Month: October 2017

The Atlantic: Keeping up with the Trends

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“Social media… it’s the future for the new generation.”
– Cameron Dallas

It’s been speculated that the death of newspaper may not be so far way. As improvements in technology have rapidly changed and shaped the world into how it is today, so too has it lead to a rapid decline in printed newspapers. In The United States over half of Americans exclusively get their news from online sources, including social media sites. Newspaper companies were forced to make a choice; throw in the towel or move into the 21st century.

Although The Atlantic may not fit exactly into that category, the 160 year old magazine company has continuously remained successful due to their easily accessible social media presence, quality of work, as well as keeping up to date with the latest journalism trends.

“We want to join the urgency of the web with the impact The Atlantic has always aspired to in magazine journalism.”

J.J. Gould, The Atlantic

While the magazine company still publishes 10 printed magazines yearly, their online sites are updated daily, covering breaking news, politics and international affairs, business and economy, education, technology, health, culture and the arts, and science. The website allows all users, subscribers or not, to access the entire range of articles published whether past or present. Many of the articles online feature many types of media including podcasts, video and audio pieces, photography, and more. The website has been designed for maximum efficiency, as each feature article not only contains links to related articles on the side of the page, but also contains the most popular unrelated articles at the bottom of the story.  The Atlantic also features a tool bar at the top for easy navigation.

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The website also includes links to Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and more, as well as an ‘About’ section full of links for just about everything a reader might want to know about the site.
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While both Facebook and Twitter sites don’t contain the full story they do contain direct links to the article on the website. Instagram however appears to be only photos with a short blurb, although it does contain a like to website there are no links that take the reader directly to the article on the website. For followers of The Atlantic on Instagram, this seems like an impractical use of social media as the reader would have to exit Instagram and then search for the article in question. While it’s really not difficult to do so, it seems an unnecessary step to take.

Overall The Atlantic has transitioned into the 21st century with grace. They have created a website that is both efficient and user friendly. Through the use of digital media they have managed to enhance and captivate an audience. By keeping up with social media trends they have remained successful thus allowing them to cultivate more followers than ever before. And while there might still be some fine tuning needed The Atlantic is a wonderful example of trends within the journalism community and of how to effectively use social media as a form of promotion.

 

Behind the Counter

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In 2016 the number of international students hit a record high when over half a million students chose to come to Australia to further their education. To many, becoming an international student seems like a luxury, but for international students, cultural diversity, a sense of belonging, and fear of labour exploitation have become areas of growing concern.

Being alone in a foreign country is a daunting experience, more so when the language spoken isn’t your own. Moshiour Shawon has been in Australia for three years working towards a degree in electrical engineering. His decision to move from Bangladesh to Australia took more than the twelve hours to get here by plane, it’s been a never ending transition to adjust to the Australian culture and way of life.

“I like living in Australia, Australians are nice, very open minded… But I’ve found it hard to make Australian friends because I don’t drink and I think maybe people don’t invite me to go out because they do and it would be awkward for them” said Mosh.

Mosh comes from a Muslim background, nearly 90% of Bengali’s are Muslim. Life in Bangladesh is drastically different, there’s no night clubs, no bars, and what’s more there’s few and far places in-between to even get an alcoholic beverage.

But he’s not alone in feeling slightly out of touch with his Australian counter parts. Zaid Hassan is from Pakistan and was also international student, although he has recently graduated.

“It can be pretty tough when you first arrive in Australia and you have to adjust to a new culture, new lifestyle and new education system” said Zaid.

International students, particularly those that come from a culture where alcohol is prohibited, can have great difficulty trying to fit into a society that bases so much of it’s social interactions around drinking.

Trying to assimilate to the Australian culture isn’t the only challenge though. Although it’s nothing new, the latest scandal on the underpayment of international students brought to light the shocking mistreatment of foreign workers in Australia. Acquiring a part time job is often a necessity, wether it’s for a visa requirement or just to sustain daily life. Many international students feel the pressure of securing an income straight away that they settle for  jobs that aren’t paying them correctly, or they may be unaware of their workers rights.

And while Mosh now works for Coles Express and is being paid the award wage, he’s no stranger to the underpayment of international students. Before getting this position he worked in hospitality where he was being taken advantage of by his employer.