JOUR1111: Media Use and Production Diary

There are two sides to media: the use of content created by others, and the production of one’s own material. I have logged ten days of my own media use and production, the results of which are displayed in two separate components below, beginning with media use:

Rather than display ten separate days of media usage, I have decided to only show the total results of each category. My varying daily schedule makes it difficult to form a trend across the week; it is therefore easier to simply show the end result.

As shown, the forms of media I use most are radio and social networking. It is also apparent that these two categories far outstrip the other forms of media I make use of. This is easier to identify in the following pie chart:



While it appears that these two categories make up almost 70% of my media usage, this chart does not account for passive and active use.

Much of the time I’m listening to radio whilst driving and working. As such, it is passively ‘running in the background’. The time I spend actively listening to the radio is far less than the total amount shown above. Similarly, whenever I’m using the internet, I am usually signed in to my Twitter and Facebook profiles; these are normally passive in another webpage while I use the internet for news sites and course readings on Blackboard.

I am actively using radio and social networking only around a quarter of the total time spent. With this in mind, the pie chart changes:

This refined chart shows that my media usage is roughly equal throughout all categories. Little distinction is made between ‘new’ and ‘old’ media. This is due to the fact that I have easy access to all mediums, as well as the time to make use of them.

In comparison to my widespread media use, my production takes place on a smaller scale:

I prefer to blog/post/tweet only when I have something interesting or important to say. As it’s difficult to keep pumping original content out continuously, my ability to produce material is somewhat limited, as evidenced above. Furthermore, an interesting relationship can be seen between media and journalism. My media production all took place online through social networking. It can therefore be construed that it is easier to produce media online, likely due to the ability to quickly utilise other material. This reflects on the shift to online media that the field of journalism is experiencing today.   

In regards to the media use and production of the JOUR1111 cohort shown by the Survey Monkey survey, my own use and production mostly follows the pattern of the group:

As shown, a fair portion of the cohort makes use of the majority of the mediums I have listed above. It is possible to deduce from this that the majority of the cohort are in the same position as me, in that they have easy access to multiple forms of media, for both use and production.

To conclude, I feel that the main reason my media usage is approximately even across the board is that I am able to access many different forms of media with little difficulty. I believe that this gives me an advantage in the field of journalism; by not favouring one form over the rest, I am able to widen my knowledge base, thus increasing my chances of successful and enjoyable employment in the future. Furthermore, my online production is following the same trend that journalism is experiencing today, further increasing my abilities relevant to the field. As I’ve heard more than once in the last few weeks, there’s never been a more exciting time to be a journalist!

JOUR1111 Lecture 4: Pretty Pictures!

Everybody loves pictures, both still and moving. Be it in a children's picture book or flashing across the silver screen, few things captivate people more.

This week's lecture was on 'Telling Factual Stories with Pictures', which includes both photo and video journalism. We started off with a quick history on the development of the visual side of journalism, which was both interesting and entertaining. I particularly liked the caption that accompanied the first ever colour photograph published in a newspaper, which stated "First News Photograph In Nature's Hues Ever Published". Why they used that particular phrasing is beyond me. It was a different time, I suppose.

  

The hues!! THEY'RE EVERYWHERE!!

It was also interesting to see just how far we've come, not just since cave paintings, but since nature's hues were first revealed to us. I now understand why they used that term. It's AWESOME.

In all seriousness though, the stuff they can do with cameras in the present day is amazing. So many things need to be considered to take a good photo/video, including focus, POV, sound (for video) and the apparently all-important Rule of Thirds.

However, modern technology, while extremely useful in the field of visual journalism, can be used for more dubious purposes as well. I believe the term is known as 'faux-tography', or digital manipulation. It is used to digitally alter a photo or video after it has been taken/shot, often resulting in something completely different from the original. The most common use of faux-tography is to make photo models look that little bit 'prettier', often dramatically (and ridiculously) shrinking their waistlines, changing their facial structure and increasing the size of their breasts (yeah, I said breasts on the public domain, sue me) as well as other such 'attractive enhancements'. What's wrong with natural beauty, I ask you?

Digital manipulation can also apparently be used to subject Taylor Swift to demonic possession.

"I will consume your soul."

That said, I think that visual journalism is a super interesting and exciting field. There is such a large scope for individuality and creativity, ending only at the constraints of your own (image)ination. The popular saying goes, "A picture is worth a thousand words". I disagree. I feel that a picture is worth exactly as many words as you can cram into it, be it a thousand or a hundred million. Every picture is a doorway into a world of infinite possibilities and meanings; it's all in the eye of the beholder.

The Secret Life of a Very Bored University Student

Long breaks during the middle of day suck. Especially when you have nobody to talk to, and you forgot your lunch. Again. It's a downward spiral of loneliness and hunger, ending only when I fork out a small sum of money to satisfy the rumblings of my stomach. It's also highly upsetting to watch five dollars go down the drain every day I'm at University due to my abject stupidity.

 Armed with a totally healthy meal (hot chips) I found a nice tree in the Great Court against which I could prop myself and watch the world go by.


There's a large number of very interesting people who frequent the Great Court, and I saw none of them, because it rained as soon as I sat down. That was mildly irritating.



It went something like this.

However, I quickly relocated to a drier location, and settled in to cram handfuls of chips into my mouth, an act I achieved with gusto. It was here though, that I encountered my first interesting people of the day. A young couple, no doubt in the throes of true love, were spoon-feeding each other from what appeared to be a large vat of yoghurt. This raised two major questions for me. Firstly, why aren't they using the spoons to feed themselves? And secondly, why do they have so much yoghurt?! Thankfully, the rain let up before too long, and I was able to escape the dairy duo.

With three hours left until my next lecture, I decided to wander along a path I had yet to travel, partly to increase my knowledge of the campus, and partly because I was really, REALLY bored. This trip took me to the UQ Lakes, where I stumbled across what can only be described as an odd sight.

Not quite this odd. But still.

Down by the large lake with the large fountain, there was a man in business attire down on hands and knees, attempting to feed a particularly insane-looking goose. He was also trying to stroke the goose's head and neck. I was going to stop and take a photo to include in this growing gallery, but both man and goose seemed to be the "I will eat your phone as soon as it enters my field of vision" kind of crazy, so I decided to let the opportunity pass. Sad, I know.

I did encounter other interesting people, but the yoghurt lovers and gooseman pretty much topped the list. The other weird people I saw simply didn't make the grade. That said, I did see/meet a lot of nice, friendly people as well! It's just more fun to talk about the strange ones.

In that regard, if anyone encountered 'interesting people' during their time at University or work or wherever and feels like sharing the experience, feel free to leave a comment or drop me an email. I enjoy laughing!

With that, it's time to end this particular chapter. But the story goes on!

Have a faaaaaaaaantastic week!

JOUR1111 Lecture 3: Featuring Act

This week's lecture saw Bruce take a backseat as guest speaker Skye Doherty offered her expertise on text-based storytelling. A sneaky stalking of other blogs on Monday night informed me that we knew about this beforehand. Clearly I need to spend more time stalking Blackboard. But hey, everyone likes a good surprise!

And this certainly was a good surprise. To me, Skye's lecture really showed the power of text. Almost every piece of media uses text in some form, be it through a simple description or a long analytical essay. It seems that most of what makes a story worth reading is born through text. Clearly, words are a powerful tool when used properly.

As it so happens, text-based journalism is one of the aspects of the profession that appeals to me the most, so this was a particularly significant lecture for me.

The standout moment, however, was when someone asked a question about the use of gaming in journalism, which resulted in a discussion about news based games; in particular, a morbidly amusing little game called Cutthroat Capitalism. To 'cut' a long story short, it's based on the business model of Somali pirates. I spent half an hour playing it at home, and quickly realised it was more than just an excuse to beat and threaten some British hostages. The game actually made me think about how this was probably happening right at that moment in the real world. If that isn't a good way to engage your audience through mostly text, I don't know what is!

With playtime over, I left the building in an enthusiastic state, mind bubbling at the possibilities of text. I lie - my mind was bubbling, but mostly with thoughts of food. Apparently, remembering my lunch is difficult.

JOUR1111 Lecture 2: Attack of the New Media

Our second lecture came with the intriguing sub-heading of 'New News.' What is this 'New News', you might ask? As many of us suspected, and all of us shortly discovered, this lecture was focussed on the ascension of media to the Web, and its evolution since.

We started with a brief overview of 'Old Media', which includes newspaper, television and radio platforms. It was interesting to learn how quickly these forms of media have been labelled as 'old' with the appearance of the internet. However, it's not entirely surprising; 'New Media' on the web allows you to experience all of the old, and then some on top.

Even so, 'New Media' has gone through several iterations itself. Web 1.0, 2.0 and 3.0 all show major differences, and some very clever innovations that I'd say very few of us expected. Ten years ago, if you told me it wouldn't be long before I'd be part of an online social craze along with millions of other people, I would have laughed in your face, called you dumb, and gone back to watching Dragon Ball Z. Because I would have been almost eight, and that's the kind of thing I did at that age. Nowadays, the vast majority of my friends and acquaintances are connected to Facebook along with countless other forms of social media, and I watch Dragon Ball Z online.

Before this lecture, I didn't understand just how much media on the web has changed over its short life. In my eyes, the internet's change from a storage space for advertising friendly information repurposed from old media into a living, thinking mechanised behemoth capable of keeping you connected with friends across the globe and informed about the best local restaurants is nothing short of amazing.

New Media has advanced by leaps and bounds, and it seems to only be going further. Another point Bruce raised that I found extremely interesting was the prospect of 'hyperlocalisation' of news. What does this mean for our media intake? Will we be able to choose what news we wish to receive, based on our own interests? Or will Skynet decide for itself what knowledge should be imparted on our feeble, organic minds? Only time will tell!

Lastly, there was the jelly bean scenario. Now, I love jelly beans. I crave them. So yes, you can imagine my displeasure when I was told to hand them back after only consuming one of the delicious treats. I was quite upset, to say the least. In other words, I walked right in to the glass door that is the concept of entitlement. While I found the idea of paywalls to be interesting, the vast majority of people will be as outraged as I was with my jellybeans. Having experienced the news online for free for so long, we'll no doubt find it difficult to adjust to the concept of paying to receive content.

It is indeed a very exciting time to be a journalist! With the above thoughts racing through my mind I exited the lecture theatre, jelly beans clutched tightly in hand, demanding to be eaten. I wasted no time in fulfilling their wishes.


I'm not sure if I'm meant to include reflections on tutorials in here, so I'll do it quickly to be on the safe side.

I may have made a mistake picking an 8.00am timeslot. Getting there that early SUCKS. Oddly enough, as my bus pulled to a halt. I noticed people already lining up to catch a bus elsewhere. At 7.30am. Dear god, why?!

Funnily enough, my fellow tutorial members did not seem overly enthused to be there either. It took us a while to get going, but we finally managed to get engaged when it came to creating and designing our Twitter accounts and blogs. Well, I did, anyway. I was too engaged to see what anyone else was doing. I could already tell that the social media aspects of the course would be of major importance, not to mention fun! After a quick debate on the definition of journalism, during which we learnt there wasn't one, it was already time to finish. It'll be interesting to see how our 'group dynamic' evolves over the semester, especially seeing as we only meet once a fortnight!

JOUR1111 Lecture 1: And on the first day...

I made a promise on Sunday night, and I broke it. I really should consider politics. I bet they'd love me - I'm not scandalous enough to make the front page...YET. 24 hours later than intended, this evening marks the start of some totally serious business. This post is a recap of the first week of JOUR1111.

Week 1

Like all of my lectures in the first week, this was mostly a general introduction to the course. Upon acquiring an invaluable copy of the course guide I took my seat, eager to learn about the exciting nature of Journalism! Something like that, at any rate. Three weeks is a long time to remember the exact details, so I'm using poetic license with my own memories.

However, something I distinctly remember having actually happened was Bruce's assertion that '[I] am the Journalist'. This was a defining moment for me, as up to that point I had merely considered myself a student, that being a journalist would happen when I graduated and got a job in the industry, assuming that I plan to in the future. This was the first time I had actually entertained the idea of being a journalist NOW.

I also recall tantalising hints being dropped regarding future lectures, namely a brief mention of the 'current challenges' facing journalism as it exists today, including (but not limited to) public perception and advances in technology.

Finally, I recall being asked, 'Why study Journalism?' The only answer I could think of at the time was, 'Well, why not?' Three weeks down the track, I can't think of a better answer. To be honest, I'm not sure I need to. There's a whole heap of stories out there; why shouldn't I be in a position to share them with the world?

With that, the lecture was over and I set off for home, eager to procrastinate on my various readings for that week.

Blogging is hard. Or is it?

Tonight I have nothing constructive to talk about. I promised myself I would start using this blog for its intended purpose as of tomorrow, and starting early would make me a liar. Which is totally not cool.

This is the first image that popped up when I searched 'intended purpose' in Google Images.
Further results were even more confusing.

Instead, I'm going to talk about how hard it is to blog. Now, don't get me wrong, I'm sure some of you are really good at this. You probably know how to add links and gadgets and so on without the whole thing exploding in your face. I respect, envy, and live in fear of your technical prowess.
All those things I just mentioned are probably really easy. I'm just really lazy, suspicious of new things, and technologically impaired. Don't laugh, it's a serious condition! But seriously (ha), I'm just not good at blogging. Readers of my previous post may be aware that I promised a follow up post the day after. That was on Wednesday. According to my calander, I have fallen slightly behind. Hey, breaking promises, I should be a politician!

I don't have a good reason for not writing another post. I think it was a mix of writer's block, a short attention span, and a slightly unreasonable fear of messing up so hard that I actually ruin my blog.

Now though, I've managed to write a few paragraphs AND find a random picture in the space of ten minutes! I may have been wrong in my opinion of the difficulites posed by blogging. Writing this was easy!

However, this is a random rant about nothing in particular. I now present my improved viewpoint: It's easy to blog, but it's harder to blog well. In that respect, practice makes perfect. By putting off my blogging, I make it harder to actually learn how to do it properly.

Anyway. Done rambling for now. To all you successful bloggers, I wish you further success! To those who are in the same boat as me, we can do it!

All my love,

Mitch

Act 1: A Poor Introduction

My name is Mitchell Eckert. Welcome aboard.

Tonight, with an audience that I'm fairly certain consists solely of me and any imaginary friends I may or may not have, I learn how to do this blogging thing. To be honest; it's scary and confusing, I have no idea what I'm doing, and I'm slightly depressed by how empty this page seems. Also, what is a 'gadget'?

Ah well. I'm sure I'll learn how to make things pretty and whatnot. Or I won't, and my blog will just have to stay plain and simple. Fortunately my magnetic personality, sharp wit and winning smile should suffice to keep the minds of any future readers well away from such trivial details!

As to the point of this blog, it has been brought into existence as part of my assessment for JOUR1111: Intro to Journalism & Communication, a course I recently began studying at the St Lucia campus of the University of Queensland. The basic idea is that I post reflections on my lectures here, and also my assignments, at such a time that they are due. Personally, I think that's pretty cool! As methods of handing in assignments go, at any rate (I understand if anyone believes that this is, in fact, the opposite of cool).

Anyway, back to Uni in general. So far, I am really enjoying the experience. Major difference to high school, to be sure, but a good kind of difference. I'm an individual now! Yay! That said, while it is nice to have anonymity, it's still a shock to walk into a lecture theatre that seats more people than were in my entire Grade 12 cohort!

I'm also really happy with my courses so far. Although I don't like to play favourites, POLS1501: Intro to Peace and Conflict Analysis is currently standing head and shoulders above the crowd. I'm not saying that my other courses are worse or anything similarly horrible, just that POLS1501 is resonating with me more. But who knows; that could easily change in the near future.

Anyway, I'm now out of things to say. I'm sure I'll come up with something fantastic tomorrow. Hopes, dreams and stuff about me, or like, whatever. Hopefully someone reads this before then, or else I might cry like a small child who just lost their favourite toy.

I am incapable of dealing with grief.

Ciao ciao!