Module 3.1: Inform me! News media

This week's iLecture was by Mignon Shadlow who claims investigative journalism has had very positive results, e.g. defining moments like the end of apartheid, the Berlin Wall and the Australian Royal Commission into aboriginal deaths. She also reminded us of the Watergate scandal in 1972 where President Nixon resigned after conversations recorded on tape were leaked to the press. He was, and still is, the only American president to have resigned. In summary there was a break and enter at the Democratic National Committee Headquarters at the Watergate Complex which led to an arrest. President Nixon covered up the break in and he was implicated in a slush fund which paid for the break in. Several Nixon administration officials were arrested.  Here is a factual account from the Washington Times.

The Harper reader, which was written in 2003, is a little outdated now. Harper speaks of journalism having 'defining moments'. For print journalism it may have been the Watergate investigation. The defining moment in radio news may have been the crash of the Hindenburg and for television news - the assassination of John F Kennedy (Harper, 2003). Has there been one for online journalism yet? Probably not because online journalism is only relatively new.

The differences between print and online journalism are outlined below:
Print -

• Value intensity - if the story is of great magnitude it is likely to pass through the gatekeeper
• Unexpectedness - unexpected stories provide interesting material
• Sociocultural values
• Continuity - if it has passed through the gatekeeper before, it is likely to pass through again
• Cultural proximity - based on the number of people of ethnic background living in the area - will depend on the number of ethnic stories.

Online -

• Time span - events that coincide with the frame of publication
• Clarity or lack of ambiguity - doubtful stories may not be published
• Consonance - events congruent with an expectation
• Composition - some items are chosen simply because they contrast with other stories.

At present there are protestors in Wall Street, New York City protesting about the greed and wealth of banking industry heads. People are losing their homes and jobs while these money-hungry executives reap in bonuses of millions of dollars. These protests are not being aired on traditional media so protestors are reliant on citizen journalism. There are several channels on YouTube (see above video) showing videos of protestors. Another recent case of citizen journalism is the death of Steve Jobs, Apple founder. His death has had the biggest online reaction of any event in history. When news of his death broke there were 6000 tweets per second (Stevenson, 2011).


Discussion 1:
How do you get your news - what sources do you use? How do these differ to how your parents and grandparents got their news, or how your children might get their news now?

I get my news from various media types. As I am logged into Facebook every day, I get some headlines but mostly technology news that way. However I still like to watch the 6pm news when sitting down to dinner. My family did that when I was a kid and I guess it is a tradition I haven't grown out of. If I am driving I will have the radio on and listen for the hourly news to get local updates for my area.

My parents still watch the television news, listen to talkback radio and read the daily and Sunday newspapers. My parents don't get news from the internet at all.

My grandparents are no longer with us, but they always watched the 11am news, 6pm news and ABC news daily. I also remember my dear old Grandad waiting patiently for the paper boy to delivery the Daily Telegraph. They didn't own a computer before they died so never access online media at all.

My kids aren't interested in news, however my teenage daughter does like to watch A Current Affair with us after the news, but as for headlines - they have no interest.

Discussion 2:
Do you think online news is more or less credible than traditional news? Why or why not?

In my opinion traditional media controls what we see and hear and is very one-sided. I'm all for citizen journalism. Just look at the Occupy Wall Street protests going on at present. I read somewhere (if I find the reference I will post it as I can't find it right now) that traditional media is very right wing and mainly covers liberal conservative issues.  Just because it's on TV or in the paper, doesn't necessarily mean it is true. Consumers need to be more open these days and read more online content to get both sides of every story.

Online media champions left wing ideals of change, and this position is understandable. The online world has never been part of the nexus of governance by symbiosis that typified the right. It derives no benefits from it, and sees no reason why any part of it cannot be challenged. (Lee, 2011).

References:

Harper, C. (2003). Journalism in a Digital Age. In H. J. D. Thorbum (Ed.), Democracy and new media (pp. 271-280).

Lee, H (2011). Future Media: Revolving door of the centre.  Retrieved from http://theonlinecitizen.com/2011/09/future-media-revolving-door-of-the-centre/

Stevenson, S. (Producer). (2011). 3.1 Inform Me [video file]. Retrieved from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YSv7rjfStPs

Module 1.1: Introduction

Image courtesy of Carmichael Library via Flickr.com
Creative Commons Licence

• Definition of media = the means of communication, as radio, television, newspapers and magazines, that reach or influence people widely
• The media has changed over the years from simply newspapers, radio, TV and magazines to online versions of all of these PLUS the internet. The internet allows all of the above to be accessed online 24/7 to a vaster audience and instantly via a computer and/or mobile phone
• Technology has severely altered the way media is produced and consumed
• Society wants everything NOW, that's why you can now access news on your mobile phone
• Consumers have become producers because consumers can now collaborate and create
• Traditional advertising is down and digital advertising is rising
• In theory we could live without newspapers, radio, TV and magazines because we can get it all on a computer with internet access! As well as that we can use our computers for gaming, entertainment, socialising, shopping, listening to music, watching movies and television shows. We can work from home, study from home and keep connected with our family and friends. We no longer need a landline, TV, radio, newspaper delivery or magazine subscriptions - or a car! We simply don't need to go anywhere any more!
• Some cultures don't have computers, smart phones or internet access. Are they disadvantaged? We lived in a world without computers before the internet so it is possible to survive, but would we advance? Would we improve? We certainly take technology for granted, don't we?!

My Media Survey Results have been collated and uploaded. I now wish I had asked additional questions like gender, age, demographic, cultural background, etc to highlight some other interesting points. Despite this lack of information the results are interesting. I designed the survey so all questions could have multiple answers except one. Participants could answer several options for all questions except 'What do you mainly use the Internet for?' because I wanted participants to really think about this question. I wanted them to seriously consider whether they used it more for entertainment, information or communication. I realise most people use it for all 3, however I was mainly interested in which option consumes most of their Internet time.