Lecture 12: Investigative Journalism

The idea of winning a Walkely Award for investigative journalism is what gets my heart pumping. The concept of enlightening the world with controversial or shocking information that betters society in some way is what most if not all journalist dream of and live for. In order to be a good investigative journalist it is important,

To be intelligent - So as to structure a information within a story, maximise audience intrigue and interest

To be informed - To know the situation and facts surrounding it. the people, context, motive,  background, environment

To be intuitive - Rely on yourself to make accurate, effective and moral decisions for the best outcomes

To get inside - Find accurate information, discount everything you cant prove

To invest - Be involved with the story and committed to seeing it through


The purposes outline by Dr Redman for journalist to be critical and thorough, custodians of conscience  a fourth branch of government or watchdog and  a voice for those without one' hold the powerful accountable is exactly how i would envision myself idealistically as a journalist. I am sure i am not alone in this. Exposure is a great leveller and can empower or  dis-empower anyone. 

The trouble with these ideals is however that only a select portion happen to use them for the greater good or at all. The monopoly of power in media production lies with the commercial networks and their all powerful figureheads. The industry is primarily about making money and this ideals toward bettering society frequently fall by the way side or are manipulated for a self interest based goal. For example Rupert Murdoch and his well known attempts to influence public opinion regarding social issues and politics. As an archaic relic Rupert's sour outlook on politics is aptly reflected in his tendency to alter his media for political power and control. 

For example the freedom and liberties granted by News Limited to Bill O'Reilly (a presenter on the Fox US channel) is worrying. He, i feel, is a great example of how Rupert's brash opinions and poetical games harm the community.

Trailblazers such as Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein responsible for uncovering watergate provided a early modern era example of how investigative journalism can change the world and uncover hindrance to a democratic society. More relevant modern trailblazers are Julian Assange with Wikileaks and this years winners of the Australian Walkely Award for Investigative Journalism, Sarah Ferguson, Deb Masters and Irene Ulman who are reporters for four corners.

Julian Assange's Wikileaks is a world changing website that enables the sharing and viewing of otherwise inaccesible information that has relevance to our society. Although controversial, Wikileaks has uncovered global deceptions and continues to empower the individual. 

Sarah Ferguson, Deb Masters and Irene Ulman Four Corners special report on people smugglers was  ground breaking and prompted a government full scale inquiry. 

http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-06-05/people-smuggler-discovery-a-catastrophic-failure/4052174

The Global Mail remains one of my favourite news sources. With an array of interesting and mostly importantly, different news articles that are still highly relevant, i am constantly amazed at their skill as investigative journalist. A recent article by Jeremy Clarke about Kenya marathon runners i found genius and mesmerising. This is definitely the kind of journalism that inspires me.

http://www.theglobalmail.org/feature/how-to-win-marathons/308/

The New Year

I cant believe it has been a year. It didn't seem that long ago i was about to finish HSC exams and prepare for what ended up being a four month party. I almost didnt make it through HSC, but many million battles later i managed to finish and actually do quite well.

Brisbane was an adventurous choice for me, considering i hadnt visited it more than twice and gre up in sydney. Ultimately it was the fact that UQ is a top university and has an amazing journalism course. Sydney Universities  is near impossible to get  into unless you have a top mark (op2 or 98>).

I am glad i came however and have enjoyed immensely my time at college at university here in brisbane. It is a magical city. i am 19 now and i somewhat scared at the possibility of not being a teenager.

But hopefully the future is bright and now that i am finished uni i am looking forward to holidays and the new year. It has been a productive year to say the least, my greatest accomplishment being my mental health. I feel like i have a new lease on life and am excited by the prospect of second year uni.

blogging has been a alien and new experience for me. It was an interesting roller coaster between enjoying it and not enjoying it. Impossible to start, but therapeutic when i got into it. I am going to attempt to keep the blog running  over the holidays and definitely next year.

My goals for next year include,

changing to journalism/arts

playing AFL premier reserves and/or football premier reserves

becoming more reliable

helping others with mental illness

connecting more with my family

peace x.

The Best Bench

The rugby championship has come to an end with the New Zealand All Blacks winning with a resounding victory in their last match over the Argentine Pumas. The All Blacks fresh of a home rugby world cup win last year where always the favourites coming in to the competition. The lacklustre efforts of the Australian Wallabies and South African Springbok were certainly not going to trouble them.

The Championship only in it's first year is an interesting new development in international rugby. The Pumas previously only able to play on an international level in the world cup qualifiers and the cup itself, where unable to develop their obviously talented side. Despite not winning a game the fiery Argentine side certainly put on a world class show and almost beat both the Wallabies and South Africa during the competition. 

The Wallabies widely criticised over the course of the competition for their disorganisation, poor defence and lack of passion; certainly have work to do going forward to their tour of europe. A lot of key injuries during the tournament highlighted concerns in Australia's inability to provide similar depth of their bench and in key positions as New Zealand. Injuries included Will Genia, Kurtley Beale, James O'Connor, Quade Cooper, David Pocock, Wycliff Palu, Lokati Timani and Digby Ioane; all of which are starters in a the wallabies best IX. However the injuries whilst exposing a lack of world class depth at scrum half and prop, also allowed young talents such as dennis hooper and liam gill to stake their claim for international caps. Injuries also allowed a return to form for veteran Nathan Sharpe, a now crucial part of the Wallabies once again.

One thing is for certain still however, the wallabies can't afford injuries at the moment. The inability for any Australian to make the championships best IX highlights the need for continue development of the bench players and hopefully a speedy return from injury for many of our starters. France made last years World Cup Final and scared a quality New Zealand. They are our first opponent and will not be easy t o best at home in the Stadio de paris. 

http://www.smh.com.au/photogallery/rugby-union/union-news/team-of-the-rugby-championship-20121009-27ace.html

Lecture 11: Agenda Setting

Agenda setting is the process of the mass media presenting certain issues frequently and prominently with the result that large segments of the public come to perceive those issues as more important as others. 

Agenda setting can be broken down into,

Public Agenda-  What is important to the public

Policy Agenda- Issues that journalist and editors think are important

Corporate agenda- What the network thinks is important

Media Agenda- Issues relative and current to the media

The media is not holistic in supplying all the information and allowing us to choose and view what we choose. this would be to inefficient and costly. Instead the media shapes and filters the media to what they think are our interests and what is important. The moving tendency and decline fo media to produce low cost and low quality news has therefore increased.

Due to this it is important to have ethical and moral journalist making the key decisions in creating media so as to maintain the integrity of news etc.

Ink

I have always wanted a tattoo. Whether it is the liberal 'North Coast of NSW/Byron Bay" environment where it is fashion to have one or my obsession with sport and the growing amount of professional sports people who have them, i am unable to tell.

The fact of the matter is i want one but am rightly worried at the consequences. Putting aside the revolttion i know my parents would feel if i got one, the likely hood i will effect my career and/or relationships by getting 'ink', is worrying to me.

I have therefore decided that if i was to get one it would not be visible if i where to where shorts and a t shirt. I have also set a timeframe of my 21st birthday so that i have 2 years to decide on the tattoo itself and it's location. Although i want one now, i want to be sure it is not just a phase or my tendency to do things that appeal to me often recklessly.

I have various ideas ranging from script to basic images. I like the idea of rib cage, behind an ear, finger or wrist, feet and under arm areas of the body for potential tattoo areas. i am not attracted to large works but instead more so a collection of small works.

Possible ideas include,

joie de vivre  jusqu'au bout

two sayings put together.

Joie de vivre, meaning “joy of living or finding joy in things”. Used frequently in literature to transcend English and portray a otherworldy feeling of jubilation.

Jusqu'au bout, meaning "to the end". Stems from French and is used in  context of "je t'aime jusqu'au bout", as in to love someone all the way to the ends of their fingers and tips of their ears (etc).

I like the script and placement of this tattoo. Possible with above  wording.

patterns and shapes are interesting. Colour is cool but i am not really interested in colour.  Am attracted to floral designs.

I hate violence and am non religious. Would love a symbol as above that symbolises impartiality to any religion whilst maintaing a respect for what they give people with nothing.

Sites such as these are useful for script,

http://fuckyeahwordtattoos.tumblr.com/

http://tattoowords.net/

http://pinterest.com/valerietookes/tattoo-words-upon-skin/

I have been in to visit all star tattoo and westside tattoo in brisbane. Supposedly they are the best and have hosted many artists i like. 

Mostly for ideas i just 'stumble' tattoos using stumbleupon

www.stumbleupon.com

then select tattoo as interest

Lecture 9: News Values

"All the news that is fit to print"

The definition that Dr Redman gave us was that News Values are 'The degree of prominence a media outlet gives to a story, and the attention that is paid by an audience.'

This seemed to me to be a pretty broad and no direct concept as it could refer to anything from morals to the issue of newsworthiness. This was affirmed by Redman and Stuart Hall who stated ''...News Values are one of the most opaque structures of meaning in modern society...''. Through expanding population, our developing society and the increasing ease of access to information we only a partial to a tiny percentage of news that is processed. A system of values is used to determine news value and worthiness.

1. Impact: Immediate engagement, ability to hold a reader

2. Audience Identification: Audiences interest in article. Partial to how it is relevant to them, impacts them, involves them. Ownership of the issue by audience.

3. Pragmatics: What is bankable, profitable- high interest, what is ethical and likely to be received with no backlash from public. 

4. Source Influence: Reliability and practicality of source. Reliant on PR, Public relationships with the journalist. 

News values vary according to news programmes and countries/culture it is subjective to the broadcaster/producer and is in accordance with their ethics, values, goals and opinions. In saying that a lot of news today is not ethical but rather formulaic high interest pieces that play on fear, sex, conflict and artificial controversies (celebrity). Realistically for commercial networks,

If it bleeds or is local, it leads

Newsworthiness is relative to this.For news to be worthy it most first satisfy the criteria of visual appeal, conflict, emotion and celebration of the journalist. Galtung and Ruge and later McGregor defined modern thinking on news value in relation to newsworthiness with their hypotheses concerning additivity, complementarity and exclusion. 

Additivity - the more of the top news values an event satisfies the more likely it is to run.

Complementarity - factors that exclude each other

Exclusion - oppositie to additivity

Newsworthiness is threatened by the rising level of commercialised media and it's tendency to produce low cost and low quality news and programming. Also the push toward a reality where journalist must compromise their ideals inorder to maintain their job and remain  competitive in a growing market.

2012 AFL Grand Final

SYDNEY SWANS WIN IN AN EPIC BATTLE BETWEEN TWO GREAT SIDES....

The sydney swans triumphed in a spectacular battle between evenly matched sides. The bloods where considered underdogs but it was widely recognised that there success came from team character and determination. Widely considered to slump after back to back premiership appearances in 2006 and 2007, the swans never did. A strong club ethos and clever drafting of both young talent and veteran players who other clubs who had given up on.

11.15.81 Hawthorn to 14.7.91 Sydney Swans

Although Lance Franklin was again an uncontrollable x factor for the hawks his effort was nullified by the group effort the swans gave. Veterans such as Ryan O'Keefe, Nick Malckeski and Adam Goodes had great games alongside young talents such as Dan Hannebery, Mike Pike and Lewis Jetta.

Lewis 'Jet' Jetta out paces speedster Cyril Rioli in what was one of the great Grand Final pieces of commentary.

Swans where criticised all year as having no game plan and not having key game breaking players. But obviously the critics where proved wrong and the game is being revolutionised in the sense teams are agin starting to see the importance of consistency across all 18 positions instead of major presences in some compromising others.

Swans still have alot of talent to draw upon in Armstrong, Rohan, Walsh,  Parker and the injured Ben McGlynn.

Celebrations in Sydney started today with a parade for the mighty swans team that as the media label it stole a premiership.

http://www.smh.com.au/afl/afl-news/celebrations-continue-for-swans-20120930-26t3x.html