Week 13- Steve Molk

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.

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.

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.

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

                               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.

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.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=03TRlGuvx1g

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?'"

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.

Annotated Bibliography

Petley, J. (2012). The Leveson Inquiry: Journalism ethics and press freedom. Journalism, 13 (4,) 529-538. doi: 10.1177/1464884912443498

Professor Julian Petley is the head of Journalism Research at Brunel University in London and a published author in the field of media and journalism, in particular the freedom and rights of the press. His article comes in response to the Leveson Inquiry currently taking place in the UK, a public inquiry into the “culture, practice and ethics of the press.” Petley’s article begins by questioning the currently held belief that ‘free enterprise is a pre-requisite of a free press’. This argument states that the market forces will ultimately decide which press products survive. However, Petley argues that this has led to the media now being run as a business. Instead of giving the ‘citizens the information they need’, the press gives ‘consumers what they want’. This in turn has led to the rise in sensationalism style journalism. Petley argues that the press should be a bastion for ‘freedom’ but only if they are prepared to accept the same degree of openness and accountability. He continues ‘the press are to provide people with what they need to in order to function as citizens; in particular a diversity of ideas, perspectives and voices’. Not only should there be rights of the press but also ‘rights of the readers’ Petley says. The freedom of the press means nothing if it used to exacerbate social divisions, prevent certain groups or individuals from speaking or distorting what it is they say. The following news stories following the release of the budget are good examples of the way a story can be affected by outside factors, in this case the business interests of The Australian as opposed to the balanced reporting of the government funded ABC. While the SBS report is very dry and simple, probably due to the fact it caters for a more international audience and don’t feel the need to spend too much time on an Australian issue.

 Iggulden, T. (2012, May 9), Lateline. Canberra:Australia, Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

Tom Iggulden, a political correspondent with Lateline since 2005, presented a four minute clip on the Federal Government’s budget and the reaction to it from the Opposition. ABC is a government funded network that is required to report in a balanced and non-biased manner. Iggulden’s piece begins with clips of Julia Gillard and Tony Abbott on ABC Radio expressing their respective views, for and against, on the Budget. These clips are followed by a press conference with Tony Abbott criticising the Government’s Carbon Tax, and the Schoolkids Bonus proposed in the Budget. This is intercut with clips of Abbott discussing the Bonus with mothers. However, instead of just particular sound bites of Abbott criticising the budget , the Lateline piece also shows a clip of Abbott looking sheepish in regards to questioning about the difference, or lack thereof, between the Schoolkids Bonus and the Baby Bonus policy introduced by former Liberal Prime Minister John Howard. The report ends with Iggulden commenting that instead of the Opposition offering any real ideas in regards to the budget, they appear more interested in attacking Labor and under pressure crossbench MP Craig Thomson. The report was a balanced piece, highlighting the different rhetoric and opinions between the two major parties.

Selvaratnam, N. (2012, May 8). World News Australia Radio. Special Broadcasting Services.

SBS, like the ABC is a government funded network. SBS Radio is in fact the world’s most linguistically diverse media entity. Considering that SBS is based on multiculturalism, it is interesting that there are only three podcasts available in regards to the Federal Government’s budget. The report was compiled on the same night that the budget was delivered; hence the report is only sound clips of Selvaratnam and Treasurer Wayne Swan’s announcement. Selvaratnam starts the report with a brief overview of the effects of the budget on what she calls the ‘low and middle income families and vulnerable Australians’. She states that there has been a $5 billion package in support for these groups, with the package to be funded by benefits of the mining boom. The report makes a point of Australia’s strong economic position despite global economic concerns. Every clip of Swan is an appeal to the low and middle income earners, perhaps the producers thought it would be too dry if they included Swan discussing actual figures, instead they leave that to Selvaratnam. Perhaps a reason for the brevity of the report is that SBS caters to a rather niche market and a decision has been made that although it's audience would be interested in the budget but not to the point of saturation.

Crowe, D & Hepworth, A. (2012, May 10). Budget reform agenda lost in class war. The Australian. Retrieved from http://www.theaustralian.com.au/national-affairs/treasury/budget-reform-agenda-lost-in-class-war/story-fndbwnla-1226351467424

The Australian, owned by media mogul Rupert Murdoch, is Australia's only national broadsheet. This means that while it competes with statewide circulations such as The Age and Sydney Morning Herald, it has a monopoly on the national market. It is interesting to note that in their section for coverage of the budget every single opinion piece can only be read in full with a subscription. Perhaps that is the first sign that there may be a slight bias towards business in their coverage. One of the few articles that didn't require subscription was co-written by David Crowe, national affairs editor and business journalist Annabel Hepworth. The first three paragraphs are an attack on the Gillard Government's economic credibility and trustworthiness. Big business has complained that the budget is akin to a handout to 'Labor's political heartland' and is a redistribution of wealth as opposed to creation of wealth. The article continues to state that Treasurer Wayne Swan has reneged on five promises made in 2010.  NAB and Woodside Petroleum chairman Michael Chaney, former Macarthur Coal chairman Keith De Lacy and Business Council of Australia chief executive Jennifer Westacott are all given significant space to condemn the government for scrapping the proposed company tax cut of 1%, though Swan says he still supports it if business can reach a consensus on how to pay for it. One of the more concerning aspects of the article is that no business leaders have come out in support of the budget, one could perhaps assume that is because no one in big business does in fact support the budget. That notion seems rather far-fetched and is an example of the slightly skewed balance of the article, and The Australian as a whole.

Week 8- Ethics

Funnily enough, the weekend prior to the lecture I had watched Evil Angels, a film about the disappearance of Azaria Chamberlain, a nine week old baby, while on a family camping trip at Uluru in 1980. As a film it is fantastic, Meryl Streep and Sam Neill give harrowing performances as the parents Lindy and Michael. For those (surely there aren't any but you can never be sure) who don't know the full story, Lindy and Michael Chamberlain alleged that baby Azaria was taken from their tent by a dingo. The initial inquest agreed and there was no case to answer. However, following the intense media scrutiny a second investigation was opened and Lindy was subsequently found guilty of murder and Michael of accessory after the fact. In 1988 after new evidence came to light they were officially acquitted.

So why am I writing about this? The media focus unprecedented and sensational, to the point where blatant lies were being printed. The fact that the family were Seventh-day Adventists was used against them, including claims that the Church was a cult that killed babies in sacrificial ceremonies. It was reported that the name Azaria meant 'sacrifice in the wilderness'. It actually means 'blessed of God'. I think there is no doubt that the trial of Lindy and Michael Chamberlain was a classic example of 'trial by media'.

The lecture looked in particular at three ethical theories; deontology, consequentialism, and virtue. Deontology is, in a nutshell, about following rules, policies, duties etc. If you are following these guidelines you will be 'right'. Therefore, all ethics codes are deontological. Consequentialism means that the ends justifies the means. No matter how you get there, as long as it's 'right' then everything is 'right'. While virtue says that 'goodness' comes from good habits and disposition.

I left not sure if I was any closer to figuring out what ethics in journalism actually means. Surely ethics can't be measured or chartered? Though of course that is just my opinion. Would it be unethical of me to think everyone else should agree with that?

Would we see an ad like this on television now?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VprIbx4QkPc

This commercial was banned in Australia in 2009.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=70pyE505nsk

Factual Story

It was dark. It was 3am, it was dark but Misrak Tekle was glad she couldn’t see what she smelt. The air was thick with the smell of rotting corpses. It filled her lungs as she and her family, among a sea of eleven thousand ethnic Eritrean’s, were marched across the Ethiopian-Eritrean border by Ethiopian soldiers.

Misrak was born in Ethiopia in 1975, one year after the coup which ended Haile Selassie’s 44 year reign as Emperor. Despite widespread drought, several coups and uprisings and a struggling economy Misrak has fond memories of her early childhood.

“My mother and father worked very hard. Yohannes (her younger brother) and I had a happy childhood. I have lots of happy memories of growing up with Yohannes and my family. We had lots of relatives that we would always see”.

Her mother was a great cook and Misrak loved the aromas. “I loved cooking since I was little. We are native Eritreans so mother would cook Eritrean and Ethiopian foods like tsebhi (which is similar to a curry or a stew) and injera (yeast-risen bread). They were very nice”.

Eritrea’s fight for independence was recognised by the United Nations in 1993 following a referendum of Eritrean’s. However following independence there were disputes regarding the border, in particular the border town of Badme. 

Following a series of armed incidents in which a number of Eritrean officials were killed near Badme, armed Eritrean soldiers entered the disputed region on May 6^th 1998 and proceeded to engage in a fire fight with local police and militia. On the 13^th of May Ethiopia mobilised a force for an assault on Eritrea. 

Eritrean artillery engaging in cross-border firing.

The Ethiopian government made the decision to deport Eritreans and Ethiopians of Eritrean origin. Misrak’s family were one of these. Not only were they to be deported but their belongings and property were to be confiscated.

“We were kept in detention in a big school with about 11,000 people. It was very scary. We didn’t know what was going to happen. Then one day they said we were going to be marched back to Eritrea.”

“We walked for five days. We didn’t get to stop very often. We just kept marching. We were surrounded by soldiers with guns.”

Ethnic Eritreans being marched across the border back to Eritrea.

It was on the fifth night, at 3am, when they officially crossed the border. There had been fierce fighting between the two armies and the border was strewn with hundreds of dead bodies left to rot.

“We could smell it. It was awful. I am glad it so dark. There was no moon and no stars so I couldn’t see anything. The soldiers just told us to keep walking in a straight line while they were on our left and our right.”

 Misrak’s family settled in Eritrea, but Misrak didn’t want to stay there. She wanted to get as far away as she could. Following the end of the Ethiopian-Eritrean War in June of 2000 she travelled to Uganda. She had a dream to open a restaurant and share the dishes that her mum had made for her as a child.

“The recipes I used were just from recipes I got from Mum. She would cook Ethiopian and Eritrean dishes. I always loved cooking and helping Mum cook from when I was small."

She worked hard, like her parents had shown her, but it was still a struggle. Uganda has one of the highest rates of poverty in the world with as many as 37% of the population living on less than $2 a day.

Misrak decided she wanted to move to Australia and arrived in 2009 as a refugee. “It was a very long flight. But it was exciting. It was such a different place to where I had grown up. I was very happy to try and start a new life here.”

Misrak started to work at Bunnings at Oxley and thrived because of her strong work ethic even though English was her fourth language. In 2010 while studying for a Certificate Two in Business Misrak was told about NEIS, a government funded initiative for people starting their own business.

“It was very exciting when I found out because it was a chance to create my own business. It was the reason I came to Australia, to cook and share the food of my homeland.”

Misrak now runs an Abyssinian Cuisine night every Monday at Cafe Checocho in West End where she cooks using the same recipes her mother did.

Misrak’s brother Yohannes manages the restaurant that Misrak opened in Uganda but he wants to join Misrak in Brisbane.

“I really like Brisbane and I am very happy to continue to try to grow my business in Brisbane. I love cooking and I have a 20 year plan for my business and I will try to apply for Yohannes to come here too.” 

Week 7- Public Media

The closest we had to a family tradition when I was growing up was watching the ABC news at 7 o’clock. Mum or Dad would always make sure dinner wasn’t ready until 7:25 at the earliest; they didn’t pay that much attention to the weather.

 I still remember as a five year old hearing the news that Paul Keating had defeated Bob Hawke in a leadership spill. I didn’t have a clue what that meant. I just knew I was upset. With the help of my mum I sent a letter to Mr Hawke offering my best wishes. A few weeks later I got a letter in the post from one Mr. R. Hawke.

Public Media is the lifeblood of a nation’s news. It helps to shape the national identity. It preserves the national heritage. It encourages and facilitates national debate and conversations. Watch a politician on a commercial outlet and nothing is said. It’s just empty rhetoric. Watch 7:30 or Lateline and there is an actual debate.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZLrcOIq-ipA

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=j4ZJ30XhQeY&feature=relmfu

The ABC and SBS are the lifeblood of Public Media in Australia. They produce documentaries, news, current affairs shows, dramas etc. ABC has radio outlets and a 24/7 news channel. The goals of Public Media are to prevent unbiased, balanced programming. There should be no vested interest. Programmes should be available to the whole population and cater for all tastes, interests, minority and disadvantaged groups.

But is there bias? 41% of Australians get their news from the ABC, and while over 85% of Australians don’t believe there is any bias, Peter Costello and some other conservative MP’s and commentators disagree.  I have been watching the ABC for twenty years and while as a child I wouldn’t have realised any bias, I believe I am now informed enough to make an opinion and I don’t think there is. I daresay Costello’s view that there is a bias is actually proof of the viability of the ABC. A strict guideline of Public Media is not to be a tool of propaganda for the government. Considering Costello served in the Government for over ten years, perhaps he should have realised that a long time ago.

In 1994 Paul Keating introduced the Creative Nation: Commonwealth Cultural Policy which was a significant boost for SBS, particularly the creation of SBS Independent as a production. A quick browse of the SBS guide for Friday the 20th reveals five straight hours of news in the following order: Spanish, Greek, French, Hindi, Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Korean, Japanese and Hong Kong. Then later on in the afternoon there is half an hour of Al-Jazeera News and an hour of PBS. Over six hours of news from around the world, that's very impressive.

Wordsmiths

I was reading a blog the other day and was concerned by a statement regarding the literacy of rappers. Rap and Hip-Hop are important musical genres. As a sheltered, relatively privileged white male I will never know the challenges and difficulties of growing up on the streets of Harlem, L.A etc. However, through the poetry of Tupac Shakur, NAS, Notorious BIG, Jay- Z etc I can try and understand and contemplate what it's like growing up in an environment where you aspire to be a drug dealer or a gangster. Blues music in the early 20th Century was an outlet for African-American musicians to tell their own stories. Rap and Hip-Hop are the Blues of today. I imagine the 'rappers' being referred to were the musicians you hear on pop stations now. This isn't rap. It is commercial pop music...does this sounds familiar to our lecture on Commercial Media? The real audience of this 'music' is advertisers and an audience that is dumbed down.

Tupac Shakur is considered perhaps the most poetic of rappers. He was an incredibly well-read and intelligent young man. Here is a link to a list of books he was known to have read http://www.alleyezonme.com/tupacsReadingList.phtml. Is it any surprise then that this man could create such poignant lyrics as in one of his best known songs Changes.
I see no changes. All I see is racist faces.
Misplaced hate makes disgrace to races we under.
I wonder what it takes to make this one better place...
let's erase the wasted.
Or his ode to his mother, Dear Mama
A poor single mother on welfare, tell me how ya did it
There's no way I can pay you back
But the plan is to show you that I understand
You are appreciated
If anyone rivals Tupac for pure poetry it would be NAS. His debut Illmatic, released in 1994, was a revelation. His track NY State of Mind is an autobiographical story of his days working the corners as a drug dealer.

I got so many rhymes I don't think I'm too sane
Life is parallel to Hell but I must maintain
and be prosperous, though we live dangerous
cops could just arrest me, blamin us, we're held like hostages

One of his later songs I Can, released in 2002 is a desperate plea to boy and girls who were in danger of following his early choices in life and ending up on the streets dealing drugs. I wanted to find a few lines from this but ended up adding the entire third verse because it is so powerful and brilliant.
Be, be, 'fore we came to this country
We were kings and queens, never porch monkeys
There was empires in Africa called Kush
Timbuktu, where every race came to get books
To learn from black teachers who taught Greeks and Romans
Asian Arabs and gave them gold when
Gold was converted to money it all changed
Money then became empowerment for Europeans
The Persian military invaded
They heard about the gold, the teachings, and everything sacred
Africa was almost robbed naked
Slavery was money, so they began making slave ships
Egypt was the place that Alexander the Great went
He was so shocked at the mountains with black faces
Shot up they nose to impose what basically
Still goes on today, you see?
If the truth is told, the youth can grow
Then learn to survive until they gain control
Nobody says you have to be gangstas, hoes
Read more learn more, change the globe
Ghetto children, do your thing
Hold your head up, little man, you're a king
Young Princess when you get your wedding ring
Your man is saying "She's my queen"Doesn't sound too illiterate to me.

Finally on to Jay-Z. Perhaps the most successful rapper of all time. Husband to Beyonce, hero to aspiring MC's and disadvantaged youths, mult-millionaire businessman. Perhaps the wittiest and cleverest rapper of the last twenty years aswell. And behind The Beatles (19) he has the second highest amount of number 1 albums on the American charts (12).

His soundtrack to American Gangster is a concept album of sorts. A semi-autobiographical look at his early life on the streets. The track American Dream is a twist on the traditional American Dream of suburbia.
Step One in this process, scramble up in your projects
And head to the heights where big coke is processed
You gotta convince 'em that you not from the Precinct
 
When it comes to wordplay though Jay-Z stands out from all other rappers. Take this example from Brooklyn (Go Hard)
I Jack, I Rob, I sin
Awww man, I'm Jackie Robinson
Except when I run base, I dodge the penNot only does it roll and flow so beautifully together but it also has multiple meanings. 'Run base' and 'dodge the pen' are both baseball terms. Running base also refers to dealing drugs and 'dodging the pen' would mean not being incarcerated. Ethics aside, it is without a doubt wonderfully witty.

How about these lines from Blue Magic, also from American Gangster.
Blame Reagan for making me into a monster
Blame Oliver North and Iran-Contra
I ran contraband that they sponsoredHe repeats the same syllables. Iran-Contra/ I ran contra. What was he referring to? During Ronald Reagan's second term senior members of his administration secrectly facilitated arms sales to Iran, a country that was and remains under an arms embargo.

Rap is a truly important cultural and social tradition and instead of being marginalised and judged by people who don't understand it, it should be investigated, analysed and ultimately celebrated for the geniuses that continue to carry on it's legacy.

Week 6- Commercial Media

Commercial Media. Media for the masses? Pandering to the advertisers? Editors and producers more worried about their ratings than the content and quality of their stories and reporters. I had no idea what to expect from week 6. Reassurance that everything would be okay? Dire warnings of my future in journalism?

Admittedly the first few slides did nothing to ease my mind. Here was proof that the readers, viewers and listeners meant nothing.  Well, that's not quite right. Their choice of soap and cereal meant something. It meant something to the advertisers who could target certain audiences.

Gore Vidal is a person I have always greatly admired. He is unusually articulate, well-spoken, intelligent and thoughtful. His biting wit has been the bane of many Republicans (and a few Democrats) over the past few decades. Whilst researching Independent Journalism for this blog I stumbled across this wonderful clip of him on YouTube talking about the state of the media. I think he has summed up in a matter of minutes with his elegant language just how dire Commercial Media can be.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IWODMla3IWk

Of course this is coming from an American. Does this relate to Australia? One only needs to read Australian broadsheets. The national newspaper The Australian is undoubtedly right leaning, and more and more the Opinion columns are working their way into news. This isn't necessarily a criticism; they are one of the few newspapers to constantly tackle the hard issues. Queensland's newspaper The Courier Mail doesn't engage with enough real issues for one to confidently form an opinion on any lean or bias they may have. Unless one follows the Brisbane Broncos, then it's the best source of news in the country. The following link is for a very interesting article that The Monthly ran on the editor-in-chief of The Australian Chris Mitchell http://www.themonthly.com.au/power-rupert-murdoch-and-australian-s-editor-chief-united-states-chris-mitchell-sally-neighbour-3589.

For a (hopefully) non-biased look at how the media cover stories we watched a clip from ABC show Media Watch.
http://www.abc.net.au/mediawatch/transcripts/s3424273.htm
This clip highlighted some of the big negatives of the Style of Commercial Media, dumbing-down and tabloidisation. The need to create headlines and compete for audiences means an escalation of attention grabbing headlines. Like an old fashioned arms race, news outlets compete with one another for a larger audience by whatever means necessary, especially with the ad revenue for newspapers dropping.

I'm really looking forward to the next lecture, which will be on Public Media. Looking back on this post it reads very much as an attack on Commercial Media, but I happily admit I read The Australian and The Sydney Morning Herald just as often as I read ABC online. It will be interesting to look at Public Media with a critical eye.

Week 5- Radio & the sounds of silence

I was looking forward to the Richard Fidler interview in the lecture for week 5. I try to listen to Conversations as much as possible. I like his interview style; he seems engaged and friendly and seems to create a sense of trust and harmony with the person he is interviewing.

He offered many good insights and advice on conducting radio interviews and the use of radio as a medium. The fact that there are no visual aids has positives and negatives. Radio can be very intimate, but it can also fade away into the background while people are ‘driving, making breakfast’ etc. This is important to remember for later on when he mentions who he sees as his ‘audience’. He considers it his job to be a facilitator between the audience and the interviewee; a striking and wonderful description.

Conversations is an hour show, usually with just one guest but sometimes two. Nevertheless the research that would go into the show must be very thorough. He says that often the best guests are people whom no one has heard of. That reminded me of one show I listened to with Colin Dillon, Australia’s first Indigenous police officer. I had never heard of Colin Dillon but it was one of the more interesting interviews I had listened to, and still remember it vividly more than three years later.

An interviewer needs to be curious and interested. Fidler argues against following a relentless and belligerent line of questioning. The interviewee is likely to become defensive and offer less. One of my favourite interviewers is Andrew Denton. I loved watching Enough Rope. There are a number of clips I could use as an example of the way he creates an environment and trust to get the most out of his interview subject but I chose to share this clip because Dave Grohl rarely speaks about Kurt Cobain, and in this clip he spoke so beautifully and unhindered about Nirvana, Cobain and Cobain’s suicide. (From about 5:00 on).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=E0bsPaIz9Wk

He mentioned the use of silence. I would have thought silence in radio would have to be a big no-no but he said silence can be incredibly powerful. But it shows respect for the guest. You don’t want to jump in the second after they have revealed something incredibly powerful or personal. It makes perfect sense and I have taken notice of this when listening to interviews since.

Towards the end he gave advice for journalism students such as worldliness, voracious reading, ask questions, be open minded. But the most interesting thing he said was to have a willingness to expose yourself to people and ideas you disagree with, people with different currents of thought. It seems so simple but it is so necessary. I struggle to sit through more than one minute of FOX news. The only time I have watched Bill O’Reilly for more than five minutes is looking up YouTube videos where he gets shot down in an argument (like below).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B_uBWxdZqpI&feature=related

Radio seems to be moving with technology as well as any other news medium. Podcasts, online streaming are available worldwide for popular radio shows. If anything radio has found a new and larger audience.

Week 4 reflection- Pictures

Week 4 was focused on picture stories, tying in nicely with one of my other subjects, Introduction to Visual Communication. It’s amazing how all of my subjects, barring Popular Music, are all linked in some way. Obviously there are many different aspects to being a good journalist and reporter.

For as long as there have been stories, there have been pictures. Indigenous Australian’s cave paintings, French cave paintings dating as far back as 15,000 B.C. The allegory of the ‘shadows on the cave wall’ by Plato was very interesting. It was rather funny when placed next to the family in front of the television set and reminded me a lot of ‘reality television’, or a rather more intelligent example might be the film The Truman Show. I was also struck by how Religion used pictures. Throughout Bibles and in Churches there were strikingly beautiful illustrations and decorations, certainly a good way of influencing their ‘flock’. Below is a photo of the lead singer of The Vines one of my favourite and, I believe, most under rated Australian bands. I think the photo was taken at the start of their career when there was huge hype around them and Craig Nicholls was labelled the 'Messiah of Rock'. It has always stuck in my mind because I think it is a rather striking image and an interesting take on how magazines, in this case NME (self-proclaimed Bible of Music), will report on bands in a reverential way.

The use of photo-shopping by magazines and publishers seems to be harking back to the way Religion could influence their followers by controlling what people see. I personally don’t read many fashion magazines, so though I was of course aware of photo-shopping, I didn’t realise the extent to which it’s done, or how much technology can change images. I must admit I do find it a bit unsettling and it has probably made me question what I see more and more. Though the flipside to that is photo journalism now produces amazing images, images that years ago would have been blurry couldn't be used. The picture of the London Riots is a great example. 

But as much as technology has advanced, the basic principles of a great photo are still the same; framing, focus, angle & point of view, exposure (light), timing (shutter speed) and capturing ‘the moment’. The photos on the slides were stunning. The photo of the School Shooting Aftermath in particular stood out for me; it was an absolutely stunning image.

Once again, the rise of social media in reporting was highlighted to us, including the use of social networking in organising and orchestrating the Arab Spring.

With the 24-7 newscycle of the 21^st Century there is always something happening now. Pictures and moving pictures are more important as a news medium, but, “a picture has no meaning at all if it can’t tell a story” Eetu Sillanpaa says. Very true, and important to remember. Following the lecture I googled Eetu Sillanpaa to see some of his other pictures. I chose to share this one below because it tells a story and it uses the elements of taking a great photo that we were taught about during the lecture. The lighting and POV in particular are lovely. I also read an interview with him about the photo of the young girls following the school shooting. It was very interesting, and I was struck when he said he select a technically inferior photograph if it is better at telling a story. Great advice. 

My current dream collaboration

As I sit here trying to catch up on blogs and lectures I realise a few things. First, I seriously need to stay up to date with my blogs in the future. Second, I feel like I am repeating myself over and over and hope this doesn't mean I am failing to grasp the different theories and practices. But finally, and probably least important, I have been compiling in my head a list of sorts. A list of musicians who I wish would get together and write songs together. I'm not asking for much. Doesn't have to be an album and a world tour, doesn't even have to be an EP. I would happily settle for a single with one or two b-sides. So who tops my list at the moment? James Mercer from The Shins and Kanye West. Without question this could quite possibly be amazing. James Mercer has worked with hip-hop royalty before. He and Danger Mouse have a side project, Broken Bells, which has released a fantastic self titled album (2010) and an EP Meyrin Fields (2011). Below is a link for the first single 'The High Road'

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gWBG1j_flrg&ob=av2e


The Shins have also experimented with hip-hop beats, on 'Sea Legs' from their excellent third record Wincing The Night Away (2007).

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vI8nLLDEc68

Mercer has to be the best songwriter in rock music at the moment. The Shins fourth album Port of Morrow, released last month, is another slice of guitar pop heaven. Every line is imbued with melody and a sense of meaning. His words sparkle. The lead single Simple Song is utter pop brilliance. Complex melodies and themes, lyrics that are incredibly intelligent, witty, beautiful and poetic, soaring backing vocals and an overwhelming feeling of hope. Mercer delivers in one song what countless artists struggle to do over a career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RoLTPcD1S4Q

So onto Kanye West. The world biggest popstar. The most controversial, divisive, quotable musician of the millenium. Whatever people may think of him, there is no denying he is an artist of the highest quality. Five inventive, funny, challenging, overwhelming and brilliant albums. He has worked with the cream of hip-hop already; Jay Z, Nas, Lupe Fiasco, Pharrell, Mos Def, Common, Kid Cudi etc etc. He has worked with celebrated film composer Jon Brion, responsible for the scores to such films as Magnolia, Punch-Drunk Love and Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.
He has worked with uber-cool French electro duo Daft Punk. He has worked with uber-talented pop-folk indie god Justin Vernon aka Bon Iver.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBCoXzR-z8&feature=related

His collaboration with Chris Martin, Homecoming, was one of the standout tracks on his Graduation.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EDBCoXzR-z8&feature=related

Imagine a James Mercer-Kanye West production. The best songwriter in rock and the best songwriter in rap. Two of the best artists and writers in the world today. I can only dream at the moment, Should tweet Kanye with the suggestion...

Week 3 reflection- Text

Prior to the week 3 lecture I decided to have a quick browse of the readings supplied on blackboard. Five minutes later I stopped. The Journalism Studies reading seemed to be incredibly dense and verbose. I thought perhaps I may have a better understanding of its material and be better placed to tackle it after the lecture.

What is text? Fast. Flexible. Complete Control. Portable. Searchable. Dominates Online... Immediately I am forced to contemplate what seems like a simple question.  It also another reminder that we now live in the age of the web 3.0, another reminder that I need to embrace this or be left behind.

The concept of the inverted pyramid seems so uncomplicated with the graphic in the slideshow. The very important facts go at the start of the article, funnelling down to the less important facts. I suspect that over the following three years the inverted pyramid will be constantly referred to. It seems to be the basis for journalism.  It makes perfect sense too.

After the lecture I did return to the Journalism Studies reading. Whilst incredibly dry at times it is also incredibly important. Whilst the origins of the inverted pyramids are clearly still disputed amongst researchers, the fact is that it is now unquestionably the commonplace practice of journalism. The reporting of the assassination of Franz Ferdinand in Europe seems farcical now. One of the causes of the biggest event in history at that stage and the assassination itself wasn’t reported until the end of articles.

I found the slide about the Poynter eyetrack interesting. I would have thought that photographs, or illustrations, would be the first point of focus for the reader. But as the slide says ‘text rules’. With this in mind I made a conscience effort of where my focus was drawn upon seeing the articles in the slideshow. Sure enough I went straight to the text, specifically the headlines. In the image below my eyes immediately went to guardian.co.uk, then to the headlines on the left even though the largest piece of information on the page is the photo of Bradley Manning.

Towards the end of the lecture there was another mention of blogging and social media. The lines between social networks and blogging are disappearing. Text is blogs. Text is emails. Text is tweets. These are feasible sources of news and current affairs. I am gradually learning this.

I realise this blog itself has not followed the inverted pyramid. Should blogs adhere to this? They seem to be more of a chronological reflection. I should practice using it though.

Media Use and Production Diary

As a Journalism student who will, hopefully, one day be working in the media, a study of my own use and production of media is a fascinating analysis to undertake. At the start of the course I filled in  a survey to be able to compare my usage with fellow students.

Upon viewing the data some interesting figures emerged. At 25 going on 26 I am definitely one of the eldest in the course. This may go some way towards explaining my lack of aptitude when it comes to use of technology such as twitter and blogging. It would certainly be interesting to see if a rise in age correlated with a decline in use of twitter, facebook, blogging etc.

Over the course of a ten day period I found my consumption of news was overwhelmingly higher than any other media. And the primary source of my news came from the internet, either on my laptop of my phone. Below is a table of how often and how I accessed news and current affairs over the ten day period.

DAY	LAPTOP	IPHONE	TELEVISION	RADIO	NEWSPAPER
MONDAY	2	0.5	-	0.25	-
TUESDAY	1	0.5	-	0.25	-
WEDNESDAY	1	0.5	-	0.25	-
THURSDAY	1	0.5	-	0.25	-
FRIDAY	2	-	1	0.25	-
SATURDAY	1	-	-	-	1
SUNDAY	1	1	-	-	1
MONDAY	1	0.5	-	0.25	-
TUESDAY	1	0.5	-	0.25	-
WEDNESDAY	3	-	-	-	-
TOTAL	14	4	1	1.75	2

 *All numbers are in units of hours.

My most visited sites for news were the Sydney Morning Herald, The Australian, The Age, The Guardian, ABC, FOXSPORTS, ESPN CRICINFO and a number of different sites linked from Google News. These are sites I’ve followed for years because I respect their journalists, they seem to be fairly well valued publications, and are usually the top links for stories on Google News.  

In regards to social media I was surprised that I was in the highest percentile for the number of facebook and twitter accounts, and blogging. Over 90% of students used the internet and their smart phones for social media and interestingly over half use social media for news sources as well. Once again, it would be interesting to see if this was higher among the students in the younger age brackets. I found that I only used facebook for about three hours over the ten day period, which is an average of 18 minutes a day. I mostly used my phone to access it, usually on breaks at work or between classes. I think the reason I am not on social media as much as other people in the course is because I am yet to see facebook or twitter as a genuine source of news, even though my tutor Ali did say that over 80% of journalists have a twitter account. I obviously do need to embrace it; I’m just having a hard time doing so.

Given the fact I am now a full-time student, working part-time and rehearsing for a play, I obviously have less spare time than previously. Hence the number of hours I spend using other media has decreased. Below is a table of the breakdown of other media I have used.

Two rehearsals for a play, After The Ball, were my only hours of media production in this period. Considering the course stipulates I need to blog perhaps this is a worrying trend, however my first foray into blogging came immediately after the ten day period. One part of the course I was initially hesitant about was the need to blog and tweet. But the table below shows I am actually quite capable of using ‘new’ media such as internet, smart phones, DVD’s, CD’s etc so hopefully my technophobia is more easily curable than I first thought.

So how does my media use reflect upon me as a journalism student? I think the tables reflect that most of time outside of work and downtime is spent reading news and keeping up to date on current affairs. Certainly the advent of the internet has helped; twenty years ago it would have been difficult to spend more than an hour or two per day reading/watching/hearing news. In total I averaged over 2 hours a day consuming news. Obviously this level of interest I take in the news is a good indication that I am in the right field of study.