employee satisfaction surveys, they are however, only a guide.

Each organization is different in style and structure and the organizations ‘personality’ will go someway to influencing the tone and nature of the survey and organizations will have many different circumstances and primary reasons for conducting a survey.

By utilizing existing technology and conducting surveys online you are now able to monitor the heart beat of an organization, quickly, easily and, by using websites like Survey Galaxy, at minimal cost.

Imogene

Devon O’Malley asked:


Who says you can’t travel and save? When you choose Kelowna, B.C, you and your family can enjoy a spectacular holiday getaway without exceeding your budget. Explore Kelowna arts and culture, picnic in City Park or browse local creations at the Farmers’ Market all for little or no cost! Learn more about the free or almost free activities available in Kelowna, BC and find out how you can have a spectacular vacation at a penny pinching price!

Gardens, Parks & Beaches

Elysium Gardens —Amble through 4 acres of gorgeous perennial gardens, a Japanese-inspired garden carved out of a beautiful old apple orchard and a unique specialty nursery where you can take home some of the very plants you see in the gardens. Surrounded by stunning mountain views and green country side, you will feel a sense of peace and serenity. Adult admission is $9.00 and $6.50 for students. Admission is free for children under the age of 12. City Park —Situated in downtown Kelowna, this beachside public park lies on the shore of Okanagan Lake and includes a long sandy beach (Hot Sands Beach), kids waterpark, lawn bowling, playground, picnic area, skateboard park, running track, sports field, restaurant, concession as well as washroom and changing facilities. Take advantage of the summer and sun and bring the family on an outdoor adventure in City Park. Knox Mountain —Located in the heart of the city, Knox Mountain is another excellent outdoors destination. With a wide selection of hiking and mountain biking trails, viewpoints of the city, lookout at the mountain top, picnic area, playground and tennis courts; this is the perfect place to admire the beauty of Kelowna while also incorporating exercise and fitness. Parks Alive —From June to September, enjoy free local music and entertainment as many of Kelowna’s lakefront areas and parks receive a taste of community art and culture. For more information on performances, drop in the Kelowna Visitor Info Centre and grab your copy of the Parks Alive summer schedule.

Galleries

Geert Maas Sculpture Gardens and Gallery —Kelowna is proud to be home to a number of art pieces and sculptures of internationally celebrated artist, Geert Maas. This indoor and outdoor, self-guided gallery features over 350 art pieces, paintings, sculptures and one of the biggest collections of bronze sculptures in the country. Masterpieces by Geert Mass have been featured in many international art shows and museums including New York, London and Paris. Admission is by donation. Kelowna Art Gallery —Located right in the heart of the Downtown Cultural District, Kelowna’s leading public gallery contains some of the most intriguing local, national and international exhibits. Explore a number of paintings, drawings, photography, printmaking and sculptures created by a variety of local and international artists. Admission is $5.00 for adults, $4.00 for students and seniors and $10 for families.

Museums

Okanagan Heritage Museum—With a large collection of regional displays as well as a variety of award-winning temporary exhibits from around the world, the Okanagan Museum is the perfect place for travellers interested in the human and natural history of both the Okanagan Valley and a number of international communities. Look through an impressive collection of First Nations relics or browse through the Ethnography Gallery which boasts exhibits from South America, Asia, Oceania and Africa. Admission is by donation. BC Wine Museum—As an area renowned for its exquisite vineyards and spectacular wine, the BC Wine Museum is the perfect destination for casual spirit sippers to full out connoisseurs. Discover artefacts and exhibits of how wine making was established worldwide and uncover the history and details of the local Okanagan wine industry. Admission is by donation.

Loyd

Bloomberg asked:

NATO troops in Afghanistan attack militants in Pakistan, after coming under fire; Malaysia’s Anwar released on bail after questioning; Israel paid ‘heavy price’ over Hezbollah prisoners, Olmert says; North Korea removes half of fuel rods from reactor, Kyo

Lesa

Carazoo.com asked:


The automotive landscape changes day to day and hour to hour. Every day there is something interesting or depressing happening in the automotive industry. Whether it is new launches, departing models, corporate associations, new alliances, retail incentives, safety advancements, or innovations in technologies, people just love to stay ahead of the curve.

Indian auto industry is progressively racing ahead with host of innovations taking place and new introductions in the market. It has spread its reach far wide in the global arena where people have started recognizing the capabilities and ingenuity of Indian talents. The recent launch of Tata Nano has further added a new spark in industry and has dazzled auto critics and auto manufacturers across the world. This amazing and mind-blowing introduction by Tata Motors has further fostered the Indian auto industry. Car buyers and car enthusiasts around the world are now more keen to learn the Indian industry and stay in pace with the latest happenings in the Indian market.

For such enthusiasts’ Indian auto news play a vital role as they cover in-depth knowledge about the industry and help them stay update with the latest happenings in the Indian market. In India, there are many sources that help auto enthusiasts stay ahead of the automotive landscape in India.

One of the most important and essential source is the auto magazines. Whether it is latest auto news, Indian car news, new car launches, research reports on cars and other automobiles, unbiased comparison of cars, innovations in bikes, crash test carried on certain cars, and news on upcoming models auto magazines cover all these and much more. It is believed to be one of the good sources to keep a track of the auto industry. Some of the most renowned auto magazines in India are Overdrive, Autocar, What Car, and Top Gear.

Further to that automobile news India can also be tracked from various newspapers like Economic Times and Times of India. These newspapers have special sections that are exclusively dedicated to cover latest in the auto industry. Time of India also have a supplement known as Zigwheels that can be tagged as one of the mini weekly auto magazine. It covers all the happenings of the auto industry that takes place in the corresponding week.

Apart from auto magazines and news paper, Indian auto news can also be sourced from various news channel and Indian car portals. These sources are actually of great help to international auto enthusiasts who love to stay informed about the latest updates in the Indian industry. They are keen to know what’s happening and what’s new that Indian talents are coming up with.

News channels like Star News, Aaj Tak, Zee Business, and NDTV India provide a vast pool of information on the auto industry. These channels are anchor driven and some of the anchors really spread the Indian auto news worldwide in a much refined way.

Moreover, with the growing awareness of online media and internet the number of internet savvy people has also increased. This has eventually increased the demand of car portals that also cover the in-depth knowledge about the Indian auto industry and keep everyone updated of the same.

Whatever be the source of auto news India, they are just a perfect medium to help people stay ahead on the Indian automotive landscape.



Zane

Cindy King asked:


So you want to get more international clients, and realize that you need to do some international marketing. But you are not quite sure what to do.

Well let’s have a look at the different areas of international marketing. Companies often go through these steps one after the other, but not always. You could start an export business for example without going through the first step of Domestic Marketing.

Each step clearly explains:



where your company is selling, and

what product you are selling.



You will see very clearly where your company’s business requirements are today with regards to International Marketing. This will also give you a better understanding of what your next step is towards getting more international clients.

1 – Domestic Marketing

First of all there is Domestic Marketing. This is where most companies start. This is the marketing you do for your local market in your own country. There are no international links in this business.

Your Company:

A domestic company, buying and selling its products within one country.

Your Product:

Is a domestic product for the domestic market.

2 – Export Marketing

This is often the second step towards International Marketing. If this is effectively a company’s second step to International Marketing, the company needs to spend a little time and effort on the foreign market research and analyzing all client feedback during this phase.

Your Company:

Sells the same product for his domestic market to a few other foreign markets. There is no effort to adapt the product to the foreign market’s needs. The company remains centered on its domestic market, with minimum cross cultural marketing efforts.

Your Product:

Is a domestic product for a foreign market.

3 – International Marketing

This is a vital stage for the company. The company will have to adapt to the market on several levels. There is often a real learning curve to adapt your products, marketing and sales to foreign markets.

The good news is that most of the skills your company will acquire to adapt to one market will be used again for all of the other countries you want to target.

Your Company:

Is now adapting its marketing, communication and products to the foreign market. At this stage in International Marketing the company is only dealing with a 1 or 2 countries.

Your Product:

Becomes one foreign product for one foreign country.

4 – Multinational Marketing

This is the fourth step. It is a logical extension of International Marketing. This is a term that might be a bit obsolete today, with the internet. It seems to be used more for the large established companies.

Your Company:

Now sells to many foreign countries. And the company now has the skills to go into more countries and will naturally tend to expand into the neighboring countries.

Your Product:

Becomes one foreign product for one wider foreign region covering a group of countries.

5 – Global Marketing

This is the last phase in International Marketing. There are few companies involved. They are the companies with brand names known worldwide.

Your Company:

Operates in such a large number of countries, you could almost say it sells its products worldwide.

Your Product:

The company will naturally move towards cutting costs and will aim to find one product for all countries. In Global Marketing the product will not be created for the domestic market and sold abroad, as in Export Marketing. In Global Marketing one product is created to satisfy the needs of all markets – all foreign countries and your domestic market.

Where Is Your International Marketing Today?

By looking at where your companies markets and products are today you can identify the type of International Marketing you should be using. You can then move towards your next step in International Marketing. These steps logically follow one after the other for brick and mortar companies and the majority of todays e-businesses.

The internet makes international business development easier today than ever before. Remember, simply having a website online will not make your company global. You will have to work at it a little. You will need to apply the right international marketing for your business’ current market and product range.

Your company will get more and more international clients as it moves through the different marketing stages. The whole notion of global business become more accessible for everyone.



Josephine

Dr.ferdows Aghagolzade,reza Kheirabadi asked:


Introduction:

Every event which is reported in the news, has gone through some kind of “gatekeeping” process. How does a journalist or an editor decide what is newsworthy and what is not?

According to some media researchers, they refer to a set of so-called “News Values”. These are the criteria which enable them to determine whether a “News Story” is followed up in the first place and then whether it makes it in to the news, competing against all the other possible items.

News values are those professional codes used in the selection, construction and presentation of news stories in corporately produced mainstream press and broadcasting.

News values are a result of the productive needs of industrialized news corporations. It is clear that people who work for such corporations will display mixed ambitions, allegiances, politics and abilities as individuals. Within the corporation they are subjected to an extensive division of labor. Beyond the corporation there are its competitors, and the occupational ideology of the journalist and the broadcasting profession.

Within these contexts, news values operate to produce a standard product out of the contributions of all such people, practices and beliefs.

Language, as the main material of news, is the main subject of linguistics so it is obvious that linguists are eager to work on the process of broadcasting. Recentely many of the well-known linguists such as Noam Chomsky (1988), Roger Fowler (1991), Van Dijke (1998), Allan, Bell (1991), Norman Fairclough (1992, 1995, 2003), Guy Cook (1992), Michael Hoey (2001), Paul Chilton (2004) and Marina Sbisa (2005) … have been working on a so-called subject of “language of the News” and the term “News Values” is of great importance.

Edward S.Herman and Noam Chomsky (1988) in their pioneer book of “Manufacturing Consent” have mentioned five news filters and they believe that these filters are now controlling all broadcasting process in the west. This research is going to introduce news values and especially twelve news factors, mentioned by Johan Galtung and Mary Ruge, which are the most famous list of news values around the world and to see if these factors are working in Iranian press.

Theoretical Discussion:

there is no suggestion, of course, that journalists and editors refer to a list pinned on the wall of the office, but, rather, that they unconsciously measure a potential news item against these criteria. Numerous attempts have been made over the years to pin down news values more specifically. But it is hard to collate these into a hard and fast list of values, because different studies have approached the whole idea from different standpoints, using different assumptions and terminology. One of the best known lists of news values is supplied by Johan Galtung and Marie Ruge. Any media analyst’s discussion of news values will always refer to their list, which was initially intended for the coverage of international events.

Johan Galtung is a Norwegian professor who is seen as the pioneer of ” peace and conflict research” and founded the PRIO-International Peace Research Institue in Oslo, Norway. He is also one of the authors of the influential article named “the structure of foreign news” Published in Journal of Peace Research in 1965. Roger Fowler (1991) believes that: “a widely accepted analysis of news values in the following list of criterial factors formulated by Galtung and Ruge; they are worth studying in detail and in particular. It is worth reflecting on the great extent to which the factors are “cultural” rather than “natural”. The values they identified are:

(F1) frequency

(F2) threshold

(F3) unambiguity

(F4) Meaningfulness

(F5) Consonance

(F6) unexpectedness

(F7) continuity

(F8) composition

(F9) reference to elite nations

(F10) reference to elite people

(F11) reference to persons

(F12) reference to something negative))

[Fowler, Language in the news, P:13]

Now, Let’s have a more detailed look to each of these factors:

(F1): Fowler writes: “F1 says that an event is more likely to be reported if its duration is close to the publication frequency of the news medium. Because newspapaers are generally published once a day, a single event is more like to be reported than a long process”, (Ibid).

In other words, frequency is the time-span of an event and the extent to which it fits the frequency of the newspaper’s or news broadcast’s schedule.

(F2) Threshold means how big an event should be to be reported. Is an event big enough to make it in to the news? That depends of course on news organ.

(F3) How clear is the meaning of an event? The mass media generally tend to go for closure, unlik literature, where the polysemy of events is exploited and explored. As Fowller says: “unambiguity is self-explanatory though it must be added that mysterious events, as well as clear ones, are newsworthy if they can be related to cultural stereotypes.”

(F4) By meaningfullness we mean how meaningful the event will appear to the receivers of the news.

(F5) consonance means if the event match the media’s expectations or not. Journalists have a pretty good idea of the “angle” they want to report an event from, even before they get there. It is said that if the media expect something to happen, then it will.

(F6) if an event is highly unpredictable, then it is likely to make it into the news. The unpredictability does, however, need to be within the confines of meaningfulness and unambiguity. Journalists say that “A man bites dog is news but a dog bites man is not”.

(F7) once an event has been covered, it is convenient to cover it some more-the running story. Apart from anything else, it allows media organizations they already put in place to cover the original event. This will depend very much on the nature of event.

(F8) composition is a matter of the balance of the news. It’s a matter of the editor’s judgement, more than anything else. If there’s a lot of foreign news around, some of it will be dropped in favour of more domestic news.

(F9) Reference to elite nations relates again to a cultural factor which is called “cultural proximity”. Those nations which are culturally closest to our own, will receive most attention and coverage. Some nations, formerly called super powers, are more important in terms of news coverage. In part, of course, this is conditioned by the fact that news organizations will have reporters already stationed in European countries and in the USA so that when a story arises, there’s someone there to cover it.

(F10) It is a rule that the media pay attention to important people. Anyone the media pay attention to, must be important.

(F11) personalization connects with unambiguity and meaningfulness. Events are seen as the actions of individuals.

(F12) Bad news is good news. Bad news has many of the other characteristics as well-it may be unexpected, unambiguous, … .



Duncan

Kara Meldrum asked:


History of Internal Auditing

Internal auditing is a very respectable profession with many responsibilites.  Internal auditing can be documented and traced as far back as to about 5000 B.C.  A few civilized communites such as the Chaldaean Empire and the Babylonian Empire were the among the first to advance economically and politically and organize themselves into sovereign states.  The two empires imposed many taxes on both individuals and businesses, and therefore they established an intricate system of checks and counterchecks.  They designed internal control systems to help minimize errors and safeguard state property from taxpayers who were dishonest (Gupta). 

In the United States, internal auditing has steadily grown and evolved ever since the end of World War II.  Internal auditing today can be compared to financial auditing because of the many similarities associated with each, and “much of the theory underlying internal auditing is derived from management consulting and public accounting professions” (Internal Audit).

 

Internal Auditing

            The profession of internal auditing helps companies by advising them on how to better achieve there short-term and long-term objectives.  Internal auditors utilizing “systematic methodology for analyzing business processes or organizational problems and recommending solutions” (Internal Audit).  Internal auditors are generally employed by companies to perform their internal auditing activities which may include internal controls such as efficacy of operactions, reliability of financial reporting, deterration and investigation of fraud, safeguarding assets, and compliance with laws and regulations (Internal Audit)

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Internal Controls

            Improving internal controls is one of the main responsibilities of internal auditors.  The management of a company is in charge of internal controls within the organization, but internal auditors test the controls to make sure they are working effectively.  Internal controls can be defined as a process that is affected by the employees of the company as well as the information technology systems that are used to assist the company in achieving its objectives.  Internal controls direct, monitor, and measure a company’s resources and help detect and prevent fraud from occuring within an organization (Internal Control).

           

Risk Management

Another responsibility of internal auditors is the monitoring and evaluation of the effectiveness of the risk management process of a company.  In addition to management’s reponsibility of internal controls, they are also responsible for performing risk management activities as part of their ordinary course of business.  How an organization sets their objectives and responds to the risks associated with their objective is part of the risk management process.  Risk management is a way for companies to manage uncertainty through risk assessment.  Developing strategies to manage risk and mitigating risk by using managerial resources is also involved in risk management.  For companies, risks can usually be categorized into four groups:  strategic risks, operational risks, financial reporting risk, and legal and regulatory risks (Risk).

 

Sarbanes Oxley Act

            The Sarbanes-Oxley Act, also known as the Public Company Accounting Reform and Investor Protection Act, was implemented on July 30, 2002 by the United States Federal Government to help prevent corporate fraud scandals.  All companies, both large and small, must comply with the rules and regulations of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act.  Some cases that prompted the passing of this act were with companies such as Enron, Tyco International, and Adelphia that involved corporate and accounting fraud (Sarbanes).  The Sarbanes-Oxley Act accelerated the growth of internal auditors profession because they possessed “the skills required to help companies meet the requirements of the law” (Internal Audit).

            The Sarbanes-Oxley Act is comprised of eleven different sections for companies to reduce and eliminate fraud.  Section 302 of the act establishes internal procedures that are designed to ensure accurate financial disclosure within organizations.  The officers of companies must sign off on documents stating that they are “responsible for establishing and maintaining internal controls” (Sarbanes).  The officers certifying this also says that the internal controls designed ensure that the material information significant to the company and its subsidiaries is known to the executive officers.  In addition, section 404 of the Sarbanes-Oxley Act requres that management submit a report on the internal controls.  The internal auditor is responsible for making sure that the company follows the guidelines established under the Sarbanes-Oxley Act (Sarbanes).

 

Example

Cases such as the Enron scandal was a reason why the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was put into effect.  In as little as fifteen years, Enron grew from a little company to the seventh largest company in the country.  At its financial peak, Enron employed more than 21,000 in staff and expanded into more than forty countries.  Eventually, the company’s scam became known to the world.  Enron had been lying about profits and was accused of many “shady” dealings including concealing debts, so they didn’t show up in the company’s accounts (Enron).  If the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was being enforced at that time, the scam would never have come to be.

 

Salary

Internal auditing can be as rewarding as one makes it, depending on education and experience.  According to swz.salary.com, the median expected starting salary for an Internal Auditor I in the United states is $46,041 as of February 2008.  One’s salary can be greatly affected by factors such as employer size, industry, employee credentials, and years of experience though (Salary). 

Other Opportunities

            Everyone knows that accounting is a great subject to be knowledgable in.  Charlie Munger, vice-chairman of the diversified investment corporation, Berkshire Hathaway Corporation, once said, “You have to know accounting.  It’s the language of practical business life” (Accounting).  Knowing accounting, especially internal auditing, can be very beneficial in the advancement of one’s career. Internal auditing encompasses many different areas of internal controls and risk management of companies.  Internal auditors evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of companies’ internal control systems and its overall performance and report back to top management.  Internal auditors are required to solve problems within the company and are constantly perfecting their skills to make sure the company runs appropriately.  Some would consider the internal auditors to be the key to the success of a company.  Because of the broad spectrum of activities internal auditing involves, it gives one the opportunity to gain knowledge in many areas of the company, and therefore gives one enough experience to expand and advance their career.  There are not only opportunities for internal auditors, but with the type of experience and knowledge gained from internal auditing, one can expand their experience to other careers as well.  Some related careers in which internal auditing experience is extremely valuable include budget analysts, cost estimators, loan officers, financial analysts, personal financial adviors, tax examiners, and even computer programmers and such to name a few (Accountants).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Works Cited

 

“Accountants and Auditors.” U.S. Department of Labor. 18 Dec. 2007. 24 Feb. 2008

            .

“Accounting Quotes.” Woopidoo Quotations. 24 Feb. 2008    .

“Enron Scandal At-a-Glance.” BBC News. 22 Aug. 2002. 24 Feb. 2008 .

Gupta, Parveen P. “Spiraling Upward – History of Internal Auditing and the Institute of Internal

            Auditors.” Bnet. June 1991. 24 Feb. 2008 .

“Internal Audit.” Wikipedia. 24 Feb. 2008 .

“Internal Control.” Wikipedia. 24 Feb. 2008 .

“Risk Management.” Wikipedia. 24 Feb. 2008 .

“Salary Wizard.” Salary.Com. Feb. 2008. 24 Feb. 2008 .

“Sarbanes-Oxley Act.” Wikipedia. 24 Feb. 2008 .

 



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