JOUR1111- Personal Media Use and Production Diary

My name is Jemma and I am a 17-year-old studying a Bachelor of Arts degree. I decided to study journalism because I have always been interested in the always-transforming nature of the industry. The various different facets of the profession fascinate me and I hope to learn the basic skills of a journalist.

Media Usage Log 

Days	16/03	17/03	18/03	19/03	20/03	21/03	22/03	23/03	24/03	25/03	Total
Facebook	128	30	40	30	45	50	30	50	60	50	513
Online News	15	15	5	5	10	15	10	10	5	5	95
Blogs	3	5	3	2	2	4	5	5	2	2	33
Tumblr	2	2	3	2	5	3	2	1	0	1	21
University	0	0	0	260	120	150	160	120	120	120	1050
Television	180	0	60	180	90	40	50	200	50	60	910
iPhone music & Apps	30	10	20	15	15	15	20	20	10	20	175
Magazines	10	0	0	10	0	10	0	10	10	0	50
Book	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	30	0	0	30
Online TV shows	0	0	0	0	40	0	0	0	43	43	126
Online shopping	10	0	0	0	0	10	10	0	0	0	20
YouTube	10	9	10	12	4	3	4	3	18	4	77
Total	388	71	141	516	331	300	291	449	318	325	3130

Figure 1

Figure 2

After completing a media usage survey for ten days, I have gathered together all of the media outlets I interact with on a daily basis. I learnt a lot about my media usage habits from this task. For example, I was very surprised at the amount of time I spend on Facebook and watching television. These statistics are depicted in Figures 1 and 2. After completing the log, I was astounded because I always thought these types of New Media were a minority in my life. Furthermore, I discovered that I am a student who spends a lot of time on types of New Media and barely any on Old Media. Examples of the difference between are shown in the image below.

Source: http://larunadhir.blogspot.com.au/2011/12/old-vs-new-in-media-melange.html

In my opinion, the survey that the entire cohort completed was extremely useful for this task. The results in comparison to my results were not surprising. Most students were 17-18 years old, female, had a Facebook account and an Internet-enabled smart phone. My three main contributors of media usage were Facebook, Television and University work. These areas were also extremely common in the survey of the JOUR1111 cohort. My usage of Facebook as a percentage across the ten days was 34% as shown in Figure 2, however it was not the activity I spent the most time doing. Compared with the students who spend 91.9% of their time online on Facebook, my percentage is different. My average time spent watching television per day is 91 minutes. When comparing this statistic with the common figure of the cohort’s usage of 1-2 hours per day, my usage is almost exactly aligned with it. However, the biggest consumer of my time is University work with an average of 105 minutes per day. This statistic differs from the cohort’s score as only 49.5% of students spend most of their time online studying or researching.

After seeing the results from my personal log, I think I use Facebook to excess. I study full time and according to my personal log, I am on Facebook for approximately 8.5 hours over a period of ten days. I have an iPhone and this enables me to be on the Facebook app when I am travelling without a computer. I was really surprised when I saw exactly how much time I was spending on the networking site daily. Primarily because it is a natural instinct to visit Facebook when I open my computer or turn on my phone. 

In light of the past couple lectures, I think my total of 513 minutes on Facebook in ten days reflects the significance of the Semantic Web. It shows that teenagers are constantly online. However, in comparison to my peers, the time I spend on Facebook is average.

Following this media log, I have discovered that my consumption of Television is fairly high. I watched TV a total of 910 minutes in ten days, which is equal to approximately 15 hours. According to Figure 2, television takes up 29% of my time. In my daily routine, I watch television whilst I am eating my breakfast before university. As can be seen from the log, on the weekends I watch a lot because I find it relaxes me. In relation to journalism, this evidence confirms that I have maximum exposure to TV journalism, text and advertising on daily basis. In comparison to the survey taken by my peers, my statistic of around 1.5 hours of television every day falls in the most common category of 1-2 hours for most students.

With reference to the media usage log and the corresponding graphs, university and anything related is the main consumer of my time. The category included lecture and tutorial time and extra study. I study full time so this statistic is not surprising. At the end of every day I study in the afternoons and evenings and also to do some on the weekend to keep up to date with the workload. With university I am exposed to several types of media such as PowerPoint’s and news outlets. My relationship with journalism is strengthened through this routine, as not only am I immersed in media studies, but also my daily life is filled with real-life examples of the industry. In comparison to my fellow peers, 49.5% spend most of their time studying or researching online. Thus, my statistic is a little lower at 34% but is similar in the way that the majority of time is spent on university work.

Overall, I was very surprised at the extent I rely on New Media, in particular social networking. I think this exercise enabled me to see the amount of time I spend on media without thinking and I thoroughly recommend trying it yourselves.

Journalism-Lecture 5 Reflection

The blog post below entails all the notes from the radio excerpt we were given as a sound lecture this week. I would just like to reflect on the lecture in this post.
I thought the concept of the sound lecture was really interesting and I loved hearing the radio interview excerpts because it is very rare that I listen to radio. Moreover I really enjoyed hearing about the various thinking and what the radio hosts have to do in order for an interview to run smoothly. I didn't think about the live aspect and how the host must always think of his feet and adapt to the guest.
I also learnt a lot from the advice both guests said, such as  "worldliness is good, read the paper, keep reading, keep asking questions, be open minded, expose yourself to thoughts of ideas of people you don’t agree with and you will know who you are better , expose yourself different currents of thoughts, expand world view as much as possible". I thought this advice was crucial for journalists who aspire to be in broadcasting and it really helped me to find some clarity in my career path.

Journalism-Lecture 5- Radio excerpts

This week's lecture was structured a little differently to the past weeks, it was an online sound lecture and it was two excerpts from radio programs. I have taken as many notes possible so I will post them for the readers of my blog! Below is essentially all of the main points mentioned in the radio interviews.

The first speaker was Richard Fidler from 'Conversations' program on ABC local radio.
The general topic for the interview was telling stories for radio.
 Richard was saying that what he needed to learn was that radio is very different medium to TV.
For example you can't say what you will say on radio on TV and you can't put a camera in a radio station. It will just make for bad radio and dull TV.
Radio is more intimate than TV. TV you can watch from a distance because it is a high impact medium, it comes at you.
Whereas, when listening to radio, the listener is multitasking and doing other things like driving or walking the dog.
Radio sort of feels like the Voice sort of comes from inside your head.
The listener should feel included in the conversation you are having on air. Richard was saying that sometimes a really interesting guest can come on and it can become a closed conversation.
An important lesson is to keep the listener involved in the conversation. In relation to Richard's program, "Conversations", it is an hour long with a guest.
Usually biographical in nature, and the guest is well known but it is better if the  guest is someone you have never heard of before.
The conversation is also about ideas as well as biography on a good day.
 In order for the story to be able to sustain for an hour, Richard has to be genuinely interested and need enthusiasm.
 Furthermore, he states that he is confident it will work before because of the pre-production crew.
A lot of pre-preparation has been done before guest has been in the studio, the guest is prepped and relaxed and know what direction the interview is going in.
Richard says that the key to a good interview is for the subject to feel safe and in a trustworthy environment where they can share their story.
The style of interview cannot be too invasive, sometimes you can tease the talent so they can laugh.
 If they are an experienced media personality they often go into a mode and then you have to take a different approach and use humour and be like a normal human being.

The times when guests are the most memorable is when they remember things for the first time. It is always very interesting. Richard says he loves moments where people surprise themselves and they have trust in the program to open up.
It also is a privilege to be part of the recollection when moments like that happen.
He says that he doesn't say that much and he gives the guest a lot of time to explain themselves.
The times where interference is necessary is if the guest they lose themselves or go off track.
 Giving the guest the time to pause and reflect is also disguised as a prompt and a technique.
It is the gateway for subtle body language indicating to the guest that they can take their time. Moreover, silence is powerful on radio.
With relation to Richard's listening habits, he says that ABC radio is thriving in new environment. Radio is the  Oldest electronic media. It is unscathed in the sense that it gets new technology and is able to effortlessly blend in to new environments.
The interviewer then asks Richard that when in the studio by yourself, how do you maintain the warmth for someone you cannot see?
 Richard says that he imagines his listeners typically as someone who needs local radio to keep informed on what’s funny and weird etc in the world or  someone who needs a break or laugh from the pressure of daily life.
The target listener can be aged from 20-60 who want to know what’s current in life and remain contemporary. He also says that the sense of public service gives an energetic feeling.

Finally, Richard's advice for students of journalism is that worldliness is good, read the newspaper, keep asking questions, be open minded, expose yourself to thoughts of ideas of people you don’t agree with you, expose yourself different currents of thoughts, because you will know who you are better and expand your world view as much as possible.

I really enjoyed this interview, I thought Richard was very insightful and easy to listen to. I also related with his pieces of advice for budding journalists. I thought the different parts were crucial and thoughtful for students of young age studying journalism.

The radio interview then switched to a different presenter. His name was Steve Austin from ABC local radio Queensland.
He said that the first thing he learnt was that in radio your voice has to be annunciated whilst still being yourself.
The aim is to try and communicate and bring down the barriers between the listener and you. One of the quotes used in this interview was that "radio is the theatre of the mind".
I liked it because it enables you think about radio in a different way.
 Steve says that the best thing to do is to reflect who you are speaking with and to not think about yourself and think about what does the audience want or need?
 Some challenges that he has faced depends on the time slot and what he knows about the talent. Steve said that if he wants to know something he will pursue it.
  Furthermore, he mentioned that the average listener is good in that the human voice and ear have a perfect marital relationship.
He said that people can tell when someone is lying on radio rather than TV because on TV there are distractions by visuals where as people can tell if someone is being fake on radio.
Steve says that his tips are that to observe the talent's body language, reward their trust and give them space to reveal themselves.
Another nice quote was "As it is in life, as it is on radio". Which basically means that if you wouldn’t do it in life, don’t do it on radio.
 With posing questions to listeners, Steve said that he is blunt and will say a simple question such as 'do you agree?'
He found that the less complicated the question the faster they respond. Making it easier on the listener is beneficial.
Some components of a good interview is to search for human experiences, look for emotional responses of things that come from a deep place. Human beings are emotional and driven by life experience which is very broad.
 Another interesting point which was raised was that there has been several changes in the way people consume media. For example, radio has continued and is becoming bigger all over the world.  Radio is good for the people who are time poor and also it is nice for a human to connect with another human subconsciously. Over time radio has gotten better and become more real.

Some tips that Steve gave was that if you are not naturally talented then do not give up and if you really want it then go after that. Don’t give up because you may become a more interesting person if you have knockbacks. The best moments he said is when a guest reveals something personal and forgotten they were on radio, they have told their story and became quite open.


Overall, I thought this lecture was really helpful to understand what the life of a radio presenter is like and the importance of radio and how different it is to TV.
In year 12, I was lucky enough to talk on ABC radio on behalf of my school. I was able to interview fashion designer, Leigh Buchanan which was a great experience. I was able to relate to what the guests were saying because I had already experienced being in a studio live.

The Apple effect

After reading through some Economist magazines I came across this article, "An iPopping phenomenon" and I thought it was worthy to share.
I thought this piece on Apple was interesting primarily because it ties in both my fascination with economic markets and well written articles.
It was a bonus that the article was about the rise and rise of Apple in the stock markets. This topic I am always intrigued with. I too have the iPhone 4 and a MacBook Pro and my family are a 'Apple family'. I agree that Apple has completely revolutionised mobiles and internet accessing for this generation. The article also ties in with topics of past lectures such as photo-journalism and picture stories, text and the new World Wide Web.
http://www.economist.com/node/21551058

Journalism-Lecture 4- Picture Stories

In Lecture 4, on the 19th March, the topic for the day was Picture Stories.
I will admit I was intrigued by this topic because I am very interested in photography and images which accompany news stories.  The sub-topics we covered in the lecture were the overwhelming presence of  picture stories in today's news, is a picture really worth a thousand words, a short history of pictures and what makes a great photo. Firstly, Bruce talked about the ever-present nature of picture stories in today's society. For example, they are in newspapers, magazines, TV, movies, computer screens, iPhones, outdoor advertising, and even on money! 

A condensed version of the history and transformation of picture stories includes.. 

• Australian Indigenous Cave stories-been around for 40000 years
• Cave Painting Stories- Lascraux, France 15000-1000BC
• Plato-“shadows on the cave wall”
• Holy Books and Stained Glass-these were driven by pictures, primarily because people couldn’t read so if the church wanted to get message across they needed pictures
• Early Newspapers/Newsletters-1860’s newspapers -illustrated with line drawings
• Photography begins for journalism- first published photo in a newspaper halftone only, first published news photo  was in 1880
• First colour reproduction in newspaper  was in 1936
• Digital capture and upload- in laptop and put it online and onto devices
• Digital manipulation-Photoshop, which is now in every magazine cover and pages. This is new but everywhere

• Digital publishing- better quality photos and videos, more opportunities for visual, photo galleries- rather than pick one, you can pick a number of pictures you can publish show a lot more aspects of story. 

With relation to the topic of  what makes a great photo, we firstly looked at a case study of three photos from a funeral and Bruce asked us which photo was more effective.


 I thought picture two was the most effective, this photo was also voted as the most effective by the majority of the lecture group. I thought this because it was nicely framed with a religious context,the frame takes up the picture. 
This photo was picked as the news photo of the year for Qld Media awards in 2009. We then talked about the characteristics of a great photo. They included: 

• Framing- how we frame an image
• Focus- in terms of focus of the people
• Angle and Point of view (POV)- for example if filming from up high the message conveyed is to  look down on the subject
• Exposure or light- falls on persons face, usage of flash is frowned upon 
• Timing (shutter speed)- there is a movement against camera phones, however this is important for sports photos
• Capturing “the moment”- which is a second in time 
• The rule of thirds- (Golden mean)-entails breaking the photo up into grids which acts as a guide to what makes a great photo- these days it is pre programmed to see and perceive. 

Below is one of the quotes used in today's lecture which I thought was very insightful. 

 “A picture has no meaning at all if it cant tell a story”. I think this quote perfectly sums up the purpose of a picture and what it aims to do. 

With relation to moving pictures the criteria is basically the same as still pictures, however editing is now used and there is a sound element in moving pictures. Some more progressions in the history of photo journalism was the creation of editing in 1925 which put images together to create a story

and cut between shots to create tension and create a story. 
This was accompanied by newsreels at the cinema,  propaganda films, the creation of the 24/7 news cycle, mobile phones and social networking, a visual

-    journalist or in other words the new TV journalist. We ended with the quote 

-       “If it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that’s a good picture”. I really liked this quote also because it tells the truth and captures the essence of photography in my opinion. 


In today's lecture I learnt the history of picture stories because I didn't know the transformation of the pictures and the progression into news stories. Furthermore, I also learnt the various factors involved with a good photo. 


I thought this was a very insightful and interesting lecture because of my passion for photography and my interest into how the pictures end up with the articles or in magazines. 

- 

Kony 2012 Social Movement

One of the stories I have been fascinated with in the past couple of weeks is the "Joseph Kony 2012". The social movement which literally went viral online overnight was amazing to see. After watching the video myself, I admit I was determined to do my part and repost this video to all of my friends and raise awareness. However, after reading all of these reviews which question the video's motives and aim I would like to know the truth about the cause so I have been reading a few articles.

Here are some links which I found interesting..

http://www.kony2012.com/

http://www.americanlivewire.com/the-kony-2012-movement-a-scam-or-a-wake-up-call/

http://www.independent.co.ug/news/news-analysis/5425?task=view

http://www.techworld.com.au/article/418120/kony_2012_video_whips_up_social_media_firestorm/

There are so many questions circling this topic, it is incredible.
I think one of the main reasons I am so amazed by this story is because it really highlights the power of social media in this century and how effectively people can spread a message if they feel a passion or a dedication to the cause. If you have been living under a rock, make sure you watch the video "Kony 2012" or read about the cause for yourself!

Journalism- Lecture 3- What is text?

In Lecture 3 on the 12th of March, we focused on the topic of 'what is text?' with the guest speaker, Skye Doherty coming to talk to our lecture group.

She firstly discussed the characteristics of what text can be, for example fast, flexible and portable.
We then moved onto the topic of the inverted pyramid, which I have heard about and have been researching in the recent readings we have been assigned.

It basically stands for the fact that in journalism, the most important parts of a story e.g the who, what, why, when, where and how, belong in the first paragraph or two.
This information is then followed by the the body which is meant for the extended information of the vital points in the first paragraph.

Skye then showed us various examples of stories in the newspaper and online with the principles of the inverted pyramid in use.

Furthermore, she touched on hyperlinks and how in online articles, there are links to multiple different articles at once. Another point she raised was that text is basically everywhere in the article, for example in the headline, captions and stand-first.
Skye then talked about the importance of headlines being able to catch the reader's eye whether they be in the top left corner or the top right.

The point of the layouts of an article was fascinating to me and I learnt a lot with this information.
Skye mentioned that sometimes your story needs to be able to fit into multiple different formats and you will sometimes need to change the story to fit the outline given.
 I have never thought of articles like that and was surprised at how many different areas an article must fill.
 The different roles of the parts in the article were also discussed.

 Overall, the overriding message I learnt in this lecture was that text is the most dominant part of the journalism's job and that it has progressed from only being able to access it in print to being able to access it online and throughout the web.
 Due to the fact that text is the main factor in the majority of journalism these days, it was enlightening to see the different ways in which it can be manipulated and presented to the public.