Factual Storytelling

Here is the link to my factual storytelling video:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Jve-bah0bm0


I was a bit confused as to what to make it on, because I missed the last tutorial before mid-semester break, but I decided to do my storytelling exercise on my best friend, Katherine.

Katherine's story really affected me emotionally. Even though I've known her for a year, and we've been best friends, still hearing how frustrated she is strikes a chord in me, and I find her story fascinating. I did it on this also because identity and cultural issues are things I have previously struggled with.

I wish...

...I was at Coachella

http://www.theatlantic.com/infocus/2012/04/coachella-2012/100279/

and for more relevant Aussie news, HOW AWESOME IS THE SPLENDOUR LINEUP?!

The Kony Controversy

I wrote a Kony post ages ago, after Ali mentioned it. But I decided to hold on until today - the 20th April, 2012 aka 'Cover the Night', - well, rather tonight, where our streets are supposed to get plastered in posters.

Thankfully, I wasn't the only one who remembered, news.com.au did as well, and wrote an excellent article, viewed here:
http://www.news.com.au/national/its-kony-night-wait-kony-whos-that-again/story-e6frfkvr-1226334418948

I do not mean ANY offense to anyone through this blog post. I just think it is incredibly interesting that people think that they can change the world with just a click of a mouse. While what they achieved was admirable (poke fun at the campaign all you want, but the numbers speak for themselves), at the same time you can't help but wonder how many people actually know what they're talking about.

Well, I found the PERFECT picture on Pinterest which defies the purpose of my post, and completely defines all those people who never actually cared about ANYTHING political until if you didn't like it on facebook, you looked like you were either ignorant, cynical or insensitive.

All the hype has died down, thank heavens, because if I had to hear another rant about how I'm a bad person for not increasing awareness, I would have snapped. I, like many others, am wondering how all the Kony hype will fare after 1) Jason Russell's breakdown and 2) the month-long lack of Kony statuses.

Also, for additional info..

http://visiblechildren.tumblr.com/ is an excellent analysis of the Kony campaign.

Commercial Media vs Public Media

These two lectures were jam-packed with information. Everything Bruce said was new material for me, so I had to go over it a few times. There's not really a lot for me to elaborate on but I edited and uploaded notes below:

COMMERCIAL MEDIA 

What is commercial media? 

• Profit driven media production
• Non-government funded
• Survives (and fails) on business success (as you can see through many newspapers etc closing down)
• Generates audiences to grain profit through selling advertising to them. 

Major networks in Australia include:

• News Limited, Fairfax, APN, Nine Entertainment, Win, Southern Cross Broadcasting, Ten
• Also less obviously: Telstra, Ausstar, Optus and Macquarie Radio. 

Roles:

• Commercial media is formed through subscription, sponsorship and subsidies. 
• It's functions are used commercially (ie on radios), for propaganda (FoxNews in the States) and socially (for communities.)
• Advertising (ie Zumba or the Aaaahh Bra)

Commercial media should include: 

• A truthful account of events
• A forum for exchange of comments and criticisms
• Projection of representative pictures of groups in society
• Presentation of the goals/values of the society
• Full access to the day's intelligence. 

PUBLIC MEDIA


What is public media?

• "Mission to serve or engage a public" "ultimate purpose is to serve the public and not to turn a profit" 

Major networks in Australia:  

• ABC/SBS and their respective digital channels and radios
• Community media: 4ZZZ, Community Broadcasting Foundation, 4EBFM

Internationally:

• BBC, PBS, RTHK
• Community media in the USA, eg American Public Media 

Roles of public media: 

1. To support the public and democratic processes
2. To embed a 'public service ethos' 
3. Value licence fee money
4. "Weigh a public value against market impact" (BBC)
5. Public consultation

Public media should involve these aspects:

• Geographical universality
• Universality of appeal
• Special provisions for minorities
• Distanced from vested interests
• Special relationship to national identity and community 

Week 5: Sound Lecture

The sound lecture took me a while to get into. I think it was because I wasn't visually engaged with the lecture, and so it made it really easy to get distracted. I listened to it at least six times, and got through the entire thing once, shamefully. On the other hand, since I don't actually listen to the radio very much (except for occasionally Triple J), I found this lecture interesting.

Carmel Rooney interviewed Richard Fidler and Steve Austin about storytelling on radios. Richard said that he was part of a comedy group and on TV before he went into working on the radio. He explained that radio is a completely different medium - it's more difficult to make compelling and to draw people in. I agree that radio is more intimate - I always feel disconnected from the TV and like I am watching, not like I am or can be involved.

He spoke about interviews, and his 'interview-style' and how there aren't really set rules about what you say, in order to make interviewees feel comfortable and not like they are being bombarded by comments. I understand how that is, because sometimes you can hear the apprehension in guests voices when they are being interrogated almost. Richard also spoke about having to come up with new material and to constantly keep guests and listeners interested.

What I appreciate about the radio is that it incorporates everything - politics, news, humour, music, random facts, hilarious interviews and charismatic speakers.

worth a thousand words

This lecture was on picture stories and photo journalism.

Bruce discussed how pictures are used for factual storytelling. They're obviously very important for journalists as they are everywhere - photos, magazines, advertising - but also graffiti.

The history of pictures and their importance in storytelling (the Bible, stained glass windows, cave pictures), but also a few nice facts:

• First published photograph in a newspaper in 1879
• First published news photo in 1880, 
• First colour photograph in the news was in 1936

I've always been a sucker for lomography cameras, and little disposable ones. But when instagram came out, I downloaded it. Someone's facebook status was "Instagram makes everyone an art student", which I think is true. Some people's photos make you cringe, others make you go aww, quite a lot are of banal sunsets,  but I think the best photos are the ones that leave you speechless. I love that there is a media platform that allows us to do this now.

Bruce showed us a few images in the lecture, but here are a few of my personal favourites:

These two photos were forever imprinted in my mind after studying the Vietnam War. I found that they were so emotive especially during the Vietnam War, where the media was so important in the turning point of the war. 

 Every girl wants to be swept off her feet, this just says it all. 

Growing up in Hong Kong, just a 40 minute train-ride away from the Chinese border, knowing this happened still shocks me. This photo still makes my hair stand on end, the terrifying juxtaposition of the four tanks versus this tiny figure. 


(all images taken from here)

Bruce talked about good photography, and asked what makes a good photo? 

• Framing, focus, angle and point of view, exposure/light, shutter speed (so, so important for professional photography), and capturing the moment.

What makes a great photo? 

• It pretty much comes down to the moment (also see above photos)
• The Rule of Thirds/Golden Mean - a guideline to taking photos

Moving pictures 

The same elements from the first set of bulletpoints are important, but also:

• Timing and editing
• Getting 'the scene' 
• Adding the sound aspect 

- News has been a big part of TV, and has evolved, for example the news started by reading news out loud to the screen, and has evolved now into implementing computer graphics and other elements. One of my favourite examples of this is the program NewsStream on CNN, which utilizes other elements of media to add to the story. 

- Visual journalists: You need to be able to shoot your own work, the new generation of journalism. 

I just wanted to end by sharing a couple of photos that are close to home (literally) for me, and a quote: 

“ Beauty can be seen in all things, seeing and composing the beauty is what separates the snapshot from the photograph" – Matt Hardy

Lion Rock, Hong Kong

Copyright © Rajé Hiranand 2012 

An instagram I took, from the Peak in Hong Kong

let's talk about TEXT

This weeks lecture was on...

TEXT 

We had a guest lecturer in, and she explained the importance of text, not just in content, but also through headlines and especially with online news. 

She first mentioned the inverted pyramid which came up in one of the readings I read for the first tutorial. The inverted pyramid is simply the way news is organised, with the most important details at the top (who/when/where/why/how), followed by less important information and additional tidbits at the bottom of the pyramid. This not only makes it easy to organize stories, but also to be able to edit it fast. 

Here's a nice little diagram to demonstrate it:

from this website, which explained it well. 

Obviously the most important information should be contained in your first sentence, which should succintly tell you what the story is about. Skye mentioned that this is a hard news skill, and it's definitely something I struggle with (along with headlines) when I'm writing. Skye explained that the inverted pyramid is identifiable in print, but talked to us about online news and how text is created there too. 

I wouldn't think something as obvious as a hyperlink would be included in text, but it is, as it can link you to other related stories, and allows you to explore the story in depth. 

Text also includes:

• The actual story, a headline, captions, pull quotes, break out boxes, a masthead and a standfirst.
• Links, hyperlinks, photo captions. Online includes navigation.

Skye's explanation of how online news is structured really helped. She also talked about complex management systems. This article took me a while to completely understand, but is interesting nonetheless.