Personal Media Journal

Please Note: Because I needed to convert the graphs and tables into image files, their quality has lessened as a result.

Media Logging

The statistics shown below were recorded and collated over a ten (10) day period between 13/03/12 and 22/03/12, the purpose of which was to identify personal media-usage and compare this data with a corresponding survey taken by my JOUR1111 peers.

NOTE: There are a number of notable inconsistencies in the survey data that must be addressed. The survey was taken BEFORE students were required to create Blogger and Twitter accounts. Questions 6, 7, 8 and 9 were directly affected, while question 13 was indirectly affected. For the purposes of comparison within this report however, I will be using the data as provided by the survey document.

                10-day Media-Use Comparison (Minutes)

(See: Appendix A)

As the above table shows, I used Facebook almost twice as much as my second-highest media source (Blogger). This corroborates data represented in the survey, where 91.9% of students claimed they spent a large amount of their time using Facebook (much higher than the 61.3% for ‘General Browsing’).

What is even more interesting however, is that the top four highest forms of personal media-use are all associated under the same medium; the Internet. This is further highlighted by the survey data, which shows that 96.8% of surveyed students spend at least 1 hour each day using the internet, as opposed to 68% and 29.4% for Television and Radio respectively, over the same time period.

Personal Media-Use Comparison

This graph compares my time spent using each of the four ‘main’ mediums. As is clearly evident, an overwhelming majority of my time was spent using the Internet (86%), while Print and Television usage shared 7% each. This shows the dominance of ‘New Media’ in relation to ‘Old Media’. (See: Appendix B, C)

After considering how effectively my personal data corroborates with the survey data, a relative conclusion may be formed which suggests that, as a group, my peers and I spend the majority of our media-related time using the Internet, as opposed to other forms of media.

At this stage, it is important to note a number of reasons as to why this data may be slightly misleading. My media-use has changed significantly since I moved away from home and settled into college life at University. Access to Newspapers, Television and Radio has significantly decreased, resulting in the far lower usage numbers that have been detailed above. Not only this, but due to the requirements of a number of my University subjects, my Internet usage has increased to accommodate this, most notably through Blogger and Twitter (of which I had never used previously).

Another reasonable assumption therefore, is that a number of my peers may be under similar circumstances. This makes the survey data difficult to interpret, as this is impossible to distinguish, while the ability to provide more than one answer to certain questions proved difficult when trying to compare media-usage across mediums.

In collating and comparing this data, it has become obvious that the Internet has become the leading source of news, information and correspondence. Personally, this assessment has shown that I am pursuing a career in which the Internet has proven to be a beneficial and necessary tool, providing confidence that I am on the correct path towards a career that both suits and interests me.

 APPENDIX

Appendix A:

 | Facebook – 24% | Blogger – 22% | Twitter – 16% | General Browsing - 13% | Newspaper – 8% | Television – 7% | Email – 5% | Youtube – 4% | Podcast – 1% | Radio – 0% |

                Appendix B:         

| New Media – 86% | Old Media – 14% |

                Appendix C:

Shadows on a cave wall

Let me be honest with you. I'm currently at a loss for any interesting introductory segues. In fact, I'm at a loss in regards to a number of things. Sleep first and foremost. Therefore, I shall endeavour to spare any poor soul who for some reason finds the time to read the next few paragraphs and make this as brief as possible.

My fourth JOUR1111 lecture largely followed the script of its predecessors. Until it actually began that is. For this lecture would be focusing on pictures - in particular, telling factual stories with them. This was a subject for which I was already somewhat versed in, thanks to my Visual Communication subject, which oddly enough holds its lectures in the same room. While not as in-depth as COMU1999, Dr Redman was still able to hold my attention (and everyone else's for that matter) through another useful tool - humour.

In-fact, what made the lecture worth my time was the subtle way he was able to convey his message while keeping it very much lighthearted. Perhaps it was the subject matter that made it so easy, for it WAS funny in its own right. From badly photo-shopped images of  a white man's head on a black man's body to a model with a waist so impossibly thin she would have given barbie a run for her money. Because that's what images in the media have become to some people, a way to visually communicate with an audience that, if effective, garners a far greater emotional response than text alone. But are we overdoing it?

If you are a fellow JOUR1111 student of mine, then you (should) have seen this video during the lecture. We all gasped and groaned as we watched the magic of technology drastically alter this woman's face beyond prior recognition. This video highlights a vile truth. Modern marketing has sunk so low as to alter the face of their brand to impossible extremes in order to sell a product on a buyer's presumption that the face they see is what they're buying. It is not.

An un-named freelance photographer was fired after altering the original image (right) to make it

 look as though there was more smoke rising from burning buildings following an Israeli airstrike in Beirut. 

An image released by a North Korean news agency of Kim Jong Il's funeral, in which 

a film crew was removed from the original photograph (left).

Doctored images like those shown above are an ever-common occurrence, in some cases altering how information is perceived and history recorded. Will the day come where a photograph can no longer be considered a primary source? While we accept that history is recorded by the victor, it is in images that this history is portrayed - images that, if this practice of photo editing continues, will cease to be reliable.

Now, I know I have skipped largely over the crux of Dr Redman's lecture in favour of ranting, but I believe it is important that people are aware just how deep this type of behaviour runs. Lewis H. Lapham once said, "People may expect too much of journalism. Not only do they expect it to be entertaining, they expect it to be true." As a budding journalist, I expect it to be true. I can't except the alternative.

Perhaps Eddie Adams got it wrong when he said "if it makes you laugh, if it makes you cry, if it rips out your heart, that’s a good picture.” 

These pictures make me laugh.

These pictures make me cry.

These pictures rip out my heart..

... but they're not good pictures.

Collegehumour's take on doctored photos

The Media Game

"Using games to tell news stories forces journalists to think and work in radically different ways. But, these rich, non-linear narratives have the potential to push storytelling in new directions and engage audiences more deeply." Skye Doherty

The power of a whim had once again abandoned me, this time in favour of a more 'sociable' weekend back home. Needless to say, I took my seat in E109 with not the slightest clue as to what was in store, apart from a rather vague email from Dr Redman regarding a lady by the name of Skye Doherty.

Now, if there was ever a person who you could say has 'been there and done that', it's Skye Doherty. With little more than 10 years experience in the industry, she has already worked for media groups in Australia, South-east Asia and the UK. It was with this knowledge that I straightened my back, took the cap from my pen, turned to a blank page in my notebook and took notice.

The majority of the presentation was centred around the value and importance of text in today's media landscape. Even after the advent of radio and video, Skye argued that text still remained the main form of information communication between journalists and their viewers, noting that while the way in which this text is delivered varies according to the platform, its benefits remain.

With 20 minutes remaining before the lecture was due to end, Skye concluded her presentation. Eager as many of us were to leave early, Dr Redman called for 'question time' - an obvious attempt to kill time that wasn't lost on any of the yawning students seated throughout the lecture theater. While we sat struggling through the stereotypical "why did you want to be a journalist", one young lady in the front row posed a very interesting question. She asked Ms Doherty about her blog, particularly a post to do with 'newsgames'. A simple 'please elaborate' changed the whole direction of the lecture, for both Skye Doherty and the students to whom she was addressing.

What followed was a crash course on newsgames; from playing as a Pirate, capturing and pillaging cargo ships off the coast of Somalia in Cutthroat Capitalism to controlling a guided missile from above in September 12, Ms Doherty established the idea that just as technology is evolving, so is the way in which journalists convey news to their audience.

Once I got back to my room, I quickly jumped online and did a little research on newsgames, even playing a few myself. The idea itself is still a relatively obscure one, and from my short experiences in playing I feel there's still a long way to go - a fact agreed upon by the various minds behind the concept. University of Central Lancashire's Paul Egglestone highlighted the major 'fault' with the concept when he stated “Deadline and story-driven newsroom culture won’t support this level of creativity.” It's true.

In the mad scramble that is today's media environment, where it's not enough to simply have a story, but to have it first, a newsgame of quality requires time and effort that very few are willing to afford to it. Far from being a buzz kill however, the future is still relatively bright for newsgames - in their own niche; not simply an adjunct to a story, but a tool providing deeper understanding.

“It is very exciting and I genuinely believe it is a revolutionary way of communicating, because anything which gives you a degree of experience has got to be better than something which is sedentary or passive. But equally, it is not always appropriate. You don’t want to turn everything into a game. Either it trivialises it or it is more effort to create a game than just to do it.” John Welsh

Climbing.

I'll be quite frank with you, I live my life on a series of whims. This is where my conviction (and lack thereof) ultimately stems from. Any long-term goals I may set inevitably fall to the wayside, replaced by an apparent deep-seeded urge to fix what isn't broken. In the few days prior to my second JOUR1111 lecture, I caught hold of a whim - this one however, stuck.

I took my seat in E109, buried deep within the bowels of UQ's most iconic building, the Forgan Smith. My promptness was rewarded, of course, with a half-hour wait in the hallway - but that's in the past. From Dr Redman's first sentence, I knew this was going to be a good lecture. Remember that whim I mentioned earlier? I caught hold of it, combing through the (apparent) required reading that had been posted on Blackboard, and absorbed it. Mostly.

It was 'straight from the textbook', so to speak. This talk of old media, new media; it wasn't an overly difficult concept to grasp, but it WAS an interesting one. Where do we draw the line? Prior to this lecture, I'd decided first at port had been print-media. Then it was radio, then television and 'finally', the internet. Apparently, it's not as simple as that; it's even simpler. For the sake of grouping and labeling, all of the aforementioned forms of media (excluding the latter) fall under the banner of 'Old Media'. That is, an era of mass communication, whereby audiences are targeted according to specific markets. I thought, "okay then, so New Media is limited only to the internet?". Somewhat, but it's a little more involved than that. 

'New Media'  is an ever-expanding concept. From 'Web 1.0' to 'Web 3.0' and beyond, the media landscape is drastically changing. 

'Web 1.0' - The beginnings of the internet, the 'information web'. Very advertisement-friendly, with a general focus on giving companies the power to engage with their audience

'Web 2.0' - The 'social web'. The internet broadens further, exploring new forms of communication within the medium itself; blogging, tweeting, 'poking' (for facebook's easily amused) - targeted marketing explodes in popularity, with an overwhelming emphasis on communicating as efficiently and effectively as possible..

.. which brings us to 'Web 3.0' - The 'semantic web'. Still in relative infancy, web 3.0 was predicted in 2001 by Tim Berners-Lee (the credited 'founder' of the world wide web) when he stated "Computers must have access to structured collations of information and have set rules for relevant inferences’". In English? The semantic web involves collating information about the user and using said information to provide relevant suggestions based on prior-use. This can already be seen on sites such as Youtube and Amazon, where a user's prior search criteria is used to form "relevant inferences" regarding other videos and products (respectfully) that the site believes would interest them.

Media is changing, we understand that. We understand the concept, but perhaps not the scale. There's a vast world of information out there, behind paywalls and censorship.. but alas, that's for another day. For now, let's rest, knowing full-well that in a matter of a few short years what seems so very far away could be at our very fingertips. 

To me, that's scary.

And Exciting.

 

A New Beginning..

First day, first week, first lecture.. or was it? While the rest of my fellow JOUR1111 compatriots were eagerly awaiting their first Intro to Journalism lecture, I was on a bus on the way to the Mater Hospital. The most engaged I became with my journalistic qualities was interviewing a charming old lady on the whereabouts of Queensland X-Ray's offices. An engrossing experience, to be sure.

I quickly realised my absence would be anything but beneficial, so once back at college I called upon UQ's 105 mb/s internet and put it to the test; Lecture 1 notes acquired. The first slide provided an overwhelming sense of satisfaction. I'm a human being, I'm eager, I'm young, and sure as the sun will rise tomorrow, I want to have a good time. This, is what I want to do.

I liken this point in my life to a person climbing Mt Everest. You don't look at the mountain as a whole, but in stages. The summit of stage 1 is the base of stage 2 - I have just reached the summit of high school; stage 2, University, awaits.

BRING IT ON.

Is University Just One Big Meme?

An internet meme, for the slightly less internet savvy, is a popular image or video passed electronically from one internet user to the other, encapsulating a particularly well known 'joke' or turn of phrase. For example, frequent users of Youtube may have been unwittingly linked to Rick Astley's "Never gonna give you up" (commonly referred to as 'Rick Rolling') sometime in the past, or more recently exposed to a number of crude KONY2012 imitations. There's even whole websites dedicated entirely to cat memes!

This got me thinking. For something as basic as a cat, or as socially vague as Rick Astley, there must be memes out there somewhere regarding University right? What better way to try and understand the general consensus of  University students, than through sourcing their memes? Luckily, I didn't have to search very far.

UQ Memes is a Facebook page dedicated to memes concerning the University of Queensland and its students. While humourous, some also piqued my interest for other reasons. One meme in particular caught my eye:

I found this both funny and poignant. Being a first year student, I've endeavored to attend all my lectures, in fear of missing something relevant or important, and to be completely honest with you, the majority of them haven't been helpful at all. More than once I have contemplated getting up and leaving, if only because the content seemed useless or was easily sourced from somewhere else.

Perhaps there is an underlying culture of laziness amongst students here at UQ, or perhaps the problem lies in the presentation of information to the students. I took the opportunity to speak with a number of my fellow Union College residents over dinner last night, and asked them what their opinion was on the matter. Not to my surprise, the majority felt their lectures were dull, uninteresting and overall unhelpful.

What if these memes were used for more than just a good giggle? If you're a University student, why not try create your own meme?  Trying to understand a meme can be just as (if not even more) useful as a survey or questionnaire. As we all know, there's a sense of truth to every joke... and even Heads of Universities must understand that.

Joseph Who?

When I was first told by my JOUR1111 Lecturer that I would be required to write a blog, a number of immediate questions popped into my head. For starters, what IS a blog? Don't get me wrong, I haven't been living under that large of a rock - I'd just never ventured into that realm of the internet before. My assumption was that blogs were reserved for only a limited number of people; people who felt (and their readers felt) they had something important to say. Until a few days ago, I didn't feel I had something important to say. Until a few days ago, I didn't see how anything I said or did on this blog could be overly beneficial to anybody. Until the morning of March 5th 2012, I was completely unaware of just how powerful a single action could be. Let's just say, I've recently been converted.

Now, unless you've REALLY been living under a rock, you would have at least heard in-passing the story of Joseph Kony. Without going into great detail, Kony is largely responsible for the abduction of more than 30,000 African children over the past 26 years. Formed in 2005, Invisible Children  is a non-for-profit organisation dedicated to the rescue and rehabilitation of these children. KONY 2012 is a campaign designed to make Joseph Kony a household name; a government-known name. The following video, released on the morning of March 5th 2012, has sparked public interest en masse, sweeping newspapers, radios, television and the internet by storm.

As the old adage goes, where there's a will there's a way, and judging by the overwhelming response to KONY2012, this will has never been stronger. The message is clear. Invisible Children have provided the voice, it's time we provided the action.  It doesn't matter who you are, or where you come from . Come April 20th, let's Cover the Night.

Links:

KONY2012 Video
Invisible Children Organisation
Cover the Night