Last lecture - STEVE MOLK.

I'm not going to write anything about this lecture. I will sum it up by a note I have stuck on my wall, which should evaluate how effective it was. 

This semester has been a pleasure. Thankyou to everyone in JOUR1111, my gorgeous tutor Carmel and my fantastic lecturer Bruce. I had a blast! x

Lecture #12 Investigative journalism

Our very last learning lecture was all about investigative journalism. I don't really know what to say about it.. I'm kind of in a rush at the moment because I was calm all day thinking i'd finished my lecture posts. Then now, with half an hour left, I realised I wasn't. Clever Sala!

We talked about all of the IN's of investigative journalism:
INvestigative journalism
INtelligent - you have to know what you are doing
INformed - you have to know what to look for
INtuitive - you have to be able to rely on your gut feeling
INside - you have to get the inside info!
INvest - you have to be prepared to put something, part of yourself, into your journalism.

I did find the term 'shoe leather journalism' interesting!

But yeah, I truly did find it really really interesting I'm just stressing like crazy and I can't remember a thing right now.

I SAW LADY GAGA

So last night (Wednesday the 13th June) I saw the most phenomenal performance of my life. I SAW LADY GAGA.

alskdvbalsdbvailsdblaskbvlaisdbfliasvbaslkbslu!!!!!!!!

I appreciate this is a journalism blog but I really feel like that was appropriate.

So, I don't really know how to put this but it may/may not have been the greatest thing ever. I loved Lady Gaga before I saw her, so I don't know what this feeling I have now is. Infatuation, probably. She is just so perfect, words cannot even describe.

Things that are perfect about Lady Gaga:
1. Her ass. God dammit, that thing is just so fine. You know when normal women walk in underwear and their bum jiggles a bit? Even professional athletes have a bit of wobble up in there. But not Gaga. Her derriere is solid, and round, and perfect. Two globes of precision.

2. Her style. I appreciate that some of her choices have been a little ~odd~ (that Kermit outfit..), but for the most part she really has her finger on the fashion pulse. I think a lot of Jay-Jay's clad young ladies could learn a lot from her.

 

Viktor & Rolf Mustard Pant suit

I tried adding more photos of her awesome street style but blogger is a bitch to format with so I gave up. 

3. Her MESSAGE. Holy christ, everyone should listen to this woman preach. She is all about acceptance, believing in yourself, pride, being comfortable in your own skin, tolerance, love! Coming from a background which contained a lot of bullying, she speaks right from the heart when she talks about how important it is to love who you are, and love others for who they are. I can't even express how much I love this. She's so kind

4. She is a phenomenal dancer. I suppose this ties in with the toned glutes but damn, that girl has rhythm. And being able to belt out Marry the Night while she headbangs, jumps and twirls is a talent on the next level. I don't know how she does it. Motivation for the rest of us to get off our asses and do something. 

5. Her freakin' music, of course! Despite her hectic schedule, she still manages to pump out some mind-blowing tunes. Her lyrics are always a delight, and her intricate mind creates music which is 100% joyful to listen to. Her acoustic versions are also great, giving her a chance to showcase her brilliant voice which (unlike many artists) is in no way autotuned. 

I could go on forever, she is amazing. Truly an inspirational woman to anyone who chooses to take the time and listen. So yeah, I saw her live and it was the greatest thing ever. 

Also, the support act was absolutely shitty. I have never seen anything worse in my life. But that is irrelevant, because Lady Gaga was perfect. 

The Magic Flute

Recently Mozart's classic fairytale The Magic Flute premiered at the Lyric Theatre, directed by Julie Taymore - the director of Disney's The Lion King. I don't know if you are familiar with the story or not, but I took this from the QPAC website:

Tamino is a noble prince on a quest. He discovers strange lands, inhabited by wondrous creatures - scary women, wise children and even a bird man - but that is not what he is looking for. Will Tamino finally discover the truth? And will he find true love? 

.... So basically Tamino sets off on this epic quest to save the Princess Pamina with his trusty mate Papageno who is the bird man. Along the way he comes across some spirit children, a brotherhood, an evil queen (Pamina's mother), and three women who I didn't really understand.

But aside from this - IT ACTUALLY BLEW MY MIND. I'm not even being paid by  Opera Australia to say this (not like they would, how many people actually read this blog haha). So I might not have understood the plot as well as I would have liked, but this production boasted the most phenomenal visuals I have ever encountered. The set design was a versatile engineering masterpiece, which transforrmed seamlessly into countless different settings. The great thing about it was the postmodern element of it not trying to replicate where they were, just using a simple shape or something to represent it.

The other thing was the costumes and make up. I don't even have words, so absolutely fantastic. The Chorus wore these fantastic geometric gowns with diamond shaped headdresses alluding to a nuns veil. The protagonists all wore carefully constructed costumes which accurately represented both the shown side of the character as well as their inner traits.

There was a tenuous mix of Asian, Ancient Egyptian and Western influences in the costuming, makeup and set design, which came through well. The use of silk and yellow fabrics as well as kimono shaped garments alluded to Asia, while tall headwear, the use of staffs and hieroglyphic-like symbols was reminiscent of the numerous times I've done projects on Ancient Egypt.

There was also an extremely clever use of puppeteering and interaction with the stagehand-like figures. This well thought out crafting resulted in floaty polar bears that towered over the characters, flying spirit children, a giant serpent slithering about the stage, and larger-than-life, flirty, ballet dancing birds.

Credit must also be paid to the Queensland Symphony Orchestra, who never fail to disappoint anyway. They performed Mozart the way it ought to be, giving an absolutely spellbinding sound to the entire production.

Also we got dinner at the bistro beforehand and I got the wrong meal. Just saying.

Lecture #11

Or Lecture #10, depending on how pedantic you are. It’s not like it really matters. We missed a week because of a public holiday. I hope I’m not confusing you too much. Gosh settle down it’s not a big deal, stop freaking out about it.  Please calm yourself.

Thanks.

So in this lecture we talked about Agenda Setting – how the media constructs reality. Agenda setting originated from around 1968 during the Chapel Hill campaign in which there was a survey of undecided voters.

Basically, there are four basic agendas which are all pretty self-explanatory.

·         The Public Agenda

·         The Policy Agenda

·         The Corporate Agenda

·         The Media Agenda

All of these agendas, while for the most part remain separated, are interrelated and can’t really function without each other.

There are also 2 basic assumptions about agenda setting, and they are:

1.       Mass media do not simply reflect reality, they filter and shape it AND

2.       Media concentration leads the public to place higher importance on something.

So basically,

The more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to people.

The main thing we covered, however, was the Agenda Setting Family, which consists of:

MEDIA GATEKEEPING

This is how individuals control the flow of information through a channel, and has a lot to do with exposure and what is revealed.

MEDIA ADVOCACY

The purposive promotion of a message

AGENDA CUTTING

If something is given less time in the media, it’s given less importance. The example used was that the AIDS epidemic in Africa took a backseat in the news to Justin Bieber’s new haircut due to the fact that the epidemic simply isn’t given as much time in the news spotlight.

AGENDA SURFING/BANDWAGON EFFECT

This element of the family mainly relates to following the trends in the media, and public opinion influencing others.

DIFFUSION OF NEWS

Who decides how, where and when news is released? This is the process through which an event is communicated to the public.

PORTRAYAL OF AN ISSUE

The way an issue is portrayed will influence the public perception. For example, the way that aboriginal issues are portrayed in Australian media heavily mould the way many citizens approach the matter.

MEDIA DEPENDENCE

In this day and age, more and more people are becoming increasingly dependent on the media and technology. Therefore, the more dependent people are on media, the more susceptible to agenda setting.

Finally, we looked over the strengths and weaknesses of Agenda Setting Theory, which were all pretty basic and for the most part were common sense.

Strengths	Weaknesses
Explanatory power	Public may not be the ideal audience
Predictive power	The effect is weakened on steadfast minds
Organising power	Can’t create or conceal problems
Can be proven false	New media is weakening agenda setting
Scientific facts/research

Lecture #9

LECTURE NINE – NEWS VALUES.

Ah, so we meet again inverted pyramid of journalism. I didn’t really understand you the first time, but I feel like we’ve bonded and connected a little more over this lecture. How nice.

So what exactly are news values? As I understand it, it’s the amount of importance and prominence a news network gives to a story. Due to this, news values have to vary over difference news services, countries and cultures. For example, some news networks pride themselves on covering local news, whereas others are well known for their coverage of international affairs.

From the lecture, I got that the four primary news values are identified as being impact, audience identification, pragmatics, and source influence – I feel like they’re all pretty self-explanatory if you have a basic grasp of English.

We also discussed the fact that the line between PR and journalism is slowly blurring, as well as spending a long time looking at both the 12+ factors of newswothiness and the 3 hypotheses of newsworthiness.

I'm out. 

Lecture #8

Our eighth (I just realised how odd the word eighth is to spell..) lecture was on ethics. Now, 8 is up there in my favourite numbers so I was hoping this would be a good lecture. My other favourites are 36 and 52 and well, that’s just ridiculous. I’m not going to 52 weeks of lectures just to find out about that one.

I know you’re anxious to find out whether I liked the lecture or not, which is a little silly because I know you know the answer. I loved it! Who doesn’t love a bit of controversy? The age-old puzzle of what is good or bad, right or wrong, ethical or unethical? And on top of that, the difficulty of distinguishing between the bad, the wrong and the just plain tacky.

One thing we covered in depth which I was interested by was the three ethical theories. I’ve never heard of anything really like that in ethics, so touching on each of them really had me hooked. As we went through them, they began to make sense and even more so when we looked at examples.

Out of Deontology, Consequentialism and Virtue, I think the one that I liked the most was Virtue ethics, simply because it made the most sense and I related to it most. Virtue ethics come down to the fact that goodness and happiness will come from good habits of character which is essentially every motivational sticky note I have around my room condensed into one sentence.

Deontology boiled down to being an attitude that by following all of the rules, you will be doing the right thing. Which we all know isn’t true, but all ethics codes are fundamentally deontological really. Consequentialism was basically obtaining the right or good outcome of a situation regardless of how you get there – you know; the end may justify the means, greatest good for greatest number etc.

I think, though, ethics in journalism boils down to one primary point. Treat others as you would like to be treated, and things should go well.  

JOUR1111 Annotated Bibliography

This Annotated Bibliography will delve into the media coverage surrounding the March school shootings in Toulouse, France through articles from CBS News, The New York Times, and The Telegraph. The mediums analysed; television report, blog post, and online article, conveyed both similar and contrasting views on the incident in order to engage with their respective audiences. This is evident in the following annotations.

Tripathy, J. (2010). What is a terrorist?. International Journal of Cultural Studies, 13, 219 – 232. Retrieved from

http://ics. sagepub.com/content/13/3/219

Jyotimara Tripathy, an associate professor at the Indian Institute of Technology Madras, brings to light an interesting take on terrorism discourse within the field of media and communications. Throughout the piece, Tripathy touches on a number of intriguing points regarding the discourse of terrorism, the power of language in creating this discourse, and the inability of modernist vocabulary to address culturally ‘different’ problems. He also thoroughly addresses the now synonymous relationship between the words ‘muslim’ and ‘terrorist’, and the authorisation of this by both state institutions and common people, especially through the media. The use of the sentence “the location of the terrorist is less in the caves of Afghanistan … more in the media newsrooms, political agendas” (Tripathy, J., 2010) succinctly sums up the primary argument of the article, while still relating to everyday readers. The author regularly makes use of relevant citations, as well as linking his points to numerous real-life instances – adding to the credibility of his arguments, as well as creating a piece which many people are likely to relate to and understand.

CBS (Producer), & Palmer, T. (Presenter).

(2012, March 19). French Police on high alert after Jewish school shooting [Video recording]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4QEPsqC0cHs&feature=plcp

Elizabeth Palmer reports the story of four people being shot at a Jewish school in Toulouse, France on CBS News, a major commercial television station whose audience is the consumer. Due to this, the story was crafted in such a way to maximise audience satisfaction. The short piece outlined the basic facts of the incident, accompanied by footage of distressed French citizens and police. Palmer took a dramatic approach to the story by using a sombre tone ad placing heavy emphasis on words such as ‘killer’, ‘horror’, and ‘fear’. The mention of Nickolas Sarkozy suspending his re-election campaign added a political element to the piece as well as heightening the significance of the incident. This inclusion of politics in the story contrasts starkly with The Telegraph post from Tom Chivers. This emphasis of certain words allowed palmer to mould and manipulate the audience’s perception of the incident. This resulted in an effective underpinning of the article with an atmosphere of tragedy while still presenting the necessary facts.

Chivers, T. (2012, March 19). Toulouse school shootings: let’s keep politics out of it for a few hours [Web log message]. Retrieved from http://blogs.telegraph.co.uk/news/tomchiversscience/100144875/toulouse-school-shootings-lets-keep-politics-out-of-it-for-a-few-hours/

The Telegraph’s blog post was written by Tom Chivers, the assistant comment editor who is known for his intelligent posts regarding science and culture. This short post reflected on the Toulouse incident with heavy remorse, and made a specific point – in this time of tragedy – of putting the political and religious aspects of the shooting aside so as to acknowledge such a heartbreaking loss. The article focuses largely on anti-Semitism hate crimes stemming from the Muslim population, and the public opinion on this widely broadcast conflict.  Chivers makes an intelligent observation that no matter how the case turns out in the end, the ‘blame game’ is inevitable and the finger will be pointed at one religious group or another. Throughout the piece the author acknowledges not the logistics of the shootings, but the horror of the death of children and adults alike. He empathises with all those impacted by the incident, and ends with a poignant remark that the killer of these citizens is an extraordinarily evil person, regardless of his religion, and that – for now at least – political manoeuvring should be left out of the case.

Sayare, S. & Erlanger, S. (2012). 4 Killed at Jewish School in Southwestern France. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2012/03/20/world/europe/gunman-kills-3-at-a-jewish-school-in-france.html?_r=2&pagewanted=all

The New York Times website article, published as a collaboration between Scott Sayare and Steven Erlanger, reported an in-depth coverage of the Toulouse incident. As well as accurately recounting the facts of the story, the authors quoted a number of people who were related to the shooting in some way, and cited facts which effectively escalated the perceived authenticity and credibility of the piece. The inclusion of quotes from varied sources also gave the lengthy article an element of unbiasedness, as well as by highlighting the contrast between the way left and right winged newspapers approached the story. This unbiased tone and abundant background information encouraged the readers of the incident and events surrounding it. This provided a large contrast with the CBS TV Report, which reported in a way which attempted to influence audience perception. The exceptionally detailed language which was used to describe certain elements (the school, the pistol), while not essential to the reporting of the facts, contributed effectively to the imagery and impact of the article as a whole. This imagery reduced the audience’s demand for a visual story regarding the incident to gain a more personal insight and connection with the story. 

belated posts :(

WOW so it has been an exceptionally long time since I've posted and believe me I am more than ashamed about it. I see all of these other phenomenal pieces of writing from my peers and can't help but feel a little inadequate.

Seeing as I'm here talking and typing already - how bloody cool is it about the first privately owned space rocket taking off today. Personally, I was devastated when NASA sent their last Shuttle into the atmosphere, so the  launch of the Dragon space capsule atop SpaceX's Falcon 9 rocket from Cape Canaveral was really exciting to me, and there was one thing that absolutely blew my mind about it.

Absolutely no humans are aboard the Dragon.

How is that.. just.. I don't even understand. Something so incredibly delicate and expensive has been engineered so well that it doesn't even need a person to guide it along. I don't know if that's as cool to you as it is to me, but a space capsule on autopilot knocks my socks off. 

Factual Storytelling

On the 20^th of January 1981:

Brendan Fevola was born.

Reagan was inaugurated as the 40^th U.S. President.

American hostages were released from Iran after 444 days captive.

These events, however, had no importance to Bronwyn Reid that day. For that day, she received the gut-wrenchingly devastating news that no-one with a family should ever have to hear.

                                                                                                                   

Her big brother had been involved in a car accident. Her father had been driving a car containing her brothers Phillip & Jeffery and a Canadian exchange student on a wet road. The top of the car was violently torn off like aluminium when the vehicle toppled over. 22 year old Jeffery had died of internal injuries on the way to Rockhampton.

She describes her brother with a great deal of thought, and an enormous amount of respect. “He was a very protective big brother,” says Bronwyn, “because when we were in Grade 1 and Grade 2, we both had to go to boarding school because there was no bus. So we boarded at the Catholic Convent in Clermont, and I was incredibly homesick – so I used to hang around him all the time. He always seemed to just know everything.”

Bronwyn reflects that the impact of losing her brother was ‘quite strange’ because he wasn’t someone that she saw every day at that point in her life. She had moved to Brisbane to work in a stock trading office, while her two brothers had stayed on their cattle property with their parents, Heather and Laurie.

“Jeffery was a unique character. In today’s terms he probably would have been diagnosed as a dyslexic or Asperger’s... He had no behaviour problems, but he was very intense. Highly mathematical; like, engineering - he was always inventing little machines and things like that.”

In retrospect, she says that it took her a couple of years to unwrap herself a heavy blanket of denial and come to terms with the loss of her big brother in a rather poignant way – at Phillip’s wedding in 1988. It is obviously still difficult to talk about for Bronwyn, however it is clear that she has come to terms with her loss through the years. As she articulates her story, the ache in her voice is evident and her eyes are never strictly forwards – as though she is looking away from the topic of conversation.

“Our parents were very, very careful to not let the fact that Jeffery was no longer there affect their relationship with us,” says Bronwyn – referring to herself and Phillip. She states very openly that losing a son very nearly destroyed her parents’ marriage. I inquire as to whether her parents opened up more about the loss of their son as Phillip and Bronwyn got older, and the family came to terms with it. She replies with a simple, “No. They spoke of it very rarely”.

As for the impact upon the small-town community they lived in – she is lost for words as to how to explain it, and can only describe it as horrendous. The sympathy and grievance of the community is especially displayed through the resoluteness of a large number of the funeral guests to get to the funeral. Due to heavy rainfall, a number of roads were cut off totally, “The creek was flooded and nobody could get across to get into town. So Queensland Rail actually organised a train and a carriage across the river to pick everyone up to go across to the funeral. Half of the cars going down to the cemetery got bogged” she recalls fondly. I can tell that Bronwyn was, and still is, touched by this show of selfless compassion from a tight-knit community, the majority of whom she had never met.

She doesn’t remember the atmosphere of Jeffery’s funeral, the entire day is simply a blank in her memory - perhaps indicative of a painful event being censored by her mind.

Bronwyn adds as an afterthought that the Canadian exchange student left not long after the accident, and was replaced by a now very close family friend by the name of Sikko from the Netherlands. “He played a very, very big part in helping my Father deal with what was going on. That’s probably the reason why Dad is still so close with Sikko. Dad probably opened up more to Sikko than to any of us.”

That sentence was probably the most heart-wrenching part of my speaking to Bronwyn. Her usually steady tone reduces to a hushed level, and her pauses are placed in such a way that I am hesitant as to whether or not I ought to carry on with the discussion. I allow the conversation to fall in to a haunting lull, letting Bronwyn gather her thoughts

As for now, Bronwyn still suffers a terrible sense of loss. “You don’t think of it every day any more, but it’s obviously still there, and I guess the main way it is still there is my niece. I see a part of Jeffery in her looks. I can definitely see part of Jeffery in Zane.”  

The niece she refers to is 32 year old Angelique, Jeffery’s only daughter before his death – Zane is her eldest son of four children at 11 years old, along with 7 year old Kayden, 5 year old Leilani, and 2 year old Alamia.

The loss of her brother is an ongoing struggle that Bronwyn will have to face for the remainder of her life. She will never fully recover, and although she is strong while I talk to her, it is a burden she will carry forever. Her bright-eyed nephew Zane is a constant reminder of Jeffery, a living acknowledgment of Bronwyn’s brother – an intellectual young man with a zest for life. 

From left to right: Stuart Poole (Canadian student), Jeffery and Jennifer with their daughter Angelique, Heather, Laurie, Phillip. 

Lecture #7: Public Media

This week's lecture was focused around public media, which I really enjoyed. As a child, I grew up in rural Queensland meaning that I listened to a hell of a lot of ABC Local Radio and Radio National. We also watched a lot of ABC shows, like George Negus and Catalyst. One thing I really like about public media, which was also mentioned in the lecture, is that importance of news is  prioritised over interest. Don't get me wrong, I am a junkie for trashy gossip news - but I reserve a space in my heart for news stations which can communicate the hard facts that are actually relevant to current affairs. And i'm not alone - 41% of Australians get their news from the ABC. This was summed up well on one of the lecture slides - Public Media is Media that is in support of public and democratic processes.

Public Media should have Public Value, and its mission ought to be to serve or engage the public. These statements from Professor Redman resonated well with me - especially the sentiment regarding Public Value. It seems important that above all else, what the audience of public media values should impact upon content the most. Public value was defined clearly as embedding a public service ethos, value for licence fee money, weighing public value against market impact, and public consultation.

So I don't know what else I can say about Public Media. I know there's more to discuss, because we spent an hour on it in our lecture. Basically, though, I really love how genuine Public Media comes across. Triple J is like a best mate, ABC is like that one teacher who you can't help but love, and SBS is that friend who just knows a bit of everything. And I adore it.

Lecture #6: Commercial Media.

Ah, it had to come about sooner or later didn't it. I mean, it's a journalism subject for goodness sake. I won't deny it, I don't really enjoy most forms of commercial media for the sole reason that Professor Redman pointed out. I hate incessant advertising.  Like, it doesn't just irritate me - it drives me to distraction. I don't enjoy having a middle aged man yell deals on appliances at me, nor do I even remotely care whether seniors have to take health tests for their life insurance. I often find myself yelling "OH MY GOD, JUST SHUT UP" (perhaps not always so G rated) at my car radio before turning the whole thing off to drive in silence, or surfing between channels to avoid ad-breaks in my favorite TV shows.

It is useful, though - don't get me wrong. I have watched TV series' on commercial TV stations religiously before, and I buy a ridiculous amount of magazines which are just jam packed with ads. Just imagine if we got rid of commercial media! Truthfully, there wouldn't be much left. No Jersey Shore, no Cosmopolitan, no Ninemsn! Imagine the ABC or SBS trying to cater for the target market of Southern Cross 10. Did you try to imagine? What did you envisage? Well it's a trick question - it's impossible, ABC will never broadcast Family Guy. I'm not saying that based on hard facts but come on, really.

I suppose we have to take the good with the bad really, it's a love hate relationship I have with Commercial media. They suck me in with their deliciously addictive reality TV, then trap me with their cleverly placed advertisements. Good try venus fly trap of commercial media, but I escaped this time. THIS TIME.

Lecture #5: Sound Lecture

So, this lecture was a very interesting concept. I can't deny it, when I found out this was a streamed audio lecture I did groan.. only because I was expecting a normal recorded lecture format. One in which I knew I would get distracted in and end up not listening because there are just too many things to do when you're in your room (pathetic I know..).

I was pleasantly surprised, however, when I discovered that this weeks lecture was in fact two lectures taken from radio with some really fantastic tips and facts about radio journalism! Whilst listening to these interviews, it became increasingly clear to me that radio isn't as easy as many people think. Radio is the oldest mass medium, is a much more intimate form of journalism, requiring the presenter to let listeners feel as though they are part of the conversation/action rather than simply listening in.

From the interviews, although I picked up countless pieces of information about radio, there were some that stood out in particular:

• Always show the subject respect - let them take their time and give them control over the moment. I've found sometimes when I've been the subject of interviews that my interviewer hasn't given me enough time to answer or assumed I am finished speaking when I pause. It's incredibly frustrating, and you find yourself interrupting the interviewer to say what you were thinking in the first place. Being cut off also gives the impression that the interviewer does not have much respect for you, and is just trying to get some content then get the interview finished.
• Broaden your vocabulary and practice your punctuation!! This is golden. If anyone going into radio is going to take one piece of advice, this should be it. I couldn't agree more when this was mentioned in the sound lecture - there is absolutely nothing worse than hearing someone on radio use incorrect grammar, unsophisticated vocab, or have messy pronunciation. It's nearly painful to hear a radio presenter say 'youse' or 'I done that'. Then again, maybe this is my growing up in Emerald/Rockhampton speaking - Brisbane might not have the same problem.
• Don't be too ponderous. If you spend a long time coming up with super different questions to ask your subject, chances are they will spend a long time coming up with answers for them. Now I know I did say allow them to pause, but think: Which would be easier to answer - "Where do you see your career going in future?" OR "What, in terms of your current position, do you envisage yourself achieving in future in your career regarding performing."  Exactly, the first one. Simple questions will always be great talkback material. 
• Nothing is about you! Sure, it's your show but that doesn't mean you're the main focus. You must empathize with your subject, and try to relate to them. This has two advantages - Your subject will feel much more comfortable in a casual setting, and your audience will feel much more involved by way of human emotion. I'm not saying you need to give your subject a cuddle every time they talk about something that is hard for them, just let them take their time. If you can see that something might be troublesome, ask them if they mind talking about it rather than thrusting the question right at them. In the same way, respond to what they are feeling: "So clearly that was a very tough thing for you to go through, how do you think your partner felt about it?" (I am absolutely making this up).

Really though, I found this lecture to be one of the most interesting and fascinating we have had yet, and I didn't even get distracted and go on Facebook!

Lecture #4 - Picture Stories

Okay, I know I have not been as diligent as other students with blogging our lectures but hey! I'm still doing it - kudos for that right?

So for our fourth lecture, we discussed picture stories. Now before this lecture, I thought storytelling through pictures could only happen in illustrations, artworks and photographs. Boy was I wrong! As it turns out, stories get told pictorially in all sorts of ways - the drawings on currency notes, graffiti on buildings and trains, magazine  and newspaper covers, billboards, album covers, and so so many more!

Which, when you think about it, makes so much sense. I mean, they do tell stories - just not the conventional idea of a story. This is particularly evident in the spectrum of photo-journalism which has grown so much recently, and encapsulates a whole range of photo capturing methods from phone cameras to massive DSLR's. Another useful development in photo-journalism has been the addition to many online news articles of a gallery of online photos.

One thing I found very interesting was when Professor Redman made a point of showing us that simply the framing of a photo can completely change the impact that it has. He used an example of a number of photographs taken at the funeral of Jonathan Thurston's uncle, whereby simply changing the angle and perspective of the photo, the meaning and symbolism was totally altered. I took note of this, it could be useful in my storytelling..

We also looked at the rise of digital manipulation of photographs, altering the message they portray and the way they are interpreted. The controversial issue of airbrushing and retouching photographs was raised, which proved to be really intriguing. For example, take the below photograph of the gorgeous Cameron Diaz. In my opinion, I think the first photo is more beautiful than the second - but the latter is the one that was sent to print. 

So what makes a great photo? As it turns out, a number of things. These include it's framing (as above), focus, angle/POV, exposure, timing, and most importantly - capturing the moment. 

Another topic which was raised was that of Video Journalism. This area of journalism encapsulates a huge chunk of picture storytelling, such as newsreels in cinemas, propaganda films, TV news, videos submitted via social networking, and of course video journalism itself. 

I'll leave you with my favourite quote of the lecture: 

"If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that's a good picture." - Eddie Adams

Character #14: Kellie Drummond, 18, Bank Teller

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

Don't trust the people you hang out with

What is your favourite drink?

Coke!

What's in your pockets?
My phone, and some spare change

What's your favourite word?
Probably.. fuck.

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Any pokemon *laughter*

Thanks so much!

Character #13: Brittney Deguara, 17, Student

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

Don't go to St. Patricks College for senior school!!

What is your favourite drink?

Coca Cola

What's in your pockets?

My phone and some coins. 

What's your favourite word?
'Oh hey'

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Ahh, probably Carrie Bradshaw. 

Thanks so much!

Character #12: Elizabeth Bidstrup, 19, Student

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

You're not as mature as you think, please just enjoy being a kid and stop trying to grow up. Also, stop punishing yourself for things that weren't your fault. 

What is your favourite drink?

Pina Coladas!

What's in your pockets?

Right now, my phone, keys and a heart-shaped stone. 

What's your favourite word?
Meow

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Leonard from Big Bang Theory, he makes me laugh!

Thanks so much!

Character #11: Cody Nicol, 17, Trainee in Horticulture

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

Go to uni!

What is your favourite drink?

Canadian Club

What's in your pockets?

My phone, my keys and wallet

What's your favourite word?
I don't have one

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Bart Simpson

Thanks so much!

Character #10: Grant Maclean, 20, Automotive Panel Technician

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

Stay away from girls! 

What is your favourite drink?

Tooheys Extra Dry

What's in your pockets?

My phone, my keys and wallet

What's your favourite word?
Neerkol. 

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Eddie, the Iron Maiden mascot

Thanks so much!

Character #9: Laura Dunne, 17, Student

I've started calling them characters rather than strangers - I figure it makes more sense! 
I lived with Laura for 5 years, and let me tell you - you will not meet anyone more down to earth or genuine lady wherever you go. She's a hard-yakka woman and I love her to bits. 

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

Revel in your innocence and youth while you still can, and don't be too hard on yourself. 

What is your favourite drink?

Hot milo on a cold day, creaming soda on a hot day.

What's in your pockets?

My iPhone, some loose change and a tissue. 

What's your favourite word?
Reverie.

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Katniss Everdeen

Thanks so much!

Stranger #8: Kahley Bryson, 16, Bartender/Student

Kahley is one of the coolest girls I've ever met, through mutual friends. She has the same passions and interests as me, and is side-splittingly funny. I'm so glad she gave me an insight into herself!

What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?

To myself? Well.. Study harder in school - it's your ticket to life. The choices and decisions you make now are pretty much your key to life. 

What is your favourite drink?

Probably.. Oh mmm Boost! Strawberry Squeeze! *laughter*

What's in your pockets?

Nothing at the moment, but usually I have my phone.

What's your favourite word?My favourite word, honestly? I use the word fuck way too much, but it's a word I could use in every sentence..

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?

Oh my god, Dobby! From Harry Potter!

Thankyou, that was great! 

Stranger #7: Jessica Kahl, 17, Check out chick/Student

Okay I realise I am cheating now - getting interviews from people I know.. I know I feel awful! But hey, it's content isn't it? I pinky swear I will make more effort to interview actual strangers from now on. That's a pinky swear - I can't break that.


What's one piece of advice you'd give to your 15 year old self?Something better always comes around.  

What is your favourite drink?Ice coffee 

What's in your pockets?Lip gloss, mobile phone, ipod and earphones 

What's your favourite word?Corybantic

Last but not least, if you could bring any fictional character to life, who would it be?Scarecrow - from Matthew Reilly's ICE STATION novel 

Thankyou! 

Media Use Diary

 As you know, the first piece of assessment for JOUR1111 was a media-use diary documenting how many hours we produce and consume media in our daily lives. The following dossier contains an explanation and analysis of my personal media production and consumption. This examination will aim to have a primary focus upon Journalism and Communication.

MEDIA USAGE:

As is shown in the pie-graph below, I spend an almost embarrassing amount of time using social media, taking up 37% of my total recorded hours. This amount of time could be roughly broken into 20 hours of production of media, and 30 hours of consuming media. Production of media (for me, atleast) includes writing & posting blogs, sending tweets, and writing statuses & comments on Facebook. Consumption of media is everything else – scrolling through tweets and my news feed, reading other blogs, and looking at people’s photos.

This figure was followed by a an almost equal amount of time using my mobile phone (calling & SMS), and using the internet for general purposes such as shopping, watching videos and reading (22% each). So that whoever is reading this doesn’t think I’m an internet fiend who is hunched over a keyboard all hours of the day, I’ll also say that most of these hours overlap i.e. I switch between tabs on my browser a lot.

I have put news in its own category due to the fact that I only read or watch my news online.

Social – 37%

General Internet – 22%

Mobile – 22%

Online News – 15%

Radio – 1.5%

Print – 1.5%

TV – 0% (!!)

Now, let’s look at this in a bit more depth…

WHAT:                   Social Media

WHEN:                  Multiple times a day, average of 5 hours per day (over 1/3 of an average day).

WHERE:                My bedroom, wherever I am.

HOW:                     My laptop, on my iPhone

ANALYSIS:             In relation to Facebook, I was on par with the rest of the JOUR1111 cohort - owning just the one account on this platform (94.7%) , using the Facebook app on my smart phone (95.4%), and spending the majority of my online time on Facebook (91.9%).

                                It’s interesting, however, to note that if I scroll through my online Facebook contacts at any one time there are very few people I would consider as my true ‘friends’ – let alone have an in depth conversation with them. So why am I so compelled to check my Facebook so often? I’ve barely met any of these people in ‘real life’, some not at all, yet I feel a need to read their statuses, look at their photos, and wish them a happy birthday when Facebook tells me so. It pains me to admit it, but I know exactly why this is so. I love to feel included – I like to be able to say I know who a person is when they are brought up in conversation, or feel like I’m part of a certain group. It’s embarrassing, but it’s true.

                                FacebookAddiction Disorder (more commonly known as FAD) is becoming increasingly common amongst social media users, with shocking symptoms and repercussions. I haven’t quite gotten that bad, but it’s not out of the question. Here’s a beautifully presented Youtube clip which speaks about what we would do without Facebook: 

                                When I began JOUR1111, I was already an avid blogger on the Tumblr platform however I had next to no experience with Twitter and Blogger just like the rest of the cohort (70.8% had no experience with twitter, 63% with no blog experience). Being thrust into the depths of these sites was both confronting and exciting – and this definitely contributed to my social media consumption/production hours (writing blogs on lectures and interviews, composing tweets). I do, however, spend a lot of time ‘reblogging’ on Tumblr which also added to my production hours.

                                With my experience of reading blogs and tweets, I personally classify these mediums as journalism – being used more frequently each day to share breaking news, information, events and so much more.

WHAT:                   Mobile & General Internet

WHEN:                  Multiple times a day, average of 3 hours per day each. Internet usage generally in the evening.

WHERE:                My bedroom, wherever I am.

HOW:                     On my laptop, on my iPhone

ANALYSIS:             Just like 44.2% of the JOUR1111 cohort, I own an iPhone which is internet-enabled. I was sceptical as to whether I ought to include calls and SMS in my media-usage tally, however upon discussion with my peers we concluded that we really do find out a lot of information through mobile usage – rendering it highly relatable to the field of journalism and communication. With the introduction of the iMessage feature with iOS 5 on iPhone, my text messaging has skyrocketed due to communication effectively costing me nothing with most of the people I speak to. During the day, there is not often a half hour that goes by without me sending a text or making a call. To be perfectly honest, I don’t know what I would do if I didn’t have my iPhone.

                                As for internet usage, I love to discover new things. I love sauntering through cyberspace finding new and interesting things like this and this. I find out most of my general knowledge through clicking through endless Wikipedia pages, and have to clean the saliva off my keyboard after I look through Etsy. The internet is also great for procrastinating, which probably explains why my usage hours are so very high. Once I’d set up my twitter account, things became even harder! I found it really hard to not share every single cool thing that I found online with the rest of the cohort.

WHAT:                   Online news, Radio & Print media

WHEN:                  Online news readings averaged 2 hours per day, whereas I only consumed 2 hours of Radio and Print respectively over the 10 days.

WHERE:                News in my bedroom, Radio on the bus.

HOW:                     On my laptop, on my iPhone (News)

ANALYSIS:             Realising that I truly don’t get news from anywhere other than online and the Pulse news app on my iPhone was actually pretty shocking -  I didn’t realise I relied on the internet so much for current affairs. Although upon examination of the JOUR1111 Survey results, 67.8% of the cohort said that they got their news online – a close second to TV with 71.1%. On the computer, I draw upon my news from a number of different sources such as news.com.au, Time Newsfeed, and Sydney Morning Herald. One thing I found interesting about this medium was that I really only opened up a tab on my browser to read the news when I’d become bored with whatever else I was doing. I think one of the main reasons that I have turned to solely using online news is that it’s so much simpler. For example, if I want to find out a certain issue, I can simply type it into a search bar rather than trawling through those awkwardly large newspapers and once again failing at that folding thing that every older person is so good at. This also points once again to the strong transition between old and new media sources.

                                As for my Radio and Print media usage – this didn’t surprise me much at all. The only time I really listen to the radio is when it is playing on public transport, and even then it is usually only music and not news/talkback. This was consistent with the rest of the cohort, with 53.9% of students listening to less than an hour of radio each day. Print too, was only regarding music. The only physical paper media that I interacted with in the ten day recording period was free publications such as Scene, Rave and tsunami mag. Note the key word in the previous sentence, free.

Below is a really interesting Youtube clip about the rise of social media, with specific reference to Twitter and Facebook. Although it is from 2010, it contains some pretty intriguing information regarding new media and how much it’s taking over the world. Enjoy!

Overall reflection:

Some of the aspects of my media production and consumption did surprise me, however most of my results were not that different to what I had expected. Having to keep a media diary made me truly realise the extent to which media is consumed each day, without thinking most of the time. I wasn’t surprised about internet being my preferred form of media, however I didn’t really realise I spent so much time on Facebook!

I also discovered that I watch absolutely no TV whatsoever, aside from glancing at what’s on when I pass a television. I think my lifestyle of living with other students impacts this a lot, and like I said – online news is a hundred times simpler to access and work with.

Overall, I felt like it was a worthwhile and interesting exercise that really opened my eyes to a lot of things. I think it would be good for anyone to consciously monitor their media use for a couple of days, just to try it.

STUDENT SURVEY RESULTS (requires Blackboard login)

https://blackboard.elearning.uq.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-2169909-dt-content-rid-211287_1/courses/JOUR1111S_6220STx/JOUR1111_Survey_sem1_2012.pdf