Bridge to Brisbane

Okay, so I decided to sign up for the Bridge to Brisbane this year. Who wouldn’t want to raise money for a well deserving cause AND get exercise at the same time. A LOT OF EXERCISE. It seemed like a great idea at the time. I was still feeling that post-Olympic euphoria where you suddenly consider any athletic endeavour you attempt to be entirely possible. ‘Why not?’ I thought, and promptly signed up for the 10 kilometre race. How hard can it be?

                                                                  It's hardly a mountain......

Well since then the euphoria (and the motivation) has faded and I’m feeling nervous about ‘the big run’. I went for a six kilometre run last week and the burn in my thighs has only just faded. Oh well, I’m still going to give it my all. There may be tears (and heart failure) along the way, but raising the money will be worth it. However, there may just be one less journalism student around UQ come Monday…. Wish me luck J

Lecture Six: Commercial Media

Upwards and onwards!!! For our sixth lecture we moved away from journalism skills and into the realm of journalism studies. Commercial media was our first taste.

The major players in commercial media are:

·         News Limited – newspapers, cable T.V, Film, magazines, books, sport

·         Fairfax Media – newspapers, digital media,

·         APN – Regional newspapers, digital media, radio, outdoor advertising

·         Nine entertainment – Free To Air (FTA) T.V, magazines, digital media

·         Win – FTA T.V, radio, sport, tele-communications

·         Southern Cross – FTA T.V, radio

·         Seven West Media – FTA, newspapers, magazines, digital media

·         Ten – FTA T.V, tele-comm

On the other hand, we only have two major public media players:

·         ABC

·         SBS

Commercial media exists for one main reason. MONEY MONEY MONEY!!!! It is a business, first and foremost and at the end of the day is profit driven. If not for its primary customers, the advertisers, commercial media would essentially fail. Money is made from advertisers who pay big money to expose the world to their products. Contrary to public media (where government funding is provided), commercial media’s key focus is the customer.

There are three forms of commercial media; subscription i.e. Foxtel, sponsored i.e. Channel 9 and subsidised i.e. government funded. In terms of the way they functions there are three options; commercial, propaganda and social.

With social media these days we tend to be bombarded with advertisements (breakfast radio crap anyone?) and the element of the ‘public sphere’ seems to be lost. This is obviously due to the commercial media providers chasing profits (which is understandable). There is a need for a provision of balance between commercial and social aspects.  But how can this be done?

Some suggestions have been put forth and already implemented including government agencies regulating content, state press subsidies and some countries have even introduced licensed journalism. All of these suggestions are in practice around the globe, however, they all come with problems. If governments are to keep censoring media content, where will they know when to stop? What happens if the government can’t handle a controversial issue but the public can? Don’t we live in a democracy??

Over the years commercial media has changed from a “truthful account of the day’s events”, into a dumbed down and money greedy form of media relying on tabloids. Perhaps commercial media giants could take a lesson from Global Media who state “Our audience is our only agenda.” Now wouldn’t that be nice?

 

I Went to a Fairy Party and This is What I Saw...

I have to admit, when I was invited to my good friend’s 16^th birthday party and read it was a fairy theme, I was more than excited. A bit of an unconventional theme for a 16 year old but nonetheless fun. Of course I jumped at the chance to re-live my six year old glory days where my fairy party was THE talk of grade one (I’m being serious, it was amazing).  

Anyway, upon arrival on day of party I was a little nervous. It looked as if the ominous clouds were threatening to burst open and drench us all. But it wasn’t to be. It must have been the magic in the air, for the day soon transformed into an image of perfection. This was no ordinary 16^th birthday celebration.

Fairy wands and intricate costume make-up were the order of the day. Hugs and squeals of ‘Oh my God, you look so cute,’ were the standard greeting and there was not a teenage scowl in sight. Perhaps it was the flashback to youth that added to the festive cheer.

A round of good old hide and seek was enough to keep us entertained that day. We were just glad to be in each other’s company. There were gasps of ‘ooh’ and ‘ah’ as the birthday girl opened her presents and smiles of relief as she announced her adoration for each gift received. What a refreshing sight. An entire group of teenagers who were all getting along and who didn’t need alcohol to have a good time. Who’d have thought?

I guess sometimes it’s more fun to escape back to your childhood, even if only for a few hours. At the conclusion of the party we made a decision. ‘We should have fairy parties more often, just because.’ Nods of agreement all around. And with that, the fairies left and re-entered the world of reality.   

My Dirty Little Secret...

We’ve all seen the media hype surrounding T.V shows Being Lara Bingle and The Shire. Everyone’s bitched and moaned about the ‘rubbish’ that dominates our screens. ‘No one watches that crap’ seems to be the general consensus among the public. Or so they’ll have you believe. I’ll admit I feign disgust at the trivial content of these shows, but it’s all an act. Hello, my name is Taylor and I am addicted to trashy T.V. There, I’ve said it, you can start judging me now.

I secretly love trashy T.V shows. I haven’t stooped to The Shire yet but I’m willing to give it a go. Wife Swap and Dating In the Dark are both guilty pleasures of mine and that’s not where it stops. I’m currently so addicted to Dance Moms that I just HAD to watch the next season online, before it came to Australia. Is that sad? Probably, but I know I’m not the only one harbouring this secret.

Why do I love it so much? That’s simple. I love sitting down to these shows because of their easy viewing. No brain function required. Simply sit back and relax. Before you know it a couple of hours have passed and the most strenuous thing you’ve done is ponder which six year old is going to win the ‘Ultimate Supreme’ beauty queen title. For a couple of hours life is simple.

So, next time you’re sitting at home watching Toddlers and Tiaras with the curtains drawn, remember you’re not alone. I’ll probably be watching the psychotic pageant mums and killing off my brain cells too.

For those of you yet to experience the magic of Toddlers and Tiaras, I invite you to have a sneak peek. I promise you won't regret it.

Lecture Five: Picture Stories

 

1991 Pulitzer Prize Winner: Perfect example of ‘capturing the moment’

Picture stories are not a new concept. In fact Aboriginal cave paintings date back thousands of years. Since then we’ve seen picture stories pop up everywhere including T.V, photos (who’d have thought?), games, advertising, graffiti and even the humble five dollar note.

Still images are just as effective at telling a story as an entire feature length film or a news article. The key is ensuring that the framing, angle, focus, exposure, timing and skill of “capturing the moment” are all in sync. This, I’m afraid, is easier said than done. The photo we were shown of Jonathon Thurston at his uncle’s funeral did manage to have all of these elements. What’s more is it was taken on a Samsung phone, eliminating the myth that you need hi-tech equipment to take an amazing photo. I could feel the emotion that must have been at the funeral just by looking at the photo.

Moving pictures are a relatively new way to tell a story. The first movie was shot in the late 1800’s and is one of the most popular ways of storytelling. Imagine having to go to the cinema just so you could your fix of the daily news. Well that’s what they did ‘back in the day’. Now, thanks to the invention of television, Internet, social media and use of eye witness video, we have access to the news 24/7. There are more citizen journalists than ever before as a result of the mobile phone features now containing a video camera. The London Bombings in 2005 proved to be the catalyst for citizen journos providing footage. Video journalists can whip out their camera or phone, film their story and upload the footage straight away. The world is now a very convenient place if you have the right tools.

A picture can tell 1000 words if you happen to capture it perfectly. Let’s be honest, perfection is hard to come by. Pictures can break down cultural barriers as they often don’t require words to interpret. For journalists today, they are pretty darn important. Now, because I’m pretty deep and full of wisdom I’ll leave you with a quote that sums it up perfectly. “If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that’s a good picture.”

 

JOUR 1111 Assessment One- Media Use Diary

Media, put simply, is the main way of communication in this day and age and includes television, Internet, newspapers and radio, among other forms. It is virtually inescapable with most people accessing the media every day. The task of logging my personal media use and production over a ten day period proved quite confronting and revealed that I am not as current as prior thought in terms of my media use, despite having sufficient access.   

Table One - General Media Use (Logged in minutes or number per day in the case of newspaper and texts)                                                  

Day	Texts-Incoming &Outgoing	T.V News	T.V       Other	Facebook	Twitter	Blog
3.8.12	I- 22 O-19	30	110	40	0	15
4.8.12	I-6 O-3	0	120	30	0	0
5.8.12	I-5 O-4	20	120	15	20	85
6.8.12	I-4 O-5	30	90	40	40	30
7.8.12	I-7 O-5	30	120	30	20	40
8.8.12	I-14 O-13	20	60	10	15	45
9.8.12	I-9 O-11	0	80	10	10	0
10.8.12	I-7 O-5	25	125	20	15	0
11.8.12	I-10 O-12	30	60	0	10	0
12.8.12	I-8 O-6	60	70	35	0	10
Total	I-92 O- 83	245	855	230	130	225

  

 

Day	Internet Study	Books	Online News	Newspaper	Radio
3.8.12	35	25	0	1	5
4.8.12	0	0	0	1	0
5.8.12	0	20	20	1	0
6.8.12	0	40	15	1	5
7.8.12	0	30	20	1	0
8.8.12	60	0	0	1	0
9.8.12	0	10	5	1	0
10.8.12	20	0	0	1	0
11.8.12	40	10	0	1	20
12.8.12	30	0	0	1	5
Total	185	135	60	10	30

 

Table Two -Media Production

Day	Texts Sent	Facebook Statuses	Tweets	Facebook/Blog Comments	Emails Sent
3.8.12	19	0	0	4	0
4.8.12	3	0	1	0	1
5.8.12	4	0	0	6	0
6.8.12	5	0	0	6	0
7.8.12	5	0	0	1	1
8.8.12	13	1	0	4	0
9.8.12	11	0	0	1	3
10.8.12	5	0	3	2	1
11.8.12	12	0	0	0	0
12.8.12	6	1	1	4	0
Total	83	2	5	28	6

As table one depicts, I am not limited in my access to different forms of media. The Internet in particular is readily available to me and is the likely reason why it is my highest point of access to media. Wherever I am, I have access to the Internet. Like 78.8% of my classmates I have an internet-enabled smart phone which I utilise during my commute to university and when outside of the home. Otherwise, I use our wireless Internet connection at home on my laptop. I also noticed that my media production is significantly lower than my media use, as shown in table two. I believe this is because I have always been taught to be extremely mindful of what I put on the Internet as ‘it is out there forever’.

After further examining my Internet media usage it became apparent that a significant amount of the media content I utilised was for social networking purposes. Graph one below depicts that social media accounts for 71% of my Internet usage. This is also reflected in the cohort survey which suggested that of the 89.6% of the class who used Facebook, 41% felt they spent most of their internet time on Facebook. This is an astounding figure and is indicative of the reliance people have on social media for entertainment and information. Social media is a global phenomenon and is gaining popularity because it allows people to stay connected. Although not noted in my diary, my email use was scarce. Again, this is a result of Facebook replacing email as a way to stay in touch.

The most staggering observation I made was based upon my television viewing. On average I watched television for 1.83 hours per day over the ten day period, though some days were higher than this. Whilst this was in sync with the majority of the cohort (27.9% stated they watched 1-2 hours per day), I was concerned to find that 77.73% of my T.V viewing was for entertainment purposes. The remainder of my T.V viewing was news and current affairs programs i.e. 60 Minutes and Sunday Night. My T.V entertainment viewing was quite high as the Olympic Games were broadcast at the time. My news viewing was restricted to local channels seven and nine (out of choice) meaning my exposure to global news was reduced.

As stated in my diary I read one newspaper (The Courier Mail or Sunday Mail) every day. This is habitual and was instilled in me as a child. Our family also has the Courier Mail delivered to the house daily. Consequently, in the survey I answered that hard copy newspapers were my most common source of news. This is primarily due to the convenience factor of the delivered newspaper. Being one of only 3.6% who had this answer, I am in the minority. I understand that Journalism in hard copy newspapers is not as up to date as online newspapers or twitter as stories are always developing overnight, thus its lacking popularity.

Like 61.2% of the cohort, prior to starting JOUR1111 I did not have a Twitter account. I considered it to be a waste of time and didn’t understand it. This is probably due to the fact that Twitter is a relatively new social media platform and I don’t know many people who are active members. However, in my first 10 days of Twitter I spent nearly as much time tweeting as I did reading books (See graph two). Twitter gave me immediate access to news of the world and was entertaining at the same time. My belief is that Twitter will only grow in popularity as people begin to understand how it actually works. I have subsequently opened a second personal twitter account.

 Graph Two

Again I was in the majority of those who didn’t have a blog before JOUR1111 (61.8%). My blog usage was relatively high but only for assessment purposes. Blogging is very time consuming which is probably why a large quantity of the cohort were not active bloggers, myself included.

As a whole this exercise has made it apparent that my media usage was not as modern as a large quantity of the cohort. This can be seen particularly in my news media usage where my main source of news was from print newspapers. It has also shown that my viewing of journalism is not as frequent as it should be as a journalism student.   The course has forced me to explore different types of news media platforms that are faster and more current, which as a prospective journalist proves invaluable.