Media use diary and analysis - Assessment One

Modern day media has become a generic and vital part of contemporary, everyday life. We often do not realise how important internet, television and mobile phones are until they are absent from our lives. Obviously, we would still have our ‘Old media’ such as newspapers and radio, however their actual value and use has declined dramatically in recent decades. My own personal media use has been recorded over ten days and the results will show the impact, use and relevance of both traditional and modern media avenues in the world today.

MEDIA USE OVER TEN DAYS

RESULTS

Over ten days, it is shown that I spend one quarter of my time using media. With further analysing, when this date is transferred to a pie graph, we can see that most time is spent on Facebook, General Internet Browsing and Television. Then comes Radio, and lastly - the good old fashioned newspaper. 

This is an interesting discovery about my own media use, however to comprehend if this behaviour is common amongst other people, it was necessary to compare it to my fellow peers at university, as well as to my own personal survey to a wider variety of people and ages.  

The first, simplified results from both surveys can be seen here:

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UNIVERSITY RESULTS AMONG JOUR1111
https://blackboard.elearning.uq.edu.au/bbcswebdav/pid-2169909-dt-content-rid-211287_1/courses/JOUR1111S_6220STx/JOUR1111_Survey_sem1_2012.pdf

RESULTS OF MY OWN SURVEY

http://www.surveymonkey.com/MySurvey_Responses.aspx?sm=QuCWJaOIkksCSCN7GWoWtksGVnrY5FCODhilLodIDE4%3d

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Both surveys are completed by around the same age group: 

I will be using the help of both surveys to understand these patterns of behaviour over the ten days.

The first thing to be addressed, is the obvious exceptional use of 'Facebook' - every day - twenty five hours over ten days. This accounts for 42% of my ten day media use challenge. When comparing with both surveys we can see that this type of pattern is not at all unusual. 

When comparing with the classmates of JOUR1111, we can see that Facebook accounts for 91.9% of all time spent on the internet. 

This behaviour lies deep within the subconsciousness of the Facebook user: it enables one to socialise and feel 'loved', allows expression of thoughts, sharing of ones life through pictures, and also it remains an easy, although probably unreliable, source of news. 

As it can be seen on the following graph, JOUR1111 students highly prefer Facebook compared to Twitter or Blogging social networks:

Surprisingly, we can see through both surveys that Facebook does play a large part in obtaining news, however the disparity between Journalism students and common people can be clearly seen.

Online news seems to be the second preferred approach to obtaining news between both groups, while radio is second-last on both. However, hardcopy newspapers seem to be more revered among Journalism students, being the third preferable news outlet, while common people rated it as last on their list. Comparing this with my own personal use, I seem to fit in between both of these statistics. I enjoy the fast and easy method of reading news online, especially on Yahoo or newspaper websites. I also enjoy random news stories appearing on my Facebook timeline - this allows me to discover stories I perhaps wouldn't have before. 

Additionally, television news remains to be high on my list because of its directness and its ability to delight all the senses: Read the text, see the video and hear the newsreader. Surprisingly, Television news is swapped between first and fourth place between both groups. I suppose this ties into the 'fast and easy' method of television news, which is a positive avenue of news for those who don't have a lot of time.

 However, I believe Journalism students, including myself, with interest in worldwide issues and appreciation of written articles, respect and enjoy the nostalgic feel of holding a newspaper. The stories provide more insight and detail compared to cut and copy style of new media. Eighteen percent of Journalism students often bought newspapers, compared to the twelve percent of common people. Personally, I usually purchase newspapers 2-3 times a month, however I tend to read them more often than I buy them (if they are lying around). For people who wish to understand the vague, basics of breaking news, Yahoo and Facebook are ideal platforms. 

Radio, in my opinion, is more of an occasional form of media, such as in the car or while cleaning to pass the time. One can mirror this onto my own behaviour,as radio is usually only played while doing other activities, therefore explaining the use of radio only three times in ten days. 

This proposition is a similar situation to students in the JOUR1111 survey:

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Analysing these results, it can be seen that internet related news and social networking websites are fast becoming the mainstream form of media outletting. Furthermore, with more internet-able mobile phones than ever before, news and media are now more instantly accessible in more places. 

One can see in a class of 440 students, 78% are in possession of an internet enabled phone.

While modern media is a large part of our lives, it seems we still rely on television, newspapers and occasionally radio to provide us with a different angle of media and news. It is a traditional, everyday part of life as much as the new media. New media represents the globalisation and technology that defines the modern world. It creates more opportunities for different journalism careers than ever before. We have come a long way since the simple black and white newspaper advertised by the 'Extra, Extra!' boys on the corner. Although their impact and use has declined dramatically, especially among modern youth, traditional media is still admired and honoured in the world today. With the intertwining of both new and old media, people today can enjoy the best of both in the world of journalism.  

Lecture Four: Photojournalism

Okay, i'll be honest. In my last post I started talking about the lecture and then went in the total opposite direction. Sorry guys, I guess a burst of passionate, empowering, Oprah kind of feminism came alive to talk about the injustice of digital manipulation in the media.  Re-reading it, I couldn't decide whether to delete it and re-write or simply create another post. Dilemmas, dilemmas. In the end, I decided  I had written it, the post was part of my 'journalism', so I felt it somewhat deserved to stay. Now, to make up for my rant,  I shall properly discuss the overall important theme from last Monday's lecture: Photojournalism.

Telling stories through photos is certainly not a new phenomena. This method has been used throughout history to provoke exciting stories in the minds of people by the visual communication created by the artist, or in modern times, the photographer. 

Indigenous Art                                                                                                 Biblical scenes 

Before the days of the camera, newspaper journalists must have been stressed to the max, simply sketching the scenes relating to the story. The 1860s were hard times, my friend, hard times. If breaking into a journalist career required 'fantastic drawing skills', i'd have absolutely no chance.

Lincoln still looks great

 So, lets all join hands and thank the lord for Henry J. Newton, who published the first ever news photograph. Journalists around the world rejoiced - this made telling the news more accurate and real than ever before. 

'Shanty Town' Photograph published in the Daily Graphic 1880

Speed up to modern day media, and photography has become an absolutely vital part of a good story and journalists need to know how to take a photograph that connects with the readers on some emotional level. 

This is integrated into the three following photographs of scenes from a funeral:

Photo number one has absolutely no power, is poorly done 

and has no emotional connection with the audience. We are just looking at some backs of heads and in the background is a hug. It is certainly not of a news standard, and seems rather unprofessional.

Photo number two is very powerful, as it in cooperates the feeling of religion and spirituality in the frame, while looking through to an embrace between mourners.

Number three is also very powerful, as we have these sad, desolate eyes burning into the camera, representing so many who have been affected by the death.

I believe two and three are the best, as they evoke a sense of grief and compassion felt by the reader.

These photographs show us that we must think outside the box to capture that front-page winning picture. Although covering the same event, the photos strike me as vastly disparate and all three convey a different level of emotional magnetism. This is the key to a fantastic photo - the overall emotional draw that when readers see it on the front page at a news stand, there will be a spark of interest, and therefore they will proceed to pick up the newspaper and check it out. After this lecture, I look forward to getting out there with my camera and capturing some emotionally stimulating photographs!
 

The true definition of beauty? Manipulation and the Media.

Beauty strives to unveil itself in many shapes and forms. Life is full of beauty and each person has their own unique definition. Modern day media primarily focuses on exterior 'beauty', achieved through powder and plastic. In todays lecture, we watched a haunting video of a young woman transform from a plain, but not unattractive woman to an absolutely stunning, would-be Hollywood superstar. This may seem harmless on the surface – I mean, actors and newsreaders have their face and hair done before showtime, right?  I highly recommend you watch the video. Not only do they completely mask her in assorted pencils, shadows and creams, but in the end – she is still not good enough. After the photo for the ad campaign is taken, they continue to warp and transform her – until she is completely unrecognisable from her true self. They even feel her neck and eyes are not the right shape. What is this saying to girls and women in general? Is digital manipulation the only way to be considered beautiful? 

 For the less shallow of us, we may gaze at a stereotypical sunset or mountaintop view and believe we have discovered true beauty.  Of course, many can misinterpret the term ‘beauty’ to mean purely vision - things that possess the right colours, shades, contours and of course legs and cleavage. How then, may I ask, should a blind person interpret beauty? Are they simply devoid of all possible splendour? Denied of the world's magnificence? If one is blind, the other senses are amplified, therefore opening up the mind's doors to let in sound, smell, taste and feel. I always aim to discover these truer kinds of beauty in everyday life. Simple things like a genuine warm smile that reflects the kindness in a persons eyes, basking in the sun's blissful rays or the way running warm water over the body seems to wash away a lifetime of sins. 

As far as sound and radio is concerned, beauty for me, can be found in something as blatant as the voices of Anthony Kiedis or Angus and Julia Stone. It may be disguised in the voice of Kurt Cobain, surrounded by rhythmic percussion and entrancing guitar solos. However, I have also found beautiful sounds in unexpected places, like being awoken by the haunting Islamic call to prayer that echoes around the town while in Muslim places like Bosnia or Indonesia. Sometimes, I will go to sleep listening to the waves crashing its unruly rebellion on the sand. Even on the street, the innocent laughter of children and the clicking of a forgotten grandparents walking stick remind me of what was and what is to come. Music is the blind man's guide to beauty, don't underestimate its power to uplift the mind and harmonise the soul.

Photographs of beautiful, desirable women plastered in our magazines can have a huge negative affect on the readers, especially young women. How can we ever become beautiful enough if we are to compare ourselves to something that is not even real? That has been digitally manipulated? Flipping through a fashion magazine, for me, is a never ending chapter of self-hate, knowing I will never be as good as those beautiful women. It has depressing affects on a young woman's self-worth, and it is something that needs to be addressed in the media today.

Suivez vos Rêves

I guess this has become somewhat of a mantra to me at the moment. It's incredibly the amount of people who try and bring me down when I tell them what I want to do in my future. 

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"NO, I don't know why you're doing a journalism degree, there are no jobs out there"


"NO, you won't be able to become a foreign correspondent, you need to be extremely good to get into that kind of career"


"NO, I don't understand why you would risk your life going to places just to report a stupid story"


"NO, nothing you can do will change the situation of Indigenous Australia"

"NO, you probably won't finish your degree you will get bored too quickly"


"NO, you can't change the world, stop trying now" 

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Are you serious guys? Is this your attitude to life? 

I'll get back to you on our deathbeds and see whose life was more meaningful. 

You have no idea how incredibly blessed we are to live in Australia, attend this University and have a fantastic quality of life, where to me, the opportunities are endless.

I have the power to get a degree, I have the power to be a journalist, I have the power to travel,  I have the power to tell the stories of those without a voice. 

I do have the power to change the world.

Thanks for the advice, Bruce.

So never in my life have I 'tweeted' a teacher/lecturer... for any reason. 

Today I asked Bruce Redman for some advice on this blog, for which he swiftly replied to. 

In light of this new advice, i'd like to reflect on my previous article in which I ranted and raved about Facebook  posts and tweets as being 'journalism'.

 I am now proven shamefully wrong,

because in actual fact, these are perceived as 'MEDIA USAGE'. I apologize to the journalism and media underworld and hope you will still accept into you gang one day. 

Lecture Three: Inspiration Boost

Last lecture, we had the pleasure of a fresh-faced woman speaking to us about her wonderful life as a journalist, her many experiences, her commendable achievements and she even divulged some helpful tips for the auditorium full of eager, wannabe journos. She also managed to perpetuate my overall fear of new wave journalism with a rather distasteful, yet intriguing game that reflected the current world news events. I am still trying to get my head around the quite sadistic pirates of Somalia game. However, as she was recalling her numerous achievements, one that fixed in my mind was her experience working in Bangkok, Thailand as a journalist for the local English speaking newspaper.

This my friends, if you were not already aware, is somewhat reflective of one of the things that I would love to do in my lifetime – a foreign correspondent working in Jakarta, Indonesia for the local English newspaper, ‘The Jakarta Post’. I’ve always loved going to Indonesia, and have recently returned from a month long, pretty much solo trip to the heart and soul of the country, Java. This gave me a greater understanding of Indonesia and its people, as well as reigniting my passion for overseas journalism. So, I decided, I would take this opportunity to timidly wait in line to talk to this elusive woman, who regrettably I cannot for the life of me remember her name. 

She appears to me now only as ‘Elaine look-a-like from Seinfeld’. I’m convinced that her name is not as important as the message she instilled in my mind. I asked her about her time in Bangkok and informed her of my aspirations, and she told me 

“Whatever you do, whatever avenue of journalism you take, do it with passion. I believe you can do it and I wish you the best of luck”.

 I left that lecture theatre with the corniest smile on my face and a spring in my step. Thank you, Elaine from Seinfeld look-a-like, for your inspiration and your time you spent talking with us. It meant a lot more to me than you will ever know. 

Lecture Two: The infamous Jelly Belly lecture.

Digging into the deep, perplexing abyss of my psyche, I tried to recall what actually had been said during that second lecture. All I could find was a colourful mix of expensive sugar filled beans of delight, and alas - nothing more. However, never fear, because they did invent this new thing called 'BLACKBOARD', a virtual database of everything JOUR1111 related.  

Something that did strike me as interesting was the idea that a growing number of online news sites were now charging for their audience to read articles that they had always been able to assess for free. Now, I can imagine how they would feel, as I had sunk my teeth into one or four delicious Jelly Bellys that afternoon, soon to be told that NO, put them back, we're charging for them now. As I watched my babies being torn away from me with their sweet residue still dancing in my mouth, I suppose I did feel I deserved them for free. However, in retrospect, it is quite a fair thing to do.

If one is wanting to become a newspaper or magazine journalist and charge money for people to read their articles, how are they supposed to compete with those who have a similar story online for free? 

Is this the death of honest and good old fashioned journalism?

I guess, for now, I am undecided on the matter. Whether you agree or disagree, it is always something interesting to consider. I guess Journalism students like myself can always appreciate the time, effort and overall quality of an in depth story. Compare this to a mindless article on the Yahoo7 news timeline, you can see why some people would pay for their news. I mean, if we are paying for newspapers, and an online site has the exact same content, I believe it is only fair.


 One thing I have already learned from this lecture and from the course in whole so far, the definition of journalism, and journalist, is constantly evolving and warping into a million different avenues. It seems becoming a  journalist in this new world is more interchangeable, exciting and rewarding and  than ever before.

First Lecture: An Uncertain Introduction

Before three weeks ago, I pretty much viewed journalism solely as newspaper articles, documentaries, magazine articles and the six o' clock news. Yes, I was quite old fashioned in my views on this matter, however I HAD learned to accept the fact that Yahoo and MSN exhibited a variety of headlines and stories. I could even congratulate the fact that one could watch the news again online if you regrettably missed it or are just a big fan of Natalie Barr or Le Lin Chin. That was fair enough. However, on my first lecture I was told straight up that ‘YOU ARE THE JOURNALIST!’. Well, I was flattered, but I had not even finished my first journalism lecture and was finding this notion rather unfathomable.

 Apparently, every thing we post online is an avenue of journalism. Now, this is something that I am still finding hard to deal with. Even with my usually open mind, it is still registering in my brain the notion that even Facebook and Twitter can be defined as journalism. How can this be? Please, elaborate to me how "Just woke up lmfao", 
"Bored as inbox me" and 
"I love you but you'll never know!"
constitute pieces of journalism? I interpret these as mindless brainwaves that transfer from people’s heads onto Facebook. I mean seriously, I feel like I am a counsellor every time I scroll down the news feed. So this whole idea of myself being a journalist before I even began my first year courses let alone finish my degree was on the whole, quite unsettling. 

Au Début - The Beginning.

You would be surprised at the amount of vivid experiences and inspiration that can be infused into nineteen years of life. Although just old enough to be considered an adult, I feel like my childhood was abandoned a long time ago, leaving me in a perplexing state of discontent. Apart from being presented with an unusual university assessment, rarely would I passionately express my views, thoughts and philosophies on the world in fear of sounding somewhat tiresome and fanatical. I find it ironic that people are encouraged to stand up for what they believe in and ‘dare to be different’, however in embracing their individuality they set themselves up to be ridiculed, humiliated and silenced. I have learnt that I cannot afford to stay silent - I will not stand by and let the world destruct itself any further.


Hi there, my name is Jasmine Rose Kazlauskas and welcome to my blog. I guess this is the part where I tell you a bit about myself, you know - the generic facts. About the last name -  i'm from ze Eastern vlock, ie Easten Europe. Yep, i've got Russian, Lithuanian, Polish.. a lovely mutt of cultures as well as Australian, whatever that is supposed to be defined as. However, that is an issue for another post entirely. I have the best mother anyone could ask for, I love to travel, I like the colour red, I can speak Indonesian, I love foreign films, I think Johnny Depp and Leonardo Di Caprio are still beautifully attractive, I love to write and take photos, and last, but most importantly, my name is Jasmine and I want to make a difference in this world.

This, my friends, is the reason why I am taking a journalism/arts degree at the University of Queensland. It is my hope that by learning the best ways to write and present factual pieces of interesting news, interviews and investigative and revealing articles, I can fullfull my passion of eradicating, or helping to eradicate inequalities. I believe the best way to do this is by bringing awareness through journalism, some of the worlds ongoing, current and future issues. Journalism will be my chance to travel to places unheard of, to capture scenes of inhumanity and write about it to an uncaring world, in the hope that when I when I hit people hard enough with reality, they will feel the blow and make a difference before they begin to bruise.