Her Story

Hi again, y'all! 

Now I'm not going to lie, trying to get this video onto my blog was an absolute bitch (excuse my french), but alas, it is done!

For my Factual Story Telling assignment, I chose my best friend, Rosanna Wakley as my subject. I've only known her for about two years now, but I can tell you, it seems like a lifetime!

Rosanna had a pretty hard time growing up, but as you can see in the interview below, she's become all the stronger for it, and still one of the most kind hearted souls I've ever met.

So sit back and just watch, my pretty little readers!

P.s.- I'd keep a box of tissues on hand.

Play Holly's Video!

All I (Used To) Hear Is Blah, Blah, Blah

Okay, I’ve been putting off this blog for awhile because, like most of my fellow students out there, I couldn’t be bothered to take the time to sit down and listen to the sound lecture, but alas, my friends, I’ve done it! *An imaginary applause erupts as the crowd goes wild at my amazing feat of strength and persistence that in no way seems lazy *

Okay, so it wasn’t quite that dramatic, but it was done none the less! However, it got me thinking: why it was hard for me to do this very simple task? I mean, I go to the lectures every week like clockwork (despite the exhausting walk from the college grounds… Okay, so maybe I am a bit lazy), but why was it so hard to simple sit down and listen to this lecture? My initial response, was that without the pictures and visuals, my mind became disinterested; that to my mind, colour equaled fun. However, I realized it was more than that. Even though it took me so long to sit down and listen to the recording, once it began, I became trapped within it’s crafty web. With the topic of this week’s sound lecture being the medium of radio, presented by Carmel and Richard Fiedler, I realized I hadn’t been dreading listening to this recording because I believed audio was dull, but rather because my experience with audio was dull. Once the presenters, ABC local radio’s Carmel and Richard Fiedler began to talk about their means and methods such as keeping the listener as included and involved as possible in the conversation, they managed to hold and keep my attention. With the employment of endless questioning, sincere personality, trust and the motto that “As it is in life, as it is in radio”, they were able to keep me captivated and interested. They made me realize that radio, while simply sound responsive, can still be affective in a modern society so ruled by visual appeal.

Throughout this course I’ve considered many different types of journalism, but it seems this is the first time I’ve considered radio.

(I'd also listen to my radio more if it looked like that!)

Photo Source: http://www.chinatraderonline.com/Electrical-Gift/Cute-Panda-Radio-212750805.htm

To The Rescue! (After A Thorough Assessment of Danger Factors, Of Course)

With the most basic goal of Public Media being to serve and engage the public (unlike my previous rant about Commercial Media) it strives to uphold quality and leave it’s viewers with an enlightened point of view. Considering itself the self-appointed superhero of media consumption, it (after thoroughly researching and justifying all shows and news items) swoops… well, carefully and precisely walks… to the rescue.

Okay, so it’s not really as exciting as a superhero… more like Gary the photocopy guy.

While Public media (PM) has your best interests at heart, to the majority of viewers it can simply seem as boring as the finance report Gary just photocopied (thanks, Gary).

PM consists of mostly of media networks such as ABC, BBC and SBS; these networks, while occasionally seeming dull and elitist, really are just trying to make the best of what they have! PM networks are not ‘owned’ by the government like Commercial Media, and instead are held by the common people (yes, that’s you). This means that funds are limited as the company needs to make the best of what they have, with resources being sparse. Just like Gary might want to upgrade his copier to improve office efficiency, the office just can’t afford it.

So when you’re next flicking through the channels my friends, and you spot an ABC 24 news report, or an SBS documentary, stop and have a watch; just because Gary’s no superhero, doesn’t mean he cant print you out the facts.

Awww, don't be like that Gary!

Photo Source: http://www.masterfile.com/stock-photography/image/700-00093328/Man-Photocopying-His-Face 

Seems Everything's For Sale These Days- Even Your Eyes And Ears

A profit driven media production, commercial media is non-government funded whose business is made by generating audience; it survives or fails on its business success. Contrary to popular belief, the advertisers, not the viewers, are the customers in commercial media, and they’re all fighting for the most important item- you; your eyes, ears and easily swayed minds. The major consumers in this merciless media market include News Limited, Fairfax, APN, Nine entertainment co., Win, Ten, Southern Cross, as well as broader media network such as Telstra, Optus, Austar and Macquarie.

However, like when buying most things, commercial media comes with a care tag. However, rather than the usual “only hand washable”, these ‘rules of care’ protect it from crinkles or tears with implications such as the Ethical Wall which separates advertising and sales from the editorial aspect. Commercial media must also abide to the formal state requirement, legal prescription, stat oversight and statutory.

But, like your favourites leather coat they seems so inviting and warm, yet turn out to be synthetic with dodgy hems and even dodgier protection against the harsher months, commercial media has it’s downsides. Based on tabloidization and the desire to please, it can become corrupt, poorly constructed and allow it’s desire for profit to override it’s social responsibility.

Though commercial media seems like the most dazzling sparkly top, it seems one tug of the threads can lead to a floor full of sequins.

 Picture Source: http://itsfreetof.blogspot.com.au/2010_10_01_archive.html 

Media Diary (9th- 18th March, 2012)

Our first piece of assessment requires us to keep a 10-day media access journal. Through a discussion of the data and comparative analysis, I will attempt to explain to the reason behind my media usage in association my favoured types of media and the media usage of my class members.

I have recorded my usage in an approximation minutes, estimating that emails take about 5 minutes to read and respond and texts respectively about 1 minute. I then constructed the following tables properly display the types and amount of access I have to media. Afterwards, I split my data into 3 different tables; the first table is representative of media found on my computer via Internet access. Which is mostly accessed at home due to wireless availability. Most data is overlapping as I spend a lot of time multitasking, with many websites up at once. The second table is media I can access from my iPhone. This source is convenient as I can access media anywhere and it also allows me to listen to music. Besides music, this usage does to overlap as only one form of media can be used at once. The final table displays the amount I read and watch TV or movies. My reading can be defined as either academic readings or fictional stories.

Internet Access- Computer (mins)

Days	Emails	CNN/ Brisbane Times	Blogging	FaceBook	Tumblr	StumbleUpon	YouTube
1 Fri	15	0	0	120	60	60	90
2 Sat	2	5	15	75	30	30	60
3 Sun	0	30	15	60	30	0	5
4 Mon	0	0	15	15	15	20	0
5 Tues	10	0	0	120	60	20	5
6 Wed	5	5	30	60	30	0	0
7 Thurs	0	0	0	30	0	0	0
8 Fri	0	0	30	120	30	30	0
9 Sat	15	5	15	60	30	0	0
10 Sun	0	15	15	90	30	20	0

iPhone Access (mins)

Day	Texts	Calls	Instagram	Games	Music
1 Fri	5	0	0	5	120
2 Sat	4	5	5	0	120
3 Sun	3	20	0	0	180
4 Mon	1	0	10	0	90
5 Tues	0	10	0	10	180
6 Wed	3	2	0	0	90
7 Thurs	5	15	5	0	420
8 Fri	2	0	0	5	120
9 Sat	3	2	2	0	90
10 Sun	4	0	0	10	120

Miscellaneous Access (mins)

Day	Books/ Readings	TV/ Movies
1 Fri	60	60
2 Sat	30	30
3 Sun	15	120
4 Mon	60	0
5 Tues	15	60
6 Wed	15	60
7 Thurs	60	0
8 Fri	60	30
9 Sat	30	30
10 Sun	15	60

After examining these tables, I constructed graphs to examine trends in my personal media usage. For my Internet access via computer, I noted that my most frequently visited site was FaceBook, accessing it for 750 minutes (12.5 hours) in the span of 10 days (240 hours). This corresponded with the data collected from my fellow class members as 91.9% of them also believed this was their most frequently visited. The second highest website from the general consensus appeared to be general web browsing. This however, did not compliment my findings, as the second most visited site for me seemed to be Tumblr, which was not even listed on the survey. Though ‘blog reading’ was listed by the census by being used by 32.4%, I didn’t count this in my Tumblr usage as my experiences with it are almost entirely imagery based, while I carry out my writing and reading side of blogs elsewhere. My least frequented web page seemed to be new sites. I found these findings peculiar as, by the survey, 43.1% of classmates considered this their most frequented site. I found this troubling as the majority of the surveyed were 17-20 years old (88.5%), female (75.7%) and domestic students (93.8%) studying a Bachelor of Journalism and Arts (30.3%) like myself and yet their results were varying to my own. However the inconsistency in News websites could be attributed to my lack of news exposure. Living in college, I do not have access to a radio or television, and perhaps this lack of outlets makes me less interested in it all together. Therefore, probably receive most of my news and information from FaceBook instead, as I prefer the entertaining/ social aspect.

My most frequent use of media on my iPhone appeared to be music at 25.5 hours. This usage skyrocketed on Thursday as I was writing assignments most of the day, which is when I most like to play  music, and I also used my iPhone that evening to play music while a group of friends and I chatted. This corresponds with the data collected from the class as 89.1% consider their iPod as their most dominant source of music. It can also be considered a valid comparison of data as 77.3% of the surveyed own smartphones of some sort. Due to the nature of texts and how quickly they are sent and received, though it was not one of the highest in time usage, it was one of the most frequented, being accessed up to 4-5 times a day, while the other were mostly solitary time spans. In this sense in was used more than calls, though their time throughout the 10 days was longer because as a uni student I try to save my phone credit as much as possible and therefore prefer to call rather than text. Therefore my only calls were received rather than dialled.

Examining this last graph, it seems that I watched more TV shows/ movies (8.5 hours) than I read (5.6 hours). This could be attributed to the fact that as a college student I have access to DC, a file-sharing unit that allows me to quickly download movies and TV shows. Therefore I find myself sometimes distracted from academic readings by this source of entertainment. This corresponds with the data taken from the survey that the majority (29.9%) watches 1-2 hours of TV a day, which falls within my average range. Therefore by comparing the three tables, it seems that my media usage is dominated by social media, a way to connect with others through FaceBook and texts and entertainment in the form of music and TV shows.