Lecture 11

Investigative journalism was a very interesting topic. As an investigative journalist you must put into practice all the ‘ins’; intelligence, informed, intuitive, inside and invest. On a primary level investigative journalism is all about active intervention, exposure, public interest and fourth estate. On a secondary level, its all one ‘shoe leather’ or getting out there and witnessing what’s going on. Throughout the lecture many examples were given of investigative journalism that changed the world. For me, the Julian Assange story is the most fascinating. The consequences he is now facing for his actions and severe and I suppose every person has their opinion on whether he deserves it or not. However the fact that he cant attend court to defend himself over sexual assult allegations, due to being confined to the Ecuadorian embassy, I see as extremely unfair. But back to the lecture… Investigative journalism has brought to the table some of the most groundbreaking stories throughout journalism’s history. With decrease of wealth in journalism, we have seen a decrease in investigative journalists and journalism. Corporations like the ABC continue to produce quality investigative journalism with their limited budget and I hope that investigative journalists will never be a dying race… Imagine a world of PR news (*shudder*)!!

Lecture 10

Week 11’s Agenda setting lecture somewhat expanded on ‘News Values’. In essence, Agenda setting is a theory that suggests the more emphasis the media puts on a topic the more important it will be perceived as by the public. There are two different types of agenda setting. On the first level, the media suggests what the public should focus on through coverage and on the second level they suggest how they should think about this issue. Agenda setting was first theorized in 1920 using a needle analogy to describe the way the media directly ‘injects’ influence straight into our minds. Although today we see this as slightly sensational, due to our understanding that audiences are not always this ideal, it shows that the notion of agenda setting was realised very early.

In the lecture, the ‘Agenda Setting Family’ was outlined. This ‘family’ has seven different components including media gatekeeping, media advocacy, agenda cutting, agenda surfing, diffusion of news, portrayal of an issue and media dependency. Media gatekeeping is the term used for how individuals control the information released to the public. Media advocacy is when the media promotes a message, for example, ‘smoking kills’. Agenda cutting is the way the media misrepresents reality by reporting on a topic less than they should. This is where news values come in. Issues of less importance can be pushed ahead due to news worthiness. Agenda surfing is a term used to describe the media following the crowd or ‘jumping on the bandwagon’. The diffusion of news is the way in which an important event is communicated to the public. Portrayal of an issue is very a very important one. News corporations can warp their audiences portrayal of an event by how they present it to them. For example, choice of accompanying footage/images can vastly influence peoples perception of the story whether it be good or bad. Lastly media dependence goes by the notion that the more dependant a person is on the media the more vulnerable they are to agenda setting. This is particularly relevant in our society of tweeters and facebookers. 

Spell and the Gypsy Collective

Spell and the Gypsy are a Byron Bay based fashion label created by two sisters with a love for feathers, leather and turquoise. It is fair to say that these gypsy sisters have well and truely captured my heart with their amazing jewellry and clothes. When Spell creates, they create a lifestyle, one that I can only dream about. Take a look at a few shots from their summer lookbook below and you'll see just what I mean.

Entire lookbook at: http://www.spelldesigns.com/blog/

Shop at: http://www.spelldesigns.com/shop/

Lecture 9

News values were the topic of lecture 8. This topic was one of the most interesting so far. News values were defined in the lecture as ‘the prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by an audience’. What makes the headlines and what doesn’t, says a lot about our society.  An interesting point made in the lecture was whether certain stories are valued by society because they are top stories or whether they are top stories because of society’s values. Celebrity stories are an excellent of example of stories that are given value and often preference over more pressing stories. Although many people disagree with this, in essence it is our own doing. If we as a society did not want these stories they would probably not be told.

However there are factors that are taken into account when deciding which stories to put on the front page or not.  An article that has an impact, leaves an impression and ‘wows’ the audience is an important and valued article.  News that is local is of great relevance and importance to specific audiences. Ethics and facticity is also analysed along with source reliability.

Lecture 8

Lecture 8 caused me to ponder ethical questions that I might one day have to make, no matter how difficult they may be. Journalists have to make difficult ethical decisions throughout their careers and it is up to the individual to decide if it’s the right thing to do. There are three theories surrounding ethics in journalism that were discussed in the lecture. Deontology suggests that you do the right thing by following the withstanding rules, principals or duties. Consequentialism focuses on the end result. Getting the desired outcome or ‘the great story’ is all that matters and how you got it is irrelevant. The notion that the end justifies the mean is essential for this theory. Virtue ethics is focused on the individual. Is this okay by your principals and is this the type of person/journalist you want to be?

Although it is not always as simple as this. Journalists most often do not get to choose their stories, especially newcomers to the field. Therefore they are not likely to turn away a job over a breach of their own ethical values or a dream of the type of journalist they want to be.

The image of the young child and vulture shown in the lecture was defiantly food for thought. The confronting image caused much questioning of ethics and left me thinking. How far would I go to deliver a story?

Annotated Bibliography

Lecture 7

Lecture 7 focused on public media, a follow up to the previous lecture on commercial media. In Australia, public media is recognised through the ABC and SBS. The ABC, is a media broadcaster I am familiar with. Growing up with ABC local radio as the soundtrack of my kitchen, the news anthem our signal to leave for the bus at 7:45 every weekday morning, ABC news as the news of choice and programs that followed such as Four Corners, Australian Story, Q&A, Spicks and Specks and The Chaser a bulk proportion of my television intake, it is safe to say the ABC played a strong role in my exposure to the media. Although as a child and teenager this could grow tiresome and was defiantly not considered 'cool', I now choose it over commercial channels on a regular basis. This lecture made me grateful of my ABC influenced upbringing.

Public media's main focus is to cater for the public and being taxpayer supported, this only makes sense. In a democratic society, public media is free from awkward situations with advertisers and is, instead, an unbiased media that is in support of public and democratic processes. There is also a strong focus on nationalism on the ABC. It broadcasts nation building content, focusing on our identity, heritage and conversations. The SBS on the other hand is much more international, focusing on news of the world and is a great source for this. However, public media will often have to face issues relating to finance and funding. The ABC has felt with this by creating the ABC shop which, thankfully, is now a great source of income. 

Factual Storytelling

'The Other Side of the Lens' is a factual storytelling film I created about my sister, and amazing photographer, Mary Dunne.

This is her story of ongoing love for photography and her journey as a free lance photographer.

For more information visit:
http://www.marydunnephotography.com/  or
http://www.facebook.com/marydunnephotography

It's Wednesday - Shake it, baby.

Wednesday mornings aren't exactly the most chipper of weekday mornings, but hey, at least we're halfway to the weekend! If your lacking a bit of motivation, excitement or even a bit of grooviness this morning, let me share with you one of my most favourite tunes. Side effects may include dancing around your room, humming all day and big grins, enjoy! 

Lecture 6

In the 6th lecture for this semester we focused on commercial media. The above picture is a representation of some of the major players in commercial media. These companies produce things such as free to air television, newspapers, magazines and digital media. In the public media corner sits the SBS and the ABC. The defining difference between them is advertising. I think it is best summed up with the quote 'Advertisers are the real customers of a commercial media organisation, not its readers, viewers or listeners.'

The fact that advertisers are the most important customers for commercial media organisations poses many issues. First and foremost it is a question of morals. Will they expose the shady doings of their biggest advertiser or is the money more important. According to Margret Simons there should be an 'Ethical Wall' separating the commercial (advertising sales) and the social (editorial), to ensure the public gets the whole truth. A constant thought in the back of these organisation's minds is the concept of less money means less quality. However, it seems audiences have already grown tired of these constant streams of ads. Spencer Howsan's (ad-free!) morning show at ABC local radio is, in fact, the most popular morning show. 

Lecture 5

This lecture on photo journalism is one I have been hanging out for since the start of semester. Although I love the written word, photos and videos have a special place in my heart. I love capturing life through the lens and being able to revisit it over and over again with absolute clarity.

The lecture kicked off by taking a look at the history of pictures and their importance within society. History shows us that the art of story telling through pictures has been around for thousands and thousands of years, right back to the cave paintings in France some 17 thousand years ago. In cultures such as these, pictures were relied on heavily for communication and story telling. As we moved to a more recent age, it was interesting to see pictures come back as an essential storytelling aid, first appearing in newspapers in 1880, since then pictures and video have become an integral part of journalism. Audiences today need to see the action and witness the proof.

This in turn made me think carefully about the manipulation of photos and videos. Certainly with the introduction of photo-shop and various editing technology, we have become a very skeptical bunch. When we see something truly unbelievable we've learnt that its probably just some editing trick and someone with far too much time on their hands. It is also slightly scary how something so honest, like film or a photo, can be manipulated (at times) so convincingly! Thankfully, as children of technology, we've learnt tell tale signs that a photo is lying to us.

With my love for images it's only natural that I am a user of Instagram and Tumblr. I think social networking sites such as Tumblr, Flicker and Instagram are just fantastic sources of inspiration, even if it does take a lot of sifting before you find something really great. These sites are only popular because of the magic of the image. Everyone loves to share their photos and see other peoples in return. However, there is no doubt they are also fuelled by our egos and our secret belief that we are actually amazing photographers (thanks Instagram filters for this magnificent illusion!).

The tips and tricks of taking a great shot, was all revision but it was great to revisit the basics before I begin my factual story telling exercise.

Case me up!

Upon one of my many internet wanderings, I found myself staring at this beautiful webpage of iPhone casey goodness. I'll admit, they are are a bit on the pricey side but I think that little phone you poke and prod all day and night deserves to look fabulous, don't you? These are some of my personal favourites.

Find them all here: http://printshop.urbanoutfitters.com/collection/society6artists/cases

Things I Love

So far, I have kept pretty quiet about my interests and life in general. However, I assure you, that was the calm before the storm! This evening I would like to let you in on some of my (not-so) secret loves.

1. Bohemian homes and home decor!

There's just something about the colours and the textures of this style that I truly love! Not to mention the constant connection with nature, whether it be through ceiling high windows or a tree through the middle of the room (I am beyond jealous of that lucky home owner!).

All images sourced from http://pinterest.com/acesfinds/bohemian-decorating-ideas-vintage-boho-chic/
2.  Warm weather and bathers!
It has been a long and chilly Winter! For the first time in a long while, I succumbed and purchased a Winter coat and other Winter woolies (usually I just grit my teeth and ignore Winter until it leaves). So you can guess my excitement with only 5 sleeps until Spring is upon us! There is a totally different feeling in the air when it's warm and I interpret this feeling as pure happiness. Here come the Spring/Summer collections and one of my favourite items to purchase, swimmers! In great anticipation for this seasons swimwear I'll share with you a few pieces from last season I'm still in love with.

 

a. Lover b.We Are Handsome c.Karla Spetic d.Hotel Bondi (All Australian designers!)


3. Adventures!
These are some pictures from my most recent adventure down the coast to Nambucca Heads. It's about a 5 hour road trip but thats all part of the fun! Sing-a-longs, long chats and car games are an essential part of the adventure. We went to visit family and our Ruby(the dog), of course!

Lecture 4

Lecture number 4 was all about telling stories through sound, in this case, radio. The lecture was purely two radio interviews with two experienced ABC radio journalists. The first interviewee was Richard Fidler, the host of Conversations with Richard Fidler, who 'accidentally' found himself in radio after dappling in both comedy and television. Richard emphasises the importance of distinguishing the uniqueness of radio and the specific skill set required for it and the importance of keeping conversations open and the audience involved. To ensure conversations never became closed, Richard employed a technique where he would imagine his audience while on air. Richard also talks about how radio is not suffering like other forms of journalism in this age of technology. Didgital radio and podcasts only make radio more accessible and convenient. I really enjoyed Richards sense of humour and could tell that his warm personality would be one of his best attributes in radio journalism. He explained that he attempted to approach people in a way that will make them feel comfortable, not interrogated. This attitude has won him an array of magic moments on air.

The second person to be interviewed was Steve Austin. Unlike Richard, Steve worked very hard for his position in radio; studying, volunteering and persistently putting himself out there. Steve talks about the importance of persistence if you really yearn for something. I liked how he didn't pretend it was easy but reiterates thats its very possible if you really want it. He also emphasises the importance of thinking directly of the audience and how to best meet their needs instead of focusing on yourself. This is something he had to learn after his swap from community radio (4ZZZ) to the ABC. As I am beginning to learn, everything in journalism is planned, nothing is random, and radio is no exception. The shows on air are directly related to the audience that would be listening, what they would be doing while listening and what they need from the program. True to his personality, if Steve wants to get an answer in an interview he will continue to pursue it either until he gets it or until it begins to get uncomfortable for the audience. A magic moment on Steve's program is when the interviewee forgets they are on air while telling a very human story. They will reveal more of themselves to marvellous effect.

From listening to this podcast one thing became very clear to me. It is essential in radio to have a very good understanding of human psychology and an intuitive nature when it comes to human emotions. These skills allow you to create great moments and great radio and, with nothing else to rely on, the airwaves would become extremely unpopular without them.

Lecture 3

Lecture 3 in Jour1111 was all about storytelling through text as examined by guest lecturer Skye Doherty. Something as simple as text, is taken very much for granted. In fact there is a lot to organising a page full of text. There are headlines, captions, stand firsts, body copies and links to consider. It is much more creative then I ever realised! Writers need to consider the space and font size they have to work with and create a captivating story within those confines, a very hard task I imagine! I particularly enjoyed the little interesting facts such as; the top left hand corner attracts the most attention attention and therefore the most dominant stories go there, never use a word in the stand first that you used in the headline and you should always use a verb in the headline.

To make things that little bit more difficult, text online is a step up. Unlike newspapers, text draws in more readers online than pictures do. Links in online journalism also play a very important role. Links need to be able to grab audience's attention is 4 or 5 words, convincing them to click and read on. An interesting concept was the way in which online journalism does not take advantage of links and hypertext. Instead of linking readers to primary sources or a carry on story they link only to other stories within the same website. This narrows peoples perception and knowledge of events and stories, a sad and selfish dilemma. The traditional theory is the text is read from top left to bottom right but this goes out the door once we're online and creates a multitude of new ways that text can be presented.

By the end of the lecture I appreciated text that whole lot more. It's everywhere, reading is a reflex that we can't turn off and therefore what we read and how we read it is very interesting and very important.

Lecture 2

Lecture 2 was an insight into the way that the media is changing and evolving. Media can be divvied  into two categories; old media and new media. Old media is, predictably, the traditional forms of media; newspapers, magazines and televisions. This type of media is focused around the idea of mass communication- getting your message across to as many people as possible, regardless of target audience or relevance. There is something very comforting about old media, perhaps its the memories of your dad reading the paper or the family all indulging in a television program together. Although it is seemingly becoming outdated in the face of new media, for me at least, sometimes there is nothing better than getting your media fix the 'old school way'. 

Different platforms of the web were also noted. These range from Web 1.0-the information and advertising web, Web 2.0- the social and interactive web were we are produsers and Web 3.0-the semantic web. Web 3.0 is the most advanced and is completely impressive. It uses hyperlocalisation to  allow the media to focus on the individual, on where we are and what we're looking for. In relation to news, this enables us to custom fit our news to our location and interests. This very nifty technology means we see what is relevant to us and can filter out anything else. Nifty yes, but also dangerous. Permitting people to view only stories on certain topics leads to ignorance and lack of general knowledge. It is a scary thought for human kind that a whole generation probably hears more about Miley Cyrus' new haircut then about the violence in Syria. 

Media Usage Diary

Media Usage Diary

Prior to beginning my media usage diary I was intrigued if not a little nervous at what this aspect of my life would look like summed up in numbers and sealed in a little table. It would undoubtably be a very self-reflective experience, one which i could compare with my peers using a survey on media usage, filled out by the students of JOUR1111. I was already aware of the big role that technology and the media plays in my life. I literally surround myself with my portable possessions, with my laptop, phone and iPod all having their own spots on my bed. Over the 10 days in which I recorded my media usage I was pleasantly surprised yet very predictable all at the same time!

Figure 1.

It was evident to me straight away that I spend an un-godly amount of my time in front of some sort of screen, or two, or three. It is the stamp of GenY, the ability to use many different types of technology at any one time. Like me, 24.8% of people spend about 3-4hours on the internet each day. Although that table above makes it seem like much more than that, I was doing most things all at the same time!

Figure 2.

Figure two is a pie chart which further displays where I spent most of the 10 days. The internet is a clear favourite followed closely by my phone. I spend the least amount of time reading actual text, including newspapers and magazines. This was a hard concept to grasp as reading is one of my favourite past times but when I began to think about it, it made sense. My favourite magazines come out every month, so as soon as I devour it there is usually a substantial wait until the next one comes out. Living only with my older brother means that the newspaper is not purchased or delivered, it seems that this is not unusual as only 3.6% of students said that the traditional newspaper was their most common source of news. I am exposed to it mainly while on the train or visiting my parents. In compliance with the rest of the cohort, most days I spend about 1-2hours watching television. As stated previously, I live with my older brother which means I often don't get to decide what to watch and subsequently means I usually only watch  the ABC news and maybe stick around for whatever he's watching next. I would say that the Olympics being on while my media usage diary was being conducted probably had an influence on the time I spent watching TV. I think that most days this time would be less. The music I listen to takes up a lot more time than I ever realised but like me 83.6% listen to music on their computers and 84.8% listen on their iPods. As the survey showed 45.5% of people said they listened to the radio for less then one hour a day and this was true for me also.

Figure 3.

Figure 3 shows how I spend my time while on the internet. In contrast to my Jour1111 peers I spend more time browsing the internet and on Skype than on Facebook. Twitter is something I am new to and consequently use a very small amount of. You could probably say the same about most of the cohort as 30.9% say they use Twitter but only 1.2% say they spend most of their time on it. Social networking is a huge part of my media usage and the same can be said for the rest of my peers. It shows that we are very much apart of Web 2.0- the new media. We love online interaction and the fact that we get to be prod-users- uploading photos and text and receiving gratification (usually in the form of 'likes') that people care about our lives and what we had for lunch.

Figure 4.

Figure four is a representation of how I use media in the form of old and new media. It is evident that new media, such as social networking, is used a lot more. However, I was expecting a much higher percentage of new media. Old media such as newspapers, television, magazine and radio, still defiantly have a place in my media usage. These traditional forms of media are still going strong!

Figure 5.

Figure 5, though it looks very confusing, is perhaps the most interesting. It is immediately evident that my high internet usage significantly drops over days 5,6 and 7. This was because I visited my parents, about an hour and a half south of Brisbane, on the family farm. The internet there is usually slow and can be very recalcitrant so generally I don't bother using it. As my internet usage saw a severe drop my television watching and phone usage increased, perhaps in compensation. This shows that although I have become accustom to super fast internet, availability and quality can still be an obstacle for media usage in Australia. Towards the end of the 10 days, my phone usage drops to zero as it broke on 7th night. At first I (naturally) freaked out but decided to hold off buying a new one until the end of the week. I have been pleasantly surprised by the ease of this task which I thought was going to be dreadful. My Facebook usage increased because of it as I still had to be contactable and contact others.

This media usage diary was a great self-reflection. The survey also helped put everything into perspective and allowed me to compare my media usage to that of my peers. One thing I will take away from this however is that I probably don't expose myself to enough quality news as I should. Aproximently 11 hours of my time was spent reading and viewing news which is less than a sixth of the time I spend on the internet and less then half the time I spend listening to music. Although I endeavour to watch ABC news every night I believe, as a student of Jour1111 this semester, I should be taking in a wide selection of journalism on a regular basis. It is something I will defiantly keep in mind and I will aim to; get on twitter more often, regularly check the news online and even buy a newspaper now and then!

Lecture 1

Lecture number 1, more than anything, got me excited for the semester ahead! As our lecturer Dr Bruce Reedman, introduced us to some motivating quotes, I began to think of journalism in a whole new light. Talk of assessments to come, which usually either depresses or frightens me, got my imagination whirling with ideas for our factual story telling exercise. Perhaps the thing that stood out most to me was the phrase that will follow us through the semester- 'YOU are the journalist'. For me and my undecided, bachelor of arts brain this was comforting. Living by this mantra for the semester will help me to decide if this is the right path for me. Thinking and writing like a journalist will make or break my vision of pursuing a professional career in the field. The threats to journalism in our technological driven environment, also had me questioning the relevance that journalism holds at present and if it would continue to hold on in the future. These threats and challenges were addressed in the lecture and we were reassured that journalism and journalists will always have a place, even if that place must adjust to suit the ever-changing and advancing environment surrounding it.

The Beggining

Greetings and salutations!
This is my first blog post for my Jour1111 blog. Before the real blogging begins I feel as though I need to get one thing off my chest. To a certain degree blogs are a very personal thing. I will be broadcasting my opinions, thoughts, feelings and inner-most secrets... okay maybe not the last one but never-the-less, I believe that this blog will be an insight to me and so there's something you need to know. A person's name is their main form of identification and, in most cases, is something that is personal, reliable, unchanging and comforting. For me however, the name Kathleen means very little. Ever since I can remember I have been called Bridgie. 'What on earth?!' I hear you cry in confusion, as every single other person I have ever explained this to has done. Well, it stems from my middle name and I have my brothers to thank(or blame) for taking my naming into their own hands while I was still shiny, new and wailing. It funny to think that even my own mother has never, in my living memory, called me by my true first name. So, if my audience of one (Hi to my tutor Ali!) doesn't mind, I will be blogging under the name of Bridgie. This was perhaps a little to in-depth and very unnecessary, but it's my blog and this was the first thing I wanted to write :)