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