Part One: Reflection upon journalism related article
Paul Bradshaw and Liisa Rohumaa
combine their knowledge of media modernity and journalism, to produce an
informative and detailed article on contemporary media: blogging. The argument
that presents itself in this article is the question of the true definition of
blogging and whether it deserves the title of ‘journalism’, or if it can be
disregarded as merely a public frenzy of the wannabe writer. Their conclusion
is that:
‘Blogs are a platform. They can contain journalism, just as Tv, radio and print
can. Many bloggers practise journalism, others do not.
However, he then makes his view
quite clear when he states
‘Journalism is an invention or form of expression used to report and
comment in public media on the events and ideas of the here and now. If blog
fits that description, you could argue it is journalism’.
The article as a whole could be quite useful in the
comprehension and different approaches modern day journalism, leaving behind
the newspaper and radio broadcasts of the past. With more people being able to
view, read and critique one’s blog, it is easier to get a message across. The
article acts as a great guide for beginner bloggers to understand the correct
way to blog to make their voice heard in the modern, technological world of
journalism.
Part Two: Three mediums, One story
Webber, D (2012) Radio news cast
entitled: Aboriginal man unlikely to be
charged over death of eight-year-old girl ,
This radio broadcast on the ABC
radio network discusses the nature of Augustine Miller and the situation
outlining his charges. Broadcaster for the ABC, David Weber, talks with the man
in question, letting him reveal his thoughts, opinions and allows him to bring
his own side of the story to the limelight. Unlike Guest’s online news article,
this radio broadcast does not seem to be aiming to defame Mr Miller, rather
allows us to perceive the situation with an open mind to the truth. It begins
the story not with the taste of blood in our mouths, but rather that Miller
‘Survived a desert ordeal – which resulted in the death of an eight year old
girl’. This approach suggests Augustine Miller is not particularly ‘guilty’,
rather he endured a ‘desert ordeal’ as he was searching for food, when they
unthinkably got stuck out there, resulting in the ‘accidental’ death of the
girl. This angle implants a seed into the minds of the viewer, which is this
situation could have happened to anyone, cars break down, accidents happen.
Furthermore, Mr Miller plays a large part in the interview, explaining his
prior convictions, which surprising has the ability to completely resurrect the
‘Sick, crazed paedophile’ label the media has stuck upon him. In this sense,
one can regard this broadcast as highly valuable, as it allows people to
confront their prior negative spin on Miller with a clean slate. This is a
vital party of modern journalism, to allow a 360 degree scope on a story,
revealing further, unknown truths and allowing every actor surrounding the
incident to fairly address the issue to the public in their own way.
Debbie guest, journalist for
national newspaper, ‘The Australian’ reports on the story in an online version
of a news article. The article takes a complete opposite side of the situation,
with obvious bias projecting negative attitudes towards Mr Miller based on
previous convictions. Not only does it
describe it as a ‘Paedophile ordeal’, but states that she “has died after
spending four days alone with a convicted child sex offender”. This clearly is
intended to incite into the minds of the readers that yes, he is a paedophile
and that her death was the direct result of his actions. It must be said, that
without reading further along in the article, one could be forgiven to jump to
the conclusion that he abused and murdered the girl ‘because that is what
paedophiles do’. This is a shameful
action in the journalism world – it purposely darkens any other light on the
story, rendering the article unfair, imbalanced and some could say,
propagandistic in nature in regards to generating stereotypes about aboriginal
men living in remote communities. This is a poor article, and anyone with a
journalistic mind needs to approach it with great caution, opting to research
the situation further. However, the fact that this was in the highly-regarded
newspaper, ‘The Australian’, leaves little room for readers to see the holes
and mind-altering twists encompassing the article.
Miss Emma Sheraton is a young
reporter for Yahoo’s ‘GWN’ news, a station that strives to cover stories in
Australia’s smaller country towns. From the beginning, the video plays on the viewer’s
heartstrings, with the girl’s mother crying to the camera, with Sheraton
sympathising “A mother grieves the loss of her eight year old daughter”. It is obvious this video is intended to
ignite the emotional side of the story – that is first and foremost above the
news and details about the accused, unlike in the other two media outlets by
Guest and Webber. Admittedly, this is a very effective way to cover such a
heartbreaking story – the ‘mother loses child’ mentality has the ability to go
further than the small Aboriginal community. It is a timeless tale, playing on
the innate maternal instincts of all mothers watching the video, sympathising
with the woman crying in the first scene. Despite the obvious emotive spin
intertwined in the story, it is not overly judgemental on Mr Miller, other than
stating he was a ‘convicted paedophile’ along with the local women pleading he
return to face tribal punishment. This is not blatantly trying to conjure up
images of a sick pedofile, as we can see in ‘The Australian’s online news
article, rather it is reinforcing that he is to blame, whether intentionally or
not. One can also praise the fact that traditional Aboriginal customs were kept
sacred, not showing the face or expelling the name of the deceased. Essentially, Sheraton’s yahoo news story is
rather valuable piece of journalism, but it could be criticized for being too
one-sided in its approach, leaving little room for consideration of Augustine
Miller.
