An awful lot can happen in nine months. Horrible wars have been unleashed, new cabinets formed and many babies born… 2024 has already brought us a lot of good and less good news. But which events were really striking? To refresh your memory a bit and so that you can go into Q4 with ready knowledge, we have listed the nine most important media moments for you!
1. Rock-solid campaign film about sexting from KPN
On February 5, 2024, KPN launched the multi-year campaign #BeterInternet with a sensitive campaign film. In the film, a girl sends a nude photo to her boyfriend, who then shares it with everyone at his high school. To the sounds of ‘Stukje van mij’ by singer MEAU, you follow the girl and empathize with the great impact that sharing the nude photo has on her. The film even suggests that the girl is thinking about suicide.
With the message “think before you send something”, the sensitive campaign was brought to the attention of many young people. In this way, MEAU not only brought the film to the attention of its followers, but the campaign and its reach were also supported by the expertise centre for sexuality Rutgers, the Victim Support Fund, the Helpwanted helpline and Soa Aids Nederland. With the educational film and powerful message, the telecom company put online shaming and sexting on the map, and created a brand campaign of social value.
2. Kate’s digital crafting
The royal family of the United Kingdom is often in the news. For example, the talk of the town this spring, Kate Middleton’s own edited photo of herself with her three children. Early March, the photo published on British Mother’s Day as a thank you for all the support and encouragement, due to her illness. Shortly after, there was a stir from various quarters about the numerous Photoshop ‘errors’. The photo went viral on the internet, after which the princess confessed via Instagram that she had edited the photo herself. She enjoys experimenting with Photoshop every now and then.
Following this confession, several international press agencies, such as Reuters, AP and AFP decided to withdraw the photo of the royal family. Something that rarely happens. Despite this measure, the photo continued to circulate for a while. In the meantime, interest in Kate’s digital tinkering in the media has all but disappeared, but many memes of the photo are still circulating.
3. Viral attention for abuses in closed youth care after round table discussion with experienced experts Evita and Jason at Sophie & Jeroen
Youth care has not been this bad in the past thirty years as now. As a result of the report ‘When prison staff care for children with psychiatric problems’ became Jason Bhugwandass (26) invited to the talk show Sophie & Jeroen. On March 13, Jason and Evita (one of the 51 young people he interviewed for his research) will talk about their traumatic experiences at the ZIKOS department. ZIKOS stands for ‘Very Intensive Observation and Stabilization’ and offers specialized care to young people between the ages of 12 and 18 who are in crisis, caused by a psychiatric disorder.
In the round table discussion with the two young experts by experience in youth care it became painfully clear that the presence of GGZ (mental health care) in these institutions is minimal. This while this vulnerable group is in great need of psychological help. Tragically enough, it is always experts by experience who have to come forward with their stories before serious abuses reach the news. The interview receives a lot of attention afterwards and is shared many times on social media and news channels such as the people’s newspaper, LINDA. in NPO Radio1.
4. Time for a real HEMA sausage for on the go
On March 30, 2024, HEMA announced that it would open five sausage drive-thrus along the highway. Whether you fancy half a warm sausage for on the go or a vegetarian sausage for in your stew, all varieties are available at a drive-thru.
HEMA introduced the concept via social media and revealed that the first sausage drive-thru opened in week 14 at the Holendrecht junction. Within a short time, the news went viral. The sausage drive-thru mainly received attention via YouTube, TikTok, Reddit and X. There was even a TikTok video going around of an influencer visiting a drive-thru, to make it even more believable. Slowly but surely, people started to doubt the authenticity of the story, especially when it was discovered that April 1st fell in week 14.
On April 2, HEMA announced that the announcement of the arrival of a sausage drive-thru was indeed a April Fools’ Day joke The good news is that thanks to the many positive reactions, there might be a drive-thru after all!
5. Disqualification Joost Klein Eurovision Song Contest
The Eurovision Song Contest at the end of April is a sensational highlight every year. In particular, Russia’s disqualification last year and Israel’s qualification this year caused a lot of commotion. Joost Klein also created the necessary commotion. Due to an incident with a Eurovision Song Contest employee he was disqualified the day before the Eurovision Song Contest started.
A disqualification that ultimately brought him more fame and fans than it did him any harm. Because where Joost was deprived of his physical stage, he got all the attention online. For example, a petition was started that 250,000 times signed and videos of outraged fans’ reactions were shared on national news pages and social media. Bad publicity is still publicity!
6. 21% VAT a worthless idea
The new government is going to increase VAT on most cultural goods, from performing arts and books to hotel accommodation, from 9 to 21 percent. So the protests from these sectors were in spite of it. With the insights of last Budget Day it is clear to what extent the government plans strip these sectors.
A recent researchcommissioned by private financiers, municipalities and the arts and culture sector, paints a frightening picture of the future consequences of these cuts. For example, the government’s proposed cultural policy will result in a slashing of 350 million euros and a negative domino effect in the arts and culture sector!
A notable action came from the GAU, KBb in CPNB with the petition ‘21% VAT: a worthless idea!‘ to oppose the proposal. The higher VAT will lead to a significant price increase on, for example, (children’s) books, making reading less accessible. The campaign image was widely shared as a sign of support for the action.
7. The AI image ‘All eyes on Rafah’
At the end of May, the AI poster ‘All Eyes On Rafah’ widely circulated on social media. This digitally created image of an endless refugee camp in Rafah has been shared almost 40 million times worldwide on Instagram. The image was created by Chaa My, a Malaysian photographer, to speak out against the violence. The slogan, which previously stated by World Health Organization Director Rik Peeperkornis also a call not to look away from the violence. The image created global visibility for the ongoing issue in Palestine.
Critical counter-voices to the tightly-drawn, easily shareable photo are making it even more visible. The criticism was that sharing the AI image online was a lazy form of activism was. In addition, people wondered why we share this sanitized image and not the photos of real suffering: injured children, mass graves? The image led to discussions about the ethics of AI in activism. In response, an original photo of a tent camp in Gaza was shared. Images of the ongoing war in Sudan and Congo were also shared. After the global spread via social media, many newspapers also picked it up.
8. Suspension for ‘Wolf Greeting’
At the beginning of July, the European Championship was almost impossible to miss due to the orange madness. The ‘Wolvengroet’ was also noticeable Merih Demiralthe Turkish defender who scored several times during the European Championship. Demiral scored a goal in the match against Austria and celebrated it by giving the ‘Wolf Salute’ (see the picture below). The European Football Association UEFA subsequently suspended him for two matches, because this symbolizes the ultra-nationalist and far-right Turkish group Gray Wolves.
Especially outside Turkey, the salute is not allowed. For example, it has been banned in France since 2020 and is monitored in Germany. Dermiral was unaware of any wrongdoing and stated that he used this sign because he was proud to be Turkish. After this message, many people in the audience followed and imitated him. Photos of the footballer and the salute were widely distributed on the internet. It was the quarter-final match between Turkey and the Netherlands.
9. Trump shot twice in two months
For the second time in two months, Donald Trump appears to have escaped assassination. Trump, once again a presidential candidate in the running for the US elections on November 5, 2024, was assassinated on July 13 shot at at a campaign rally in Pennsylvania. And again in September.
The iconic photo of Trump’s bloody ear after the first attack threw the already politically divided United States even more upset. The photo immediately went viral and people even had the image tattooHis furious look and raised hand with fist fit perfectly into the Republican campaign. The attacks only increase polarization, and the media also play an important role in this.
Raymond Mens says in an article in EenVandaag: “How the news is translated, and what really happened, differs greatly per channel. On a right-wing conservative channel like Fox News, for example, the central question is how this could have happened. While on other left-wing channels you hear much more the sound that there should be fraternization. And so millions of Americans also receive the news in a different way.”
Source: www.frankwatching.com
