Personal Media Use and Production Diary

Television

Television programming comprises my primary media interaction and leisure and news programs represent 35 percent of the total time I allocate to various forms of media. On average, I watch 75 minutes of television per day which is comparable with the viewing patterns of my peers, with 29 percent of them watching between one and two hours of TV on most days.

Like many students, I have to balance full-time study with part-time work, extracurricular activities, a social life, etc., but each day, I need some time to unwind. For me, this happens when I am able to sit in front of the TV and watch the latest episode of My Kitchen Rules, Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries or The Vampire Diaries. Clearly, I have varied (and some might suggest bad) taste in fictional television shows. Nonetheless, they give me the chance to relax after a hard day’s study or work.

My preference for television news is shared by my peers, with 71.1 percent stating that they consider television as their primary source of news. I think that by watching television news, viewers are offered an easy to comprehend, attractive, informed and engaging way to appreciate current events. There are two programs I focus on: The 7.30 Report and Q&A both on ABC1. The 7.30 Report provides the best analysis of local, national and international events from a truly Australian perspective and Q&A is an excellent example of combining current affairs, social media and an audience largely derived from the general public.  It’s energetic, opinionated and best of all, it’s live! To me, all of these elements make for a great journalistic experience. 

Facebook and the Internet

On average, I spend 97 minutes per day using the Internet and a large proportion of this time is involved with Facebook. But I am not alone, with 97.3 percent of students admitting they have one or more Facebook account(s) and 91.9 percent of these students stating that they spend the majority of their online time interacting with this medium. This is incredibly high considering that almost a third of students spend two to three hours on the Internet each day.

I do believe my use of Facebook would be classed as moderate to low, averaging around 30 minutes per day over the ten day period. I only access Facebook from my smart phone and find myself using this social networking site mainly when I am bored. Having said this, Facebook is definitely my primary form of online media production. I use it for uploading photos, organising events and contacting my friends. For these reasons, I use Facebook purely for social communication and interaction, as I believe the majority of users do. 

Blog and Twitter

Before starting JOUR111 I had neither blogged nor tweeted and I must admit I had never considered either. This places me in the majority alongside my peers, with 70.8 percent stating they did not have a Twitter account and 63 percent did not blog before starting JOUR1111. However, since creating these accounts my online media production has significantly increased and I suspect this is the case for most students. I now understand terms such as ‘hashtage’, ‘retweeting’ and ‘stream’ and I have gained a much better insight and appreciation for Twitter as a communicative tool.  

Radio

I only listen to the radio when I am in the car and switch my time fairly evenly between AM and FM stations. On the days that I actually do listen, I average around 55 minutes which happens to be a return trip to university for me. This again places me in the 53.9 percent of students listening to the radio for less than one hour daily.

For AM stations, 612ABC Brisbane and ABC Radio National are my preference as they regularly broadcast up-to-date news reports, and have excellently moderated talk-back programs that often feature controversial issues.   I am a classical musician and so I listen exclusively to ABC Classic FM with a particular attraction to the Classic Breakfast program hosted by Emma Ayres. Being an ABC network and freed from commercial constraints, this station provides a wonderful selection of music with hourly updates on current national and international headlines.

LECTURE 2 – “New News”

This was an interesting lecture by Dr BR which tied in nicely with the set reading for the week. His lecture focused on web iterations (which took up the bulk of the lecture), the threat news faces in the online sphere and the impact that Web 3.0 will have on the production and consumption of news.

We began by defining 'old media'. This encompasses the largely accepted and traditional forms including newspapers, magazines, radio and television. Although the platforms for these media outlets were developed in the late 19^th and early 20^th century, I think it is perhaps inaccurate to deem them “old”. I happen to turn to these forms first for news and entertainment and I suggest a large proportion of the population does as well. I think 'old media' is accessible to the masses and will continue to be in the wake of Web 2.0 and Web 3.0. 

Web 2.0, or 'new media', is largely focused around social networking sites including facebook, YouTube, Linkedin, Twitter and flickr. Dr BR also introduced the concept of “Prod-users” (Alex Bruns – QUT 2005). This term evolves out of the notion that users of Web 2.0 act as a hybrid user/producer through the production process on social media and that we become prod-users simply by using such sites. For more visit http://snurb.info/produsage.


As a user of 'new media', I am not surprised the challenges that more traditional media faces in the wake of social networking sites. Personally, I would never turn to Facebook, Twitter or YouTube for my daily dose of news. It still surprises me when I turn on Q&A (on ABC) or Sunrise (Channel 7) and twitter posts appear at the bottom of the screen. However, I admire shows like this that are diverse enough and willing to take a step forward into twenty-first century media. It definitely adds another layer of complexity and reaches out to an audience that may otherwise have ignored their show. 


As confusing as Web 2.0 sounds, we are quickly moving towards Web 3.0, also known as the semantic web, whereby online users generated content contributes to target advertising and marketing. Have you ever been browsing Facebook or using Hotmail and noticed the advertising appearing across your screen. Have you ever thought, "How do 'they' know what I'm looking for?" or "I was just looking for a handbag the other day so how does Facebook know this?" As I'm sure you know everything we do online is recorded, stored, sorted and mined for information that can be used for target advertising. This is just one layer of Web 3.0.  


 Web 3.0 means a number of things for news:

• Hyperlocalisation – news is targeted/marketed to where a person lives
• “News my way” – companies become more specific about content delivery and advertising is targeted to specific audiences
• Ignorance and a lack of “general knowledge”

Next, the lecture moved onto web news. But first, Dr BR woke us all up with his clever “jelly-bean analogy” which drew parallels between the public’s belief that we are all entitled to online news for free but how a number of publications (e.g. The Times, The Australian) have gone behind the paywall. He then asked, “What will happen if people don’t subscribe?” 


I’m not sure about the answer to this question. Web news has always been cheap and available because most people have an internet connection in their home. Why would you go to the bother of buying a newspaper when it is up online for you 'for free?' I suspect in the wake of paywalls, the public will reach the point whereby to get accurate, quality journalism, they will be willing to pay as people have done in the past. 


Call me old fashioned, by I like the feeling of turning a page of the newspaper and covering my hands with a fine layer of printing ink. It makes me feel nostalgic for past times...

LECTURE 1 – “Telling Factual Stories”

In our first lecture for JOUR1111, Dr BR introduced students to the basic philosophy and structure of the course, our assessment requirements and why one would choose to study journalism and communication. He raised two key arguments as to why this is important:

1. Because it is there. Journalism is interesting to us because we encounter and use it every day and because it is a source of information that is readily available. Whether we like it or not, we are a part of the media through viewing content, technological use, social media, etc. 
2. Because it can tell us about ourselves. Published journalism and mass media reflect back to us our own values, the values of others and the dominant values that underpin society. It also competes with other social institutions in knowledge, influence and legitimacy.

In this first lecture, we were briefly introduced to some of the challenges journalism and news media are facing. These included:

• Technology - the Death of newspapers; online ‘newspapers’ going behind the paywall; social media
• Public perception of journalists  
• User Generator content – citizen journalists
• News as entertainment

I can see that this subject is going to be both informative and interesting but will also present a number of challenges. Of the six assessment tasks for JOUR1111, I am most looking forward to the Factual Storytelling Exercise. Although I don’t fancy myself a particularly good story teller, I think this task will give me the opportunity to improve these skills.

Why I chose to study journalism

I am in my third year of my Bachelor of Arts (Extended Major in Musicology) at the University of Queensland. So, you might be asking yourself, “why is a final year music student studying journalism?” Well I have reached the point in my degree where I have completed almost all of my subjects for my extended major but have yet to complete any subjects that would constitute my ‘minor’.

When browsing the available courses to study, Journalism and Mass Communication appealed to me immediately. I have always been interested in writing and the media; particularly the way in which society interacts and is impacted by the journalistic profession. Although I intend to begin the Bachelor of Laws (Grad Entry) degree at the conclusion of my BA, I think this background in Journalism will be immensely helpful.

Because of my intended career path, I couldn’t help but laugh when Dr BR brought this quote to our attention in the first lecture:

Generally speaking, the best people nowadays go into journalism, the second best into business, the rubbish into politics and the shi*s into law - Auberon Waugh (British Journalist / Author)

I trust you'll enjoy reading my blog over the coming semester as I continue to gain knowledge about journalism and the mass media industry.