Introduction to Journalism - An Overview

Just when I thought it was all over, Dr Redman asked us to conclude our blog with an overview of what we have learnt during our semester in JOUR1111...crud. Well I guess there was a broad set of material we covered during this 14 weeks and majority of it was relatively beneficial and rather enjoyable (though I won't deny I found blogging about cats more entertaining).

This semester really encouraged me to get out in the world, though not as a Journalist. Journalism was never my thing, it was just something I wanted to have a go at, hence why I studied it under Arts. In saying that I still found this an interesting course and enjoyed almost every bit. So I guess the easiest way to do this final post would be to take one point from the twelve lectures we had and make a top 12.

> Lecture One: "I became a journalist to come as close as possible to the heart of the world." - Henry R. Luce

> Lecture Two: The three webs and how "web 3.0" is likely to take over the world (though I think it already has)

> Lecture Three: It is only necessary to read the first paragraph of an article, that is where all the important information is.

> Lecture Four: Pictures tell just as much news as articles, especially with technology in the 21st century

> Lecture Five: Radio news is not dead! It is still one of the leading forms of communicating news and a great pass time while driving. Also, Richard Fidler is hilarious. 

> Lecture Six: Commercial Media is just plain overwhelming, there is just too many competitors and so much going on at once!

> Lecture Seven: Public Media is the way to go. It is honest and true, made by the people for the people. Can't beat some good old ABC.

> Lecture Eight: There are only three categories of ethics in relation to media. EVER. (deontonology, consequentialism and virtue ethics.)

> Lecture Nine: "If it BLEEDS, it LEADS" or "If it's LOCAL, it LEADS." 

> Lecture Ten: Agenda Setting is complicated and there is defiantly more than one thing learnt in that information filled lecture.  

> Lecture Eleven: "An investigative journalist is … to discover the truth and to identify lapses from it in whatever media may be available." - Hugo de Burgh (British Media Theorist)

> Lecture Twelve: The more you blog the better you become at blogging, it is a news revolution. Oh and Steve Molkington is genius.

Looking back at all my lectures I can't believe how much we covered and how much I actually learned. I feel as though I'm more up to date with the way news is presented to society however I still will be one that would rather pick up a news paper then go online to see the latest happenings. Thanks Dr Redman and Caramel for a great semester!!

Wondrous Cat Sweaters.

Recently I stumbled across what most normal people would clearly think are the best sweater designs of all time. And here they are:

One day I will have these sweaters in my clutches, hopefully before winter is over... 

Lecture Twelve - Blogging

Finally the week I have been longing for all semester has come, the final week of tutes and lectures. Therefore I was more than willing to make the bus trip to UQ for my one hour day consisting of my last ever JOUR1111 lecture in Forgan Smith. Upon entering E109 the day got better as we were to be lectured by Steve Molkington. Steve is a Queenslander who writes, edits and publishes his own TV entertainment blog entitled MOLKS TV TALK. This is a daily blog that is focused on Steve's opinions on television programs and also covers topical issues. 

Not that I intend to get to into the journalistic career of Molks, but I do think that he really has accomplished a lot in the time frame that it was done. In only 18 months of having started his blog, Steve Molkington now has approximately 1.5 million people view his blog every month and another approximate 130,000 unique viewers subscribing and viewing each month. Steve seemed to pass these facts off like it wasn't that big of a deal however it is such an amazing achievement for someone who 18 months ago was stuck in an IT job in a mid-life crisis!

Steve gave some really good advice to those of us who intend to pursue a career in the world of journalism. He said that "to gain real credibility as a blog artist you need to have a 5 year history, the first few years is about establishing yourself but it takes it takes time to gain recognition in the marketplace." He also said that "the more you blog, the better you get." And also that "“You as the publisher of your blog can write the message. The freedom that opens up for you is amazing.” I found these three particular quotes the most motivating and really made me wish I put more effort into my blog this semester. Steve encouraged us to continue with our blogging and build a brand for ourselves on what interests us particularly as it will assist with our future endeavours. 

Overall I think that this lecture was defiantly a good one to finish on. It seemed to make the whole "blogging" thing become worthwhile as I didn't exactly see why we would blog for assessment but now it all kind of makes sense. It was really interesting and inspirational to hear the success of Steve and his blog.

Cat Clip 6#

Every time I watch this video I just want a cat that will do this.

Lecture Eleven - Investigative Journalism

"An investigative journalist is … to discover the truth and to identify lapses from it in whatever media may be available." - Hugo de Burgh (British Media Theorist)

Yes today, after a very difficult mental battle with myself as to whether or not I should attend this lecture we were introduced to the topic of Investigative Journalism. Much like agenda setting, investigative journalism is described basically within itself, it is to investigate and discover to create news.

We began with what is known as the "in's" of Investigative Journalism, which are: 

> INvestigative 

> INtelligent 

> INformed 

> INtuitive 

> INside 

> INvest 

This is a very simple way of approaching Investigative Journalism but one must look to a deeper at the meaning and purpose of this topic. We are then presented with four main key points to Investigative Journalism:

1.Critical and Thorough Journalism.

> the journalist is an active participant and makes a substantial effort (active is the key concept) 

2.Custodians of Conscience.

> investigation takes society's morals and norms and holds breaches up to public scrutiny; in other words, what they call 'civic vise' is exposed for society to respond to (exposure is the key concept)

3.To Provide a Voice for Those Without a Voice and to Hold the Powerful to Account.

> social justice - power to the powerless, voice to the voiceless.(public interest is the key concept).

4.Fourth Estate/ Fourth Branch/ 'Watchdog.'

>FOURTH ESTATE; Journalists represent the interests of those without the power to balance the control of the government.

>FOURTH BRANCH OF GOVERNMENT; Journalists ensure free flows of information necessary for the functioning of democracy by interrogating the judiciary, executive and legislature.

>'WATCHDOG'; Journalists make accountable public personalities and institutions whose functions impact social and political life 

We then proceeded to go through some of the "trialblazers" of Investigative Journalism and all of them had in common was that their investigations were LOCAL. This reminds me of previous lectures and reinforces that statement "if it's local, it leads."

Moving on, shown to us were the types of Investigative Interaction. These included:> Interviews: ALL sources both primary and secondary even those that need to remain anonymous.

> Observations: Technical issues, scrutiny of businesses and the government, and social and legal issues.

> Documents: Law suits, legal documents, Tax records, Corporate financial documents, Freedom of. > Information (FOI) materials.

> Briefings.

> Leaks.

> Trespass.

> Theft.

However, like most things these days, threats towards Investigative Journalism are presented through the online world. Less money means less journalists and less time which in turn results in less Investigative Journalism. I'm still struggling to come to terms with the fact that the online world can actually have downfalls but these lectures continually prove me wrong. 

Concluding today's lecture we discussed Journalism vs Public Relations. The more growth that there is in PR the greater the shrinkage in journalism. This is due to PR "propaganda by truth" which is the selective use of facts presented in order to sway the public's opinion.

After reflecting upon this lecture I find that in news today there is a serious lack of Investigative Journalism as it seems to be all about what celebrity is wearing what etc. Today's society needs to know the happenings of the world not the pointless stories that will most likely be forgotten about in a week or so. This lecture seemed to push a similar perspective, which probably made me enjoy it more.

Lecture Ten - Agenda Setting

Upon entering Forgan Smith once again we commenced today's JOUR1111 lecture on Agenda Setting, in which there was quite a lot of material to be covered. Like many things, the theory of Agenda Setting is fairly blatant. They way in which ones perception of reality is constructed is through communication and media. The media play a marginal role in the construction of what we understand to be the social world and it is here that Agenda Setting is introduced.

There are four main categories of Agendas:

PUBLIC AGENDA- The set of topics that members of the public perceive as important.

POLICY AGENDA - issues that decision makers think are salient. (i.e. legislators).

CORPORATE AGENDA - issues that big business & corporations consider important.

MEDIA AGENDA - issues discussed in the media 

With these four interrelating categories in mind a definition of Agenda Setting can be made :-

"Agenda Setting is the process of the mass media presenting certain issues frequently and prominently with the result that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as more important than others. Simply put, the more coverage an issue receives, the more important it is to people."

(insert diagram)

With all this being said, there are two basic assumptions of Agenda Settings that have been developed, those being:

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 perceive those issues as more important than other issues.

But where did Agenda Setting come from? There were two main theories of this shown:

1. 1920’s – Harold Lasswell - the mass media “injects” direct influence into the audience. Also known as the “Magic Bullet” model.

(however there were limitations such as this is all one way, non-thinking, biological uniformity of reactions)

2. Walter Lippman (newspaper columnist) in his book “Public Opinion” - the mass media creates images of events in our minds

First Level Agenda Setting Theory: This is for the most part studied by researchers and emphasises the major issues and "the transfer of the salience of those issues." At this level the media suggest what the public should focus on through coverage.

Second Level Agenda Setting Theory: This is essentially, how the media focuses on the attributes of the issues. The media suggests how people should think about an issue

After going through what seemed like a tonne of background of Agenda Setting, we came to the question of what Agenda Setting actually does. There are three key points to the use of Agenda Setting:

1. Transfers issues of salience from the news media to the public.

2. Transfers issues of salience for both issues and other objects such as political figures.

3. Elite media often sets the agenda for issues in other media

Personally I found a particular quote by McCombs (2004) that really stood out to enforce the importance of Agenda Setting.
"Agenda Setting is not always the diabolical plan by journalists to control the minds of the public but 'an inadvertent by-product of the necessity to focus' the news"

We were then shown the "family" of Agenda Setting:

> Media Gate-keeping - the exposure of an issue

> Media Advocacy - the purposive promotion of a message through the media

> Agenda Cutting - most of the reality that's happening in the world is not represented

> Agenda Surfing - the media follows the crowd of trends

> The Diffusion of News - the process through which an important event is communicated to the public 

> Portrayal of an Issue - the way an issue is portrayed of influences public perception

> Media Dependence - the more relied upon the public are on the media the more they are likely to become bias (most commonly relied upon now-days Facebook/Twitter)

We then looked at and discussed the strengths and weaknesses of the 'Agenda Setting Theory'

The Strengths

•It has explanatory power because it explains why most people prioritise the same issues as important. •It has predictive power because it predicts that if people are exposed to the same media, they will feel the same issues are important. 

•It has organising power because it helps organise existing knowledge of media effects. 

•It can be proven false. If people aren't exposed to the same media, they won’t feel the same issues are important.

•Its meta-theoretical assumptions are balanced on the scientific side.

•It lays groundwork for further research.

The Weaknesses

•Media users may not be as ideal as the theory assumes. People may not be well-informed, deeply engaged in public affairs, thoughtful and sceptical. Instead, they pay casual and intermittent attention to public affairs, often ignorant of the details.

•For people who have made up their minds, the effect is weakened.

•News cannot create and conceal problems. The effect can merely alter the awareness, priorities and salience people attach to a set of problems.

FINALLY we discussed the now 24hour news cycle that we have at hand and its accessibility to the community. This means news gets out faster and media types such as newspapers and magazines may no longer have the latest or most interesting story to be told.

Overall I thoroughly enjoyed this lecture, even though there was so much information to blog my mind has now turned to slop, none the less it was very educational and made coming to Uni for an hour very worth while!

Assessment Four - Annotated Bibliography

Introduction to Journalism and Communication – Annotated Bibliography

Journalism can be described and defined in handfuls of ways however it is most simply known to be the process of “gathering, analysing, and disseminating socially relevant information in a consistent, transparent, and honest way.” (Chen, G.M, 2009). Without journalism and communication the world would have no way of to be informed of current happenings. This annotated bibliography surrounds the current issues relating to the chaos of Federal MP Craig Thompson. This is conveyed through an article from the Sydney Morning Herald, Television Segment from Today Tonight and a radio podcast from ABC Radio. These three media types present similar yet different opinions on the matter.

Brake, D.R (2012). Who Do They Think They’re Talking To? Framings of the Audience by Social Media Users. International Journal of Communication 6, (pp. 1056–1076)

Currently an academic at the University of Bedfordshire, Dave Russell Brake uses his knowledge, experience and understanding of communication to analyse the topic of social media blogging throughout this article. From the beginning of the article brake describes how the process of modern media, such as blogging, resembles past forms of mass media communication. The article then moves to focus upon the authors’ relationship with their audience which is an element of journalism that is crucial for success. Brake critically analyses a study of the conception of this relationship with twenty three bloggers for which is shown that these authors’ are not entirely concerned with gathering information of their viewers and what they seek however the audience plays a marginal role. Brake uses numerous citations and referenced sources to his advantage in order to support the article and draw to conclusions on the topic. The article then concludes with Brake illustrating the diversity that blogging practices are framed and understood by the author maintaining them showing that blogs are more aimed at writing and its’ process and through the audience there is both personal and professional risk in journalist blogging.

Ireland, J. Jacobsen, G. (2012, May 21). Opposition, media unleashed a lynch mob – Thomson. Sydney Morning Herald. Retrieved from: http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/political-news/opposition-media-unleashed-a-lynch-mob--thomson-20120521-1z025.html

With both authors to this body of work being well known and credited for their work in a handful of the best national newspapers and particularly Ireland to whom works as a researcher in the Journalism and Media Research Centre at UNSW and has previously worked as a policy adviser in Canberra, an educated and reliable perspective of the unfolding of the parliamentary address by Federal MP Craig Thompson. Ireland and Jacobson begin by presenting the statements and defences presented by Mr Thompson during his address. Throughout the article various quotes from other politicians in the media eye are presented by both Ireland and Jacobson to enhance the article in various means. The authors throughout the body of work present the given parliamentary address accurately and tactically when beginning to conclude the article they draw upon comments made after the speech was concluded to sway the audience to their opinion of Mr Thompson. Unlike the television segment presented by Today Tonight, this particular article states more facts then opinion of the author which allows the audience to develop their own opinion on the matter.

Choueifate, J (Executive Producer), (2012, May 21). Today Tonight, Channel 7.

The author of this particular television segment allows for an experienced perspective through his career as former Sydney Director of News for the Nine Network, Network TEN Chief-of-Staff and Daily Mirror News Editor allowing for a credible analysis of the topic surrounding Federal MP Craig Thompson and the controversy over his parliamentary address. The piece is focused on unveiling the truth behind what Mr Thompson claimed during this address through the means of involving professionals in both the reading and interpreting of body language and detective processes. Choueifate uses this to his advantage throughout the segment to sway the audience to believe that what Mr Thompson is saying is deceitful through the use of the professionals saying so. The visual techniques used throughout the visual media reinforce the message of the segment and assist with the execution of the story which in turn generates the all-important interest of the public audience. The use of case facts and contradictions to what Mr Thompson claims to be the truth assists in supporting the argument being made to the guilt of the Federal MP of laundering government funds. In comparison to the radio segment presented by Alan Jones, this particular story is very bias and really forces its' audience to go by their opinion upon the controversy surrounding Craig Thompson.

Jones, A. (2012, May 22). Alan Jones says Craig Thomson has Tried Every Last Trick in the Book. Retrieved from: http://www.2gb.com/index2.php?option=com_newsmanager&task=view&id=12859

Jones is an exceptionally creditable figure though out his career within the media. From graduating from both Queensland and Oxford Universities Jones has since then moving on to win numerous awards through his lifetime. The audio piece analyses the lead up to the Federal MP Craig Thompson's parliamentary address in which Jones makes professional opinions upon the accusations and claims made upon the MP. Jones uses quotes by those related politicians and those who are claimed to be Thompson's witnesses to sway the audience to see the flaws in Craig Thompsons defences to the claims of laundering money while in government. Jones raises a question in closure of his segment as to why none of this was reported by Thompson to the police when it happened. This is a tactical move made by Jones that enhances his argument and pushes the audiences to agree with what he has said. Similar to the article presented in Sydney Morning Herald, Jones relies on facts and all though he provides the audience with his own personal opinion he too allows us to develop our own thoughts. 

It is inevitable that through the development of technology the range of journalist and communication mediums is bound to expand (much like blogging discussed within the article by Brake). It can be seen that through the attention to audience that these mediums can be utilized to the authors advantage in order to engage and get breaking news across through the greater accessibility while still remaining credible.


Reference List

Chen, G.M. (2009) What is Journalism? Retrieved May 20 2012 from: http://savethemedia.com/2009/04/06/so-what-is-journalism/

Lecture Nine - News Values

"If it BLEEDS, it Leads"

The one phrase that seems to keep appearing each time I sit in Forgan Smith E109 at 2pm on Monday. And this week was no different. Today's lecture was based on 'News Values' which was simply defined as "the degree of promise a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by an audience." News stories are selected on the basis of four main values:

Impact - what intrigues the audience 

Audience Identification -what is of interest to the audience 

Pragmatics - ethics and current affairs 

Source Influence - public relations 

These four categories are what separates the handful of news stories from the rest of the happenings of the world. The inverted pyramid best explains the broadly agreed upon set of values of news journalism known as Newsworthiness. As mentioned before in Lecture Three, the inverted pyramid has the most important facts at the top and bleeds down to the least important facts.

This then leads back to the beginning of this post. It is said that media outlets go by the theory of "If it BLEEDS, it Leads," (basically anything damaging or disastrous) where as other go by "If it's LOCAL it Leads." But there has to be factors that determine this, right? Particular institutions shape their own news values on and around the twelve factors of Newsworthiness. Those being:

- Negativity

- Proximity

- Recency

- Currency 

- Continuity 

- Uniqueness

- Simplicity

- Personality 

- Predictably

- Elite Nations or People

- Exclusivity

- Size

There are also three hypothesis of Newsworthiness:

- The additivity hypothesis that the more factors an event satisfies, the higher the probability that it becomes news.

- The complementarity hypothesis that the factors will tend to exclude each other. 

- The exclusion hypothesis that events that satisfy none or very few factors will usually not become news.

We then went through other journalists opinions on the values of Newsworthiness which were interesting however most were very similar to the original twelve presented. We were the shown the threats to Newsworthiness which were put simply as:

- Journalism / Commercialisation of media and social life.

- Journalism / Public Relations. 

- Journalism’s ideals / Journalism’s reality

The sad truth is the journalism is becoming lazy, incompetent and in my opinion potentially unreliable due to these three threats. We were given a quote by McKinnon (which I found really stood out) in which he stated  "All of which leads to an unfortunate trend … in which pressures of the newsroom(or according to some, laziness or inadequately trained journalists) result in everyday reuse of press releases without re-writing, checking or analysis." Which basically sums it up.

We then concluded with media outlets providing the audience with what the audience need and desire because after all the media depends on its' viewers.

Cat Clip 5#

Assessment Three - Factual Story Telling

The Day His Life Began.

By Erica Stacy.

The bell rings. Every day there was that mindless tone that reminds him of the reality that must be faced. Every day, that one reality he wished to escape. The lingering whispers passed behind his back were worse than the ones that were made blatant to his face. He only wished to escape or even better, be understood. The bell rings for a final time with hope that maybe tomorrow would be different but it also meant returning to a place that was equally as cold as the one he was leaving. 

It began in high school, new people, new subjects, new direction, new feeling and emotion. He had left what very few friends he had behind when they were sent by their parents to more expensive private educations. He was left with what he hated most, public education. He felt a lack of acceptance immediately. He was different, he had come from an all-boys college and was now suddenly thrown into what seemed to be a unisex, unstructured and out of control zoo. 

Thoughts would plague his mind every now and then. Maybe it was because he dressed or groomed himself properly, maybe because he used a satchel instead of a backpack or maybe it was because he wore a knit sweater instead of a hoodie. Maybe it was these few things that forced the male students of this school to not appreciate him. They snickered as he passed and yelled vulgar comments once he was an appropriate distance so he had no chance to respond. 

He was interested in fashion, the current trends and threads were so intriguing. He wanted to be a model, work in the industry and most importantly be with people that shared his thoughts and opinions. He wanted to be with those who understood. The females were not as horrible as the males. There was a selected handful that made that hell hole worth being in. The other girls just ignored him or encouraged the males to continue the hurt. 

Once returning home there was no one. His father worked in the mines as an electrician and barely had time to share a coffee when he returned for that short time before he had to leave for another unknown amount of time. His mother was one of his best friends. She once loved to travel and socialize. Now she stayed at home to mother her four children. But home always felt so cold, there was almost never enough time for him with three other children much younger than himself that needed his entire mother’s attention. So he stayed in his room and dreamed of the life he desired. 

Four years passed and finally the last year of high school arrived. These four years felt like a life time but he knew this life was only to begin. It was this year that would make him and change everyone’s perception of him forever. He never quiet grasped after all this time why those people were still immature enough to call him names or accuse him of actions that had never taken place. He was none of this; it was far from the truth. 

It was the last day of school, ever. No rules, no responsibility, no nothing. The school was in chaos and as the bell rung that morning he knew it would be the last he would have to hear the tone he dreaded most. He would finally be free. Free of judgement and free to be his own person without being looked down upon by majority of his peers. He could finally have the one thing he wanted most. 

He approached his final class. Escaping this place almost in his grasp. Walking through the corridor toward his classroom there was an unusual silence for how chaotic this day had been. He placed his hand on the handle and proceeded to enter the room. He stared at the whiteboard in shock, disbelief and mostly anger. In bold, block letters was written the most insulting, vulgar and hurtful thing he had ever read. The class erupted as he stood there. He felt he had finally been pushed too far; it had been four years without him standing up for himself. Four years with not one of those people knowing the truth. He realized at this point that not one of these people mattered. The chance of seeing any of their faces ever again were close to zero. 

He strode toward the whiteboard, wrote an equally insulting comment in response and said things he to this day is not proud of. He threw the marker onto the desk and slammed the door behind him. As the door closed behind him and he walked away he knew after this moment his life could begin. He finally said what he wanted to say for all these years and he felt free. Finally. 

Two years later he is living his dream. He gained an internship at a fashion magazine in Melbourne and has moved there to live with three others who too share his passion. He works nights at a popular bar where he met his now girlfriend of one year. He is finally happy. Those rumours and insults that once made him feel like nothing have shaped him to rise above the rest and have pushed him to follow his dream to become the person he is today. After all, what does not kill you makes you stronger, right?

Cat Clip 4#

Lecture 8 - Ethics

Running slightly late and out of breath I arrived at old faithful E109 to be mused my the topic of Ethics. Alternatively, this weeks lecture was presented by Dr John Harrison to whom has worked in a variety of areas of journalism and communications such as print, radio and television as journalist, editor and producer. We began, for what was not the first time during my time in this room, with a brief history on Forgan Smiths E109. Originally this particular room was used by General Douglas MacArthur as a map room during WWII. After this historical recap Dr Harrison began on the topic of ethics in relation to media. 

We were all given a sheet divided into four quadrants outlining good taste and bad taste along with ethical and unethical. We were then shown five poster advertisements and five video advertisements and asked to consider what category they fell under. Results were surprising but then again reasonable and all based upon opinions and beliefs.

But how does one conclude what is correct or incorrect advertising? Dr Harrison explained that all ethical questions fall under three (and only three. ever.) categories known as deontonology, consequentialism and virtue ethics.

Deontonology- essentially rules, principles and duties. All ethnics codes are deontological meaning that "you will do the right thing by following these rules." 

Consequentialism- essentially getting the good/correct outcome is ultimately the top priority, the end justifying the means. It is the greatest good for the greatest number.

Virtue Ethics- essentially is about the goodness (aka happiness) coming from good habits. These habits being virtues such as courage, justice, temperance and prudence. These habits of character are the "golden means" of behaviour.

After looking into the three ethics categories we then briefly looked at various rules that governs the code of ethnics. In Australia there are a vast amount of associations that uphold ethical standards, the four most relevant being: 

• MEAA (Media and Entertainment Arts Alliance) 
• PRIA (Public Relations Institute of Australia) 
• AFA (Advertising Federation of Australia) 
• AANA (Australian Association of National Advertisers) 

These codes ensure that all standards for advertising are upheld. We only very briefly went over codes as time was short and time for Q&A had to be allowed for. However we were left with the principles of the MEAA which are honesty, fairness, independence and respect for the rights of others. All in all this lecture proved interesting, it is always a good change to have a alternate lecturer to mix things up a bit.

Lecture 7 - Public Media

After our all too short Easter holidays it was time to drag myself back to University and get back to work. Fortunately enough the only class I had to attend was a JOUR1111 lecture. This lecture on Public Media was a continuation from the prior Commercial Media. Public Media and Commercial Media are very contrasting to one another and summed up by a quote by Nigel Milan when he stated "the difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens." It is Public Media's  mission to serve or engage the public.

The most notable aspect of Public Media is that the profits go back to the company in contrast to Commercial Media where the money made is presented to the shareholders. As there are no shareholders in Public Media then this issue is erased. Public Media is made for the people by the people and focuses more on what is important over what might be interesting. In Australia we have two sources of Public Media in the form of radio and television broadcast from SBS and ABC.  

ABC was founded in 1929 as a "nation building project." Since this time the ABC has grown to successfully  have four television channels and numerous radio channels. ABC's television channels are filled with excellent   Australian programs, my personal favourites being The Gruen Transfer, The Chasers War on Everything and Angry Boys. SBS was established in 1980 as a "multicultural" channel and was fully funded by the public. It was designed to multilingual and multicultural television and radio to inform, educate and entertain the community in order to reflect Australia's growing multicultural society. There are various other sources of Public Media across the globe, for example CBC and PBS in North America, BBC and Channel 4 in the United Kingdom and TVNZ in New Zealand. 

An essential component of Public Media is that it must have public value. As mentioned before Public Media focuses on what is important breaking news over what celebrities are eating for breakfast. This means that news stories presented by Public Media are often more researched, have more detail and are more reliable than stories presented by Commercial Media. According to BBC there are four components to public value, those being:

1. Embedding a public service ethos

2. Value for licence fee money

3. Weighing public value against market impact 

4. Public consultation 

Public Media has four major functions of nation building, national heritage, national identity and national conversations. Further proving how Public Media is focused on the people and it's culture. However there are a handful of issues relating to Public media. The main issue being that of funding. Public Media get some funding from the Australian government through tax money which shows they are owned by the Australian people. Nonetheless, Commercial Media organisations have been seen to be receiving funding from the Government also. This has caused controversy amongst those involved. 

After being shown the functions of Commercial Media and Public Media it is difficult to draw to the conclusion as to which is the better media type. Public Media is based on getting what matters across and is for the people of the nation where as Commercial Media is a business doing what it can to make money to keep its' audience entertained. Personally, I think that there is a good balance between the two in my life watching ABC for news (and some entertainment) and commercial stations for entertainment. In the end it is up to what personally the viewer appreciates.  

Top 10 Facts About Cat Anatomy

Cats may seem like a simple house pet, however they are quite complex and intelligent creatures! Here are the top 10 most interesting facts about the anatomy of cats:

1. Cats have 220° field of view where humans only have 180°

2.Cats' sense of smell is 14 times stronger than that of humans.

3. Cats have 30 permanent teeth, while adult humans have 32.

4.Cats have 30 vertebrae, while humans only have 25.

5.Cats have 230 bones in their bodies, this is 24 more than humans.

6.Cats have a body temperature of between 101 and 102.2 °F (38 and 39 °C).

7.The lifespan of cats are usually between 15 and 20 years.

8.Cats have a heart rate of between 120 - 240 beats per minute. (This varies highly between different breeds cats)

9.Cats have a top speed of about 30 mp/h (48.28 km/h).

10.The print on a cat's nose is like that of a fingerprint of a human, each is unique.

(Facts From: http://www.cat-urine.net/interesting_facts_about_cats.html)

Cat Clip 3#

Lecture 6 - Commercial Media

Upon arriving to today's' lecture, which also happened to be on my birthday, we were informed that we would be learning about Commercial Media vs Public Media. This topic was to be spread over two sessions so the main focus of this lecture was Commercial Media.

Commercial Media expands over a variety of media types that are no government funded. This includes online sources, broadcast radio or print. On Australian TV, the stations that are classified as commercial include Channel 7, 9 and 10. Other TV stations such as SBS and ABC rely and tax payer funding (Public Media) to stay up and running. These two stations are Public Media and therefore are not part of this particular strand of Commercial Media. Other Free-to-Air stations such as 7mate, Gem, Go! etc. are classified as Commercial Digital Media. The focus of Commercial Media is simple - to make money. This can be seen through pay per view organizations Austar and Foxtel who play major parts in this area.

Basically there will always be competition between television channels. They are constantly trying to top one another by differentiating their service. A channel targets a particular audience and designs the program in order to engage with that targeted audience through their common interests. For example Channels 9 and 7 aim their programs to a more mature audience in comparison to Channel 10 who have targeted a younger audience. This can be seen through programs such a The Project which is designed to make news more interesting to this audience type.

The reading that was provided in Simon's book Commercial Media describes the long lasting rivalry between Channel 9 and Channel 7. This is reinforced by the fact that there has never been one story that Channel 9 has done that Channel 7 has not done also. This seems a strange concept, that both Channels would have such similar programming. This returns us to the issue of competition and the drive of money.

This raised two important questions of;

1. Can commercial media deliver in their role to be profitable and socially responsible?

2. Is it all about the mighty dollar?

In my opinion I would say that it all comes back to the dollar and how much can be gained for the organization. It will be interesting to see the next lecture on Public Media and how it is different from Commercial Media.

Cat Clip 2#

Lecture 5 - Sound Lecture

After standing at the bus stop for 15 minutes I realized this week we did not have to attend today's lecture due to it being a sound lecture. So I kicked myself back home, downloaded the file and sat back to give the MP3 a listen.

The audio track was split into two interviews, one Carmel Rooney (tutor) interviewed Richard Fidler (well known ABC radio presenter) and the second to be interviewed was Steve Austin. The first interview caught my attention immediately after hearing who Richard Fidlers' name as my Dad is a huge fan of his work in the Doug Anthony All Stars (musical comedy trio). I found this particular interview particularly entertaining and amusing. Listening to his briefly explain how he got into radio and the elements of the radio medium was really interesting and really opened my eyes to how difficult it can be. The main part that stood out was how difficult radio conversation can be as they are often hour long and you have to be able to keep the audience interested. There is also a vast amount of preparation in setting up an interview and making the person being interviewed comfortable to be able to extract a good conversation from them. Listening to one of Richards' most memorable moments being with Adam Gilchrist inspiring in the way that Richard was able to share such a moment with this famous cricketer and his out of no where story of an outer body experience. This interview made me appreciate radio journalist and has encouraged me to start listening to good radio again.

Richard Fidler (right, holding guitar), performing with Tim Ferguson and Paul McDermott as the Doug Anthony All Stars.

The interview with Steve Austin. This last half of the recording seemed to draw out for me purely because I'm not very familiar with Steve Austin however I did find it almost (not quiet) as interesting as the previous interview. The main part of this conversation the stood out was when it was said that the most important part of a successful radio story or interview is being human. Because at the end of the day, like Steve says, we are emotional creatures and we respond emotionally and subconsciously. So when talking with another it is important to seek this from the other person in order to connect with them and the audience. This seems almost essential to any news story, being able to connect with another is crucial. Heading toward the end of the audio piece the most rewarding moments in journalism were discussed.  Austin spoke about when you are in an interview and your interviewee let their guard down and lose themselves in their personal story and in their emotions that that is one of the most rewarding parts in journalism is to be able to experience that moment. 

After listening to the audio lecture it has really opened my eyes and mind to seek other forms of journalism sources other than my norm of newspapers and online news. Radio journalism is actually really inspiring and can be very rewarding for the interviewer, interviewee and most importantly the audience. 

Cat Clip 1#

This is a short clip from the movie 'Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy' of a cat fashion show news story. Enjoy!

Assessment One - Media Use Journal

Prior to starting this journal of my media usage, I already knew I was in for a wake-up call as to how much media I rely on through day to day life. Generally there is only a handful of online and offline media that I use, however I use it pretty heavily most days to fill the time. Hoping that I'm not alone with the amount I rely on Facebook and my mobile phone, the recording had to begin. 

OBJECTIVE
Over a period of ten days (starting on the 9th of March and ending on the 18th of March) the type of media sources accessed and the amount of time spent (in minutes) utilizing the particular media types was recorded analysed and compared with the results collected from the JOUR1111 cohort survey conducted on Survey Monkey. This experiment will assist in recognising the level that I am involved with journalism and communication. 

RESULTS   

ANALYSIS

The results from the ten day media usage ended up coming to a total of 7690 minutes, which is roughly 129 awake hours, spent relying on some media form. 

It can be deduced from the data in 'Bar Graph One' that the time spent on Facebook in comparison to Twitter is a vast jump. This is due to personal reasons that I have only been on Twitter to keep updated on JOUR1111 related matters and still haven't really "got into it". Facebook is the basis of what really keeps me up to date with online happenings of the world relating to both social affairs and news affairs therefore I spend quite a large amount of time on there both via laptop and smartphone app. Facebook has been very helpful keeping me updated and connected to journalism and communication through spending, on average, 24 hours over the ten day period  constantly checking Facebook. This provides me with constant exposure to the regular international, national and local happenings. The survey filled out by the cohort prior to this exercise shows that 91.9% (397 students) also spend majority of their online time on Facebook compared to 10% (43 students) who use Twitter. I feel I may not be alone here.

Bar Graph Two

There is minimal information that can be extrapolated from 'Bar Graph Two' mainly relating to  my preferred source of news. Generally I purchase The Australian every day and sit down and go through it at some point of the day. So when comparing the reading of online news to offline news I generally spend more time reading the paper due to majority of articles having more depth and I also end up reading articles I normally wouldn't come across online. This again would assist in strengthening my connection to journalism and communication. When relating this graph back to the cohort survey the main source of news is  television with 71.1% (307 students) being updated via this media type. Personally, I never watch television  for news which could prove to potentially lessen my connection to journalism and communication. However it was reassuring to know that 67.8% (293 students) use online newspapers and 51.6% (223 students) use general newspapers so there is not to large of a gap between the three sources of news. 

The segment cut out from the results table above presents the amount of minutes spent each day using my smartphone. It can be seen that I am very reliant on it (not only for Facebook) but through both calls and text messaging. Some days I feel as though it never leaves my hand, which is demonstrated through the table fragment that most days are all relatively similar with usage times. The survey does not present data as to the amount of time used on mobile devices but it can assumed from the survey data which claims that 77.3% of the cohort own a smartphone of some form and that this media is very commonly utilized. Therefore showing that the majority of the cohort have a strong connection to journalism and communication via these devices.  

The information provided by the survey showed that before commencing the Introduction to Journalism  course that 63% (272 students) of the cohort had never had a blog. As being part of that 63% this can be reflected through my usage of blogging over the ten day period by only having spent roughly and hour and a half blogging. This can be interpreted as a downfall in my connection to journalism and communication as blogging is a very modern form and major part of journalism and communication in today's society.

According to the survey, on average, majority of the cohort (29.9%) spends 1-2 hours per day watching television both broadcast and online. Basically, I only watch broadcast television when a particular program is on that interests me. This is reflected in my recorded data as there are days where I do not watch television at all. I much prefer watching Youtube videos than television as there is no ads or interruption. This could result in missing the exposure to what could be seen as important journalism and communication material via advertisements and thus weakening my connection in that sense. 

Personally I classified general web surfing, "study" and email checking under miscellaneous. Emails falls under this category due to the fact I only ever glance at them briefly every few days, most likely not as often as I should. 61.3% (265 students) use their internet time to surf the web, 49.5% (214 students) use it as a medium of study and 53% (229 students) for emailing. When reflecting this back to my usage of these media types it is safe to say my connection is much weaker in this area in comparison to the majority of the JOUR1111 cohort.

I'm fairly inclined to game both online and offline and read books in my spare time. Generally spending between 2 - 3 hours most days (on average) immersed in either a Playstation 3 game or a good book. This information does not really assist with my connection to journalism and communication. It does however show I lean toward wasting my time reading or gaming rather than studying or working.

Music is a very big part of everyday life for me with on average spending 3 to 4 hours listening to it at some point. I'm more inclined to listen to music via my ipod when walking to and from the bus, around campus and when sitting in my room. 89.1% (385 students) of the cohort also prefer this music platform. In relation to this mode of media, I spend no time listening to radio or podcasts. This could be seen as a weakness in my relationship to journalism and communication as major information and affairs are broadcast via this media type which I would definitely miss.


In summary the media journal assessment piece has enabled me to reflect upon which media types I utilized the most and which I should most likely spend more (and less) time using in order to strengthen connections to the journalism and communication realm. 

The Wonderful World of Cats

Within the couple of months one of my close friends, Sophie Jackson, left for Vietnam for  6 months to teach English to the local schools and universities. The main thing about Sophie is her almost unnatural obsession with cats and she claims that Vietnam is jam packed full of them. She alone has inspired me to dedicate this blog about cats and why, in her eyes, they are so majestic.   

Sophie and her cat Kitty Karyall

Cats, where to begin such a broad topic... logically a brief history would be a good place to get the ball rolling for this blog. Today cats are what seems to be a common, easy to care for pet but the domestication of this feline dates back to the  Ancient Egyptians 4000 years ago where they domesticated cats to keep way certain types of pests and protect food supply's. If one were to kill a cat the penalty would be death as they were worshipped as gods/goddesses. They were so respected they were even mummified like humans after death!

Sekhmet - Egyptian Goddess of War

Mummified Cats

This respect for the domestic feline spread later to other countries throughout Europe before reaching the Pilgrims in the New World. Different species spread to alternate places for example long-haired domestic cats originated from Turkey and Iran where as short-haired domestic cats originated from Egypt and further spread to Japan, China and India.

There was a time in history where cats were not so admirable and were surrounded by various negative superstitions. During the middle ages cats were seen to be associated with the devil and evil doings mainly relating to witchery and cats being thought to be the familiar of a witch.This caused a eradication of a large scale for cats during these times. However as time passed these myths passed and cats were once more a common house hold pet by around the 18th century. 

A Witch and Her Familiar 

Thank you Sophie for providing me with something amusing to blog about!