Factual Storytelling Exercise

The task was to tell a factual story utilizing different modes of storytelling. This story is told from my own perspective and tells of meeting a classical music idol of mine coupled with my own musical experiences that allowed me to meet her. I have combined audio (in the form of a voice over), video and still images to present this story.

Factual Storytelling Exercise (click here)

Plain and Simple

Over the past week or so, the case of plain tobacco packaging laws has hit the pages of our newspapers and the top stories on our television screens. Before this, I had very little knowledge about this legislation and I was surprised to hear that the laws were passed late last year!!

For those of you who were living in the dark just as I was, four big tobacco companies are challenging the plain packaging laws, which will require all cigarettes and tobacco products to be sold in plain olive-brown packs from December 2012. This case, which has caught international attention, is being heard by the full bench of the High Court. Tobacco companies are throwing everything they’ve got at the legal challenge because they are worried other countries could follow Australia's lead if the government wins.

I don’t want to spark a debate here (I am just a simple little blogger) but I am all for plain packaging just as I am for all warnings placed on cigarette packets. It’s not as though the government is trying to ban smoking. It is taking action to try and diminish the harm that smoking does to individuals and the Australian health system. Tobacco companies want to be able to make cigarettes look more attractive and keep selling their product.

Coming from a family where two members have confronted cancer as a result of smoking, I can gladly say that plain packaging laws are putting my mind at rest. Of course, people who smoke or have every intention of smoking will continue to do so, but if plain packaging stops just a few from taking it up, then this law is doing its job in my books. 

WEEK 7 - "Public Media"

In this week’s lecture Dr BR introduced us to public media; the opposite of commercial media. This lecture was interesting to me as it quickly became apparent that there was a lot more to the distinction between these two than I had previously realised. I knew that one had ads and the other was government funded, but as you’re about to find out, it goes a lot deeper than that. 

As we already know (that is, those of you who are following my blog), commercial media is hat which is profit driven and privately funded. As such, its success or failure rests on its business success. On the other hand, public media doesn’t follow this business model.

As Nigel Milan, the form Managing Director of SBS wisely stated, “The difference between commercial broadcasting and public broadcasting is the difference between consumers and citizens.” Generally speaking, public media is described as media that is committed to serving or engaging with the public. Usually government or publically funded, this media uses public platforms that include radio and television networks along with ‘newer’ mechanisms such as the Internet, podcasting and blogging.

Here are some public media outlets:

• ABC, ABC2 and ABC3
• ABC News 24
• ABC Local Radio, Radio National and Classic FM (my personal favourite)
• Triple J
• SBS, SBSONE and SBSTWO
• SBS Radio

 Public media should have public value. According the BBC this means:

• Embedding a ‘public service ethos’
• Value for licence fee money
• Weighing public value against market impact
• Public consultation.

Public media functions include:

• Nation building
• National heritage
• National identity
• National Conversations.

Similarly, public media must:

• Produce quality
• Make itself relevant
• Engage with the democratic process
• Inform the public
• And be independent.

In 1985, the Broadcasting Research Unit suggest that public media should involve:

1. Geographic universality.
2. University of appeal.
3. Special provision for minorities.
4. A special relationship to the sense of national identity and community
5. Distanced from all vested interests
6. Universality of payment
7. Competition in good programming rather than competition for numbers
8. The liberation rather than restriction of broadcasters.

So really, it’s a big job to be the public media. There are a lot of citizens to please, goals to achieve, governments to keep happy and roles to fulfil. Interestingly, 41 percent of Australians receive their news through the ABC, 12.6 millions Australians watch ABC television each week and the ABC is the only source of length interviews with politicians and nations leaders in the media other than talkback. 

 

Public media faces a number of challenges just as any other media outlet. ABC journalists have always been briefed about the taboo of bias and of course there is always the matter of funding. Although public media appear to be ‘owned’ by the government, they are not. Actually there is a tension held between these two competing forces as public media has to play the watchdog of the government while being allocated funds and at the same time, bite the hand that feeds it.

I think public media is doing a pretty good job of this, but of course there are some people that complain of how boring, elitist, poorly presented and out of touch public media is. I’m assuming these are the types of people that are pining to bring Big Brother back to television...

If you’re one of these people, please turn your television on to the next episode of Miss Fisher’s Murder Mysteries, The Straits or Q&A. You don’t know what you’re missing and you may surprise yourself!!

“Our Audience is Our Only Agenda”

After quite a few mentions of The Global Mail during JOUR1111 lectures and tutorials, I thought that I should take a look at this website. I must admit, this online news and features ‘newspaper’ is quickly becoming my most turned to online news site.

I often find myself bored and disengaged with television news as the same stories are repeated on Channel’s 7, 9 and 10. My only refuge is ABC and again I often find that stories are repeated and I have little say over what news I receive. The Global Mail is different in this way. Unlike most online (and offline) news organisations, the stories published do not swim in the 24/7 news cycle. This offers me news that is considered, investigative and informative on people, places, events and issues from all corners of the globe and facets of life.

What is even more impressive is that The Global Mail does not limit itself to one form of journalism but examines topics through words, video, audio, photo journalism and info-graphics. This is great for me as I am interested in learning about different types of media. Another plus for this site is that it does not follow the typical online newspaper outline. It has made clever use of computer graphics, is clean and uncluttered, it's free from advertising and easy to navigate. 

This semester, I am also undertaking a foreign journalism course which has particularly focused on foreign correspondents and their role within news media. The Global Mail has staff correspondents based in Europe, Asia, the Middle East, the US and Latin America along with a diverse group of journalists in Australia.

Best of all, The Global Mail has not gone behind the paywall!!! And for my sake and the safety of my purse, I hope it doesn't. However, if they were to make this horrible decision, The Global Mail would be one online news site that I would consider paying for. 

WEEK 6 – “Commercial Media”

“Advertisers are the real customers of a commercial media organisation, not its reader, viewers or listeners.” Commercial media really is everywhere and until this lecture, this did not actually occur to me. What is more frightening is that the organisations that we see as competitors are often owned by the same company.

But first, I thought I should define commercial media. Commercial media is any media organisation which derives part of its income or revenue from advertisers. That is, they are profit-driven and not government or license funded. Like any corporate business, the success of a commercial media organisation rests on its ability to generate audiences (or customers) and in turn generates a profit by selling advertising. This can be anything from free to air television, radio or sport to newspapers, outdoor advertising, magazines and digital media.

As I said above, a number of commercial media organisations are owned by the same company. News Limited, Fairfax Media and Nine Entertainment Co. were particularly interesting as they appeared to have the most diverse range of media outlets. If one branch of commercial media went down for whatever reason, these three companies would still have their hand in the cookie jar. This is not something I realised before this lecture and I can see how these companies hold such a competitive edge. A company that owns two or more businesses, that appear to do the same thing with perhaps a slightly different audience, is incredibly profitable. For instance, take a person who owns two different clothing stores on opposite sides of the street. One sells high end fashion and markets themselves by selling only clothes made in Australia, whilst the other sells dirt cheap, everyday clothing that is made in China. Customers will inevitably decide which store to attend, based on their values and what will suit their needs. This, as it does for the big commercial media organisations, results in a win for consumers and a win for management.

Here are some, but not all, of the ‘sub-companies’ owned by the large commercial media organisations in Australia.

News Limited:

• 20^th Century Fox
• Foxtel
• Sky News
• Harper Collins Publishers
• Quest Community Newspapers
• The Courier Mail

Fairfax Media:

• The Sydney Morning Herald
• theage.com.au
• Financial Review
• mycareer.com.au
• RSVP

Nine Entertainment Co:

• Channel 9
• GO! And GEM
• Ticketek.com
• ninemsn
• Women’s Weekly, Women’s Day, Cosmo, Cleo, FHM, etc,.

Seven West Media:

• Channel 7
• 7 Two and 7mate
• Who 
• Better Homes and Gardens
• The West Australian
• Yahoo!

What is the form and function of commercial media? Commercial media has a role to deliver both on a commercial (profit-based) level and on social (public trust) functions. I think it is fair to say that the majority of those companies listed above do perform adhere to both these parameters. But that’s not to say that the commercial media we receive is all good. Unfortunately commercial media results in the dumbing-down of news, tabloidization, the desire to please, less general knowledge and ‘mickey mouse’ news. We say that we would be happy to pay for quality journalism and yet we’re interested in the best beach bums, stars without makeup and shark attacks over the important political news. Hmmmm, it just doesn’t add up!

But commercial media is not without its challenges. Advertising revenue for broadcast media is down and continues to slide. Have you ever wondered why so many channels play repeats of CSI, Law and Order, How I Met Your Mother or Friends? They are cheap!! And today there is no hiding as online behaviour is tracked and organisations know exactly what is catching peoples’ attention.  

Think before you click... 

All Eyes in One Direction

I must admit that I have never been one to fall in love with bands or celebrities. The only concert I have ever attended was performed by Beyonce back in 2008. I swore, at that moment, that I would never line up again for hours to buy tickets, only to spend a whole concert standing just to get a two inch high glimpse of someone. 

So readers, please forgive me for not quite understanding the hysteria surrounding the latest boy band One Direction. Over the last week, television screens have been bombarded with images of screaming girls all pining to become the next Mrs Zayn Malik or Mrs Liam Payne. And yes, I did have to look those names up!

Sure they are cute, have nice hair, lots of money and can pump out a tune but are they really worth all thy hype? To me, the kind of behaviour their fans, albeit mainly girls, engage in is downright bizarre and fruitless. If I see one more teenage girl cry on TV, I think I might scream.  

Maybe I'm just getting too old! Mind you, I have embarrassingly found myself belting out their single What Makes You Beautiful more than once... But let’s keep that secret on the down-low.

Cue YouTube video... Click here

WEEK 5 – "Sound Lecture"

Did video kill the radio star? Well after this weeks lecture, I think not! If you’re one of the people who believe that the radio is boring or outdated, you probably haven’t done much listening over the past couple of years. Radio has encountered some battles in its war against TV but in recent years it has regained some prestige. The radio offers a variety of stations to suit individual tastes, is constantly changing throughout the day, it’s up to date and the radio is accessible and portable. The radio can enter your bathroom, your car, and you can even listen to it whilst at the gym or walking the dog. How many other media outlets can do this? 

I thought this was a great way to present the week five lecture, not only because it focused on sound journalism but it got us to immerse ourselves in the medium itself. I love the radio and often listen to these two presenters when I’m travelling to and from uni. Thanks must go out to the UQ journalism teaching staff for this week’s lecture. It’s not every day that we get an opportunity to hear about the personal lives and experiences of such prominent radio figures.   

Richard Fidler

I love Conversations with Richard Fidler on 612ABC Brisbane. I’m proud to say that I have actually been on his show for concert promotions and I love getting behind the microphone in a radio studio. During the three times I have been interviewed by Fidler I have found his manner of interviewing quite relaxing and very conversational.   

Apart from having a great ‘radio voice’, Fidler creates a radio show that is both diverse and highly engaging. I found his accidental pathway to radio quite interesting and I find it hard to imagine him in any other stream of media production. I knew that he had been part of a comedy group but I did not know that he had also (accidently) appeared on TV! Maybe there is hope for me...

I thought it was lovely how he feels privileged to be involved with his guests. I think Fidler’s approach when interviewing is humble and caring and I know from experience that he gives the interviewee space and time to think about responses and compose an answer. I thought it was interesting that he even leans back from the microphone at times to demonstrate to his interviewee that he is sincerely interested in what they have to say. I think these pauses also contribute to the relaxed feel of Fidler’s program and give an authentic feel to radio discussion.


Fidler also believes that the radio is more intimate than the television and I tend to agree with him. When you don't have visual stimulation to distract you, I think it is easier to focus. As Fidler says, “It’s like the voice comes from inside your head”. This is how I feel when I'm listening to the radio and I often remember broadcast discussions long after  TV news has left my thoughts.

My favourite quote from his interview was: “Don’t live in an ideological ghetto on the internet. Expose yourselves to different currents of thought.”

Steve Austin

Steven Austin has a completely different on-air manner to Richard Fidler. This has never been particularly obvious to me as Austin airs in the mornings and Fidler’s program is broadcast at lunchtime. He has a much more serious tone and manner of addressing issues. This does not mean that I find his program less enjoyable to listen to, but I find that his style much more issue-driven and lacking slightly in humour.

Austin was clear about the problems of being ‘fake’ on radio both as a presenter and for the people he interviews. As he states, “If you wouldn’t do it in life, don’t think about doing it on radio.” He also emphasised the importance of asking questions that are not too complicated and using prompts that may be as simple as asking “Do you agree?”

Don’t give up! Austin believes that he is not a naturally talented radio personality and that if a person wants a career on radio bad enough, they should persist. I know we have all heard this time and time again, but this wise pearl of wisdom really does hold true to every stream of life. 

Fear not, Australia relatively safe from zombie attacks!!

When it comes to the zombie apocalypse, Australians will find themselves in one of the safest countries on Earth, according to the Map of the Dead.

Creators Doejo have turned Google Maps into a survival guide, showing users the best and worst locations when the world becomes overrun by the brain-munching, foot-dragging undead. The detailed maps show the danger zones in red and also list potential supply and survival locations – including hospitals, gun shops, service stations, military bases and bottleshops.

According to the map, capital cities like Brisbane, Sydney and Melbourne should be avoided. I have reason to be extremely concerned as my whole surrounding area is lit up in bright red haze of warning.

If you’re thinking of going to London for the Olympics later this year, I would seriously reconsider. Take a look if you don’t believe me...

LECTURE 4 – “Picture Stories”

A picture paints a thousand words, but with Photoshop it paints a thousand lies! I often look through trashy magazines and tabloids and wonder, "do people actually buy this rubbish?" The amount of concocted photos and misinterpreted images that fills up a 100 page magazine is almost hard to believe. 

The extremity of photo editing never ceases to amaze me and I find it a little concerning the majority of photos that do undergo photo-shop are of women. Dr BR brought a comparison of Beyonce’s extreme photo-shop editing during the lecture. Here is another couple I found of her...

Is it even possible to turn your head this far? Go on, give it a try! 

I bet you've seen this one before...

This brings me to the Dove campaign video that Dr BR played for us (twice!) I had been shown this video in high school. However, I was struck again by its brevity and power to reinforce the idea that the reality that is fed to us through advertising and the media is a often a construction. If you haven’t yet seen this video, take a look. 

The examination of three photos from Jonathon Thurston’s Uncle’s funeral was very interesting. I did choose photograph 2 as the most effective and it was great to see that other’s agreed on its excellent juxtaposition. A late congratulations is in order for Marissa Calligeros for sharing the same name as me and for winning the 2009 QLD News Photo of the Year for her photo below!

I do not fancy myself a particularly good photographer, although I do enjoy taking photos. So what makes a great photo?

• Framing
• Focus
• Angle & Point of View (POV)
• Exposure (or Light)
• Timing (Shutter speed)
• Capturing “The Moment”

I was on a holiday in South Africa last year and my boyfriend and I went on a safari in the Kruger National Park. This has to be one of my favourite photographs taken of an animal whilst we were travelling around. This photo has excellent focus and exposure, the colour contrasts are striking and it obeys the Rule of Thirds (Golden Mean). 

After this lecture, I was inspired to research some original film ('moving pictures') as Dr BR didn't get much of a chance to delve into this area of photography. Perhaps I will focus my Factual Storytelling Exercise around pictures and photography. 

SOPA and PIPA

The Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) and the Protect IP Act (PIPA) have been making headlines in past months and gaining a lot of negative attention as major websites such as Wikipedia schedule blackouts in protest.

If you haven’t been following this story over the past few months, here are the facts. Media companies are investigating new ways to fight and prevent piracy. We’ve all heard about large torrent and pirate sites forced to shut down. Enter SOPA, in the U.S. House of Representatives, and PIPA in the U.S Senate which aim to fight foreign copyright infringement

As Jared Newman of PCWorld reported, “In one method, the U.S. Department of Justice could seek court orders requiring Internet service providers to block the domain names of infringing sites” (2012).

What I think is most concerning is that these proposed bills will censor what we can see on the Web. For now, this legislation is only proposed in the U.S. but I fear that Australia may follow suit if they are successful. We already complain that we live in a ‘nanny state’ and so imagine the impact of Internet censorship bill, where what we see online is controlled and managed heavily by the government.

Apparently, 41 human rights organisations and 110 prominent law professors in the U.S. have expressed grave concerns about these two bills. How do you feel about Internet censorship in Australia and across the world? Think about what it would mean and how it could impact your online habits. 

For more, click here. 

LECTURE 3 – “What is Text?”

It is always great to have guest lecturers and industry professionals appear and Skye Doherty was no exception. Her manner of lecturing was fast paced and engaging and it was great that she left some time at the end of the lecture to answer questions and promote discussion.

The lecture focused around the question, “what is text?” It’s hard to believe that we are constantly exposed to text each day but we rarely take note of its enormous powers of communication. As Skye pointed out text is:

• fast and flexible
• about complete control
• portable and searchable 
• all over the Internet
• the substance of a story 
• emails, blogs, tweets, Facebook updates and comments
• metadata, excerpts, tags
• etc.

I found the idea of encompassing complete story content in a headline or by-line very interesting as it had never occurred to me how engaging this form of expression could be. Over the course of JOUR1111 I would really like to improve my ability for generating witty headlines as I think this is a valuable tool no matter what course or profession a person wishes to follow. My favourite headline was definitely the extract from The Scottish Sun which read “Super Caley Go Ballistic Celtic Are Atrocious”. As a Mary Poppins fan and a lover of word play, this headline captured my attention and my respect.  

At the conclusion of the lecture, Skye introduced us to the online videogame, “Cutthroat Capitalism” published  in Wired. Although it is essentially a game, “Cutthroat Capitalism” also doubles as an economic analysis of the Somali pirate business model.

The premise of the game is that you’re a pirate commander staked with $50,000 and your job is to guide your pirate crew through raids in and around the Gulf of Aden, attack and capture ships and successfully negotiate a ransom. I played this for over an hour when I arrived home from university and really enjoyed the challenge and negotiation skills involved.

Click here to play "Cutthroat Capitalism: the game"

YouTube Sensation

Well I think this is a bit of an overstatement and as much as I would like, I don't think I'll be appearing on The Ellen Degeneres Show any time soon... But I am pretty excited that one of my YouTube videos is close to reaching 5000 views!!

I uploaded this performance about eight months ago after performing with an orchestra in Western Australia. In case you’re wondering what the little instrument I play is called, it’s a mandolin. The mandolin is a descendent of the lute family. It is tuned the same as the violin (G-D-A-E) but it has doubled strings for projection and is traditionally plucked (or strummed) with a plectrum.

I have been playing this beautiful instrument for ten years now and adore it just as much as the day I first discovered it. Happy listening!

Click here to watch video.

Music washes away from the soul the dust of everyday life. - Berthold Auerbach