JOUR1111 Endnote

I thought I should log on to this blog and mention that now semester has ended it's unlikely that I will use this particular blog again and I have had exactly 1000 views since I began this assignment. 


Although I appreciated the lesson that JOUR1111 was trying to teach about the importance and power of blogging etc etc, this particular blog was only ever going to be an assignment for me. Because of that, I'm not overly enthusiastic about continuing to use it. 


However, for anyone who has actually read any of my posts for reasons other than to assess it/get ideas for their own assessments then you might be interested in my other online ventures. I love having discussions and sharing experiences, particularly about music, with like-minded people.


So you can follow me in a variety of ways:


My twitter account is... https://twitter.com/#!/ByClare

Tumblr.... http://byclare.tumblr.com


And if you're guessing the pattern here.. My Instagram name is... ByClare http://www.iphoneogram.com/u/8078120


I also have last.fm... http://www.last.fm/user/claaaaare


And look out for my future blogs I suppose...

Harvest Lineup

YAY! Is pretty much the only word I can think of. Once again Harvest Festival organisers have come up with the perfect mix of old/new/quirky/popular/up-and-coming/generally exciting bands. Come the 28th of June I will definitely be getting myseld a ticke to Harvest this year. Sigur Ros and Grizzly Bear alone are on my must-see lists...

Two Weeks

Grizzly Bear

Lecture Twelve

I consider myself fairly internet literate. Like millions of other people I have a Facebook account, Twitter, Tumblr, Instagram, Last.fm, Fasterlouder and now thanks to JOUR1111 a blog. My interest and attentiveness to each ebbs and flows all the time, any given week I could be constantly updating one account but completely ignoring another. I'm not entirely sure if I will keep  this blog going after JOUR1111 is over, but I am tempted to start one about music or something. 

The reason I introduced this lecture by reeling off the various ways in which I shove my opinions, posts and photos in people's faces is because our last lecture for JOUR1111 was all about blogging and developing your brand name.

Steve Molk, creator of molkstvtalk.com spoke to us about his venture into the world of blogging and gave us his opinion and advice about the world of practical journalism. 

I found his talks about developing your brand name particularly resonated with me. From early on in my social networking experiences I realised the value of continuity among everything I put my name to. All of my accounts are under the name 'ByClare' and I frequently cross-promote my own writing pieces. 

Steve focused on the importance of social media in today's society. Every single day I am amazed by the way in which social media is used by a whole variety of people. While I sit in my comfortable couch tapping away on my Mac Book, communities in Kenya have begun using Twitter to convey messages regarding safety, crime alerts, weather announcements and important notices. A modern day crime stoppers group! Kony2012 took the world via a viral storm, and rioters in Libya and Egypt were able to instantly update the world on the situation from the ground. Social media, while subject to fashionable trends (see Facebook public offering... awkward), it is also being used as a really important tool.

I found Steve's story about his own TV review website really interesting. I strongly believe that if you want to be a journalist then you have to work to create a name for yourself. This isn't the Devil Wears Prada, normal people don't get magical internships that lead to a desk at the New York Times or Rolling Stone. You have to work for it and that is what I am trying to do. 

Although I have had my ups and downs with JOUR1111 this year, I feel like I am finally getting into the degree that will hopefully land me at a desk at the New York Times, or Rolling Stone (I'm not fussy).

Semester One Mixtape

A few tunes from the year thus far to help a procrastinating student to get through exams.

Animal Collective

Honeycomb

Arctic Monkeys

RU Mine?

Passion Pit

Take A Walk

Sigur Ros

Dauoalogn

Regina Spektor

Firewood

2:54

Scarlet

Temper Trap

Trembling Hands

Mystery Jets

Someone Purer 

Jack White

Sixteen Saltines

Miles Kane

First Of My Kind

The Maccabees

Pelican

Life With An LNP Majority

I highly recommend a read of this very interesting article in the Brisbane Times. It attempts to illustrate how Campbell Newman is spinning his policy in the media to minimise backlash for cutting some 20,000 jobs in the public sector. Regardless of whether you agree or not, it's still a very interesting analysis of how relationships between the media, government and the audience play out in real life.


http://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/queensland/how-to-sack-20000-queenslanders-or-more-20120613-209a1.html

Lecture Eleven

In this journalism lecture we were introduced to 'Investigative Journalism.' Although I am of the opinion that all journalism is supposed to have some degree of investigation, sadly I concede that this isn't necessarily the case all the time. There's always going to be gossip and tabloid media, however early reports actually suggest that the decline in the media industry's funds impacts on the quality of journalism. Obviously investigative journalism isn't quite extinct yet, the way in which journalists have followed up on and reported the issues that Wikileaks has released over the past few yes is perhaps testament to this.


So what is Investigative Journalism?


- Critical and thorough journalism
Investigative Journalists put a lot of time and effort into their stories. Vast amounts of research have to be done to fully investigate stories, particularly if they are controversial. 


- Custodians of conscience
In investigating important social issues, journalists uphold society's moral code, presenting the truth or unknown aspects of stories which enable to public to act upon injustices. A good example of this would be the 4 Corners report in 2011 revealing the cruel treatment of Australian cattle that are exported live to Indonesia. After the report aired, the public pressured the Government to stop the mistreatment and within days the Prime Minister had suspended all live exports to the offending abattoirs. 


- To provide a voice for those without one and to hold the powerful to account
Again my cattle example works well here. Cows don't exactly have a voice in Australia but through the investigation of a few ABC journalists, their suffering was presented to the public who demanded that the offenders be stopped. In a non-animal example, investigative stories that bring the plight of impoverished people and the injustices they face to the public raise awareness of many issues that were previously not known. This is not to say that the public don't actually care about the issues, but unless there are people providing them with information (journalists) it is unlikely they will ever find out about it.


- Fourth Estate (Watchdog)

The final role of investigative journalism is as the 'fourth estate. 'Journalists represent the interests of those without power to balance the power of government. In addition to this they ensure free flows of information necessary for the functioning of democracy by interrogating the judiciary, executive and legislature

“Watchdog.” Journalists make accountable public personalities and institutions whose functions impact social and political life. 

Page One: Inside The New York Times

The last tutorial for the semester had a rather small turnout (I think an assignment was due that day). That didn't matter however, we watched a documentary by Andrew Rossi about The New York Times. 

I found that the documentary actually to the heart of what we look at during the end of every JOUR1111 lecture, 'how will *insert media topic here* survive?.' In the case of this documentary, how will newspapers survive if 'free' online news continues to dominate the industry.  Page One shows how the New York Times has responded to this impending crisis by building partnerships with online-based organisations. While this was all well and good, there was no escaping the few hundred people they laid off due to budget cuts.

The film briefly touched on a couple of the most recent NYT scandals including Jayson Blair's plagiarism and Judith Miller's bias and uncritical reporting on the US Government's pursuit to uncover 'supposed' Weapons of Mass Destruction.

Overall it was actually pretty interesting to see how such a huge corporation is dealing with financial difficulties and trying to reinvigorate a flailing industry. I would definitely recommend the documentary to anyone remotely interested in the media.