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:)