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!

http://media.smh.com.au/system/ipad/sins-of-the-father-2761669.html

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!

Welcome to Blogging.....

My name is Lauren Cooney, I just began studying a dual degree of Business and Journalism.  This assignment for JOUR1111 is my first attempt at blogging.  I am not very technologically advanced, so I will see how I go with regards to getting creative in formatting etc.

I decided to study Journalism because I really want to break into TV journalism.  I would love to be reporting on camera, it is something that I have always found so interesting and exciting!  Whether it was being news reporter, foreign correspondent, talk show host, I think I would love it.  My ultimate, dream job is to be a reporter on Getaway (typical, I know).   I have been very lucky to have travelled overseas quite a lot, but the more I travel the more addicted I become to travelling, so I know that any of these jobs would fulfil this addiction!

I will see how I go blogging over the next few weeks, wish me luck, and stay POSTED.