This last year

The university year is drawing to a close and with the stress and sleep deprivation that is sure to come with this semesters exams, I have begun to look back on the changes this year has brought.

First year at college, first year at university, first year away from home. Safe to say its been a big shift from the year before. Such a big change in fact that I think adjustment has been the dominant focus of life for the last 12 months.

It has only been recently that I have managed to truly settle into a routine that successfully balances academics, social commitment and personal health. University is enough of a change from secondary education to truly upset most peoples study habits. Add into this the overreaching social aspects of first year college. It leaves precious little time for other aspects of life; family, sleep, keeping healthy. Trying to work all of this into life is of course manageable, and it is not as if the average college kid has it rough by any means. The issue lies with the lack of balancing skills that I sorely needed during my first semester. I was constantly going from one extreme to the other. Week long study sessions followed by a three week long abstinence from anything academic. A very poor method of management that showed through in my end of semester results.

As far as advancing my education I feel I haven't really achieved much. Currently I am completing my first year of an arts degree while still having not chosen a major. At this rate I am set to become a veritable jack of all trades but master of none. Thankfully I have applied for law at QUT next year, hopefully a solution to my lack of direction.

While college is a wonderful institution I feel now, after a year of attendance, that college most definitely has  a lifespan. While the social aspects are unforgettable and the friendships forged will surely be lasting ones, college students engage themselves solely with college, to the point of excluding the outside world. Three years of attendance and I'm sure I will be ready to move on to a life that is a bit less vapid and far more productive.

In summary this past year has brought me a great deal of learning but as far as real achievements that can be measured in a tangible sense, next to nothing.

JOUR1111- Lecture 9

Another interesting lecture, this time explaining the news values that underlie the news and media business.

When thinking of news values I had a preconceived notion that I now know was far more akin to an ethical code. I saw news values as the moral code that all news media was judged by. This lecture on the topic has corrected my misconceptions.

News values are the set of criteria that decides which of the infinite possible stories that could potentially become news are deemed to be newsworthy.

News values have four core considerations.

Impact: The immediate impact and engagement that a story will cause in an audience.

Audience Identification: The audience must feel a certain level of identification with the story. It must be related to the interests of the audience on a personal level. A degree of ownership must be felt by the audience.

Pragmatics: Pragmatics include the correct ethics, factuality  currency and practicality of the news. Without appropriate pragmatics the feasibility of the story as news is doubtful.

Source influence: The influence of PR on the news story.'Journalism loves to hate PR... whether for spinning, controlling access, approving copy, or protecting clients at the expense of the truth. Yet journalism has never need public relations more, and PR has never done a better job for the media.' - Julia Hobsbawm, UK PR Executive. 

While these considerations are universal, the manner in which they are applied is culturally and geographically subjective. 

Newsworthiness:

To determine the newsworthiness of a story there are four elements that must be taken into account:

Visualness: The appeal of a story to an online of television audience.

Conflict: The most tried and true news value. Conflict is guaranteed to draw attention.

Emotion: Represents the human interest and emotional appeal of a story.

Celebrification of the journalist: The level of involvement that the journalist plays within the story.

The final subject of this lecture was the threats to newsworthiness.

There are several tensions in modern journalism that affect newsworthiness.

Journalism vs Commercialisation

Journalism vs  Public Relations

Journalistic ideals vs Journalistic Reality.

These conflicts affecting the journalism industry are embodied by several issues.

Hyper commercialisation: This is the situation of oligopoly in the news industry that results in a biased allocation of news values. Media mergers result in a small number of companies controlling all that consumers view in news media.

PR Influence- Tabloidisation: The distortion of news through PR tactics and the use of illegal news gathering techniques.

Lazy, Incompetent Journalism: The lack of proper journalistic method in modern news results in poor representations of stories in the media.

This lecture has shown me that although news values are designed to serve the audience, modern influences on journalistic method result in reduced clarity, coverage and diversity of modern media.

The Intouchables

When it comes to film appreciation I can often lean towards being a touch Neanderthal. I look to the awe of the cinema most often so that I can be easily entertained by pieces of film with little or no cognitive or spiritual value. Bright lights, fast cars, loud explosions, pretty girls and crude humour- the elements of a quality viewing.

As such it was a leap of faith of huge proportions for me to take my mothers viewing advice and recently watch a movie called "The Intouchables." There are several reasons why this movie was a leap of faith. Firstly, it is a sentimental film, recommended by my mother, secondly it is a foreign language film and finally it was played at the Gold Coast Arts Centre, notorious for its art house film options.

Against my better judgement I went to see this strange foreign language film. I was pleasantly surprised. What followed was possibly the most genuine and heartwarming story I have ever seen.

The film follows he relationship of two men. Driss and Philippe. Driss is a layabout, ex-convict 20 something year old and Philippe is a tetraplegic millionaire. Driss applies to be Philippes caretaker simply to fulfill his state benefit looking for work requirements and much to his surprise, Philippe decides to give him a trial. As one would expect the movie progresses and Philippe and Driss build a strong relationship as friends. What made this movie was in part the acting and in part the script. The character of Driss pushes his luck almost to the point where he puts the audience offside but then brings them back with humour and good will. Philippe starts as a patient and wise if disabled man with seemingly all the power in the relationship between him and Driss. Throughout the film the cracks in his confidence and demeanour show the toll that his disability has taken on him mentally.

It all seems like a bit of a fairytale, and perhaps it is a bit too optimistic for the average person. THe turning point of this film, the real kicker that sold it to me was this. It is a true story. With that I think I can thoroughly recommend this film as a heartwarming, comedic, feel good movie. 

JOUR1111- Week 8

Ethics

This lecture was delivered by Donna Meikeljohn . I found it addressed on of the ongoing questions that I have had in relation to journalism. That is the formation, application and the use of an ethical code.

While the term “ethical” is often thrown around and used to describe the appropriateness of media and actions, I have never actually been able to define what ethics are in depth, nor have I ever been able to decide why certain material is deemed to be ethical or unethical.

Donna first showed us some supposedly ethically questionable advertisement. I found none of these to be remotely offensive as I thought the humorous intentions behind the adverts was more than enough to rectify any possible offensiveness.

The most interesting points that I gleaned from this lecture were the paradigms of determining ethical value that Donna presented.  These paradigms encompass all ethical codes that could possibly exist. They are as such:

Deontology: These are the underlying rules and codes that we base our social behaviour around. All ethical codes make use of these base assumptions of appropriateness. As a result of this all ethical codes can be considered as deontological.

Consequentialism: This paradigm can be viewed as results focused. Ethical actions are judged by the consequential results of the actions. The phrases “the end justify the means” and “the greatest good for the greatest number” embody the rationale of consequentialist thinking.

Virtue: This paradigm of ethical thought judges actions by a code of virtues. Actions are ethical if they are in accordance with a moral code. These virtues are not set but are created by the individual. They are often virtues such as courage, honesty, temperance and prudence.

Despite this lecture clearly illustrating the paradigms of ethical behaviour and showing samples of ethically dubious material, I still find it impossible to clearly determine the exact characteristics that make me personally think something is unethical.

The most important point that I learned from this lecture was regarding public interest. The lecture taught that journalist’s actions should always be in the public’s interest.  I find that public interest should be the defining aspect of determining ethics. 

Racism, Apparently

Racism, Apparently

The start of a new semester has arrived, the ruckus of the Union elections may have eased but once again Cromwell has managed to launch itself into the limelight of controversy.  

Cromwell College has a multitude of traditions; interesting, arcane, sometimes irrelevant, they all have a firm place in the Cromwell calendar.  One of the smaller and less socially consequential traditions is the annual international dinner.

The procedure for the evening goes as such. Each individual corridor nominates a nationality. They then dress themselves up as accurately as possible to replicate the appearance of this nationality. All well and good in theory right? Just a bit of fun, Mexicans in sombreros, Chinese in straw hats, the usual cultural debacle.  Apparently not this year. No, this year it all hit the proverbial fan. One ill-fated female corridor decided to dress as Indigenous Australians.

I personally didn’t see too much of an issue. Perhaps a bit distasteful but they weren’t attempting to play at any stereotypes or to paint indigenous Australians in a negative manner. While their attire wasn’t necessarily the most politically correct, I didn’t see the potential for any harm to be done and therefore I was not expecting the huge backlash that followed.

The entirety of the college was informed that, one week after the dinner, journalists for a variety of newspapers, including the Brisbane Times and the Sydney Morning Herald had taken a very negative interest in the portrayal of aboriginals by the college.

Naturally the photos of the night were first discovered by journalists on Facebook. Classic example of social media destroying reputations. Fortunately the issue has now been resolved, but only through extensive apologies and promises of cultural awareness programs that shall soon be installed into the college.

According the various sources of outraged discussion that have been circulating the web throughout the aftermath of the incident, the main issue taken was the use of “ Blackface”. I have come to realise the cultural significance and the various negative connotations associated with the use of such costuming, I cannot however understand how previously allocated associations with a costuming method can supersede the context of an event in deciding the cultural relevance of behaviour.  There was no malice, racism or even humour associated with the dress of the corridor at the dinner. They were simply attempting to replicate the appearance of Indigenous Australians.  That was the purpose of using blackface makeup at the event, not any other preconceived representations. While there are no full aboriginals in attendance to the college, there are many students of varying degrees of Aboriginal heritage.  While their opinions of course do not represent the greater Aboriginal community, it should be noted that none of them took offense to the attire of the girls due to the fact that they understood the context of the international dinner; a tribute to the variety of cultures we embrace at Cromwell College. This fact is what I think was lost upon the general public and as such the appropriateness of the dinner was brought into question.

This incident has been resolved, the way it was handled I am not criticising in the slightest. Despite the backlash and negative media representations I still firmly believe that context is an important part of cultural awareness. The fact that we at Cromwell have offended so many harks back to the issues of a hyper connected society. We are so integrated through the use of social media, the internet and other forms of connectivity that the privacy which allowed such traditions as international dinner to exist seems to be null and void.

JOUR1111- Week 7

Public Media:

This weeks lecture introduced the concept of public media, the form of media that thankfully operates in stark contrast to the topic of last week's lecture, commercial media.

Public media serves to inform and engage the public through reporting on issues that hold significant public value. Public media is not profit driven and while it may turn a profit the proceeds must be recycled into the furthering of future public media. It is these values that I believe allow public media to provide a far more beneficial and purposeful influence upon democratic society. It aims to support the needs of the public rather than the wants adhered to by the often vapid and trivial reporting of commercial media. 

The lecture covered a variety of elements and issues surrounding public media however there were a few defining points which I found particularly resonant. 

The defining principle of public media is the concept of "Public Value". This concept underpins all public media institutions. 

To have public value media must:

Have an embedded "public service ethos".

Employ value for licence fee money.

Weigh the public value of media against its market impact.

Allow for public consultation. 

The guidelines laid in 1985 by the Broadcasting Research Unit show a further variety of characteristics central to public media. 

Geographical universality - everyone in Australia should have access to programmes, i.e; Preschool.

Universality - content should cater for all tastes and interests.

Special provisions for minorities.Have a special relationship to the sense of national identity and community.Distanced from all vested interests.Universality of payment.Competition in good programming rather than competition for numbers.Guidelines should liberate rather than restrict.

Of these guidelines I find a few of them truly embody the differences that I notice between commercial and public media.

First and fore-mostly I notice the distancing from vested interests and the way this differentiates public media from the specifically financially driven programming of commercial media. 

The second prominent indicator of public media to me personally is the association with national identity and heritage. While commercial media is aimed on an international scale that doesn't seek to address concerns and interests of a national community, public media differs from this. It associates itself with a distinctive national identity and caters its programming to address Australian culture. 

Without public media the world of journalism would be devoid of any long form investigative journalism. It is public media that investigates and uncovers various incidents that are of a concerning nature or are beneficial to the national community to be reported upon. The competition in public media is primarily based upon quality of reporting rather than viewer ratings. This results in a far more meaningful and nationally pertinent programming. 

One of the main issues faced by public media is the issue of financing while remaining unbiased and unattached to any vested interests. Due to the majority of public media broadcasters sourcing their funding directly from the government, it is financially irresponsible for them to remain politically independent The phrase” to bite the hand that feeds” can be used to describe the tentative nature that public media must take when investigating politically oriented stories. Despite this clearly significant challenge, public media remains the most nationally concerned and beneficial source of media.

Public media, while not necessarily the oligopoly run cash crop that commercial media has become, is still refuses to abandon its core principles and remains a driving force for the cause of investigative journalism. 

Annotated Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Journalism is the reporting of events and issues with the purpose of informing and educating a broad audience. This annotated bibliography will analyse the different sources of media and the various ways that they can analyse and report upon an event. The event that these articles will report upon is the current dispute between China and the Philippines over the Scarborough Shoal. The sources of media used are a Chinese national tabloid, an American online magazine and an International newspaper, all of which show both contrasting opinions and similar information traits.

De Burgh, H. (2010). Chinese Journalism and the Academy: the politics and pedagogy of the media.Journalism Studies, 1 (4), pp.549-558.

Hugo De Burgh is a British media theorist and the Director of the China Media Centre at the University of Westminster. He has specialised in the area of analysing investigative journalism in contrasting political cultures, such as that of China. This article evaluates the effect of the changing cultural climate in China upon the role of journalism in Chinese society. Chinese journalism has traditionally been viewed as an extension of the state’s ruling power. There has been a constant demand for media rights to be granted to journalists so that they may criticize contrast and report on current events according to a standardised journalistic code. This culminated in the Tianmen incident.  Since this incident Chinese journalism has shifted to be a more open medium which encourages the use of the free market and entrepreneurialism. This shift however does not indicate the lack of government influence over the media. Mr Gong Xueping, both the Dean of the Fudan University Journalism School and the Vice General Secretary of the Shanghai Chinese Communist Party, informed journalism students that while they had a right to report on anything they may see fit, there was little point in criticising the government system and that they should instead target the manifestations of the systems failures. This use of Chinese journalism can be seen in the vastly contrasting portrayal of the Chinese-Philippines island dispute in the Chinese media compared to western media.

Le, Z. (2012). Manila seeks to ‘lay claim’ over Huangyan with new name. Gobal Times, [online] 07 May 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/708105/Manila-seeks-to-lay-claim-over-Huangyan-with-new-name.aspx [Accessed: 19 Oct 2012].

The Global Times is a daily Chinese tabloid under the ownership of the Chinese Communist Party. Despite this ownership its claims that is does not necessarily voice government policy. The article reports on the current dispute between China and the Philippines over the ownership of Huangyan Island. The article attempts to position its audience to strongly favour the Chinese. It quotes Victor N Arches a supposedly Filipino man, whose credentials, if any, are not mentioned. He allegedly says “the Scarborough Shoal does belong to China which discovered it and drew it in a map as early as 1279 while the official maps the Philippines used to claim the area were dated 541 years later.” ( Zou, 2012).  This statement of course positions the audience to side with the Chinese argument however it cannot be considered a credible source as it remains completely unsupported by any tangible evidence. The article describes the initiation of the dispute between nations as the result of the Filipino navy attempting to capture Chinese fishermen. This article describes a very one sided version of the events that are involved in the dispute. As such it can be likened to propaganda rather than unbiased journalism. The result of this is that it cannot be viewed as a credible source to use for insight on the conflict between nations.

Carpenter, T. (2012) The Roiling South China Sea Dispute. The National Interest, [online] 10 July. Available at: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/the-roiling-south-china-sea-dispute-7178 [Accessed: 19 October].

The National interest is a monthly online magazine published in the United States. It focuses on the US involvement in international affairs and as such takes a vastly different approach to the Scarborough shoal dispute than the article by the Global Times. The article criticises the actions of President Obama at an Economic Summit in Bali during November of 2011.  During the summit he aligned the US with the Philippines and promised to strengthen relations. The article describes these comments as implying level of involvement from the United States in the current dispute between the China and the Philippines. The article claims that the dispute must be resolved in favour of the Chinese to avoid an overwhelming hold being held over the South East Asia region by china. It warns however against the involvement of the United States in such a dispute because it could result in the aggression of the Chinese being spread upon both the Philippines and the United States. This article does not discuss the individual incidents in the dispute. This is because the National Interest is primarily concerned with the involvement of the United States in foreign affairs and as such is unconcerned with a dispute that does not involve them.

Mogato, M. (2012). Philippines, U.S. stage war games in face of China warning . Reuters, [online] 25 April. Retrieved from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-southchinasea-idUSBRE83O06220120425 [Accessed: 19 October].

This article is written by Manuel Mogato of Reuters. Reuters is an international newspaper renowned for its strict policy regarding journalistic objectivity. As such its article regarding the effect of the Philippine-U.S. war games on the dispute between China and the Philippines concerning ownership of the Scarborough Shoal takes an objective view of the conflict. The article gives details of the war games that were conducted by the Philippines and the US, despite warning from the Chinese that going forth with the games would increase the risk of conflict in the dispute. The article evaluates both Chinese and Filipino opinions as well as those of US representatives. It reports on the incident however does not at any point give an opinion nor a subjective insight into the events being reported upon. This reflects the distanced, international nature of Reuters. The inherent unbiased writing style makes this article the most credible source regarding the dispute.  It does not attempt to position its audience as does the article by the Global Times yet neither does it concern itself with the interests of a single involved nation.

References

Carpenter, T. (2012) The Roiling South China Sea Dispute. The National Interest, [online] 10 July. Available at: http://nationalinterest.org/blog/the-skeptics/the-roiling-south-china-sea-dispute-7178 [Accessed: 19 October].

De Burgh, H. (2010). Chinese Journalism and the Academy: the politics and pedagogy of the media.Journalism Studies, 1 (4), pp.549-558.

Le, Z. (2012). Manila seeks to ‘lay claim’ over Huangyan with new name. Gobal Times, [online] 07 May 2012. Retrieved from: http://www.globaltimes.cn/NEWS/tabid/99/ID/708105/Manila-seeks-to-lay-claim-over-Huangyan-with-new-name.aspx [Accessed: 19 Oct 2012].

Mogato, M. (2012). Philippines, U.S. stage war games in face of China warning . Reuters, [online] 25 April. Retrieved from: http://www.reuters.com/article/2012/04/25/us-southchinasea-idUSBRE83O06220120425 [Accessed: 19 October].