Advocating for freedom of speech and freedom of the press. “Journalism these days are more like opinion pieces only. It is time to throw political correctness in the bin and report the truth without worrying about offending and report more than just one side of the story.”
In 2012 a prank call from an Australian radio DJ ended in tragic consequences after a UK nurse who transferred the prank call took her own life and blamed the Australian DJ in suicide letters (“Prank Call Nurse,” 2013).
No one could have predicted the tragic and unfortunate consequences that a prank call could have had.
However, one needs to question just how much responsibility should the radio station have taken for the death of the UK nurse?
At the time Dr Denis Muller, Honorary Fellow from the Centre for Applied Philosophy and Public Ethics at the University of Melbourne believed that laws had been broken and possibly breached laws in New South Wales, Australia and the UK (Nurses’ Health, 2013).
The New South Wales Nurses Association wrote to 2Day FM general manager warning if the stunt had taken place in Australia it would have had serious professional consequences for Australian nurses (Nurses’ Health, 2013).
ABC journalist Mark Pearson a makes a very valid point when he says, “The basic premise of the prank call is to exploit the naivety, trust and vulnerability of the target for the entertainment of the listener” (“At whose expense?”, 2012).
Morality and ethics and personal well-being should be considered when anyone decides to carry out a prank. With a large number of people in society that suffer from depression and or anxiety, there is always a risk that someone might take a prank call literally. Of course this is never a consideration of the prankster when it comes to ratings and popularity.
Nurse Prank Call – DJs Interview in FULL – 2Day FM on A Current Affair
References:
At whose expense? The dubious morality of prank calls. (1100, December 11). [item]. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://www.abc.net.au/religion/articles/2012/12/11/3652190.htm
Prank call nurse “blamed Australian DJs in note.” (1000, April 29). [Text]. Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://www.abc.net.au/news/2013-04-29/royal-prank-call-nurse-blamed-australian-djs-report-says/4656622
Prank call with tragic consequence: The day before the apparent suicide of a British nurse, the NSWNMA warned Radio 2Day FM to consider the personal toll on nurses of its prank calls.(NURSES’ HEALTH). (2013). The Lamp, 70(1), 30-31.
Image: Are there “Revenge Porn” laws in Ohio? | WKYC.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2017.
Social media now plays a significant part of our lives, as does the use of smartphones allowing users easy access within seconds at the touch of a button. Popularity is on the rise with increased use of social media websites such as Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Pinterest (Fennel & Freeman 2015).
A study reported by Henry, Powell, & Flynn (2015) found that 1 in 10 Australians reported that someone had posted online or sent onto others a nude or semi-nude image of them without their permission often referred to as revenge porn.
‘Revenge pornography’ refers to the non-consensual distribution of nude or sexually explicit images (Revenge 2016).
In June 2017, new laws were passed by NSW parliament to crack down on the horrendous trend of revenge porn, also known as image-based abuse (Saulwick 2017).
While we do not have moral police in Australia policing online postings and blogs like other countries such as Iran, Saudi and Indonesia where public floggings and beheadings are currently carried out in public squares for social media blogging. We do need to clamp down on images that depict sexual acts or images.
We need to make sure that images of a sexual nature uploaded onto social media sites, such as porn revenge is made illegal in every state and territory.
Revenge porn is definitely overstepping the mark when it comes to morality and ethics. We need to continue to question what social media posts are acceptable, without impinging on freedom of speech and bowing down to political correctness.
Photos uploaded of a sexual nature without ones consent is definitely overstepping the mark and should be made unlawful in every state and territory.
This is where ethical uncertainty becomes unethical certainty where lines can be defined.
There is some interesting commentary on the following Q&A program that was aired on ABC prior to laws being put in place regarding ‘revenge porn’. Well worth a watch.
Powell, Flynn, Henry (n.d.). FactCheck Q&A: Retrieved September 22, 2017.
References:
Fennel,S., & Freeman, N.K, (2015). Smartphones ans Social Media. YC: Young Children, 70(1), 98-101.
Powell, A., Flynn, A., & Henry, N. (n.d.). FactCheck Q&A: are there laws to protect against “revenge porn” in Australia? Retrieved September 22, 2017, from http://theconversation.com/factcheck-qanda-are-there-laws-to-protect-against-revenge-porn-in-australia-74154
Henry, N., Powell, A., & Flynn, A. (2015). Submission to the NSW Standing Committee on Law and Justice Inquiry into Remedies for the Serious Invasion of Privacy in New South Wales.
Revenge porn: do Australian laws go far enough? (2016, October 24). Retrieved September 22, 2017, from https://nest.latrobe/revenge-porn-do-australian-laws-go-far-enough/
Jacob Saulwick. (2017, May 22). NSW moves to strengthen laws to stamp out ‘revenge porn’. The Sydney Morning Herald (Sydney, Australia), p. 11.
Image: Are there “Revenge Porn” laws in Ohio? | WKYC.com. (n.d.). Retrieved September 22, 2017.
Image(n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2017. What’s Wrong with Sexism in Hollywood.
Films that raise red flags when it comes to sexism can actually be of benefit when it comes to opening up dialogue.
One could argue and ask the question have we swung the pendulum too far when it comes to sexism?
According to Rhiannon (2016), in the entertainment industry right now is that there’s a sneaky little layer of sexism under a lot of it that can slip by us if we aren’t paying attention.
Many of us would not even realise the subtle hint of sexism embedded in some films. I believe that sexism will continue to remain apart of our film industry wether we like it or not, because after all sex sells.
There is another side to sexism in the film industry, as Cranston (2017), points out that actress Dame Julie Walters has also blasted the gender pay gap in the movie industry as “wrong”.
Perhaps the best way to encounter or embrace sexism in films is to open up discussions and take away from the film a lesson in social norms of what behaviours we allow ourselves to accept as women in our society. How do we want our daughters and granddaughters to be treated? More importantly how do we encourage our sons to grow up and respect women and place the importance of what role women have in our society?
Because after all respect and equality is a two way street.
Or can women benefit and use sexism to their advantage by not surrendering to the extreme feminists that are hell bent on making it difficult for both woman and men to understand, muddying the waters and swinging that dam pendulum too far.
You be the judge?
References:
Bryan Cranston: Women have tougher time in Hollywood. (2017, July 28). UWIRE Text, p. 1. Retrieved from http://go.galegroup.com.ezproxy.cqu.edu.au/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=cqu&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA499417696&asid=b526e68bc1b8fad0c647c60fda147ae3
Rhiannon, A. (n.d.). 10 Surprisingly Sexist Movies That You Still Love To Watch. Retrieved September 14, 2017, from https://www.bustle.com/articles/131195-10-surprisingly-sexist-movies-that-you-still-love-to-watch
In One Quote, Salma Hayek Perfectly Nails What’s Wrong with Sexism in Hollywood. (n.d.). Retrieved September 14, 2017, from https://mic.com/articles/118548/in-one-quote-salma-hayek-perfectly-nails-what-s-wrong-with-sexism-in-hollywood
Hard news is news that informs the public about events so that citizens can be fully informed and participate in the democratic process, while soft news does not have a high priority in the news value scale and is sometimes referred to as infotainment (Bainbridge, et al., 2011, p. 252).
With the world in its current turmoil many journalists and readers are drawn to hard news stories. According to Bainbridge, Goc and Tynan (2015), it is evident the lines between hard and soft news stories are becoming blurred as journalists attempt to attract reader attention placing political, international, business, economical news, ‘hard’ news stories alongside celebrity, entertainment, arts and culture and sports, ’soft’ news stories.
An interesting report ‘Distinctions between Hard and Soft News’, posted by Nic Newman Research Associate, of Journalism Reuters Institute (2016). The detailed report looks at the data of interest that people have when it comes to hard news verses soft news showing differences in demographics and gender.
According to Newman (2016), women in Japan and Italy were more interested in soft news and twice as likely than men to be more interested in soft news stories compared to hard news. The report also stated that younger people in general are more likely to use social media for news.
Hard news stories contain important information of the day, such as political news, crime, business and economic, health, education news or reports of conflict in war zones. Soft news stories include stories featuring celebrities, human interest, entertainment or sports news. Soft news can be of benefit by balancing out the hard news stories that can often cause distress amongst its readers.
Today’s hard news story: http://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-09-13/moreland-city-council-votes-to-scrap-australia-day-celebrations/8942172
Today’s soft news story: http://www.news.com.au/entertainment/celebrity-life/angelina-jolie-i-dont-need-to-be-liked/news-story/a70e095fce93b78f51816141ce5d3d93
References
Bainbridge, J., Goc, N., & Tynan, L. (2011). Media and Journalism 2nd edition, New Approaches to Theory and Practice. Sydney: Oxford University Press.
Bainbridge, J., Goc, N., & Tynan, L. (2015). Media and Journalism 3rd edition, New Approaches to Theory and Practice. Sydney: Oxford University Press.
Distinctions between Hard and Soft News. (n.d.). Retrieved September 13, 2017, from http://www.digitalnewsreport.org/survey/2016/hard-soft-news-2016/2013, October).
Hard news vs soft news. News & Politics. Retrieved from https://www.slideshare.net/asiyasiddika28/hard-news-vs-soft-news
Inquiry: What I have learnt this term
I have thoroughly enjoyed Media Writing COMM11007 and feel that I have learnt the basic principles of media writing and now have the confidence needed to utilise the new skills I have developed which will no doubt be of benefit when applied to writing projects that I undertake in the future.
I have learnt the importance of planning, research, communication and evaluation and just how important it is to review work thoroughly prior to submitting publicly. Especially important is to have another set of eyes on my work, or take a break and come back with a fresh set of eyes and review work again.
I realise how important it is to revise a story and make sure that the quotes are correctly punctuated.
I now have the added experience of working across a broad range of social media platforms.
When it comes to journalistic writing, it really is a case of practice makes perfect with revision of work a must.
It is important to review and edit work so that the story flows nicely so the reader can easily understand and interpret the story.
I have learnt to blog effectively, create stories, write media releases and learn new ways of creating stories via various social media platforms such as Storify.
I am also more aware of common errors and now rethink as I write paying more attention to the use of words, placement of words and the importance of the KISS (Keep it short and simple) principle so that the story is easily understood by the reader.
What I found most beneficial with Media Writing COMM11007
I found the weekly blogging activities the most beneficial. The more I write the more confident I am and the easier it gets. The more I practice blogging the better the spelling is and the better I am with the placement of words.
What I found most challenging
The most challenging activity for me was the week 10 photo essay. I really like Storify so I decided to use Storify to complete my photo essay.
To use Storify I initially uploaded the photos off my phone onto my computer. However, I realised Storify does not allow you to directly upload the photos from a computer and that the photos had to be uploaded to twitter or another photo compatible sharing platform.
I had to research and I found there are a few different types of programs I could use. I then had to register to open up an account. I found this painful and time consuming because it became a matter of trial and error and the worst part of it was it was so time consuming. I do not have a lot of free time these days but I decided to persevere with it anyway even though it would have been much easier to upload the ten photos straight onto the WordPress platform in a matter of minutes.
I had to motivate myself into believing that it is not always the best way to learn by taking the easy way out.
I found a photo sharing platform that was compatible with Storify. I realised that there were two other photos that I wanted to use so I uploaded two photos to Twitter and dated them the day of the event to make the photos more authentic and relevant to the story in proper date format.
The photo essay could have taken me less than an hour to complete by just using WordPress but I chose the Storify option which took me hours.
So, although time consuming the end result for me was a better and more professional looking photo essay that I am happy with.
Has the course changed the way I practice or think about media writing?
Media Writing COMM11007 has most definitely changed the way I write. I have more confidence in blogging and often find myself thinking of different stories of interest I would like to write.
I review my work a lot more now and I read my work out loud and edit and re edit where necessary to make sure that spelling, punctuation, grammar is correct and the story flows easily making it easier for the reader to understand the story.
Media writing is more complicated than normal writing because media writing is public therefore, it is important to convey and chose the style of writing that will appeal to a particular target of audience.
2. Practical
(a). I have reviewed my WordPress blog against the ‘Blog Writing checklist’ from the week 12 support materials/links.
I have tidied up the blog and changed words to flow better in sentences and ammedned headings and tags to relate to writing activities as per blog submission review checklist.
I adjusted spacings as I found a few double spacings and a couple of repeated words I had to delete.
I also added links to twitter account and hyperlinks for easy access to websites related to activities.
(b). I have read and re read my blogs to find and amend any spelling and grammar issues in my writings. Unfortunately I would have liked a few more student to have reviewed my work so it was up to me to check and re check over my work.
I did find repeated words which I deleted and I found spelling mistakes and grammar mistakes that I fixed. I am hoping I found and fixed as many as I could to increase my grades for this subject.
It was suggested that I enlist a more robust drop down menu system on my blog to minimise the amount of scrolling for readers.
I must admit I tried, I tried for hours actually to add a side menu widget to no avail. As it appears after navigating and reading for hours on the theme I have chosen for my blogs that only a footer menu is available.
I can create projects and perhaps place blogs into boxes on the home page of blog however, at this late stage of the game in the last week I was not game enough to attempt to change this in case I ruined the current format of blogs and made a bigger mess.
I only received my marking document from Kate this week as I had issues of my computer not opening marking document so Kate emailed this last week.
3. Technical
I enjoyed the weekly quizzes and attempted the first quiz on my own knowledge alone, prior to reading the text, even though at times I knew I would get a very low score.
On my second attempts of the quizzes I scored mostly 100 per cent after reading the prescribed textbook chapter.
I have no doubt that the textbook Hicks, English for journalists will certainly be a valuable resource for me in the future.
Link to following story: Woman Stuck at Eagle Junction Train Station, Brisbane
1. Inquiry
a. What are the problems with the article?
The heading of the story is too long and not to the point. I feel that some of the information particularly the location in the heading would be best used in the actual story itself.
The second paragraph the journalist writes that the emergency services are working to free a woman from under a train on Brisbane’s north side. This gives the impression to the reader when read that the woman is still trapped, yet further in the story the journalist reports that the woman was freed at 12.55pm.
The journalist should have been more sensitive in reporting the incident as one of Self-harm and omitted this information or reported that the woman was believed to be suffering mental heath issues at the time.
The news story is poorly written and appears it was rushed and one would think that the chief editor had not proof read the story at the time of print.
No doubt the story was rushed and appears to be more of a first draft and in my opinion not a good read and very unprofessional.
b. Does it meet the guidelines for reporting self-harm?
I don’t believe that the journalist has met the guidelines for reporting self-harm. While the journalist has included contacts in the story for Lifeline and SANE to the readers, I do not believe that it is in the best interest of the women who became trapped or for the readers of the story to know what the women did.
The police are not clinically trained to assess a mentally unwell person, therefore the story would be best written to say that the women was believed to have been experiencing mental heath issues at the time of the incident.
The information regarding self-harm is not considered relevant to the story as it does not change the fact that a women was stuck under a train, commuters were delayed and people witnessed the incident.
c. Post your reflections.
The journalist should have been more sensitive in reporting the incident as one of Self-harm.
Although the information given that self-harm was a possible cause to how the women may have become stuck under a train, from information relayed from the police. The journalist should have reported to the readers that the woman may have been suffering from mental health issues at the time and not self-harm.
The passengers and any other witnesses who may have been at the train station at the time of the incident may read or search for the story so this is where it would be important to add contact numbers for anyone who may need support who had witnessed the incident.
2. Practical: Rewrite of the story to make more sense
Woman trapped under a train in a serious condition
A 30 year-old woman became trapped under a train 12pm Wednesday at Eagle Junction train station, Brisbane.
Four fire crews and emergency services reportedly freed the woman at 12:55pm.
A spokeswoman for Queensland Ambulance Service (QAS) said the woman suffered lower leg injuries and remained conscious at the time and the woman had been transferred to the Royal Brisbane Hospital in a serious condition.
Many commuters traveling in the area at the time experienced delays of up to 40 minutes.
A witness reported that a train was full of passengers at the time the incident had unfolded.
Police said that woman is suspected to have been suffering from mental heath issues at the time.
If anyone is suffering with any emotional difficulties having witnessed the incident they should contact Lifeline on 13 11 14.
For help with depression, contact Beyond Blue on 1300 22 46 36 or SANE Helpline is 1800 18 SANE (7263).
References:
http://www.mindframe-media.info/for-media/reporting-mental-illness
Week 11 quiz is our last quiz for Media Writing COMM11007 in our blog activities.
On my first attempt of every quiz throughout Media Writing COMM11007, I have attempted each quiz without reading the prescribed text to get a true result of what I really do know and where I might be struggling.
I’d rather score low on the first attempt just to see where I am at and my level of understanding initially, prior to reading the text associated with quiz.
It certainly makes a difference to read the text-book chapter to give a better understanding regardless of the quiz results, giving me the added benefit of extra learning so that writing is not so complicated when it comes to rules and punctuation.
I am sure that the textbook ‘English for journalists’ will be a valuable resource over time when cross referencing future writings.
References:
Hicks, W 2013, English for journalists: twentieth anniversary edition, Routledge, Abingdon, Oxon.
Three alternative headlines for the media release from week 8 story:
1. FakeComicCon CEO saddened by fight injuring 12
The above headline could be used as it gives the reader the feeling that the CEO is genuinely saddened that people were injured. I believe it is good PR.
2. FakeComicCon CEO asks fans to support future events despite investigation
The above headline could also be used as it is good PR to use a statement that comes directly from the CEO leading the reader to want to continue reading the story to see what other statements the CEO may have made in the story.
3. FakeComicCon CEO seeks answers after fight ends in 8 hospitalised
The above headline could be used as it suggests to the reader that the CEO wants answers, being particularly important given the mention that eight people were injured.
Melton Residents Say No To Islamic Only Housing Development
About 250 anti-Islam protesters attended the peaceful rally held at Hannah Watts Park, Melton, 28th August 2016, 11am. Local residents voiced their anger that a 75-lot development is being built off Coburn’s Road in Melton South was a muslim only housing development.
See full story below:
NOTE: All photos are my own photos taken on my mobile phone on the day of the Melton Rally.
https://storify.com/Kimmaree13/melton-residents-oppose-islamic-only-housing
Kim Vuga 