What's In It For Me?

Steve Molk's talk about his journey and his experience in journalism gave us a different yet helpful insight into what we have install after finishing our degree. He touched on a few focus points, but the most important thing he noted was the vitality of writing. What you write about can determine your career. There will be far more success and enjoyment out of your work if you choose a subject you like and follow it with journalism.

Molk's opinions on blogging seemed like a love/hate relationship. He admitted the sometimes uselessness of blogging, for instance, Twitter can be somewhat limited in its capabilities despite it being succinct at getting your point across. However, the freedom of internet blogging is unparalleled compared to working for an editor or something similar.

Jordan Lite from the Scientific American put it well when he said Twitter "allows users to blast small bursts of info at their followers". He also agreed with Molk in saying Twitter is a growing journalism platform.

Personally, I think Twitter is more of an advertising platform for journalism. With a passion for music and reporting on all things in the music industry, I think it would be highly useful to have a Twitter account to advertise quickly the latest news and reports for a different blogging site or magazine, allowing people to interpret the headline, then read on if it catches their eye.

Introduction to Journalism

"Journalism is the first rough draft of history" - Philip Graham.

The first lecture of the Introduction to Journalism and Communication course gave a brilliant insight into the life of a journalist and the power one can hold when reporting. There were a few themes to the presentation, but the most important one was arguably 'the opportunity to speak'; the opportunity to reveal the truth.

Many wise quotes were included in the slideshow which offered an entertaining yet truthful view into the values and respects of journalism.

"Journalism is organised gossip" - Edward Eggleston

"People may expect too much from journalism. Not only do they expect it to be entertaining, they expect it to be true" - Lewis H. Lapham

The audience was shown the challenges journalism is facing nowadays, which truly revealed how undervalued some journalism is. With the digital phenomenon growing exponentially, hardcopy newspapers could be looking at extinction. PR and public opinion journalism is on the rise also which is putting investigative journalism at risk of extinction also.

Overall, the lecture was informative and interesting - erasing my initial concerns about joining the journalism cohort.

Ross "Crazy" Kemp

Watching TV last night, I stumbled across a show called "Ross Kemp On Gangs". Before long I realised that this man was possibly the craziest, risk-taking, committed, best damn journalist I had ever seen. He has been all over the world, infiltrating some of the most dangerous and violent gangs on the planet.

London, Moscow, Kenya, South Africa, Poland, East Timor: these are just some of the places Kemp has explored and revealed the nature of some their citizens. He joins the Neo-nazis of Moscow and learns about their racial attacks. He interviews high leaders of the Mungiki gang in Kenya, labelled as the most dangerous outfit in Africa. Leaders who were ambushed and killed by the secret police just two weeks after Kemp's departure. He interviews the notorious Polish football club gangs - gangs who beat to death any opposing gang member on sight.

Kemp has won a BAFTA for the series and risked his life many times for the sake of investigative journalism. Not only does he provide great entertainment, but he gives a good insight into what some humans are capable of. If anyone wishes to keep up with his activity, here is a link to his twitter:

Ross Kemp Twitter

Here is Kemp in action, checking out some of the gang riots and fights in Poland:

Sugar's Malicious Intent

Recent discoveries have shone light on new, more incriminating evidence against the side effects of sugar. Dr. Robert Lustig from the UCHD says that sugar is the number one cause of Type 2 Diabetes and obesity. The percentage of overweight or obese adults has increased from an already dreadful 56% to 61% from 1995 to 2008 (Australian Bureau of Statistics). The big question is, what is causing these statistics to rise? It is vital to answer this question in order to resolve a potentially genocidal issue.

High Fructose Corn Syrup is a substance added to a huge proportion of non-organic foods that humans consume everyday. It is in pie, pizza, bread and most relevant to the matter at hand, soft drinks. Soft drinks, according to Dr. Lustig, are the main perpetrators in the sucrose epidemic. Serving sizes have increased, moreover making intakes of sugar higher.

It is unproven as to whether sugar is an addictive chemical or not, however, experts around the world, including Lustig, agree that it is poisonous and that the dangerous level at which HFCS is being exploited must decrease, or else the world may face a new breed of plague.

Here is Dr. Robert Lustig giving an informative lecture about the dangers of sugar:

My Musical Youtube Career

On the 28th of March, I uploaded my first Youtube video. I took three of Coldplay's best songs - The Scientist, Yellow and Paradise - and mashed them into one. All the instruments are there (minus the drums) and so far it has received only positive reviews!

I've always wanted to have a musical career. Surprisingly, I was reluctant to start guitar lessons when I was young, but my mother eventually convinced me, using the time old chorus of, "Girls will love you!". Seven years later, I've uploaded three music cover videos and composed countless tunes of my own.

The way I recorded the instruments was plugging them all into a cheap interface which plugs into my laptop. Using a program called Cubase, I recorded, electric guitar, bass guitar, keyboard and even my voice all on separate tracks. When it all comes together, it sounds like this:

If you're interested to see more of my music, visit my Facebook page here:http://www.facebook.com/pages/Steed/144129905657044?sk=app_2405167945
And here is my Youtube Channel:
http://www.youtube.com/user/jamesmartinwalker?feature=mhee

Game of Downloading

HBO's epic new television series, "Game Of Thrones", is fast becoming the most illegally downloaded show in the world. Forbes magazine recently made public information that showed the medieval action-thriller on the verge of being the most pirated show on television. Forbes says it is because of the inability to podcast the show on iTunes or pay for it online, hence forcing tens of millions of people who do not subscribe to HBO to download the show illegally.

Personally, I couldn't stand to see this happen. "Game Of Thrones" is easily one of the best shows on TV at the moment alongside shows like "Supernatural" and "Entourage". The first season of Thrones averaged a little over two million viewers per episode in North America, which are good, but not as good as they could be. The second season, which hasn't finished yet, is averaging over three million per episode. If HBO wants to draw the fan base this program deserves, they will have to start opening their horizons and let the public purchase the episodes online, or else pirating will really have done some damage this time... so what does the future hold?

Downloading illegally is already known to have made music artists suffer. UK singer Lily Allen admits that one of the reasons she took a hiatus from the industry four years ago was because it was getting to the stage where album profits were starting to wear thin. It seems inevitable that television shows and other disciplines in the Art business will feel pain under the costly click of the public mouse.

Is The Voice Rigged?

Channel Nine's new hit show, The Voice, has been questioned vigourously by the public as to whether it could be rigged. A shocking exit by Peta Jeffress after a battle round with Viktoria Bolonina brought dispute to the show due to the obvious superiority of Peta. Although it appeared to be Delta Goodrem's decision as to who won the battle round, one can not help but question if there is a bias towards some individuals.

Another factor which supports the 'rigged theory' is the advertising strategy by Channel Nine. There are currently sixteen performers still running in the competition, however, only five or six are shown on television ads. By supporting these few artists via advertising, they increase their public vote while the other less attractive participants are only televised when they actually sing.

A slightly less cynical but more specific view of The Voice notices the fact that the judges' teams fill up evenly through the auditions, despite the giant chasm in talent and worldwide celebrity between the likes of Seal and Joel Madden compared to Delta Goodrem. This begs the question of whether the auditions for the show are taken place in a different context than what appears on television, and the show is just an act...

Annotated Bibliography

Haines, R. (2012). In search of the truth: Investigative journalism in a digital age. THE BUREAU OF INVESTIGATIVE JOURNALISM. http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2012/05/02/in-search-of-the-truth-investigative-journalism-in-a-digital-age/.

Roger Haines is a recurring author on the new website of The Bureau of Investigative Journalism. His report is based on the talk given by Iain Overton, the managing editor of the BIJ, in April 2012. The main focus of the report is the crisis that Investigative Journalism is in with the ever apparent evolution into the digital age. Haines writes how the rapid increase of popularity with online-based medias such as Facebook and other blogs and forums and the ease of reproduction of news is inversely proportional with the decline of investigative journalism. Haines’ continuous mention of ‘The Digital Age’ successfully transfers the idea across to the reader that the traditional method of reporting facts and publishing hard-copy newspapers is fast becoming extinct. Haines also agrees with Overton’s notion that journalists need to adapt and invest accordingly to the changes in society. Haines cleverly proposes the idea of gathering followers via Twitter and Facebook for individual journalists and appropriately take advantage of ‘viral-marketing’ and ‘gonzo-journalism’.

Brown, R. (2012, May 24). Assange extradition judgement set for next week. Abc news. http://www.abc.net.au/news/2012-05-24/assange-judgement-due-may-30/4029642.

Rachael Brown, a Europe correspondent for the ABC, writes a factual and non-biased story regarding Julian Assange’s possible extradition to Sweden after allegedly sexually assaulting two women. The piece is broken down into two parts; the first being the facts surrounding the allegations and the Supreme Court’s decision. The second part refers to why Assange is infamous and his possibilities for the future. Brown shows her investigative journalism skills in both parts by refraining from giving an opinion and supplying only facts. Brown includes both sides of the story, mentioning that Assange has previously stated that the sex was consensual. She also makes a note that this allegation comes after the WikiLeaks scandal, leaving the reader to contemplate whether the claims are real or politically based. Brown uses a picture of Assange that is not incriminating in any way; however, it does show police officers in the background, suggesting that Assange has been under some stress recently. The equal-sidedness and citation of Assange’s lawyers gives Rachael Brown credibility and demonstrates her value of truth in the news and investigative journalism.

Picture from Time Magazine

Dorling, P. (2012, February 29). Revealed: US plans to charge Assange. The Sydney Morning Herald. http://www.smh.com.au/technology/technology-news/revealed-us-plans-to-charge-assange-20120228-1u14o.html.

Philip Dorling is highly experienced in politics and journalism, having been a part of the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, and now being the National Affairs and Defense Correspondent for the Canberra Times. This makes his piece reliable and credible. The first part of the article cites Fred Burton of US Intelligence and gives Dorling’s word reliability and power. Dorling later reveals the exploits of WikiLeaks concerning the release of five million emails from Stratfor. He explains these emails are examples of how a private intelligence agency can target individuals for their corporate and government clients. By writing this, Dorling makes obvious his value for investigative journalism by verifying the facts for the public interest; in other words, he reveals the truth about intelligence capabilities. By referencing an Australian Advocate for Stratfor, who swears towards Assange, Dorling further reveals the potentially biased and/or unfair nature of the agency. Dorling finishes by stating that neither Stratfor nor the US embassy will comment on the emails acquired by WikiLeaks, sparking tension between the public interested in the situation and the US embassy/Stratfor, providing more attention to the WikiLeaks case and setting a media agenda.

Peck, M. (2012, March 13). WikiLeaks’ Julian Assange ‘is being framed’ says his mother. Digital Journal. http://digitaljournal.com/article/321121.

Matthew Peck, a freelance journalist from the United Kingdom, makes this report with a point of view from Julian Assange’s mother. The inclusion of the mother gives the entire scenario with Assange and WikiLeaks a softer touch. The public is more inclined to empathise with Julian by including citations from Christine Assange, stating how adamant she is of her son’s innocence. Peck first quotes Mrs. Assange in a manner which echoes Julian’s statements of how the allegations of sexual assault are false and politically motivated, generating more support for Assange. The second Christine Assange quote is used more to emotionally effect the reader, using the connection of mother and son to inspire sympathy for the Assange family. Peck finishes the article with a quote from Juan Mendez, the UN Special Rapporteur on Torture, describing the US government’s inhumane treatment of Bradley Manning – a WikiLeaks contributor. Overall, Peck’s piece is investigative by providing facts and quotes and provides an interesting view behind Julian Assange’s ordeal for the public to identify with and possibly take sides with or against Assange.

Investigative Journalism

I thought all journalism required a bit of investigation? Apparently some more than others. Investigative journalism is the intelligent and informed factual reporting of something that is in the public interest. In other words, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you god. This is where PR takes a 90 degree turn in the reporting side of things. PR will take facts and use it to suggest something that may not be the truth in order to persuade the public.

This may seem ludicrous, but PR is growing in strength due to the increasing popularity in online reporting and 'citizen journalism'. And with PR growing, investigative journalism is shrinking due to the cheapness of the internet and the effort it takes to make an investigative report in comparison to PR.

Although the future for investigative journalism is looking dim, Youtube may hold the answer in its revival. The video website has launched a channel in which investigative journalism is the main focus. It includes videos such as this discussion with The Washington Post's Bob Woodward:

The Setting of Agenda

Just as we thought the media corporations couldn't get any more one-sided! Agenda Setting, as we learned in our most recent instalment of Jour1111, is the ability of the news media to to manipulate and influence what we think is important in the public agenda. In other words, they choose the media that we watch, ergo, we watch what they want. Bernard Cohen was on the money when he said:

"The press may not be successful much of the time in telling people what to think,

but it is stunningly successful in telling its readers what to think about."

An example of this "Agenda Setting" is the constant news footage and writings about the Alison Baden Clay (scroll down to read more). Her name and picture is peppered everywhere across Australian tabloids and yet, mothers, fathers, husbands, wives, sons and daughters are murdered everyday around the world, let alone Queensland; sometimes under more gruesome circumstances...

The 2004 tsunami in Thailand, which killed thousands, plagued the headlines for months - deservingly; it was a terrible tragedy - however, thousands of people die every year in India from floods and nobody ever hears about that.

Fair? No. Probably not. But that is just how Agenda Setting works - the media tells us what to think and talk about. As Richard Nixon so honestly put it (albeit referring to Americans):

"The American people don't believe anything

until they see it on television."

Brisbane Mum Murdered

Mother of three, Alison Baden Clay, was found decaying in a creek bed on the west side of Brisbane after being reported missing by her husband roughly three weeks ago. Gerard Baden Clay, husband of Alison, is un-officially the main suspect in this ongoing investigation. Although little has been publicised by the police, much of the public have taken the opinion that Mr. Baden Clay is guilty without a doubt.

Many incriminating rumours have been spread about Gerard. Such as him being in an affair for the last three years, his car GPS being set to the location of Alison's body location, him crashing his car deliberately to excuse the scratches on his face. Not to mention the overall suspiciousness of the situation, with Alison having no real enemies.


Mr. Baden Clay's acting skills were put to the test two weeks ago when the media finally got some words from him on the ordeal:

If I were marking this performance, the only mark conceivable would have to be an F.


Now that the funeral has passed, the public eagerly await to see justice served, whether Gerard Baden Clay is convicted or not.

News Values

Not to be confused with 'the value of news'. We all know news is priceless...

The most interesting thing about wednesday's lecture was the obvious competition between PR and journalism. Public relations, to me, seems far less valuable than journalism. Sure, reading up about the latest gossip regarding Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie's marriage is all well and good whilst waiting for the dentist, but nobody really believes in half of the story anyway. The seven o'clock news, on the other hand, is watched and mostly believed by the majority of viewers.

News values are quite self explanatory. The values themselves are basically factors that journalists and editors look for in stories to see if they are good enough to make the news. These factors include significance, interest, impact (local/national/international), size, drama, proximity and the list goes on.

These factors could mean the difference between front page news and not in the news at all.

Recently, a few threats have been made against newsworthiness. Public relations being one. Also the commercialisation of media and social life and the overall reality of journalism - do we really understand that this is happening in the world?

What this means is that journalism could soon turn to mush and become the very thing it swore to protect us from - PR (*dum dum DUUM!*) - resulting in less facts and more opinions from people like you and I... a horrible world.

King Julian!

Humble, handsome and an international music deity, Julian Casablancas is on top of the world. Casablancas and his band, The Strokes, entered the atmosphere of music like an asteroid with a hugely successful EP called The Modern Age. This EP sparked a bidding war between record companies that had not been seen amongst a rock and roll band for years and saw a revival in garage rock amongst a society plagued by Britney Spears and Destiny’s Child (cue vomiting noise).

It all started in the early 90’s. Julian’s stepfather, Sam Adoquei, introduced him to The Doors Greatest Hits. Julian locked himself in his room for the whole night and dreamed of creating something this good. Queen and The Cars CD's were also given to Julian which later become massive influences on his own music. At the age of 13, he was sent to an elite boarding school in Switzerland where he met future guitarist, Albert Hammond Jr. The two of them were often caught smoking and drinking on campus and were regulars in detention. Although they never finished high school, they continued to take music classes – which obviously paid off. After The Strokes break onto the big stage with their debut album Is This It, they got a taste for something that would play a huge role in their lives…

Drugs. The Bain of musical talent. The silent assassin well known for taking such lives as Michael Jackson, Whitney Houston and Kurt Cobain, almost succeeded in an attempt on Julian Casablancas. On the topic of heroin he says, "Doing heroin is like walking around with a terrorist as your friend. It's like taking a terrorist around to parties. You never know when it's going to blow up on you." Because of heroin and other hardcore substances, The Strokes almost disbanded. Guitarist, Nick Valensi, said in an interview with The Face, “If half the band does drugs and the other half of the band doesn’t do drugs, you will break up in the next six months.” And Julian extrapolated, “So we all do drugs.” That was in 2001. In 2007, the band wanted to get into the studio to start recording their fourth album, but it just didn't work. As a group and as individuals, they were too disjointed. They didn’t talk to each other for months on end and Julian was struggling with drugs and alcohol. By 2008, some of the other band members had released solo work. So Julian decided to settle down, throw away the syringe and flush the powder, and get serious.

L to R: Albert, Nicolai, Julian, Nick and Fab

The changed man started recording solo tunes for what eventually became a highly successful album. Phrazes For The Young had a theme to it that was almost angelic compared to the previous Strokes albums, which were all about “not giving a f***”. Each new song had a quote that went with it. One was particularly deep – “Drunkenness is cowardice, sobriety is loneliness”.

Fourth Album: Angles

In 2010, Casablancas had his first child with wife Juliet. Now completely clean, sober and settled, Julian and the band reunited to create their fourth album, Angles. However, the new album brought up a new question. Is this music good enough? Is this it?

The album was a commercial failure compared to their previous work and the fans were left in bitter disappointment after such a long hiatus only to come up with something that didn’t sound like The Strokes at all. It was filled with synthesiser and instruments no one had ever heard of. Julian himself said in an interview with NME, “60% of the album is crap; I hate most of it.” Who knows why he let it go ahead… In any case he also stated, “we’re already working on a new album. We’re trying to get back what we had ten years ago.”

As a die hard Strokes fan myself, I certainly hope that they bring back the original garage rock that rocked the world over a decade ago in their next album.

What's Ethics?

Ethics? In journalism? This is new...

When I signed up for journalism I thought I would be encouraged to delve deep and find the filthy information to incriminate my target. To issue the secrets of a person so vile they would be all but banished from society. To find - "THE TRUTH"!

To my chagrin, I had no idea there were indeed ethics to some forms of journalism. "The good, the bad and the ugly" as John Harrison cleverly put it. The class was shown some pictures of billboards which were seen to be either in good taste or bad. Ethical or non-ethical. Right or just plain wrong...

Harrison proposed a graph that could rate something on the basis of ethics and it's good or bad taste. This sign for example (which I find quite funny), would probably rate around the middle of the ethical/taste spectrum. A spectrum which can only be based on opinion... thus rendering the graph kind of unnecessary.

In any case, now we know that there is a definite line that can mean the difference between success and failure if we cross it!

Public Media

This weeks lecture basically put up a fence between what we've been labelling as good news (commercial broadcasting) and bad news (public broadcasting). Not the type of good and bad news like Grandma's hip is broken, but it will be cheap. I'm referring to legitimate news about society. However, is public broadcasting really bad news?

According to the WGBH Educational Foundation Conference, Public Media mainly consists of bloggers, non-profit internet sites and podcasting. Basically - everything digitally free. Commercial Media lives off money and needs to provide the utmost important and factual news to retain the income from the public wallet.

With the economy twirling down the toilet in their respective motions according to one's global position, and the internet fast overtaking the world in many forms of media and other everyday uses, Public Media could become the way of the future...
So, what does this mean for Commercial Media? Is this the end of "facts we heard in the news"?

I for one believe it is essential to have both of these medias. If there were only Commercial Media, nothing could be taken lightly and for the younger generation, boredom would soon set in. However, if there were only Public Media, there would be no facts about what is happening in the world; only that Titanic 3D is in cinemas at a limited time only...

Radio

I had never considered the vast differences between Radio and Television until now. While listening to the radio I had never considered how much more interesting it was compared to TV. They speak of relevant topics and the majority of radio is of a higher quality than TV because it needs to be interesting due to it only having one medium - sound.

Flicking through TV channels as I produce this blog, I am flooded by useless commercials, shows that try too hard to be funny, current affair news (if that is counted as news) and other programs that I have no interest in. Radio in contrast has two main FM channels that I am attracted too: MMM and JJJ. Both of these have enjoyable music and effective commentary which targets my demographic (16 - 26 approx.) along with other demographics as well, basically 24/7.

I now have a new respect for radio and admittedly a lower opinion of TV, given TV's wider opportunity for quality with visual, thanks to the sound lecture.

Media Diary Powerpoint (screenshots)

Picture Stories Are Everywhere

This week's lecture on pictures and their importance to a story really interested me in the fact that just one photo can make a big difference in the world of journalism. The example of John Thurston's uncle's funeral photograph, shot by a young woman, was very incapsulating. It showed how it was possible to capture the emotion of a situation if shot a the right moment.

Bruce Redman spoke extensively the origins of picture back to the era of cavemen to the Sistine Chapel, to the high definition photographs we have today. All the elements of taking a picture (framing, focus, lighting, 'the moment') have fuelled me to respect photography on a whole new level. 

A Headline Paints A Thousand Pictures

"Terrorists Hijack 4 Airliners, Destroy World Trade Center, Hit Pentagon; Hundreds Dead"(The Washington Post, 2001). After billions of people citizen read headlines like this across the globe, it is hard not to get an idea of the atrocities that occurred on September 11, 2001.

Skye Doherty's talk on 'Text' during last week's JOUR1111 lecture detailed the importance of text within media and how effective it can be in society. One of her main points was that text is searchable. In other words, if you see a headline in the news agent that grabs your eye such as one on the eternal banter between Julia Gillard and the rest of Australia, you may simply google it at home for more information.

Headlines are the first thing you see on a story. The short phrase you see on the front of a newspaper or on facebook or twitter is arguably the most important part of the story. It captures the reader's attention and is a setup for the following text.

I guess a picture is always a good inclusion in an article, but text is the true heart of all news.