Bringing it back...

Now, considering journalism is all about new information and currency, I'd probably be out of a job if this blog were committed to the contemporary!

However, I'm working on it!

My boss would probably end up being like this stressed media mogul:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lqU-gV4QaiQ

And I thought as a recurring gag for my journalism blog, I could include a humorous quote from the head of The Daily Bugle (Spiderman), J. Jonah Jameson. Enjoy!

J. Jonah Jameson Quote of the Week:

"Now, get your pretty little portfolio off my desk before I go into a diabetic coma"

Chapter 4: A 'know' for news

1. How did Australian news outlets give proximity to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami?

The news outlets ran prominent news segments on the natural disaster, taking high priority on evening news bulletins and other such media forms. According to The Daily Miracle, some of the devastated areas, particularly the waterfront tourist areas of western Thailand, were favourite holiday destinations for many Australians (Ch 4: A 'know' for news; p.85). Tragically, some Australian citizens died in the disaster, and so the proximity that the media outlets gave created a highly empathetical response in Australia, a nation whose population is clustered around its often low-lying coastline and a nation neighbouring the worst hit nation, Indonesia (Ch 4: p.85). This in turn sparked rigorous conversation for a long period of time after the event amongst citizens and prominent figures in politics, environmental organisations and other non-profit institutions such as the Red Cross who aimed to organise an effective plan of relief to the devastated countries. It united a nation in sympathy for the victims and their families (Ch 4: p.85).

2. If you were a reporter covering a story about a mentally ill Australian woman who was found by Queensland police in Cairns talking what they thought was German, who was subsequently arrested and found herself locked up in an immigration detention centre in S.A for 10 months, what main news value would you focus on when writing the story? In order of importance, what would be the next two subsidiary news values?

I would place the news value of impact as my first priority, as a story like this one has the potential to have a significant impact on people's lives, especially on a local scale. Firstly, the citizens of South Australia would be concerned about the treatment of the prisoner, which is occurring in their state. On a local and national level, however, the majority of Australians would be questioning the ethical considerations of imprisoning someone who is mentally ill and is not able to speak English. The decision to punish the woman would most likely be a government judgement, and the media tend to cover federal, state and local governments because their decisions have great impact on people's lives. Different people will be affected in different ways on different scales.
Secondly, I would focus on human interest, because frequently the human-interest news value 'tugs at heartstrings’. It can inspire empathy, spark curiosity, or arouse community concern (Ch 4: p.96). It can often support a 'straight' news story, in that it will give a human element to the issue being reported, in this instance, the story could reinforce an inquiry about the treatment of detainees in Australian detention centres.
Thirdly, depending on the publication, proximity would be relevant if the detention centre was located in a small suburb, and a local paper was reporting the story

3. As a reporter, which information would you feature more prominently?
a) A mayoral announcement about an urban renewal plan to resolve inner-city crime problems; or
b) A comment by Prince Charles, in Australia on a visit, who says after the mayor's speech that such problems can often be attributed to building regulations formulated by city councils?

Although the mayor is of more political authority, I would feature Prince Charles' comment after the mayor's speech, primarily due to the fact that he is a much more highly recognisable figure on an international scale. This is giving priority to the news value of prominence. This would be an ideal lead into the story for the reader, as it would grab and maintain their interest to continue reading. You could then go on to elaborate about the detail of the mayor's speech.

4. Define 'news' in 20 words or less
Current information relating to particular persons, institutions or events previously unknown; can be of local, national or global significance.

5. Should Kipling's Six Strong Serving Men be assigned equal value when writing a news article?

Yes, they should be assigned equal value, however in different stages. The who, what, when and where are the key details for the lead, the why and how can come later in the report.

JOURNALISM ISSUE ENTRY:

I'll keep it brief this week, to relieve anyone who happens to be reading my blog and had to wade through all the aforementioned!
Most obviously, the key issue that interested me from reading Chapter 4: A 'know' for news in The Daily Miracle, was the importance of news values and how they are highly relevant in contemporary reporting. It is crucial that a journalist knows when to privilege each one, and how to go about it. More specifically, however, I found the newspaper audience demographic to be quite intriguing. Declines in readers, according to the research, can be attributed to a number of factors such as the modern busy lifestyles, the decrease in 'hard' news stories and increase in 'soft' 'infotainment' style journalism. More young people are not sourcing their news from newspapers as they seem to lack any lasting appeal, and are turning to the new media market online as it is said to be quicker, convenient and, quite simply, more modern and appealing. This blog is an example of this new technology, and it's widely accessible to anyone who is savvy enough! Are you getting your information from Chapter 4 of The Daily Miracle from my own thoughts and reflections on this blog? Quite interesting, philosophical stuff! If newspapers are to continue to compete with this contemporary, dynamic society, they need to examine their audience and ask the hard questions: Should the media mirror society so that society, seeing its own defects, can 'heal itself'? Should the media give the public what it wants - or says what it wants - or give it what the media believes it needs?


Thankyou for your time in reading my blog entry!