Sweet Tooth

For those of you who know me personally, you’ll be aware that I suffer from a severe anaphylactic allergy to eggs and egg products. For those of you who didn’t know this, you do now! If you take a moment to think about this, you will realise just how many foods actually contain eggs.

I have often thought about creating a recipe or food blog where I would post recipes that I have created or modified to be cooked without eggs. So here’s my first attempt at this.   

I am writing this post to celebrate my success at finally creating a recipe for egg free pancakes... Yes I have lived 20 years and today marks my first EVER taste of pancakes and I must say they are delicious!! In the whole scheme  of things this may seem very trivial, but to me, and I’m sure for a lot of people with food allergies, discovering little treasures like this bring some sense of normality to our lives.

Egg-free Pancakes
Makes about 10 pancakes, 5 inches in diameter

2 cups of plain flour
¼ cup of sugar
1 ½ tbs baking powder
½ tsp salt
2 cups of low-fat milk
¼ cup of vegetable oil
¼ cup of freshly squeezed orange juice
¼ cup of melted butter

1. Sift together flour, baking powder, sugar and salt.
2. In a separate bowl, whisk together milk, oil and orange juice and add to dry ingredients.
3. Slowly add the melted butter and mix until there are no (of very few) lumps.
4. Pour about ½ cup of batter onto a hot non-stick, shallow pan.
5. Cook until you see a few bubbles rise to the surface and it’s dry around the edges. Flip over to cook on the other side until lightly browned
6. Serve with butter, maple syrup, whipped cream and ice-cream. 

WEEK 8 - "Ethics"

This week’s lecture was presented by Dr John Harrison. Now here’s a man who’s not afraid to say what he thinks… His presentation was both entertaining, with just a hint of wit (and frequent journalism jokes that got Dr BR chuckling) and quite confrontational. I particularly enjoyed examining the surplus of advertisements that have caused a stir in recent years and I actually found that the ones I identified as a problem were not seen as too bad and the other that I thought were alright, caused uproar… You just can’t pick them!!

There were a few ‘take home’ messages from this lecture. After showing a series of ‘inappropriate’ advertising campaigns, Dr Harrison asked us to determine what we thought on his nifty good taste/bad taste, ethical/unethical scale. What I learnt was although an advertisement can be seen as ‘tacky’ or in bad taste, doesn’t necessarily mean that it is wrong. That is, something can be tacky yet ethical and alternatively tasteful yet unethical. Upon reflecting on the ads, I found that the few that made me laugh, I classified as in good taste. However, it was then difficult to determine whether they were ethical or not. 

In good old Aussie spirit, I love the Sam Kekovich annual Australia Day Address to the Nation. It was interesting to hear that in the lead-up to Australia Day in 2005, this advertising campaign caused quite a stir. I can see why this might be the case, but nevertheless this ad really makes a person consider the ethics of mass media. 

Dr Harrison introduced us to three ethical ‘theories’.

• The first is Deontology which is all about following the rules, principles and duties. That is, you will do the right thing by following the rules and ethics codes
• The second is Consequentialism. Arriving at a ‘good’ or ‘right’ outcome is what matters, regardless of how you got there. It follows that say, “the ends justify the means”.
• Finally there is Virtue Ethics which is concerned with the goodness or happiness of a person, their character and their habits. These habits are ‘virtues’ such as courage, justice, temperance and prudence.

Hitting a little closer to home, there are a number of codes that media professionals need to adhere to: MEAA, PRIA, AFA and AANA codes are just a few. What they say is simple… Journalists have a responsibility to be honest and as most people believe, good ethics pay off!

Now for some banned ad campaigns that I found. WARNING, some material may offend viewers...

 1. Bacardi in Canada. Banned as it “objectified and demeaned women”

2. Killer Heels by NMA in the UK. Banned as it “trivialised and stylised violence”

 

3. The Body Shop. Banned for emulating Barbie and received complaints about a “nude and nipple-less figure being exposed to the public”

 4. Diesel ‘Be Stupid’ campaign. Banned for being indecent and antisocial and promoting compulsive behaviour 

5. Promoting safe sex. Now this ad certainly gave me a laugh when I saw it on TV a few years back

6. Hyundai in Australia. This ad was banned after 3 weeks on TV. This is just too cute...

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...