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!