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.