Wednesday 13 June 2012

Lecture 12 Reflection - The End of JOUR1111



Today was our final lecture for JOUR1111.  We had a guest lecturer this afternoon, Steve Molks.  He is the creator and blogger of Molks TV Talk.  He started his blog two years ago and now has his own mini empire.  Steve Molks talked about his passion for journalism and television, and how he has been able to combine the two. 



Todays lecture was proof of everything Dr Redman has talked about throughout the semester.  How the technology of the 21st century gives us the ability to be journalists now.  We can all easily report news and be blogging to get our name out there.  That is exactly what Steve Molks has done, and now he is reviewing television for several different media outlets.  Steve Molks continually emphasised the importance of Twitter, and reporting things via Twitter instantly.  He shared with us some of his favourite journalists that he likes to follow.



Although I realise how important Twitter is for journalists, and for keeping up to date with breaking news, I have honestly found it really hard to get into this semester.  I am going to try use Twitter more throughout the rest of my degree, as it is so prominent and is only going to become more important as time goes on and as technology continues to advance.   



Overall, I have enjoyed this subject this semester.  I feel like it was a good way to start my journalism degree, and has certainly made me eager to continue to learn more about journalism. 

Sunday 27 May 2012

Our final JOUR1111 Tutorial

Today was our final tutorial for JOUR1111.  We finished the tutorial program by watching a documentary about the New York Times.  The documentary gave an insight to what goes on at the New York Times.  It discussed the challenges the newspaper has faced regarding ‘the death of newspapers’.  The fear of dying newspapers is something that is very evident in the 21st century due to ever changing and developing technology.  It is so easy now to access news online for free, which makes buying newspapers unnecessary to some people. 

The documentary talked a lot about Julian Assange and WikiLeaks, which came up briefly in our last lecture.  I am still yet to decide if I think Julian Assange is doing the right thing by exposing all the information that he has.  Sometimes I wonder why the information has been hidden from the public in the first place.  When I was travelling around Africa in January I met a family who had been personally affected and endangered by him.  They are a family that works in Africa for the American Embassy, their names were released in some documents that Assange revealed.  They had very strong opinion on him, and believe that he should locked up for what he has done.  They know a lot of other families that have also had personal and private information leaked by Assange, which can really put them in danger.

Overall, I have enjoyed all of my JOUR1111 tutorials this semester.  They have all been really helpful for assessments and to further understand content that is covered in lectures. 

Lecture 11 Reflection - Investigative Journalism

Today’s lecture was all about investigative journalism.  I find investigative journalism very interesting and inspiring, as it is so powerful and has the potential to really change the world, and how people perceive certain things.    A perfect example of a recent piece of investigative journalism that really changed Australia was the episode by Four Corners about Australia’s cattle exports to Indonesia.  It was only a matter of hours after this episode aired that there was a national debate about Australia’s cattle export to Indonesia.  Then not long after the episode was shown our national policies on exporting cattle was completely changed. 

Today Dr Redman discussed in detail a piece of investigative journalism that he worked on, The Moonlight State.  The Moonlight State was also produced by Four Corners; it exposed the corruption that existed in the Queensland police force.   Dr Redman emphasised how much work and research is put into investigative journalism.  Two years of extensive research was put into The Moonlight State, which ended up being a 30 minute episode.  Once this episode did go to air, it brought down members of government and a lot of police. 

Although there is much debate about whether Julian Assange can be considered a journalist, there is no denying that the WikiLeaks publisher has exposed information that changed the world.  In some way his work can be categorised as investigative journalism, as is has revealed inside information, but just not in an ethical way.

Investigative journalism is extremely serious stuff, it is very critical and thorough journalism, and is all about questioning the facts, and what has been presented to us.  The following are some important aspects to consider when working on investigative journalism:

Intelligent – well thought out and know what you are trying to find before you go after it
Informed – know the major facts and people involved
Intuitive – is this dangerous to me or other people
Inside – get the inside information
Intimate – know what is going on from the inside view, you need to be trusted
Invest – you need to invest a lot of yourself, money, time, and mental health, as it is very serious

Investigative journalists bring power to the powerless, and voices to the voiceless.  They represent the interests of those who do not have the power to speak out, and are able to balance the power of the government. 

Lecture 10 Reflection - Agenda Setting


Today’s lecture was all about agenda setting and how the media has the power to construct reality.  Dr Redman took us through the history of agenda setting, beginning in the 1920’s.  Agenda setting has continued to develop and change over time; I found the history of 1930’s particularly interesting because of its reference to Hitler’s propaganda.  Hitler’s propaganda was so powerful that it set the agenda for the Holocaust and World War II.


 
There are four different types of agenda setting and each of them are inter related.  There is public, policy, corporate and media agenda setting. 

Public Agenda Setting - the set of topics that members of the public perceive as important 

Policy – issues that decision makers think are salient

Corporate – issues that big businesses and corporations think are important

Media – issues discussed in the media



People argue that the mass media do not merely reflect and report reality, but filter and shape it.  Due to the fact that news is so constant, and there is always so much of it, journalists obviously need to filter news.  They filter the news in relation to news values and what is important at the time.  One of the important news values is locality; obviously the audience wants to read news that is relevant to them and where they live.  This is something that has major influence over what news is published and where. 


Dr Redman talked about the ‘bandwagon effect’.  The bandwagon effect refers to when a news story goes viral on the internet, in the 21st century this is quite a common occurrence.  A perfect example is KONY.  With the way people use the internet at the moment it is so easy for a news topic to go viral in minutes and reach people all over the world.  Mass media outlets and other advertising companies use this tendency to their advantage, to spread news and other trends quickly.  As the internet and other social media outlets continue to expand and become even more popular and accessible throughout the world we will only see the bandwagon effect become more popular and common.


I found what Dr Redman said about the development of the 24 hour news cycle very interesting.  In the 21st century news has developed into a constant news cycle that we have access to 24 hours a day. The way news works in the 21st century is so different from the way it used to work.  The morning paper used to set the agenda for the day, and that agenda would not change until the next paper was released the following morning.  Now prime time is all the time, it a story breaks in the middle of the day it will be published and we will instantly have access to that story online.  


 
The media do play a large role in constructing reality, as the medias concentration on particular issues and subjects leads the public to perceive those issues as more important than other issues.  Due to the fact that the news is so constant, and there is always so much of it, the news does need to stay focussed so we are reading what is most important. 

Wednesday 23 May 2012

Annotated Bibliography


Annotated Bibliography

This annotated bibliography focuses on the current media coverage of the Allison Baden Clay murder, focussing mainly on her funeral, and how her husband has been portrayed in the light of the media.  Each source that has been analysed presents a slightly different portrayal of Allison Baden Clays husband, Gerard Baden Clay.  The media coverage of the funeral was all quite similar, which shows that journalists were working off the same press release.  In a tragic event such as this, this is a good thing, as it means there were minimal media outlets at the funeral.  The academic text that is used in this annotated bibliography discusses how trauma can be enhanced on the community and family members when mass amounts of media outlets appear not only to cover the funeral, but the entire story in general.  A journalist’s job is to be the eyes and ears of the community, without increasing the trauma of a family and community further (Kay, Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010).



Kay, L., Reilly, R.C., Connolly, K., & Cohen, S. (2010) Help or Harm?  Symbolic Violence, secondary trauma and the impact of press coverage on a community.  Journalism Practice, 4:4, pp. 421-438. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/17512780903429829



The authors of this article discuss the secondary trauma and symbolic violence that can result from the news coverage of a traumatic event (Kay, Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010, p. 421).  The main author, Linda Kay is the Chair and Associate Professor of the Department of Journalism at Concordia University.  Her extensive knowledge about journalism makes the content of this article exceptionally credible.  Kay and the Concordia University Community Resilience Research Team carried out extensive research on the way that press coverage of a traumatic event in a community can affect the victims, community members, and the community itself (Kay, Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010, p. 422).  They carried out this research in a small community in Quebec.  The town of only 2000 people experienced a traumatic event in 2005 where a sixteen year old girl was abducted and murdered.  Throughout the disappearance, funeral, and ongoing murder investigations, the town was inundated with media outlets and journalists.  Each journalist was fighting for interviews with residents, and for the latest news regarding the disappearance (Kay, Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010, p. 423).  The results of the research conducted proved that five key themes are evident in relation to the impact news coverage can have on a community.  The five themes are: alienation from the community, anger at the media’s public construction of the media, intrusion on community life, intrusion on the private process of grief, and triggering renewed feelings of loss and grief.  Kay stresses how important it is for journalists to report these highly traumatic events with sensitivity and empathy.  Kay believes the mandate for traumatic events is clear: get the story and get it fast (Kay, Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010, pp. 422- 425). 



Dalton, T. (2012, May 12). Posies, a boxful of tissues and tears for the mum gone.  The Courier Mail, pp. 4-6.



A traumatic event that has recently affected the community of Brookfield is the murder of much loved and respected mother, Allison Baden-Clay.  The Courier Mails news article, written by Trent Dalton, covered the funeral of Allison Baden-Clay.  The content in Dalton’s article can be considered highly credible as Dalton has a well respected reputation throughout Australia, being considered one of Australia’s best feature journalists.  The article was written with respect to the late mother and wife, it did not draw upon any of the gossip or suspicion surrounding the murder investigation, unlike the news clip by Nine News.  The article focussed upon on the emotions of her daughters, husband, and other family members at the funeral.  It portrayed her family as being incredibly upset throughout the duration of the funeral.  The article also reflected upon the great respect Allison had from loved ones, and her community (Dalton, 2012, pp. 4-6).  In comparison to the other news articles that have been analysed, this article is definitely the most thoughtful and displays the most respect towards Allison’s family.  Compared to the news clip about Gerard Baden Clays affair, this article would not bring further trauma to the family who are trying to grieve, especially to the young girls.  Dalton reported the traumatic event like a good journalist should, with sensitivity and respect to Allison’s family, and the Brookfield community.



Beveridge, S. (Writer). (2012, May 11). Sister promises justice for Allison [Television broadcast]. Brisbane, Australia: Ten News.  http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/justice-for-allison-her-familys-vow-20120511-1ygrm.html



Ten News’ short broadcast of Allison Baden-Clays funeral focussed more on the murder investigation, rather than the funeral itself.  The news clip restates what Allison’s sister, Vanessa Flower, pledged at the funeral: “We will bring you to justice, and put the pieces of the puzzle together to answer the many questions that remain unanswered.” (Beveridge, 2012)  The news clip then restates the facts of Allison’s disappearance and the discovery of her body.  The footage used in this news clip focussed mainly upon Gerard Baden Clay, showing him crying outside the church (Beveridge, 2012).  Ten News broadcasts news throughout Australia on a daily basis, it is nationally recognised as one of Australia’s most prominent sources of news, it is therefore considered a credible source.  Compared to Courier Mail’s newspaper article, this was a very concise story, where as the courier mail talked a lot about the emotions of the family.  The information about the funeral that was included in the news clip was the same information used in Dalton’s newspaper article, which shows that all the media outlets would have used the same press release to cover this story.



Gates, A. (Writer). (2012, May 20). Baden Clay ‘knew of husbands affair’ [Television Broadcast]. Brisbane, Australia: 9 News. http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/8470325/baden-clay-knew-of-husbands-affair



Nine News’ crime reporter Alyshia Gates spoke live on May 12, announcing that there had been another twist in the Allison Baden Clay murder investigation.  The new twist regarding the murder investigation is the confirmation that Gerard Baden Clay was having an affair with former co worker, Toni McHugh.  At the beginning of the report Gates states that: “Nine News understands Allison’s husband, Gerard had been having several affairs which are now the subject of the police investigation.”  Gates put emphasis on ‘several affairs’ in the report, despite the fact that only one affair has been officially confirmed.  Gates then continues to say that Toni McHugh is one of several people the police have spoken, to including Gerard Baden Clay.  Gates once again puts emphasis on the fact that Gerard Baden Clay has been interviewed by police (Gates, 2012).  The academic article by Linda Kay discusses how damaging it is for the affected families when the media reports on gossip surrounding a murder investigation (Kay, Reilly, Connolly, & Cohen, 2010, p. 421).  This murder investigation has been the subject of a lot of gossip throughout Brisbane, and reports like this do not help in controlling this gossip.  Although Nine News is considered a reputable media outlet in Australia, this news clip says that Gerard Baden Clay has had several affairs, when only one has been confirmed.  Unlike the article by The Courier Mail, which reflects positively on Allison’s life, news clips such as this one would increase trauma in Allison Baden Clays family, who are trying to deal with grief. 

Tuesday 8 May 2012

Lecture 9 Reflection - NEWS VALUES


“Journalism is the first draft of history.”
 

In this afternoons lecture Dr Redman talked about news values, and what makes something news worthy.  As of this week in JOUR1111 we will be focusing on journalism studies subjects, which is the more heavy duty theoretical journalism material.  News values are based on the degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid to the story by the audience.  Media outlets can determine what the audience gives attention to by deciding what to publish and give importance to. 


“Journalists rely on instinct rather than logic when it comes to defining a sense of news values.”
 – John Sergeant

Dr Redman took us through the history of news values and how newsworthiness has developed and changed over time.  The 12 factors of news worthiness was very interesting and basically summed up the importance of news values.  We also discussed how new news values can often be created, some examples are, religion and terrorism.  In the past, these two subjects would not be considered news values, but events that have occurred in the past ten years have made these two subjects very prominent in news today.  Religion and terrorism are issues that people want to read about and discuss. 



News that is worthy and has good news values has an impact on people; the audience can identify its relevance and find interest in the story.  A news value that I find to be particularly important is relevance.  People want to read stories that are relevant to their lives.  Even if it is an international story it should be localised so readers can relate to the story.  In the 21st century I believe another very important news value is visualisation.  With so much now being posted online, readers want to see formatting and images that draw them into the story. 



“Journalists do not adhere to formal codes of newsworthiness that can be identified or promulgates... instead, the informal code of what constitutes a good story is part of newsroom initiation and socialisation.” – Judy McGregor
 

Today Dr Redman introduced us to the term ‘Churnalism’.  Churnalism refers to journalists just grabbing press releases and publishing stories without checking the facts.  Churnalism can lead to untrustworthy, irresponsible, misleading and incomplete journalism.  It shows how much journalism has been affected by public relations. 




Monday 7 May 2012

Lecture 8 Reflection - ETHICS


“Ethical decisions are the choice between the

lesser of two evils.”



In this afternoons lecture, guest lecturer Doctor John Harrison made me realise that everyone has a different view about what is ethical and unethical, and what is tasteful and not tasteful.  This was evident when we did an exercise where we had to rate still images and videos.  Everyone looked at the images and videos in a different way.   There were a lot of different opinions and thoughts on what images were ethical, and what images were not. 


Doctor John Harrison talked about the code of ethics that is involved in journalism.  Determining what is ethical and unethical, and deciding to do the right this is obviously a huge part of a journalist’s job.  As previously mentioned, ethics can be very controversial.  The career and work of Kevin Carter is a perfect example of how controversial ethics in journalism can be.  Kevin Carter photographed one image which caused so much controversy throughout the world; it sparked an ongoing international debate about ethics. 



 
I believe that although the particular image that Kevin Carter captured is very harsh and brutal, it encapsulates the reality of what he was seeing.  By exposing this horrific reality of starvation in Sudan, he opened the world’s eyes to see exactly what was going on, which in itself is ethical, as he accurately portrayed what was happening. 

Everyone has a different ethical view, which is based on and influenced by their personal character and upbringing.  Our concept of ethics is also determined by what we have been exposed to throughout our lives, and what we believe to be normal or acceptable. 

Wednesday 25 April 2012

Factual Story Telling


The World is a Book -

Those who do not travel read only one page


I consider myself an extremely lucky person.  I have had an idealistic upbringing and childhood, one that many people would only dream of.  I believe that the two main reasons for this is because I have been given every opportunity I could possibly ask for by my parents, and they have taken me travelling all around the world.  These two factors have really influenced my life and the values I hold today.  Unfortunately, with the rush of life I often forget how lucky I am and take my experiences for granted.  But in the moments that take my breath away, those moments of pure bliss I am able to stop and reflect on how truly blessed my life has been and only pray that it will continue like this in the future.


Mum and Dads’ willingness to support my dreams was completely obvious when they not only allowed but encouraged me to move to Sydney in January 2010 to study ballet full time.  At this point dancing was the biggest part of my life, and being a professional ballerina was my lifelong dream.  It was something that I had always wanted for as long as I could remember but had not thought about seriously until I was offered a scholarship to Allegria Ballet Studios.  Unfortunately, dancing in Sydney did not work out like I originally thought it would.  I found it very hard to completely dedicate myself to ballet, and my passion for ballet began to fade.  I soon realised that I did not love ballet enough to make it my career.  My dream of becoming a professional ballerina, which I had dreamt for as long as I could remember came to an end.  Although it had to happen, realising this was completely heart breaking and very hard to come to terms with.  When you have a particular vision in your head for such a long time it is incredibly difficult to let it go.


Times in Sydney were sometimes very hard; I often felt home sick, I missed my friends so much and hated knowing they were finishing school without me.  Despite this, it is not the hard times that dominate my memory of Sydney, I look back on my time in Sydney with such fond memories.  I believe that living and dancing in Sydney is something that really shaped who I am today and what I hope for the future.  Discovering that I was not entirely passionate about ballet made me realise how incredibly important it is to find a career that you love and can see yourself doing every day of your life, one that is both challenging and rewarding.  I hope my university degree will help me discover this, and I hope that now I am at university I am one step closer to finding something that I am really passionate about.




As I stated earlier an aspect of my life that has made a huge impact on me is the fact that I have been lucky enough to travel quite a lot throughout the world.  Although I could write about every country I have visited, there are a certain few that I feel particularly passionate and have taught me something special.  In 2010 we took a family holiday to New York City, before we went I was incredibly excited.  I had watched so many films set in New York and had wanted to go there for a very long time.  I had developed the highest expectations for the city and was not let down the slightest bit when we finally arrived!  New York was everything I thought it would be and so much more!  It has specific vibe and atmosphere that made me believe that no matter what my dreams were, they could come true!  Although it is materialistic of me, New York made me want a life of excitement, glamour and success, one where I never feel bored and am always able to indulge in the things I love! 



It is always nice to come back home after holidaying overseas but I do strongly believe that Australia cannot offer you all the lessons that need to be taught and learnt.  I have seen quite a lot of the world and each country I have visited has taught me something completely different about life; I have loved them all for totally different reasons and have learnt to appreciate their uniqueness.  They have all made me grateful for different things in my life and made me admire the way other people live in their country, which made me realise that we do not necessarily have it right here in Australia.  We are such an advantaged and lucky country yet there is so much sadness here that is not in places like Bali and Thailand. 



I was fortunate enough to visit Bali at the beginning of 2011 for the second time, and I love it for being the total opposite to New York.  Bali is so slow paced and relaxed, it is extremely humble; the people are so friendly and believe smiling is very important.  Unlike many of us, people in Bali actually have a reason to be sad and depressed.  It is a country where many people live in poverty on the streets, where disease is incurable, terrorism and threats are constantly feared, the government and police force is incredibly corrupt, there are minimal opportunities for education, housing is extremely basic and many people still live without running water and electricity.  Despite all of the setbacks and challenges the Balinese are faced with on a daily basis they are such happy and kind people.  They are all spiritual in such a beautiful way and have so much respect for their culture and for each other, which is often hard to find in Australia.  The Balinese are able to be so content and have such a thrill for life in extremely hard circumstances, which makes me feel silly for ever thinking that my life is difficult when in fact my problems are so insignificant compared to theirs.  I hope that one day I will have the strength and positive spirituality of the Balinese, and be able to realise that my problems, whatever may be, are infinitesimal compare to many other people around the world. 






The valuable and unforgettable lessons about culture and life are learnt through adventure and travel.  It is when you enter a world that is so different from your own that you truly learn about life. You are able to discover yourself, and realise what is really important.  These meaningful lessons cannot be taught in a classroom or lecture theatre, only through firsthand experience.  Every different country I have visited has taught me something special about culture and life, they are all so unique and offer something that may not necessarily be able to be taught or learnt in the previous country or city.  I am so thankful that I have had a head start in my life to travel the world and experience what I have; my past has only made me want to travel more in the future!  It has been since I have come back from Sydney, matured and reflected on my upbringing that I have been able to appreciate how lucky I have been so far in life.  I hope that this luck will continue into the future. 

Monday 16 April 2012

Lecture 7 Reflection - Public Media

In this afternoon’s lecture Dr Redman explained everything about public media: what it stands for, and what it tries to achieve. 


“Public media should have public value and embed a public service ethos.”


Public media news style is:

·         Serious

·         Broadsheet style

·         Importance over interest

·         Considered, not quick and unchecked


When I have watched programs on ABC and SBS I have certainly noticed that they reiterate the public media style that is mentioned above.  I think it is because of this media style that public media outlets have a reputation for being ‘boring’.  I don’t think boring is the right word, I see their programs as more simple and professional compared to commercial media programs.
 
Functions of public media:

·         Nation building

·         National heritage

·         National identity

·         National conversations


Prior to this lecture I did not realise that public media has so many guidelines.  One of the guidelines is: public media should have a special relationship to the sense of national identity and community.  When Dr Redman read this guideline to us I reflected on my experiences with public media and the public media I have watched.  I do feel like the public media outlets I watch (ABC and SBS) do uphold and reinforce this.  There is something about ABC’s style that always does seem rather ‘Australian’, they are also always supporting Australian television series and short movies.   
 
It is unfortunate that the public media outlets receive minimal funding compared to commercial media, because it is always the programs that public media produce that do make a huge difference in the world.  For example, Four Corners documentary on cattle exports to Indonesia sparked international debates that went on for months.  In comparison to commercial media, public media is certainly more about delivering important news and documentaries to Australians, rather than caring purely about profits.

Wednesday 11 April 2012

Lecture 6 Reflection - Commercial Media

Today’s lecture was all about commercial media, and the reasons why it exists and continues to grow.  Prior to this lecture I honestly did not have a clear understanding on what commercial media exactly is, but now I do!  It is very interesting how much money goes into commercial media, compared to public media.  It is a shame that there is such a different amount of support for the different media outlets. 

Commercial media is definitely a world of its own, it is basically all about money and power.  I did not realise how much the commercial media outlets own, they have money is all different types of businesses, and when they own so much they are able to exercise even more control.  From what Dr Redman was saying in today’s lecture commercial media does seem rather corrupt, with more of a concentration on profits then social responsibility.  The big question is if commercial media will be able to deliver both commercially (profits) and socially (public trust), or is it just all about the money? 


We also discussed government content control, this scares me.  I know compared to a lot of other countries Australia has great freedom, but at the same time we are very regulated and controlled.  If content was to be controlled in Australia we would miss out on a lot of important information.  Government content control always makes me wonder what the government is trying to hide from us.

Tuesday 10 April 2012

Story Pitches

For my JOUR1112 assignment I had to pitch three different stories: a human interest story, a information story, and a news story.  I thought I would share them on my blog.

HUMAN INTEREST STORY
For my human interest story I am doing a feature article on The Queensland Ballet.  At the end of 2012 Artist Director François Klaus is leaving The Queensland Ballet.  On the 24th of February, The Queensland Ballet announced that Li Cunxin will be the new Artist Director.  In my article I will be focusing on the uncertainty surrounding what changes will be made to the company with Li Cunxin stepping in as Artist Director.  My targeted audience is Brisbane residents, and other Queensland Ballet followers who have an interest in the Company. 

 
WHO: The Queensland Ballet
WHAT: Li Cunxin as new Artist Director
WHERE: Brisbane
WHEN: The end of 2012
WHY: François Klaus is leaving The Queensland Ballet and Li Cunxin is taking his place.
HOW: The Board at The Queensland Ballet decided that it was time for a new Artist Director.

INFORMATION STORY
With winter soon approaching, I feel like it is appropriate to do my information story on Influenza.  I am going to provide statistics and data about the illness, and information on ways to avoid the flu this winter, including facts about the vaccination.  This story is relevant for all readers, as many people are affected by the flu throughout the year.

 
WHO: Residents throughout Australia
WHAT: Information people need to know about Influenza and ways to avoid it.
WHERE: Throughout Australia
WHEN: Winter
WHY: The flu is a virus which spreads easily from person to person; therefore many people are affected every year.
HOW: People are affected through infected droplets in the air and by hands carrying the virus.


NEWS STORY
For my news story I am doing an article about young voters who voted in the recent State election.  I will find out who influenced their decisions, if they made informed votes, or if they simply voted for ‘whomever’.  I am going to speak to an expert in politics and ask if they believe there should be more emphasis placed on the importance of young voters making more informed votes.  This story is will be relevant for all readers as it is a very common topic that is currently receiving a lot of media attention.

WHO: Voters aged 18-21
WHAT: Are they making informed votes?
WHERE: Brisbane
WHEN: During all elections
WHY: To raise the importance of voting, and making informed choices.
HOW: By having more understandable and simple information about politics and political parties. 

Lecture 5 Reflection - Sound Lecture


Today’s lecture was in the form of a sound lecture, which was very different.  It was an interview on ABC about telling stories on the radio.  This is the first time in my life that I have ever sat down and listened to a radio podcast or any time of radio online.  I used to listen to the radio a lot at home, but since I have lived on college I have hardly listened to the radio, this is evident in my media use diary.
 

The interviewee in this podcast talks about how different being on radio is compared to being on television, he explains how radio is much more intimate then television.  I do agree with this, when I am by myself in the car listening to the radio it always feels personal, like the radio host is directly talking to me.  I also agree with what the radio host is saying about always making the people he is interviewing feel comfortable and safe, this is when the interesting information will come out.
 

This radio host highlights some really important points about interviewing that I have never really thought about before.  For example, the interviewer must not dominate the interview and must allow the interviewee to talk and explain themselves.  Interviewers must guide the interviewee along but must not step on them.  He talks about how silence can be powerful on radio and lead to more intimate information – this is something that I also have not thought about before.  
 

We have also been discussing interviewing in JOUR1112, interviewing is definitely a skill will improve with practice.  A good interviewer is able to make the interviewee comfortable and get emotional responses out of the questions asked.  


Lecture 4 Reflection - Picture Stories

In this afternoons lecture we discussed the importance of pictures and how we have lost interest in text and now always want our stories to be told with PICTURES.  As they always say, ‘A picture can tell a thousand words!’  Dr Redman took us through a short, but very interesting history of picture stories, no matter when or where in the world we are we could never avoid a picture story, we are surrounded by them. 

 
In January I travelled to Africa for a month, these are some of my favourite photos that I took.  These photos, like many others are a perfect examples of ‘A picture can tell a thousand words’.  I don’t think that I could ever use words to explain the environment in Africa like these photos do. 







There are so many different factors that contribute to taking an amazing photo, sometimes it is just being in the right place at the right time, but when you are not, you need to make the most of the surroundings you have.

Sins of a Father

I have recently finished reading Sins of a Father by Herald Sun journalist Eamonn Duff, for those who have not read this book yet I HIGHLY recommend it.  It is such an amazing piece of investigative journalism; it is incredible how much time and comprehensive research has gone into this book.  Eamonn Duff is such a brilliant journalist who has put an untold angle on Schapelle Corby’s drug smuggling story.  Before I read this book I was unsure if I thought Corby was guilty or not, but after reading this I know that she definitely is guilty.  Eamonn Duff has included evidence in this book that was never told to the courts or media.  It is an amazing piece of work, everyone must read this, it is a perfectly illustrates how valuable and important investigative journalism is!  This book got be so excited about investigative journalism.
Journalist Eamonn Duff, at the launch of his book Sins of a Father

 
This is a great interview with the author that explains what the book is all about, you should all check it out!

Lecture 3 Reflection – What is text?

Today we were lucky enough to have guest lecturer Skye Doherty talk to us about TEXT.  She talked about the inverted pyramid, which we are also covering in JOUR1112 at the moment.  The inverted pyramid and ‘WWWWW&H’ are both very simple yet helpful guides for how to structure a news story.  I found this example of the inverted pyramid and thought it very relevant to what Skye was talking about. 


Skye went on to discuss news values, which works in conjunction with the inverted pyramid.  I think I will be using these two concepts throughout my entire journalism career.  Skye brought to our attention to how different online news can be formatted, and how hyper text can allow readers to explore more easily and to do things they cannot do with basic print.  She went through the basic structure of a print newspaper and compared it to how different the same newspaper can appear online.  I found Skyes advice on headlines the most helpful advice out of todays lecture; make sure headlines contain a verb, that they are true and correct.  It is important is keep headlines simple so they are easy to search online.

Lecture 2 Reflection - NEW NEWS

In our second lecture for JOUR1111 Dr Redman talked about how news has evolved and changed under the category of web iterations 1.0, 2.0, and 3.0.  For these web iterations to make sense he clarified exactly what was old media and new media.  Old media is known as heritage/ legacy media, which is newspapers, magazines, radio and television.  New media is categorised into three different web iterations: web 1.0, web 2.0, and web 3.0.  I found it very interesting how these three web iterations have evolved over time to become more specifically targeted to the individual.  For example, web 1.0 is all about the COMPANIES, web 2.0 is about SOCIAL GROUPS, and web 3.0 is about INDIVIDUALS. 

Although I am a daily, maybe even hourly user of Web 2.0, I found Web 3.0 to be the most interesting out of them all, as I notice semantic web every day when I am using the internet.  Dr Redman talked all about meta tags and the internet personalising your every search so certain ads will appear on the web page that are specific to you, based on your previous searches.  On certain websites that I am a constant user of I always notice this specific content delivery.  For example, I have always done ballet, so I am sometimes making ballet related searches on Google, after I have made these searches ballet ads will always appear in the advertising on facebook. 

I think that hyper localisation is a scary thing; it has the potential to be very limiting.  If people are only getting what they want in regards to the news they will become ethnocentric, and will miss out on general knowledge and other important things that are going on throughout the world.  Hyper localisation does not allow the potential for people to broaden their knowledge or interests. 

Dr Redman very cleverly illustrated to us the idea of ENTITLEMENT through the jelly bean exercise.   Will people continue to pay for something they believe they are entitled to have for free?  This is what some online newspapers are currently trying to find out.  Several newspapers are beginning to put their stories behind pay walls.  As a potential future journalist, I really hope that people will decide to pay the subscription, as without these payments journalism is going to suffer dramatically.    

Lecture 1 Reflection

Today was my first day of university, such a scary but exciting day!  Finally I feel like I am studying something that I really want to, I now feel as though I have more of a purpose in life – which is a satisfying feeling.   I felt very privileged and lucky to be sitting in my first ever Journalism lecture this afternoon, as I know that so many people throughout the world would never get this opportunity. 

In this afternoons lecture Dr Redman gave an overall introduction to JOUR1111, explaining upcoming assessment, the course context and profile, and what we should expect in Introduction to Journalism and Communication.  Dr Redman also took us through some inspiring quotes about journalists and by journalists.  I found this one particularly inspiring:
 
'Journalism can never be silent: that is its greatest virtue and its greatest fault. It must speak, and speak immediately, while the echoes of wonder, the claims of triumph and the signs of horror are still in the air.'  
- Henry Anatole Grunwald
After the lecture today I felt a little bit less lost in this huge world of the University of Queensland, Dr Redman seems very helpful.  I am scared but more importantly excited for what is to come throughout the semester!