Organic, Gluten

Organic, Gluten Executive Summary Despite the recent spur in the concern for whole-wheat products and gluten-free food, the hype for healthy nutrition seems to have died down. This has triggered a major concern in the companies that produce organic bakery and other gluten free products.Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Organic, Gluten-Free Whole Grain Products specifically for you for only $16.05 $11/page Learn More Moreover, the emergence of new entrants in the specified industry has triggered not only a drop in prices and, thus, in revenues, but also a considerable decrease in the amount of customers for the company. Although the increase in competition rates can be viewed as an opportunity for the organisation to explore new opportunities in research and development by creating a new brand product and, therefore, define a new manner of marketing whole-wheat products to the target audience, the threat of losing an impressive part of the annual income is still quite tangible. Herein the necessity to revamp the company’s image and to reconsider some of the issues related to marketing and research and development lies. With the adoption of a more reasonable advertisement approach that will incorporate active use of modern media and a flexible financial policy, the baking company in question will be capable of becoming the leader in the specified industry. More importantly, this approach will allow for a complete reinvention of the industry. A complex approach, which will allow for creating a brand product and an interesting legend behind it, will help improve the revenues of the company and raise demand for whole-wheat products. Marketing Audit It is suggested that the marketing audit should be conducted on a monthly basis. Thus, major issues will be spotted and at the same time enough time will be left for introducing changes to the current marketing strategy.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition to the assessment of the marketing strategy efficacy, the audit will help review the effects of the external and the internal marketing environments on the overall course of the company (Phillips, 2014, p. 221). As far as the external elements of the marketing audit are concerned, it is essential to nail down the key specifics of the target customers. In the case in point, the basic characteristics of the denizens of the UK population, which are considered to be the key consumers of the whole grain products, must be identified. As a study shows, the decision process, which a typical buyer has to go through before selecting the desired product, presupposes that a compromise between three key elements, i.e., the price, the quality and the enjoyment of the product, should be made. Consequently, it will be essential that the pricing strategy along with a well established legend behind the b rand product, should be developed prior to offering the goods to the customers. In our company’s case, the emphasis must be put on the effects, which the brand product (i.e., the whole grains yogurt) is going to have on the customer and the taste properties which the product under consideration possesses. At present, the company’s products can be characterized by a very tasty flavor, yet the legend behind the key goods has not been developed well enough and does not stand out of the range of similar ideas. Therefore, it will be imperative that the customer should associate the company’s goods with a very specific idea, e.g., the idea of restoring one’s energy balance and consuming essential nutrients without the aftereffects that other products of a similar nature have (i.e., the digestion issues that regular yogurt may cause).Advertising We will write a custom report sample on Organic, Gluten-Free Whole Grain Products specifically for you for o nly $16.05 $11/page Learn More SWOT Analysis Strengths Great experience in the industry and a good grasp of the latest technologies in whole-wheat goods production; Equipment working perfectly and kept in a proper condition due to regular maintenance procedures; Adherence to the company’s ethics, which dictates that no fraudulent actions should be taken by the company staff; High quality standards and customer satisfaction as the top priority of the organisation; Incorporation of e-commerce into the company’s marketing framework and, therefore, the ability to promote the product to all denizens of the population Weaknesses Flaws in the marketing strategy, which does not allow for showcasing the benefits of the product; Dependency on the trends in dieting and, as a result, a major drop in the amount of customers once the fade dies down; Lack of a recognisable brand that the customers could relate to and, therefore, be inclined towards consumin g; Lack of a coherent leadership strategy, which could improve motivation rates among the staff and, thus, increase their performance efficacy. Opportunities Introduction of major innovations and the following reinvention of the food industry in general and the whole grain production area in particular; Major advance in the specified area and the following strengthening of the company’s position in the target market; Attainment of customer satisfaction through the improvement of communication between the customer and the company staff; Development of a new brand, which will represent the company in the target market and become a household name for whole grain products among the target audience; Design of an elaborate leadership strategy, which will help Threats Failure to locate the appropriate leadership strategy and, therefore, motivate the staff so that the performance rates could be enhanced; Emergence of new and more successful entrants, which will be capable of achieving more impressive results within a shorter amount of time; An unfortunate choice of the new brand and the resulting misrepresentation of the organisation. As the SWOT analysis shows, the company is currently in a desperate need for being revamped and having a brand product to promote. The specified need, however, can only be satisfied once a thorough marketing study is conducted and the key demands of the potential customers are identified. More to the point, it is crucial that the latter should also be distilled among the general audience and that the key methods of advertising the product to them should be identified. The SWOT analysis also shows quite clearly that the company lacks the product that could represent it in the realm of the UK market, not to mention the global environment. The design of the brand may not break new grounds, yet it has to be in line with the company’s vision, mission and ethics, which concern the provision of high quality produc ts to the customers and care for the latter’s health. In addition, the fact that the current leadership approach leaves much to be desired is clearly the point of major concern. Unless the organization establishes a proper leadership approach, the motivation of the staff will drop inevitably. It is suggested that transformative leadership style should be integrated into the company management. Thus, the organization will be capable of enhancing personal and professional responsibility in its staff, thus, leading to a major increase in their performance. It is assumed that incentives should be suggested so that people could become more loyal to the company and strive for better results. Competitor Analysis Abel Cole (Abel Cole 2015) Bob’s Red Mill (Bob’s Red Mill 2015) Whole Grain Milling, Co. (Whole Grain Milling, Co. 2015) My company Products Fruit, vegetables, whole grain food Whole grain bread Tortilla chips, grains, mixes, beef Whole grain bread and bakery, cereals and chips Price High High Moderate Moderate Quality Excellent Good Good Excellent Selection Reasonable Reasonable Reasonable Reasonable Service Satisfactory Satisfactory Fast and efficient Fast and efficient Reliability High Moderate High High Stability High Moderate High High Experience Big (More than 10 years) Big (more than 10 years) Big (more than 10 years) Small (less than a year) Company reputation Positive Positive Positive Positive Location Wimbledon, UK Milwaukie, OR Welcome, MN London, UK Appearance Frequent Rare Rare Frequent Sales method AIDA One-off selling ARC AIDA (Mohammadi et al. 2012) Credit policies Credits to individuals and companies Trade credit Credits to individuals and companies Trade credit Advertising Traditional and modem media Traditional and modem media Mostly traditional media Combined (Traditional and modern media) Image The company, whose brand promotes a reasonable diet and show concern for people’s health Corporate giant and a company with a variety of brands Wholesome food producing company Environmentalism and healthcare As the table above shows, the company is in desperate need for a brand that will make it recognisable and allow for a better promotion of the products and services.Advertising Looking for report on business economics? Let's see if we can help you! Get your first paper with 15% OFF Learn More In addition, it is highly desirable that the number of products to offer the customers should increase; for instance, the advertisements could focus on not merely the fact that the chips produced by the organisation are healthy, but also that they come in several types of flavours, etc. The comparison of the four companies has shown that the organization in question is going to face rather tough competition. The Nestle subdivision producing whole grain food seems to be the key threat to the stability of the company. Since Nestle rarely promotes itself as the producer of whole grain food and the related products, it can be suggested that the organization under analysis should stake on organizing events that will help attract more attention to its products and, therefore, become the leader in the specified industry. Marketing Objectives As it has been stressed above, the company is currently facing the necessity to develop a brand product, as well create an attracting and interesting legend for it. Therefore, a successful introduction of the new product into the target market can be considered the key objective that the organisation should strive for achieving at present. Moreover, several types of media should be used in the course of the product marketing. To be more specific, traditional media, including TV commercials, advertisements in magazines, booklets with a full list of the products suggested by the organisation, billboard advertisements, etc., will be utilised for attracting the audience’s attention on a par with the modern media tools, e.g., social networks. Apart from the specified objectives, the company will be striving towards promoting not only its goods, but also its image as the company that values its customers and cares about their health. This will require that the organization should reconsider its current values and make the promotion of healthy lifestyle its basic mission. It is assumed that the entrance to both supplier and influ encer markets will help the company promote itself and reach the top of the modern food industry. Marketing Strategies Viral Marketing As far as marketing strategies are concerned, viral marketing should be viewed as the basis for the company’s promotion technique development (Chaston Mangles 2002, p. 33). In fact, making viral marketing should be incorporated into the company’s marketing approach as the extension of the organisation’s vision. Indeed, seeing that the company puts a very strong emphasis on healthy lifestyle and the promotion thereof to the target population, the idea of raising awareness on the subject matter through viral marketing makes quite a lot of sense. Diversity Marketing However, apart from the specified strategy, diversity marketing must be included into the organisation’s approach as well. Seeing that the company will target at attracting a variety of customers of both genders, coming from various backgrounds and representing v arious nationalities and ethnicities, the company will have to develop several methods of marketing depending on the target demographics (Andreason 2001, p. 109). Online and E-Mail Marketing As it has been stressed above, the incorporation of modern information technology is vital for the company’s progress; therefore, the Internet should also be viewed as the place, where the company can promote its goods (Baker 2003, p. 28). Moreover, the use of the Internet will help attract younger audience, whereas the traditional media can be considered the tool for inviting the older one to try the company’s products. Online marketing is a perfect way of advertising the company’s goods. However, with the emergence of browser extensions, which block advertisements (e.g., AdBlock, AdBlock Plus, etc.), online marketing has become quite pointless. Therefore, e-mail marketing (i.e., sending the target customers e-mails regularly) must be viewed as an option. E-mail marketing, however, should be used very carefully, as many people find consistent messages with little of essential information rather obnoxious. Social Media Marketing and Cross Media Marketing It is impossible to underrate the significance of social media in most people’s lives. Therefore, the company cannot possibly overlook the chance to promote its goods to the target audience without seeming too insistent. At this point, the importance of gaining loyalty among the users of social networks is essential for the company in question. By subscribing to the newsfeed that will be provided regularly by the company via its social network profile, people will be able to learn more about the company’s products, its vision, mission and brands, and, therefore, will soon become interested in the goods that the firm has to offer. Because of a high level of diversity among the ranks of the company’s target demographics, the significance of traditional media is not to be forgotten, e ither; thus, it will be required to place advertisements on billboards and public transport. By crossing several types of media in its endeavours of speaking to as many denizens of the state’s population as possible, the company will engage in the so-called cross media marketing. Measurement Plans and Reviewing Naturally, it will be necessary to develop a framework for evaluating the company’s progress. While it is quite tempting to restrict the company’s evaluation to the use of a standard framework, it is desirable that a specific assessment plan should be developed based on the existing methods (Cranfield School of Management 2000, p. 11). First and most obvious, the financial progress made by the company, i.e., the increase in its annual revenue, should be evaluated. In order to carry out the assessment, one will have to compare the results displayed by the firm in 2015 to the ones that the company will deliver at the end of 2016 with the help of financial a udits (‘Company assessment’ 2014). A combination of a SWOT analysis (Ayub et al. 2013, p. 92) and the comparison between the financial statement of 2015 and 2016 will be required in order to provide a detailed overview of the changes that the company will have undergone by the time (Doyle 2002, p. 23). It would also be a good idea to incorporate the Millennium Development Goals (Spitzer Martinuzzi 2013, p. 4) into the assessment as the staple of a proper analysis of the company’s progress. Apart from the aforementioned tools, the evaluation of the leadership style efficacy (Kotler, Lane Keller K 2009, p. 118) will be required. The specified assessment must be twofold, as it will incorporate the evaluation of the staff’s motivation and the change in the social and professional responsibility rates among the stuff as a result of the change in the leadership approach. As far as the motivation assessment tool is concerned, an integration of several framework s will also be required so that the slightest alterations in the behavioural patterns of the employees should be easily traceable. Finally, the evaluation of the company’s sustainability will be required so that the progress should be clear and that the problem issues should be located easily. The sustainability assessment, in its turn, can be carried out with the help of the instruments such as the Corporate Sustainability Assessment (Samuel-Fitwi et al. 2012, p. 185) and the S-CORE Sustainability Assessment (‘S-COREâ„ ¢ Sustainability Assessment’ 2015, para. 1). Contingency/Risk Factors Naturally, certain risks are expected in the process of establishing the company in the new market and creating the brand that will supposedly revolutionise the industry. An alternative evolution of the target market, which has not been taken into account in the business plan, is the key threat to the company’s further progress. Indeed, as it has been stressed above, t he hype for healthy food may eventually disintegrate and the whole grain products will become unclaimed among the target audience. One must admit, though, that a smart advertisement campaign, which will support the idea of healthy diet, will help address the specified issue by attracting people’s attention to the problem an prompting them to reassess their views on the subject matter. Another risk associated with the marketing campaign concerns the product risk. While creating a whole grain product, such as yogurt, is a possibility for an organisation that operates in the food industry, there is still a major threat of the company failing to add the unique element that will make the brand instantly recognisable. Indeed, seeing that the concept of whole grain yogurt is not new and that several organisations have already introduced similar projects to the global market, the company will have to be especially inventive in the description of the production technology and the lege nd behind the brand. The fact that the efficacy of leadership strategy has not been verified yet may also be considered a major threat to the company’s performance and, therefore, quite a palpable threat for the organisation’s existence. It should be noted, though, that the lack of cohesion in determining the marketing approach and the development of a proper motivational strategy for the staff to deliver better results shows that the company lacks transformative leadership. Herein the necessity to switch to the above-mentioned leadership approach lies. Conclusion Becoming a recognised brand in the food industry is not easy, especially when aiming at its whole grain products field. Because of the inconsistency in their enthusiasm towards the consumption of healthy food, target customers may be irresponsive towards the marketing campaign held by the company. Therefore, an array of tools for tricking people into paying attention to the product, including the creation of a unique brand with an original legend behind it can be considered a solution to the problem. By incorporating several tools for assessing the efficacy of the proposed plan, one will be able to not only identify the areas, where the plan in question succeeded, but also retrieve instructions on the issues that need further improvement, as well as the strategies, which will allow the company become even more successful in the target market. It is expected that the adoption of the plan described above will help the organisation become one of the market leaders and raise its annual income by at least 20%, thus, setting the premises for the future revenue streak. Reference List Abel Cole 2015, Whole Wheat Penne Rigate, Mr. Organic. Web. Andreason, A 2001, Ethics in social marketing, Georgetown University Press, Washington, DC. Ayub, A, Razzaq, A, Aslam, M S Iftekhar, H 2013, ‘A conceptual framework on evaluating SWOT analysis as the mediator in strategic marketing planning throug h marketing intelligence,’ European Journal of Business and Social Sciences, vol. 2, no. 1, pp. 91–98. Baker, S 2003, New consumer marketing, John Wiley, London, UK. Bob’s Red Mill 2015, Whole grains from the heart. Web. Chaston, I Mangles, T 2002, Small business marketing management, Basingstoke, Palgrave Macmillan. ‘Company assessment’ 2014, MPA media. Web. Cranfield School of Management 2000, Marketing management: a relationship marketing perspective, MacMillan Business, London, UK. Doyle, P 2002, Marketing management and strategy, 3rd edn, Prentice Hall, London, UK. Kotler, P, Lane, R Keller K 2009, Marketing management, 13th edn, Prentice Hall, London, UK. Mohammadi, S, Esmaeily, N Salehi, N 2012, Prioritisation of promotion tools based on AIDA model by Analytic Hierarchy process in production sector of sport industry, Archives of Applied Science Research, vol. 4, no. 4, pp. 1670-1675. Phillips, A L 2014, ‘Systematic marketing facilita tes optimal customer service: the marketing audit of a rural public library system,’ Public Library Quarterly, vol. 33, no. 1, pp. 219–235. Samuel-Fitwi, B, Wuertz, S, Schroeder, J P Schultz, C 2012, ‘Sustainability assessment tools to support aquaculture development,’ Journal of Cleaner Production, vol. 32, pp. 183–192. ‘S-COREâ„ ¢ Sustainability Assessment’ 2015, Sustainability Professionals. Web. Spitzer, H Martinuzzi, A 2013, Methods and tools for corporate impact assessment of the millennium development goals (MDGS) and sustainable development, European Sustainable Development Network, Vienna, Austria. Whole Grain Milling, Co. 2015, Our products. Web.

How to Protest Legally

How to Protest Legally The vast majority of protests are conducted peacefully and legally, but if youre new to protesting, attend a few organized protests before trying to organize your own. How to Protest Legally In the United States, the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution prohibits the government from abridging your freedom of speech. This does not mean that you can protest anywhere you like in any way you like. What this means is that in a traditional public forum, the government cannot stop you from expressing yourself, but can impose reasonable time, place, and manner restrictions. A traditional public forum is a location where people have traditionally expressed themselves to the public, getting up on proverbial soap boxes or handing out leaflets. This includes public streets, sidewalks, and parks. So while the government cannot stop you from protesting in a public park, they can impose limits on the noise level or prohibit protesters from blocking the park entrance. This also means that you have a right to protest on the public sidewalk in front of a fur store, but not on the fur stores private property. Some people confuse government action with private action. The First Amendment does not apply to restrictions imposed by private individuals or companies, although other laws or parts of the Constitution or Bill of Rights might apply. This means that the government cannot stop the publication of a book that contains controversial protected speech, but a private book store can decide for itself that they wont carry that book. Get a Protest Permit if Possible Your best bet for a legal protest is to get a protest permit from the local police, but not every police department issues or requires protest permits. If youre concerned, ask the organizers if they have a permit, and what the restrictions on the protest are. The protest permit may limit the hours of the protest, or prohibit amplified sound. Protesters are sometimes required to keep moving along the sidewalk to avoid blocking the sidewalk for other pedestrians and to keep driveways and building entrances clear. Some towns may also prohibit sticks, so be prepared to remove any sticks from your protest sign, just in case. If the terms of the protest permit seem unreasonable, dont be afraid to speak up and contact an attorney. Even if no protest permit is required, its smart to notify the police of your intentions, to give the police time to prepare and schedule officers for safety and crowd control. It also holds your place in case someone else decides to hold a protest at the same time and location. Use Common Sense at the Protest While youre at the protest, use common sense. You cant control the public and you cant control the police, but you can control yourself. For a peaceful, legal protest, comply with the terms of the protest permit, the instructions of the protest organizers, and with the instructions of the police. Try to ignore hecklers who just want to fluster you. We wish we could say that the police are only there for everyones safety, which is true most of the time. But there are definitely instances when the police will try to infringe on your free speech rights because they disagree with you. They may try to enforce arcane laws against you or impose restrictions that arent mentioned in the protest permit. You might be in full compliance with all laws and the protest permit, and then suddenly be threatened with arrest if you dont comply with some new, arbitrary requirement that was made up by an officer on the spot. Inform the protest organizers, who may have an attorney they can call. Your demeanor should not be one of fun and games, A recent protest aired on CNN depicted protesters laughing, engaging in horseplay, smiling for the cameras and just generally giving the impression they are having the time of their lives. If you dont take your issue seriously, you cant expect others to either. Though you shouldnt be uber somber, there is a reason for a certain decorum which will convey a message that you are serious and determined.   Civil Disobedience Arrests at protests are rare, but participants sometimes intend to get arrested at a protest. Civil disobedience is, by definition, illegal. Responsible protest organizers may plan an act of civil disobedience (such as a sit-in) at a protest but will not knowingly put you at risk of being arrested unless you choose to take that risk. While civil disobedience is illegal, it is peaceful and helps spread the message of the protest by increasing media coverage and/or disrupting the target of the protest. The information on this website is not legal advice and is not a substitute for legal advice. For legal advice, please consult an attorney.    Updated and edited by Michelle A. Rivera, Animal Rights Expert

Terrorist Event Response Paper Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1000 words

Terrorist Event Response Paper - Essay Example ving in to the terrorists’ demands as part of their counterterrorism strategies, the terrorists become more innovative in devising changes in the nature of their terrorist threats. The effects of terrorist activities on the economy of a country besieged by violent attacks could not be ignored. These activities hamper investment opportunities and erode public and investor confidence. In addition, terrorist activities limit economic growth because more government funds are being allocated for security and defense. In this regard, as the part-time emergency management director of a small country with a small population and a small tax base, I am tasked with the responsibility of describing how limited resources would be leveraged to respond to a terrorist event. Due to the methods, weapons used, impact and threats that terrorist activities create in peoples’ lives; various organizations must be prepared to respond in cases of terrorist attacks. Terrorists have shifted their focus to utilizing Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) which poses more danger to human lives, properties and environmental safety. Further, with the advancement in technology, terrorists utilize the World Wide Web as a means to proliferate their agenda. In this regard, the response procedure that must be applied and divulged through all local units of the government is that of a tiered response which â€Å"emphasizes that response to incidents should be handled at the lowest jurisdictional level capable of handling the work. The vast majority of incidents are, in fact, managed locally.†( USDNS, 2008, 27) This means each and every member of the local government unit, private sector representatives, emergency responders, and the community, in general, must par ticipate in awareness and in building response capabilities. As emphasized in the US Department of National Security (USDNS), the National Response Framework (2008, 27) the â€Å"three phases of effective response: prepare, respond, and

Strategic Analysis Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Strategic Analysis - Essay Example ectives. With this concern, the major opportunities and threats that are likely to be faced by Zarraffa’s Coffee owing to the prevailing macro environmental factors have also been illustrated in the report. In addition, the discussion of this report will also focused on analyzing the firm’s internal environment including its key resources or competencies that could provide adequate benefits for Zarraffa’s to achieve competitive advantage in the retail coffee and beverages industry. In relation to preparing the report, qualitative methodology has been used. Majority of the information related to the preparation of the report has been gathered from secondary sources such as scholarly articles, governmental report and company website among others. Zarraffa’s is an Australian based coffee retailer and beverage company which was founded by Kenton Campbell in the year 1996. The company is also known as one of the fastest growing franchised coffee retailers acros s the world. Currently, the organization operates around 50 coffee retail franchised stores across the different locations within Australia (Zarraffa’s Coffee, 2013). Macro Environment Analysis The macro environmental factors are the most crucial aspects that highly influence the management as well as operational performances of the organization. In relation to the macro environmental factors of Zarraffa’s, PESTEL model has been utilized with respect to clearly identify the potential opportunities and threats for Zarraffa’s in the Australian market. PESTEL Model Political Factors Political factors can have a major bearing upon a business organization to efficiently coordinate its number of vital operations. These factors can create a positive impact upon an organization’s business in terms of making its operations smoother, however political disturbances and imbalances, unrelenting governmental regulations can also provide obstructions for a business to o perate efficiently within a nation. In relation to Zarraffa’s, the company tends to offer its range of coffee products and beverages in various regions in Australia complying with adequate political guidelines of the nation. The company focuses towards abiding by diverse regulations as well as guiding principles of the governmental institutions in terms of practicing its business operations within Australia. Thus, this factor can be quite crucial for the organization in its endeavor to make internal presence as different nations have diverse business operational guidelines, which are quite crucial for a new business entity to ensure positive political or governmental influence and support. Economic Factors In relation to economic influences, Australia is one of the fastest growing nations in terms of making a stable economic position by increasing its annual Gross Domestic Product (GDP) growth and other macro-economic factors (Australian Trade Commission, 2012). In relation t o the industrial scenario, it is observed that coffee is regarded as the most favored hot drink in the nation. A

End of Poverty Guide Essay Example for Free

End of Poverty Guide Essay Sachs throws out the normal ways of thinking about the causes of poverty in countries, for instance that people are lazy or stupid, or the countries are not democratic, and that corruption is wide-spread. Fifty percent of the world’s population exists on less than one dollar per day. He believes that much of the problem is structural, which can only be dealt with through the help of the rich countries. Sachs believes, first of all, that all current debt owed by the poor countries should be cancelled. Secondly, if the rich countries would increase their development aid from .2% to .7% there would be enough money available to increase the economic growth so that all countries would no longer be extremely poor. If MAI is to become known as an agency which teaches a new way of dealing with poverty, then we need to become aware of this book and Sachs understanding and approach to poverty. Chapter Twelve really speaks to CHE. I have tried to review what has appeared to me to be the most salient points, chapter by chapter. All chapters are not treated equally. I primarily do this exercise for myself to help me understand the key points from the book. If they are of any help to others, then that is a plus. I have gone into more detail in the other synopsis I have done because of the possible guidance this book can give us for a new paradigm for dealing with poverty individually, locally, nationally and globally (which in reality we are already on the road in doing). Some things are both structural and governmental issues and I am not suggesting that we get involved in these, but change must begin at the village level and then we can scale up our strengths from there. Chapter OneA Global Family Portrait Sachs sets the stage for his thesis and book using examples of Malawi, Bangladesh, India, and China to show different levels of poverty. He talks abut the ascending ladder of economic development for countries. †¢ Lowest are those who are too ill, hungry, or destitute to get even a foot on the bottom rung of the development ladder. They make up the bottom 1/6 of the world’s population, or one billion people. They are the poorest of the poor and live on less than $1 a day. †¢ A few rungs up the ladder at the upper end of the low-income countries are another 1.5 billion people. They live just above the subsistence level. These two groups make up 40% of the world’s population. CHE targets both of these groups, and especially with the first group. †¢ Another 2.5 billion include the IT workers of India. Most of them live in the cities and are moderately poor. †¢ One billion or one-sixth of the world come from the rich developed countries. Sachs says the greatest tragedy of our time is that one-sixth of the world’s population is not even on the first rung of the ladder. A large number of the extremely poor in level one are caught in the poverty trap and cannot escape it. They are trapped by disease, physical isolation, climate stress, environmental degradation, and extreme poverty itself. He breaks poverty into three levels: †¢ Extreme poverty means households cannot meet basic needs for survival. This only occurs in developing countries. World Bank says their income is less than $1 a day. †¢ Moderate poverty is where needs are generally just barely met. World Bank says this represents countries where their income falls between $1 and $2 per day. †¢ Relative poverty generally describes household income level at being below a given percentage of the average national income. You find this in developed countries. He then presents the Challenge of our Generation which includes: †¢ Helping the poorest of the poor escape the misery of extreme poverty and help them begin their climb up the ladder of economic development. †¢ Ensuring all who are the world’s poor, including moderately poor, have a chance to climb higher in economic development. He believes that the following can be done: †¢ Meet the Millennium Development Goals by 2015. †¢ End extreme poverty by 2025. †¢ To ensure well before 2025, that all of the world’s poor countries can make reliable progress up the ladder of economic development. †¢ To accomplish this with modest financial help from the riches countries, which will be more than is now provided per capita. Chapter TwoThe Spread of Economic Prosperity Sachs uses several graphs in this chapter. I will not go into detail on these, but I will point out some salient points: †¢ All regions of the world were poor in 1820. †¢ All regions experienced economic progress, though some much more than others. †¢ Today’s richest regions experienced by far the greatest economic progress. As an example, Africa has only grown at .7% a year while the USA at 1.7%. This may not seem much, but when compounded year-by-year, it results in the great differences between the two. †¢ The key fact today is not the transfer of income from one region to another, but rather that the overall increase in the world’s income is happening at different rates in different regions. Until the 1700’s, the world was remarkably poor by today’s standards. A major change was the industrial revolution coming to certain regions and not to others. The steam engine was a decisive turning point because it mobilized the vast store of primary energy which unlocked the mass production of goods and services. Modern energy fueled every aspect of the economic takeoff. As coal fueled industry, industry fueled political power. Britain’s industrial breakthrough created a huge military and financial advantage. But Britain also had existing individual initiative and social mobility than most other countries of the world. They also had a strengthening of institution and liberty. Britain also had a major geographical advantageone of isolation and protection of the sea, in addition to access to the oceans for worldwide transportation for their goods and importation of other countries’ goods. Sachs then goes on to outline what has fostered major economic growth: †¢ Modern economic growth is accompanied by people moving to the cities, or urbanization. This means fewer and fewer people produce the food that is required for the country. Hopefully, food price per farmer decreases as larger plots are farmed more productively. This also means sparsely populated land makes good sense when many farms are needed to grow the crops, but sparse land makes little sense when more and more people are engaged in manufacturing in the cities. †¢ Modern economic growth fostered a revolution in social mobility which affected social ranking of people. A fixed social order depends on status quo and agrarian population. †¢ There is a change in gender roles with economic development. This affects living conditions as well as family structure. The desired number of children decreases. †¢ The division of labor increases. By specializing in one activity instead of many, producti vity increases. The diffusion of economic growth occurred in three main forms: †¢ From Britain to its colonies in North America, Australia and New Zealand. (It was therefore relatively straight-forth to transfer British technologies, food crops and even legal institutions.) †¢ A second diffusion took place within Europe that ran from Western Europe to Eastern Europe, and from Northern Europe to Southern Europe. †¢ The third wave of diffusion was from Europe to Latin America, Africa, and Asia. Sachs believes that the single most important reason for prosperity spread is the transmission of technology and the ideas underlying it. The technological advances came at different times. †¢ The first wave revolved around the invention of the steam engine which led to factory-producing goods. †¢ The second wave in the 19th century was led by the introduction of the rail and telegraph. It also included the introduction of steam ships instead of sailing ones, and the construction of the Suez Canal. †¢ The third wave was initiated by electrification of industry and urban society. Along with this came the development of the internal combustion engine. †¢ The fourth wave came in the 20th century with the globalization of the world due to new methods of communication starting in Europe. †¢ There came a time of a great rupture which took place with the start of World War I, and sidetracked economic development for awhile. This led to the Great Depression which led to World War II. †¢ A fifth wave took place right after World War II, and in 1991. It began with the massive efforts of reconstruction of Europe and Japan right after World War II. Trade barriers began to come down. There were three worlds: the first was the developed West, the second was comprised of Socialist countries, and the third was made up of undeveloped countries (which were made up of the old colony countries). The world therefore progressed on three tracks. The problem was that the second and third worlds did not share in economic growth and actually went backward. By closing their economies, they closed themselves off from economic development. So what did this mean to the poorest of the poor countries? †¢ They did not begin their economic growth until decades later. †¢ They faced geographical barriers of being land-locked †¢ They faced the brutal exploitation of the colonial powers. †¢ They made disastrously bad choices in their national policies. Chapter ThreeWhy Some Countries Fail In this chapter, Sachs looks at the cause of poverty and possible solutions. He first deals with, how a family’s per-capita income might increase: †¢ The first way is through savings either in cash or similar assets like animals, etc. †¢ The second way is shifting to crops that bring a higher yield per hectare, and then adding value to the crop (which is what we teach in our PAD training). †¢ The third way is adopting new technology, which improves their productivity. †¢ The fourth way is resource boom, which means to move to a much larger and more fertile farm. The flip side of increasing their economic growth is by decreasing their per capita income which is more than just the opposite of the above factors: †¢ Lack of savings is of course one way to reduce per capita income. †¢ Lack of trade, meaning that a household hears of the new crop but cannot take advantage of it and stays with what they have. †¢ Technological reversal is when something like HIV hits an area and children lose their parents etc. †¢ Natural resource decline is where the land becomes less and less fertile producing less and less crops. †¢ Adverse Productivity Shock is where a natural disaster hits like a drought, tsunami, earthquake, typhoon, etc. †¢ Population growth lessens per capita income where the father has two hectares of land and it is divided among his five sons at his death. Now Sachs begins to get into the true heart of poverty on a country level: †¢ The poverty trap itself is where poverty is so extreme that the poor do not have the ability by themselves to get out of the mess. †¢ Physical geography plays a major role where countries are land-locked with poor or no roads, a lack of navigable rivers, or situated in mountain ranges or deserts with an extremely high transportation cost. The low productivity of the land is another factor in the geography. †¢ The fiscal trap is where the government lacks the resources to pay for the necessary infrastructure on which economic growth depends. †¢ Government failure happens when the government is not concentrating on high priority infrastructure and social service projects. †¢ Cultural or religious barriers especially as it relates to gender inequality play a significant role in dampening economic growth. †¢ Geopolitics such as trade barriers can impede economic growth. †¢ Lac k of innovation and technology plays a role if people cannot try new things because they cannot risk failure, or because they do not have funds to do so. Sachs believes that over the span of two centuries, the lack of using new technology is why the richest and poorest countries have diverged. †¢ He shows a scatter-gram graph showing there is a demographic trap as well. The higher the fertility rate, the lower rate of economic growth there is in a country. When they have too many children, they cannot invest in education, nutrition, or health, except maybe for the oldest male. One of the best ways to lower the number of children per family is through the education of the girls. Sachs then goes into detail in putting countries into different classes. He points out that none of the rich countries in North American, Western Europe or East Asia have failed to grow economically. All the problems lie in the developing world where 45 of these countries had a fall in GDP. Not all of these countries are in sub-Saharan Africa. He also points out that the oil-exporting and ex-Soviet countries, all high income countries, did not increase their economic growth evenly, primarily because of their authoritarian political structure. He also points out that the most important factor is agriculture. Those countries that used high yield cereals per hectare and that used high levels of fertilizers are the poor countries that tended to experience economic growth. In Africa, the land is much less densely populated but they use neither high yield cereals nor fertilizers and they had falling food production per capita. But they also have far less roads for transporting extra crops to markets and they depend on rainfall which is generally more erratic than high-producing agricultural countries. He also goes on to point out the following: †¢ Economic growth is rarely uniformly distributed across a country. †¢ Governments also fail in their role in allowing growth that might enrich the rich households, while the poorest living in the same area seldom seem to benefit. †¢ Another detriment to growth can be culture especially as it relates to women inequality. Chapter FourClinical Economics (CE) Sachs compares clinical economics to clinical medicine. He lays out five parameters for Clinical Economics: †¢ CE is made up of complex systems. The failure in one system can lead to cascades of failures in other parts of the economy. You therefore need to deal with very broad and multiple issues. †¢ CE practitioners need to learn the art of clinical diagnosis. The CE practitioner must hone-in on the key underlying causes of economic distress and prescribe appropriate remedies that are tailor-made to each country’s condition. †¢ Treatment needs to be viewed in family terms, not individual terms. The entire world is part of each country’s family. If countries work together they can have far more impact than working in isolation. †¢ Good CE practice requires monitoring and evaluation. More than just asking if the goals are being achieved, but also asking â€Å"why?† and â€Å"why not?† †¢ The development community lacks the requisite ethical and professional standards. Economic development does not take its work with the sense of responsibility that the task requires. It demands that honest advice be given. He points out where economic development practice has gone wrong: †¢ The rich countries say, â€Å"Poverty is your own fault. Be like us, have a free market, be entrepreneurial, fiscally responsible and your problems will be gone†. †¢ The IMF period of structural adjustment which supposedly dealt with the four maladies of poor governance, excessive government intervention in the markets, excessive government spending, and too much state ownership were not solved by the IMF prescription of belt tightening, privatization, liberalization, and good governance. †¢ The responsibility for poverty reduction was assumed to lie entirely with poor countries themselves. He then lays out his differential diagnosis for poverty reduction. He believes the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) goes a long way in reducing poverty. Once the diagnosis is completed, a proper treatment regime must be carried out. In doing differential diagnosis, questions must be asked in each one of the following areas: †¢ Identify and map the extent of extreme poverty from the household level all the way up through the community to the country to the state in all areas of life. †¢ The second set of questions deals with the economic policy framework. †¢ The third set deals with the fiscal framework. †¢ Fourth deals with physical geography and human ecology. †¢ Fifth, the questions deal with the patterns of governance. History has shown that democracy is not a prerequisite for economic development. †¢ Sixth are questions which deal with cultural barriers that hinder economic development. †¢ The last are questions that are related to geopolitics which involves a country’s security and relationship with the rest of the world. The next six chapters, five through ten, deal with specific countries that have gone through this process, and their results. His results are quite impressive. I will not deal much with each country, but an individual chapter might be of interest to the RC involved if he is interested in such things. Chapter FiveBolivia’s High Rate of Inflation Problem: A hyperinflation rate of 3000% (30 times) between July 1984 and July 1985 with a longer term hyperinflation rate of 24,000%. Lessons Learned: †¢ Stabilization is a complex process. Ending a large budget deficit may be the first step but controlling the underlying forces that cause the budget deficit is much more complex. †¢ Macroeconomics tools are limited in their power. †¢ Successful change requires a combination of technocratic knowledge, bold political leadership, and broad social participation. †¢ Success requires not only bold reforms at home, but also financial help from abroad. †¢ Poor countries must demand their due. Chapter SixPoland’s Return to Europe Problem: By the end of 1989, Poland had partially suspended its international debt payments. The economy was suffering from high rate of rising inflation and there was a deepening political crisis. Sachs’ approach in Poland, as in other countries, was built on five pillars: †¢ Stabilizationending the high rate of inflation, establishing stability and convertible currency. †¢ Liberalizationallowing markets to function by legalizing private economic activity (ending price controls and establishing necessary laws). †¢ Privatization identifying private owners for assets currently held by the state. †¢ Social netpensions and other benefits for the elderly and poor were established. †¢ Institutional Harmonizationadopting, step-by-step, the economic laws, procedures, and institutions. Lessons Learned: †¢ He learned how a country’s fate is crucially determined by its specific linkages to the rest of the world. †¢ Again the importance of the basic guidance concept for broad-based economic transformation, not to stand alone with separate solutions. †¢ Saw again the practical possibilities of large-scale thinking †¢ He learned not to take â€Å"no† for an answer, press on with your guidance. †¢ By the time a country has fallen into deep crisis, it requires some external help to get back on track. †¢ This help may be in the form of getting the basics right which includes debt cancellation and help to bolster confidence in the reforms. Chapter SevenRussia’s Struggle for Normalcy Problem: The Soviet Union relied almost entirely on its oil and gas exports to earn foreign exchange, and on its use of oil and gas to run its industrial economy. In the mid- 1980’s, the price of oil and gas plummeted and the Soviet Union’s oil production began to fall. Sachs suggested three actions of the West (but generally they were ignored by the West): †¢ A stabilization fund for the ruble. †¢ Immediate suspension of debt repayment followed by cancellation of their debts. †¢ A new aid program for transformation focusing on the most vulnerable sectors of the Russian economy. Lesson Learned: †¢ Despite much turmoil and rejection much went right so that eventually Russia became a lopsided market economy, still focused on oil and gas. †¢ Russia has a gigantic land mass which causes it to have few linkages with other nations of the world. †¢ Their population densities are low and agrarian and food production per hectare remains low. Over history, 90% of the population has been rural, with cities few and far between. This hinders economic growth. †¢ Without adequate aid, the political consensus around the reforms was deeply undermined, thereby compromising the reform process. Chapter EightChina Catching Up after a Half Millennium Being Isolated Problem: China lost its economic and cultural lead that it had in its early history. Sachs points out five dates which caused this: †¢ 1434 China had been the technological superpower. This year Emperor Ming closed China to the rest of the world and stopped their advanced ship fleets from going out to the world. †¢ 1839 China finally ended its economic isolation. †¢ 1898 Several young reformers tried to gain power and were stopped. †¢ 1911 Ching Dynasty collapsed and by 1916 China was falling into civil unrest. Their military took control of the empire. †¢ 1949 the rise of the Maoist Movement. He then compares China to Russia: †¢ The Soviet Union and Eastern Europe had massive foreign debt while China did not. †¢ China has a large coastline that supported its export growth, while Russia and Eastern Europe do not. †¢ China had the benefit of large off-shore Chinese business communities which acted as foreign investors, while Russia and Eastern Europe did not. †¢ The Soviet was experiencing a drastic decline on their main export product, oil and gas. †¢ The Soviet Union had gone further down the industrialization road than China. Chapter NineIndia Market Reform Which Was the Triumph of Hope Over Fear Problem: India was controlled by a business, British East India Company, which was driven by greed, and it did everything to maximize profit for the company at the expense of the country. Though India’s population throughout history has been Hindu, vast numbers of Muslims and Christians lived in and sometimes dominated the land. India had poor political and social structures because the land was broken into many small kingdoms governed by many different leaders. In addition, India has the caste-system of stratification of peoples. With independence from the British in 1947, Nehru looked for a path to self- sufficiency and democratic socialism. The Green Revolution had a major impact on the country as high yield crops were introduced. By 1994, India now faced four major challenges: †¢ Reforms needed to be extended especially in liberalization and the development of new and better systems. †¢ India needed to invest heavily in infrastructure †¢ India needed to invest more in health and education of its people, especially the lower castes. †¢ India needed to figure out how to pay for the needed infrastructure. Lessons Learned: †¢ The 21st century is likely to be the era when this poor country’s economic development is substantially reversed. †¢ The country has announced electricity for all as well as essential health services and drinking water for everyone. These are achievable goals and the basis for much-needed investment. †¢ The Hindus did not stifle growth. The Green Revolution and then market reforms overrode the rigidness of the caste-system and the slow growth of the 1950’s and 1960’s. †¢ India has become increasingly urbanized, thereby further weakening the caste-system. †¢ Democracy is wearing away age-old social hierarchies. †¢ India has grabbed the potential of the internet and IT and is leading the way for developing nations in this regard. †¢ India’s varied geography and its miles and miles of shoreline fosters its market position for the manufacture of products. Chapter TenAfrica and the Dying Problem: Three centuries of slave trade were followed by a century of colonial rule which left Africa bereft of educated citizens and leaders, basic infrastructure, and public health facilities. The borders followed arbitrary lines, not historic tribal lines which now divided former empires, ethnic groups, ecosystems, watersheds, and resource deposits. The West was not willing to invest in African economic development. Corruption was not the central cause for their economic failure as he showed. In the 1980’s, HIV became the worse killer of mankind. In 2001, life expectancy stood at 47 years, while East Asia stood at 69 years, and developed countries at 78 years. Sachs spends time looking at the major diseases of malaria, TB, diarrhea, and HIV. He says poverty causes disease and disease causes poverty. Lessons Learned: †¢ Good governance and market reform alone are not sufficient to generate growth if a country is in a poverty trap. †¢ Geography has conspired with economics to give Africa a particularly weak hand. Africa lacks navigable rivers with access to the ocean for easy transport and trade. †¢ Africa lacks irrigation and depends on rainfall for their crops. †¢ Farmers lack access roads, markets, and fertilizers, while soils have been long depleted of their nutrients. Chapter ElevenThe Millennium, 9/11, and the United Nations. The beginning part of this chapter deals with the Millennium Development Goals. Sachs says that the goals and commitment to reach them by 2015 convey the hope that extreme poverty, disease, and environmental degradation could be alleviated with the wealth, the new technologies, and global awareness with which we entered the 21st century. He says the first seven goals call for sharp cuts in poverty, disease, and environmental degradation, while the eighth goal is essentially a commitment to global partnership. Because you have all seen them, I am not including them here. Regarding 9/11, he says we need to keep it in perspective. On 9/11, 3000 people died for once and for all, but 10,000 people die each day from diseases that are preventable. He believes we need to address the deeper roots of terrorism of which extreme poverty is an important element. The rich world needs to turn its efforts to a much greater extent from military strategies to economic development. President Franklin Delano Roosevelt spoke of freedoms we were fighting for in WWII and for which we still should be attempting to accomplish: †¢ Freedom of speech and expression everywhere in the world. †¢ Freedom for every person to worship God in his own way everywhere in the world. †¢ Freedom from want which translates into economic development. †¢ Freedom from fear which translates into a worldwide reduction in armament, a reduction to such a point that no nation will be in a position to commit an act of physical aggression against any neighbor. One major thing he is suggesting is that the rich countries elevate their giving to .7% of their GNP from the average of .2% it is today. The rest of the chapter is about President Bush and the USA policies and actions. Chapter TwelveOn-The-Ground Solutions for Ending Poverty This chapter is really talking about CHE, but Sachs does not realize it. He says that the world’s challenge is not to overcome laziness and corruption but rather to take on geographic isolation, disease, vulnerability to climate shocks, etc. with new systems of political responsibility that can get the job done. He talks about a village of less than 1,000 in western Kenya, in a Sauri sub-location (in Siaya district in Nyanza province) that he visited, which opened his eyes. He found what we find place after place that they are impoverished, but they are capable and resourceful. Though struggling to survive, presently they are not dispirited but determined to improve their situation. He then goes on to describe the needs of a rural African community, the same type of community that we deal with every day, as shown in the abundance of applications we receive for CHE. A major problem, he feels, is that the farmers do not have the money to buy fertilizer that would impact their crop productivity drastically. Also they have no school or clinic. He then begins to calculate what it would cost per person to bring a school and teachers, simple clinic and staff, medicines, agriculture inputs such as seed and fertilizer, safe drinking water and simple sanitation, and power transport and communication services. The total cost for Sauri is about $350,000 a year, which converts to $70 a person per year, which could revolutionize the community. If he did CHE, the total cost and per person cost would be greatly reduced. He then goes ahead and extrapolates this up for the country of Kenya to $1.5 billion. At the same time he points out that Kenya’s debt service is $600 million a year and that it needs to be cancelled. But one problem that donors talk about is corruption needing to be eliminated. If countries do not eliminate corruption, they would not be eligible for relief. Also, a budget and management system need to be designed that will reach the villages and be monitorable, governable, and scalablea set of interventions to ensure good governance on such a historic project. The key to this is to empower village-based community organizations to oversee village services. Most of what he says in this chapter sounds like CHE to me, but we can do it at even a lower cost and we have the experience to implement it. That is why I said earlier that we need to talk to Sachs about CHE. He then goes on with this theme but changes the venue from rural to urban in Mumbai, India in a slum community built smack up against the railroad tracks, one-house deep. He points out the outstanding needs are not latrines, running water, nor safety from trains, but empowerment so they can negotiate with the government. He then mentions that several groups have been found and empowered to do this in this community. Again sounds like CHE for urban poor. Sachs says what this community needs is investments in the individual and basic infra-structure that can empower people to be healthier, better educated, and more productive in the work force. CHE deals with the individual side of the equation. He ends this chapter by discussing the problem of scale. He says everything must start with the basic village. The key is connecting these basic units together into a global network that reaches from impoverished communities to the very centers of power and back again. This, too, is what we are talking about when we describe scaling-up and creating a movement and then forming it into councils and collaborative groups. He believes the rich world would readily provide the missing finances but they will wonder how to ensure that the money made available would really reach the poor and that there would be results. He says we need a strategy for scaling up the investments that will end poverty, including governance that empowers the poor while holding them accountable. I believe CHE fits his prescription. Chapter ThirteenMaking the Investments Needed to End Poverty Sachs says the extreme poor lack six kinds of capital: †¢ Human Capital: health, nutrition, and skills needed for each person to be productive. †¢ Business Capital: the machinery, facilities, and motorized transport used in agriculture, industry and services. †¢ Infrastructure Capital: water and sanitation, airports and sea ports, and telecommunications systems that are critical inputs for business productivity. †¢ Natural Capital: arable land, healthy soils, biodiversity, and well- functioning ecosystems that provide the environmental services need by human society. †¢ Public Institutional Capital: commercial law, judicial systems, government services, and policing, that underpin the peaceful and prosperous division of labor. †¢ Knowledge Capital: the scientific and technological know-how that raises productivity in business output and the promotion of physical and natural capital. He spends several pages on charts showing income flow. He also uses the example of child survival and how it applies to the six kinds of capital. He makes the point that even in the poorest societies, primary education alone is no longer sufficient. He says all youth should have a minimum of 9 years of education. He says technical capacity must be in the whole of society from the bottom up. He talks about trained community health workers and the role they can play. Villages around the world should be helped in adult education involving life and death issues such as HIV. The main challenges now is NOT to show what works in small villages or districts but rather to scale up what works to encompass a whole country, even the world. Again sounds like CHE and where we are going. He goes through several examples where major diseases are being dealt with such as malaria, river blindness, and polio, as well as spread of family planning. He also briefly talks about the cell phone revolution by the poor in Bangladesh and how East Asia has established Export Processing Zones, all of which are improving the life of the poorest of poor nations. Chapter FourteenA Global Compact to End Poverty He says the poorest countries themselves must take seriously the problem of ending poverty and need to devote a greater share of their national resources to accomplish this. Many poor countries pretend to reform while rich countries pretend to help them. The chronic lack of donor financing robs the poor countries of their poverty-fighting zeal. We are stuck in a show play that is not real. There are two sides in a compact. In this compact, there should be the commitment in the rich countries to help all poor countries where the collective will to be responsible partners in the endeavor is present. For the other poor countries where authoritarian or corrupt regimes hold sway, the consequences for the population are likely to be tragic but the rich countries have their limits also. He spends time looking at several countries that have Poverty Reduction Strategies where some are working and some not. Ghana is a star in his book. He says a true MDG-based poverty reduction strategy would have five parts: †¢ A Differential Diagnosis which includes identifying policies and investments that the country needs to achieve the MDGs. †¢ An Investment Plan which shows the size, timing and costs of the required investments. †¢ A Financial Plan to fund the Investment Plan, including the calculation of the MDG financing gap, the portion of the financial needs that donors will have to fill. †¢ A Donor Plan which gives multi-year commitments from donors for meeting the MDGs. †¢ A Public Management Plan that outlines the mechanisms of governance and public administration that will help implement the expanded public investment plan. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, the IMF forced Structural Readjustment on the poor countries which did not work. The poor were asked to pay all the expenses for new services. They then moved to a compromise called Social Marketing where the poor were asked to pay a portion of the expense. But neither plan worked because the poor did not have enough even to eat, much less pay for electricity. He says a sound management plan should include the following: †¢ Decentralize. Investments are needed in all the villages and the details for what is needed needs to be established at the village level through local committees, not the national capitol or Washington DC. †¢ Training. The public sector lacks the talent to oversee the scaling up process. Training programs for capacity building should be part of the strategy. †¢ Information Technology. The use of information technologycomputers, e-mail and mobile phones needs to increase drastically because of the dramatic increase of knowledge that needs to be transmitted. †¢ Measurable Benchmarks. Every MDG based poverty reduction strategy should be supported by quantitative benchmarks tailored to national conditions, needs, and data availability. †¢ Audits. No country should receive greater funding unless the money can be audited. †¢ Monitoring and Evaluation. Each country must prepare to have investments monitored and evaluated. He then goes through the following Global Policies for Poverty Reduction: †¢ The Debt Crisis. The poorest countries are unable to repay their debt, let alone carry the interest. Therefore, for each country that agrees to the guidelines noted previously, their debt must be cancelled if there is to be true poverty reduction. †¢ Global trade Policy. Poor countries need to increase their exports to the rich countries and thereby earn foreign exchange in order to import capital goods from the rich countries. Yet trade is not enough. The policy must include both aid and trade. The end of agriculture subsidies is not enough for this to happen. †¢ Science for Development. The poor are likely to be ignored by the international scientific community unless special effort is made to include things that help the poor. It is more critical to identify the priority needs for scientific research in relation to the poor than to mobilize the donor community to spur that research forward. That would include research in tropical agriculture, energy systems, climate forecasting, water management, and sustainable management of ecosystems. †¢ Environmental stewardship. The poorest of poor nations are generally innocent victims of major long-term ecosystem degradation. The rich countries must live up to the ecology agreements they have signed. The rich countries will have to give added financial assistance to the poor countries to enable them to deal with the ecosystem problems. The rich countries will have to invest more in climate research. Chapter FifteenCan The Rich Afford to Help the Poor? He asks the question â€Å"Can the rich countries help the poor?†, and his answer is â€Å"Can they afford not to do so?† He gives five reasons that show that the current effort is so modest. †¢ The numbers of extremely poor have declined close to 50% two generations ago to 33% a generation ago to 20% today. †¢ The goal is to end extreme poverty, not all poverty, and to close the gap between the rich and the poor. †¢ Success in ending the poverty trap will be much easier than it appears. Too little has been done to identify specific, proven, low-cost interventions that can make a difference in living standards and economic growth (CHE does this). †¢ The rich world is vastly rich. What seemed out of reach a generation or two ago is now such a small fraction of the vastly expanded income of the rich world. †¢ Our tools are more powerful than ever, including computers, internet, mobile phones, etc. He then spends time in doing calculations to show how this can be accomplished. First he starts with the World Bank. They estimate that meeting basic needs requires $1.08 per person per day. Currently, the average income of the extremely poor is 77 cents per day, creating a shortfall of 31 cents per day or $113 per person per year. He then shows that this represents only .6% of a nation’s GNP. The MDG target which many countries have agreed to is .7% of their GNP. Later on, he shows that the USA is only spending .15% for aid to the world. Sachs then spends time on a six-step process to do a needs assessment to come up with the real number needed: †¢ Identify the package of basic needs. †¢ Identify for each country the current unmet needs of the population. †¢ Calculate the costs of meeting the unmet needs through investments, taking into account future population growth. †¢ Calculate the part of the investments that can’t be financed by the country itself. †¢ Calculate the MDG financing gap that must be covered by donors. †¢ Assess the size of the donor contribution relative to donor income. He proposes that interventions are required to meet the following basic needs: †¢ Primary education for all children with a designated target ratio of pupils to teachers. †¢ Nutrition program for all vulnerable populations. †¢ Universal access to anti-malarial bed nets for all households in regions of malaria transmission. †¢ Access to safe drinking water and sanitation. †¢ One-half kilometer of paved roads for every thousand population. †¢ Access to modern cooking fuels and improved cooking stoves to decrease indoor air pollution. He states extreme poverty (a lack of access to basic needs) is very different from relative poverty (occupying a place at the bottom of the ladder of income distribution) within rich countries, and goes through a more detailed approach of implementing the six steps. He points out that not all donor assistance is for development. Much is used for emergency relief, care for resettlement of refugees, geopolitical support of particular governments, and help for middle-income countries that have largely ended extreme poverty in their country. Also, only a small portion of development aid actually helps to finance the intervention package. Much of it goes for technical assistance which is not part of the MDG numbers. He spends time on the question, â€Å"Can the USA afford the .7% of their GNP?† He responds with a deafening â€Å"Yes!† He does this in multiple ways, one of which is to show that the increase is only .55%, which would be hardly noticed in the US’s average 1.9% increase year-by-year of its GNP. Chapter SixteenMyths and Magic Bullets This is an interesting chapter because Sachs shoots down commonly held beliefs concerning the causes and solutions for poverty. He uses Africa as his case to do so:. †¢ Contrary to popular conception, Africa has not received great amounts of aid. They receive $30 per person per year but only $12 of that actually went to be used in development in Africa. $5 went to consultants of donor countries, $3 went to food and emergency relief, $4 for servicing Africa’s debt and $5 for debt relief. In reality, in 2002, only six cents per person went to development. †¢ Corruption is the problem which leads to poor governance. By any standard of measure Africa’s governance is low, but not due to corruption. African countries’ governance is no different than other poor countries in the rest of the world. Governance improves as the people become more literate and more affluent. Secondly, a more affluent country can afford to invest more in governance. †¢ There is a democracy deficit. This is also not true. In 2003, 11 countries in Africa were considered free, with 20 more partially free, and 16 not free. This is the same as is found in other regions of the world. Democracy does not translate into faster economic growth. †¢ Lack of modern values. Again, this is also false. Virtually every society that was once poor has been castigated for being unworthy until its citizens became rich and then their new wealth was explained by their industriousness. He traces this trend in multiple countries. One major factor that does cause change is the change in women’s position in society as their economic situation improves, which accelerates the growth. †¢ The need for economic freedom is not fully true. Generally market societies out perform centrally planned economies. This leads to the thought that all is needed is that the people must have the will to liberalize and privatize which is too simplistic. He shows that there is no correlation between the Economic Freedom Index and annual growth rate of GDP. †¢ The single idea of Mystery of Capital put forth by Hernando de Soto which relates to the security of private property including the ability to borrow against it is also incorrect. Most poor hold their assets such as housing and land. †¢ There is a shortfall of morals which is thought to be the main cause of HIV in Africa. A study shows that Africa men are no different in the average number of sexual partners they have than any other part of the world. †¢ Saving children only to become hungry adults leads to population explosion. Actually it has been shown that the best way to reduce the fertility rate is to increase the economic status. In all parts of the world (except the Middle East) where the fertility rate is over 5 children, those countries are the poorest ones. As children survive, the parents feel less of a need to have more children which is a result of improved economic conditions. †¢ A rising tide lifts all boats. This means extreme poverty will take care of itself because economic development will pull all countries along to improvement. A rising improvement does not reach the hinder lands or mountain tops. †¢ Nature red in tooth and claw means that economic improvement is based on survival of the fittest and those who cannot compete fall behind. This is a Darwin thought which seems to still prevail throughout the world. Competition and struggle are but one side o f the coin which has the other side of trust, cooperation, and collective action. He rejects the doomsayers who saying that ending poverty is impossible. He believes he has identified specific interventions that are needed as well as found ways to plan and implement them at an affordable rate. Chapter SeventeenWhy We Should Do It There are several fallacies which affect the USA’s giving: †¢ The American public greatly overestimates the amount of federal funds spent on foreign aid. The US public believes that the government is providing massive amounts of aid. A 2001 survey by the University of Maryland showed that people felt that US aid accounted for 20% of the federal budget versus the actual of .15%. That is 24 times smaller than the actual figure. †¢ The American public believes that the US military can achieve security for Americans in the absence of a stable world. This has been proven untrue especially with 9/11. †¢ There is a fallacy in belief that there is a war of cultures. For many, this relates to Biblical prophesy of Armageddon and end times. The problem in the US is not opposition to increased foreign aid but a lack of political leadership to inform the public how little the US does supply, and then asking the US public to supply more. Hard evidence has established a strong linkage between extreme poverty abroad and threats to national security. As a general proposition, economic failure (an economy stuck in a poverty trap, banking crisis, debt default or hyper-inflation) often leads to a state failure. A CIA Task force looked at state failures between 1954 and 1994 and found that the following three factors were most significant in state failure: †¢ Very high infant mortality rate suggested that overall low levels of material well-being are a significant factor in state failure. †¢ Openness of the economy showed the more economic linkages a country had with the rest of the world, the lower chance of state failure. †¢ Democratic countries showed fewer propensities to state failure than authoritarian regimes. He then reviews what the US government has committed to since 9/11: †¢ Provide resources to aid countries that have met national reform. †¢ Improve effectiveness of the World Bank and other development banks in raising living standards. †¢ Insist on measurable results to ensure that development assistance is actually making a difference in the lives of the world’s poor. †¢ Increase the amount of development assistance that is provided in the form of grants, not loans. †¢ Since trade and investment are the real engines of economic growth, open societies to commerce and investment. †¢ Secure public health. †¢ Emphasize education. †¢ Continue to aid agricultural development. In reality, little progress has been done by the US to the accomplishment of these goals. But he does spend time discussing where plans were established and that funds were flowing where massive amounts of aid were provided by the USA: †¢ End of World War II with the Marshall Plan which revitalized Europe and Japan. †¢ Jubilee 2000 Drop the Debt Campaign started slow but ended up with large amount of national debt being cancelled in the poorest of countries. †¢ The Emergency Plan for HIV is providing $15 billion to fight this pandemic. The bottom line of this chapter is, â€Å"OK, USA and other rich countries, you are saying good things, now step-up to the plate and do what you have agreed to do.† Chapter EighteenOur Generation’s Challenge Our generation is heir to two and a half centuries of economic progress. We can realistically envision a world without extreme poverty by the year 2025 because of technological progress which enables us to meet basic needs on a global scale. We can also achieve a margin above basic needs unprecedented in history. Until the Industrial Revolution, humanity had known only unending struggles against famine, pandemic disease, and extreme povertyall compounded by cycles of war, and political despotism. At the same time, Enlightenment thinkers began to envision the possibility of sustained social progress in which science and technology could be harnessed to achieve sustained improvements in the organization of social, political, and economic life. He proposes four thinkers which led this movement: †¢ Thomas Jefferson and other founders of the American Republic led the thought that political institutions could be fashioned consciously to meet the needs of society through a human-made political system. †¢ Adam Smith believed that the economic system could similarly be shaped to meet human need and his economic design runs parallel to Jefferson’s political designs. †¢ Immanuel Kant called for an appropriate global system of governance to end the age-old scourge of war. †¢ Science and technology, fueled by human reason can be a sustained force for social improvement and human betterment led by Francis Bacon and Marie-Jean-Antoine Condorcet. Condorcet put much emphasis on public education to accomplish the goals. One of the most abiding commitments of the Enlightenment was the idea that social progress should be universal and not restricted to a corner of Western Europe. He said now it is our generation’s turn to help foster the following: †¢ Political systems that promote human well-being †¢ Economic systems that spread the benefits of science, technology, and division of labor to all parts of the world. †¢ International cooperation in order to secure a perpetual peace. †¢ Science and technology, grounded in human rationality, to fuel the continued prospects for improving the human condition. He then spends three or four pages discussing the good and bad points of the Anti-globalization Movement which is taking place. He also spends time discussing three movements which made these kind of changes in the world in their time: †¢ The end of Slavery †¢ The end of Colonization †¢ The Civil Rights and Anti-Apartheid Movement He closes with discussing the next steps which are: †¢ Commit to ending poverty †¢ Adopt a plan of action built around the Millennium Development Goals †¢ Raise the voice of the poor †¢ Redeem the role of the United States in the world †¢ Rescue the IMF and World Bank †¢ Strengthen the United Nations †¢ Harness global science †¢ Promote sustainable development †¢ Make a personal commitment to become involved Summary This is an interesting book with new perspectives for me, and which is beginning to be taken seriously by the world. I believe, as stated earlier, that MAI’s role is on-the-ground solutions for ending poverty through CHE which is spelled out in Chapter 12. But, as also noted, we can do it at a far lower cost than he estimates because of our commitment to empowering people to do things on their own and primarily with their own funds.

Graduation Speech -- Graduation Speech, Commencement Address

T.S. Eliot once wrote, "What we call the beginning is often the end. And to make an end is to make a beginning. The end is where we start from." Every landmark in our lives will end but there is always a beginning to an end. As each new path ends a new one begins. Graduation marks the end of a path but as it ends a new path begins. Life is an adventure. We started out by walking on a winding path as we entered the destination of kindergarten. As our lives ventured on down the winding path, we met new friends and new life experiences along the way. As the path widens, we see ourselves on a country road. We started elementary school and we constantly gained new knowledge to help us progress in our journey. As we continued along in our journey we entered a paved path in middle school. As ...

Audiences and Publics Are Important in Media Convergence Culture

SCHOOL OF MEDIA, CULTURE AND CREATIVE ARTS ASSIGNMENT COVER SHEET To be attached to all assignments (ALL SECTIONS MUST BE COMPLETED) STUDENT NAME:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦HAO JING WEI†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ STUDENT ID:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦15646457†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ UNIT NAME AND NUMBER:†¦MCI212 Consumers, Audiences, Publics and Users DUE DATE:†¦Critical essay 15 October 2012 (by 4pm via email) †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. WORD COUNT:†¦1800 – 2200 words †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢ € ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. TUTORIAL DAY AND TIME:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦11am to 2pm, Wednesday, C25†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. TUTOR’S NAME:†¦Ms.Lai Jia Weng †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦.. IT IS ESSENTIAL THAT YOUR TUTOR’S NAME IS ON ALL SUBMITTED ASSIGNMENTS DECLARATION: I declare that I have retained a copy of this assignment. I have read and understood Curtin University policies on Plagiarism and Copyright and declare that this assignment complies with these policies. I declare that this assignment is my own work and has not been submitted previously in any form for assessment. Signature:†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Hao Jing Wei†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. Date: †¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦. 15. 10. 2012†¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦Ã¢â‚¬ ¦ Audiences and Publics Are Important in Media Convergence Culture IntroductionAfter we have studied about consuming culture through module 1, now all of us should know about consumption better. As we know audiences and publics are important parts in consuming culture – such as audiences purchase goods, shopping, living, traveling, education, services and so on, the world especially the consumption world is all about audiences and publics, at the same time they play a very important role in convergence culture as well. In today’s increasingly digital cultural, the way consumers consume and the way publics and audiences communicate are totally different from the traditional media times.Nowadays, people require both of physical and mental for life satisfaction such as purchase more healthy foods, watch digital TV, go to higher education, have internet services and so on. Convergence culture is the outcome of the rapid development of new information and communication technologies. According to â€Å"†¦Media convergence must also be seen as having a cultural logic of its own, blurring the lines between production and consumption, between making media and using media, between active or passive spectatorship†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Deuze, 2007, p. 74)From this quote we know that media convergence makes several changes between production and consumption, between making media and using media, between active or passive spectatorship of mediated culture. In this essay there are four main points to discuss how audiences and publics play roles in convergence culture. Discussions Firstly, the role audiences and publics play has been changed from passive to active. With the high technology development of media, new media has become more and more important than old media. Back to 20th century, old media such as TV was the main trend in the world and controlled audience.For instance, as we know all the TV programs will follow a fixed schedule, audiences only can watch whatever the TV programmes show, once you miss the show, then you will miss the show ever, unless the TV channels broadcast again. While nowadays, with the digital TV appeared, the audiences have become from passive to active. First of all, the digital TV can broadcast programmes at the same time, and based on â€Å"†¦Another huge advantage of digital television is that digital data takes up less bandwidth, meaning more channels can be broadcast at the same time.This gives viewers much more choice in what they watch and allows for follow up channels which broadcast the same programs as their namesake, just an hour later†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Davies, n. d. ) And â€Å"†¦Digital TV from Telenet: watch whatever you want, whenever you want†¦(Digital television, n. d. ). These mean the audiences can watch different shows at the same time, as well as they can switch programmes to whatever they want to watch. This kind of changes is a big different from analog TV. Next, digital TV allows audiences to pause or record live broadcasts at the click of a button.According to â€Å"†¦With Telenet Digital TV you can pause prog rams and rewind programs that you have viewed. You can record a program by simply pushing one button and your recording is immediately stored digitally on a hard disk†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Digital television, n. d. ), so you no longer have to miss your favourite TV programmes! And based on â€Å"†¦However, it’s a great leap to presume that the availability of digital networked technologies turns everyone into active participants. †(van Dijak, 2009, p. 44) From these quotes and examples we can see that audiences and publics are not passive any more.Secondly, audiences and publics have more participation and interactive with production company. For instance, Big Brother is a reality TV from United Kingdom and developed in the late 1990s. This TV programme offers audiences go to the onscreen world of the programme, use mobile phones and automatic number redial techniques to try and ensure their candidate in the house emerged the winner. These are two special points of Big B rother. According to â€Å"†¦Over the past 15 years, viewers have increasingly acted as participants in game shows, quizzes, talk shows and make-over programmes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (van Dijak, 2009, p. 3) And â€Å"†¦particularly the surge of reality television has boosted the of ‘ordinary people’ in broadcast productions†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Teurlings, 2001) and â€Å"†¦In addition, the popularity of personal and communal media (home movies, home videos, community television) has profoundly affected television culture, particularly since the 1980s†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (van Dijak, 2009, p. 43) And based on â€Å"†¦Viewers were encouraged to visit the websites, and for a small subscription fee, could buy additional access to coverage of the more intimate activities, likes and dislikes, directly to the gained from syndicated†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ross, 2003, p. ), from these quotes we can see that the audiences have more interactive than before and the production company tr y to require unprecedented levels of interactivity with public as well. Thirdly, the perspectives of audiences and publics have more influences on programmes producing. Not only TV programmes but also all media programmes need audiences, need public. If a production company produces a programme without listening to the voice of audiences, it is just like flowers are far away from soil, fishes are far away from water. Without audiences, the progranmme is dead sooner or later.Based on â€Å"†¦Similarly, producers of popular television entertainment – such as soap operas or police dramas – are developing innovative ways to collect audience feedback, and then applying this information to the development of new characters and plotlines, as well as to include the most current social issues in their shows†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Deuze, 2007. p. 75) And according to â€Å"†¦A very important reason is to understand your audience. The more you know about the types of people i n your audience, their backgrounds, their interests, and their preferences, the better you can be at making programs to suit them†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Know Your Audience, n. . ) With the development of media convergence, audiences’ interests have become more and more important. â€Å"†¦The intensity of emotional involvement exhibited by viewers of reality TV led programme executives to consider new ways to monitor, channel and exploit viewer interest†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Ross, 2003, p. 3) From the quotes we can see that audiences’ perspectives play an important role in the development of programmes producing and audience curiosity is subject to commercial exploitation. Fourthly, audiences and publics play more than one roles in media convergence culture. †¢ Audiences as users †¦In the development of a professional identity among media workers, can be illustrated by a November 2005 survey by the Pew Internet and American Life Project among teenagers in the United St ate, which report concludes:’ Some 57% of online teens create content for the internet. ’†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Deuze, 2007, p. 76) And based on â€Å" †¦During 2005, online social network sites like MySpace and Facebook became common destinations for young people in the United States†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Boyd, 2005, p. 119) From these quotes, we can see that with the rapid development of Internet technology, social networks appeared into people’s life, especially for the young generation.Facebook is the world’s largest social network, with over 1 billion monthly active users. â€Å"†¦Young people were logging in, creating elaborate profiles, publicly articulating their relationships with other participants, and writing extensive comments back and forth†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Boyd, 2005, p. 119) Users can create blogs, create or work on a webpage for school, an organizations, or a friend, share original content such as photos, opinions, stories, videos online, or art work and so on. Another example is Sina Weibo. Weibo† in Chinese stands for micro-blog, it has been launched recently in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Taiwan and North America. Sina Weibo is China’s twitter, it is the hottest mircroblogging services in China now and it’s activity around Chinese Diaspora. â€Å"†¦In Weibo, the user can post pictures and embed videos directly into their feed. Much like in Facebook, the media is thumbnailed and will expand if clicked on instead of opening up a completely new page/tab as in Twitter†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Jou, 2012) Based on â€Å"†¦According to Sina, Weibo has a registered total user base of 358 million, of which roughly 36. million active users daily†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Jou, 2012) And according to â€Å"†¦It consumes 90% market shares of China’s microblogging services, with more than 140 million users in less than 2 years, while Twitter gained 200 million users in less than 5 years. It’s new, itâ €™s hot, and it’s becoming bigger and stronger†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Falcon, n. d. ) Bade on these data, we can know that social networks have become an important part of people’s life. â€Å"Social network sites are based around profiles, a form of individual (or, less frequently, group) home page, which offers a description of each member.In addition to text, images, and video created by the member, the social network site profile also contains comments from other member and a public list†¦Ã¢â‚¬ (Boyd, 2005, p. 123) According to â€Å"†¦Identity refers to our own sense of self and how we are seen by our communities†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Social Design, n. d. ) And â€Å"†¦Social Design defines how we understand ourselves and each other and can be broken down into three core elements: Identity, Conversation and Community†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Social Design, n. d. ) Users can create their individual profiles based on their own identity, such s you can design how your homepage looks like, share what you are interested, show privacy information about yourself to public etc. †¢ Audiences as citizen journalists With the social networks appeared, audiences are not only a group of people who receive messages, news and information but also be senders to send information, publish news. Audiences as public also can share information and news in the first place, that is we called citizen journalism. â€Å"†¦Citizen journalism is when private individuals do essentially what professional reporters do – report information†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rogers, n. . ) And â€Å"†¦The Internet gave average people the ability to transmit information globally†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Rogers, n. d. ). From these quotes we know that as the development of Internet technology, nowadays everyone could be a journalist to publish what happen around us and around the world. According to â€Å"†¦New media technology, such as social networking and media-sharing websit es, in addition to the increasing prevalence of cellular phones, have made citizen journalism more accessible to people worldwide†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Citizen Journalism, n. d. ).We know that citizens can often report breaking news more quickly than professional media reporters. Such as â€Å"†¦two predominant groups of youth published information, calls to action, documentation of policy brutality, and coordinated their planning and activities via Facebook and Twitter†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (Anemic Portrayal of, 2012). Another example is â€Å"†¦was a topic on The Call, and the show’s blog post for the topic incorporates citizen-generated content into the posts. The post starts off with a brief intro by host John Schiumo, a nice fresh statement that goes†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (â€Å"The Call† interactive, 2012) The third example is â€Å"†¦At 10:25 p. . on May 1, 2011, Keith Urbahn, who happened to be the former chief of staff for Donald Rumsfeld but in this case was funct ioning as a citizen journalist, tweeted: â€Å"So I’m told by a reputable person†¦Ã¢â‚¬  (How citizen journalism, 2012) The last example is â€Å"†¦Online petitions undoubtedly, though, do represent a fabulous means of exercising one’s civic voice and leverage a response from public officials. In this example, New York City restored most of the proposed cuts to its public library budget due†¦ † (Petition power, 2012) As those examples tells us citizen journalism is more and more popular for media audiences.This is the outcome of development of Internet technology and development of mobile phone technology. Today, you can use your mobile phone to surf the internet while watch a TV programme, or watch a programme that was on TV last night on your smartphone while you are on the way to work and so on. There are too many changes in people’s life. Conclusions â€Å"All over the world, as audiences increasingly take control of their media and communications use, traditional business models are being forced to adapt quickly to the new realities of the digital era. † (Convergence Review, 2010. From the quote, we know that audiences and publics play important roles. Everyone has been in an audience, we have all been part of a group of people who come together to experience film, music, foods, traveling or other social activities. In media convergence, â€Å"All media events are audiences events since they require people to hang out in media time-spaces where they physically, mentally and emotionally engage with media materials, technologies and power structures. † (Ross, 2003. p. 6). Audiences are any group of people who receive a media text, it could be ny format such as Internet, TV news, radio programmes, newspapers and so on. Audiences are not only be audience any more, they also could be consumers and users at the same time in new media terms. They are not a group of people who receive messages and be pass ive any more, they are more active, participate and interactive with media convergence. Word count: 2106 References Anemic Portrayal of. (n. d). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://mobilekazar. word press. com/2012/02/10/anemic-portrayal-of-the-digital-road-to-egypts-revolution/ Boyd, D. (2005). Why Youth  ¦ Social Network Sites: The Role of Networked Publics in Teenage Social Life’, in Youth, Identity and Digital Media, Cambridge: MIT Press, pp. 119-142. Citizen Journalism. (n. d). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://mashable. com/follo w/topics/citizen-journalism/ Convergence Review. (2010). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://www. dbcde. go v. au/digital_economy/convergence_review/convergence_review_background_paper. html Davies, M. (n. d). The Advantages of Digital TV. Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://ezinearticles. com/? The-Advantages-of-Digital-TV&id=1425944Deuze, M. (2007). ‘Creative industries, Convergence Culture and Media Work’ (Extrac t), in Media Work, Cambridge: Polity, pp. 74-83. Digital television. (n. d). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://telenet. be/business/ en/small/digital-television Falcon, A. (n. d). Twitter Vs. Weibo. Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://www. ho ngkiat. com/blog/things-twitter-can-learn-from-sina-weibo/ How citizen journalism. (2012). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://mobilekazar. wordpress. com/2012/05/04/how-citizen-journalism-drove-the-news-of-bin-ladens-death/Jou, E. (2012). Why Sina Weibo. Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://kotaku. com/5940025/why-sina-weibo-is-better-than-twitter-even-though-theyre-pretty-much-the-same Know Your Audience. (n. d). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://www. audiencedi alogue. net/kya1a. html Petition power. (2012). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://www. mobilekazar. wo rdpress. com/2012/06/29/petition-power/ Rogers, T. (n. d). What Is Citizen Journalism?. Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://journalism. about. com/od/citize njournalism/a/whatiscitizen. htm Ross, K. Nightingale, V. (2003). ‘ Audiences Today’, in Media and Audiences: New Perspective, Maidenhead: Open University Press, pp. 1-11. Social Design. (n. d). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://developers. facebook. co m/socialdesign/ Teurlings, J. (2001). ‘Producing the Ordinary: Institutions, Discourses and Practices in Love Game Shows’, Continuum: Journal of Media & Cultural Studies 15(2): 249-63. â€Å"The Call† interactive. (2012). Retrieved October 12, 2012 from http://mobilekazar. w ordpress. com/2012/01/25/the-call-interactive-tv-news-gets-expanded-time-slot/