Investigating Islamophobia in the Daily Mail

Investigating Islamophobia in the Daily Mail Islamophobia is defined in the dictionary as being: hatred or fear of Muslims or of their politics or culture. Since the terrorist attacks of September 11th and the London 7/7 bombings amongst others, some say islamophobia within the media has increased significantly. This work intends to discuss the coverage of Muslims and the religion of Islam as a whole within the middle market newspaper The Daily Mail and explore whether publications such as the Mail are representing the Muslim race in a negative light. Ones interest in the subject matter involved is one that has derived from what is seen, amongst others, as bad journalism; middle market and tabloid newspapers inaccurately reporting issues concerning races such as Muslims. On a daily basis one can pick up a newspaper these days and spot numerous flaws, incorrect language or overall representation of a religion such as Islam. Also, a personal affliction or view in the area is the way in which Muslim communities within the UK are slowly being isolated and are being criticised collectively for the actions of a small population of the religion. When exploring the relationship between the modern West and the East, one should look upon the concept of Orientalism. Saids (1978) work draws on the concept of us and them: Orientalism is never far from what Denys Hay has called the idea of Europe, a collective notion identifying us Europeans as against all those non-Europeans (Said, 1978: 7). This notion refers to the historical manufacturing of Eastern beings as alien, the Other, by the West. It is the negative portrayal of extremist Islamic images within frameworks such as the Mail that progresses, as Halliday (1996)(remember reference for this!, see notebook [2]) suggests, this myth of confrontation that pardons the West of any need to excuse its enmity towards the East and religions such as Islam. Before this paper looks at effects of the theory of islamophobia, it is worth evaluating the polarity of the term itself. Whilst some could say the branding of the term can draw attention to the issue for positive means, further comprehensive literature on the subject and enquiries commissioned (e.g. 1997 Runnymede Trust, Islamophobia: A Challenge for Us All), there is a flipside. Academics have inferred that this is just another, more refined form of new racism according to many sociologists. Sociologist Professor Gerard Delanty describes the use of the term islamophobia: It is rooted in mainstream hostility to migrant workers and asylum-seekers, and is based to a considerable degree on ethnocentrism and xenophobia à ¢Ã¢â€š ¬Ã‚ ¦ on ignorance and fear of the other' (Delanty: Conference, see notebook for full reference[1]). Delanty is saying here that the categorisation of the idiom of islamophobia could be creating a new form of acceptable racism. The UK media industry is said by some to be institutionally racist: This racism is rooted in the countrys imperial past, with feelings of racial superiority and crude nationalism now deeply embedded in the dominant culture. (Keeble, 2009: 175) 2 per cent of the NUJ membership was black, Asian and Arab in the first media-industry wide survey in 1995 by Anthony Delano and John Henningham. Comparing this alongside the national ethnic minority population percentage of 5.26 percent at the time, and it does speak volumes. My research will include a plan to address this view and explore how far or to what extent this reflects an islamophobic nature within newspapers such as The Daily Mail. However, to discuss how deep rooted this patriotism, or national feeling of superiority over other races goes would be discursive from the intended discussion of the titles topic. The role of a national newspaper such as the Mail needs to be highlighted to display the contextualising link between islamophobia and the public. The fact that a familiar newspaper offers a sense of identity and possible security to its regular readers is an important contextualising factor when considering questions of race and ideology. (Ferguson, 1998:175) Considering middle market newspapers such as The Daily Mail and Express along with the tabloids represent more than two thirds of the national daily readership figures (1997 survey: do footnote for this), this is a first base argument for explaining the negative (potential) effect of the press on the masses. A matter to take in to consideration is the recent resignation of Daily Star journalist Richard Peppiatt, on the grounds of the papers islamophobic content. Albeit a personal letter to the Daily Stars proprietor Richard Desmond, the letter highlights a wide range of anti-Islamic features in the everyday characteristics of national newspapers such as the Star and Mail and labels the former as anti-Muslim propaganda. The letter does refer to how closely the content of the Star is to the Mails through criticism of how the newspapers editors build a newspaper from cut-and-paste-jobs off the Daily Mail website. Where he admits to stirring up a bit of light-hearted Islamophobia himself on the basis that this was in his professional duties at the Star, his disapproval of this demonization is prevalent throughout. He refers to a story the paper published concerning the condemnation of taxpayer-funded Muslim-only public toilets: I was personally tasked with writing a gloating follow-up declaring our postmodern victory in blocking the non-existent Islamic cisterns of evil (Peppiatt, 2011). This could just be seen as one individuals personal attack on a proprietor and therefore not have much worth but it does relate to, and support the theory of institutional racism within the British media. For the proposed intentions of this paper, it is worth noting the presence of Muslims within Britain. In the 2001 UK Census the population of Muslims from all ethnic groups within Britain was just short of 1.6 million (insert reference to table of figures in appendices here). The age old argument from many anti-immigration supporters is that the Muslims within Britain do not attempt to immerse themselves within British culture or our way of life, owing to increased tensions between the two cultures. Figures show that nearly half (46.4%) of all British Muslims now living in England were born in the country. It could be said that those Muslims who came to the country as adults (first generation) are grateful for the chance to live in a more open society and therefore more willing to integrate themselves within our culture. The sooner Western societies such as Britain aid this process of integration with the likes of first generation Muslims, the better. As the younger (3rd and 4th) gen eration of Muslims born in England grows, we could see Muslim communities become increasingly ostracised due to young Muslims anger towards the role of the West in Muslim lands and issues such as islamophobia within the media becoming more customary. It is also worth presenting the PCC editorial guidelines with regards to discrimination: The press must avoid prejudicial or pejorative reference to an individuals race, colour, religion, gender, sexual orientation or to any physical or mental illness or disability. The second part of the guideline refers to the details of those minority groups and how one should avoid inclusion (of those details) unless necessary to the story. The way in which newspapers such as the Daily Mail steer their content around these guidelines, in order to include xenophobic views will be explored later in the literature review. As this paper explores the surrounding themes of discrimination and false representation within the media and directs them towards the influence of a certain publication, it is important to draw from relevant history of the Daily Mail. Some would say the newspapers prejudice against religions such as Islam is a product of its deep-set DNA shown via the papers sympathetic views of Nazi Germany during the war period. The first joint proprietor and owner Lord Rothermere was known to be a friend and supporter of both Benito Mussolini and Adolf Hitler and praised the Nazi regimes accomplishments, which directed the Mails political stance and was consequently used as propaganda by them. Lord Rothermere published quotes such as: the minor misdeeds of individual Nazis would be submerged by the immense benefits the new regimes already bestowing on Germany (Rothermere, 1933), as well as printing headlines such as Hurrah for the Blackshirts (Mail, Jan 1934). The Mail was also sympathetic to Osw ald Mosley and the British Union of Fascists. The support for this group was withdrawn after violence at a BUF rally in Kensington Olympia in 1934, which displays the potential harmful influence of newspapers on the masses. Muslims within Britain have struggled with issues of integration and racism ever since there was an increased focus of attention from the media on the Iranian Revolution of 1979 (Asad 1990, see references in muslim britain book). Television screens across the world showed three million people celebrating on the streets of Tehran when Ayatollah Khomeini, known for his support of hostage takers and his calling for the death of British citizen Salman Rushdie, came out of exile; a disconcerting image for most Westerners. The Salman Rushdie affair in 1989 demonstrated the degree to which the media and British Muslims who protested against the books (The Satanic Verses) publication became emotionally unhinged (Parekh 1992, see same book + ref) over the issue. The book deeply offended Muslims and ignited debate on blasphemy laws and freedom of speech. Other historical events have all played a part in what Huntingtons (1996) thesis describes as a clash of civilisations, these being: The Gulf War (1990-1), the genocide in Bosnia-Herzegovina (1993-6), the Oklahoma bombing (1995), the Taliban in Afghanistan (1997-2002), Grozny and Kosovo (1999), the recent Palestinian Intifada (since September 2000) and the War on Iraq (2003) (Abbas 2005: 14). These events have and the media , some say (Huntington 1996) widened the gulf between East and West, Islam and Christianity and amplified the theory of Orientalism. (maybe do a little on September 11 attacks here) This paper intends to explore and discuss the different factors owing to the islamophobic content displayed in the Mail and how far it is damaging the representation of Muslim communities within Britain. It would be pointless to explain how islamophobic reporting increased or decreased over the past decade or so as it would be plain to see the increases in islamophobic content around the times of terrorist activities. One will analyse contributing factors such as the origins of islamophobia, the identification of islamophobic content, how closely does that content abide by editorial guidelines and the effect on Muslim communities through critical discussion of the topic and data analysis. The reason as to why one thinks this subject is important and would be of interest to others is the increasing multi-cultured population of Britain. As more ethnic minorities such as Muslims continue to live in Britain, increasing tensions towards people of a particular race can only put more strain on an already weak relationship with Muslim communities. The purpose of the paper is to critically evaluate and characterize publications, specifically The Daily Mail and its role in reinforcing or articulating racism, and in damaging ethnic cultural identities. The ways in which these issues are to be addressed and analysed will be explained through my research and its content analysis. Literature review The aim of this chapter is to identify themes relating to the title topic from previous published literature and critically analyse those premises. The intention here is not just to identify those relating themes, but to analyse, criticise, interpret and evaluate those themes in connection with supporting or opposing the underpinning arguments of this paper. Over the past decade or so there is has been an increase in the amount of writing, due to rising concerns from Muslims worldwide, explaining how discourses such as newspapers in Western media are misrepresenting ethnic minorities such as Muslims through presenting a negative image of Islam. My research will however focus on the Daily Mail in particular, portraying negative stereotypes, and the effects those portrayals have, on Muslim communities within Britain. In summary, this chapter will draw from prior literature and examine the complex structures and strategies of news reports and how they affect the interpretations of reade rs. How much does the role of publications such as the Mail play in the reproduction of racial and ethnic inequality in British society. Some of the earliest writing relating to British newspapers such as the Mail portraying Islam as a threat to Western interests comes from Teun van Dijks: Racism and the Press. The issue of immigration within British newspapers is one that allows anti-Muslim voices to be heard, subjectively criticising the rise in the multiculturalism of Britain: The Mail specifically focuses on alleged abuses of British hospitality, and calls for stricter immigration rules. It does not hesitate to publish, with apparent approval, overtly racist statements by right-wing politicians who claim that without further curbs on immigration Britain may become the worlds dustbin. (Van Dijk, 1991: 96) What Van Dijk is inferring is that through government policies concerning issues such as immigration, any right-wing anti-immigration views from politicians or people within the public eye will be published by the Mail with the noticeable support of the paper. Whilst highlighting the political stance and nationalistic nature of the publication, a defence for the paper would revert to free press every time. The earliest and most relevant research in this topic area has also been carried out by Teun Van Dijk. His work in the collection of empirical data surrounding the press and issues of race is a starting point for anybody analysing institutional islamophobic contents effect on British Muslims. Van Dijk started this foundational research in plain content analysis of British newspapers, analysing content such as the repetition of certain words used in headlines in attempt to rouse certain meanings from them. He describes the repetitive use of certain topics of discourse such as black and race and how they are dealt with by the press as semantic macro structures. These global, overall meaning structures of a text consist of a hierarchically arranged set of macro-propositions, which are derived from the meanings (propositions) of the sentences by way of macro-rules. These rules reduce the complex information of the text to its essential gist. (Van Dijk, 1991: 72) Van Dijk is correct in some ways in saying that the prevalence of such vocabulary would suggest that the discursive agenda of newspapers is entrenched in concerns with race. In his book Representing Race, Robert Ferguson agrees there are some uses of Van Dijks research: It would seem from this as though the media are enganged in an endless process of reproducing already existing prejudices and stereotypes. The extensive content analysis which was undertaken by Van Dijk also demonstrated that ethnic minorities and anti-racists are systematically associated with conflict, crime, intolerance and unreliability.' (Ferguson, 1998: 130) The flaws in Van Dijks research are that using empirical data, or strictly content analysis, to develop an understanding of representation can somewhat distort the power of ideology in newspapers text or framing. However, without being blatantly racist, newspapers such as the Mail through concepts of normality can still give strength to negative representations. (Maybe use this paragraph in methods) The detrimental representations of Muslim asylum seekers to Britain, in publications such as the Mail, are highlighted in Arun Kundnanis The End of Tolerance. Phrases such as we have to look after our own people first, a regular idiom in the Mail, gives strength to the inherent belief within Britain that we cannot satisfactorily provide for ourselves, never mind foreigners or them as well. Thanks to the opportunism of media and politicians, asylum seekers and migrants had been made in to potent symbols for the loss of a nation-state that once belonged to its people and afforded them certain privileges as citizens. (Kundnani, 2007: 65) This argument is stating that through newspapers persistence in covering issues of economy and well being, the Mail amongst others, tend to shift the blame of these national problems on to asylum seekers, from communities such as Muslims, for increasing the population and adding to pre-existing problems such as rises in unemployment. The only critique of this concept adding to the misrepresentation and islamophobic nature of the Mail, is that this problem spans over a huge area and is historically embedded within a nations way of thinking. My research aims to uncover the day to day anti-Islamic features of the Mail and expose the problems of intentional or institutional racism that could potentially be fixed. In some ways, previous literature has explained that events such as 9/11 and other Islam related terrorist activities give acceptance to emerging islamophobic voices or views within the media. Chris Allens chapter in Muslim Britain: Communities under pressure, highlights the enabling of publishing extreme right views on terrorists religions without backlash. In the wake of Baroness Thatchers condemnation of Muslim leaders in the Times, insisting that all Muslims as a homogeneous group should share responsibility for the attacks (4 October 2001). The Telegraph days later published an article entitled This War Is not about Terror, Its about Islam (7 October 2001). This article sought not only to praise Baroness Thatchers stance, but also confirm that Western fears were justified because some three-quarters of the worlds migrants in the last decade are said to have been Muslims (these) escapees, victims, scapegoats, malefactors and sleepers are awaiting their moment. (Allen, 2005: 61) Jonathan Birts chapter in Muslims in Britain also agrees with this post 9/11 islamophobic reaction from the press without simply analysing the textual content of a newspaper: After 9/11, the more prejudicial media comment portrayed British Muslim communities, and especially their young men, as a dangerous and unpatriotic fifth column, which were sympathetic to anti-West resistance and, indeed, the use of violent terror. Mass communications today shape and order these Islamophobic moral panics and the reactive defence to them. (Birt, 2009: 217) Here, we can see Birt is agreeing that post terrorist activities, the media is allowed to give a free press voice to racist views and opinions without fear of backlash from media regulators. The defect in analysing the islamophobic nature of publications such as the Mail surrounding terrorist actions is that it is to be expected. There is bound to be a bad press reaction to national identities and religious viewpoints, how far the negative portrayal of those identities goes without trepidation of media regulators punishment, is an issue that needs to be addressed. The British Journalism Review (March 2006) argues that the same harmful representation of Muslims within the media is the same for other terrorist groups such as the IRA. One can see similarities between views of Catholics from Ulster in the 1980s and Muslims today, that religious affiliations trumped all other affiliations: In Britain and the United States the popular line was that if you were a Catholic, you probably supported the IRA. Today, if you are a Muslim, the popular line is that you are probably anti-western or fundamentalist. This is not to say that journalism was and is responsible for these views, but rather that de-contextualised coverage did and does little to throw cold water on old stereotypes. The closest literature relating to the topic title comes from Elizabeth Pooles Reporting Islam: Media Representations of British Muslims. The book analyses the current situation regarding the image of Muslims by tracking the development of this form of new racism from earlier works. Poole says that the theme of immigration as a problem has now transferred to Muslims (van Dijk 1991), due to, as Lueg (1995) says a population explosion in the Middle East. British Muslims and their homogeny to other Muslims become the feared fifth column within (Runnymede Trust 1997). This combined with the discussion of numbers of people invading the country depicts aspirations of taking over the world, not seeking asylum. The combination of the hostile threat and movement of Islam promotes the idea that it needs to be managed in a way that allows varied prejudicial practices to continue (Poole, 2002: 47). What Poole is saying is that a plain dislike of the notion of Islam cannot be seen as the central feature of hostility towards Muslims. Attitudes to Muslims derive from a mixture of xenophobia and racism whereby newspapers such as the Mail can discuss or mainly criticise some of the practices of Islam without being seen to be unashamedly prejudice towards Muslims. Another adjoining piece of literature that many academics have drawn from when discussing this topic, is Edward Saids Covering Islam: How the media and the experts determine how we see the rest of the world (1981). Said argues that the siege of the American embassy in Iran in 1981 and its media coverage initiated an increased attention and portrayal of Islam with danger, militancy and anti-Western sentiment. The text examines the genesis and ramifications of the medias monolithic images of Islam and reveals the twisting of fact that underlies objective coverage of the Islamic world. Said says the application of a Western ideological framework or an ethnocentric way of seeing (Dahlgren and Chakrapani 1982: 45) has meant we see a domesticated Islamic world or those aspects considered to be newsworthy (Said 1981: 27). This has created a dichotomy between the West and Islam whereby the West is seen as judicious, civilized, developed and superior, and Islam as abnormal, undeveloped and in ferior. There are a small number of published journals that closely share the intentions of this paper. Diane Frosts Islamophobia: examining casual links between the media and race hate from below (2007) analyses the media reporting on recent and ongoing terrorist attacks in Britain and the effect on Muslim communities. The paper discusses islamophobic tendencies within British tabloids and their connections with government policies and violence that concerns religion. Whilst it highlights the medias promotion of moral panics such as problems of asylum and race, it is saying British tabloids breed on these moral panics, going further than the threat that is actually presented. Thus, the media have represented Muslims as a collective problem who threaten the very fabric of British society as supporters of al-Qaida and potential suicide bombers. They are the folk devils of the twenty first century (Diane Frost 2008 find out how to reference journal). It is worth noting that there are strong links between increased anti-terror legislation and other government measures and the way in which publications such as the Mail criminalise Muslim communities when reporting on such measures and legislation. This type of research will be considered in the methods section of the paper. Ian Hargreaves writes a piece in the New Statesman that demonstrates the negative coverage of immigration from the Mail in relation to fuelling racist attitudes. He says: It is not that I view with cynicism the Daily Mails efforts to achieve balance in its reporting of racial issues. Rather, I think the paper is misguided in discounting the encouragement its asylum coverage gives to racist sentiments (Hargreaves 2000). Reverting back to the theory that newspapers such as the Daily Mail have colonial instincts and an anti-foreigner viewpoint established within its DNA, Hargreaves is trying to say that these publications are not intending to be racist; they simply believe the types of stories concerning Islam being published are due to the public-interest factor. Christopher Allens journal discusses the dangerousness of the concept of Islamophobia in analytical relation with the findings of the Runnymede Trust Report (1997). The reports findings concluded that Islam is inherently seen as other to the West, reinforcing the them and us dualism. Taking this in to consideration, Allen says we should not be surprised to see such headlines as The Daily Mails offering, Fanatics with a death wish: I was born in Britain but I am a Muslim first. Here the Mail is merely reiterating those beliefs that are lodged at the heart of Islamophobia (Allen 2008: 4). The intention of this chapter was to identify underpinning theories, themes and issues published in previous literature in order for readers to understand the intentions of the research and findings that will be developed in the methods and data analysis. Methods and methodology This chapter will discuss the research that this paper will be carrying out, the reasons for using those methods and what results are to be expected. The most appropriate methods will be discussed along with their advantages and limitations, with ethical considerations ensured so that the data is collected in an ethical way. Previous research philosophy approaches to the medias role in the reproduction of racism are mainly content analytical; quantitative studies picking out the use of stereotypical words, phrases or images used when representing ethnic minorities (see, for example, Van Dijk 1991, 1997). This discourse analytical method systematically describes different structures and tactics of text in relation to a social or political framework. The method enables for the identification of focus on certain topics in a semantic analysis form as well as allowing examination of the overall organisation of news reports. Essentially this means discourse may thus be studied as the crucial interface between the social and cognitive dimensions of racism (Cottle 2000). So, publications such as the Mail as a discourse in the social practice of racism can be seen as a main source for peoples racist views/beliefs. According to Berger (1998: 23) content analysts assume that behavioural patterns, values and attitud es found in this material reflect and affect the behaviour, attitudes and values of the people who create the material. The advantages and reason as to why this paper will be adopting a similar style of research is there is no technology or major funds necessary and it has been known to lead to fundamental changes in the practices of an institution, profession and society as a whole. Another method of research that will be employed is that of conducting surveys to gauge the attitudes and opinions of Daily Mail readers on the subject of Islamic and Muslim issues. This will be cross referenced with readers of other newspapers to see if there is differing attitudes toward issues concerning Muslims, and of the role of The Daily Mail in these perceptions from people who read different newspapers. This intends to highlight the negative effect a newspaper has on readers views of a religion such as Islam and the race of Muslim. One could condemn this research method data saying the views of readers are only the views of the reader and not the publication, how far those views are affected by the discourse would be research that is virtually impossible, or not possible within the means of this author. (Explain the inductive approach to research with reference here) For the content analysis of the Daily Mails inciting of racial hatred, the content that will be analysed will be the amount of articles within a time period of 6 months the issue of Islam and Muslims is reported on in a negative manner. Albeit a personal opinion, a list of examples of this negative portrayal type of article is provided in the appendices. These are articles presenting Muslims and the religion of Islam as a problem and their difficulties with conflicting issues within British society. The research will compare the amount of times within a 6 month period these types of articles concerning Islam are presented in the Mail against how many times an article concerning the neo-Nazi anti-Muslim group The English Defence League (EDL) is shown. This will hope to demonstrate a correlation between increased amounts of Islamic coverage at a certain time with articles on/activities of the EDL. With regards to the questionnaires that will be collected, the scope and design need to be established. The scope or amount of participants that the research intends to gather are as follows; 150 readers of The Daily Mail and double that amount, 300 of readers of all other newspapers. As the research method employed to gather this amount of data means standing outside a busy newsagents (W H Smiths in Lime Street Station, Liverpool) and asking people who have bought newspapers to answer a short survey, to attempt to gather any more than that provided would be take a considerable amount of time and effort. As people are normally quite reluctant to take part in surveys due to time constraints the survey will not ask for some of the standard demographic information such as age; gender; nationality; ethnicity; religion etc. The questionnaire will ask what newspaper the participant reads, usually a quick and easy question to answer when the people who I will be asking have just recently bo ught a newspaper from the newsagents and will realise this is what my questionnaire is concerning. The questions will then be presented by me reading the statement and asking their opinion on that statement from a spectrum of answers, these being: strongly agree; agree; neutral; disagree and strongly disagree. This method does not force a yes or no answer that some participants may be reluctant to give considering the invasive nature of the questions. At the same time it could be considered to be avoiding leading questions. Where the participant may realise the questions are intended to produce certain types of generalisations so they would answer accordingly for the purposes of the research, they have some form of choice in which to express their opinions. These two forms of quantitative and qualitative research are used in order to arrive at a degree of triangulation when forming the findings and conclusions of the data collected. The two types of research methods that this paper will be employing will be that of content analysis within a theoretical framework and surveys conducted. The aim is to achieve a form of triangulation in which to infer meanings from when analysing and evaluating the collected data. Data, analysis and discussion Conclusion

Comparing Atkins and Weight Watchers Diets Essay -- Health Nutrition D

Comparing Atkins and Weight Watchers Diets Of the many diets on the market today, Atkins and Weight Watchers have a huge following. The followers of these two diets must adopt very different eating plans. You must decide before going on one of these, which advantages are you looking for and which disadvantages can you live with.   Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  The Atkins diet works on the notion that weight gain is caused not by fat intake or food portions, but the way our bodies break down carbohydrates (betterhealthusa.com). Carbohydrates will turn to fat if not burned by the body. If your body does not get enough carbohydrates, it will use stored fat. Atkins dieters are told not to eat carbohydrates in order to burn their stored fat, causing weight loss. This diet has some advantages and disadvantages. Dieters will notice in the first weeks of this plan that their weight comes off rapidly. Much of this weight is water. In these first weeks, total carbohydrate intake is less than 20 grams. One apple has 21 grams. You may eat all the meats and cheeses you desire. There is...

Opinion on the Us Correctional Facility

Tantania Dixon Corrections 320 Final Paper If we ever want our economy to recover and our citizens to prosper, we need to overhaul our correctional system immediately. The correctional system has three main goals: punish, protect the population and rehabilitate the offender. However, it is unclear how well the modern U. S. correctional system achieves these goals and whether the money invested in the correctional system might be better spent. Perhaps the most obvious goals of the correctional system are to punish those who are found guilty of crimes.In theory, this is supposed to serve as prevention against one repeating criminal activities and as an example to others of why criminal activities should be avoided. Incarceration is the most common example of punishment in the correctional system, but the death penalty and lesser penalties such as probation are also designed to be punitive. However, the correctional system acts as being too lenient on those who commit crimes. Theyâ€⠄¢re let into the prison/jail and are just free to live, something as far as harsh punishment needs to be put in action, or their mentality of jail being a â€Å"free ride† is going to remain the same.If there isn’t any other punishment being put into force, besides the fact that their sentenced to time in prison, the offender is basically getting over on the system. A basic day in the life of a prisoner is eat, sleep, working out, visits, community service, and communication with other inmates, and that’s not teaching them what they did was wrong at all. They need to be put in classes, as if someone gets a speeding charge they have to go to driving classes, not only because they committed a crime, Tantania Dixon ut to understand what crime they have committed and why NOT to do it again, and the value of what can happen if it’s done again. In addition to punishing a criminal, the correctional system is supposed to protect the rest of the society from crim inals. This includes the policing of streets as well as the imprisonment of criminals in jails. By keeping criminals in prison, they are not among the public and are not in a position in which they could harm the public at large with additional criminal acts. The protection of inmates also needs to be stricter than what it previously and still is.There are prisoners that get physically, mentally, and emotionally abused in prison, and even though it probably isn’t visible it happens, whether it’s man on man inmates vice-versa for women inmates, but not only inmates, sometimes a correctional officer can commit these crimes as well. That can make an inmate retaliate on themselves, because they can feel like their privacy of themselves and their surroundings has been taken away. If this is done so, the inmate doesn’t have anyone to speak with regarding that their treated like they don’t have feelings and concerns because they are inmates.However, at the end o f the day inmates are still human beings, and correctional officers need to take notice of that. The correctional system is also supposed to rehabilitate inmates. Rehabilitation, if done well, will make the criminal functional in normal society after release. This may include vocational training, counseling and drug rehabilitation treatment. Rehabilitation is intended to shift the criminal from being a cost to society to being a contributing member of society. Some believe that if we want to rehabilitate criminals we must do more than just send them to prison.For Tantania Dixon instance, we could give them a chance to obtain job skills, which will improve the chances that inmates will become productive citizens upon release. The programs must aim to change those who want to change. Those who are taught to produce useful goods and to be productive are likely to develop the self-esteem essential to a normal, integrated personality. This kind of program would provide skills and habits and replace the sense of hopelessness that many inmates have. Another technique used to rehabilitate criminals is counseling.There are two types of counseling in general, individual and group counseling. Individual counseling is much more costly than group counseling. The aim of group counseling is to develop positive peer pressure that will influence its members. â€Å"One idea in much sociology text is that group problem-solving has definite advantages over individual problem-solving. The idea is that a wider variety of solutions can be derived by drawing from the experience of several people with different backgrounds. Also one individual’s problem might have already been solved by another group member and can be suggested.Often if a peer proposes a solution it carries more weight than if the counselor were to suggest it. † (NYS Dept. of Correctional Services. 2000) Incarceration of criminals is expensive. It often costs more that $40 per day to keep a criminal in a prison. Similarly, the criminal prosecution process is expensive. In addition to paying the salaries of judges and district attorneys, the state must pay for criminal defense attorneys for criminals that do not have the financial means to hire an attorney on their own. This can easily cost thousands of dollars for a felony prosecution.Being that it’s so costly to keep an inmate in prison, the US Correctional System must ensure that the prisoners behind bars, aren’t Tantania Dixon innocent, and has actually committed the crime. The costs of just one inmate is very high, therefore the system needs to make sure that they are giving justice to the right criminals, and also if the crime is such as a minimum charge (i. e. drugs, vandalizing, stealing) they should have other justifications for that, so the state won’t have to be issuing extra money for people with no so harsh crimes. The chart below, basically gives you an ideal of the estimated prices for inmates.Cap ital punishment, also dubbed the â€Å"death penalty,† is the pre-meditated and planned taking of a human life by a government in response to a crime committed by that legally convicted person. â€Å"It violates the right to life†¦ It is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. There can never be any justification for torture or for cruel treatment. † (Death Tantania Dixon Penalty Information Center). There are some defendants who have earned the ultimate punishment our society has to offer by committing murder with aggravating circumstances present.I believe life is sacred. It cheapens the life of an innocent murder victim to say that society has no right to keep the murderer from ever killing again. In my view, society has not only the right, but the duty to act in self defense to protect the innocent. As of October 2009, capital punishment in the US is officially sanctioned by 34 states, as well as by the federal government. Each state with legaliz ed capital punishment has different laws regarding its methods, age limits and crimes which qualify.Although Capital Punishment is the way of getting people to understand killing or other crimes isn’t right, wouldn’t that be contradicting itself? If someone kills, then they should be killed for committing that crime? That law isn’t showing leadership whatsoever, that’s showing that killing is the way, and that it is right. However, The Death penalty does in some way help the prisons from overcrowding, although if a criminal gets sentenced to life without parole or to the death penalty, the sentencing needs to be 100% accurate.Due to the facts in some states there have been false accusations and that’s absolutely not acceptable to an innocent human being. Here is an example, how being a falsely accused criminal can ruin your life; â€Å"Brooklyn school custodian  Francis Evelyn once walked proud, worked hard and looked forward to a peaceful retir ement. Now he's too scared to go out his front door. Five months after his face was broadcast worldwide as an accused child rapist, Evelyn, 58, can't sleep. He can't stop the tears. He can't wipe away the nightmare of being arrested, jailed and wrongly accused.Berated by cops, taunted by Rikers Island inmates and branded in his native Trinidad, the dignified, law-abiding immigrant has filed a $10 million claim against the city (New York) for ruining his life by believing a troubled child with a history of lying. Evelyn was Tantania Dixon paraded before television cameras and spent two days at Rikers before prosecutors, in a nearly unprecedented move, rushed to a night judge to drop the charges. â€Å"I had two more years to retire,† he said. â€Å"After you work all that time, all that sacrifice, it comes to this?I want to get over this! † he said. â€Å"I don't want those charges just to be sealed. I want it to be washed away! I want an apology. Come on. Clear my nam e! † (New York Daily News Newspaper, September. 2007) Although Mr. Evelyn’s charge was dropped, he still has to face life of once being called a child molester, he shouldn’t have to live with that accusation to his name, it’s cruel and very un-justice. In conclusion, the US Correctional System has a lot of cleaning up to do, its name needs to be clean, and show America how to be a good leader.We as Americans don’t want our children to be able to look at cops as being crocked, and not being able to see them as being truthful. The correctional system does have good goals as for getting the criminals off the streets, protecting the community, being able to let people know that they are safe. The prisons in America take the criminals and give them justice, show them that they are wrong and shouldn’t be free to live their lives, because when they were given the chance to they screwed up and now have to pay the time, for committing the crime.

Carlsberg Brewery Example For Free - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 9 Words: 2780 Downloads: 5 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Finance Essay Type Argumentative essay Did you like this example? This report is written and designed with a main purpose for every potential investor reference and guideline related to consumer products market. It is mainly for a better and clear understanding about the conditions and trends of the market. In addition, it might also used for finding out the latest update news which may impact the investment strategy. Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "Carlsberg Brewery Example For Free" essay for you Create order This investment analysis report have been established to provide some suggestion on a right choice for a future investment, helping in carry out a good financial decisions and may contribute a good achievement with an overall success as an investor. In this investment analysis report, I chose two companies from consumer products industry which involving Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia BHD and Guinness Anchor BHD as an investment target. There are some reasons of why it is a good decision and why it has being a necessity to invest in this industry. Over the periods, investing in consumer products market can be a good strategy since this industry always stable over the time. This sector has a steady and constant growth even during the both bull and bear market. Bull and bear market is used to determine the upward and downward market trends where bull market is generally connected to capital gains with an increasing in future prices while bear market is a price decline in the stock market . Based on the market movement and the market affordability, it can be shown that the market demand from the consumer goods industry will always exist all over the periods of the time, no matter in the time of expanding economy in particular industrial revolution or even during the time of recession where the economy is contracting. In this rising competitive market, it has been expected to be increase in the future and have a continuously growth. Therefore it is a profitable business to invest in which will give every investor a better prospect of higher return and also far greater chance for success. Company Profile 2.1 Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia BHD Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad is one of the 50 breweries of Carlsberg all around the world. It is a Malaysia-based company which principally engaged in the manufacturing of beer, stout, shandy and non-alcoholic beverages for the establishment of marketing and distribution in the home market and for export purposes. Carlsberg Malaysia Brewery BHD was incorporated in December 1969 as a public company and was listed on the Main Board of the Bursa Malaysia Securities Berhad on January 1972 under consumer products sector along with the locally brewing of Carlsberg Green Label beer. It becomes No. 1 beer brand with more than 50% share of the Malaysian Beer Market. During 2001 to 2005, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad has created a rapid progress by generate an increasing significant profit as a proof. Carlsberg Malaysia provides various types of beer for every drinker which designed with different taste and lifestyles for every occasion. It has different target market since there are different types of customer therefore each product unit is different from one another. Presently, the production has been expanded to several SBUs (Strategic Business Units) which includes Carlsberg Green Label, Carlsberg Gold, Carlsberg Special Brew, Kronenbourg 1664 and 1664 Blanc, Asahi Super Dry, Somersby Apple Cider, SKOL Beer and Super Beer, Danish Royal Stout, Corona Extra, Jolly Shandy Lemon and Nutrimalt as non-alcoholic beverages. Furthermore, Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia Berhad through its subsidiaries including Carlsberg Marketing Sdn Bhd and Luen Heng F B Sdn Bhd which located in Malaysia, Carlsberg Singapore Pte Ltd and Lion Brewery (Ceylon) Plc in Sri Lanka, has take part in the wide range expansion of imported international beer brands in particular Hoegardeen, Stella Artois, Budweiser, Grimbergen and Becks. This company has a great achievement of being 7 of 9 worlds top international beer brands and it has strengthened their power in beer industry. In additio n, Carlsberg Malaysia has being at the forefront of product quality and innovation which always led the market with a dynamic product launches, massive consumer campaigns and be a recognizable popular beer. The company has been championing many Corporate Social Responsibility initiatives focusing on environment, community, workplace and marketplace. 2.2 Guinness Anchor BHD Guinness Anchor Berhad was incorporated in 1964 with the name of Guiness Malaysia Limited, and then it was changed the name to Guinness Malaysia Berhad in 1966. GAB was legally formed in 1989 by the merger of Guinness Malaysia Berhad and Malayan Breweries (Malaya) Sdn Bhd whose parent companies were Guinness Overseas Ltd (GOL) and Malayan Breweries Ltd (the present Asia Pacific Breweries Ltd). GOL is owned by Diageo Plc which is nominated as the worlds leading premium drinks group with an outstanding collection of brands across spirits, wine and beers. GAB manufactured and marketed various types of brands such as Tiger Beer, Guinness Beer, Heineken, Anchor Smooth, Anchor Strong, Kilkenny, Anglia Shandy, Malta, Paulaner, Strongbow and Sol. It is the largest market shareholder of Malaysian Beer and stout industry with 57% of the market share and GAB had revenue of more than RM 1.2 billion in the financial year ending 2009. Today, GAB has becomes the major producer and market leade r of Malaysian beer and stout industry in Malaysia and following the merger, GAB has been listed on the Main Board of Bursa Malaysia during the same year. GAB operates the Sungei Way Brewery across Peninsular Malaysia, as well as Sabah and Sarawak which started the operations in 1965 and it was located in Selangor by occupying the land area of 23.72 acres (96,000 m2). GAB has workforce of more than 560 employees. GAB is the first and only Brewery in Malaysia to receive the Hazard Analysis Critical Control Point Certification from the Ministry of Health and received the ISO 9001:2008 certification, having fulfilled the additional requirements of ISO 9001:2000. GAB has delivered 10 consecutive years by revenue, profit and market share expansion. It has strong brand equity which may drives to market growth and caters consumer palates. GAB also has approximately 30,000 sales and distribution points throughout Malaysia which prove that GAB has wide distribution network and also strong relationships with its business and trade partners. During last few years, GAB has received number of awards involving StarBiz ICR Malaysia Corporate Responsibility Awards 2009 for Workplace and 2010 for Community Investment; the Enterprise Asias Asia Responsible Entrepreneurship Awards 2011 for Investment in People; Malaysia HR Awards (Silver recognition in the Employer of Choice category) and most recently, the Malaysian Dutch Business Council Malaysian Sustainability Awards for Workplace Best Practices and Community Investment. Financial Performance Financial Ratios Analysis Financial ratio analysis is important as the basic tool for every business which may help in illustrate the business planning process involving SWOT (Strength, Weakness, Opportunities and Threats). It plays a vital role in business strategy planning which is usually used for analyzing the company performance since it was derived from the companys financial statements information. Financial ratio analysis has several strengths including it will be very useful in identifying any areas of significant changes or notice any unusual fluctuations in the business organization process. In addition, it can record how the business performance was over time by highlighting the areas of good and bad performance which may directly attract the users focus of attention. By doing the examination in financial ratio analysis, every entrepreneurs and business owners can easily track progress by setting of specific goals. There are hundreds of financial ratios available that can used by any company but some of the ratios are only applicable to industry-specific and not to all businesses. Deciding which financial ratios are appropriate and may apply to the business is important and becomes a necessity since users can make inferences about the financial performance and condition of its operations, as well as the companys attractiveness for investment target from the level and historical trends of these ratios. In addition, different users of financial ratio analysis such as investor, bankers, creditors and management may exercise the analysis for decision making purposes. It shows the company efficiency in operating and management of the business and it indicates how well the company has done in earning the profit and asset utilization. In this report, there are some financial ratios has been provided as a guideline for every potential investor to make a comparison of financial performance between Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia and Guinness Anchor Berhad in order to meet a final conclusion on which company should be invest in. The ratios will be shown as below including profitability ratio, investment ratio, liquidity ratio, financial leverage ratio and performance ratio, as well as the evaluation and analysis of the ratios. The ratios is calculated based on the companys three years published accounts which including 2009, 2010 and 2011. Table 3.1.1 Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia BHD 2011 2010 2009 Profitability Ratio Return on Equity 26.495 22.995 14.791 Return on Total Assets 17.293 14.311 8.056 Return on Revenue 11.156 9.739 7.283 Gross Profit Margin (%) 37.598 35.195 30.028 Operating Profit Margin (%) 15.343 13.316 10.058 Return on Capital Employed (%) 22.94 18.962 10.852 Investment Ratio P/E Ratio 14.502 18.233 Dividend Yield 9.177 3.965 Dividend Payout 1.331 0.723 Liquidity Ratio Current Ratio 1.456 1.311 1.121 Quick Ratio 1.209 1.134 0.956 Financial Leverage Ratio Interest Coverage Ratio (times) -38.003 111.113 Total Debt Equity Ratio 0.0355 0.091 0.017 Leverage Ratio 0.526 0.602 0.832 Performance Ratio Gross EPS (Sen) 54.35 43.58 24.90 Dividend (Sen) 58.00 18.00 Table 3.1.2 Guinness Anchor BHD 2011 2010 2009 Profitability Ratio Return on Equity (%) 35.109 32.423 32.102 Return on Total Assets (%) 26.473 23.046 21.974 Return on Revenue (%) 12.183 11.239 11.046 Gross Profit Margin (%) 32.75 29.5 28.469 Operating Profit Margin (%) 17.018 15.692 15.465 Return on Capital Employed (%) 35.45 30.939 29.587 Investment Ratio P/E Ratio 16.9 15.248 12.979 Dividend Yield 5.325 5.325 6.721 Dividend Payout 0.9 0.812 0.872 Liquidity Ratio Current Ratio 3.281 2.647 2.373 Quick Ratio 2.8 2.173 1.971 Financial Leverage Ratio Interest Coverage Ratio (times) 560.834 576.136 249.559 Total Debt Equity Ratio 0.0 0.0 0.0 Leverage Ratio 0.326 0.407 0.461 Performance Ratio Gross EPS (Sen) 60.00 50.50 47.00 Dividend (Sen) 54.00 41.00 41.00 Analysis and Evaluation Profitability Ratios Profitability ratio is the ratios that most frequently used in financial ratio analysis and also becomes one of the ratios that every firm must be concerned with. Profitability ratios are commonly used to indicate and determine the overall companys performance and efficiency on how well a company is performing in terms of its business ability to generate profits as compared to expenses which incurred over a specific time period. It also may used in established the companys bottom line and its return to the companys investors. Generally in most of the ratios, a company can be indicate is doing well in their performance by having a higher value compared to the competitors ratio or the same ratio from previous period. There are two categories of profitability ratios involving margins and returns. Ratios that show margins reflect the companys capability to interpret the sales dollars into profits at various stages of measurement. Meanwhile, ratios that show returns indicate the comp anys power to measure the overall efficiency in generating returns to its shareholders. There are some examples of profitability ratios such as return on equity, return on total asset, return on revenue, gross profit margin, operating profit margin and return on capital employed. Return on Equity This ratio is probably the most essential ratios to investors in the company for making a decision on the investment because it measures profitability related to ownership which means that it will show the return on the money that the investors have put in the company. Generally, higher percentage values have favorable meaning which means that the company is efficient in generating income on new investment. As the table 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 shown above, the ROE in Carlsberg Brewery Malaysia is lower than ROE in Guinness Anchor Berhad. During the 3 years time, even though CBM shows a significant increase in the ROE value but yet the ROE of GAB is higher. Hence, GAB performs better than CBM. Return on Total Asset ROA ratios can be called as return on investment. It is usually used as an indicator and gives ideas to the investors in terms of measuring the business management efficiency in term of using its investment in assets to generate net income. ROA indicates the number of cents earned on each dollar of assets. Therefore, the higher the values are, the more profitable the company is. Based on the results of the calculation, the Return on Total Asset in GAB is higher compared to the ROA in CBM which means that GAB is perform better at converting its investment into profit compared to CBM. Return on Revenue Return on Revenue is a financial tool that used to measure of the companys profitability that compares net income to its revenue from year to year. This ratio may help the management in controlling the expenses. Intrinsically, the difference between net income and revenue is expenses, thus an increasing ROR means that the company is generating higher n et income with lesser expenses which managed efficiently. The table of 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 indicates that GAB has a higher percentage of ROR every year compared to CBM. Hence, GAB does better in controlling the expenses to get a higher net income than CBM. Gross Profit Margin Gross profit margin is the ratio of gross profit to sales revenue. This ratio indicates how well a company controls the inventory cost and the cost of product manufacturing and afterwards passes on the costs to its customer. It reveals the financial performance by showing the proportion of money left over from revenues after calculating the cost of goods sold. Higher profit margin means that the company is doing efficiently in the business operation. Based on the table above, it shows that CBM has a higher gross profit margin during the three years time compared to the gross profit margin of GAB. It implies that CBM is perform better and doing more efficiently in term of the balance of money proportion. Op erating Profit Margin This ratio is also known as net profit margin. It is a measurement of the companys pricing strategy and operating efficiency. Operating profit margin analysis gives idea on how much the proportion of companys revenue left over after deducting from the payment of variable cost such as salaries and raw materials and also how much the company can generate on each dollar of sales. As the table of 3.1.1 and 3.1.2 shown, it shows that GAB has a higher operating profit margin than CBM. It means that GAB is more effective in converting sales into profit, in other hand, CBM are not generating enough sales and operating expenses of the company are not kept effectively. Return on Capital Employed ROCE is a ratio that used to measure the return of a business that can be achieved form the capital employed or from the companys assets. It indicates the companys capital investment in terms of efficiency and profitability. ROCE can be used to reveals how much the compa ny is gaining from the assets and how much it is losing from its liabilities. Generally, the rate of ROCE should be higher than the rate of the companys borrowing or else shareholders earning will be reduced as borrowing is increase. The calculation shows that GAB has a higher ROCE than CBM, therefore GAB is more profitable. Liquidity Ratio Liquidity ratios are ratios that generally used to measure the company capability to fulfill its short term debt obligations by paying off all the liabilities when they fall due. Generally, if the value of liquidity ratios is greater than 1, it indicates that the companys financial performance is in a good condition because the short term obligations are fully covered and it is less likely fall into financial difficulties. The higher the liquidity ratios are, the higher the margin of safety will be for the company to satisfy its current liabilities. Short term creditors will prefer a high current ratio while shareholder will prefer a low current ratio so that there are more assets workings for the business growth. The most frequent used liquidity ratios in the companys performance analysis are current ratio and quick ratio. Current Ratio It is also called as working capital ratio which measures the solvency or liquidity of the business. It indicates the companys ability to me et short term liabilities and to see whether the firm has enough resources to pay its debts. High current ratio means that there is too much money is tied up in current assets that could be used to generate incomes. In other hand, low current ratio means that the company is unable to meet the debts as they fall due. As the table shows that GAB has higher current ratio than CBM which means that GAB can be categorized as healthy business and a desirable target of investment. Quick Ratio Quick ratio or acid test is an indicator of the business liquidity which measures the level of all assets that can be quickly convertible into cash and used to meet its short term liabilities. Current ratios are less stringent test which means that quick ratio provides more conservative measures because quick ratio excludes inventory. The higher the ratio, the healthier the companys position since the level of liquidity is higher. Based on the calculation, CBMs quick ratio is lower than GAB which means that CBMs current liabilities will be hardly met from the current asset without selling the inventory.