We were lucky enough to have a guest lecturer in Steve Molk for the final lecture of the semester. Steve is a blogger and 'passionate media communicator' who loves talking about television. He did an undergraduate degree in chemistry but decided a few years ago he wanted to be a journalist.
I had initial fears at the start of the course about the phenomenon of New Media. I didn't tweet, I didn't blog, I rarely used Facebook. I must admit I was concerned when Steve started talking about the need to grow our 'brand' (it reminded me of this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M2SSSLZqQIg). I can understand the need to always be professional and proficient in regards to offering something else other than '500 words' but I still firmly believe that there is no substitute for good writing and the ability to ask good questions. I don't mean to sound derisive of the advice, I just think that there is a worrying trend where the press are sometimes more 'famous' than the people they interview.
He spoke about the rise of Twitter as a source of news. It enables you to cut out the middle man and go straight to a source, Kevin Rudd for example. Social media played a key role in helping to organise and streamline opposition movements in the Arab Spring uprising (this is a great article http://www.oxfordislamicstudies.com/Public/focus/essay0611_social_media.html). The Egyptian government attempted to shut down social media during the uprisings and countries such as China and North Korea attempt to control and censor what their citizens have access to by limiting and banning social media.
I do need to increase the amount of people I follow and follow them for a reason. I am still not sure what sort of journalist I would like to be. I am interested in music, films, books, sport, politics but at the moment I only follow mainly political pundits and a few sports people. I need to find and follow more reviewers and I should also interact more. I think the only person I have tweeted is Dr Redman, and Shane Warne for a bit of a laugh.
It was a privilege to hear Steve speak, and speak so passionately about why he loves his work. It was a fitting way to end lectures for the semester. In my last tute with Ali she played the documentary Page One, about the New York Times. It was a very well put together documentary that touched on a lot of issues we have been taught during the semester. I have no doubt I will watch it again. I have really enjoyed the course, more than ever I know I want to be a good journalist. I look forward to the next two and a half years with anticipation, nerves and hope.
Wednesday, 13 June 2012
Fair Game
I watched Fair Game last night, an American drama based on the memoirs of Valerie Plame and Joe Wilson, played by Naomi Watts and Sean Penn. Plame was a CIA operative at the time of the Iraq War. Wilson was a retired diplomat with experience in Africa and Plame's CIA colleagues approach him to travel to Niger to try to confirm reports that Iraq were trying to purchase yellowcake uranium for use in a nuclear weapons program.
Wilson's advice was that these reports were false and the film gives the impression the CIA did all it could to dissuade the White House from making the claim that Iraq were harbouring WMD's. The point of course is now moot, America did invade Iraq on the justification Saddam Hussein did indeed have a WMD program. At the time however, Wilson wrote an op-ed in The New York Times explaining his concerns that Washington were using Intelligence reports that were not accurate. Subsequently a leak, allegedly from the White House, outs Plame as a CIA operative and her career is effectively ended.
As much as I enjoyed the film as a fantastic piece of film making, I was also astonished as a journalist student the relevance to a number of topics we have discussed in recent weeks and months. Robert Novak, who revealed Plame's identity in a Washington Post piece, was never charged with a crime, though it is illegal for anyone to knowingly distribute classified information, because there was no evidence that Novak knew Plame was a covert agent. However, the subsequent reporting from outlets, in particular FOX news, was sensationalism at its worst. The following clip from right-wing commentator Sean Hannity is perhaps the best (or worst) example of hack journalism http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XmUzF6ccsxk.
Tuesday, 12 June 2012
Week 12- Investigative Journalism
I was really looking forward to this lecture. One of my favourite books is All The President's Men by Bob Woodward and Carl Bernstein about their investigations into the Watergate affair. The book, and subsequent film, were one of the reasons I decided to pursue journalism. I had always wondered why there seemed to be a special lustre attached to 'investigative journalism'. Surely all journalism is investigative in some way. Funnily enough the first quote we were shown, by Australian investigative journalist Ross Coulthart, seemed to address this. "Isn't all journalism meant to involve questioning investigation of facts and opinions presented to us?" The acrostic list of 'In's was quite useful; intelligent, informed intuitive, inside and invest. This led into four deeper definitions. The need to be critical and thorough, expose corruption etc, to be the voice for the voiceless and to keep a check on the government and other organisations etc. This is particularly true in QLD at the moment with a large LNP majority and no Senate.
There was a link back to the past lectures when we touched on the need to cut through the agenda. Public Media, in this case ABC, "cannot simply report; its legislation clearly implies that it should also work within the best traditions of investigative journalism."
We looked at five examples of investigative journalism such as Edward Smith Hall, who in 1826 published the first edition of The Sydney Monitor, which among other topics, exposed oppression of convicts, morality issues among officers and the Government. The second example was The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon, an investigation into child prostitution in Victorian London in the 1880's by the editor of Pall Mall Gazette W.T. Stead. The third example was the aforementioned Watergate affair. We looked at the investigative work by journalists such as Chris Masters, Phil Dickie and Shaun Hoyt that ultimately bought down the corrupt Bjelke-Petersen government in QLD. I recently read Last Drinks by Andrew McGahan, which is a non-autobiographical fiction work based on the investigations. Finally, the work of Wikileaks and Julian Assange was shown, although we were told Wikileaks isn't journalism because they have a lot of information but it takes journalists to sort through it and find the story.
A key quality of investigative journalism is skepticism and the urge to never assume facts. Investigative journalists will use interviews, observations, documents, briefings, leaks, trespass (do you go over the fence?) and theft (perhaps not quite as prevalent as it used to be).
With the rise of PR and the 24 hour news cycle, threats have emerged to investigative journalism. Less money=less time and journalists= less investigative journalists. PR, notorious for spin, presents a selective use of facts, it is a journalists job to question and investigate these facts and views. I had watched this video with Bob Woodward earlier on in the semester when I was doing research for one of my first blogs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVKGUctuoXE. I look forward to the Journalistic Investigation subject next semester.
There was a link back to the past lectures when we touched on the need to cut through the agenda. Public Media, in this case ABC, "cannot simply report; its legislation clearly implies that it should also work within the best traditions of investigative journalism."
We looked at five examples of investigative journalism such as Edward Smith Hall, who in 1826 published the first edition of The Sydney Monitor, which among other topics, exposed oppression of convicts, morality issues among officers and the Government. The second example was The Maiden Tribute of Modern Babylon, an investigation into child prostitution in Victorian London in the 1880's by the editor of Pall Mall Gazette W.T. Stead. The third example was the aforementioned Watergate affair. We looked at the investigative work by journalists such as Chris Masters, Phil Dickie and Shaun Hoyt that ultimately bought down the corrupt Bjelke-Petersen government in QLD. I recently read Last Drinks by Andrew McGahan, which is a non-autobiographical fiction work based on the investigations. Finally, the work of Wikileaks and Julian Assange was shown, although we were told Wikileaks isn't journalism because they have a lot of information but it takes journalists to sort through it and find the story.
A key quality of investigative journalism is skepticism and the urge to never assume facts. Investigative journalists will use interviews, observations, documents, briefings, leaks, trespass (do you go over the fence?) and theft (perhaps not quite as prevalent as it used to be).
With the rise of PR and the 24 hour news cycle, threats have emerged to investigative journalism. Less money=less time and journalists= less investigative journalists. PR, notorious for spin, presents a selective use of facts, it is a journalists job to question and investigate these facts and views. I had watched this video with Bob Woodward earlier on in the semester when I was doing research for one of my first blogs http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVKGUctuoXE. I look forward to the Journalistic Investigation subject next semester.
Sunday, 10 June 2012
Week 11 - Agenda Setting
Agendas in general seem to be getting a lot of mentions in the press as of late, in particular politics. "Abbott's running his own agenda" "The Labor Party is beholden to the Greens agenda" etc etc. Why are different agendas so important in media?
Probably the most effective definition offered in class was from Coleman, McCombs, Shaw and Weaver.
“Agenda setting is the process of the
The four different agendas are public (what the public believes to be important), policy (what the policy and decision makers believe are important), corporate (what big business and corporations believe are important) and media (what media believes to be important) and they are all interrelated. In particular, the mass media saturation of an issue is more than likely going to lead to the public then perceiving that issue as important.
Walter Lippman wrote, in 1922, that 'mass media creates images of events in our minds' and 'propaganda is used as a tool to help shape images in the minds of humans'. One of the best examples of propaganda during the 1st half of the 20th Century is, unfortunately, Joseph Goebbel and Hitler's Nazi propaganda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af44Slin7lg
Consider the similarities between this Goebbel article The Coffee Drinkers (http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb22.htm) and criticism of Nancy Pelosi from neo-cons in America during Goerge W. Bush's reign http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/11/13/MN134531.DTL.
The Agenda Setting family is:
Probably the most effective definition offered in class was from Coleman, McCombs, Shaw and Weaver.
“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 than others.
Simply put, the
more coverage an issue receives, the
more important it is to people.”
In a world of 'reality' television, this is more meaningful than ever before. I touched on the Craig Thomson saga in my news values blogs but as a story it is a perfect example once again of agenda setting in the media. Two years ago it caused barely a ripple in the press, but now it seems as if there are entire sections and channels dedicated to covering the latest breaking news in regards to Thomson.The four different agendas are public (what the public believes to be important), policy (what the policy and decision makers believe are important), corporate (what big business and corporations believe are important) and media (what media believes to be important) and they are all interrelated. In particular, the mass media saturation of an issue is more than likely going to lead to the public then perceiving that issue as important.
Walter Lippman wrote, in 1922, that 'mass media creates images of events in our minds' and 'propaganda is used as a tool to help shape images in the minds of humans'. One of the best examples of propaganda during the 1st half of the 20th Century is, unfortunately, Joseph Goebbel and Hitler's Nazi propaganda.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Af44Slin7lg
Consider the similarities between this Goebbel article The Coffee Drinkers (http://www.calvin.edu/academic/cas/gpa/goeb22.htm) and criticism of Nancy Pelosi from neo-cons in America during Goerge W. Bush's reign http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2002/11/13/MN134531.DTL.
The Agenda Setting family is:
- Media Gatekeeping
- Media Advocacy
- Agenda Cutting
- Agenda Surfing
- The diffusion of News
- Portrayal of an Issue
- Media Dependence
Agenda Setting has advantages such as explanatory, predictive and organising powers and can lead to the need for further research into a particular topic. However, an adverse effect of Agenda Setting is the narrowing of news and views.
With the advent of the 24/7 news cycle Agenda Setting has taken on new meaning, particularly with politics. MP's are now swamped on their way to work/Parliament House/press conferences in the morning, when they leave question time, when they are touring their electorate etc etc. There is online media and cable television constantly updating news items with opinion pieces and public reaction. From a personal point of view, the lesson enforced the need to always question the stories I see/read/hear. Why is this news? Why is being presented this way? What sort of follow-up reporting is done? I look forward to the next class on Investigative Journalism.
Thursday, 7 June 2012
Toby Ziegler & Miles
I recently re-watched Sideways, a very good film from 2004 starring Paul Giamatti as a middle-aged teacher/wannabe writer. His performance as Miles was perhaps a career defining role for him and he was very unlucky to miss out on an Oscar nomination.
One of my favourite television series is The West Wing and my favourite actor on the show is Richard Schiff, who plays Toby Ziegler, the White House Communication Director. Ziegler is droll, witty, intelligent and abrasive.
About half way through Sideways I was suddenly struck by the thought that I was watching a film version of Toby Ziegler. Giamatti was surely channeling Schiff in some way. I have had trouble finding clips of Sideways on Youtube but I would be interested to find out if Giamatti was a fan of West Wing and/or Schiff.
Meanwhile, here is a wonderful collection of 'Tobyisms' from season 1 of The West Wing.
Thursday, 31 May 2012
The Boss
I was listening to Bruce Springsteen's most recent release Wrecking Ball, released in early March, and was amazed at the fact he continues to produce such quality music in such a distinctive way. Nobody sounds like The Boss. The Boss doesn't sound like anyone else. Yes, he has a dash of Dylan, a touch of Young, a hint of Seger and a pinch of Petty. But he is uniquely his own man.
He is Americana at it's best. Patriotic without being a flag-waving fanatic. His words are golden, nostalgic, painful, earthy, beautiful. Take We Take Care Of Our Own, the lead single from Wrecking Ball. It's just as strong as some of his greatest singles like Born In The USA, Glory Days etc.
I have attempted to compile a rough list of a Springsteen Top 10. It's rather hard and there are some songs that perhaps aren't as well-known but they are quintessential Boss.
10. Hungry Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lYpokhq_-w
Upbeat and sunny with great backing harmonies.
Best line: "Like a river that don't know where it's going, I took a wrong turn and I just kept flowing"
9. Girls In Their Summer Clothes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PB1a1c9zA&ob=av2n
Springsteen's best pop song. Small-town summer romances, tinged in warm nostalgia.
Best line: "Had a beautiful thing, maybe you just saved my life"
8. We Take Care Of Our Own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x8zBzxCwsM&ob=av2n
A lament on the sense of despair and doom in America. The sadness of seeing good people suffer.
Best line: "I've been stumbling on good hearts turned to stone"
7. Born To Run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuThNgl3YA&ob=av2e
His first hit. First sign of greatness. An all-or-nothing cry of desperation.
Best line: "The highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive"
6. The River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utVR3EgQkHs&ob=av2n
The fervent optimism of youth in a harsh, cruel world. A timeless classic.
Best line: "That sends me down to the river, though I know the river is dry"
5. Human Touch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cNRQo1m3A&ob=av2e
Definitely the high point of one of his weakest albums. A story of the need to follow human desires and urges and not be constrained by the world around us.
Best line: "Do you think what I'm askin's too much"
4. Glory Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM&ob=av2e
Great exploration of the human condition.
Best line: "We went back inside sat down had a few drinks, but he all kept talking about was Glory Days"
3. Terry's Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avi4ucNc4FY
An ode to a lost friend. Beautiful.
Best line: "When they built you brother, they broke the mold"
2. I'm On Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrpXArn3hII&ob=av2n
Sexy Springsteen. A brooding, haunting slow burner.
Best line: "At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet and a freight train running through the middle of my head"
1. Born In The USA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4.
Perhaps the most predictable choice. It is Springsteen at his best though. A lyrical masterpiece of the state of America following the Vietnam War.
Best line "He said 'Son, don't you understand?'"
He is Americana at it's best. Patriotic without being a flag-waving fanatic. His words are golden, nostalgic, painful, earthy, beautiful. Take We Take Care Of Our Own, the lead single from Wrecking Ball. It's just as strong as some of his greatest singles like Born In The USA, Glory Days etc.
I have attempted to compile a rough list of a Springsteen Top 10. It's rather hard and there are some songs that perhaps aren't as well-known but they are quintessential Boss.
10. Hungry Heart
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lYpokhq_-w
Upbeat and sunny with great backing harmonies.
Best line: "Like a river that don't know where it's going, I took a wrong turn and I just kept flowing"
9. Girls In Their Summer Clothes
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J8PB1a1c9zA&ob=av2n
Springsteen's best pop song. Small-town summer romances, tinged in warm nostalgia.
Best line: "Had a beautiful thing, maybe you just saved my life"
8. We Take Care Of Our Own
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-x8zBzxCwsM&ob=av2n
A lament on the sense of despair and doom in America. The sadness of seeing good people suffer.
Best line: "I've been stumbling on good hearts turned to stone"
7. Born To Run
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IxuThNgl3YA&ob=av2e
His first hit. First sign of greatness. An all-or-nothing cry of desperation.
Best line: "The highways jammed with broken heroes on a last chance power drive"
6. The River
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=utVR3EgQkHs&ob=av2n
The fervent optimism of youth in a harsh, cruel world. A timeless classic.
Best line: "That sends me down to the river, though I know the river is dry"
5. Human Touch
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=85cNRQo1m3A&ob=av2e
Definitely the high point of one of his weakest albums. A story of the need to follow human desires and urges and not be constrained by the world around us.
Best line: "Do you think what I'm askin's too much"
4. Glory Days
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vQpW9XRiyM&ob=av2e
Great exploration of the human condition.
Best line: "We went back inside sat down had a few drinks, but he all kept talking about was Glory Days"
3. Terry's Song
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Avi4ucNc4FY
An ode to a lost friend. Beautiful.
Best line: "When they built you brother, they broke the mold"
2. I'm On Fire
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lrpXArn3hII&ob=av2n
Sexy Springsteen. A brooding, haunting slow burner.
Best line: "At night I wake up with the sheets soaking wet and a freight train running through the middle of my head"
1. Born In The USA
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lZD4ezDbbu4.
Perhaps the most predictable choice. It is Springsteen at his best though. A lyrical masterpiece of the state of America following the Vietnam War.
Best line "He said 'Son, don't you understand?'"
Sunday, 27 May 2012
Week 9- News Values
What makes a story a lead story? Immediately I thought back to the lectures on commercial and public media and the different approaches towards reporting due to the different business and audience structures. A story needs impact, audience identification, pragmatics and source influence. I liked Kurt Loder's quote "news is anything that's interesting." But whats interesting to some may not be interesting to others. So you need to take into account different cultures, geographics, socio-economic, religious views etc etc.
One of the biggest stories of the last few months has been the ongoing saga of embattled MP Craig Thomson. Yet the Sydney Morning Herald broke to story in April of 2009. Why did it take so long to become saturated in the press? Amid the myriad press coverage I read an opinion piece in the SMH, I can't quite remember who wrote it, I think it was Philip Coorey or Michelle Grattan but it could be someone else entirely different. They wrote that the reason it was a small story in 2009 was because the Labor government under Kevin Rudd was so popular that the Coalition didn't think it was worth pursuing. Only after the 2010 election when Labor held power with the slimmest of margins thanks to Independent and Greens support did Tony Abbott see Thomson as an Achilles heel. Now it's almost impossible to go a day without reading or hearing more stories about Craig Thomson. I think the story is a wonderful example of news values at work. Thomson's constant denials and new revelations from the FWA report have the 'gee whiz' factor. It interests people because as an MP he is a public figure, and people seem to be interested in the classic story of a fall from grace. It's pragmatic, its ongoing. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of the story is the source influence. There are political experts, union figures, politicians, media personalities all lining up to have their say on the story.
There have been many attempts to narrow down stories to a one word description. The list seems endless:
Negativity
Proximity
Recency
Currency
Continuity
Uniqueness
Simplicity
Personality
Predictability
Elite People/Nations
Exclusivity
Size
Drama
Visual Attractiveness
Entertainment
Importance
Brevity
Personalities
Celebrity
Power Elite
Surprise
Bad news
Good news
Magnitude
Relevance
Follow-up
Newspaper agenda
With the emergence of the internet and television there is now perhaps a skewering towards appealing visually as well as mentally. Plus the advent of 'churnalism' and lazy journalism are all significant threats to the future of journalism. The Leveson Inquiry currently underway in the UK should have lasting repercussions though hopefully. Perhaps media monopolies and mergers may soon be a thing of the past.
There have been many attempts to narrow down stories to a one word description. The list seems endless:
Negativity
Proximity
Recency
Currency
Continuity
Uniqueness
Simplicity
Personality
Predictability
Elite People/Nations
Exclusivity
Size
Drama
Visual Attractiveness
Entertainment
Importance
Brevity
Personalities
Celebrity
Power Elite
Surprise
Bad news
Good news
Magnitude
Relevance
Follow-up
Newspaper agenda
With the emergence of the internet and television there is now perhaps a skewering towards appealing visually as well as mentally. Plus the advent of 'churnalism' and lazy journalism are all significant threats to the future of journalism. The Leveson Inquiry currently underway in the UK should have lasting repercussions though hopefully. Perhaps media monopolies and mergers may soon be a thing of the past.
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