Telling Factual Stories - An Introduction

When: Week 1
What: Lecture 1
Who: Dr. Bruce Redman

My first week and lecture at UQ was nerve-wracking. Along with a vast majority of my peers, I patiently waited in the dim halls leading to my lecture hall. As I took my seat I looked around shakily, I know no-one, everyone is a stranger. 


I guess what made me so nervous and fearful was something I was told during my second day in Orientation Week.

"You're a number with a file" - Associate Dean

This statement by the Associate Dean was understandable but very unsettling. As my lecture began and I was introduced to my lecturer, Dr. Bruce Redman, my fears were no longer present. 


The first lecture was basically an introduction to the course, where I met my lecturer and my tutors.

Dr. Bruce Redman is a very enthusiastic, lively man. His bright shirts match his bright personality, Fantastique!

Similarly, my three tutors are very enthusiastic and talented women. Ms. Carmel Rooney teaches at my tutorials and is very intelligent and impressive. I am yet to meet the other tutors, Miss Marie M'Balla-Ndi and Miss Ali Rae, but I am sure they are just as wonderful.


One of the key statement that was made during the lecture was:

Really, I am the Journalist? As much as I'd love this to be true, I don't believe I am quite there yet. I believe a journalist is someone who writes for a living, a factual storyteller, a public informant. I will become a journalist eventually, but until that moment comes, I will classify myself as an aspiring journalist or a journalist-in-training, if you will. 

Here, is a humorous quote that was presented in the lecture powerpoint:

Generally speaking, the best people nowadays go into journalism, the second best into business, the rubbish into politics and the shits into law - Auberon Waugh, British Journalist/Author

Personally, I think it lacks relevance, but I thought the quote was quite funny. I know a few people who are studying law, and they have their own jokes about journalism, and other career paths.

Dr. Bruce Redman presented my peers and myself, with a course profile. He then went on to expand on the course details, objectives, learning activities and assignments. 

This statement was made by Dr. Bruce Redman, during the lecture and has resounded with me since. I believe that this statement refers to news values. News that contains conflict, death, drugs and the like, are lead news stories and are more important and entertaining in comparison to a story that contains baby animals, food and children playing. 

Media Use and Production Diary

Media Use and Production Log

All of the data listed in my "Media Use and Production" log has been recorded in minutes

Media Use and Production Chart

Television

As an aspiring entertainment journalist, I love to spend a lot of my time viewing news, journalism and entertainment programs on my television. This is reflected in my "Media Use and Production" log above, over a period of 10 days, I consumed a total of 2720 minutes (approximately 45 hours) of television. My excessive television consumption patterns are largely in contrast with my peers. The "Daily Television Consumption by my Peers" chart bellow demonstrates that 29.90% of my peers spend an average of 1 - 2 hours consuming television on a daily basis. In comparison only 1.60% of my peers, including myself, consume more than 4 hours of television daily.

The consumption of television is more than a form of news and entertainment to me. It is a way for the viewer to escape reality, to be absorbed in a story (fiction or non-fiction). Television programs are a large talking point in my home. My family members and I have a similar taste in entertainment programs, and after the program is over, we discuss and express our thoughts and opinions.

When viewing news, I enjoy viewing programs like the "Channel 10 News", "The Project" and "Entertainment Tonight". Although they are all classified as news programs, they are rather diverse from one another.

"The Channel 10 News" features local, national and international news in a non-opinionated and unbiased fashion. In comparison "The Project" features national, international and entertainment news, complete with some comedic satire. "The Project" is classified as infotainment and is extremely opinionated and biased at times. "Entertainment Tonight" is not your typical news program, instead of featuring local, national and international news its primary focus is on celebrity gossip and news. So if, you are interested in news about the Kardashians or Charlie Sheen, "Entertainment Tonight" is your best bet.

When viewing entertainment programs on my television, I love viewing programs like the "Vampire Diaries", "Supernatural", "New Girl", just to name a few. Between you and me, I secretly enjoy viewing "Keeping up with the Kardashians", as well.

Audio-Radio

Over a period of 10 days, the radio was the third highest platform that I used to consume media. This is reflected in my "Media Use and Production" log, where I consumed 1520 minutes (approximately 25 hours) of radio. Like a vast majority of my peers, I listen to the radio as I travel to and from work. I also listen to the radio when I'm working as a barista in my cafe. As demonstrated in the "Media Use and Production" log, I spent a large majority of Friday 9/3/12, Saturday 10/3/12 and Sunday 11/3/12 listening to the radio, as I was working in the cafe on those days.

My daily radio consumption is a lot higher than that of my peers. The "Daily Radio Consumption by my Peers' chart bellow demonstrates that 53.90% of my peers consume less than an hour of radio on a daily basis, where as, only 3.50% of my peers, including myself, consume more than 2 - 3 hours of radio daily.

The radio is a platform that provides its listeners with news and current affairs, music hits, interviews and celebrity news. For example, when it came to learning about the death of Whitney Houston, I had learnt about it through the station, "B105", on the radio at work.

When I do listen to the radio I prefer to listen to music and entertainment stations like "B105", "Nova" and "Triple J", all of which share very similar content (news and current affairs, journalism, music hits, interviews and celebrity news). "Triple J" is a little bit different, instead of playing only music hits, "Triple J" plays new and unheard of music from across Australia and the world.

Internet

Based on my "Media Use and Production" log, the internet was the  way that I consumed media over the 10 day period. This was also reflected on my "Media Use and Production" chart where 47% of my media use and production was on the internet. I had spent 3945 minutes (approximately 65 hours) on the internet. Similar to my television and radio consumption, my internet consumption is excessive in comparison to my peers. On a daily basis, I spend more than 6 hours on the internet, compared to a large majority, 29.60%, of my peers who spent 2 - 3 hours on the internet.

To be quite honest, before recording the data for my "Media Use and Production" log, I assumed that the internet was the primary way that I consume media and the log only confirmed my suspicions. I spend a considerable amount of time surfing the internet, emailing, updating social websites such as "Twitter" and "Facebook", blogging and viewing online news and current affairs.

Emailing and checking my emails are something that I do daily. As reflected in my "Media Use and Production" log, I spent 40 minutes using my email on the days of Thursday 8/3/12 and Sunday 11/3/12. This was because I was emailing an interviewee, clarifying a few questions and answers before I published the interview to my blog. This observation demonstrates that my email usage is not just for contacting others, but is also used for the production and publishing of journalism.

When viewing news online I enjoy reading news post and the current affairs on the "Courier Mail", "ABC News" and "Huffington Post" websites. For a short period of time, I preferred reading news and current affairs on "The Australian" website but that chapter of my life ended after the website went behind a paywall in 2011. Why should I have to pay for content that was free, once upon a time? The "Courier Mail" and "ABC News" are fantastic for local, national and international news. I enjoy reading the "Huffington Post" because it provides me with American and international news and journalistic blogging. All three websites continue to have free access to the public, and as I do not like paying for content, this is a bonus for me.

Twitter

"Twitter" is the primary social website that I use when I am on the internet. This is demonstrated in my "Media Use and Production" log, where I spent 1230 minutes (20 hours) on twitter over the 10 day period. Having joined the twittershpere back in 2009 and being an avid twitterer since, I was extremely surprised to see that 67.70% of my peers did not have a "Twitter" account before studying JOUR1111 at UQ.

"Twitter" has many fantastic and useful features such as trending topics, lists, retweets and direct messages, just to name a few. As a form of modern journalism and microblogging, "Twitter" is a brilliant way to receive updates on news and current affairs. Having the trending topic feature, twitterers, are able to view what the most spoken about topic is nationally and worldwide. "Twitter" also allows the public to upload photos and videos. Occasionally I will upload a photo or two. Over the 10 day period, I uploaded a photo of my Chihuahua, Lilly, to my "Twitter" account.

"Twitter" is also a fantastic way for me to communicate with my peers, lecturer and tutors. As I've learnt from experience, it is also a fantastic way to source out contacts and interviews. As reflected in my "Media Use and Production" log, on Thursday 8/3/12, Friday 9/3/12, Saturday 10/3/12 and Sunday 11/3/12 I spent long periods of time on "Twitter". This was because I was in contact with an interviewee.

The sole reason I joined "Twitter" was to view, follow and interact with celebrities. Over the 3 years, I have been a part of the twittersphere I have sourced out a few interviews and have been followed and contacted by a few celebrities. I also use "Twitter" to express my personal opinions and thoughts about topics of conflict and interest. I am an activist and environmentalist, and I use "Twitter" as a way to promote and share my ideas with the public.

Facebook

"Facebook" is the primary social website that my peers use. In contrast with "Twitter", 94.70% of my peers have an account on "Facebook". Unlike my peers, I prefer not to use "Facebook". This is reflected in my "Media Use and Production" log, where I only spent 20 minutes on "Facebook" over the 10 day period. On the days, I did use "Facebook", Saturday 3/3/12 and Wednesday 7/3/12, it was to check on my friend's and family's posts and to save a photo from my "Facebook" profile to upload to my blog.

Although I do not use "Facebook" as much as my peers, I do believe that it has many useful and fun features. "Facebook" users can create profiles, upload photos, tag photos, instant message and communicate with friends, and even play games online. I have to admit, at one point I was addicted to playing games on "Facebook". Who doesn't love "Farmville"? I prefer to use "Twitter" for online journalism and production over "Facebook".

Blog

In the past, I have contemplated creating a blog or a video blog, but when it came down to it, I lacked motivation and "Twitter" was the only form of blogging or microblogging that I was interested in. Through my studies at UQ, I have grown to love blogging. At first it was difficult, I had no idea what an RSS feed was or a widget, but through my JOUR1111 class, I now understand these blogging terms.

As depicted in my "Media Use and Production" log, I had spent 850 minutes (14 hours) on my blog, over the 10 day period. This time was used to produce and publish content on my JOUR1111 blog. I would produce a reflective account of my weekly lecture, an interview I had with an entertainment journalist, Carina MacKenzie, and a movie review that I am yet to publish.

Phone

Contacting others with my phone are something I do on a regular basis. As demonstrated in my "Media Use and Production" log, I spent 95 minutes (1 hour 35 minutes) texting and calling others with my phone. It was not surprising to see that 78.20% of my peers owned and used a smart phone. 44.20% of my peers, including myself, own an iPhone. My phone use is extremely minimal compared to the other media and production platforms that I consumed, over the 10 day period.

iPhones and other smart phones are terrific for communication online and offline, whether it is email, text or call. They are also a form of entertainment, especially when the phone contains games and applications. However, I do not believe that they are relevant in terms of journalism and publishing.

Print

Reading magazines and newspapers are something I do on a regular basis. As depicted in my "Media Use and Production" log, I spent 120 minutes consuming print. My "Media Use and Production" chart demonstrates that print was the second lowest form of media that I consumed, with a low of 1.40%, over the 10 day period. When it comes to reading or viewing news, I believe that the internet and television are an enjoyable, cheaper and quicker option, however, I prefer to read my news in a magazine or newspaper.Over the 10 day period, I spent 50 minutes reading magazines and 70 minutes reading newspapers. 

When reading magazines I prefer to read "Grazia", "Vogue", "Marie Claire" and "Harper's Bazaar" magazines, all of which contain women's fashion, and celebrity news and gossip. They are fun to read, and contain excellent articles and dazzling imagery.

When reading the newspaper I prefer to read "The Courier Mail", "The Sunday Mail" and occasionally, "The Australian", all of which can be viewed online. I understand that it is cheaper to view "The Courier Mail" and "Sunday Mail" online, but sometimes there are articles in the newspaper that are not available on the online version. For me, the "The Australian" is cheaper and easier to purchase as a newspaper instead of online. As I mentioned earlier, "The Australian" website is behind a paywall, and as I only read it occasionally, I should not subscribe to something that I'll only read once a month.

Old Media and New Media

After analysing my "Media Use and Production" log and chart, I have come to the conclusion that I consume a larger amount of old media (traditional media, heritage media, legacy media) platforms in comparison to new media (the internet) platforms.

Old Media:

• Television
• Radio
• Print - Magazines and Newspapers

New Media:

• The internet

This is demonstrated in the "Old Media and New Media Platforms" chart below where I spent 52.50% of my time consuming print, television and radio, in comparison to 47.50% of time spent consuming the internet.

This result surprised me immensely. I understand that technology and the internet is our future and is the future of journalism, but at the moment, these old media platforms are more dominant.