Cancer? Perhaps it is curable!

There is a good news for cancer patients - you might be cured later on.
Whenever I heard about cancer, it was related to death. Luckily, it's not this time. David Porter, a leukaemia patient said that ‘‘I got the news that my bone marrow was completely free of detectable disease’’. Simply, it is an experiment trying to kill cancer with genetically engineered immune cells called T cells. Read the full news here: http://www.nature.com/news/2011/110810/full/news.2011.472.html

Actually early attempts have been made to test T cells effect on cancer, but results were disappointing. Fortunately, the National Cancer Institute (NCI) plans to sponsor the experiment against another three types of cancer. I know some might think that all these trials are small; however, it is a good start in the medical profession area. Science is to go through numerous failures and attempts to be successful. Although I am not interested in science, it is undeniable that it has great significance for humans, and this is where I most admire science.

From the previous to the present, I am always very sympathetic to people who suffer from cancer because they can only wait for death to come or pray to God now, and finally there is an encouraging progress!

Hope one day we can say: cancer? It is curable!

Should homeopathic treatments be available on the NHS?

The original news URL:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/poll/2011/aug/30/homeopathy-nhs

When talking about homeopathy, people's answer is almost against to homeopathy as its medicine point of view has no consensus and compromise with the western medicine. However, this doesn’t mean it is ineffective.

One of the benefits of it has no side effects and can increase the body's ability to self-regulation and defense. Medical study reported that it does have a good therapeutic effect on chronic diseases. When there are possible new ways to treat diseases, why do we need to against it simply because it has no strong evidence support at the moment and has divergence with Western medicines? Stop funding on homeopathy treatment will only deny possible opportunities having a better medical discovery and improvement.

A screen snaps of my comment:

Do you know what is 'Scratch'?

You know we should make use of technology in communication. Here we go!

Scratch is a graphical programming language that makes users easier to create their own interactive stories, animations, games, music, or art and share their creations on the web.

It is developed by the Lifelong Kindergarten Group at the MIT Media Lab, with financial support from the National Science Foundation, Microsoft and to name but a few. Its development objective is to train young people 8 years old or older to develop appropriate 21st century learning skills.

When they create and share their work, they will learn important mathematical and computer concepts, and foster creative thinking, to systematically ask questions, and coordination and cooperation with the skills. To write a program, simply a number of different functions of the graphical blocks combined into a string on it.

Since Scratch broader the range of what users can design and create on the computer, it is easier to combine graphics, photos, music, and sound into interactive creations. Effective communication in today’s world requires more than the ability to read and write text.

Scratch engages communication professionals in choosing, manipulating, and integrating a variety of media in order to express their ideas or concepts creatively and persuasively.

Moreover, once the professionals created a Scratch project, they can share it on the Scratch website, the same way they might share videos on YouTube or photos on Flickr. Therefore, they can use Scratch to provoke discussion of important issues with other members, as well as with the wider international Scratch community.

Communication professionals can also embed Scratch projects in any other webpage. For example, they can embed an interactive Scratch animation on MySpace or Facebook homepage. This provides one more channel and platform for publicize.


References:
http://info.scratch.mit.edu/About_Scratch
http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/03/scratch-lowers/
http://info.scratch.mit.edu/sites/infoscratch.media.mit.edu/docs/Learning-with-Scratch.pdf

Assessment 3: Annotated Bibliography

Bell, A. (1991). Telling stories. The language of news media (pp. 245-268). Oxford, UK and Cambridge, MA: Blackwell

Allan Bell, is currently working as the Director of the Institute of Culture, Discourse & Communication and is a Professor of Language & Communication at Auckland University of Technology in New Zealand, combining his research there with work as a freelance journalist and media consultant. Based in the frameworks of sociolinguistics and discourse analysis, this book draws together a growing research literature and informs it with the author’s own immediate observations and experience as both journalist and researcher. Allan Bell emphasizes the importance of the processes which create media language, as news stories are molded and modified by various hands. He stresses it is indeed stories that journalists and editors produce, not articles. These stories have viewpoint, news values and structure that can be analyzed. Citing research figures of the degree of determiner deletion in American and British prestige media, such as Guardian and ABC news, Bell says that this show journalist would like to make considerable changes for their news styles to suit their audience. The author points out that it is hard to separate news form and news content. The values of news drive the way in which news is presented. Bell uses points form and diagrams to explain different values in the news process/events and the structure of news stories. Three different mediums of journalism and communication relating ‘September 11’ are cited below, which deepens the understanding of the author’s arguments, and the ideas of news values presented in the journalism profession.

Pilkington, Ed. & McVeigh, K. & McGreal, C. (2011, September 11). America remembers the victims of 9/11 with tributes and tears. The Guardian. Retrieved from http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2011/sep/11/america-remembers-911-victims

Ed Pilkington is the Guardian's New York correspondent, and a former national and foreign editor of the paper. Karen McVeigh has been a senior news reporter for the Guardian since December 2006. Chris McGreal is the Guardian's Washington correspondent and is also a former BBC journalist in Central America and merchant seaman. The article brings a message that America will never forget the victims of September 11 with tributes and tears even after ten years. Beginning with a reminder of the 9/11 terror attacks in 2001, three authors, quoting the words from an American girl's T-shirt: "Never forgotten" to restate the main spirit of America. Three authors continues by describing the saddening scenes of 9/11 anniversary when the victims' relatives struggled to keep their composure, as they read out the name of their own loved-one, including plenty of victims' stories. Although the events of September 11 have been in the public eye for 10 years already, they are deemed valuable, which called ‘Currency’ in the news value. Since the Guardian is an authoritative and prestigious British national daily newspaper, the information and content is trustworthy; it had a certified average daily circulation of 248,775 in paper form in July 2011 and has the second largest online readership of any English-language newspaper in the world, after the New York Times. Besides, in order to report the circumstance in 9/11 anniversary in detail, the article was wrote by three authors instead of one author which lowered the possibility of subjective standpoints.

Liddy, M. (2011, September 10). The day before the storm: Photos of Sept 10, 2001. ABC News. Retrieved from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2011-09-05/the-day-before-the-storm-september-10-2001-photos/2870854

The author, Matthew Liddy, started his career in journalism with ABC News Online in 1997 and is now executive producer of special coverage. Also, he has covered three federal elections for ABC News and has helped lead online coverage of major events, which lends credibility to his interviews of September 11. The ABC news website article, interviewed eight people before 9/11 anniversary sharing the photos they took of New York City and Washington DC the day before the infamous terrorist attacks, and answer three questions about their experiences at the time. Liddy's questions of the interviews, for example, interviewees’ experiences on September 11, 2001, are effective in demonstrating the news values to attract readers- 'Proximity' and 'Continuity'. The source of the article is as credible as The Guardian who won the prestigious Newspaper of the Year Award in both 1997 and 1998. The ABC has grown remarkably since 1932 and the ABC Board is responsible for the ABC's operations, which up to seven Directors are appointed by the Governor-General on the recommendation of the Government. The ABC Act requires that Directors must be experienced in broadcasting, communications or management. Moreover, to maintain the independence and integrity of the Corporation, the Board is also responsible for ensuring that the gathering and presentation of news and information is accurate and impartial, according to recognized standards of journalism, and that the ABC complies with legislative and legal requirements.

9/11: The Reckoning. (2011, September 8). The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2011/09/08/us/sept-11-reckoning/towers.html#1

The New York Times made a photos slideshow of September 11 before 9/11 anniversary. The New York Times, is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The slideshow is made up with 76 photos and some texts slides, which shows the process of World Trade centers' rise and fall. Since The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization, its source is more credible than the guardian and the ABC in a certain extent. In addition, its website is the most popular American online newspaper website, receiving more than 30 million unique visitors per month. This reported approach is different from the traditional news reports, namely online news and video discussed above, this news slideshow is presented in a way that is interesting and fresh for all the audience. Also, the content is more understandable because presenting by visual languages (photos) sometimes is much powerful than words and can easily drive audiences' emotions. Both the New York Times and the ABC news interviews by Matthew Liddy, would like to attract readers' attention before 9/11 anniversary, the ABC news interviews is more successful in terms of the news value 'Proximity' as the records of interviewees' answers and experiences make the story much meaningful to their audience. Rather than review the happening of 9/11 like the New York Times and the ABC news interviews, the Guardian reports in both texts and video form, which clearly describes the situation of 9/11 anniversary at that time. For example, in the video, it shows the US president Obama met families of victims before the ceremony. For this reason, the public would be more likely to prefer the Guardian within three news reports as it includes both visual forms and words.

Week 12 lecture summary: Page one - Inside the New York Times

An interesting lecture held in a theater which showed the difficulties faced by the New York Times. The movie is called “PAGE ONE – Inside the NY Times”, which is an American documentary film by Andrew Rossi in 2011.

Main characters:

New York Times Media Desk

²         David Carr - Media columnist

²         Bruce Headlam - Media editor

²         Richard Perez-Pena - Media reporter

²         Tim Arango - Former media reporter, Baghdad bureau chief

²         Brian Stelter - Media reporter

In the movie, it emphasizes on the importance of knowing the original source of the news we read, watch, hear and tweet and the difference between original reporting and commentary.

In a large extent, it represents the current status of the media industry.

From the Sundance Program Description: "With the Internet surpassing print as our main news source, and newspapers going bankrupt...” It means the collapse of Web 1.0 and the emergence of Web 2.0/Web 3.0 as we discussed before here.

To people who want to be a journalist or interested in journalism, this is a movie worth watching and can make you a better understanding of latest changes/challenges in the media industry.

Regarding David Carr, Tim Wu of Slate describes him as "a sympathetic hero for what turns out to be a riveting film", and David Fear of Time Out Chicago adds, "it's his H.L. Mencken–like attitude toward old-school reporting that offers the best example for why traditional news-gathering won’t ever truly die."

It's a level-headed, critical, illuminating expose about the harsh realities facing newspapers. Here’s a trailer! Hope you will enjoy it!

Week 11 lecture summary: Investigative journalism

Investigative journalism is a form of journalism which provides a voice for the powerless/voiceless and reports deeply investigate a single topic of interest, often involving crime, political corruption, or corporate wrongdoing. People sometimes use the terms "watchdog journalism".

Three Deeper definitions & Purposes:

u Critical and thorough journalism

*CRITICAL= the journalist is an active participant

*THOROUGH= Journalist makes a substantial effort (e.g. Time Spent)

u Custodians of conscience

- Takes society’s morals and norms and holds breaches up to public scrutiny

u Fourth Estate / Fourth Branch of Govt. / “Watchdog”

- Ensure free flows of information necessary → functioning of democracy

- Make accountable public personalities & institutions → impact social and political life

4 key ideas for Investigative journalism:

ü          ACTIVE INTERVENTION

ü          EXPOSURE

ü          PUBLIC INTEREST

ü          FOURTH ESTATE / WATCHDOG

What do they investigate?

ü          Interviews

ü          ­Observations (Research into social and legal issues)

ü          ­Documents (e.g. law suits, legal docs, tax records, corporate financials,etc)

ü          ­Briefings

ü          ­Leaks

ü          ­Trespass

ü          ­Theft

What are the threats to Investigative Journalism then?

- Online news

- Public Relations (the selective use of ‘facts’ to present a persuasive case to the public)

Assessment 2: Factual Storytelling

Hi everyone! The below is a factual storytelling video which made by me.

The story is mainly describing the experience of a girl (Andrea Tan) who is studying abroad in Australia, from close to open her heart.

It shows two different life/emotions in the video as she starts to change her attitude towards the life.

At the end, she would like to bring a message to everybody, especially to those exchange students, although there are lots of challenges in our life and we might feel disappointed or unhappy, we must tackle those difficulties and learn to divert attention. The world won't change because of you, so we must learn how to appreciate everything we have and love ourself more.

Life is full of hope.

Hopefully, you will all enjoy the video!:)

Week 10 lecture summary: News value

News value is extremely important to the journalism.

It determines how much prominence a news story is given by a media outlet, and the attention it is given by the audience.

News values are not universal and can vary widely between different cultures and different news services.

There are a variety of external and internal pressures influence journalists' decisions on which stories are covered, how issues are interpreted and the emphasis given to them.

The following two pictures illustrate the factors affecting news value:

Here is some additional information:

l Controversy

- Arguments/debates/charges/countercharges/fights ↑the value of news

l Usefulness

- Help the audience answer questions & solve problems in their daily lives

l Educational Value

- Make readers more knowledgeable rather than merely informed

l Weight

- The significance of a particular fact or event lies in its value with respect to other facts/events

l Magnitude

- Stories → perceived as sufficiently significant either in the numbers of people involved / in potential impact.

l Relevance

- Stories → issues, groups & nations perceived to be relevant to the audience.

Hopefully, we can all familiar with these factors!;)

Week 9 lecture summary: Agenda Setting

It’s time for another lecture summary!

Topic for today: Agenda Setting.

Before we begin, I guess all of us are unfamiliar with this term.

So, what is Agenda Setting?

It means that the mass media in a certain stage of an event / social issues highlight the report, which will cause widespread public concern and attention, and thus become a central issue in the discussion of public opinion.

There are four agendas which are interrelated:

u        PUBLIC AGENDA - topics that the public perceive as important

u        POLICY AGENDA - issues that decision makers think are salient, namely legislators

u        CORPORATE AGENDA - issues that big business & corporations consider important

u        MEDIA AGENDA - issues discussed in the media

Two main types of Agenda Setting Theory:

1^st level: focus on the transfer of the salience of those issues.

→ The media suggest what the public should focus on through coverage.

2^nd level: focuses on the attributes of the issues.

→The media suggests how people should think about an issue.

The Agenda Setting ‘Family’:

1. Media Gate keeping

- The exposure of an issue (what the media chooses to reveal to the public)

2. Media Advocacy (e.g. education)

- Promotion of a message through the media

3. Agenda Cutting

- Most of the truth/reality that is going on in the world isn't represented

4. Agenda Surfing / ‘Bandwagon’ effect

‘Bandwagon’ effect means how existing public opinion affects others towards that opinion

- The media follows the trends

5. The diffusion of News

- The process → an important event is communicated to the public

6. Portrayal of an Issue

- The way an issue is portrayed affects the public's perception

7. Media Dependence (e.g. Facebook)

- ↑Dependent a person → media for information,

   ↑susceptible that person → media agenda setting/ advertising

Therefore, we can see that the media plays an important role in ‘constructing’ and ‘mediating’ individuals’ conception of reality socially.

Week 8 lecture summary: Public Media

After knowing more about commercial media, it’s time to go on public media.

What is the difference between public media and commercial media?

• public media → citizens;
• commercial media → consumers

What is Public Media?

u        Ultimate purpose is to serve the public

u        E.g. traditional publicly-funded broadcasters and networks

What are the examples of Public Media?

SBS, ABC, BBC, RTHK, etc.

Function:

²         Nation Building

²         National Heritage

²         National Identity

²         National Conversations

Social responsibility (public trust) in a Democratic society:

ü          To produce quality

ü          To make themselves relevant

ü          To engage with the democratic/political process = give voice

ü          To inform the public

ü          To be independent from funders government

Lastly, public media should avoid political bias and to present “both sides of the story”.

Week 7 lecture summary: Commerical media

I guess we will all be familiar with today’s topic – commercial media.

What is commercial media?

u        Profit-driven media production

u        Not government funded

u        Its business is generating ‘audiences’

u        Selling advertising → generate profit

What are the examples of commercial media?

Newspapers, Cable TV, Film, Magazines, etc

Channel 7/9/10, News limited, Fairfax media, etc

Form of commercial media:

²         Subscription

²         Sponsored

²         Subsidized

Function:

²         Commercial

²         Propaganda (e.g. Fox news)

²         Social

Social responsibility (public trust) in a Democratic society:

ü          truthful & comprehensive context (meaningful)

ü          a forum for the exchange of comment

ü          the clarification of the goals & values of the society

However, the commercial media can always be described as Tabloidization which means a newspaper of small format giving the news in condensed form, usually with illustrated, often sensational material.

Here is an illustration showing what The New York Times might look like if it shifted to a tabloid format:

There are two organizations to keep it under control which are Australian communications and media authority and Australian press council.

Moreover, new controls implement on commercial media.

ü          Government agency → regulating content

ü          State press subsidies

ü          Licensed journalism

I am going to talk about public media next week:)