Au revoir, Zaijian, Ciao, Goodbye

Bit of a sentimental title for the end of the semester. Guess I got really attached to you, JOUR1111. 


Quick lecture recap: We had Steve Molk in for the last lecture. I didn't take notes, I just sat there and listened to his experiences and his advice, which was essentially to take every opportunity you have to get yourself out there. It was a powerful last lecture and fitting for an awesome course. Doesn't mean I'm going to stop blogging on here - Steve's lecture only reinforced me wanting to keep writing! 


I just want to share a little something with you. It's my source of inspiration when I feel I can't accomplish anything. In 2009 I did an internship with the International Herald Tribune. It was an amazing experience that I was so lucky to have. I worked with a foreign correspondent, Mark McDonald, on an article about Bruce Lee and helped compile background information. As a result, I got my first byline!


Here's the online edition:


http://www.nytimes.com/2009/12/12/business/global/12iht-lee.html?pagewanted=all

Good luck to everyone continuing with Journalism! It was a great course and I met awesome people during it, as well as learning a lot.

Investigative Journalism

I’m not going to lie. When I got that email that our economy lecture was being changed to a lecture about investigative journalism, I may or may not have fist-pumped in the library.

Sorry Bruce, but I’d take investigative journalism over any type of economic theory every time!

Great quote to start the lecture off with:

©       “Isn’t all journalism meant to involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us?” – Ross Coulthart

Bruce explained some of the IN’s of investigative journalism:

ð  Intelligent                                           è Invest

ð  Informed                                            è Inside

ð  Intuitive                                             

Some straightforward stuff but I’m including it anyway, because it was interesting.

*        Critical and thorough investigations
- The journalist is an active participant. Active intervention. Thorough investigation.

*        Custodians of conscience
- Investigation takes society’s norms and holds breaches up to public scrutiny. Civic vice.

*        Social justice
- To give a voice to the voiceless, public interest is key.

*        4^th Estate/Watchdog

-          Journalists represent the interests of those without power, this balances out the power of government.

-          They insure that free flows of information necessary for the functioning of democracy

-          Journalists make accountable public personalities and institutions whose functions impact social and political life.

Investigative journalism can involve: interviews, observations, documents, leaks, briefings, trespass and theft.

The 1826 example threw me, I didn’t know investigative journalism first took place so long ago (Australia was still a colony). The most obvious example of investigative journalism in history is Watergate, Then Bruce pulled up something I expected too, Wikileaks.

Is wikileaks journalism? No. Firstly, it is a bunch of information. The diplomatic cables that the New York Times sorted through and published – THAT is journalism. What wikileaks produced is just data. Casual anecdote; last September I went to see my sister in Sydney. While I was there I was lucky enough to attend Sydney’s “festival of dangerous minds”, at the Opera House. I saw a live broadcast from Julian Assange, and as a budding journalist student, I was excited. Emphasis on WAS. He spent the entire hour justifying his actions, explaining we needed to question government motives and defending his charges. I should have gone to see Noam Chomsky instead, that was a waste of time. I really had hoped he would talk about how wikileaks has changed the nature of investigative journalism, and was left bitterly disappointed. Cheers, Julian.

Happy things/Agenda setting

Contrary to popular belief, I actually thoroughly enjoy learning heaps of theory, especially when it comes to Journalism. Although I'm a third-year and I should be over this stuff already, nothing gets me happier than colour co-ordinating lecture notes. I'm afraid I fell behind in Journalism, even though I wrote up a few bits of prose I want to publish on here. Before I go on to discuss the lecture, I just want to say that I'm going to keep this blog and will transform it a little. I'm doing three languages and I really want to showcase my ability to speak/write in them. So half of this blog will be in Spanish after the Journalism course is finished. It's something I'm really excited about, and I just wanted to share it. Here are a couple of things that are making me happy today:

My favourite book, my favourite director, and Leo:
http://trailers.apple.com/trailers/wb/thegreatgatsby/

Cake, always amazing, even more amazing when it's RAINBOW CAKE

I can only presume my caffeine addiction will worsen during Swotvac...

One of my favourite movies. Let the world change you, and you can change the world. 

AGENDA SETTING


What is it? The idea that the individual conception of reality is socially constructed through a process of communication. We understand reality through social life The media plays a large role in constructing the social world.

Simply put, the more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to its people. - Coleman, McCombs, Shaw & Weaver. 

1) Public agenda (what the public thinks is important)
2) Policy agenda (reflecting issues decision makers deem important)
3) Corporate agenda (issues important to big businesses and corporations)
4) Media agenda - the issues that are discussed in the media.

2 BASIC ASSUMPTIONS: 
1) The mass media do not merely reflect and report reality, they filter and shape it.
2) Media concentration on a few issues and subjects leads the public to believe they are more important than others.

Where did it come from?
Originated in 1968, Chapel Hill, NC: Maxwell Combs and Donald Shaw surveyed 100 undecided voters regarding the political campaign & measured it against media content.
- The mass media set the agenda by emphasizing specific topics. The mass media has an effect on public opinion.

Walter Lippman: The mass media creates images of events in our minds. This really rang true for me. Aside from obvious examples like photos from the Vietnam War and 9/11, one image I have never gotten out of my head is that of the Taj Hotel in Mumbai, with smoke rising from the top during the Mumbai terrorist attacks in 2008. I was waiting on CNN for more reports, as my brother was in Mumbai at the time and I didn't have any means of knowing what was going on, all I knew and remembered was that image.

Finally, six different areas of agenda setting:
1) Media gatekeeping: the exposure of an issue and what the media chooses to reveal
2) Media advocacy: promoting a message through the media
3) Agenda cutting: Backseating issues to put forward more popular ones, even though the former may be more important. The example that was used was AIDS being backseated for Justin Beiber's haircut - it's scary how many people know what style the Beibs is fronting nowadays. I didn't even realize he cut the curtains off. AIDS is a preferable topic. I still cannot fathom why people can have such an in-depth knowledge of other peoples lives and celebrity facts but can't use proper English. Sigh.
4) Agenda surfing: The media uses crowds and trends : KONY KONY KONY KONY KONY. Just saying.
5) Diffusion of news: process through which an important event is communicated to the public. The example was of Obama delivering the "Osama is dead" speech. Depressingly enough, even though I am a proud American and an aspiring Journalist...I found out about that through Facebook. So shameful!
6) Portrayal of an issue: different aspects, depends on what agenda. The way an issue is portrayed will influence how it is perceived.
7) Media dependence: The more media dependant  a person is on the media for information, the more likely it is for them to accept media agenda setting.

News Values

In this lecture Bruce explained News Values, pretty straightforward stuff but interesting nonetheless and with lovely quotes I intend to prettify on here.

‘The degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story’ – Stuart Hall.

News values have:

*        Impact

*        Audience identification

*        Pragmatics

*        Source influence

Newsworthiness: a set of generally agreed upon values.

ð  What makes something newsworthy?
Bruce mentions a LOT of theories. The one I agree with the most is Murray Masterson’s ‘Big Six’ – Significance, proximity, conflict, human interest, novelty and prominence. BUT, I agree with Judy MacGregor in that visual attractiveness does play a large part of making something newsworthy. Not that it wasn’t ‘newsworthy’ in the beginning, but the image of the Twin Towers with black smoke plummeting out of the top is unforgettable.

ð  Are they the same across cultures/countries?
Obviously there will be some bits of news that will crossover, but for the majority, no. Different cultures and countries have different priorities. As mentioned above, part of what makes something ’newsworthy’ is RELEVANCE. How relevant is the fact that CY Leung decided to put an end to the large influx of Mainland Chinese women coming into Hong Kong to birth their babies in Australia? Not very.

Some threats to newsworthiness:

*        Journalism /Commercialization of Media/Social Life

*        Journalism/Public Relations

*        Journalism ideas vs. Journalism realities

Something I found interesting - Jay Rosen’s quote that the people formerly known as the audience. I loved the phrase ‘the writing readers’ because that’s exactly what I am. In Hong Kong I flick to the culture/travel section of Hong Kong Magazine and question things, try to rewrite things I don’t agree with. Rosen’s quote was interesting because it really applies to bloggers and tweeters, and the use of social media in producing and passing on news. I really like the idea of a new balance of power and challenging the information we are presented with. 

Ethics

I did a course on ethics and so I have a pretty decent knowledge of all the ethical theories. I thought the lecture would spend about thirty minutes going into the definition of ethics with examples, and the other half hour examining examples of ethics being tested in Journalism.

Instead, we got a brief definition of ethics - what is right, and what is wrong, and that it is black and white. Then we went through examples of advertising and had to mark on a sheet what we thought was ethical/unethical and what was in good/bad taste. While I understood the purpose, I found this activity to be repetitive and would have much rather been shoved full with information, or at least been given an example of ethics and how ethics has been tested in Journalism.

First, just to briefly outline the theories mentioned in the lecture.

1) Deontology, a rules and principles based approach to ethics which implies you do the right thing by following the rules. Rules include laws, and basic principals. All ethical codes are deontological.

2) Consequentialism - acquiring the right outcome, even if the ends have to justify the means. The greatest good for the greatest number.

3) Virtue Ethics are values that inform the way we live, based on Aristotle's teachings and underline that an ethical person is one with a good character.

How do you know what is good or bad?
I know what is good or bad based on the principles I grew up with. I learnt it is good to treat others the way you would treat yourself. I also learnt that it is bad to punch your little brother and lie about it. In all seriousness though, while my upbringing helped, it was also my experience that changes my view about what is good or bad.

What makes something wrong? In my opinion, if it feels wrong, it probably is.

Okay, onto my little case study. Now you know I'm procrastinating when I start doing this and getting excited about it. Either that or I'm just a little nerd.

As a political science student, I've come across controversial images and articles, and have plenty of examples. One of the examples I am going to use is the production of several cartoon images of the Islam prophet Mohammed in the Danish newspaper Jyllands-Posten in 2005.

NB: If I offend anyone, I offer my sincerest apologies. I do not intend to harm anyone's beliefs, I am merely expressing my opinions.

The cartoons can be seen here:http://www.tomgrossmedia.com/img/IslamicMilitancy10.jpeg
I put a link to them and didn't publish them on my blog as I understand that they may very well offend someone.

I obviously was much younger and so cannot report what happened at the time. When I got older, and learnt of it, it annoyed me slightly. What annoyed me was that in the wake of post-9/11 anti-Islam sentiment and racist stereotypes forming all around the world likening Muslims to terrorists, something like this was published. That those stereotypes could then be consolidated, based on that it was published in a newspaper.

What annoyed me even more, was the response letter from the Culture Editor at Jyllands-Posten, Flemming Rose. Rose states in an article published in the Washington Post, that "I agree that the freedom to publish things doesn't mean you publish everything. Jyllands-Posten would not publish pornographic images or graphic details of dead bodies..."

As a culture editor, you need to be aware of culture. You need to be aware of customs and controversy and whose toes you are stepping on when you do it. When the New York Times decided they wanted to publish the diplomatic cables from Wikileaks, they were aware of the consequences. Was Jyllands-Posten? Were they aware it would bring about a) controversy and b) violence? Clearly not. I would like to say this is irresponsible journalism, because I honestly do not believe they considered that there would be consequences. Rose also states that their "goal was simply to push back self-imposed limits on expression that seemed to be closing in tighter." I understand, that they wanted to make a point on exercising freedom of expression and doing that with a highly controversial issue would only emphasize their point more. However, they did this at the risk of offending, upsetting and angering those in the Muslim community.

Why? Why would it cause so much controversy, compared to seeing burnt Bibles? Maybe it is just obvious to me, but depictions of Mohammed as a) a God, and b) a terrorist, are just a big no-NO. Why? There is still a lot of discourse on depicting Mohammed in images, and thereby drawing an Idol of Mohammed. That is an issue that remains hot on debate in Islamic culture. I think the issue were the cartoons that showed Mohammed with a bomb or with a weapon, thereby perpetuating the violence in Islam culture stereotype. Rose also mentions that publishing the cartoons meant that they "were integrating you [Muslims] into the Danish tradition of satire because you are part of our society, not strangers".

Using what we did in the lecture, were the cartoons ethical or just in bad taste?

I think they were in awfully bad taste. I think they were published recklessly, and were insensitive considering the political climate. But were they unethical? It honestly depends. There are ethical codes, and according to Rose, these cartoons did. Their intentions were to create rhetoric about freedom of expression and religion. They achieved that, mentions Rose, but at a cost of offending not only a group of people but also an entire religion. In this sense, I believe they were an unethical publication. There was already-growing controversy regarding Islamists and the Muslim religion, and I think this just added fuel to the flame.

RIP Laptop

After two years it's time to say bye to my laptop. My trusty white Macbook has died, leaving me laptop-less and taking ALL my assessment and all my photos and memories. And of course, I didn't back it up. Sorry to anyone who found my blog remotely interesting, and has been wondering where I've been. I didn't die - my laptop did. And ate up all my neatly typed lecture notes, and passwords. Thankfully I've finished lectopia-ing the last three lectures I had before my laptop starting sparking and making weird noises.

Annotated Bibliography

Demidov, Oleg (2012).  Social Networks in International and National Security. In Security Index: A Russian Journal on International Security, 18:1, 23-36.

(Accessed online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/19934270.2012.634122)

In this article, Oleg Demidov examines the impact that internet technology and social networking in particular have on security. He analyses the possible destabilizing effect technology can have on national security, ultimately questioning whether it is a security risk or not, with reference to the Arab Spring. Demidov defines ‘social networks’ first, rightfully highlighting that it is a broad spectrum, and narrowing it by giving examples, such as Facebook and Google+, and referring to an approved definition of ‘social network’ to state key features sites must contain in order to be a social network. 

Demidov examines the role that Arab Spring played in government reform regarding social media. He states that although freedom and speech were largely supported by the international community, it is unlikely that social networking communities have the power to become a non-state actor, and that an international country would fuel the decline of a government. He outlines the threats that social networking poses, for example, cyber anonymity and terrorist threats online work towards destabilizing security because it is difficult to determine where threats come from. A key factor in his argument is that he provides the reader with strong possible alternatives, and highlights the strengths of governments supporting the use of social networks, for example using Twitter and Facebook as a ‘public announcement system’ to broadcast safety procedures in the event of a national emergency.

Demidov asserts that while social networking communities played an important part in Arab Spring, there is no need to view them as a security threat.

Tejada, C. (2012, May 8) China Expels Al-Jazeera Foreign Correspondent. Wall Street Journal. Retrieved from: http://blogs.wsj.com/chinarealtime/2012/05/08/china-expels-al-jazeera-correspondent/

The author and speaker in the video, Carlos Tejada, speaking from Beijing, explains the situation in China at the moment, expanding on information given in the text regarding the expulsion of an Al-Jazeera journalist from China. Tejada explains that although the Chinese government have failed to give a reason, it is largely believed that the journalist’s work on a video regarding black jails in China attributed to her subsequent expulsion. There is an imbedded video of Melissa Chan’s video on black jails on the site, as opposed to on the other two sources. Tejada implies that this is the likely reason, and that officials in China are beginning to worry about foreign media coverage and their content, after Arab Spring, fearing a Jasmine Revolution in China. However, as Tejada is speaking as a journalist currently in China, his knowledge of the subject would likely be more accurate as the extent of the crackdown would be felt, highlighting that rules for foreign media organizations obtaining visas have become stricter. The interviewer states that China has not expelled a foreign journalist since 1998, but neglects to mention what this could imply for the future of foreign journalists in China. Tejada confirms that there is a tenser climate following Chan’s expulsion, by saying that China has already stated that foreign journalists need to obey the rules.

Osnos, E. (2012, May 8). China Expels a Correspondent. The New Yorker Blogs. Retrieved from: http://www.newyorker.com/online/blogs/evanosnos/2012/05/china-expels-melissa-chan.html

The writer, Evan Osnos, gives an opinion on what he thinks of Melissa Chan’s expulsion from China, stating in his opening sentence that ‘China is moving backwards’. Osnos, like Tejada, is writing from Beijing, but he provides a more in-depth conclusion that this will have on China’s relations with the rest of the world. Moreover, Osnos has been producing journalism and has studied Chinese policy for over fifteen years, and the majority of his work on the New Yorker centres on China, and controversial issues within it. Osnos claims that China’s decision signifies a move backwards, towards ‘Soviet-era strategy’, explaining that China cannot expect to contain or censor foreign journalists by expulsion if they want to maintain their claims that they are a soft power. Moreover, Osnos, as opposed to Tejada and Lee, goes on to quote from the Foreign Correspondent’s Club China, of which Melissa Chan was a secretary this year, which strengthens his argument as it provides us with the picture that the future of journalism in China is dismal. Osnos, like Tejada, says it is most likely due to Chan’s praised work on corruption in China. Osnos also provides more information on foreign journalists having problems with Visas, stating that over the past two years, more than twenty-seven foreign journalists have had a four-month approval wait for their Visas. Osnos asserts that this will hardly present China as an internationally friendly state.

Wen, P. (2012, May 9). China expels al-Jazeera TV journalist. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/world/china-expels-aljazeera-tv-journalist-20120508-1yayj.html
Phillip Wen's article in the Sydney Morning Herald is also of Beijing origin, however, as opposed to the other two articles covering Melissa Chan's expulsion, Wen highlights more the reaction it has generated from agencies such as the Foreign Correspondents Club China, and this article presents us with a stronger sense of censorship regenerating in China, even though, as Wen states, this is the first occurrence for more than a decade.

Although there is no mention of the Communist Party in either Osnos nor Tejada's articles, Wen uses 'the ruling Communist Party' in his article, as opposed to writing 'the Chinese government', or alternatives. The use of the word Communist in that article brings up negative connotations and could give some people the view that China's policy is becoming more hardline and reflecting its previous Communist stance. Although hardline when it comes to human rights activists, China has, up until this point, worked towards promoting an atmosphere less tense than previous years. However, in the context of the recent Arab Spring and the implications that brought to government's, it is understandable that China could fear an uprising, only accentuated by journalists like Chan, whose work in China centred on corruption and Chinese 'black jails', which Wen does not state or imply, although it is made obvious in Tejada and Osnos' articles that this could lead to China's reason. 

Moreover, Wen neglects to cover in depth the effects that this may have in the future, although he mentions it in passing. 

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. 

Media Use and Production Diary

AIM: To analyse my personal media use and production over the period of ten days and determine patterns and trends within my personal use, and in comparison to the use of others.

My focus will be on the use of smart phones, and smart phone enabled social networking applications such as Twitter, Facebook, Tumblr, Foursquare, and Instagram.  

DATA LOG

Here is a log of the media I have been using over the period of ten days, measured in minutes. I rounded them up to the nearest multiple of five so that they were easy to record. 

I highlighted in red my top four main uses of media, and I just wanted to briefly explain the reason for the high use in relation to my media habits and preferences. 

News

ONLINE: 

• I am studying French and Spanish, both at an advanced level. As a result, I need to be able to read fluently in those languages, but I would like to be connected to what is happening in Europe as well. 
• Often I have to spend time translating it, which is why I can be reading news on El Pais for a long time. 
• I look at the following papers online everyday, even if briefly to skim what is going on: El Pais, Le Monde, International Herald Tribune, New York Times, Brisbane Times, The Courier Mail, and the South China Morning Post.

PRINT:

• I don't subscribe to any newspapers in Australia, and because I don't live at home, getting copies of newspapers in print is difficult, which is why my online news usage is so high. However, when I can get a copy of a newspaper (from a friends house, the shops or a cafe), I take time to read it. 

Books

• To say I'm a voracious reader might be an understatement, especially considering the data above. I have a keen interest in books and am part of a book club, and make sure I read every day. 
• I noted down that when my media usage is high, it is also research for university. I also included downloaded pdf files that I print off to read on the way to uni. 
• Again, studying two European languages means you have to read literature in them. A lot. 

Television

• I grouped together television and the cinema, which is why my media use is so high, because I saw The Vow and wasted two hours of my life
• Usually, television is on in the background, but I decided to record that too, because I'm still watching it. I also put some TV shows on when I am studying. 

Social Networking

As you can see, I clearly spend an incredible amount social networking. I know exactly why that is, and it is because I use an iPhone. The majority of social networking recorded in my log was done on my iPhone. Therefore while I wait for the bus, I am on Facebook, or Twitter, or when I'm in a cafe, I take photos with Instagram. I am constantly using social networking sites and applications, but also producing media through those applications, and the use of a smart phone makes that so much easier. 

I wanted to break down what applications and websites I use, so I drew up this little chart:

It was a little hard to record, but in that period of ten days, I counted how many posts I made. This included: Facebook statuses, Facebook photo uploads, Instagrams I took, Tweets, Re-tweets, Foursquare check-ins and blog posts. Facebook was the dominant method of production, which I found interesting. I link a lot of my applications to my Facebook. For example, my Instagrams upload directly to my Facebook as well as being uploaded into my Instagram stream, and personal Twitter feed. 

I thought the correlation between my high social networking use and the fact that I have a smart phone was interesting, and something that I wanted to investigate. It really drew me back to Lecture 2, and the discussion of Web 3.0, or the "Semantic Web". Not only do we already have social networks through Web 2.0, Web 3.0 now provides a different platform to produce media from. We don't even need to text people the generic way- we can send messages through applications like Whatsapp or iMessage on the iPhone. This really intrigued me, and I wanted to see if my frequent smart phone use was a common trend within the JOUR1111 group. 

I used the information from the course survey to draw up this chart of how many people have smart phones first: 

78% of our course owns smart phones. That is 338/432 students who own and use internet on their smart phones. Of course, one of the allures of smart phones are the applications you can download. 

The following graph details the applications used by JOUR1111 students on their internet enabled smart phones. 

I wanted to compare the use of the main applications (according to the survey it was Twitter and Facebook) students used on the internet to the use of those same applications on smart phones. The use of Facebook on the internet and on smartphone is really close, and again I think that is because of convenience.

Conclusion: 

After investigating my media trends, I found that:

• Social networking was my main use and production 
• This was made easier due to having a smartphone and therefore allowing me to take instagrams, check-in on Foursquare, send and check emails, and upload things to Facebook and Twitter on the go. 

I do not use my smart phone for things like checking the news, I prefer to read news on my laptop, or in print. Moreover, I frequently read magazines and books, and in a very old-school manner, prefer having them in print.  

Media is an integral part of everyone's lives, not just Journalism students. It is how we form networks, find information, produce media, and connect to the world around us. Social networking sites enable us to deepen those connections, and smart phones with applications also do this. The reason I chose to investigate that particularly was because I feel it is how the media and the way we connect with each other is developing. Facebook is the best example for this, because it is constantly evolving and providing us with new ways to connect with each other. I think that having a smart phone is so important today, because it allows us to efficiently and conveniently connect with the world around us, to understand it, and provides us with a new platform where we can express ourselves online. 

Old Media, New Media, Newer Media (Lecture 2)

This week's lecture was really interesting, Bruce covered Old Media and the transition into New Media, and explained briefly Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0. I didn't do the readings until before the tutorial on Wednesday, and those really helped my understanding of them.

The lecture also discussed the development of old media into new media, and broke down new media into: 

Web 1.0: Very information based, and advertising friendly. Primarily used by business and companies to display brochures or information and to reach out to users on an advertising basis. It's scary how little I remember about Web 1.0, and how it has been replaced by Web 2.0 (ie advertising can now be done on websites like Facebook). 

Web 2.0: New media, social networking. More interactive and user generated. Websites like Facebook, Twitter etc. Focus moves away from only businesses onto social groups. Social media oriented, basically the media everyone in our age group utilizes today. Works by making networks online with other people. I've talked about it before, but Web 2.0 still fascinates me, because of how interlinked everything is! It's amazing that you can do just about anything online. 

Here's an awesome image I found on instagram, but found it again on geek.com so I could source it. 

http://www.geek.com/articles/geek-cetera/social-media-explained-with-donuts-20120210/

Web 3.0: Still in development, but is focused on individuals. Content is very specific, Bruce used the term 'hyperlocalisation', which sounds scary and IT like but actually, it's just simply like those recommendations you get on gmail/youtube/facebook based on what you view. It's insanely advanced, and I find things like that a little scary - not to mention frustrating! I didn't even realize that my google preferences were set in Australia until I went back home to Hong Kong and it took me three pages to find my local news. On the other hand, it's super useful when I need something fast! 

I found this awesome video to help explain/understand Web 3.0. I hope this helps whoever is reading this!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=off08As3siM&feature=player_embedded#!

We also learnt about online news, and how more and more newspapers are moving their papers online. When I interned at the International Herald Tribune in 2009, I remember them discussing the damage on revenue that free online news would have, since at the time you could access all their archives without having a membership, whereas the Wall Street Journal required a log-on and subscription to access online articles. I tend to sift through a lot of old articles, and when I worked there I had to go through an insane amount of archives. So imagine my frustration when I got a notification telling me I'd only have access to TEN free articles a month. I guess I know what's on my birthday wishlist - a nice subscription to the New York Times. 

Just a few screenshots I took of the new changes occuring: 

I'm a bit worried about this, particularly because I rely on online news to let me know what's going on (obviously) but also to study! I am studying French and Spanish, so Le Monde and El Pais are among the many papers I check, and it's hard to get my hands on old media copies of them. I guess that's the downfall of it, and Bruce certainly mentioned in the lecture - will people continue or begin to pay for what they are entitled to? 

(07/03/2012)

Arresting the fight with fire

Ali told us to personalise this blog, and so I thought I'd share a song that's been on my mind, by one of my favourite bands. I am absolutely obsessed with music, so any suggestions are welcome as well. :)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=14roUO8rpGg

Belated Lecture One

Lecture One (27/02/2012)

Note: I am perpetuating all sorts of awful stereotypes about women and technology, because I only JUST realized I save drafted a lot of my entries. Nice going.

This lecture proved to be entertaining and intellectually stimulating, and made me understand why I am studying Journalism and why I want to be a Journalist. It sounds cliché, but I’ve always wanted to do it, and I’ve certainly always known this is the path I’d take.

The inspirational quotes Bruce put up, like “you are the Journalist”. It’s funny, because in this day and age, it’s almost as if everyone is. It was interesting to hear terms like ‘old media’ and ‘new media’, because I have always wanted to go into print. Doing an internship at the International Herald Tribune in 2009 really influenced my ideas on old and new media. It was awesome to see how new media shaped the newsroom. A lot of the correspondents used Twitter not only to communicate to each other, but to also spread news. As a political science student, I follow a lot of politicians on my personal twitter (@rivahiranand) and I’ve seen how this has helped their campaign massively – look at how active Kevin Rudd is and was during the time of the Queensland floods!

I’m ashamed to say that I found out about Osama Bin Laden’s death via Facebook, because it is the first thing that I check in the morning. It’s an effective (duh) social media platform that integrates media use and media production. Going back to what I said earlier, it also provides people with the opportunity to share and to create news. It’s interesting to see how Facebook developed and has become not just a social networking site, but also a way of life now. I found it really interesting that Facebook has also become a platform for producing news and stories. Obviously, you cannot trust everything you read on Facebook, because things can get sensationalized or just be shared without people fully understanding what is going on, but its phenomenal that some people can get their news from their facebook feed.

What this lecture got me thinking about was how the world of journalism is changing.  While new media can be really effective in connecting with your audience, I really love the idea of old media and print! It is quite scary that my dream job may well be obsolete at some point in the future, and that there is a massive focus on online news as opposed to print. It’ll be interesting to learn more about it during this course though!

Riva

Hello!

Okay, after fiddling with Blogger for about a week, I'm getting good enough to finally post something! I just thought I'd introduce myself, what I'm interested in, and why I'm studying Journalism at UQ this semester (even if only Bruce ends up reading this).

I'm a 20 year old International student from Hong Kong. My parents are Indian, but Dad grew up in Hong Kong and can speak fluent Cantonese, and Mum grew up in the Philippines, and speaks Tagalog. As a result, I was raised in an intensely multicultural environment, further accentuated by living in a crazily multicultural city; Hong Kong. I moved to Brisbane two years ago to do my BA at UQ.

As I said before, I've been exposed to a variety of cultures my entire life, and this influenced my decision to study languages. I'm currently doing Spanish, Chinese and French at UQ. Even though Hong Kong is, in my very biased opinion, one of the most amazing cities in the world, I love traveling and it's my dream to travel through South America and India.

The reason I'm passionate about Journalism is rather simple: because I love to write. Anyone who knows me knows that when I'm not bombarded with piles of work, you can find me in a cafe with my head buried in a book, scribbling short stories on dilapidated pieces of paper, or ripping out inspirational articles from magazines. It's what I've always wanted to be for as long as I can remember.

I interned at Hong Kong's local paper, the South China Morning Post, when I was 15, and ever since then, have been fascinated with the journalism industry and eventually want to be a foreign correspondent. Reading Monocle magazine has also deepened my love for writing and my desire to finish my degree and travel!

My major is actually Political Science, but I thought since it's my last year and I have an elective to fill, I wanted to do JOURN1111 to get my head around it, and am enjoying it so far!

My next post will be reflecting on the first two weeks of class, and will focus on something I find interesting, that I'm sure everyone has heard about; Joseph Kony, and the viral Facebook video that has pretty much everyone talking.  

Until then,

Riva