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!