France 24’s website: not as good as it first seems to be

First Impression…

When I first enter the web site www.france24.com, I thought “It looks like a proper news website, it seems serious and the design is not exceptional but it is not bad.”

People I asked around me had almost the same impression. Even though everyone was saying that it seems quite a good website, we all agree on the fact that it was slightly messy, as there is like a huge flow of information and you don’t know where to click!

For my critic I had to analyze this website as a journalist, and try to see what the audience may not see at the first visite. I realized that France 24 is reputed and good TV broadcaster, but as far as the website is concerned there are quite a few things that can be improved.

The colour scheme is blue and white. Those colours match most of the time perfectly, but when it comes to a screen of computer that as a journalist of today you have to watch for hours, the white text against the flashy blue really hurt the hurt the eyes.

But in my opinion one thing is good with the colours chosen. France 24 is a huge broadcaster; you can at any time of the day watch the news in French, English or Arabic. Obviously, you have the choice of language for the website. It is really international news related, so when I think about blue and white I always have the picture of the world in my mind.

There is free space on the sides, but the design of the web site makes that it looks if all the information was squeezed in the middle and you don’t know where to go. It is not clear when you first look at the page to find out what is a piece of video or what is a written entry.

It is definitely a multimedia web site, as you can see the “read the article or camera” signs, but as for me they haven’t made it clear enough. You just have to compare with the BBC home page website and everything become really clear.

On the BBC one you just have to let yourself orientated by the page. It is really clear where you have TV, Script or radio pieces. On France 24’s home page you really have to look close because first, the colours are quite flashy and it hurts and then things are not obvious you have to look in deep to find what you want.

To conclude on First impressions, I would say that the positive aspect of the site is that is seems to be a multimedia one except there are no radio sound bites. And the home page just looks like a bloc of information.

Writting…

About the writting, what I think there is to say is not that great. All the articles have the same layout. They don’t really follow Nielsen’s F rules as the heading is situted on the top right in a box (again it is in white against a flashy blue background). On the top left you can find a picture or a video. Moving from the right to read the heading and then going on the left to start with the article , make you witch your eyes.

I am alsmost sure that most of the people who don’t know the web site will start with the article and realise after that the heading was on the top right. The articles desn’t look really structured. In none of the articles I have read there is subtitle. The paragraphs are quite short but the articles themselves are long so it is like a little “rest” to have subtitles. It is really important if you don’t want the reader to move from your site.

There are no links to redirect the reader somewhere else if he wants to extand his knowledge on the subject. The only few that you can find are situated in a column shape on the right inside of the page. It is much more convinient for the reader to have tthem included inside the text.

Something catch my eyes as well. In most of the French newspaper and website’s articles, the name of the writer appears at the end of the article or the trend tends to put it at the begining nowadays. OnFrance 24’s website it  very difficult to find it. It appears in really small on top the heading.

In my opinion, the writting doesn’t keep the reader interested. While reading the article you quickly want to move because it is not easy to read as it doen’t have an organisation.

Content…

It is definetly a web 2.0 site because you can react an leave comments to the article. Nowadays it is really important that the audience participate in an active way, they feel like they have n opinion to express and internet is here as a media which make people talk.

The selling point of the web site is, I think, the multimedia aspect of it. Ror every single article you have picture but most of the tim is videos For someone, who remember better by seeing images than reading, it is really good. You can associate a visual for the news that yo are reading. It is verry important in a web site of today. 

The inernational aspect of the web site is also very atractive. In English, Arabic and French you can be aware of what is happening in the world. Someone who doesn’t speak French can have a french point of view on the world’s news by cgoing on the english version of the site. 

What is missing on the site is a kind of enterteinment category. You don’t have the wether or smething softer that proper hard news or heavy subjects.

The interactive documentary, focus on cities or features, give a chance to improve his own general knowledge.

In brief, there are a lot of interesting things to learn present in the site. When it come to content there are not many things wrong to say. What I found strange is not to have just sound bites for illustrting the articles.

I found only few quotes in the articles, as it show once again, in my opinion that France 24 is better for TV than for writting in order to properly inform and entertain the audience at the same time.

Navigation…

It is not possible to say that navigation is hard. But I could be easier. At the top right inside of the hom page, there are quite a few categories but the lay out looks desorganised.  Categories are missing as for instance there  is no political category.

The great thing is that you can choose the news regarding the continent, which gave the opportunity to have a whole aspect of what is happening in the world.

When you enter an article, the navigation is not really an easy task.  The links are situted t the end of the article, I personnally think that they are more useful incorporated inside the article. so t reader can choose while reading if he wants to go deeper into his understanding of the story.

It is not clearly indicated when it is video or article. So if you want to watch videos only, you don’t really know where to go.  

What I like on this wbsite in terms of navigation is that, next to the article you have a lot of associated articles, or similar topics. It is very good for the ones who want to understand better the subject.

To conclude I would say that France 24’s website is in general a good news website, in term of content, all the important news ofthe world are explained but in terms of design there are many things that, in my opinion need to be changed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A very sensitive documentary

The death in front of the public’s eyes.

At the beginning I wasn’t sure if I would be able to watch it. To see death is a weird feeling, I didn’t know if I was strong enough.

But, on Wednesday, I thought to myself, as a future journalist you really have to watch it because it is the first time that the audience can see an assisted suicide on TV. So I watched it, from the beginning to the end. I have to say that it was quite hard, I even cried…

It is such a strange situation. It is almost as if during a certain period of time you were living with Craig Ewert and suddenly you are a witness of his death. You see him giving his last breath. Going in such a deep sleep that he will never wake up.

Someone’s opinion on the documentary

 

Marilia Silva, 29 years old and PA assistant in London gives us her opinion on the documentary and on the SKY’s decision to broadcast it.

“It was a shocking story but I was not shocked that this story was broadcast. As it is illegal in the UK and a lot of people do not understand or agree with euthanasia, it was a good way to show why some people feel it is the only option for them.

It showed as well why they will go to a different country, like Switzerland, to do it legally. It was good in the way that it showed two stories: one a terminally ill patient living in constant agony and the other was a couple who wanted to die together and healthy than apart and unwell.

The doctors who decide whether each case qualifies for legal euthanasia accepted the terminally ill patient but not the healthy couple, which shows that although it is legal there are still laws of control on who can do it.

I did not like seeing him die on camera in a room with a stranger and his wife, it felt very cold and calculated but on the other hand he had been living 6 months with no control of what was happening to him and this he had full control off and knew what the result would be, an end to his suffering.”

 

 

 

Amsterdam in few words…(background story)

People with different life styles live together in Amsterdam. Such a city can only function properly if there are rules and particularly if each of the people who make this city alive, respect the freedom of the other.

In a lot of people’s mind Amsterdam rhymes with prostitution and drugs, as others would associate Colombia and cocaine straight away. This is part of the clichés that are present in our world.

What follow shows that it is impossible to restrain Amsterdam to the above mention as it a cultural centre. Here is a few interesting things to do in the city.

Theatre

Amsterdam has each evening many spectacles to offer. English-language theatres in Amsterdam are easy to find. The biggest theatres are located around the and at the Nes street

Cinema

Amsterdam has over 50 cinemas and art houses, where films are shown in their original languages; with Dutch subtitles. The deserves a special mention. Constructed in 1921 is said to be one of the most beautiful cinemas in Europe

Musique

Concertgebouw Orchestra of Amsterdam is qualified by many as one of the best in the world. Live music, a lot of concert halls, clubs and jazz cafes that make Amsterdam’s music life. In summer, concerts are organized in the city’s parks.

Ballet and Danse

There are two world-class ballet companies in the Netherlands. The renowned Dutch National Ballet is one of the resident groups in the , the repertoire encompasses both classical and modern dance. Another one, the Netherlands Dans Theater based in The Hague, regularly performs in venues throughout the city

Street Art Scene

Low-cost entertainment, special performances, festivals, cultural events animate Amsterdam’s streets. A multitude of performers and live bands in bars and cafes give a really convivial atmosphere to the city. Street painting artists bring colour with their funky graffities”Also a newspaper published in English – Amsterdam Weekly- and an illustrated Dutch magazine – NL 20 – both free, give cultural information and they are to grab on stands in the city.

And you, what do you think of Amsterdam

Shannon McAllister, in the web site about.com, describes Amsterdam in less than 10 words. Here they are…

Incredible, international, laid-back, cultural, real and resilient”. The list is opened…

 

A bit about Britney Spears…(background story)

From 1993 to 1994 she was a “little star” on The New Mickey Mouse Club. In 1999, with Jive Records, she released her debut album …Baby One More Time which established her as a pop icon

Her personal life began to gain substantial media attention after she married Kevin Federline in 2004. After two years, they had a quite difficult divorce that result in an ongoing custody battle over their two children Sean and Jayden James

Even though Britney Spears is ranked as the eight best-selling female recording artist in the United States according to the Recording Industry Association of America, she experienced a total “nervous breakdown” from 2006 to 2007

“A hell of a year”

2006 is here. The star appeared on the Will & Grace Episode “Buy, Buy Baby” as a closet lesbian. She, after, announced her second pregnancy in May 2006 during an appearance on the Late Show with David Letterman.

She then explained the pictures of her driving with her baby on he lap like this: “I see a bunch of photographers and I’m scared and I want to get out of the situation… They’re coming up on the sides of the car which is a scary situation for me… so I get my baby out of the car and I go home.”

Then, she posed nude for the August 2006 Rolling Stone’s cover and gave birth to her second son on September 12 in Los Angeles.

Throughout 2007, Spears’s behaviour received a lot of media attention, including attacking a paparazzi vehicle with an umbrella. In September 2007, Spears and Federline continued to share custody of their two sons. A few days later, she was officially charged with misdemeanor, hit and run and driving without a license.

Spears lost physical custody of her children to her ex husband on October 1, with the court ruling that Federline will keep full custody of the children

On January 21, 2007 Spears lost her aunt Sandra Bridges Covington, with whom she had been very close, from an ovarian cancer.

She went to “Drug rehabilitation” for less than 24 hours on February 16. The following night, is when she made what really made people talk a lot about her in a controversial way. She shaved her head with electric clippers.  at a hair salon in Tarzana, California”

 It was too late. All the gossip part of this world got what they wanted: Britney hitting the bottom

Britney has been through a lot that year. Maybe she was looking for it, maybe she just lost herself and needed some time for her as she said in For The Record.

Everyone must have his own opinion on the subject, but one thing is sure, she is not the only one to blame.

 Britney’s father, took control of her life earlier this year and will remain her “guardian” until the end of it, as decided by Reva_Goetz the judge of the Court of Los Angeles.

But at the end, didn’t Britney have what a lot of ordinary people” have: depression

 

Sky is criticized over suicide documentary

TV broadcaster Sky has come under fire for planning to screen the last moments of a man who decided to put an end to his life in Dignitas, a Swiss euthanasia clinic.

On Wednesday, a documentary will show retired university professor and motor neurone disease sufferer Craig Ewert taking his final breath.

The documentary Right To Die marks the first time the audience will witness an assisted suicide.

Anti-euthanasia groups and Britain’s TV watchdog have condemned Sky’s Real Lives channel for having decided to put this documentary in front of the public eyes.

The head of Britain’s media watchdog John Beyer attacked Sky’s decision to broadcast the documentary.

“This subject is something that is quite an important political issue at the moment and my anxieties are that the program will influence public opinion,” he told The Times.

“Documentary makers produce all manner of programs and no one can stop that or intervene unless they fail to comply with the requirements of the Communication Act.” he added.

Barbara Gibbon the head of Sky Real Lives has defended the chanel and the documentary, saying that it shows Ewert’s “exceptional courage” and would stimulate debate about euthanasia.

Switzerland: only country allowing foreigners to get assisted suicide

Craig Ewert died with his wife Mary at his side in September 2006. He passed away 45 minutes after swallowing a lethal dose of sedatives and using a mouth-operated switch to turn off his ventilator.

“Can I give you a big kiss?” said his wife just before he stopped breathing, she added “ I love you sweetheart. Have a safe journey and see you some time.” That is what the retired professor heard just before getting in a deep sleep from which he would never wake up.

The right to die in Switzerland is not free. Ewert had to pay 3 000 pounds to the suicide clinic. Five month before his death, he had been diagnosed with . Doctors told him he had between two and five years left to live.

Two choices were left to him as he explained “By this point I have two choices, either actually go through with it or say: ‘You know what, I am too scared right now and I do not want to do it. If I do not go through with it then my choice is to suffer and to enforce suffering on my family and then die in a way that is considerably more stressful and painful. I have death or I have suffering and death.”

Switzerland is the only country that allows foreigners to die using assisted suicide methods.While many British people have travelled to Switzerland to end their lives, their friends and family risk prosecution if UK authorities believe they helped administer the lethal dose.

 Click here for background story

 

Dutch authorities to clean up Amsterdam’s red district

 

For 700 years the red district in Amsterdam has been really popular.  Now, the Dutch authorities plan to reduce the brothels, sex shops and marijuana cafe to reduce organized crime in the city centre published the BBC online on Satuday.

 A year ago, council officials gave the sex industry a warning that they were going to close some brothels. A year later, half of them are about to be closed together with half of the 76 coffee shops.

“I would not like my country to be famous for drugs and prostitutes.”

Lucia Mallagray Stampa, stuent

The objective of the city deputy mayor is to stop Amsterdam being “free zone” for criminals. To do so, Officials have set aside some £33m to attract hotels, boutiques, galleries and restaurants to the area.

“I think is going to be really difficult. Drugs and prostitution bring a lot of money to the city so if they try to stop it they will have problem.” thinks Lucia Mallagray Stampa, studying in London and who has already visited once Amsterdam.

If this plan comes to an end, the number of brothels, where prostitute are offering themselves behind windows, will go from 482 to 243, a council spokesman said.

The student adds “A lot of people will loose their jobs, which is bad and it is not good for Amsterdam because it means they will have a lower growth. But on the other hand, it  is good cause young people will be avoiding doing drugs”.

The city authorities say that those businesses are not the only ones that contribute to the city center decline. Peep shows, sex shows, mini-supermakets, phone and souvenir shops will also be shut down. For them, they serve as a cover for organized crime such as drug or the traffic of women.

“Money laundering, extortion and human trafficking are things you do not see on the surface but they are hurting people and the city. We want to fight this,” said Deputy Mayor Lodewijk Asscher. He adds “We can still have sex and drugs but in a way that shows the city is in control.”

 Amsterdam seen as a tolerant and crazy place

Prostitutes and marijuana are not the only things someone can find in the red district. Before the national ban few days ago, it was possible to buy “magic mushrooms” in shops known as Smart Shops.

Critics say that this ban and the new plan are the example of a hardening of the traditional Dutch vision of social issues including prostitution and soft drug use. They add as well that it goes much further than it was expected.

Behind critics, Mr Asscher defends himself, saying that the changes are more coherent with Amsterdam’s image as a “tolerant and crazy place rather than a free zone for criminal”.

His goal is to limit prostitution to only two areas of the district with a total of around 200 windows and keep 30 coffee shops which still something that “It is impossible to find anywhere else in the world. Very exciting, but also with cultural attractions, and you won’t have to be embarrassed to say you came” the deputy Mayor says.

The city wants to be recognized for her cultural and charming attraction and not only as a crazy place where almost everything is tolerated.

 click here for the background story

 

Give her more…

Britney Spears-Rolling Stone

In a new TVdocumentary “For the Record” Britney Spears “portrayed herself as a bright and articulate but rather lonely” person, published the independent on Sunday.

At last, the 26-year-old singer made some revelations that do not include her love and hate relationship with paparazzi, shaving her head or her private life discussed in court.

On Sunday anyone who could have had a look at this documentary, saw a new Britney.She freely talked about her career, love history and especially about the mental illness that made her go to court this year to find out if she was able to look after her two sons.

The “tell-all” documentary on Sky One gained nearly 400 000 viewers and will be broadcasted in almost every country in which people had a chance to follow Britney Spears’ eventful life.

“I miss going out and doing stuff…”

In the documentary Spears talked about everything. From the public desintegration that saw her placed under the guardianship of her father to her three year marriage with Kevin Federline, that had a rather tragic end.

“I miss going out and doing stuff or seeing a guy and hanging out, the way I used to live”she says. “I was a pretty cool chick. I am not really that way any more…Sometimes it can get lonely…”

Hearing that there is a question that naturally comes to our mind: is celebrities’ life that difficult? Apparentl for Britney, the answer is yes.

At only eleven years old she was pushed in front of the public eyes as a contestant on the Star Search program, and went on to star on the television series The New Mickey Mouse Club from 1993–1994.

Her album, Baby One More Time in 1999 established her as a pop icon, credited for influencing the revival of teen pop in the late 1990’s.

The music video for “…Baby One More Time“ and Spears’s appearance on the cover of Rolling Stone magazine also established her as an international sex symbol, making controversy over the influence of her public image and particularly on teenage girls.

Was she too young when she started to have a full control of her public life? Or did she look for all the trouble that she experienced?

One thing is clear, celebrities use the paparazzi to gain publicity and in most cases what goes around comes around. Playing with paparazzi is like a Machiavelli game.

It often leads to bad repercussions on famous people’s private life. Definitely, Britney Spears played too much of a love and hate relationship with them and didn’t manage to handle this properly.

But, is she the only one to blame? Did she have the right support next to her or people just took her as pretty girl that know how to sing and will bring money?

Everyone has his own opinion on the subject, but one thing is clear:  she has been put in the middle of a game and it must be really hard to keep control of it.

 

click here for the background story

The smoking ban is getting softer

What smokers leave behind them

The ban on cigarette vending machines is facing a turn out. Two new measures – the end of the vending machines and hiding the brand and logos on cigarette boxes- are set to be ditched this week, according to  Metro newspaper.

Among the people interviewed, many think that it won’t make a difference anyway. Helga Bastianello, 33-year-old who doesn’t smoke thinks, “If people want to smoke, they will smoke. It is not this kind of bans that will stop them”.

Backbenchers and trade groups have put a lot of pressure to reverse the ban. This led to a change of direction in the House of Commons. The reason for that: little evidence to show that those steps would have health benefits.

For many people who smoke, those type of actions wouldn’t have a positive impact. Valeria Marchetti, 29-year-old student at the University of Westminster, says, “When you are as addicted as me, covering the label doesn’t make any difference. If you want to smoke, you will smoke anyway”.

Even for the ones who don’t smoke, putting more bans wasn’t the main way of helping people to quit. “Covering the label is a ridiculous idea. It is a restriction to the consumer choice, in my opinion,” explains 21-year-old Alberto Furlan.

“Vending machines should be banned”

As far as the vending machines are concerned, even some of the smokers think that it would have been a good idea to put an end to them. According to Valeria Marchetti, “It could help people to quit smoking because it is less opportunities for smokers to buy cigarettes”.

Vending cigarettes machines is an easy way to encourage the under 21s to buy cigarettes. Therefore, many believe that preventing those machines from operating helps protect their health.

21-year-old Amo Shah claims, “How can you check people’s age when buying from a machine? I think they should definitely stop the use of those machines, I am not a big fan of them”.

Nowadays, most of the Governments in Europe are taking even more severe actions regarding the smoking issue. One of the last measures to deal with this public health problem was to insert really shocking images on the boxes.

Yet, not every one agrees regarding this action. Amo Shah, staff at the University of Westminster considers this measure as being “an attempt to influence someone’s decision too much”

Alberto Furlan thinks, “Images are more shocking than words. It is not the first time that such a thing is done and I am almost sure that it worked in other countries”.